MackCollier.com

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If you want to be a great blogger, you have to develop your blogging voice

Last night during #Blogchat I asked my friends what was the ONE thing they believed made a blog great.  The vast majority of the answers were associated with content.  Creating amazingly, great, valuable content.

I disagree.  In my mind if you want to be a successful blogger, here’s the secret: You have to believe that you have a voice worth sharing.

A few weeks ago I went back and read some of the very first blog posts I ever wrote, almost 6 years ago.  I literally cringed at some of the logic I used, the points I was trying to make.  A lot of it was wrong, but the thing about it is, I wrote from a place of conviction.  I believed that I was right, and that I deserved to be heard.  And as a result, people responded to what I wrote.

People want to read bloggers that are passionate about their ideas, that believe in what they are saying.  For example, one of the common worry issues for bloggers is the idea of blogging about a topic that ‘everyone else has already covered’.  Or blogging about the ‘hot topic of the moment’.

How many times have you read a blogger mention a topic that other bloggers have covered, and just link to those bloggers and add ‘check them out’.  Ummmm…..no.  We don’t want that, we want to hear what YOU have to say about this same topic.  Don’t just point us toward those amazing blog posts, if they are truly amazing, then we’ve probably already read them anyway.  Your job is to tell us what YOU think.

“But what if someone says my post stinks?”

Then you know you are REACHING people.  Not everyone is going to agree with your ideas.  In fact you WANT some people to disagree with your position.  That’s how you learn, by looking at different angles to the same topic.

You have a blogging voice that deserves to be heard.  Even if only one person reads your blog.  We all want to feel good about the content we create on our blogs, and we all want to feel like we are making a difference and connecting with others.  How can you truly connect with anyone if you don’t put yourself and your opinions out there?

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The three blogs we’ll be reviewing tonight at #Blogchat are…

Thanks again to everyone that submitted their blogs for review.  Here’s the three that we’ll be reviewing, starting at 8:00 PM Central, Sunday (the 21st).

1 – Campfire Song Thanks to Lindseyfor submitting her blog, we’ll review it from 8:00-8:20 PM Central:

Here’s Lindsey’s feedback for us:

“I blog at http://campfire-song.com. I’m targeting women in the 25-35 age range, probably with kids. (Mommy blogger?)

I’m interested in a review of

1. post titles

2. effectiveness of a blog on WP.com vs. WP.org (I’m considering a switch in the near future to self-hosted with a custom template)

3. info/widgets (i.e. sharing buttons) etc. that I should remove or add to enhance the look and usefulness of my blog”

Also, please follow Lindsey on Twitter.  We will review Campfire Song from 8:00-8:20 PM Central on Sunday the 21st.

 

2 – Patrick’s Place.  Thanks to Patrick for submitting his blog, we’ll review it from 8:20-8:40 PM Central on Sunday the 21st.

Here’s Patrick’s feedback for us:

“My blog is “Patrick’s Place,” at http://www.patrickkphillips.com. I’ve been blogging for about seven years now, and I’m trying to build a larger audience. My key topics are television, politics and religion and my audience tends to be adults 30+. I’m looking for feedback about the presentation and how easy it is to find those key topics, as well as tips for better interaction and SEO. Thanks for considering me.”

Also please follow Patrick on Twitter.  We will review Patrick’s Place from 8:20-8:40PM Central, on Sunday the 21st.

3 – Poet on Poetry. Thanks to Sheree for submitting her blog.  We’ll be reviewing Poet on Poetry from 8:40-9:00pm Central.

Here’s Sheree’s feedback for us:

“I’d like my nonprofit blog reviewed. It is 4 months old and has had good traffic (over 25k views from 77 countries) but it I would like to evalaute

1. How to increase that traffic
2. Why I am not getting more followers
3. Why I am not getting more comments.

Thank you for this opportunity. My blog is ar http://poetonpoetry.blogspot.com I write for poets and poetry lovers. I started the blog as a place to promote my own poetry book once i have one but it seems to have mushroomed rather quickly into more. I enjoy promoting other poets. I would like to explore being able yo make money from the blog.”

