I just spoke on a panel about this recently, Mom Bloggers: How to Get Paid Cash, Not Swag at Blog World Expo. During that panel, I had a real moment of clarity. We keep talking about money and bloggers in black and white terms. In reality, the issue is that the companies and firms doing outreach to bloggers in many cases are AVOIDING money. It is a last resort, when it should be the default. First and foremost, cash should be on the table. Alternatives to that should be just that, alternatives and not the status quo.

Of course, there are occasions when it makes sense for a blogger to promote a company as part of a trade (maybe they need the services, and offer an advertisement paid for in-kind). Maybe it is at some point worthwhile to do it for a link (perhaps you are a new blogger and it would be a big benefit to get exposure and an SEO boost through a link on an established company’s site, although a link from a company’s new microsite probably has little value). Perhaps you really need a product (say your stove just died, you’re broke, you need to feed the family, and a company just offered you a shiny new stove in exchange for a badge on your blog).

There are also situations where it makes no sense for money to change hands. For example, getting paid by the company representing the product to do a review of said product is not ethical. Money should not change hands there.

In most other cases, money is what should be offered as a standard practice: for promotions, for badges (a euphemism for advertising) or any other banner advertisements, for being a brand spokesperson or evangelist, for consulting and offering advice, and so on. Promoting a company should be a paid position.

I know I am not the first to write about this (shoot, this isn’t the first I have written about it), and I sure won’t be the last. I hear this message repeated again and again during conference sessions. And yet, the message doesn’t seem to be getting through.

Paying money for a blogger’s promotion should be standard. Sure, a newer blogger with less of a following should get paid less than a savvy, influential and experienced blogger. But there should be pay involved.

Some will argue that it is earned media. I would beg to differ. A review is earned media. Beyond that, there is very little reason for many bloggers to simply write about a company for the sake of writing about a company. Sure, there are exceptions. This really isn’t terribly different than traditional media. You don’t see article after article in newspapers about companies and products. You see news. Oh, and ads, of course.

It also isn’t for lack of money. The money is there, but it isn’t filtering to the bloggers in many cases. What I see trickling down a lot is a possible chance at a prize, or payment in small-denomination gift cards, or a link in exchange for a blogger doing quite a bit or promotion and work.

Bloggers: when these opportunities come along, don’t be afraid to politely share your rates and explain why you charge for your time and hard work. We should keep pushing that message.

Of course, there are times when money doesn’t need to be on the table. What troubles me is that money is so rarely on the table. It is the huge elephant in the room that everyone pretends isn’t there.

The last I checked, we are not on a barter system. Sure, in everyday life, you might be able to convince a business to do something for free, for trade or for exposure. Odds are pretty good that will be a rarity. What is typical is to pay money for services, products, advertising, promotion and consulting. In cash.

Photo copyright Kriss Szkurlatowski

Jerry Maguire is on TV right now, and I realized what it’s all about is pretty simplified. Are you after coin or “quan,” which Rod Tidwell describes as “love, respect, community and money?” Personally, I think we’re all better served if we strive for quan.

The Positives of Competition

Don’t get me wrong, I can be competitive. There are some great aspects to competition. It drives us to be better. It pushes us to keep improving, to be creative.

Newspapers are a great example of competition, and how it is needed. Ten years ago, most major markets had more than one newspaper. Most newspapers where I worked  as a reporter had at least one other newspaper covering the same area. We were better reporters for it, and served readers better because of it. Today, there are few markets with more than one newspaper, and I think we’ve seen how the quality and the fight to put readers first has suffered.

When you see competition, it’s all in the attitude. Do you see it as a threat? Or do you see it as a chance to collaborate with someone who has a similar audience? Or, better yet, do you see it as a chance to evaluate what you’re doing and find a way to stand out?

You Can’t Really Compete Anyway

There are millions of blogs out there. More importantly, no one visits just one web site. Think of car dealerships. Why do they cluster together, Ford next to Chevy next to Toyota? They are competitors, right? It’s because they know that people are more likely to go to their dealership if they are close to another dealership.

Are you an island, or part of a community?

You will never be the only one in a niche, or the only one writing about a certain topic, the only one pitching a particular company or the only one offering a particular social media service. It’s impossible. So why waste energy worrying about all the others? I believe this is a self-esteem issue. If someone’s lack of self-esteem will push them to bring others down to elevate themselves, then they have issues that go far beyond the success or lack of success of their endeavors.

Yet it taints the whole community.

The Negatives of Competition

The negatives are pretty significant. For those who have a nasty, competitive attitude, I just can’t imagine they are very happy. For those who end up on the butt end of the nastiness, it can be extremely damaging.

