Mn Blogger Conference 2011 - Take Two

Here we are - one year later and another Minnesota Blogger Conference is in the books. Founders Arik Hanson & Missy Berggren along with their planning committee members, Josh Braaten, Beth Rubin-Gabor, Bridget Nelson Monroe,and "birthday girl" Suzi Magill put on a wonderful event, improving on last year in so many ways, including the venue, parking, food & being able to accommodate twice as many attendees.

The Keynote: Blogs to Riches was by Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing, who was also a sponsor.  

He left us with five main ideas:

1. "No Blog Plan is a Plan to Fail"

2. "Adapt & Thrive"

3. "It's Not All About You" (Show interest in other people)

4. "Ask. Recognize. Repeat." (To invite participation with the readers of your blog - your community)

5. "The End is Near, Let's Start" (telling us to not be stopped in our tracks when we think we've run out of ideas to write about & how to find more)

First time I had been in the same room as Lee after following him & hearing so much about him & his other speaking engagements worldwide. It was nice to see how down to earth he really was.

So many of the people I knew would be there I literally only had time to say hello, hug-it-out & see you later since we were planning to attend different sessions.  I had planned out my day & even though it was turning out that I might not have done as much socializing as I originally intended I wanted to get certain things out of the experience.

My first break-out session was with Mandy Dwyer of Glimpses of Soul Photography.  All I can say is that Mandy had me wishing I could afford a DSLR camera, not to mention a new PC or Mac so I can load some new photo editing software.  I am already thinking even more about capturing photography vs just taking snapshots.  She delivered a crash course in lighting, composition editing & how to use photos to tell a story. Her notes are already up on her website if you are interested.  

Mandy also donated her time doing head shots, so of course I couldn't pass that opportunity up! Can't wait to see how they turned out. I heard $329.00 was raised for the event's charity: "READ INDEED" from the photos alone. Tremendous job!

Jen Emmert,  

Meghan Wilker,   

Stephanie Meyer & Ian Schwartz  were the panel members of "Building Communities Online and Offline" - my second session which was moderated by Kate O'Reilly.  

Some key takeaways:

1. Reminding people that they have permission to participate.

2. Give people multiple channels to engage with your community - not just your favorite one.

3. Have a great host - you have to be an organizer who delegates.

4. Reach out to people who may not have made your event & find out why, i.e. the "maybes"

5. It's OK to call the haters on your blog out! Just do it in a way that's not defensive & holds them accountable. (loved this one)

After a lovely & satisfying taco bar lunch and a couple of nice conversations with fellow attendees, which was free thanks to our sponsors Kare11, Top Rank Marketing & Allina Hospitals & Clinics, I went to "Advertisements, Endorsements and the Casual 'Like'" - led by Hayden O. Creque Esq. of Creque Law. 

NO SLEEPING was possible in this session. It was very lively & interactive to say the least!

If you are interested in a recap of what was discussed, visit Hayden's website where you will find a downloadable copy of the presentation. 

Just keep in mind these things:

1. "The Average blogger is held to a higher standard than celebrities."

2. "If there's a connection between the endorser and the marketer of the product that would affect how people evaluate the endorsement, it should be disclosed."

3. "Value doesn't matter...It could be $1 or $1,000...It's about the relationship."

Hayden also made me laugh when he said in his Midwestern-modified Trinidad accent: "Straight Cash Homie" aka Randy Moss.

The final session I chose was Moving Your Blog to Wordpress, (so Blogger cover your ears,) by Tim Elliott.

Tim talked about wordpress.com versus wordpress.org.  

"With WordPress.com the hosting and managing of the software is taken care of by the team here at Automattic.  With WordPress.org you need to install the software on your own server or with a 3rd party provider."

He walked us through the costs of the different options. He promises that "#wordpress is not that complicated once you get to know it ;-) " Luckily for me Blogger to Wordpress is one of the more streamlined transitions & size of the blog is not an issue - multiple attempts to import will eventually bring everything over. 

The biggest tip he gave us is something called WordPress TV.  I you have questions - this is the best resource he offered us - for people of all levels of tech-savviness. Tim also made his presentation available so we did not have to write or type furiously - we could try to concentrate on asking questions if need be.

Overall this year's conference flew by & I wish I had the opportunity to also sit in on some sessions by a few of my favorite people Erica Mayer, Kate Hopper, Paul DeBettignies & Patrick Rhone, so I hope they all also made their presentations available so I can go & check them out on my own time. Since I can't clone myself, that will have to do. 

