New York New York it's a wonderful town .. the Bronx is up and the Battery's down .. and the Bloggers are coming to town. April 4-6, 2008 to be exact is when bloggers from all over the world will dance down Broadway. So .. what's it all about .. Alfie? (Well that is another New York song.)No it's not a new musical ..tho it maybe a comedy for there is sure to be lots of laughter.
To quote the diva of who is the heart of community CK, Blogger Social is like no other marketing event because it’s not about marketing and it’s not about blogging—it’s about the marketers behind the blogs.
There are so many benefits from blogging from search engine lift to viral buzz to customer feedback. However girlfriend, it's a demanding little beast wanting more content, more links, more comments, more .. more .. more. Exhausting. Why anyone would dive into this is beyond me .. except if you understand the house rules it works.
Social media does something else that no other marketing initiative can do. It gives back to the blogger on a personal level. When was the last time your ad campaign sent you a virtual hug? Or your PR strategy included photos of your new bebe? - Lucbebe Ness is for sure a diva in training! - Or your research study asked you a question back?
Shh .. here is the the real secret. The power behind blogging and social media is the relationships that are built that develop into true friendships. If any one had told me I would expand my network to include a smart guy in India or work on projects with a woman I had never met face-to-face or meet people who would highlight me in booksbooks .. well, diva's I would have told you to take a taxi home because you had one too many of cosmos at Ryan's Boston Martini Meet-up.
Hosts with the mostest CK and Drew are hard at work coordinating a weekend where BBFs can meet, share a meal, a drink, talk blogs, talk life .. have fun together. Awesome. To help with planning CK and Drew are asking for a commitment by Nov 15. For all the who, what, where, why and what read more at the official Blogger Social '08 Blog.
Start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today I want to be a part of it: New York, New York.
Today's Diva Marketing Talks explores what is an authenticblog voice and how you can develop your voice to be informative and entertaining. Diva Marketing Talks is a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic related to social media marketing. Why? To help organizations understand social media marketing and how to join the conversation without getting blown-up. Miss tonight's show? You can pick it up as a podcast.
Topic for August 28, 2007: Finding Your Authentic (Blog) Voice
Tonight Diva Marketing Talks takes the wraps off the mystic of the blog voice. Tone and style can make the difference between a blog that becomes the center of a vibrant community or one that seems it exists in a ghost town. I thought it would be fun to pair an experienced blogger, Elana Centor, with someone who has been blogging for a few months - Julie Keyser-Squire. Do they face the similar challenges? Will Julie bring new insights? Has Elana changed her writing style?
We'll explore topics like - How much does content influence voice? Does having more than one voice on a blog confuse your community? Julie and Elana will have lots of tips to help you find and tweak your blog voice.
Elana Centor is a contributing editor on business for Blogher and blogs about business culture on her personal blog, FunnyBusiness which one reader described as "a thinking woman's Dilbert." FunnyBusiness is a blog about business culture.. it covers everything about business except the bottom line. Elana began her career as a TV reporter in Richmond, VA where she won Associated Press Award for a documentary on Drunken Driving.
Elana spent the next 20 years writing for business: speeches,
presentations, brochures, videos, direct marketing packages —you name
it, she’s written it. Along the way, she has received numerous awards
including recognition from the New York Film and Television Festival
and the Direct Marketing Association. Today, Elana continues to write and consult in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors.
Julie Keyser-Squires' passion is connecting people and ideas. A 20-year PR pro, Julie brings the art of finding the right story for the right audience. Her results-oriented strategies are always aligned with her clients' objectives and goals. Julie's client list spans high tech Silicon Valley companies Sun Microsystems, to Seattle Software, Orion Network Systems, Inc.,to hospitality and government.
Since co-founding Softscribe Inc. in 1999, she has been privileged to
serve companies like LodgeNet Entertainment Systems, Vantis
International, Computas, Troux (pronounced ‘true’) Technologies, NxTV,
The Rainmaker Group, Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., and JDA Software to
increase sales up to 25%, get acquired, and launch and solidify their
brands. She's a member of Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs, Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, PRSA and government’s Industry Advisory Council.