As we are trying to gain more respect for blogging and social media, this vile behavior poisons the entire community. It makes us all look bad. When someone attacks another blogger out of spite or jealousy, that is what the mainstream media writes about (as you may have noticed). If we want respect, we need to deserve it.

Here’s a warning, too, for those of you who are attacking those you see as competition. You might get small gains, and you might win brief battles. You won’t build success on it, and you certainly won’t win what you seem to think is a war. This is social media. People talk. We quickly learn who to avoid, and who isn’t supportive. I just say this: I hope you don’t one day need the community’s support.

That Said, Be Respectful

Where is the line between helping and providing trade secrets? It isn’t always clear where that lies. I would say let’s take it upon ourselves to not put people in awkward positions. I am more than happy to help someone spread the word, or offer a few tips. I have seen and heard of many instances, however, where people seek help that goes beyond the bounds of courtesy even within the community.

I don’t profess to know where that magic line is, but I would say that you shouldn’t ask someone to tell you the ins and outs of how they run their blog or their business. If you need to ask to “pick their brain” or ask for what comes down to trade secrets, you’re asking too much. Be respectful. If you don’t know how to do it, take the time to learn and research it. We don’t like it when companies ask to pick our brains for free, so let’s not ask our fellow bloggers to do the same thing for us.

I would also say to try to be as original as it’s possible to be. Copying someone else is not the way to find success or that amazing sense of creating something that is brilliant. The real secret to success is not looking to what exists, but looking to what should exist and doesn’t yet. Yes, people might get too competitive about new blogs or social media services they see that mimics what they are doing. See above for why I think that is unnecessary. But the reality is that if you are being original, you’ll be stepping on no one’s toes to begin with and you won’t trigger the nasty competitiveness in others.

It’s tough to come up with a new idea, but it isn’t hard to come up with a new spin on an old theme at the very least. Be different. Be innovative. Be creative. Be new.

The Pie is Big Enough for Us All

I can’t help but wonder if people are competitive because they believe the rewards are limited, that there is a maximum amount of success available. That simply isn’t true. There is enough pie for all of us to get a piece, and there’s no need for us to guard our piece viciously, growling at anyone who comes near it.

We all have something of value to offer. Figure out what that is for you, and emphasize it. Your competition should be your own goals, your own mission, your own values, and what you hope to accomplish. All you can do is try, work hard, and be the best you can be.

You cannot control what successes others find, and you shouldn’t want to. Be happy when others find success. Sure, you can have that blinking moment of jealousy, but let it roll right over you and smile. Know that if another blogger’s found it, that simply means you can to.

There is no grand prize winner in this contest.

Just Ignore the Haters

I know it’s tough when someone comes after you, your blog or your business. I’ve found the best thing you can do is be above it. Don’t change who you are because of it. Don’t lower yourself to their behavior. In fact, don’t assume that everything you hear is correct. You might be surprised that, if you reach out to the attacker, you might learn there is more to the story than you realized or heard. You might find you both find more success by working together.

Even if that isn’t the case, if we all ignore the attackers and haters, we weaken them even more. Let’s not give them power by engaging them.

This is What It’s Really About: Community

Before I wrote this post, I asked on Twitter and Facebook for some input. The responses I got, and the conversation it sparked (35 comments so far on my Facebook wall, for example), simply goes to further prove my point that community is the core of all of this. Here are some brilliant gems I got from a simple question asking people what they think of this topic. Here are some of the highlights.

From Amy Clark of Mom Advice:

It is so important to build each other up and not tear each other down. I will admit, I have swallowed a little jealousy a time or two. It is sometimes difficult to see others achieve what you have been dreaming of- the invites, the goodies, the money, the page views, the redesigns, the book deals, the news segments, the magazine features, etc. What I do my best to remember is that I can only be the best me that I can be. I will work harder, compliment others more, recommend my friends for jobs, tip my friends when I see a perfect press request for them, share the linky love, and remember that all the good that I can do will come back tenfold. If it happens to me I will do my best to be gracious, focus on the real purpose of the achievement, and do my best to give whatever I can to my readers. For six years it has been working so I will keep with that formula.

From Christine Koh of Boston Mamas:

Kelby, this issue makes me very sad for reasons shared above, e.g., missing the point that social media is about collaboration and community. What also mystifies me is how pointless the behavior is. It’s not as if being nasty and competitive is going to make other bloggers disappear. One might “get ahead” in an instance here or there, but ultimately it will be an ephemeral effect. And of course, given my belief in karma, I’m fairly certain that kind of behavior will circle back and bite the offender on the rump.

