Posts tagged ‘Blogging’

January 6th, 2012

BlogWest2012 in Edmonton, March 8-10, 2012

Calling all Bloggers or Blogger wanna-bes!

For the first time, BlogWest2012 will be in Edmonton on March 8-10, 2012.

The topics presented at BlogWest2012 will range from inspirational, to technical to business focussed. The premise of the conference is “for Western Canadians by Western Canadians”

The key note speaker has been announced as Angela Saclamacis. Saclamacis is Manager, Public Relations and Broadcast Programming for The Walt Disney Company (Canada), Parks & Resorts. BlogWest2012 organizer Felicia Dewar describes Angela as “a leader in her industry, working with traditional, trade and emerging media to increase awareness and affinity for the Disney Parks & Resorts brand in Canada. “

Two more speakers that are being announced today are Julie Cole and Sarah Deveau.

Moderator Julie Cole, Co-Founder of Mabel’s Labels and mom of six, will lead a panel of experts featuring Theresa Albert, Kathy Buckworth, Maureen Dennis and Alyson Schafer in a lively discussion on “Parents as Brands”. They will explore parenting, public perceptions and the effect of those on their brands. Be prepared for a dynamic debate on brands evolving as children age and expertise areas change.

Sarah Deveau, author and freelancer will be leading: Crafting the Perfect Query: Getting Published (and Paid) by Magazines and Newspapers is a workshop for writers looking to break into paid print or online writing markets. Whether you’ve never written a query before, or need help brushing up your skills, this workshop is for you. You’ll learn how to brainstorm and organize your ideas for submission, and how to craft a query that will sell. You’ll learn the essential ingredients of a successful query, including how to grab and hold an editor’s attention and querying etiquette.

In addition to authoring two personal finance books, Deveau has written for every major newspaper across Canada, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun and Toronto Sun. Her articles have also been published in a number of national magazines, including Today’s Parent, Style at Home, AirLines and more. Deveau runs her own blog at blog.moneysmartmom.ca, blogs for YummyMummyClub.ca, and contributes to a dozen other parenting blogs.

Other topics will include:

  • Monetization of Your Blog
  • Using Your Power for Good, Not Evil
  • WordPress 101 & 201
  • Plus many, many more still being finalized

Early bird registration runs from January 9, 2012 to January 29, 2012 for $199, and regular price of $249 after January 29, 2012.

Venue has yet to be finalized, will release next week.

For more information:

http://blogwest2012.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/BlogWest2012

CategoryEvents | CommentNo Comments »

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May 8th, 2011

Why Blog! Need Your Help

As many of your know I am very passionate about blogging, and all of the wonderful rewards one gets through the blogging platform. I am kind of a walking evangalist…. some may call it a slight obsession… regardless – I also have a insatiable thirst for personal stories. So I have decided to pull together these two ideas and compile stories on why we blog.

If you are a blogger, please share your stories with the community – on your blogging experiences. I know all the feedback will be different and yet alike. Please answer the following questions via email and add anything else you feel is important in your blogging journey:

  1. What kind of a blog do you have?
  2. How long have you been blogging for?
  3. How often do you think one should blog?
  4. What have been the rewards of blogging?
  5. Why might you recommend blogging to someone?
  6. Do think that blogs can be beneficial for developing business?
  7. What blogging platform(s) do you use and would you recommend (WordPress, Blogger, etc. Do you use free or premium templates or design your own?
  8. Where do you see your blog going in the future or what goals do you hope to achieve with your blog in the future?
  9. What else would you like to share about your blogging story?

Please share this with your blogging friends and family – it will be a great to read all of the stories! Email me your stories.

Why Blog – Blogging Stories will be published once a week for the next little while. Happy blogging.

CategoryBlogging | CommentNo Comments »

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March 13th, 2011

Just Click Publish! Stop Over Proofing Your Blog Posts

This blog post was inspired by Mitch Joel’s podcast #241 with Valeria Maltoni (who writes a fabulous marketing blog called Conversation Agent).

Mitch and Valeria both blog 6-7 times a week consistently. Mitch explains that many people believe that blogging is really, really hard and that it’s difficult to come up with topics every single day, “but when you are living and breathing in something that you love, I am actually really challenged ….to decide what I am going to blog about.” Mitch talks about the fast speed in which he writes, that he “pounds it out” and “thats how I feel”.

So many bloggers or potential bloggers I spend time with seem to struggle hitting the publish button on their blogs. Many bloggers I know spend so much time perfecting their post, that their blog suffers. The time and effort that goes into writing and pushing that publish button is overwhelming and practically holds them hostage.

I joke with new bloggers that they shouldn’t spend endless hours perfecting their first posts because it is likely that a new blogger’s posts are not going to get very many views! I believe that a new blogger’s first 5-10 posts should be well written and thought provoking, but they should be quick, and it is more important to get used to hitting that publish button than it is to write an eloquent post.

It reminds me of writing an important email that is going to a large group of people. We often write it, proof it, reread it, reproof it, get a peer to read it, then finally when we hit that send button it is a relief, but how much time did we waste in the hesitation of clicking send? Sure the email may be perfectly written, but did it still convey the exact same message as the first draft did? Could we have sent it out after proofing the email twice instead of eleven times?

Hitting the publish button on your blog can be very liberating and we should all feel a sense of accomplishment everytime we publish a piece of content, it’s a big deal. To help you actually hit that publish button more often you can set some writing guidlines that can help in the writing process.