Also, please follow Sheree on Twitter.  We will review Poet on Poetry from 8:40-9:00pm Central on Sunday the 21st.

Thanks to everyone that submitted their blog, and if yours wasn’t picked, please submit it again next month!  See everyone tomorrow night!

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Get your blog reviewed during #Blogchat! – August

It’s that time again!  Once a month we review the blogs from 3 participants during #Blogchat, and we’ll be doing it again this Sunday!  The idea is that you get a ‘fresh set of eyes’ to look at your blog and give you some ideas and pointers on what you’re doing.

So if you’ve just launched your blog, and maybe you want some feedback on the visual look of it, we could help you!  Or if you want some advice on the type of content you are creating, etc, let us know!  If you want your blog to be considered for one of the THREE review slots at the next #Blogchat then leave a comment to this post giving us the URL of your blog, and exactly what you are concerned with and the areas you want feedback on.  If you want to know what everyone thinks of the information on your sidebars, let us know that.  If you want to know what you should be writing about, tell us who you are trying to connect with.  If you want feedback on your post titles, let us know.

Again, if you want to have your blog be eligible for being reviewed, please LEAVE A COMMENT to this post and please give us as much information as possible about what we should be looking at on your blog.  Please don’t just say ‘I would like to have my blog reviewed, thanks!”  Give us 2-3 things we should be giving you advice on, and please tell us WHO you are writing your blog for, and what its focus is.

That’s it!  I’ll select the 3 blogs that will be reviewed and have that post up by Saturday.  Good luck!

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Two great Content Marketing and Social Media events to check out in September

I wanted to make sure y’all know about two stellar events that I’ll be speaking at next month.  And as an added bonus BOTH will have a LIVE #Blogchat!

The first is Content Marketing World.  This event probably has the deepest speaker lineup for any event I’ve ever attended.  In fact I can easily spot over a dozen speakers that have keynoted other major conferences.  The conference isn’t cheap, but you can get a $100 discount by registering with the code BLOGCHAT.  Seriously, if you can afford to attend, it will be well worth your money.

And of course, the conference will kick off on the 6th with a Live #Blogchat at the freaking Rock N Roll Hall of Fame!  Please note that you have to be a registered attendee of Content Marketing World to be eligible to attend the Live #Blogchat.  CMW is on the 6th-8th of September in Cleveland.

Then a couple of weeks later, I’ll be in Atlanta for SMIATL on the 16th and 17th.  SMIATL is a much smaller event, but it will still have a solid speaker lineup, including Jason Falls, Chuck Hemann, Scott Hepburn, Dell’s Michelle Brigman and several of Atlanta’s stars such as Toby Bloomberg, Jacqui Chew and of course Kellye Crane!  I’ll be presenting my signature Think Like a Rockstar session, and there will be a LIVE #Blogchat as well on the 16th.

The price for #SMIATL is an insanely low $160, or $175 if you want to attend the Live #Blogchat as well.  Seriously, you would likely pay $500+ to attend an event in NYC with this same speaker lineup.  But if you register with code SMISPEAK you get a 20% discount off registration!  Which means regular admission would be $128, or $140 if you also want to attend the Live #Blogchat.  Click here to register for SMIATL.

Hope to see you at one or BOTH of these events!

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The three blogs we’ll review at #Blogchat tonight are…

Thanks to everyone that submitted their blog to be reviewed tonight at #Blogchat.  Here’s the three blogs we’ll be reviewing, and please do check these three blogs out if you will be joining #Blogchat tonight, and please pay close attention to the feedback each blogger has given us:

1 – Christine Margiota-Geraci’s blog.  Here’s Christine’s feedback for us:  “This blog started out as merely a professional presence for me online, but it seems to be morphing into my thoughts on social media as it pertains to my work. I’d love feedback on the content itself, as well as some of the features I’ve included as a result of recently changing WordPress themes: the Links I’m learning from section and the Featured Posts section in particular. I’m very new to the blogging world but I’m learning so much from participating in #blogchat when I can. Thanks so much for the consideration!”

