Ideas for Business

For those of you attending What We Do: DIY Content Syndication and Promotion, here are the details on what tools I use to promote my blogs.

Social Bookmarking

There are numerous sites out there and new ones being added every day. Here are the ones I’ve found most success with, though that can change from week to week and with different types of posts:

• StumbleUpon – Great for a quick burst of traffic.
• Digg – Crowded but it works, especially for backlinks. (See Wendy Piersall’s post at Problogger, The Ultimate Guide to Getting Lots of Link Love for more info on why you want backlinks and how to get them.)
• Mixx – A new contender and getting popular.
• Reddit – Not a lot of features, but that’s its strength. May be giving Digg a run for its money according to Chris Garret (Why Reddit is Better than Digg).
• Propeller – Another popular site for bookmarking.

Niche Social Bookmarking

• Kirsty – Best for posts and blogs with a women or mom focus. Once they get their Google ranking fixed (due to their recent name change) Kirsty will be good source for backlinks, too.
• HealthRanker – Good for promoting health, diet, fitness and exercise posts. No page rank yet, but I’m hoping that will change soon. Getting more popular, too.
• Care2 – A very popular “green” social networking site with passionate members, and a great place to bookmark your green, eco-friendly content.
• FoodBuzz – If you’re a foodie, you must set up a profile here. Not only is is good for networking, but you can automatically promote your posts via RSS feed.

Social Networking

• Facebook and MySpace – Yeah, yeah, I know. Still, it may be worth your time especially if you have a product, company or band to promote.
• YouTube – If you produce video, you are most likely already there. However, if you occasionally feature other’s videos on your blog, set up a profile.
• LinkedIn – If you’re a professional person (i.e., you want to get hired for your work, including blogging) you should have a profile.
• Twitter – Yes, it’s a time sucking device. But it’s also a great place to promote your content if you work on building a good following.
• BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog – Same sort of sites. MyBlogLog is a little more popular but why not do both?
• Entrecard – Good source for traffic and discovering new blogs. Yes, it takes time to drop cards, but you can purchase credits instead.

Other Tools and Blogs

• Lijit – Site search with social networking and analytical features. How cool is that!
• FeedBurner – Lots of great tools for promoting your RSS feed. My new favorite is to include my feed headline in my emails.
• Yahoo Groups – The only practical way to run a “buzz” group.
• Wickedly Evil Social Marketing and Social Networking Tactics – Chris Lang’s blog. Some of his theories are new to me, but interesting. Definitely advice to consider if you’re serious about social networking to promote a product or site.
• Friday Traffic Report – Jack Humphry’s blog. I’m a fan of his Web2submitter software. However, he and Chris Lang have opposing viewpoints on several aspects of social bookmarking. And that’s O.K. It’s good to be aware of both opinions, and take from each what works for you.

There’s much more out there, but this is what I’m using currently. Of course, nothing beats just getting out there and reading blogs in your niche, leaving quality comments, and offering to help bloggers in any way you can (writing guest posts, helping to promote their contests or giveaways on your blog, or buying them a drink at BlogHer!)

Feel free to add YOUR favorite social networking tool or site.

What are your plans for BlogHer? Yes, there are all kinds of talks and seminars to attend. But BlogHer is also about networking at the parties and meeting all those fabulous bloggers you’ve only know via their blogs or traded emails and comments with.

Here are my plans. No stalking, O.K.?

Thursday

I'm coming in EARLY, so I'll be hiding out at my hotel's spa and workout facility. If I get a chance, maybe I'll head to the art museum or out to Chinatown for lunch.

There's speaker training and a reception in the early afternoon and evening. Then I’ll be at Mom Central and Johnson’s Baby’s “First Drink On Us” party.

This event is only for Mom Central and MotherTalk review bloggers and those who attended Johnson’s Baby Camp. If you haven’t received an invite (and are a Mom Central reviwer of Baby Camp attendee) email me at am at the-write-spot dot com, and I'll pass it on to the folks at Mom Central so you can get your “First Drink On Us” ticket and a button to place on your website.

After two receptions, hopefully I'll be sober enough to attend The People's Party, too. (Note to self: eat throughout and stagger the booze with sodas.) The People's Party is hosted by several bloggers I admire along with colleagues at the Parent Bloggers Network, 5 Minutes for Mom, and Mommy Bloggers. (Colleagues = bloggers I review for, attended the Sony Blogger Event or worked with at ClubMom. Boy, do I get around or what?)

Friday

I'm attending MommyBlogging: Is MommyBlogging Still a Radical Act?