From Katja Presnal of Skimbaco Lifestyle:

Can’t wait to read it Kelby. You know I believe in blogging karma, and while I evangelize about the good karma, I do believe there is such a thing as bad blogging karma as well. The essence of social media is to be social, and be part of community – I don’t think there is long term success without helping others. I understand being competitive when there is a competition, but if you are competitive when you are trying to build a community, there is no way you can win, you will lose big time.

From Trisha Haas of MomDot:

I want to help people, be helped, and connect. That’s it. I do not care if someone has a stupid product on their site or if they have 1000 more visitors than I do, or if they got called to be on TV. I am inspired by those things, not threatened. I hope that people don’t look at the few things I would call {personal} success online and breed any jealousy.

From Audrey McClelland of Mom Generations:

I think it’s fairly safe to say a vast majority of us have witnessed this first-hand. It’s sad because the social media space is so vast and wide. There’s no reason not to help others. The only reason people don’t is because they’re threatened. I’ve always believed this philosophy in life… “what goes around, comes around.” … It’s no coincidence that some of the most successful people in this world – both online and off – have been described as some of the nicest and most kind. It’s a shame some people think pushing people will actually get them ahead… it’s a strange concept.

What do you think? Is there a place for competition in social media? What is or isn’t appropriate? Do you avoid people you know have had a nasty competitive attitude with others?

Photo of racers, © Richard McMillan

For 2010, I would like to see the hard work start to pay dividends. I would like to focus more on results. I want to see ventures that don’t just have a mission, but accomplish it. I would like to see 2010 be the year (for all of us) of harvesting the ripe results of our efforts.

My 3 Words: Queens, Focus, Freedom

December for me was a forced sabbatical. We traveled to Disney World at the beginning of the month, I was sick for three weeks, and then we lost power at home twice (once for three days, which forced us to travel on snow-covered roads to a hotel just to find heat for our family).

It became an involuntary vacation. It was impossible to be productive, and at best hard to get any work done. In the end, it was a gift. I got a chance, long needed, to step away from the work and reflect. To relax and prioritize. Life is a lot like a neo-impressionist Pointillist painting. If we stand too close, it is nothing but random dots. Step away, and the picture becomes vividly clear.

Queens

For my first word, I confess I am stealing (with slight modification) Chris Brogan’s word of Kings. His words about behaving like a king really connected for me. He described it as the ability “to maintain poise and balance and charm and demeanor when dealing with life’s unpleasant moments.” I think for women it is even more important to behave regally. The level and intensity of mom blogger dramas I witnessed in 2009 is just unacceptable. In 2010, I’d love to see all of us as women rise above.

If not all women (hey, there will always be the fools who perpetrate this low-life behavior), let’s set the bar and hope others follow. I also think it’s important to command respect. We are professionals. Let’s act like it. (And yes, that includes insisting on being paid for time, consulting, marketing and any other work.) Let this be the year that the mainstream media runs out of mom blogger scandals to cover. You can get mad at journalists for ignoring the inspirational stories about the mom blogosphere and focusing on the negative. But the fact of the matter is, they can’t write negative stories if they don’t exist. Don’t create them, and ignore those who do.

Focus

This has always been my challenge. As a journalist, I had a writing coach who suggested coming up with one word that summarizes each news story. It was tremendously helpful, and has stuck with me for years. In fact, I thought of that lesson when I saw Chris Brogan’s list. I am one who tends to think of ten things at once, and operates best with several balls juggling. That is great for productivity, but bad for focus. In 2010, I want to work hard to prioritize and to determine what is worth my time. I did some of this in 2009, leaving About.com after seven years and despite it being a nice stream of income. Sometimes, you have to walk away from things, even important things, to give you time to focus on what’s more important. If it were easy, you would have walked away ages ago.

I am planning to sell some of the social networks that I have fully developed and that have nice Google rankings (PageRank 4 for both), but I don’t have time to grow: Dadosphere (which would be a great buy right now, as I think dad bloggers will be the next in thing) and PictureMyCamera, a social blog/social network for photography enthusiasts). Contact me if you’re interested in buying one, or taking over management for a share of the revenue.

It also means that I will be focusing my services. One issue with being a jane of all trades is that it’s tempting to offer all services. I am going to revamp my hire me page to focus on the things I really enjoy, and which provide a better return on time investment. While I like my SEO Makeover, it is very time-consuming. For things like that, I am looking at developing eBooks or online courses instead. With so many pursuits, some simply need to require less hands-on time. I get a lot of joy from speaking, training and mentoring, so that will be my focus.

