The Write Spot, LLC

Live and in person: Anne-Marie's whirlwind social media tour

Funny thing about these social media conferences is that people want me to talk into their video cameras. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the earrings…

BowlHer at BlogHer 2009 (I’m usually in the group shots):

At Izeafest 2009 with "The Power of Giving: How Giving back Enriches us All" author, Azim Jamal:

Getting the word out about your blog

It’s not a matter of “if you blog it, they will come,” but how to get noticed so readers can find you. The best way to market your blog is by being active in your online community. If you’re a gardening blogger, you should visit, read and comment at other gardening blogs. That takes time, of course, so are there other ways to promote your blog? Well, there are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, assuming you’re on those social networking sites and have the time and knowledge to use them. Instead, here are two easy, time saving and inexpensive ways to promote your blog.

Your email signature

Most email programs let you set up a preformatted signature that appears on the bottom of every email you send or reply to. It should include your name, title, your contact email address, the title and URL of your blog(s). Include your Twitter ID and LinkedIn profile if you have those, too. If you don’t mind people calling you, give a cell phone or Skype number instead of your home phone number.

If you’re blogging for your business, include the company name, address, phone numbers, the URL for your company’s main website (if there is one), and so on.

Also, don’t assume that everyone’s email program lets them see HTML, so write out your URL. Here’s an example:

Your Name, Title
me@mycoolblog.com
My Cool Blog – www.mycoolblog.com
Twitter – www.twitter.com/mycoolblog

Vote now for my SXSW Interactive panel

The voting for SXSW Interactive proposed panels has gone live. I have proposed a session called Don't Tell Me That's Not Your Department! along with Lucretia Pruitt aka Geek Mommy. She’s one of Nielsen’s Top 50 Power Moms and the Director of Social Media for Collective Bias.

We consider this an intermediate level track for anyone interested in advertising, working with bloggers, branding, marketing, PR and user generated content.

Basically it’s about why PR, advertising and marketing can't be separate in the New Media world. The silo method of yesterday is dead and it’s time to move on and figure out how brands and bloggers can work together productively and with integrity.

Some of the questions we hope to answer are:

1. Why is dealing with bloggers not like dealing with traditional media?
2. Why is paying bloggers not unethical?
3. How 21st century marketing isn't like 20th century marketing.
4. Why 21st century marketing is more like the 19th century with cool technology.
5. What is the rationale behind sponsored posting?
6. Why should bloggers and companies care about the FTC?
7. Why should bloggers and companies should NOT care about the FTC?
8. Why is it important to have a relationship with bloggers?
9. Why bloggers do not care about press releases?
10. How can you explain all this to your CMO/CEO/Board of Directors?

Voting is live now! So register for an account, log on, and give us a thumbs up. See you in Austin next year!

Come see me at the Boulder Writers Alliance Annual Expo

I’ll be teaching a few sessions at the annual Boulder Writers Alliance Expo on September 22, 2009. It’s an information exchange and networking event for communications professionals held on the mezzanine of the Hotel Boulderado at 2115 13th Street, Boulder, Colorado on Tuesday, September 22 from 6 to 9 p.m.

I’ve gone as an attendee for several years and for the price of $10 ($5 for students, free for BWA members and experts) it’s a bargain. Heck, you can go for the delicious free food (with cash bar) or just to network with BWA members and other communications experts, representatives from business, colleges, and government organizations, and people interested in becoming a more diverse professional or improving their organization's communications. Make sure to stay for the sessions – you’ll walk away with some terrific handouts and much practical knowledge.

A Key Networking Event for Communications Professionals

(From the press release) Join the Boulder Writers Alliance (BWA) as it hosts its annual Expo, featuring discussion sessions with local communications experts who can answer your questions about a variety of communications areas, including social media, marketing, Web design, usability, and creative and technical writing. Learn about the latest developments in the world of communications, discover valuable solutions to common business challenges, network with colleagues, and establish new relationships with respected professionals. The BWA Expo is open to the public.

Expert Sessions

The BWA Expo’s Expert Sessions are mini-presentations provided by members and other recognized experts in several communications-related areas. This is an ideal opportunity to learn helpful tips and practical techniques to help you work more efficiently and more profitably, and maybe get just the lift you need to take that next step in your career.

Topics this year include:

• Data mining LinkedIn to market your business
• Transitioning from Word 2003 to Word 2007
• Search engine optimization basics
• Ways to monetize your blog and market it (that’s me!)
• The role of usability in Web startup efforts
• Move over text: video meets topic-based documentation
• Getting your nonfiction book published
• Writing genre fiction

Check the BWA Web site for the latest update of all the sessions offered and their times. Early arrival is suggested, as some discussion tables will fill quickly.

My BlogHer09 Sightings

I was interviewed by BlogTalkRadio at the PepsiCo booth. I think I had too much diet Pepsi that morning and chatted inanely about happy cows and chickens. (Gawd, what is wrong with me.)

Listen to Pepsicoatblogher on Blog Talk Radio

I was interviewed by MomTV at the BowlHer party, too.

And here’s the live blogging link to my session at the conference:

OFFICIAL LIVEBLOG - Saturday - Session 2 (1:30-2:45pm) Room of Your Own 2: Sponsored v. Unsponsored- Blogging for $$$

OK, now back to real life.

Lessons learned at Blogher09

First, let me say I had a great time at BlogHer09 because it was what I made of it. I planned to do activities outside of the conference, like the food blogger dinner and cooking at the Washburne Culinary Institute with the kids at the Common Threads Summer Camp thanks to Edelman and Quaker Oats.

