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Yesterday, we gave a recap of some of our favorite Shareaholic user presentations, and we thought we’d give some more insights from BlogWorld on other insightful presentations.
Jay Baer – 12 Imperative Must-Dos for the Serious Blogger
Jay’s session was the perfect blend of anecdotes and analytics to teach you how to take your blog to the next level for your business. Some of our favorite advice included:
- Be patient. Sustainable growth will not happen overnight. Jay even shared his own Google Analytics for Social Media Examiner, which showed that it took him three years to “make his first nickel.” He reminded us that a blog is not a project, it’s a process.
- Be specific. You should be the favorite blog of a few people, not the “#10 favorite” of many. To help focus yourself, complete this sentence: “Because of this blog, _______ (type of person) will _________ (a specific benefit).” Answering this question will help you create better content.
- Be consistent. Don’t value inspiration over perspiration. “I’ll only blog when I have something to say” isn’t a good strategy. You always have something to say—not every post is going to be the best post ever. Remember, the more you post, the more eyeballs you will have on your page. At the end of the day, be concerned with percentage changes, not the absolute value of the numbers.
- Be shareable. Of course this is one of our favorites—we’re all about sharing content! Be strategic about what type of sharing capabilities you have from your website. Maybe even consider industry specific sharing buttons to have more shares. And the best piece of advice is the Golden Rule of Social Media: “Share other’s content if you would like to be shared.” (You can start by sharing this post through the buttons below!)
Jay is one smart cookie—check out his full presentation and our interview with him to learn more. You can also follow Jay on Twitter @JayBaer.
Jenna Langer – Who is Behind the Company Logo? How to Humanize Your Brand Through Building Community
Jenna’s session was full of great examples of how everyone in the organization can be involved building and engaging community. As community manager and employee number three at Livefyre, Jenna set the pace for the community-driven brand and has continued to drive that throughout their culture. Here are some highlights and tips from her session:
- Don’t forget the importance of in-person connections. Livefyre is a blog conversations tool, so you’d think that they only care about Tweeting and blogging with their community. Wrong. Jenna talked about how they really value their time spent at conferences and connecting with users face-to-face. She even mentioned “bringing the meetup with you” – if you’re traveling, create casual meetups with users just to make those connections, grab some beers and hand out t-shirts. The casual approach might not work for every brand, but it was nice to see that you maybe you don’t have to overthink things to connect with community members and make an impact.
- Go above and beyond to win advocates. Jenna told a story about how she won over a power-user, DJ Waldow. She did this by monitoring a search for her company on Twitter and discovering a question about blog commenting tools from him. Her response to him was personalized because she actually took a moment to read his blog and give specific examples of what Livefyre could do for his posts. The personalized approach worked!
We also had a chance to catch up with Jenna after the session. Check out her tips for getting all types of people involved in a community and her vision of success in community management.
To learn more from Jenna follow her on Twitter @JennaLanger.
Scott Stratten – 7 Deadly Social Media Sins
Besides a catchy title, Scott had a fabulous presentation. His presentation was hilarious and really made us think about how we should change our own social media habits. Here are two habits that definitely need to change:
- Mannequin Networking. Social media is about two-way conversation, so don’t send out automatic updates or fail to respond to people who try to talk to you. In the words of Scott, “If someone replies to you and you aren’t there to respond, you are doing it wrong!” In this same category is having an account and never responding—it’s actually worse to have one and not respond, then to not have an account at all. His words sum this category up the best: “Don’t try to have a presence without being present.”
- Apathy. This sin is the result of automation. Now more than ever, people are apathetic about interacting with others online. During his talk, Scott asked how many people don’t want to be invited to Facebook events anymore—half of the people in room raised their hands. If this continues, this will be the downfall of social media.
To hear more hilarious and down-to-earth insights from Scott, follow him on Twitter @UnMarketing.
Lynette Young – Taking The World’s Stage: Women Using Social Media
Though the title of her session only mentioned women, Lynette’s session touched both the differences and similarities in how women and men communicate. Our absolute favorite gem of advice revolved around a fear of sharing on social media. She said that both men and women fear rejection on social media if they share their content and they end up being wrong. People naturally want acceptance prior to posting, which doesn’t work when trying to communicate online.
To get around this problem, Lynette suggested people conquer their fear of rejection by having a small trusted circle of friends to share with first. We got a chance to catch up with her after the session, where she gave us some fabulous advice on finding that circle of friends.
What did you learn from #BWENY? Give a shout-out to your favorite session in the comments!