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Join #Blogchat Tonight, Co-Hosted By Scott Monty!

UPDATE: Here’s the transcript from tonight’s #Blogchat with Scott!

I’m very excited to welcome Scott Monty as co-host of #Blogchat tonight(8-17-2014)!  I’ve known Scott since his Crayon days and of course he did amazing work as the global head of Ford Motor Company’s social media marketing efforts.  Earlier this Summer, Scott moved on from Ford and is currently the EVP of Strategy for Shift Communications.

But what you might not know about Scott is that he’s also a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and has co-founded an all-in-one blog for news and discussion of all things Sherlock.  Since many #Blogchat participants consider themselves to be  ‘personal’ bloggers (or a blogger that writes about their hobbies and passions), I wanted Scott to talk to us about how he can balance an incredibly successful career with also publishing and maintaining a wonderful personal/hobby blog.

Here’s what we’ll be discussing tonight:

8:00pm Central – We’ll talk to Scott about why he started I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, and the process for starting a blog that’s focused on your hobby or passion.

8:20pm Central – How to find the time to have a successful career and still maintain a successful blog.

8:40pm Central – Scott will share his advice for anyone that’s thinking about launching a blog that’s focused on their favorite passion or hobby.

 

This should be a wonderful hour as I’ve been wanting to get Scott on to co-host #Blogchat for a long time.  Thank you again to Ann Smarty and the team at MyBlogU for sponsoring #Blogchat this month!  You can learn more about MyBlogU here.

To prepare for tonight’s #Blogchat please make sure you are following Scott on Twitter and check out both his professional blog and I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.

See you tonight on Twitter!

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@ProBlogger Co-Hosts #Blogchat on How to Build a Blog Worth Monetizing!

UPDATE: Here’s the transcript from tonight’s #Blogchat with ProBlogger, officially the BIGGEST #Blogchat ever!

BONUS: Here’s a FREE hour-long webinar that Darren recorded that teaches all he knows about monetizing blogs!

This Sunday (8-10-14), Darren Rowse, better known as ProBlogger will be co-hosting #Blogchat!  Darren is one of the true blogging pioneers, having blogged for well over a decade.  For much of that time he’s been doing something a lot of bloggers wish they could: Make real money from his blogging!  Darren has been making well over 6 figures in yearly blogging income for a while now, and he’s going to share some of his secrets with us during #Blogchat!

Specifically, Darren is going to help us understand how we build a blog worth monetizing.  There’s a lot of planning and prep that goes into creating a blog that can drive real income, and Darren is going to walk us through that process.

Here’s what we’ll be discussing starting at 8pm Central on Sunday:

8:00-8:20PM – What does a blogger need to do before they launch their blog to get ready to make money? What planning is involved, what does the blogger need to consider?

8:20-8:40PM – What should a blogger do during the first 3 months or so of the blog to start monetizing it?

8:40-9:00PM – What comes after the first few months?

 

So if you have wanted to make real money from your blog, Darren is going to tell us how at the next #Blogchat! Please follow Darren on Twitter, and also check out ProBlogger, it’s an amazingly educational site for bloggers!

And don’t forget to check out this month’s #Blogchat sponsor, @MyBlogU!

See y’all tomorrow night on Twitter, just follow the #Blogchat hashtag!

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All Topics For #Blogchat in August Plus @ScottMonty and @ProBlogger!

BlogchatCoHosts

UPDATE: Here’s the transcript from the #Blogchat on blogging gear on August 3rd.

#Blogchat’s amazing co-host lineup  for 2014 continues as this month we welcome ProBlogger and Scott Monty!  In fact here’s the entire lineup for #Blogchat in August:

August 3rd- What’s the best blogging gear?  We’ll be talking about all the cool gear and toys we use to make our blogs amazing. Whatever you love, whether its a premium theme or a a DSLR camera for taking amazing pictures, we’ll chat about it and share reviews and tips.

August 10th – How to get your blog READY to generate an income with ProBlogger!  So many bloggers want to make money from their blogs, but it doesn’t happen overnight, you need to plan a monetization strategy.  Darren will take to us about the prepwork that goes into getting your blog ready to make money!

August 17th –  How to create and maintain a blog focused on your favorite hobby or passion with Scott Monty!  Scott is well-known as a social media thought leader and of course did groundbreaking corporate social marketing work with Ford for many years and has now joined SHIFT Communications.  You know all that.  What you might not know is that Scott is an avid Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, and even has an amazing blog and podcast devoted to his love of Sherlock Holmes!  Scott will talk to us about that passion for all things Holmes and how to balance a vibrant career with finding time to maintain a pretty awesome ‘hobby’ blog.    

August 24th – How to get more interview requests from other bloggers.  Interviews are a great way to get more exposure for your blog and to help build your reputation as a thought leader.  Ann Smarty from MyBlogU will join us to help us learn how to get more interview requests and get more exposure for our blog and ourselves!

