The Denver Chapter of the Social Media Club is having its monthly conference here in a live television studio hosted by Denver Open Media. Thanks to Tony and all of his gang that have a great studio.
Our fourth meeting and we are putting up the ever popular speaker Dave Taylor from Ask Dave Taylor. Dave and I have been friends for a while now and when Dee Rambeau asked me if I knew of a speaker that could be a presenter, I quickly suggested Dave because he is the first guy I think of when talking about blogging and presentations.
Dave is going to be speaking on that specific topic, Blogging 101 and the new social media.
I’ll be blogging it live here for everyone else.
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Writing a blog is a way to increase your credibility. As you write a blog, you are an authority, but it is only as good as your credibility. Blogging is your voice. Your blog is the voice of your business. Establishing your business voice is important.
If you are a business and don’t want to have a a part in this blogging world it can be very dangerous.
We have left the idea of papers. Now we use our phone. People are using their phone as a way to shop while in the shopping center. They can have information at their fingertips. If you are not findable, your product is in trouble.
Million dollar websites that are left to fend for themselves is a dangerous idea. If you can’t be found online your company is probably dead. If you are Fortune 100 you need to be findable to compete with the little guy. Little guy can compete if they are better at findable.
The Tipping Point is a great book for the idea of social media. It is a good book to get started as a marketer or business owner. How do I identify the influencers? Dave refers to them as thought leaders. Walt Mossberg is such a thought leader. Blogging can put you in the same chair as a Walt Mossberg. Of course like the New Yorker article you don’t know who is a dog. (Maybe he is suggesting Uncle Walter is actually a dog? I kid Mr. Mossberg.)
A television ad does not make you a thought leader, a advertisement in the Post doesn’t make you a thought leader, but an editorial in that paper makes you a though leader. Being a thought leader is the key, not your rank on Technorati. A thought leader might only have 25 readers, but they are the right 25 readers.
Sea change when we went from indexes sites to indexing pages. The home page is least likely to visitors. The pages are likely to get visitors through search. Secondary pages are far more important. Secondary pages are more likely to get searched.
The secret sauce is search companies want to get you the most up-to-date and relevant information. Fresh information is what allows search companies to put your pages in high ranking results. Finability changes marketing and sales.
Blogs are not a product spec sheet. Get your message out and let it go!
There really is an offline world. And the offline world should also mesh with your online world. There needs to be a balance.
Finding your next job, your next employee or next business partners through blogging. We have a wealth of information through social networks, Google and other places on the net. If you are pitching yourself or your business, you better be findable on the net. Maximize the chance that you or your company will be found. When you drop to the second page of results, you have lost 30%of your traffic.
This is not your father’s business. We need to rethink what we are doing in business. Thinking outside the box is the new business thinking. The 21st Century Business View. HP will service any computer is an example.
The importance of fresh content is key. Research of the reviews of products is always occurring. Information changes at every stage. Today’s information is tomorrow’s obsolete message. If you keep it fresh, it never becomes obsolete. Adding freshness is a pain, but it is the magic of blogging. Manage your message through blogging.
Blogs are:
- Cheap
- SEO friendly
- easy to manage
- Good at establishing dialogue
- Schedule your message
- Others can produce your content.
Blogs are like fishing and each page is a hook. Sure a website with a cool flash page is cool but it’s just one hook. A blog with 5 cool entries is 50 hooks. Which is the easiest way to fish? (Dave is great at teaching a man to fish.)
Blogging comes with a price. You can’t control everything. Coping with other bloggers is a huge pitfall. Many people are just out to be trolls. [your company name] sucks .com is a serious pitfall as well. Expectation of postings can be a pitfall. If your company starts out with a lot of frequency, and then you lose that, you lose credibility. Digital pollution and spammers are a horrible pitfall.
Good tips for blogging:
- allow comments
- authentic voice
- Identify your bias
- establish credibility
- write what you know
- share testimonials
- write industry news
- stay focused
Thanks Dave for all of these nuggets. I’m sure that I missed some great stuff, but I appreciate your presentation! I’ll try to get that URL correct though!
Jim,
thanks for blogging the presentation by Dave Taylor last night at Denver Social Media Club. It was a neat opportunity to hear Dave’s compelling content in a small group environs. Interested folks can look on Comcast’s public access channels 51 and 52 for a taped version of the live presentation from last night.