If I can manage, I'm going to run over to the BlogHer Bookstore to between 11:45AM -12:15PM to meet Mona Gable of The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change. I'm reading the book now and hope to review it at MOTHERS Book Bag.

However, at the same time I'm scheduled to have lunch with Chef Rocco DiSpirito who will be demonstrating how to use the new Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce in a pouch to put a little sizzle back into date night at home. I'm sure there will be a zillion adoring food bloggers attending the lunch, too.

Then I'll be talking at the What We Do: DIY Content Syndication and Promotion.

Afterwards, I'm going to attend What We Do: Writing Workshop with Amy Gahran who I met at BlogHer two years ago and see at The Front Range Blogger Meetups often.

I wanted to go by TypePad's suite for a party, but it conflicts with the closing keynote address. Darn it. I like TypePad and think they're doing a great job staying competitive with WordPress.

Then there's another chance to get "happy" at the Welcome Reception.

Saturday

Breakfast with the Experts: Microsoft will co-host the breakfast and provide top experts for a morning of best blogging and PC practices for all experience levels. I have two choices and will probably go back and forth:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) -- Microsoft Live Search tools every BlogHer needs to know about
• Windows Live Writer, blogging tools -- Quickly and easily manage your personal content, time it, post it, share it

MommyBlogging: The Commercial Momosphere: Policies, Ethics and Outreach

What We Do: There's More to Monetization than Advertising (Though YOU should go see Me Ra Koh at How We Communicate: Photography. I met her at the Sony Blogger Event and she's awesome!)

What We Do: Blog to Book Redux with Jennette Fulda, who I'm rooming with during the conference. I'm a big fan of her book, Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir.

Closing Cocktail Reception at Macy's! I hope to be able to stop by the kid's section to meet some of the bloggers involved with Sleep is for the Weak: True tales of parenthood, BlogHer's first book.

Sunday

Hopefully I'll be awake for this: BlogHer Open Space, the "Unconference". Then back home to Colorado.

See you at BlogHer!

This originally appeared in the July 2008 issue of “The Write Stuff” newsletter of the Northern Colorado Writers. Starting this month, I’ll write a regular column about social media for the group.

If you’ve attended one of my [blogging] workshops [for writers], then you know I recommend blogging as a way to promote yourself. A blog can become your book’s marketing platform or an online freelance writing portfolio with links to clips and writing samples.

What if you don’t have time to blog? Or maybe setting up a simple website with your contact info and portfolio gives you a techie anxiety attack? Well, you can slowly get started in the social media realm by joining an online social network like LinkedIn.

Social Networking for Professionals

More than 20 million professionals from around the world have created LinkedIn pages. And unlike MySpace and Facebook – two other popular social networking sites – the networking is professional not personal. This means no embarrassing pictures of you partying like it’s 1999. Though don’t be surprised if an old paramour or a high school buddy finds you through the site.

Besides being an online resume, there are more benefits to joining LinkedIn’s free service. If you are a magazine or non-fiction writer, LinkedIn can be used to find experts for interviews. If you’re a commercial writer, potential clients can find you and see who you’ve worked with in the past.

Many employers use and trust LinkedIn to find high-quality candidates. So while you may not be looking for a writing job, you may be looking for an editor, agent or publisher. Do a search on authors, publishers and agents in your niche. You may be able to connect with them via LinkedIn.

Getting Your Information Out There

When you join LinkedIn, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. The summary is your bio, and you should also include a photo, links to your blog or website, your education, your professional memberships, and your interests. I recommend listing what you write about as your interests. For example, I list social networking, diet/fitness, and children’s books since these are subjects I blog about.

Also, remember to be safe on the Internet. Don’t list your personal contact information. Instead, use a business email address and give a general idea of where you live, like northern Colorado, instead of naming a specific town. If you have an office, use that address instead of your home information.

Once you’ve set up your page, start finding people to connect to by search on their names or the company’s name. Look for friends as well as former colleagues. You never know where the connection will lead.

LinkedIn for Writers

When you’re a writer, it’s a little tricky using LinkedIn. How do you come up with a job history if you write books or freelance? Think about projects, not jobs. For example, instead of your job title, the company you worked for, and the dates you worked there, list yourself as an “Author of Children’s Books,” use the name of your book’s as where you worked, and put down the date your worked on or published your book. If you write a column for a newspaper, put in “Columnist at ‘Name of Column’,” the name of the newspaper, and the dates you wrote for them.

Finally, for those of you too scared to blog, I hope that joining LinkedIn will give you a taste of what it’s like to write directly on to an Internet site and to publish using the save button. I bet you’ll find it’s a lot easier than you think! So get out there, set up your LinkedIn profile, and stop by at my LinkedIn page and add me to your network.

