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BlogWorld LA 2011

Marcus Sheridan talks about making speeches more social

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When I went to BlogWorld Los Angeles, I had one overwhelming thought. I LOVE that Marcus Sheridan guy! I had never seen him speak before, nor even heard of him, yet after his session, I was an immediate fan. Seriously, I can’t gush enough about what an incredible speaker he is, how he engages the audience, and how many fantastic insights he has for the small business owner. (You can hear his session from the most recent conference in New York by purchasing the Virtual Ticket!)

Check out what Marcus has to say about presenting and what makes for a memorable session in this interview from Blogcast FM‘s Srinivas Rao. Also, think that you can just blog when you feel like it? Marcus has some thoughts on that, too.

What do you think? Should speakers interact with their audiences more? Do you like a monologue or would you rather interact with the speaker throughout the session?

Evan White of Viddy Interview – Future of Publishing

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Why can’t I just upload the video I just shot to Facebook, like I can with my pictures? How come Android makes me upload them to Google+? Well, now you can upload them to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media by using Viddy, an app that lets people do just that and also make minor artistic edits to the videos.

Check out what Murray Newlands and Viddy CMO Evan White had to say at BlogWorld Los Angeles in this Future of Publishing episode:

Future of Publishing is sponsored by VigLink. If you enjoyed the show, be sure check Future of Publishing out online at FutureOfPublishing.tv!

Chris Brogan Interview

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Murray Newlands interviewed Chris Brogan, marketing consultant and author of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, at BlogWorld 2011. In the interview, the duo talked about how to create content especially for social media and the web. Unlike television content, which is usually a one-way street, online marketing video content needs to engage with the audience and really reach out to them to be effective. Watch the interview below:

Editor’s Note: To see Chris live and in person, come check out his keynote presentation at BlogWorld New York, “Power Up Your Blog: Lessons Learned Over 11 Years of Blogging.”

Future of Publishing is sponsored by VigLink.

Jamie Thomason Interview – DiviHQ Blogging Tools

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Murray Newlands of Influence People interviewed Jamie Thomason of DiviHQ during BlogWorld 2011. DiviHQ makes a blogging tool that makes it easy for multiple people to collaborate on what they’re writing. In episode of Future of Publishing, Murray Newlands works with VigLink to get the latest news and insights about collaborative blogging tools from an informed DiviHQ employee. Find out how collaborative blogging tools work and what you can use them for:

Future of Publishing is sponsored by VigLink

BlogWorld Welcomes Shane Ketterman as Conference Director

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BlogWorld's new Conference Director, Shane Ketterman

We’re so pleased to welcome a new member to the BlogWorld team.  Shane Ketterman will be taking over Conference Director duties, effective immediately. Shane, who helped to coordinate several conferences for Cisco, will be planning our educational content and helping to find the best speakers. As you know, we take our educational content seriously and we’re confident Shane will continue to make sure our attendees receive a valuable experience.

Wait. What? A new Conference Director? But what about Deb?

Don’t worry – I’m still with the BlogWorld team, but I’m moving over to head all community and social media efforts as the Director of Community.   I’ll also be behind the helm at all of our social networks and working on some fun campaigns and activities for our community. Oh and y’all aren’t rid of me yet because I’m going to be working very closely with Shane as well.

Please meet Shane Ketterman

We came upon Shane quite by accident. He set up a call with Rick and I to pitch an idea he had for a new track for BlogWorld NY. At the time, we knew we were going to need a new Conference Director but weren’t sure where to start looking. As soon as Shane mentioned his background with Cisco and how he used to coordinate some of the educational content there, Rick Skyped me to say, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Indeed I was and an impromptu interview ensued. After several phone calls, and interviews with other candidates, we confirmed our intitial hunch that Shane would be the best person for the job. We think you’ll agree.

My friend Shane is no stranger to BlogWorld as he’s attended our conference several years in a row and he’s also been a speaker. Even more important, Shane is passionate about our conference and our community, something so important to us. Feel free to follow Shane on Twitter @shaneketterman or drop him a line at Shane@blogworldexpo.com – but do be gentle, we want him to stick around for a while.

We know you’ll like Shane as much as we do. Won’t you join us in welcoming him to the BlogWorld team?