For example a guideline could be that once you write a draft post you will publish it within one day, or that you will write AND publish a post in one sitting. There should be some passion and hopefully some speed or urgency behind your writing, as Mitch Joel of Six Pixels often talks about, “punch it out”.

Yes I believe in proofing your posts, but not so much that it inhibits the writing and publishing process. Proof your article, but have fun clicking that publish button (maybe a bit earlier than you would normally). Then move onto your next article!

And heck, you can always go and edit the article if you made any major mistakes…happy publishing!

 

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February 3rd, 2011

Content Marketing – Start a Blog?

I was inspired to write this article while I was listening to a Copyblogger podcast with Robert Bruce and Copyblogger founder Brian Clark (weekly podcasts can be found for free on iTunes) – highly suggested!

Copyblogger is a website (podcast etc.) that teaches us how content marketing works. Something Brian said that is very simple but summarizes content marketing is “Give away valuable content and sell something related.”

As my readers know I am very passionate about blogging. I am a walking blogging billboard. I need to start keeping track of my ‘conversion rate’ – the statistics of my friends and family that were not bloggers, and now are! My friends that are setting up blogs are either understanding the rewards of blogging, or just sick of me talking about blogs so they set one up to shush me. Either way I am happy with the outcome.

Create a coffee bean blog and sell travel mugs. Create a music blog and sell rock band tshirts. Create a photo blog and sell frames. If you pick something that you are passionate about you can make it work.

The market is not saturated. I am a prime example – there are soooo many marketing bloggers, but yet I have carved out my niche and am benefitting greatly because of my blog. Telling me that you won’t start your blog on politics because there are so many out there already is like saying “why learn – there are already enough smart people out there”. The potential of blogging, and establishing yourself as an online resource is very exciting and has such huge (and proven!) success.

I recommend signing up for Copybloggers newsletter – http://www.copyblogger.com/ (enter your email address in top right hand corner).

Get inspired to blog today!

CategoryBlogging | Comment2 Comments »

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July 10th, 2010

Three Steps To Get You and Your Business Online Using Social Media

Getting your business and your personal brand online can be overwhelming with all the options and buzz that is going on right now.

Three suggested steps for those that want to play in the online marketing / social media realm:

Step #1 – Establish a profile on LinkedIn

Build your profile by using your resume. This is a good start, people will now be able to find you if they are looking for you – (if you are not on LinkedIn and still pondering why people use LinkedIn that last sentence should make you open up the computer and get after it, people are likely looking for you and that can equate into opportunities).

Now start finding people to connect with: Open your rolodex or connect to gmail contacts and start connecting. When you have connected with some of your key contacts start going through their connections – you will find more peers that you can invite to connect with. If you can personalize your message instead of sending the standard request you will be more memorable, “great to see you are now with XZY Company – how are you liking it?” “nice to connect again, hope to see you are the annual meeting”.  And watch the “People You May Know” box, this is helpful in adding connections as well.  

The time to set up your LinkedIn profile and add your core group of contacts will take time in the beginning, but once it is setup you can spend a few minutes a day or week depending on what you are doing,  checking in on contact updates, invitations,  articles and events.

Eventually you can make your profile more useful by collecting and displaying referrals,  books you are reading and events you are attending. I find that my LinkedIn Profile much better describes what my interests and strengths are over my resume because it is so much more dynamic.

Step #2 – Get on Twitter

Twitter is a strange tool, it takes time to figure out how you are going to use it. Open up an account, follow some people and start talking on it. Commit to tweet a few times a week at least to keep your stream relevant. If you are looking for opportunities of any kind do not LOCK your Twitter stream, that’s pointless, it’s like attending a networking event but then shushing most of the people that come up to meet you. Don’t shush, unlock, be open, and just don’t Tweet things you don’t want people to read.

Step #3 – Start a Blog

Start a WordPress blog. Like Twitter, blogging will also take a bit of time and practise in order to become efficient at. Most people have a fear about blogging. Writing information about yourself, or your thoughts or opinions can be terrifying. Take whatever baby steps you need to. Start writing and clicking that post button, once you get 10 or so posts under your belt things will become easier in the blogging world.

 

Should I Have An Online Strategy?

There are two paths you can take in establishing your online presence:

  • Jump right in and figure it out as you go, or
  • Establish your strategy and goals and cater your online campaign appropriately

Both options can be successful, and both can fail. You will have to decide what type of person or business you are and what ypes of resources you have. Either way, try not to continually postpone using these tools, they are here to stay, and your customers are likely online, find and connect with them. And hopefully have some fun doing it!

If you are ready to commit to social media and want a step by step guide I really liked Dan Evan’s “Social Media – Marketing An Hour A Day”.

Post any questions you have on my blog. Cheers!

Shannon Bowen-Kelsick (sbk)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@sbkelsick.com

CategoryTools and Technology | CommentNo Comments »

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April 26th, 2010

Why Do I Follow A Blogger I Despise?

WHY does one have to mention their business, their title, their history and their expertise every single time they write a post?

Come on, I read certain blogs for a reason. I think they are either entertaining or they provide information I am seeking. When we want to know someone’s credentials we seek that out, but normally we just want to read the post. And if the post is well written we will know the person has some credentials, no need to flap them in my face every single day.

It may be for SEO (search engine optimization) reasons, if we determine winners by that alone I guess I will say this blogger wins. Let’s hope he is different in person than online.

For now I will continue to subject myself to this pain and misery, I think I can learn something from it, how not to blog.

by Shannon Shannon Bowen-Kelsick (sbk)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@sbkelsick.com

Photo from Flickr Creative Commons

CategoryBlogging | Comment1 Comment »

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