I made plans for a little pampering at the Suave booth and the MicroSpa. I got a tech update from HP about their new printers and and met with Louise Rasho to learn about Microsoft Office 2010. I planned to connect with sponsors like the Pork Board (and to see Rick Bayless cook) on the exhibit floor and with GreenWorks at their luncheon.

I made sure to connect with virtual and in real life friends at the Mom Central cocktail party, the Silicon Valley Moms get together, and at breakfast. I planned to make new friends during the GM carpool and at BowlHer. Plus, I picked the coolest roommate ever, Michele Lamar aka White Trash Mom aka Mrs. Tim Gunn to play “hide the remote” with. She was so fun that I wish I could have taken her back in one of my swag bags.

So for me the conference was right on for the most part because I planned it that way. Still, here are a few of my kvetches.

Swagaholics Anonymous

I like cool, free stuff, but I like recycling, eco-friendly items, and donating things I don’t need, too. I expected oodles of recycling bins and pitchers of water. Instead, we had individual bottles of juice and soda and bins were few and far between.

The recycling room was hard to find and should have been moved to another suite on Sunday, since that’s when most of the attendees were leaving. Same with the business office, since many people had early morning flights and couldn’t mail their packages that morning.

There has to be a better balance between sponsorship and support of the female blogging community and making the event affordable for all. BlogHer is listening! Give them your feedback. Note to sponsors, we like coupons for product samples, online coupon codes, and items mailed to us, too. Plus that way you can collect our info, ask us for feedback, and attempt to connect with us. It’s about developing relationships, after all.

Of conference sponsorships and my Blogher09 session

Only eight days until I leave for BlogHer09 in my GM sponsored Chevy Traverse as part of the BlogHer09 Carpool. On the way, we’ll be staying at Best Western, one of my BlogHer09 Sponsors. When I get to the conference, I’ll be speaking at Room of Your Own 2 Session: Sponsored v. Unsponsored - Blogging for $$ Where Do You Stand? I’m also one of the hostesses at the BowlHer09 Party.

I’ll also be handing out coupons for free pancake syrup from my other sponsor, Log Cabin syrup. Did you know that Log Cabin is no longer made with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup)? And that they’re selling real maple syrup at selected Sam’s Clubs across the US?

Thank you to my sponsors, now back to our regularly scheduled programming

Conference sponsorships are a new thing among mom bloggers (see Kim Moldofsky’s post at Hormone-colored Days, Marketing to Moms: Announcing my BlogHer sponsor!). While I knew of one mom blogger at BlogHer08 who was paid to work at a booth by a company, I didn’t notice the phenomenon until the WalMart ElevenMoms went to SXSW09. I was aware that WalMart had sent them to the conference, but was surprised to learn that several of the moms had additional sponsors - everything from diapers to chocolate.

Then at the last Mile High Mamas’ blogger meet up, a few people asked me, “So, who is your BlogHer sponsor?” To which I replied, “No one.” I hadn’t thought about recruiting a sponsor though the idea of having one intrigued me. Hmmmm...

Sponsorships make conferences affordable and accessible

Even when I’ve had a roommate, got a cheap flight, had a free pass because I was a speaker, and took advantage of the free food at parties, most conferences ended up costing me around $300-600. For a freelancer, that’s a lot of dough, especially when you multiply it by the number of conferences you want to go to like SXSW, SOBCon, Chicks Who Click, WordCamp, BlogHer, BlogWorldExpo, and IzeaFest. I’m sure it’s the main reason why so many mom bloggers and other independent bloggers without corporate expense accounts seek sponsors.

In the past, I have been given a stipend or reimbursed for a conference ticket in exchange for reporting back to a client on industry trends and conference goers and events. I don’t consider that a sponsorship as much as consulting work. Semantics aside, having someone help you pay your expenses seemed like a good thing.

Too Busy to Shop

First a word from my fellow SXSW panelist Chris Brogan, who's looking a bit rockabilly biker-ish these days:

Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to "Multi-Minding" Women by Kelley Murray Skoloda shows markers and companies what they need to know and do to attract women buyers. After all, women control 85 percent of all consumer purchases.

Kelley explains that women are multi-tasking, but multi-minding – meaning that we are thinking about home when we’re at work, work when we’re at home, and about everything else of of the darn time.

Download an excerpt or see the reviews.

I highly recommend this book if your company markets to women through traditional media (print, TV, radio, etc.) or through social medial. Not only is it an easy read since Kelly keeps the ideas and examples coming, but she wraps up each chapter with Multi-Minding (or M2) Must-Dos, a list of the lessons learned in each section.

Too Busy to Shop is also full of stats, research, examples and terrific quotes from Stacy DeBroff, the CEO of Mom Central, who knows her stuff. (Stacy’s a colleague of mine. Every time I have a chance to speak with her, I learn so much.)

So if there’s one marketing book you read this summer on vacation – or during your lunch break at the office – it should be Too Busy to Shop: Marketing to "Multi-Minding" Women by Kelley Murray Skoloda.

More me at SXSW

Just a little snippet of me at SXSW on the Dad is the New Mom panel.

If anyone filmed the whole session and posted the video, please let me know.

Dad is the new mom at SXSW '09

Bonin Bough from PepsiCo DM’d me on Twitter that he had put up some video from the Dad is the New Mom panel.

All you can see is me and Chris Brogan, and it’s just a few minutes' worth of what turned out to be a pretty enjoyable and informational panel. Still it’s nice to have a record of the session.