August 31st – OPEN MIC!  You know the drill, we’ll chat up any blogging topic you like.  Same great taste, now with 25% fewer calories!

Also, I mentioned Ann Smarty from MyBlogU is co-hosting on August 24th.  MyBlogU is also sponsoring #Blogchat in August!  Ann is building a platform for bloggers where they can connect with peers, get media exposure, and learn how to create better content.  You can learn more about MyBlogU here, and you can join for free!  Watch this video to learn more about MyBlogU:

 

See y’all on Sunday!

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Learn About Creating a Content Strategy For Your Blog Tonight With @JoePulizzi at #Blogchat!

JP_Headshot_2012

If you missed tonight’s #Blogchat here is the transcript.

Our all-star lineup of special guest-hosts for the 2nd half of 2014 begins tonight as Joe Pulizzi co-hosts #Blogchat!  Joe is known as ‘The Godfather of Content Marketing’ and runs the wildly-successful Content Marketing World events.  The next CMW is in September in Cleveland.  I spoke at the first one in 2011 and it’s a wonderful event.  And if you’re thinking of attending, register and use code BLOGCHAT to get a $100 discount!

Here’s what we’ll be discussing tonight(all times Central):

8:00-8:20 PM – How do we get started creating a content strategy for our blog?

8:20-8:40 PM – How does a blog fit into our larger content strategy?

8:40-9:00 PM – What’s next in content marketing?  What should we be focusing on?

Thrilled as can be to finally have Joe co-hosting as everyone in #Blogchat will lean a ton about improving their blogging efforts by creating a solid content strategy.  See y’all at 8pm Central on Twitter and check out the other all-star co-hosts joining us in the coming months!

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Here’s the #Blogchat Co-Host Lineup For July Through November

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend as much time as I would like with #Blogchat recently.  This is due mostly to client work and also launching my new podcast The Fan-Damn-Tastic Marketing Show.  But all that is about to change.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s your lineup of #Blogchat co-hosts for the second half of the year:

BlogchatCoHosts

Here’s the schedule and topics (subject to change) for each co-host:

July 6th – Joe Pulizzi – How to Create a Content Strategy For Your Blog

August 10th – ProBlogger – How to Build a Blog Worth Monetizing

August 17th – Scott Monty – How to Build an Awesome Hobby Blog (This will be a LOT of fun!)

September 14th – Ann Handley – How to Weave Storytelling Into Your Blog and Improve Your Writing

October 5th – Jay Baer – Your Blog as a YouTility, Creating Content That’s Useful For Your Readers

November 2nd – Gini Dietrich – Why Your Blog Can Be Your Company’s Best Friend During a Social Media Crisis

November 9th – Kerry O’Shea Gorgone – The Legal Ramifications of Blogging: What You Need to Know

December – TBA

Are you excited about lineup as I am?  It’s worth noting that I asked 8 people to co-host #Blogchat, and the 7 you see above accepted.  The 8th person has tentatively agreed, just waiting to see when their schedule will allow them to join.  That’s because these are all experts and thought leaders that are giving of their time, but they also understand the value of connecting with the #Blogchat community.  Y’all do an amazing job of supporting #Blogchat and that’s a big reason why we are lucky enough to have such amazing co-hosts to learn from.

Also, here’s the topics for the rest of June:

Tonight (June 8th) – Breaking Blogging’s Unwritten Rules (Posts shouldn’t be too long, you should post at least once a week, etc)

June 15th – How to Get More Comments on Your Blog

June 22nd – Your blogging strategy for the second half of 2014

June 29th – OPEN MIC

Also, if you are interested in sponsoring any month from July-December, check out the #Blogchat Sponsorship page as there are new terms and rates available.

See y’all tonight starting at 8pm Central!

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How to Make Sure Your Online Messages Live in All Customer Conversations

Business NetworkingNote from Mack: This is a sponsored post from Jim Karrh, as part of his #Blogchat sponsorship for April.  You can learn more about Jim at his site and also check out his blog, Managing the Message.

 

“There’s no consistency in what our people are saying to customers. It seems like everyone is just rolling their own.”

The tech-company executive who told me this was bemoaning a common problem: their blog posts, white papers, case studies, and other thought-leadership efforts weren’t landing in the most common customer interactions. He was weary from the disconnects (and griping) among the marketing, product development, sales, delivery, and service teams.

But it was the sheer volume of missed opportunities that was most frustrating. How many face-to-face meetings, virtual meetings, phone calls, call-center exchanges, networking opportunities, and emails occur across your organization every week? If they were more crisp, consistent, and relevant to buyers (or members, or donors, or whomever) what would be the impact on revenue, margins, customer satisfaction, or morale?

