What I Learned At Blog World Expo 2008
27 Sep
I was very honored to be invited to speak at Blog World Expo 2008 this past weekend. Michael Hoffman and I gave a presentation “New Media From Inside The Organization.”
I talked about my experience helping businesses like the Maryland Zoo develop online content to promote to and grow an online audience. Michael shared his company’s purpose of helping non profits share their vision with quality online video and social media content.
The audience was engaged and we had a great discussion among the attendees.
One thing I like to do when giving a talk is to have everyone take a group self portrait photo or video together in the room. So here is my version of the photo. A little shaky – but you can see in the background everyone else pulled out their cameras and snapped frames of themselves.
So here are the three basic things I learned at Blog World Expo 2008
1) There is a lot of money to be made in blogging but Ads SUCK
David Clark from Copyblogger sat on a panel about making money with a blog. He said he is making over $110k per month (that’s not a typo) with zero advertising. How does he do it? He sells information products directly on his site to help people become better copywriters. The general tone of the conference was: “don’t get stuck serving up ads as your primary source of blog revenue.”
2) Bloggers are much more serious about their craft as a whole than podcasters or online video creators
I spoke at the New Media Expo last month and while it was educational and I got to see some friends – the people in attendance couldn’t be more different from the blogging crowd. It’s like the difference between playing a game of pick up football in the backyard with your cousins and taking a snap on the field of an NFL team.
3) Communication with a niche audience is the recepe for succces
Whatever “brush” you choose to paint with (podcasts, blogs, video, or twitter) it is all about engaging your audience and drawing them into a broader discussion.
So there are my three takeaways from Blog World Expo 2008. Did you attend? If so what did you learn? I’d love to hear your takeaway.
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