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Chris Garrett and Sonia Simone Talk Tribes

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“Tribes are united by passion.” – Sonia Simone

One of the track keynotes at BlogWorld LA 2011 was given by Chris Garrett and Sonia Simone. The two partnered to talk about tribes, and whiles you can check out the entire presentation by purchasing the virtual ticket, here are some key take-away points:

#1: Your tribe starts with you – your passion and how you frame that passion.

Chris and Sonia talked about the need to be a leader in your community. While it is important to listen to your crowd, the vision for the tribe has to be your own. What’s your unique spin on your topic? People want to get behind that idea, and they need your vision as a guide.

#2: You are the leader, so start acting like it. Set the rules that will support your tribe.

I think this point can be best summed up in two quotes:

  • “If you’re not getting hate mail, you’re not trying hard enough.” – Chris
  • “It’s not all unicorns and rainbows. It’s a lot of drama…If you’re going to have a tribe you have to accept that you are the law.” – Sonia

There will be people who hate what you do and aren’t afraid to tell you that. There will also be people within your tribe who are argumentative, mean-spirited, and annoying. The great thing with your tribe is that you get to make the rules – but you also have to enforce them.

#3: You can move from free to paid when you know what your tribe will pay for.

Lastly, think about what you know how to do really well and what your clients really need. That’s the intersection you want to find if you intend to build a paid membership community. People are willing to pay for lots of different stuff; it’s just a matter for finding your community and getting them involved with your product!

I definitely enjoyed this insider’s look at the membership community-building experiences Chris and Sonia had. Remember, the virtual ticket allows you to hear the entire presentation as well as ALL of the other sessions from this weekend.

Scott Stratten Doesn’t Know Who You Are

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Scott Stratten was the keynote speaker at BlogWorld 2010, and getting to meet him was definitely a cool moment for me, since I respect his work. Recently, I had a conversation with a friend of mine, and it led me to realize something important that I wanted to share with you:

Scott Stratten doesn’t know who you are.

Furthermore, Darren Rowse doesn’t know who you are. Chris Garrett doesn’t know who you are. Brian Clark doesn’t know who you are.

And I would even go a step farther and say that none of these guys even cares who you are.

Chris and Darren don't know who I am because I am a supporter of theirs. They know who I am because I marched up, introduced myself, and *told* them I am a supporter.

Why? Simple:

  • You lurk on their sites or as a Twitter follower.
  • You comment sporadically or never really say much in a comment other than “I agree.”
  • You RT them, but never actually comment on their tweets.
  • You’ve never introduced yourself.
  • You’ve never approached them in any way other than with the question, “Can you help me?”
  • You’ve never linked them on your blog, or even referenced them.

Do you know every single person online? Of course not. Even if you’ve been online longer than Peanut Butter and Jelly Time, you can’t possibly know everyone in your niche, even. Do you even know all of your Twitter followers? Unless you only have a handful, probably not.

So you sit there and fume that Scott Stratten (or whoever) doesn’t engage. “His entire stance on social media is that you have to engage with people. What a poser – he never once said anything to me, and I’ve been a fan of his for years. Waaaaaaah.”

Ok, I hope you aren’t actually being that melodramatic. Still, I think we all find ourselves thinking these thoughts. We feel ignored by people who, frankly, have no idea they are ignoring us.

If you do actively try to engage with any of these people (or the people you look up to within your niche) and they outright ignore you time and time again, ok. I stand correctly and they’re assholes. But I’ve never once met someone in the social networking/Internet marketing/blogging world who is like that. In fact, I never once met anyone considered to be “kinda a big deal” in their industry who is like that. You don’t get to be a “big name” if you refuse to acknowledge people.

Have you ever just tried being a friend? Have you ever walked up to Scott or Darren or Chris or Brian or (insert your favorite blogger here) and just said hello? I have.* And guess what? They know who I am now. Are they going to be my new bff in real life or even on Twitter? No. That’s just silly. Building a relationship is a slow endeavor. Meeting me once at a conference does not mean that they are now going to recognize every single thing I do or say. “Oh my god, I just tweeted that I’m going to bed. WHY HASN’T SCOTT SAID GOODNIGHT TO ME?!?!”