The best part of the day? The conversations between the sessions - meeting new bloggers & seeing those you've met before, but don't get face time with often. It's something we all strive to do - making real connections offline.

Till next year...

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: My Lens Into The First Ever MN Blogger Conference

or Interview w/ Mn Blogger - Monika Melsha at Mn Blogger Conference

Stream of Consciousness Sunday ~ Full Brain

It's Week 9 of my Stream of Consciousness Sunday posts. I took last week off because as a family we took our first overnight road trip together up north in Duluth, MN.  

I'm back in the saddle & am feeling mentally stuffed - my brain full - after an entire day of networking, learning & plain old socializing at Minnesota Blogger Conference 2011. 

I won't use this post as my recap - that will be another day, however I did want to say it was a totally different experience going into the event this year than last.  There was an anxiousness that I felt last year because I was totally green as a blogger.  I had no idea what to expect & I knew hardly anyone who would be there.  I had tweeted with folks but had met very few face to face.

This year I was surprised to have a couple people approach me & say "you look familiar, what's your blog's name" or "I think I follow you", which blew me away.  I had a few very in-depth conversations that left me knowing so much more about the other person than I thought I'd know coming out of this experience.

There's such a genuine feeling you get when you talk to people in the Twin Cities Blogging community.  It's like nothing else I've experienced.  It's warm, welcoming & inclusive.  For that I'm thankful. My guess is that many of us may be introverts & appreciate spending time with other people who want to get to us better & on a much deeper level ~ people who genuinely care what you have to say & take it to heart.

 

It's also a day of reflection in memory of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. None of us, however, will ever forget where we were that day & how we first learned of the horrific tragedy. Amongst those who lost loved ones, there are also the positive stories of children born on that fateful day.  May the Lord give us the strength to balance the pain with the joy and cherish the memories of the innocence we all lost watching those towers fall.  I'm very thankful that, as a country, we survived that traumatic day & grew stronger as a result.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.

§         Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.

§         Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.

§         Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.

§         Link up your post at all.things.fadra

§         Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: My 9/11 Memories on Tumblr or  My Lens Into The First Ever MN Blogger Conference or Stream of Consciousness Sunday - The Pieces That Make Us Whole

Will You Wait & See or Are You Riding The Google+ Bandwagon?!

Twitter has been on fire lately with posts about pending world domination because now we have Google+.  The early adopters are calling for a mass exodus from Facebook ~ even Twitter & LinkedIn. Soon these newly self-crowned Google+ "experts" will say we should pledge allegiance to the man-made deity who is all things Google.

On the other side of the camp are regular people with insights on their initial experiences and in that realm - reviews are mixed. Initial concerns from the "reals" are over duplication of content, privacy, who is able to put you in their circle, being married to a single e-mail address - the one you initially build the profile with and even that the majority of the users are tech nerdy guys. ;  )
Take this post from Jacob Morgan:Google Plus, the Best Way to Duplicate Your Content or an investor's viewpoint: Google+ vs. The World – Can Google Beat Facebook?

For those of you not interested yet in selling your soul to beg for a Google+ invitation, this is the screen you see whenever you click" +You" ~ a big fat "You're just not cool enough for us yet" rejection screen.

So I find a ton of humor in this fever that has been blanketing twitter:

@Mashable posted this humorous video link from hulu:

http://mashable.com/2011/07/13/google-plus-jimmy-fallon/

Of course you have high profile people who are exiting out of Google+'s "public view" as quickly as they hopped on board:

Wouldn't be a cool tech thing without the brutally desperate ones who get busted trolling for Google+ friends:

Plus the hot-tempered testosterone fueled signs of lack of patience over etiquette, or lack there of:

I found that @Nakia, one of my favorite artists from NBC's The Voice, is on the wagon and he says "I'm still figuring out how I want to interact on this here G+ thingy. lol"

Infinite insightful wisdom abounds, for example this virtual fortune telling moment from @garyvee:

Some of my favorite informative posts about Google+ are captured below - Check them out if you want to be an informed decision maker - not just another sheep following the herd.

From Olivier Blanchard aka @thebrandbuilder

Is Google+ really a big deal? 8+ things everyone should know about Google+

From @JasonFalls

Reality To Soon Set In On Google+

From @Mashable

Google+: The Complete Guide

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy: The Lure of Blog Comments or Converting those who say: Foursquare's NOT for Me!