I do not believe that this common silo’ed reality is due to bad intentions, inept people, or boneheaded strategies. Rather, there are powerful forces that drive a wedge between customer-facing teams and effective conversations:

  • Comfort—over time we often settle into saying the same things to the same people
  • Consistency—different team members want to say and show things “their way”
  • Complexity—people, especially experts, drown their messages in lingo and acronyms (when they should be able to convey complex ideas via a simple picture)
  • Culture—many organizations lack the structure, resources, or habits for sharing wins and best practices
  • Coaching—managers often lack the time or knowledge necessary to build conversational fluency within their teams

No one is immune and perfection is impossible. In a prior professional life as a chief marketing officer, our company was recognized as having a “best in the world” integrated marketing and PR program—yet it was still frustrating to carry those messages consistently, succinctly, and accurately through our sales teams and distributors.

These days I serve clients by helping them transform their real-time customer conversations, via Karrh and Associates as well as messaging engagements through DSG. Most client organizations, regardless of size or industry, have found it difficult to produce consistently good customer conversations on their own. So, how can you change things?

We engage an executive sponsor in the client company, establish a cross-functional team of A-players for whom customer conversations are important, and together develop a “playbook” with simple talking points, questions to ask, audience profiles, and other field-ready tools (including visuals) for leading a conversation. It’s important to focus on what real people will actually use. The result isn’t a tagline or logo that an ad agency produces to be distributed “out there,” but rather a guide to how everyone should prepare for and act during customer conversations.

That reality makes any effort to bring consistency to customer conversations both political and personal. It requires intense collaboration. But it pays dividends, often in less than a year–without a company having to change strategy, product features, pricing, or distribution.

Even better…because almost everyone in your organization is well equipped to carry the conversation a transformed customer conversation can be a unifying and rallying effort.

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Here’s the Four Blogs We Will Review on Sunday at #Blogchat

Thanks to everyone that submitted their blog to be reviewed!  On Sunday we’ll be reviewing 4 blogs during #Blogchat, one every 15 mins.  Here are the four blogs we’ll be covering, and the order in which we’ll be covering them:

1 – Janice Person – A Colorful Adventure.  Here’s what Janice said about her blog: “It’s a personal blog so it is where I can post whatever I want but one of my real drivers has been sharing information about agriculture that I’m lucky enough to see and experience first hand, especially things about my beloved cotton! Travel is another huge area of my life that I love sharing.

I have been thinking about doing some reworking on the design. Its amazing how fast designs feel dated. The site doesn’t feel as clean as I would like. I don’t want it to feel sterile, just get it a cleaner, more up-to-date feel and yet provide good mobility within the site. Some of the blogchat crew would be great at helping me think through a new look for the site.

Another thing I think the blogchat crew could help me understand is what sort of information would they find interesting about farming & agriculture? What do you think of things like the cotton 101 type of posts http://janiceperson.com/cotton-101/ or the various types of agriculture informationhttp://janiceperson.com/category/agriculture/? of that content what grabs your attention & what makes you think “no thanks.”

I know, that’s a lot to ask, but why not shoot for the stars with the BlgoChat crowd just in case I get picked!”

2 – Velo Crush! Pedal Into the World of Bicycles.  Here’s what  Abbishek said about his blog: “My blog is to promote cycling it in India. I would like to connect to the cyclists in every country but more of India and also the common man. as my goal is to get them all cycling.

I’d kindly request you to focus on it entirely. its a mix of everything which has interviews, tips etc. but at the moment my page views have gone below average and I don’t know what to do about it.”

3 – Deb Costello’s Blog.  Here’s what Deb said about her blog:  “I write an education blog under the premise “what if someone opened a window into a classroom” I am a math teacher and share math questions, commentary on educational issues, funny/interesting stories about kids and my school, and cool tech tools that are useful for math, life, or fun.

My audience has been mostly teachers, not surprisingly, but I am interested in things I could do that would make the blog more interesting to a wider audience.”

4 – Jim Karrh’s Blog (Jim is the Sponsor for this month).

Now if you will be joining #Blogchat on Sunday, please take a few minutes to visit each of these blogs so that you can give each of these bloggers constructive advice about their blogs.  Make notes of what you like, what you dislike, and maybe the things that you aren’t sure of (“Why did you put your picture there?”  “Why did you use that color on your homepage?”).

And please remember it is VERY scary to submit your blog to being reviewed by #Blogchat so if you have criticism please try to temper it and share advice with the blogger on how you think they can ‘fix’ any ‘problems’ you see on the blog.

That’s it!  Congratulations to Janice, Abbishek,  and Deb.  And thanks to Jim for sponsoring this month, he’s a big reason why Blog Reviews are back this month!  BTW if you would like to ask any of these bloggers a question before Sunday please leave a comment here for them!