Tips From The Diva Bag Complements of Elana Centor
Record a conversation that you have with someone telling the story you want to blog about. Then do a written version of the story.
Transcribe the conversation version of the story and compare your written version to the conversation version. Your voice is somewhere in between.
Talk out loud as you write – it helps create a rhythm.
Decide ahead of time whether you will use profanity in your posts and in your comments
Complements of Julie Keyser-Squires
Give yourself a year to find your voice. Use Authenticity and Transparency as your guiding principles (“Whoever you are, be a good one.” Abraham Lincoln)
Be true to yourself. This is how you will attract friends in the blogosphere (“Every light attracts its own bugs.”)
Why are you blogging? Decide your strategic objectives and make every post move you towards Mount Olympus.
Pick a focus/topic that interests you (in my case), or is tied to your revenue generation (in the case of our clients). That way regular postings are easier to sustain.
Engineer time into your day or week to blog and read blogs. Get in the habit. A habit forms in 21 days.
If you are not technical, engage a friend who is to help you set up, negotiate and evolve your blog from the technical end.
Spend time with someone you care about.
Can't call in but have a question for Julie and Elana? Drop a
comment and I'll ask it for you. Let me know what you'd like Diva Talks to chat
about.
So many amazing women bloggers were reaching out to each other in support, friendship and celebration. To continue the conversation and start some new ones The W List Facebook Group has been created.
It's our place to dish the dirt about social media and well .. whatever we like. Check it out .. use it as you want. Let's see how it grows organically. But as Tammy Lenski says," .. even organic farmers do a few things to urge the sprouts along!" So drop a comment here or on the Facebook wall what should we do with this? Feel free to start a discussion. Have fun!
Sidebar: Facebook is free but it's a closed social networking platform available only to members. If you want to play and don't have an account sign-up at Facebook.
Here's the challenge: What to tell a group of savvy PR professionals about social media .. in 20 minutes. Yesterday I joined my friend SEO expert Stacy Williams, Prominent Placement, on a panel for a Business Wire Client Social Media Luncheon. Thanks to Mark Dunn, Laurie Sturaitis and Yasmine Santos Holmes for coordinating our efforts.
A few weeks ago I saw the John Travolta Hairspray film. Loved it. It's a fun, upbeat, happy flick. There was one song that resonated with me from the first beat - You Can't Stop The Beat! I thought it's about social media .. well really it's about love but hey, there's a lot of that in social media just take a look at the Age of Conversation. I found the theme to my presentation. Click and listen!
You can't stop an avalanche as it races down the hill You can try to stop the seasons, girl, but you know you never will
I wanted to explain - You can't stop the momentum of social media and anyone who thinks it's a fad is living under a rock. Sure it may change .. blogs today .. micro blogs tomorrow .. the entire world on Facebook .. and who knows what is 'round the corner. - You Can't Stop The Beat!
I wanted explain - The three ways that social media can authentically support public relations.
Active Listening - of the conversation through key word feeds from blog search engines. Using the information make a better product/service.
Active Participation - stepping into social media with a bebe step by commenting on a blog. Then developing a social media strategy that includes authoring blogs, a community, vlogs, podcasts, etc.
Depending on the Kindness of Strangers (a la Blanche DuBois, the wounded hero in Streetcar Called Desire)- blogger relations. Bloggers can turn into friends if you develop a relationship.
Sidebar: Toss of a pink boa to Sintya Moreira, TheDeMossGroup, who introduced herself to me after the event and asked if she could send me information - when she thought it might be appropriate. Of the 80 people in the room Sintya was the only PR person to do that.
Let's explore one of the three ways that social media can authentically support public relations - Active Participation. Active Listening and Depending On The Kindness of Strangers to come later.
Active Participation - One of the most powerful aspects of blogs is the ability to tell your stories when you want to how you want to .. you get to do it as Frank would say - your way.
Here's one of my stories. I've written my share of media releases but I'm no way a PR pro. A few years ago, before blogs .. way back in the '90's, I was marketing director of a non profit and with that came many hats including media relations. The agency's mandate was to provide business support for minority small
business owners. We had a great story to tell and didn't have much of a problem getting some pretty good ink.