 

 

 

 

Beginner’s Guide to Guest Posting Basics

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Guest posting is a technique some bloggers use to increase their traffic. Today, as part of the Beginner’s Guide series I’m writing here on the BlogWorld blog, I thought I’d take some time to talk about what guest posts are, why you should or shouldn’t write and accept them, how to be a guest poster, and other information you need to know about guest posts!

What is Guest Posting?

A guest post is a post you publish on someone else’s blog. Most blogs do not pay guest posters, but it depends on the blogger. Guest posters typically write about a topic that has a relation to your their blog, but that also fits with the other blogger’s niche as well. For example, if you blog about getting out of debt, you might guest post on a food blog about budget meal planning. You can also guest post on “competing” blogs – blogs that are in the same niche as your own.

Before or after the content of the guest post, the blogger will post a one or two sentence bio, where you can link back to your own blog. Some bloggers will also add a paragraph or two of their own, usually at the beginning, telling their readers that this is a guest post and explaining why it is an important topic.

Advantages to Guest Posting

When you guest post, you have access to new readers to share you opinions or knowledge, since the blog in question already has its own fans. The hope is that they’ll like what you write so much that they click on the link in your bio to read more of what you’ve written on your own blog and, hopefully, become regular readers there too.

Another advantage to guest posting is that you get a link back to your own blog, which is good for SEO purposes. This is especially valuable if you guest post on a blog with a PageRank of 3 or higher. When you write your bio, keep this in mind and consider using link text that makes sense. For example, if you want to rank higher for you blog’s name, use that text to create a link, but if it’s more important for you to rank higher on search engines for specific keywords, use that text as well. For example, on a guest post, I might use the bio:

Allison writes about blogging and social media on the BlogWorld blog.

Or, instead, I might use:

Allison writes about how to blog for BlogWorld’s blog.

The first will help me rank better if someone searches “BlogWorld blog” while the second will help me rank better is someone searches for “how to blog” – make sure to do a little keyword research when considering your options so you get the most benefit from your link.

A third advantage to guest posts is name recognition. Even if people don’t click through to read your own blog, if they start seeing your name pop up on lots of other blogs in the niche, they’ll start to remember it. Eventually, they may look you up. The name recognition also helps you get accepted as a speaker for events like BlogWorld, as well as get offers for not just speaking gigs, but also other types of jobs, like consulting and contributing – and these are paying positions in many cases.

Of course, it should be noted that some blogs will pay for guest posts. The down side to guest posting in these blogs is it is harder to be a guest poster because they usually have very specific requirements and accept a very limited number of guest posts per month.

Guest Posting – A Little Overrated?

Although the advantages of guest posts haven’t be overstated in the above section, keep in mind that writing a guest post – even for an extremely popular blog – is not going to lead to a million new readers on your own blog. Even if your guest post is beyond awesome, readers on other sites as not super likely to click bio links. They’re more likely to click on links within the post itself, but these links are generally discouraged in guest posts unless they are SUPER relevant to whatever you’re writing about.

A few months ago, I wrote a post on my personal blog called “I’m Calling BS on Guest Posts” that I highly recommend you check out before spending lots of time seeking out opportunities and writing posts you could instead use on your own blog. Yes, there are advantages, but don’t believe guest posting is the best use of your time if you’re looking for a huge amount of new readers. Even the spike you get initially will be just that – a spike, rather than long-term traffic.

So, do guest posts…but understand the advantages first!

How to Guest Post

Ready to start guest posting? Awesome! I have a group of posts especially for you to help you get started, even if you’re completely new to the guest posting concept:

And if you have additional questions about writing and placing guest posts, just leave them as a comment and I’ll be happy to answer them!

Accepting Guest Posts

Before closing out this post, I thought I should also cover the flip side to writing guest posts – accepting them. There are both advantage and disadvantages to publishing guest posts on your blog. Here are the advantages:

  • Guest posts can keep your blog active when you need time off.
  • When you publish someone’s guest post, you build a relationship with them.
  • Guest posts bring search engine users looking for posts about that topic to your site.
  • You can publish guest posts about topics in your niche that you don’t know much about, which adds value to your blog for regular readers.
  • The guest poster will likely promote their post on social media sites, so you’ll get traffic from their connections.