The Evolution of My Social Networking Consciousness

I barely got a few pages into the introduction of Marketing 2.0 Bridging the Gap between Seller and Buyer through Social Media Marketing, by Bernie Borges, when I found some inspiration for this post.

I've been sitting on a draft which gave my top 3 reasons for using Twitter, but wanted to reach deeper. What's more important than a mere declaration of "Why I Like Twitter" may be talking about how I came to become aware of Twitter & how that new lens on the world has changed me as a person and a marketer. You could say it was a single step in the evolution of my social media & social networking consciousness.

My job layoff, which became official in January of 2009 meant I was thrust into a search for relevant information & adult conversation.  I've posted before about how this manifested in my role as a SAHM, but first I had to be engaged in my role as a job seeker.

In order to find a job, in this day & age, you rely on generating leads from your contacts, not unlike a sales process.  I had already been in the habit of keeping up with old friends and co-workers, long before it was the fashionable thing to do.  True networking, however, means generating new contacts outside of your circle. I made the conscious decision to open a Twitter account in March of 2009 & thus my handle contains 032009. I originally protected my tweets, but at the advice of @debbieweil , who DM'd me after I followed her and said I'd "get much more mileage out of Twitter that way..." I quickly unprotected them.  I'm so glad I did. Debbie was so right.

"And we're seeing a higher level of consciousness and many more opportunities for people to challenge their present ways of thinking and move into a grander and larger experience of who they really are."  by Neale Donald Walsch

 

That brings me to the Number One reason I chose twitter - Relationships, Relationships, Relationships.  I can't stress the importance of this enough ~ You can't continue to build a strong network without thinking outside of the norm and those whom you are familiar with. You also need to make a conscious effort to extend & grow those new relationships off-line, in real life (IRL) or face-to-face.

"If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness."  by Les Brown

 

Social sites like Twitter give you the unique opportunity to engage in conversation in real time, or pretty close to it.  That's my reason Number Two. Whatever you tweet, whether it's directed to a particular individual or to any one of your followers, if it's something that resonates, you can always count on a reaction - a reply/tweet back, a re-tweet (RT) or a direct message (DM), which is very empowering.  Whether you choose to believe it or not thousands of real life relationships have been started out there.  It's an interface like none other & it is a great platform to reveal yourself & to exhibit properties that people can connect with & engage in fluid conversations on a regular basis.

So what's reason Number Three? What do you crave? Many people crave validation around ideas, thoughts, concerns & feelings & Twitter provides an avenue to share those things & get honest feedback. As you regularly share information that's important to you with those who may have similar interests people continue to watch & see what's next.

When you build a social networking site profile you are marketing yourself and your personal brand. Defining who you are, what you represent & what you have to offer your reader is paramount. Don't think for a moment that you are not being analyzed over & over when people read your tweets, your blog from time to time, or your Twitter bio - they are. It's no LinkedIn, but your Twitter timeline is telling. It's like the reader/follower has a magnifying glass into your soul, your belief system & your social consciousness. Spend quality time fine-tuning your messages & tweeting thoughtfully. Your true colors will show and hopefully that's a good thing.

Networking - It's 100% Mental

A friend sent me a facebook message recently asking if I'd consider going in with her on some Personal Training sessions.  She really wanted to start going, but it was going to be much more affordable for her if she could convince someone to train with her.  I thought "what do I have to lose - I'll give it a try & help her out in the process." If I don't like it, I don't have to continue going & I'd be off the hook.

I'm no stranger to a good workout.  Health & Fitness has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, but honestly I've never paid anyone to train me. For 8 years, I was in competitive sports.  After college, I started teaching group fitness classes & trained competitively for bodybuilding.  So why should I need anyone to tell me how to train & get results right?

Flash forward to today & my life has changed dramatically.  My family has become my priority & my own fitness level has moved to the back burner.  I golf for networking & social reasons & I casually make appearances at the club to justify keeping my membership, but to say have time to train like I used to is a total understatement.  It just hasn't happened. There's no time.

So when this opportunity came up, I committed myself to give it an honest try. Last week's session seemed doable while I was doing it, but oh my goodness, it's been a long time since it took 3 solid days to recover from a workout!  I knew this situation was the kick in the rear I've needed for a long time. Without this Personal Trainer having been in my friend's network, we never would have met. I wouldn't have known she existed or started this little journey.