So please check out Christine’s blog with an eye toward her feedback above.  We’ll be reviewing Christine’s blog from 8:00pm-8:20pm Central tonight.

 

2 – Allen LaRose’s blog.  Here is Allen’s feedback for us: “I would very much appreciate any feed back on my new blog http://www.allenlarose.com. It started as simply an online place for me to express myself. I have quickly discovered blogging is addictive. I have been using social media to help drive traffic to my blog, but would any advice to help boost traffic further.”

Please review Allen’s blog before #Blogchat tonight, we’ll be reviewing it from 8:20pm-8:40pm Central time.

3 – Sporting the Small Stuff.  Here is Michele’s feedback for us: “I recently started a sports and adventure blog at http://SportingTheSmallStuff.com and I would greatly appreciate suggestions on how I can better engage the audience (I would love to interact with fitness/adventure-minded individuals). I would also appreciate suggestions for writing more effective titles (both from an engagement standpoint and an SEO standpoint).

Thank you for this opportunity!”

Please review Michele’s blog based on her feedback or any other ideas you have for how she can improve her blog.  We’ll be reviewing Michele’s blog from 8:40pm-9:00pm Central.

 

So there’s our 3 blogs we’ll be reviewing!  Thanks again to everyone that submitted their blog for review, and if your’s wasn’t picked, remember that we’ll do this again next month!

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#Blogchat LIVE video plus info on my Social Media and Blog Strategy Audits

One of the ‘problems’ I am running into when I talk to event organizers and potential sponsors about doing a LIVE #Blogchat is that it’s sometimes difficult for them to understand what a LIVE version of a Twitter chat would look like.  I try telling them that a buncha smart people get in a room and talk to each other, but somehow that still doesn’t get the point across very well 😉  Thankfully, Chris and his team from Huddle Productions created a short video with footage from the LIVE #Blogchat that Dell sponsored last week prior to the start of its #DellCAP event.  This should give you a better idea of what a LIVE #Blogchat is like (Hint: Smartitude galore!):

If you are interested in learning more information about adding a live #Blogchat to your existing event, or in sponsoring one, click here.

The second area I wanted to point your attention to is an update I am making to my consulting services.  For a couple of years now, I have been offering Social Media Strategy Audits to clients.  This service has proven to be very popular so I’ve decided to begin offering Blog Strategy Audits to clients as well.  For many companies, a blog is the only social media tool they are using, so for these companies, a Blog Strategy Audit makes more sense.  Both of these audits will analyze what the company’s competition is doing, as well as assess how the client is currently using blogging/social media, and give them a blueprint and recommendations on what they should do moving forward.  And perhaps most importantly, both audits will include a section on how to measure the results of your strategy.  So I’m not only going to tell you exactly what your strategy should look like, but I’m also going to show you exactly how to measure your efforts.  This is a key area that’s often missing from most blogging/social media strategies.

Both the Social Media Strategy Audit and the Blog Strategy Audit are two-month projects.  For each, you’ll make three payments: You will be billed for the first payment when you agree to purchase the audit, and I must have this payment before I can begin work on your audit.  At the end of the first month, you will be billed for the second payment, and I must have this payment before I can deliver the finished audit.  At the end of the second month, the finished audit will be delivered, along with a bill for the third and final payment.

The price and billing schedule for each audit is:

Social Media Strategy Audit – Price is $7,500.00.  You will be billed in three equal payments of $2,500.00.

Blog Strategy Audit – Price is $5,000.00.  You will be billed in three payments of $1,600.00, $1,700.00 and $1,700.00.

Now, the big change I am making to these services is that as of now, I am adding a guarantee to both of these audits.  Note that above it states that you will be billed for three payments, and that for each audit, you will receive the finished audit, along with a bill for the final payment.  When you receive the finished audit and if you are not satisfied with the audit, then you do not have to make the third and final payment.  I *only* want you to make that third and final payment if you are thrilled with the audit.