There are some disadvantages as well:

  • Since it’s on your blog, you’re liable for what a guest poster writes.
  • Advertising that you accept guest posts (or even publishing guest posts) will open your inbox to an influx of post offers. Some of them will be amazing. Most of them will be complete crap.
  • Publishing tons of guest posts waters down your brand. Experienced bloggers can get away with it somewhat, since people already know them (though I’m still not a fan of tons of guest posts personally). If you’re a new blogger, posting more guest posts than you write yourself can be really confusing to readers.
  • Guest posts might be optimized for search engines using terms that you want to rank for with other posts. You don’t want people searching for something to find a guest post before they find your own post.
  • You’ll be linked to that person, which could be problematic if they’re involved with any kind of scandal or drama in the future.

If you are going to accept guest posts, I recommend having a page on your  blog where you can list any requirements you have (beyond “high quality” of course) and tell people how to contact you. Make sure you review submissions carefully before agreeing to publish anything. You want to post only the best on your blog!

A final note: If you’re interested in publishing a guest post here on the BlogWorld blog, shoot an email to me at allison@blogworldexpo.com with your idea and I’ll make sure your information gets passed on to the right person!

In Which the BlogWorld Team Wishes You Happy Holidays

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At BlogWorld, we recognize our most valuable asset is our community; the people who we spend time with both online and off. You’ve all been so amazingly supportive of us throughout the years and we want you to know how much your support means to us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our entire community including BlogWorld attendees, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, vendors, and all of you who spend time with us on the social networks, and #BWEChat,  or hanging out with us at conferences, meetups and Tweetups.

Our individual holiday wishes are below:

Rick Calvert, CEO & Co-Founder

“I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for choosing to be a part of our community. We are grateful beyond words. I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays.”

 

Dave Cynkin, Co-Founder, Sleep Deprivationist & Thrill Seeker

“For me, year-end is more than a time to look back at milestones and resolutions for growth in the new year…It’s a time to embrace the good fortune we’ve had in meeting creative, brilliant and insightful people and sharing memorable discussions together. This community is one of the most precious gifts to enjoy. I’m grateful for meeting you and look forward to spending more time together in 2012 (and I hope to see you at BlogWorld!). Wishing you and yours a healthy and relaxing holiday, and a happy New Year! ”

Patti Hosking, Director of Business Development

“Wishing you the peace, joy,  serenity, and excitement of being poised at the top of a mountain on skis just after a new snowfall has covered all the trees.”

Dani Goren, Director of Operations

“Happy Holidays”

Deb Ng, Director of Conference and Community

“Thank you, not only for being a part of our community, but for welcoming us into your own communities as well. My very best wishes to you and yours for the holidays and for a positive, peace-filled and prosperous 2012.”

Jennifer Holder, Executive Assistant

“Happy Holiday’s to you and yours, may they be filled with love and cheer.”

Christopher Castro, Registration Manager & Speaker Coordinator

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Felis Pasgua yan Año Nuebo! (Chamorro)”

Jennifer Wojcik, Sales

“Happy HanaChristmaKwanzakah to EVERYONE! Thank you all so much for an amazing year! On to 2012 with much pomp and fanfare. Love to you all, BlogWorld community!”

Nikki Katz. Managing Editor, BlogWorld.com

“Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season & a wonderfully prosperous New Year! Can’t wait to see everyone in NYC.”

Allison Boyer, Features Editor, BlogWorld.com

“Happy holidays, everyone! May 2012 bring you all growing bank accounts, shrinking waistlines, so much laughter that your sides hurt, and stats that would make Mashable jealous. Thank you for being the best community in the world!”

Julie Bonner, News Editor, BlogWorld.com

“To a joyful present and a well remembered past. Best wishes for Happy Holidays and an exciting New Year!”

Katherine Randall, Public Relations


Here’s wishing you and your family a happy holidays and prosperous New Year! Can’t wait to see everyone in NYC!”

 

Happy Holidays from the BlogWorld team!

‘Twas the Night Before BlogWorld

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Twas the night before BlogWorld, when all through the hall
The hustle and bustle of preparing for it all.
The signs were hung by the rafters with care,
Catching the eye of all who would be there.

The speakers were giving good cheer in the lounge,
While raising their glasses, shouting “one last round!”
And Deb in the sternest voice to be heard,
called “Guys, you have to be up  early, now get thee to bed.”