Freedom

There’s one thing I learned from my unexpected time off in December. It’s that I don’t want to be tethered to work and social media all hours. Going off the grid is good for us all. Part of the reason I want to focus is to create more time. I spent the last month doing many things just for fun. I rediscovered reading. I can’t tell you the last time I read a fiction book just for the pleasure of it, but in December I read every book by Karen Chance and the entire Twilight series. Yes, those are books with absolutely no purpose whatsoever except entertainment. It was wonderfully indulgent.

I want freedom on a few levels. I want to earn more for less effort to create financial and lifestyle freedom. When I decided to go from seasoned career woman to work-at-home mom, that was my vision. As anyone who works from home knows, it can be dangerous if you are a workaholic. You end up doing nothing but work. I will not spend 2010 with my fingers glued to a keyboard.

I’d love to hear what three words will be yours for 2010. Share in comments or, if you do a post, be sure to share the link in comments. And thanks to Chris Brogan for the inspiration.

_{Image of blogging queen, © Mike Licht of NotionsCapital.com.}

Now I will be the first to say that I know many traditional journalist don’t follow all of these 100 percent of the time. I also think in many ways traditional media has forgotten what’s most important, and has strayed from their path. These, however, are ideals that were instilled in me as important while a reporter, and they are just as important to me as a blogger.

Check Your Facts

Blogging is instant gratification. You can get on your computer and publish whatever is in your mind in a matter of seconds. We as bloggers have no editors, no copy editors, no night desk. We just have ourselves. That makes it all the more important to fact check. If you are about to publish something and you aren’t sure without a doubt it is true, check first. Often that only takes a few minutes with Google. Sometimes it means contacting someone to ask.

If something is a rumor or unverified and you still want to run with it, be sure to state that.

Get Both Sides

Blogging by nature is biased and one sided. If you saw my post, “Guess What News Business? Bias Was OK After All,” then you will see I feel that is fine. Many blogs function more like a traditonal newspaper column than a front page article.

Still, that doesn’t stop you from telling both sides of the story to present something balanced to your readers. It will be a better post for it! Are you ranting about a company? Take five minutes to shoot the company an email asking for a response. Send them a list of questions. And their replying doesn’t mean you can’t run the post. Run it with their replies.

Create Original Content

I see many instances of huge blocks of a post or story being republished, or pictures being used that are clearly not the property of the poster. You cannot use copyrighted material on your blog without permission. There are many great places to find photos that can be used (stock.xchng, Flickr Creative Commons or a company’s online press room), and even then I recommend attributing the source at the bottom of the post with a link to the original picture.

For content, anything beyond a quick 1-2 sentence blurb with a link to read the full post on its original site is probably a bad idea. Besides copyright laws, if you are pulling half of someone’s post are you really offering much of value? Better to come up with your own words to discuss a topic than to pull from the work of someone else.

Keep Editorial and Advertising Separate

This one is tough for bloggers, but still important to strive for. In old media, there are whole departments who handle editorial and advertising. They rarely cross paths. For many blogs, there is one person. You can still do what you can to handle the two worlds with integrity.

If a post is paid for (I don’t especially care for that, but that’s another topic), then it should be clearly labeled as advertising. If you notice, in newspapers and magazines when this happens, the disclosure content is paid is the first thing you see. It should be that way in blogs as well.

If you receive an item to review, that is not working for a company, as was discussed at length in comments on my post about mom bloggers deserving pay. A review is done for your readers. It requires not feeling beholden to the company or agency who sent it to you. Reviews should have both good and bad. I would even consider telling companies right from the start that you only do fair reviews.

Be Discriminating About Pitches

In any newsroom, station and magazine office on any given day, they easily receive hundreds of pitches. Of those, maybe one or two (or maybe even none) get any attention. A pitch is just that, a pitch. Saying no to it is not only acceptable, but it is standard for many who are pitched to not even reply much less write about the topic or product.

You certainly can reply to be polite, but saying no to a pitch that makes no sense for your readers or that you don’t have time to cover is perfectly OK.

Just like in traditional media, the best PR people will build a relationship with you and not simply pitch you when they want coverage for a client. So next time you say no, maybe initiate some conversation with the PR person and see where that goes.

Be a Skeptic

Many journalists are cynics, and that is a trait that serves them well. It means not taking anything on face value. It means wondering someone’s motives if they want coverage. It means always asking why.