I often ask my close friends to give me advice on my work, and to be honest, when I told them that I was thinking of adding this guarantee to these audits, most of them did not think it was a good idea.  As they correctly pointed out, if the client is under no obligation to make the final payment, then why would they?  But I am ok with that.  Because I want companies to understand that I am willing to take that risk because I believe in the quality of the work I will produce for them.

So if your company is interested in either service, please click here for more information on the Social Media Strategy Audit, and click here for more information on the Blog Strategy Audit.  And if you have any additional questions about either audit, or about Live #Blogchat, please do email me.

PS: If you want your blog to be considered for one of the three review slots for this Sunday’s #Blogchat, please leave a comment on this post!

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Get your blog reviewed during #Blogchat – July

It’s that time again!  Once a month we review the blogs from 3 participants during #Blogchat, and we’ll be doing it again this Sunday!  The idea is that you get a ‘fresh set of eyes’ to look at your blog and give you some ideas and pointers on what you’re doing.

So if you’ve just launched your blog, and maybe you want some feedback on the visual look of it, we could help you!  Or if you want some advice on the type of content you are creating, etc, let us know!  If you want your blog to be considered for one of the THREE review slots at the next #Blogchat then leave a comment to this post giving us the URL of your blog, and exactly what you are concerned with and the areas you want feedback on.  If you want to know what everyone thinks of the information on your sidebars, let us know that.  If you want to know what you should be writing about, tell us who you are trying to connect with.  If you want feedback on your post titles, let us know.

Again, if you want to have your blog be eligible for being reviewed, please LEAVE A COMMENT to this post and please give us as much information as possible about what we should be looking at on your blog.  Please don’t just say ‘I would like to have my blog reviewed, thanks!”  Give us 2-3 things we should be giving you advice on, and please tell us WHO you are writing your blog for, and what its focus is.

That’s it!  I’ll select the 3 blogs that will be reviewed and have that post up by Saturday.  Good luck!

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Sunday’s #Blogchat topic – How to Respond to Negative Comments

Tonight’s (Sunday) #Blogchat topic will be How to Respond to Negative Comments, and we’ll be joined by TWO special co-hosts!  Helping us learn how to handle negative blog comments will be Bazaarvoice’s Chief Marketing Officer, Erin Nelson plus Bazaarvoice’s Social Media Manager Ian Greenleigh!  Please click the links to follow both of them on Twitter, and click here to follow them on Bazaarvoice’s blog!

As you know when we have co-hosts, we try to have more structure to the topic, and here’s how our discussion will unfold tonight:

1 – 8:00pm Central when #Blogchat starts, discuss what’s the best response to a negative comment.  How should you handle it, what tone to use, what to address, etc.

2 – 8:20pm we’ll discuss WHO should respond to a negative comment.  Should it be the bloggers, or is there circumstances where the blogger should route the complaint to an internal SME, etc?

3 – 8:40pm we’ll close by talking about if there are any situations where a blogging company should NOT address a negative comment?  What if the commenter is a ‘troll’ and purposely attacking the company?

So that’s the structure for our #Blogchat tonight!  And to help you prep for tonight, here’s a link to a post I ran last year where I shared some information that Bazaarvoice has found on the value of negative comments and reviews.  It was one of the most popular posts here last year and has some fascinating revelations!

See everyone at 8pm, Central!

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Want me to speak at your event plus hold a LIVE #Blogchat?

Almost ready to start the LIVE #Blogchat at the Marketing Profs B2B Forum

In the past few months (really ever since SXSW) I’ve heard from many event organizers that they were interested in having  a LIVE #Blogchat added to their agenda.  And as you can see here, there’s currently four LIVE #Blogchats scheduled for the remainder of 2011.

Now as I am working with event organizers to bring a LIVE #Blogchat there, I am facing two issues:

1 – A lot of event organizers know of #Blogchat on Twitter, but aren’t sure what a LIVE version of the chat would look like.  They aren’t sure exactly what they are getting.