When out on the concourse there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the barstool to see what was the matter.
Away to the lobby I ran to see,
and looked around to learn what it could be.

The light on the stage in the keynote place,
Gave the promise of new stars in the space.
When, what to my inquiring mind should intake,
But an entrance so grand, there could be no mistake.

With a text and a tweet and a status update,
Who could it be but Rick and Dave?
More rapid than 5G, they took up the fight,
And shook hands, and networked, then put an end to the night.

“Now Brogan! now Falls! now Sheridan and Strauss!
On, Shankman! On Handley! On Simone and Rowse!
Put down your glasses, our attendees, they sleep,
They’ll be here early to hear you all speak!”

As kids who don’t want to go to school groan and moon,
They drained their glasses and headed back to their rooms.
So off to their hotels the speakers were sent,
In anticipation of the next day’s event.

And then, from over in a corner, I heard Alli boast,
She was pulling an all nighter to get in one last blog post.
And Jen and Patti over in their hotel,
Were pushing to get in one last big sell.

The team didn’t sleep, but they were there before dawn,
in anticipation of the show to put on.
Dani, Jennifer, Chris, Matt and Nikki.
Katherine and Ivan and Julie and Kimberly.

To our attendees, exhibitors, track leaders and sponsors,
to our speakers, and vendors and community members,
from the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to bestow,
Happy BlogWorld to all and to all a good show.

BlogWorld New York & Los Angeles Breaks Attendance Records

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We hope you joined us at our New York and/or Los Angeles events in 2011, and if you did – you helped us break our previous attendance records! Between the two shows, BlogWorld hosted more than 4,750 attendees and 335,000 online viewers.

“BlogWorld West in Los Angeles was our most successful show to date in terms of attendance numbers, exhibitors and sponsors, the caliber of the educational sessions and the speakers we hosted,” said Rick Calvert, CEO and co-founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo. “The decision to take BlogWorld bi-coastal has broadened our reach and made the event more accessible to attendees all over the country and the world. We are looking forward to continuing this pattern of growth into 2012 and have some exciting news to announce in the coming months.”

Highlights from last month’s BlogWorld West in Los Angeles held at the Los Angeles Convention Center include:

  • Record-breaking attendance of more than 3,250 people, from 41 different countries including, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, India and more.
  • An additional 208,000 people watched the live stream of BlogWorld’s keynote sessions.
  • BlogWorld’s official Twitter Hashtag, #BWELA, generated 323 million impressions, 40,000 original tweets reaching 30.4 million people over the course of the three-day show, (Source: Hashtracking.com).
  • An economic impact in Los Angeles estimated at $3.3 million in revenue and a total of 3,700 hotel room nights, (Source: LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau).
  • Entertainment-focused closing keynote talk show featuring Hollywood and Web Stars, including: Jace Hall, president and founder of HDFilms, with guests Aisha Tyler, actress, director and host of the hit podcast Girl On Guy; Rick Fox, three-time NBA champion, actor and producer of the Web TV series Off Season – The Lex Morrison Story,; Justine Ezarik (a.k.a. iJustine), an Internet personality and popular YouTube content creator with almost 2.5 million subscribers and Tim Street, Vice President Mobile Video, mDialog and creator/executive producer of the Viral Video series French Maid TV.
  • More than 300 speakers, 20 session tracks and 150 educational sessions. BlogWorld introduced several new session tracks this year, including Mobile, Music, Web TV, Travel & Tourism and Fitness.
  • Unveiling of Technorati’s 2011 State of the Blogosphere Survey.
  • Keynoters included by Peter Shankman, Founder of HARO; Amber Naslund, VP of Social Strategy Radian 6; Jim Farley, Global CMO of Ford Motor Company; Brian Solis, Principal of Altimeter Group; Shani Higgins, CEO of Technorati; Mikal Belicove, Contributing Writer & Blogger at Entrepreneur Magazine; Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image; Deanna Brown, CEO of Federated Media Publishing; Michael Stelzner, Founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner; Lisa Stone, Co-Founder and CEO of BlogHer.
  • 85 exhibiting companies including brands like Ford, Southwest Airlines, .ME, Verisign/.tv, Century 21 Real Estate LLC, Blogger, WordPress.com, Viddy, Stickam and more.