Bloggers could stand a dose of this as well. Don’t assume what you hear or read is true. When you hear a statistic or survey results, look to see who funded that survey or what the source of the statistics are. Always be looking for the wizard behind the curtain.

Edit Your Copy

I see many blogs that have many typos and grammatical errors. It really isn’t hard to edit your posts to clean them up. If you don’t already, get a copy of the AP Style Book and read it through. If you can’t do that, at least have a mental style policy (like you always call it blog and not weblog). A simple spell check can be very helpful, but it doesn’t catch everything (for example, words that are words but the wrong word… or misuse of its vs. it’s).

If bloggers want to command respect as an important part of the media, having copy that is error-free goes a long way towards looking professional.

Even though most bloggers don’t have editors, consider pairing up with a blog friend to read over each other’s posts and look for typos and errors.

Be Ethical

There is no official blogger code of ethics. But Mommy Niri nailed it when she spoke out during the Type-A Mom Conference’s Town Hall Meeting. “If you live ethically, you’ll blog ethically.”

What I read into that is this: we should each have our own barometer to tell us right from wrong. Use it. There was a general rule that we used in newspapers that applies just as well to blogs. If you wouldn’t mind it being published on the front page (translate: home page), then it’s probably OK to do. So that means if you are doing something, ask yourself how you would feel (or your readers would feel) if you posted what you did on your home page. At the top. With H1 tags. Flashing.

Be Transparent

To the last point, always be transparent. I honestly don’t think traditional journalists do enough of it, but we can certainly set the bar for them. Yes, it’s all fine and dandy to have a disclosure page somewhere on your blog. And you always read the fine print, right? Yeah, thought so. Disclosures should happen on any post where they apply, and prominently. That will comply with FTC guidelines, but also ensure your readers really know what is going on.

You can put something at the end of your post to say, for example, a company sent you the product you just reviewed. But there are also natural ways to work that into the copy. Something like, “When Company X sent me the Widget…” This doesn’t have to be rocket science.

Think of Readers First

This is last, but most important. This is one where I think traditional media has dropped the ball, and it is part of the reason I got out of the business. They started caring more about profits and advertisers and statistics about demographic who weren’t reading newspapers anymore and they stopped thinking about the most important priority: readers. The important investigative stories readers need have been neglected so reporters could churn more 5-inch no-brain-cell-required stories into the newspaper machine.

The Watergate story would never happen today.

Your readers should always come first. Without them, you have no blog. Whenever you struggle with a decision, ask yourself what your readers would want. If you’re really torn, ask them on your blog.

Just never forget that the readers are what it’s all about. They are your community, so much more so than with traditional one-directional media. Your readers don’t just read you, they talk to you. They are important.

_{Photo of journalist, © Erik Stabile}

Here are some details about the conference:

Type-A Mom Conference is a unique mom blogging conference designed to help you take it to the next level. The conference will feature some of the most influential, admired and insightful mom bloggers talking about topics like power social networking, branding, blogging, finding your voice, and turning your passion for blogging into a real paycheck.

When? Sept. 24-27

Where? Asheville, NC

Find out more at the official Type-A Mom Conference site.

And be sure to register before 11:55 p.m. July 1st. The current Super Early Bird rate of $100 is half the full price, and it ends (and bumps up $50) in mere hours.

_{Photo © National Rural account on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license.}

That is when it dawned on me that, a while back, LinkedIn nudged me to get my profile there 100 percent complete by getting some recommendations. I didn’t like the idea of an incomplete profile (I’m sure they know that), so I requested a few recommendations. I was stunned at how wonderful the recommendations were. I used them in a brochure about my services.

Before BlissDom, I had a total “duh” moment. I decided to take a few minutes to create a page with some of those recommendations. It looks like this and you can visit my What People Are Saying About Kelby Carr page here.

I also plan to get some sort of a rotator plugin for WordPress so I can pull snippet quotes from these recommendations and place them in my sidebar with a link to the page.

The process of doing this was really simple.

• Get some recommendations (and join LinkedIn if you aren’t already on there). If you already have some LinkedIn recommendations, you are already in great shape. I did, but requested a couple more recommendations before I created the page.
• Grab the quotes and avatars for those who made recommendations and place them on a page. Include their name and title and a link to their site. That is just polite, but it also will catch the attention of those you have linked to if they track their site’s stats or have Google alerts for links to their sites.
• Create a Testimonials page with an intro and each recommendation with picture. Personally, I used a table to place the pictures to the left and the text to the right.
• Promote the testimonials page in your sidebar or add it to your menu.
• Be sure to pay it forward by recommending those who recommended you!