Along with all these women and a few men, I’ll be in San Francisco next week at BlogHer 08. I also have a few conferences to attend this fall - Blogworld Expo in Vegas in September, possibly BlogHer Boston in October, and probably the Thin Air Summit in November here in Colorado.

But bloggers aren’t the only people heading off to conference. Next week, a friend is going to her company’s conference in Texas, while her daughter attends a student leadership conference in San Diego. My friends who have direct marketing businesses go to conference either in the spring or summer. And there are always writer’s conferences, social media expos, and writing retreats to attend year round.

Even if you only go to one business conference a year, it can be expensive – more so when you’re a freelancer and there’s no one who will pick up the tab. So how do you save money at conferences?

Here are some tips:

Use frequent flier miles – I use a Frontier Airlines credit card for everything so I can earn miles. My husband and I are frequent fliers on United, so when I shop at Safeway, I earn miles. (If I use my Frontier card there, I earn at both programs.) The key to using frequent flier miles is to book months in advance, and to be flexible with your times and dates. Frontier is especially tricky as they only have one or two frequent flier seats per flight.

Book your conference early - When you register early, you get a discount. It could be a savings of $100 or more, so make sure you know when the early bird reservation deadline is.

Book hotel and car reservations early, too – Hotels sell out quickly. And car rates go up and down. If you need a car, check back frequently with a travel website like Orbitz to find out if you’re getting the best price. If you book early enough, you probably are, but it’s always good to check once in awhile. Same with hotels. You may find that a cheaper hotel reservation opens up. Usually, you can cancel car and hotel reservations or change them without penalty as long as you do it early enough. Check their rules first.

Bring a friend – Sharing a room, taxi rides, shuttle, etc. is a great way to cut costs. If you can’t go with someone you know, ask around. A friend of a friend may know of someone who needs to share a room. It helps to have mutual colleagues who can vouch for you – or them.

The hotel conference rate isn’t always the cheapest – Again, use a travel website like Orbitz or Hotel.com to see if you can find a better deal. At BlogWorld Expo, I was able to book my room at a savings of $20 per day by booking through the hotel’s website instead of the conference’s. That’s rare, but take the time to check.

Just because it’s a cheap room doesn’t mean you’ll save money – You may be able to stay at a cheaper hotel than the ones closer to the conference. Then again, you may be spending a lot of money on taxis to go back and forth or on parking if you have a car. In that case, staying at a slightly more expensive but closer hotel is worth it.

Plus, getting in a little exercise by walking to the conference hall means you may not have time or the desire to go to the hotel gym. Since many hotels charge for their workout facilities, you’ll be saving money in that way, too.

Last time I was in Vegas, every time I got into a taxi I spent at least $20. This year at the BlogWorld Expo, I’m staying closer to the Las Vegas Convention Center at a hotel that’s by a monorail station stop. Since I’m coming in, going to the conference, and then leaving, I’ll only need to purchase a $9 two-ride ticket to go from the airport to the hotel and back. If the expo party is offsite, I may be able to take the monorail there and back on a $9 all day pass.

Offer to help – Volunteering is a great way to get a discount on your conference fee. Some conferences let you attend for free in exchange for live blogging, mike wrangling, setting up rooms, passing materials out, or helping to clean up. However, before you volunteer, make sure you can attend the classes or see the speaker you want to see as well as work. BlogHer is really good about this as are some writer’s conferences. Others may not be, so ask.

Speak up! – Have you ever thought of speaking at a conference? Find out the deadlines and requirements for speaker’s proposals. You never know – you may have the expertise that conference planners are looking for. And once you have a few speaker’s engagements under your belt, you’ll be sought out to speak at more. They may even fly you out and/or pay for your room, too.

Cheap eats and drinks – Some conference fees include meals, some don’t. Find out and plan accordingly. Light appetizers and drinks can be made into a satisfying meal, so if your conference is throwing a party, go! Some of the conference sponsors may have party suites set up, too. Nosh away!

If your conference doesn’t include breakfast, maybe your hotel provides a complimentary continental breakfast. Or consider bringing your own food and drink. If you’re driving in, bring a small insulated bag with snacks and sandwiches. Leave it in the car until break time. If it’s nice out, plan a little picnic in a nearby park. Don’t be embarrassed. Practically everyone is on some special diet or has food restrictions. Or you can tell people you’re “being green” and trying to reduce waste by bringing your own food.