Networking is a very powerful tool & learning to do it on a regular basis is not second nature for most people.  It is work - it's a job - at least you need to treat it this way in order to see any benefits from doing it. If you don't intend to take it seriously, you might as well not even bother. It could be providing information, a product referral, the name of an associate - it takes many forms.

"For most people networking is a learned behavior... It is a gradual - and often painful, even scary - process of trial and error, small incremental steps, and finally a few breakthroughs." 

- Harvey Mackay

The other thing I believe networking to be is 100% a mental game.  It's mind over matter.  It's putting yourself in situations you don't necessarily understand or feel comfortable in - in order to think outside of yourself & ponder what you can do for another person. It's not "all about you." It's about learning to see the potential in other people & finding what from your base of knowledge you can use to benefit them.  The upside is that you might also gain a new friend in the process.

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." - Dale Carnegie

Take this new trainer of mine for example. If you stood the two of us side by side you'd think "what the heck do those two people have in common? What can they possibly do for each other?"  She's a 30-something ex-competitive soccer player turned ultra endurance athlete.  I'm a 40-something ex-competitive track & bodybuilding athlete, turned career woman, mother & golfer.
  

I was pleasantly surprised that she was quickly able to tap into my mental toughness - that innate tendency to not want to let a workout get the best of you - to dig in, give it 100% & to exceed your coach's expectations. Once you've learned it - that type of drive really never leaves you, it just gets pushed way down into your consciousness.

"Your role models also can become your mentors, helping you, advising you, guiding you, even lending you their network as you build your own." - Harvey Mackay

So this story isn't over - I signed up for 10 sessions of total body whooping, which means I have 9 more to go. Getting through the intense workouts so far has been 100% mental - remembering how to push beyond the limits my mind is trying to set for me, when I know my physical body is more than capable of doing more.

I'm challenging you to take a good look at your own networking opportunities.  Are you stepping outside of yourself & challenging yourself to help others, without expecting anything in return? Are you giving 100% toward finding a benefit for the other person? Are you truly vesting yourself, expressing genuine interest?  If not. Why bother?

Embracing Inspiration

As I'm sure is true for most writers, when a source of inspiration hits, you just need to get it down on paper or you'll lose it.  That was true for me this morning as my son & I are celebrating giant leaps toward successful potty training.  It's been a long, long journey for this very happy Momma - perhaps not so much for my son. 

"It is God's will that not only should we be happy, but that we should create our own happiness - This is the true moral." ~ Immanuel Kant

He first expressed interest at 18 months, so he's had the traditional BabyBjorn potty seat since then, but it was really nothing more than a toy. Thank God because I could never stomach the thought of having to empty out & clean that thing every time he used it. Luckily, I found a replacement seat with an attached kid-sized smaller seat, which tucks away into the lid. It's worked fabulously for his bathroom. In our main floor guest bathroom we are using a Calliou insert, which he also loves. 

I tried months & months of sticker charts, M&M and toy bribes, none of which worked. My son just recently turned three.  The past week it's been like a light turned on in his little head & it all made sense.  Going on the potty is something he could control & do for himself, so it quickly became a challenge he was going to conquer. At this rate, I'm hoping he'll make the underwear leap in no time. He finally found his inspiration.

So I've been writing about my quest to translate the networking I've been doing this past year on-line into face-to-face meetings.  I've really felt a need to build new relationships outside my normal circle of friends, including many past coworkers & vendors which I've maintained contact with, even though that network is quite large & diverse.  I've taken a couple of baby steps & hopefully with the help of the brain child of Ms. @alexisjbell , who is starting a new Minneapolis job seeker's club,  I'm inspired make a few more good connections. Not sure yet if I'll be able to attend the meetings themselves in person or in spirit, but I plan to link up & meet up with some of the members, when it does fit into my schedule.

"The more you exercise your networking muscles, the stronger they get - and the easier networking becomes." ~ Harvey Mackey

Harvey is an aphorism junky.  A couple of days ago, I dug back into my @HarveyMackay library & after starting to read "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty" again, it hit me how content from great writers remains relevant over time. Even though that book was published back in 1997, it still has some great truths which are still applicable for today. He says that when you first meet a person, you should immediately be thinking about what you can do for that person, without expecting anything in return. 

If you spend time and energy doing good things for others, I truly believe karma will reward you in due time.  It might not be today, tomorrow, or even next month, but it's destined to happen.  You just need to be patient & genuinely care about people. I know it's one thing in my life I can always control.  So, I'm starting off my week embracing that idea as my inspiration.  What is inspiring YOU today?