Morning Agenda

9 a.m. Blogging Panel

10 a.m. IRL Networking

10:30 a.m.: Breakout session #1

11:15 a.m. Breakout session #2

Noon: Break for Lunch

After lunch, the hands-on stuff begins. Find out more on Dave’s blog.

Blogging Panel – 9 a.m.

The day will begin with all speakers hosting a blogging panel, and the general subject will be the blogging revolution. Each speaker will introduce themselves and speak briefly on that subject and how they believe blogging has changed the way we write, communicate and receive information. Then the floor will open to questions from the audience. The idea behind this is to be sure the audience gets a chance to hear and interact with every speaker.

Breakout Session #1 – 10:30 a.m.

You can choose one session below to attend:

Track 1 – Promoting Your Blog Through Social Media

When it comes to promoting your blog, social media can be a highly effective means of increasing your reader base. But, there is a right way and a wrong way to use every service. The right way can grow your traffic and enhance your brand – the wrong way will have people thinking you’re a spammer and dismissing everything you write. In this session, we’ll tackle some of the dos and don’ts of five forms of social media: blogging, microblogging, forums, social networking and social bookmarking.

Speaker’s bio: Bio: Patrick O’Keefe is a writer, web developer, and community administrator. He is the founder and owner of the iFroggy Network and the author of “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online forums, communities and social spaces. He writes for multiple blogs, including YanksBlog.com, ManagingCommunities.com, and Bad Boy Blog.com, and maintains a personal blog at patrickokeefe.com.

Track 2 – Finding your Voice, Blogging your Heart

This session will be a discussion (with hand-outs!) on finding and refining your blog voice. Part of our goal will be to examine why we blog, what we want our blog to reflect about us, how to do it well, and how to get what we really want from blogging (once we’ve figured that out). Developing a consistent blogging voice will help you communicate more effectively, gain readership, and win readers over to your point of view.

Speaker’s Bio: Anne Fitten Glenn has been blogging about parenting, beer, politics, books, and other topics at edgymama.com for almost four years. She writes a weekly parenting column, also titled Edgy Mama, for Asheville, N.C.’s alternative newsweekly, Mountain Xpress and a weekly business profile for the Asheville Citizen-Times. As a journalist, photographer, and educator, she has closely watched the media change and evolve during her 22-year career. Glenn spends her free time mothering two kids, one husband, two marmalade cats, and one Dorkie Poo mutt. She rarely gets enough exercise, chocolate, sleep or beer.

Track 3: Creating Online Communities or Your Site is Not a Billboard

Communities are a dynamic asset that can be encouraged with positive interaction and transparency. Cultivating conversation both on and offsite creates interaction and a feeling of investment between the author and audience. Methods and guidelines for developing communities will be discussed.

Speaker’s Bio: Heather Solos is co-author of Home-Ec101.com and recently launched LowcountryBloggers.com with the help of Daniel Tennant. LowcountryBloggers.com is a site dedicated to promoting community and interaction between Charleston area bloggers.

Breakout Session #2 – 11:15 a.m.

Choose one of the following tracks:

Track 1: Seo for Bloggers

No, SEO isn’t a dirty word. Yes, you really do need to know at least a little about if you want to find success in the blogosphere. Guess what? It isn’t that scary or even that hard. Get a crash course in the basics of driving search engine traffic to your web site, from simple tactics while you write to basic plugins that can make a huge difference in your traffic. Best of all, you can still write for people while appeasing the Google gods.

Speaker bio: Kelby Carr is a freelance writer, SEO expert, foodie, social networking chick, travel junkie and former biz-cops-political-investigative newspaper journalist turned hardcore mommy blogger. She is the publisher of a network of parenting web sites. She’s been geeking it out on computers since the age of 10 (and you had to use an audio tape to run software), and web publishing and networking since the early 1990s (when she had to create pages from code in Notepad). She is also the host of the morning session.

Track 2: Hyper-Local Reporting with Multimedia

Jared Smith will demonstrate how he makes Charleston Weather, a live and interactive weather show for Charleston, SC residents during times of severe weather, a reality using little more than ustream.tv, a webcam, and a couple free or low-cost tools.  The techniques Jared uses aren’t just limited to weather broadcasts, either — any genre of webcast can benefit from his techniques and ideas.  All you need to bring is an appetite for multimedia and your own creativity to pull it all together.