Any members of the media here? Okay girlfriend, let's dish! How many of you have spent significant
time talking to a reporter that resulted in no mention or one sentence that was taken out of context or the slant of the story was not what you had anticipated?
For the most part the Atlanta media was kind and very generous to us. This article from the Atlanta Business Chronicle was sweet. However, my first interview was a frustrating and disappointing experience. The story wasn't wrong but it wasn't the way I wanted it to be written. I wanted people to hear the story in a different way. There was little if anything I could do. Oh sure I could have sent a few emails but the not with with the reach or the influence as that publication.
Technology has changed that one.Today my stories can be heard, read or viewed globally. And then quickly passed on by hundreds of people who want to help chat it up.
The agency I worked for, was all about helping small business owners.
The staff was committed and passionate. But the perception of an agency
even with people who care can be intimidating. A blog would not only
have allowed me to tell the stories but ripped the Wizard of Oz curtain
down and introduced the community to those people. It would have built
relationships and fostered relationships. It would have made The
Atlanta Small Business Project less intimidating. I would have had one more avenue to listen and learn what prospective clients wanted and how
to develop programs to meet their needs.
Recently Johnson & Johnson made David and Goliath heads when it opened litigation against the Red Cross over the use of the famous red cross logo. However,the JNJ BTW blog gave J&J the opportunity to tell the story their way. Agree or disagree with J&J over the use the logo .. the point here is a blog provided an instant publishing tool. Toss of a Pink Boa to Marc Monseau for allowing negative comments.
And you can try to stop my dancing feet, but I just cannot stand still!
'Cause the world keeps spinnin' round and round
Social Media Benefits For Public Relations
Tell your stories your way
Tell your stories when you want
Help brand champions tell your stories for you (viral and link love)
Build relationships with the people who are the heart of your brand
Listen and learn resulting in a better product and/or service
Yesterday is history [be gone!]
And it's never comin back! [Look ahead, cause...]
Tomorrow is a brand new day, and it don't know white from black [YEAH!]
'Cause the world keeps spinnin' round and round
You Can't Stop The Beat! But I ask you .. why would you want to?
Do you remember when summer was a time to play with your friends "until the street lights came on?" Last week I was invited to play with a new (to me) group of real estate bloggers who live in a lovely gated neighborhood called Active Rain.
Colleen Kulikowski, one of the moderators of Active Rain, was concerned that the community was becoming isolated and challenged the Active Rain members to venture out beyond their world into the blogopshere. To add to the fun of the adventure she turned it into contest. Players were to introduce their friends at Active Rain to the new blogs they found in their travels.
Let me tell you girlfriend that was one difficult assignment. I'd like to introduce you to the Winners of the ActiveRain Contest / Laurie Manny Challenge.In my view everyone who ventured out of their comfort zone won .. so aToss of a pink boa to all!
Divas and divos when was the last time you ventured out of your safe world? I'm not offering any path to follow. This is your adventure. Play the link game and see where you land. Remember to come home when the street lights go on.
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's virtual happy hour from cosmos to
Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the weekend 'playground' time to be
sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just plain silly.
It's been a looong week and all work and no play makes a dull diva. So let's dedicate today's Friday Fun to playing a few online games.
AiMA maybe the only Interactive Marketing Association with its very own branded online game. Congrats! to Erica Schultz, Home Depot, who made it through all 15 levels to win the title of Marketing Genius. Give it a try and let me know how far you get!
The game is a promotion for AiMA's next event - Online Gaming – How Your Brand Can Play and Win. Keith Duprey, Turner's GameTap, put together this great event where industry experts tell how fun and games online can bring in a winning strategy.
Moderator Mr. David Reid, VP of Marketing, GameTap Panelists Mr. Mark Friedler, Publisher and Founder, GameDaily, part of AOL, Mr. Ian Ali, East Region District Manager, Microsoft Corp, Massive Ad Sales,
Date: Aug. 29, 2007 Time: 6:30p Place: GLCC | 84 5th ST NW, Atlanta, GA, 30308 Online registration: AiMA's website
AiMA POP Game was developed by Stephen Griffin - Eyes Wide Games.