BlogWorld’s Virtual Ticket, the largest social media conference library ever recorded, is also available for purchase. The virtual ticket includes audio and video recordings of more than 100 sessions, keynote presentations, official BlogWorld parties and access to exclusive interviews and extras.

Myth Busting at BlogWorld LA

Author:

… by Alex Banayan

It was invigorating. Attending the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Los Angeles was like attending a conference for TV in the early 1930’s—an opportunity to see the future of media with my own eyes.

To be honest, I entered the conference with a few misconceptions. However, after attending BlogWorld, those myths were instantly busted.

MYTH #1: Learning is best done in the classroom (or in this case, the panel room)

As a bootstrapped college student, I was upset that I couldn’t afford the full conference ticket. Although the expo-ticket gave me access to the keynotes and the exposition floor, it did not give me access to the numerous panels throughout the weekend. I soon realized, however, that everyone I talked to, whether at one of the planned mixers or just sitting on a bench beside me, was an expert in their own niche. This realization turned the entire conference upside-down for me.

Instead of simply waiting in anticipation for the keynotes, I began turning to the people seated next to me and asking them questions. The breadth and depth of expertise found amongst the attendees of BlogWorld blew me away. I met incredible people, ranging from an older woman from Ireland who was a podcasting expert, to a young Canadian guy who was a social media consultant for the restaurant industry. With every new conversation I felt as if I was hitting the “I’m feeling lucky” button on Google—always getting something of value while still being a bit surprised by what I found.

For the first time in my life, BlogWorld gave me the opportunity to learn directly from experts in the field. As a student, I always thought that learning was best done in the controlled environment of a classroom. But after attending BlogWorld I learned that I could engage some of the greatest gurus in the industry on the expo floor, in the hallway, or even at a party.

MYTH #2: Blogging is just a hobby

I began the conference with the naïve thought that blogging is to young adults as knitting is to old people—something they do in their spare time. I knew there were a lot of people who are full-time bloggers, but I had no idea how indubitable of a business it actually is.

While listening to the founder of the SocialMediaExaminer, I learned how he created an entire business model with a blog as its main course and he would then monetize the side dishes (by creating online conferences, by selling extra tools, etc). Not only did I hear about all these ideas, but I also learned how to implement them—and that is what I was really curious about. I learned how bloggers get sponsored posts, how they work with brands for product placement, and even how they negotiate to get free promotional items to giveaway to their readers.

I was blown away when I learned that major advertising agencies work with bloggers the same way they do with television networks. I’m sure this sounds sophomoric to you pros out there, but this was entirely new to me. The tremendous business opportunities available in new media is definitely not being taught in my business school’s curriculum.

MYTH #3: Bloggers are just like any other kind of writer

There was a certain culture—dare I say, a gravitas—to the people at BlogWorld. Think: New York publishing ambition crossed with Silicon Valley edge. It was simply awesome.

I made some incredible friends at BlogWorld, and we are still in touch today. Plus, there was an essence of openness, authenticity, and generosity at the event that is rare for a college student to experience (campus career fairs usually look like an episode of Survivor).

I know some people like to calculate ROI (return on investment), so here is my final breakdown:

  • The cost of attending BlogWorld was .04% of a year’s tuition for me
  • The returns included:
    • Receiving an eye-opening education in the future of media while making fascinating new friends
    • Being asked to write as a featured contributor for Yahoo! Finance
    • Meeting people ranging from the Chief Marketing Officer of Ford to the author of The End of Business as Usual
    • Getting a dozen new t-shirts, ha!
    • And best yet… I won a 32GB iPad by simply spinning a wheel at one of the expo booths [I know—it was unreal!]

Overall, it is pretty clear that BlogWorld was hands down one of the best events I’ve ever been to.

Most people idly sat by as newspapers emerged, and then radio, and then television. Today, the world is getting hit by the wave of blogging and new media. If you want to surf on the edge of this wave instead of wading in the water, be sure to give the next BlogWorld Expo some serious thought. I’m sure I’ll see you there next year!

Alex Banayan is an author, speaker, and a full-time undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. You can read more about Alex on hisblog, or you can connect with him on his facebook page.

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