Speaker’s Bio: Jared Smith is a 20-something web developer and weather nut in Charleston, SC.  Jared has been blogging since 2000 (age 15) on a variety of topics, but he is most recently known for his efforts in blogging and reporting tropical and other severe weather that affects the Charleston area, beginning with a live blog of Tropical Storm Ernesto in 2006 as it took aim on the Lowcountry, and continuing into 2008, when Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna posed a threat to the region.  In times of severe weather, Jared hosts Charleston Weather, an interactive weather show complete with real-time chat and live radar.  He is in the process of launching a standalone weather blog to compliment the show at charlestonwx.com, which is scheduled to go live full-time in 2009.

Track 3: Speaker Selected, but Still Finalizing Session Theme

Rest of the Day’s Conference

After we break for lunch, the day is far from over. Get down to real nuts and bolts learning with Dave Slusher’s hands-on sessions.

How to Attend

So if you are interested in going, you can either RSVP at the Facebook event page or comment below. We look forward to seeing you there! Also be sure to attend the ConvergeSouth conference the day before at the same location (and I am a speaker, so stop by and say hello!), and be sure to register for that separately.

Get Your Conference Badge

OK, so I threw these together. They suck. Hey, I’m pressed on time and I don’t have Photoshop that I’m used to. But if you’d like to have a badge, feel free. Also feel free to create your own less sucky badge and use it instead.

Get the code:

<a href="http://kelbycarr.com/independent-blogger-conference-greensboro"><img src="http://kelbycarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/greensboro-speaker.jpg" alt="" /></a>

Get the code:

<a href="http://kelbycarr.com/independent-blogger-conference-greensboro"><img src="http://kelbycarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/greensboro-attendee.jpg" alt="" /></a>

Part of the hang up for many higher-ups, I think, is fear of change. Another part of it is the desire to track ROI on marketing down to hard numbers, and social web campaigns don’t work like that. It’s a bit like asking to measure water cooler conversations.

Mostly, it’s a fear of surrending control of the marketing message to the online community. But guess what, people, they are already running it. You don’t think so? Search for your company name in Google and just see what you see. Mmm-hmm.

The Moms Panel is not even a year old yet, but the call for applicants alone attracted about 10,000 inquiries. Yes, Ten Thousand. So many that they created a private site, the Mickey Moms Club, just for the many moms who didn’t make the cut (they only selected a dozen for the Moms Panel). They are right now in the midst of going over the thousands of applications for the 2009 Moms Panel members.

Just think of this: the power of connecting with thousands of your enthusiastic fans, many of whom already are active online, and some of whom are bloggers and influencers. Just pause and reflect for a moment.

Yesterday, I chatted with Disney World Social Media Director Leanne Jakubowski about the Disney World Moms Panel. It was interesting to learn about how it all began, and how amazingly and wildly successful it has been in helping them find real mom Disney World evangalists. Also, I’d like to note, every major (and some minor) company should have a social media position on their roster. Just sayin’. It isn’t the 1990s anymore.

“It’s been a huge success,” Jakubowski said. This year, for example, they have upped the panel to 16 members. They were forced to do that to handle the high number of questions web site visitors asked.

When the idea first emerged, however, she said there were naysayers. In fact, even proponents were surprised at the impressive response.

“At the start, we were like shooting darts at the wall. We had no idea what the response would be. We thought if we got 100, we’d be doing good,” she recalled. Not only did they get around 10,000 applicants, but these were people who took the time to complete essays to apply. “These were very passionate people. These people were pouring out their hearts and souls.”

Their response in creating a social network just for the moms who didn’t make the cut is pretty impressive. I think many companies would have missed that catch. “We were going to tell 9,999 moms they didn’t make it. We quickly got together as a team here and worked with our internet folks and an outside consultant. We reached out to the moms and we formed the Mickey Moms Club.”

Kudos to Disney World for getting it! And if you have any questions about visiting Disney World, ask the Moms Panel.

I’m also thinking about going to Disney World in December to write about spending the holidays there. What do you think? It is an insanely busy time of year for a mom, but I keep thinking about the cool events happening there that I wrote about here. The kids would certainly enjoy checking those out, and it seems like I’d get loads of travel writing material. I was even thinking it could be fun to live blog and live microblog the Disney World trip, post twitpics, post qik videos, generally do something like Apryl did at Type-A Mom last weekend while on a press trip in Destin.

So do you think I should go? I would probably do it early December so readers/followers would have time to plan their own trip, too. Would you follow live blogging about it? I’d love your feedback while I mull the idea over.

_{Photo of the 2008 Disneyworld Moms Panel, courtesy of Disney World.}

This is simply evidence of the amazing world that is the blogosphere and, in an even more microscopic way, that blogger brain trust at Twitter. Within a couple minutes, I learned about these awesome posts. I laughed, I cried, and I loved every single one. And this is just a completely random sampling of people who provided links. You’ve gotta love the blogosphere!