When I was a diva-in-training my sister Susan and I loved to play paper dolls. Now you can play paper dolls online. Not only is there a slew of movie stars to choose from including Johnny Depp (sigh) but celebs like Oprah and few politicians including Hillary Clinton. Girlfriend, Oprah has way far better clothes than the good senator from New York.
There area also a few bloggy techie guys in their underwear .. well that's how paper dolls come! Anyone want to play virtual paper dolls with Mike Arrington
of TechCrunch and Kevin Rose of Digg? Actually it's a little scary to me. Now a diva doll with a pink boa .. that might be pretty cool.
Toss of a
pink boa to Ad Age for linking the Power 150 from its home page. It signals one more validation that marketing/business blogs are credible sources and should be taken seriously. Sidebar: Thanks to Charlie Moran, Advertising Age, for the heads up on the link.
However, there are hundreds, if not thousands of talented biz bloggers
who are not on the P-150 and probably will never make the list. Many are writing on niche subjects that attract a specific community. Some are men and some are women. There I said the "W" Word.
Kami Huyse calculated that of the 150 blogs only 13% are currently written by women. Chris Brown created this ultra cool graphic of the Power 150 Women. As of today Diva Marketing has the honor of #2 Power Blog written by a diva .. with Diva BL Ochman holding tight to #1.
Although all offer great content why these 20? Elena Centorhas a few ideas.
I must admit girl friend, some are a surprise to me. For example BBF C.B. Whittemore, who writes about the customer
experience in the flooring industry, is #137 on the Power 150. And my blog, Diva Marketing, which frequently
is written in a funky 'girl friendly voice' is #2. C.B. began her blog June 2006 while Diva
launched May 2004.
Two blogs that at first glance would seem unlikely
candidates for the Power 150. Men and women make up both blogs'
communities. I can only assume that common denominators include:
relevant, enjoyable content that is easy to read and authors who reach out and encourage
community.
20 women biz bloggers do not an entire community make .. not when there are thousands of smart women writing excellent content. Where are they? This is a familiar conversation. In fact it is very much like the one that we had at the first BlogHer conference in 2005. Elisa, Lisa and Jory stepped up to the challenge and created a series of vibrant conferences and along with a website for women bloggers.
Two years later Valeria Maltoni asked that same question. To help women find each other and to celebrate women bloggers BBF Valeria collected links to blogs written by divas. Earlier this week Valeria told me that her list was at 125 and growing. Toss of a pink boa Valeria!
Something interesting happened almost as soon as Valeria hit publish. The list turned into a meme that is being passed along with each blogger adding her favorite diva blog links. What began as a women biz blogger list has morphed into a women blogger list. The fact that it is resonating with so women bloggers, and men as well, is as significant as the list itself. The question why are there not more women on the Power 150 is almost an after thought right now.
The W List- or the magical list as some have called it - is a way for women to celebrate women .. a way for women to support women .. a way for women to be ourselves.
Divos you know I love you and Diva Marketing is open to all. Yes, great content is great content but sometimes it's nice to have a GNO even a virtual one. It's not an exclusive party .. well gosh darn .. yes it is! .. but I welcome you to celebrate with us .. join us with a cosmo or a Sam Adams or a Scotch and soda and toast to our joy. New friends are welcome .. divo or diva!
The following W Magical List is by no means the end list. It would be as, Jeneane would say, the bomb, if some smart diva could create a wiki to house the list.
Please add your blog to the wiki. This is only a taste of what is happening/should be happening on the wiki. Hopes are we will create 1 master list of magical women bloggers.
New York New York it's a wonderful town .. the Bronx is up and the Battery's down .. and the Bloggers are coming to town. April 4-6, 2008 to be exact is when bloggers from all over the world will dance down Broadway. So .. what's it all about .. Alfie? (Well that is another New York song.)No it's not a new musical ..tho it maybe a comedy for there is sure to be lots of laughter.