If you want someone to know who you are, 99 times out of 100 it is not their fault if they don’t. You want the relationship, so initiate it. These people all want to meet their fans…and more importantly, these people all consider you as a peer, not as someone on a lower level. They’re more than happy to get to know you if you actually take the time to get to know them, as a friend, not just as a follower. Say hello. Reply to their tweets. Comment on their blog posts in a way that adds to the conversation. Propose well-written, interesting guest posts for their blog, if they accept them. Write a blog post that names them in the title? I don’t know – do something to show them that you support whatever they’re doing. Y’all are creative people. Be creative.

I would like to make one other point before I leave you with your thoughts for the night, and to be honest, this point deserves a blog post to itself, which I’ll probably end up doing in the near future:

If your mindset is “What can he do for me?”, Scott Stratten may come to know who you are, but he will never care who you are.

And that’s true of anyone. Even me.

*Well, I almost. I never actually found Brian Clark at BlogWorld to say hello…hopefully next year!

Chris Garrett’s killer content

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Chris Garrett wrapped a bang-up presentation on creating killer content a little while ago, and one of his slides jumped out at me. It was a good slide, even a great slide… but I thought it could use just…a little…extra.

Venn diagram pointing out that few people want to know what you just ate

(My belief that almost nobody cares what you just ate has been magnified for the purposes of this drawing, actually. It all depends on what you’re aiming to do with your blogging.)

New Speaker, Panel & Keynote Announcements!

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Are you subscribed to our newsletter? If not, you’re missing out! Over the past two weeks we’ve been announcing some speaker, panel, and keynotes for BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010.

Here’s a quick recap:

 

BlogWorld Keynote: The 7 Harsh Realities of Blogging for Bucks

Nearly all BlogWorld attendees are interested in monetizing their content, so we’re proud to announce this special keynote talk by Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, and Sonia Simone.

Every “make money online” guru wants to tell you how easy it is to find customers with blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. The reality is, though, business and social media aren’t always a smooth mix. Learn about the pitfalls of making money with your blog (and how to do it right). Presented by:

Brian Clark Darren Rowse Sonia Simone .

 

The ProBlogger Workshop

Thursday, October 14, 2010

A full day of programming from ProBlogger authors Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett and featuring Yaro Starak, attendees to this workshop will learn how to best grow blog traffic and community plus learn monetization tips and techniques. Presented by:

Darren Rowse Chris Garrett Yaro Starak

 

Real Time Revolution: 7 Rules for Business at the Speed of Now

We’ve adapted our businesses to accommodate many of the most recent upheavals in communication: the phone, email, digital marketing and advertising on the web. But we haven’t yet adapted our businesses, from the inside out, to what is potentially the single biggest shift in online communication: social media. The Real-Time Revolution has created new expectations from individuals and businesses alike. Speed and agility matter, response time is everything, and open communication is the hallmark of a business that thrives today. We’ll share seven blueprints for areas of your business that need to adapt as a result of real-time: culture, people, internal communication, listening, responding, crisis planning, and measurement. Presented by:

Amber Naslund Jay Baer

 

“From Blog to Book”

Features a look at what it takes to get a book published and why some bloggers are approached with book deals and others aren’t. Presented by:

Ellen Gerstein Simon Salt Brian Solis .

 

Monetization Speed Round: 60 Questions in 60 minutes

The speed round will feature questions about monetization from readers of the various monetization blog – the moderator will ask the question and each panelist has 30 seconds to answer and give a quick tip. Presented by:

David Klein John Chow Shoemoney Zac Johnson Jonathan Volk

For upcoming session details, continue to follow this blog and subscribe to the newsletter by clicking here and signing up in the box on the upper left hand side of the screen.

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