Rock'n Blogworld: Day 1

First impressions of Blogworld? Packed. Excitement. Relaxed. Variety. Twittery. Geeky. It was a busy first day, and I've walked away with a notebook full of tips (yes, I'm actually using paper, not sure why). I'm going to be posting the main takeaways from the sessions I attend each day. Not summaries, but just a few quick interesting tidbits. If you are here at Blogworld, please leave a comment with your own highlights.

Morning Keynote: Stand up, stand out, stand together - Scott Stratten

• Don't depend on RSS for your blog. Not everyone is using a reader.


• Offer e-mail subscriptions and other ways for people to read your content.


• "Viral" is not a verb. You can't make something go viral. Social media has to build over time.


• Build relationships by talking to each other. For example, 75 percent of Scott's tweets are @replies.

The art and science of scaling social media - Maggie Fox

• Use paid placement on Digg, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Outbrain for "smart scale" niche marketing.


• The magic formula is organic social media amplified by the paid placement.


• Share new content and start campaigns on weekends when there's more activity online.

Finding readers for your blog - Darren Rowse

• Know the readers you want before developing a strategy. Come up with a target reader profile.


• E-mail readers who leave a comment on your posts to build readership.


• Do not depend on RSS, drive readership through e-mail newsletters as well.

Like it or spike it: a hard look at social media case studies - Dave Peck, David Griner

• A great example of a successful campaign: The guy at home in his underwear. Check it out. Enough said.

Making money from your blog - Chris Garrett, Darren Rowse

• Build an advertising/media kit page to attract potential sponsors.


• Start with small advertisers, a few small sponsorships will add up.


• Know your metrics and your conversion rate to share with advertisers.


• Create your own products (e.g., e-books, webinars).

Lastly, I want to send some shout outs to the great people I met today:

Farnoosh Brock - A fellow North Carolinian who blogs at Prolific Living, a blog about living your best life. I especially like her yoga posts and book reviews.

Angela Moore - A fellow freelancer, based in L.A. One of her biggest clients is Habitat for Humanity.

Holly Hoffman - Holly runs an agency in Corpus Christi, Neovia Solutions. They provide regional businesses with social media marketing strategies using the POST method featured in the book Groundswell.