And please have a Happy Easter weekend!   See y’all on Sunday night at 8pm Central!

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Want to Have #Blogchat Review Your Blog?

This Sunday we’ll be doing Blog Reviews again, which is one of the most popular #Blogchat topics ever.  The way it works is that every 15 minutes we’ll review a different blog submitted by a #Blogchat member.  The #Blogchat community will tell you what they like, what they dislike, and give you advice on how to improve your blog.  It’s an invaluable chance to get advice from a community of the most savvy bloggers around!

So if you want to submit your blog for one of the THREE available slots for Blog Reviews, here’s what you need to do:

1 – Leave a comment on THIS POST.

2 – Give us the link to your blog in the comment itself.  Add the URL manually. 

3 – Tell us what your blog is about, and who you want to connect with

4 – If there’s any particular area of your blog that you want us to focus on, let us know.

5 – Make sure you can be at #Blogchat on Sunday night at 8pm Central, US time.  Because we’ll want to discuss your blog with you and you can give us feedback.  This is most important.

 

That’s it!  I’ll accept submissions through 5pm Central time on Friday, then I’ll announce the 3 selections back here on Saturday.

I am far more likely to pick your blog if you do two simple things:

1 – Give me as much information about your blog as possible.  If your comment is ‘Dude here’s my blog, check it out: www.myblog.com’, then that doesn’t help me much.

2 – I am going to do everything I can to select regular #Blogchat members.  All things being equal, I will pick the gal that comes to #Blogchat regularly over someone who doesn’t.  I want to use this as a way to reward regular contributors to the chat.

 

So that’s it!  If you want to be eligible for having your blog reviewed this Sunday please leave a comment below!  If your blog is selected we’ll discuss your blog for 15 mins Sunday night at #Blogchat!  Good luck!

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All #Blogchat Topics and the Sponsor For April Plus Blog Reviews!

I’m thrilled to announce that Karrh & Associates will be sponsoring #Blogchat in April! Karrh & Associates is run by my friend Jim Karrh who I’ve known since my early blogging days.  Please check out Jim’s site and blog to learn more about his marketing, training and consulting services.

And we’ve got a pretty solid list of topics for April, along with the return of an old favorite!

April 6th – How to Create Content That Organically Reaches Customers.  With the recent changes to Facebook’s algorithms that have reduced the visibility of updates from brand pages, it’s more critical than ever that brands create compelling content that now only reaches our audience organically, but that they share with others as well.  Well talk about some of the things that are keeping people from reading, sharing and acting on your content, and also the keys to creating compelling content.

April 13th –  Making Sure the Voice of Your Blog is the Voice of Your Organization.  Consistent brand voice is incredibly powerful and its incredibly obvious when a brand is missing this.  We’ll discuss ways you can discover that your brand voice is out of synch and how to get it in tune, especially making sure that your blog’s voice and tone is consistent with that of your larger organization.

April 20th – Blog Reviews are back!!!   We’ll review four blogs (Jim has already volunteered his for the 4th slot) over the course of an hour.  So there will be 3 slots available for #Blogchat members.  I’ll share more details on this the week of the 20th and how you can nominate your blog if you would like to have #Blogchat review it.

April 27th – OPEN MIC!

So there you go, all topics for April, and thanks again to Jim and his team for sponsoring #Blogchat.  Please make sure you are following Jim on Twitter.

Want to sponsor #Blogchat in May? Here’s price and details.  See y’all Sunday night!

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The Art and Science of Blogging With John Wall at #Blogchat!

Here’s the transcript for this #Blogchat with John.

I’m excited to announce that John Wall will be sponsoring the next two weeks of #Blogchat on 3-9-2014 and 3-16-2014!  For John’s sponsorship, he’s come up with a pretty cool two weeks of blogging topics.

Over the next two weeks John will teach us about The Art and Science of Blogging.  This Sunday, 3-9-2014, we’ll cover the 4 Keys to the Science of Blogging:

1 – Follow the Rules

2 – Build the System

3 – Measure Everything

4 – Always Be Testing/Closing/Selling

And to prepare you for Sunday’s chat, John has written an excellent post over at his blog outlining exactly what we’ll be discussing.  Next Sunday (the 16th) John will cover the Art of Blogging.  Over the next two weeks, John will teach us about several areas of blogging that have long been requested topics by #Blogchat members, such as responsive design for your blog, design with an eye toward improving your blog’s readability, and user experience and interface.

It will be a fabulous two weeks of #Blogchat discussions to please head over and read John’s prep post on the 4 Keys to the Science of Blogging for this week and also make sure you are following him on Twitter.

Also, check out John’s book B2B Marketing Confessions on Amazon!  And finally, John is co-host of the excellent Marketing Over Coffee, one of the very best business podcasts!  See you on Twitter Sunday at 8pm Central for #Blogchat!