If you’re in a city, find a little mom and pop deli and get a sandwich to go. Even stopping at a gas station mini-mart is cheaper than buying it in the hotel gift shop or conference food stand. Bring your sports bottle, too. Many conferences have pitchers of ice water in the back. If water is too boring, bring some packets of instant ice tea or sport drink to add to it in your brief case, backpack or purse.

Also, if you have a Starbucks gift card, don’t forget to bring it. You can use it at the airport and on the road. Same with chain restaurant gift cards.

Get your stuff home inexpensively – Since the airlines are now charging for checking in luggage, think about shipping instead of bringing a large suitecase or two bags to get all those discounted samples and free goodies home. Flatten a cardboard box and bring it, a mailing label, packing tape, and small scissors in your carry on luggage. A full service hotel can probably ship it UPS or FedEx for you after you leave. If not, do a little research online to find the nearest post office or shipping store/

Spend money on the important things –
My back has been bothering me and I don’t have the time to get a massage before I leave for BlogHer. Since I’m getting in early, I’m going to get a massage at the hotel. Yes, they charge much more than my masseuse. Then again, it’s worth paying extra to make sure my back doesn’t go out. I don’t want to spend the conference in my room, lying in bed, knocked out on muscle relaxants.

If you have the extra time, what can you do on your trip that will help you relax? Some ideas are:

• working out at the hotel gym
• getting a manicure, pedicure or facial
• finding a quiet spot to catch up on some non-work related reading
• going for a swim
• relaxing in the hot tub
• going to see a movie
• taking a nap
• touring a museum or botanical gardens
• getting in a round of golf or tennis
• taking a walk
• going to a bookstore to browse
• signing up for a yoga class at a nearby studio
• going to a play or concert

Making time for yourself away from work is important when you’re on the road.

Avoid ATM fees – If you need to get cash out at the hotel, get the larges amount you think you’ll need and feel comfortable carrying around. That way you’ll only get charged with an ATM feed once or twice.

Or find out where the no charge ATMs are by your conference or hotel. For example, I know I can use the airport employee credit union ATMs at Denver International Airport without getting charged since I bank at a “sister” credit union. Your bank may have similar arrangements with banks in other cities or states.

You may be able to avoid ATMs all together by using traveler’s checks. If you’re a member of AAA they offer free traveler’s checks, but you’ll need to purchase them with cash. Your bank or credit union may charge a fee. (Our does.) Your best bet is to bring enough cash for tips and taxis, and use a credit card the rest of the time.

Skip roaming charges whenever possible – If you rarely travel, you probably don’t have a cell phone plan that comes with free roaming if you’re away from home. In that case, buying a prepaid long distance card may be useful assuming you can find a pay phone. Remember, many hotels charge you to use the room phone to anything but local numbers. You will be charged for calling a “free” 1-800 believe it or not.

Hotel phone charges aren’t cheap. When I lost my phone on the way to my last conference, it cost $7 to call the babysitter from my room – and I was only an hour away from home. If you’re only going to make a few phone calls, paying roaming fees won’t be a big deal. However, if you do travel frequently, look into upgrading your cell phone plan.

Here’s to a wonderful conference experience that doesn’t bust your budget! If you’re looking for more conference tips, check out The Cheap Writer’s Guide to Conferences at WOW! Women on Writing.

If you’re a fan of Wendy Wendy Piersall, founder of the popular Sparkplugging *:) Blog Network (formerly eMoms at Home) check out her latest project, SparkplugU. She launched SparkplugU in response to the need in the Sparkplugging community for solid, practical, trusted advice in a more structured format on how to start and run a business from home.

Wendy’s dream has been to offer affordable training for anyone who wants to learn how to be their own boss and control their own career. This is great for not only for freelancers like me, but for stay at home caregivers who are looking to make some money on the side.

Wendy doesn’t promise instant riches. Instead, she delivers quality lessons in an understandable format taught by expert faculty members. Bottom line: the classes at SparkplugU will help you make money from home and start or market your business.

Each class provides:

• A Course Outline - What you can expect to learn by the end of the class.
• Prerequisites - What you need to know before you take a particular class
• Course Materials - Some classes will include course materials in the registration cost. But there are no surprise additional expenses. If there are additional books required, you will know exactly what you need up front.
• Refund Policy - You can cancel after the first session of any live class they offer. Self-paced downloadable classes are non-refundable.

I was so impressed that I signed up for the “Diversify Your Income Workshop” with Wendy Piersall and Marla Tabaka. It’s for bloggers and solo business owners who are looking for income diversification.

So what are you waiting for? Browse their current classes now and get started on building your dream career today!