2 – Both at SXSW, and at the B2B Forum last month, when the LIVE #Blogchat was done, I really wish I had spoken at the event as well.

So in order to potentially address both these issues, I wanted to offer a ‘package’ deal to event organizers.  For the fee of $7,500.00 (not including travel), I will not only speak at your event (a 1-hour session), but I will also participate on a 1-hour panel, and we’ll do a LIVE #Blogchat as well.  That’s roughly a 25% discount over what I would charge to do each individually.  Now I can only offer three packages at this rate, one for August, one for October, and one for November.  So if you have an event scheduled for those months, please let me know and we’ll see if we can get something scheduled.

Now this doesn’t have to be a conference, it could also be a company event, in a couple of weeks I will be in Austin at Dell’s #DellCAP event, and we’ll be doing a LIVE #Blogchat as part of it.  Maybe you have a company or private industry event that you think this package would be a good fit for.

So I wanted to throw this out there and see what happens.  And as of right now, I’m not planning on doing any LIVE #Blogchats in December or January.  I do want to do one next year at SXSW in March, and possibly one in February, but I’ll just have too much going on at the end of the year to plan many speaking trips.

Again, the offer is I’ll speak at your event (up to 1-hour session), I will also be a panelist in another 1-hour session, plus we’ll hold a LIVE #Blogchat at your event, all for $7,500.00 plus travel (flight, hotel, cabs, food).  I can only offer three slots at this price, one for August, one for October, and one for November.  When these slots are reserved via a deposit, they come off the board.  And I’ll update this post to reflect that.  Please email me to secure one of these spots.

Also, if are only interested in having me speak at your event, or only interested in having a LIVE #Blogchat, of course we can talk about that, please email me and I’ll see what we can work out!

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#Blogchat this Sunday will be co-hosted by Dell’s Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca!

Lionel being interviewed at #Blogchat LIVE at SXSW as Chris Heuer and Susan Beebe look on

I’m not sure how long the list is of people that have been blogging for the same company for FIVE years, but I’m guessing it’s pretty damn short.  But Lionel Menchaca is on it, and for the last five years, he has served as Dell’s Chief Blogger.  And this Sunday, he’ll also be returning to co-host #Blogchat for the second time!

Dell’s social media transformation has been nothing short of remarkable, from Dell Hell and exploding laptops in 2005 and 2006, to today being lauded for its progressive approach to using social media to connect with its customers.

And for the last 5 years, Dell’s blogging efforts have been at the forefront of its social media success, and I’m tickled pink that Lionel has agreed to join us at #Blogchat this Sunday!

Sunday’s #Blogchat topic will be How to Create and Maintain a Successful Corporate Blogging Strategy.  As we normally do with co-hosts, the flow of the conversation will be segmented into different sub-topics:

1 – At 8pm Central, we will begin #Blogchat by discussing this point – How do you sustain a blogging strategy for years, and how do you keep the blog relevant with your readers and customers?

2 – At 8:20pm, we’ll begin discussing this point – How do you find writers for your blog, and how do you keep them motivated to keep blogging for you?

3 – At 8:40pm, we’ll close by discussing this point – How do you create relevant content for your blog and how do you decide what content your readers are interested in?

So if you have any questions for Lionel, think about which of the above areas would be most appropriate, and please ask it then.  This #Blogchat will be sponsored by Dell, and that leads me to another surprise for y’all:

In a couple of weeks I will be in Austin working with Dell on a #DellCAP project (disc – Dell is a client).  But while I’m in town, we decided to do a LIVE #Blogchat! The Live #Blogchat will be Monday, July the 18th at the Westin Domain, with the meetup starting at 6pm, the actual #Blogchat will start at 7pm.  I will set up a signup page soon, and when I have that I’ll add a link here.  The event will be open to #DellCAP attendees plus about 30 people from the Austin area.  So I can’t wait to see all my Austin friends again!

So if you’ll be joining #Blogchat on Sunday, make SURE you are following Lionel on Twitter, and you can also check out Dell’s main blog, Direct2Dell.