Enjoy them while they’re hot and fresh:

• Do you like to be a winner? Yeah, me too. There will be some cool weekly giveaways at Temporarily Me.
• Lest we forget the importance of alone time, The Mom Chronicles shares about Sarah’s Day Out.
• I can’t even begin to express the sympathy I have, being a mom of a nutty 5-year-old myself, when I read this post, She’s Only Five, at Viva La Feminista.
• OK. I am a little irked because I got involuntarily teared up reading Goodbye… Love You over at West of Philly Burbs. That’s probably because I JUST took my daughter to kindergarten. And it was very difficult/exciting. (And I love Philly!)
• This is cool. What is YOUR super power, and how does that apply to discovering your brand? My superpower? I call Web Supah-freak Supah-power. Yeah! Thanks to the Small Business Guru.
• Oh, I feel a project coming on (or at least a run to the store to by materials that will sit in a closet forever so my husband can give me crap about it every time he sees it). Getting Crafty features an incredible post on tote bag patterns and tutorials. I love the idea of making my own tote, or making cute totes for the kids.
• There is a sweet and touching post, On Mothers, at Renaissance Culinaire. (And hey, I totally love foodie moms!)
• I am a firm, firm believer of pursuing dreams (this is why I ditched a job, sold a house, and moved with husband and 1-year-old to France, despite everyone saying we were insane). So Studio Jewel’s post, My Dream List, is one everyone should read (and you should make your own list!).
• Want the real low-down on the stay-at-home lifestyle? At Gaming with Baby, he gets down and dirty about the SAHD realities with his post, So You Want to Be a Stay at Home Parent.
• Have you been wasting cash on Raid? You might consider investing in geckos for your next roach infestation. Yep. The Daily Digress reveals this little trick in her post, In Which the Solution is More Horrifying Then the Problem.
• Forget back to school lists. At 2 Garzas and La Gringa, find out about a real scandal. When they say washable, they… well, they are exaggerating, shall we say? I can personally say I have used two of the three products here, and she ain’t lying in her post, Washable? My Sorry Domestic Ass!
• What would you blog if CNN called? The McMommy Chronicles describes her emotional roller coaster in her post, Just When You Think You Have Nothing to Blog About.
• I love free things, in a way that is kind of an illness. I’m totally going after the free sample of Post-It Super Sticky Recycled Notes reported at Kids Meal Crowd (which includes a cool parent hack).
• It is totally appropriate in the theme of cooperation to share the Advantages of Bloggers Network/Group Blogging post from The WWW Blog.
• At Ladybug’s Picnic, a blogger does just what a blogger should when she doesn’t like a post. She turns to her readers for some inspiration.
• The Edge Foundation blog features a great post about how Michael Phelps proves ADHD is not attention deficit!
• Don Mills Diva is one parent who is pleased to have an ungrateful kid. Wonder why? Read the post, Thank Goodness He’s So Ungrateful.
• Want to know what on earth a Tykes on Trikes Parade is? Yeah, me too. Check it out over at Crunchy Green Lovin’ Mom.
• Oh, I am boiling reading Momville’s post on Bashing Working Moms. Care to join me in a friendly seethe?
• Speaking of contests, there is an awesome one going on at the Princess Time Toys blog. I love this shop… and not just for all the cool princess stuff. There’s great boy stuff, and toys, and it’s just amazing. And a mom owns it.
• The Send Chocolate blog has a hilarious post, Finally Olympic Events I Could Win. Too funny! And yeah, I despised running in school, too.

I love to spread the love! I should have added a regular link love post before, and I will do it from now on. So if you have anything cool you want to share, contact me. I will probably go with themes or something else that strikes my fancy from now on.

You may be wondering what blog kharma even is. Blog kharma is doing the right thing just because you are part of a community, and you want to help others. Be a generous blogger. Here is how you get good blog kharma:

• Link to other blogs.
• Don’t just link to other blogs that have a high PageRank and are wildly popular. Link to the little blogs, the ones just starting out. You were there once, too (and maybe still are). Help a blogga out, sisters and brothers!
• Promote other bloggers’ stuff. Stumble (recommend, review or or thumbs-up a post at StumbleUpon), post it on Twitter, Digg it, Propeller it, Kirtsy it, momShare it, you name it. When you see something good, spread the word. You help the blogger, and you help other readers
• When bloggers ask for promotion (such as on a social network, or by sending you a message through StumbleUpon), provide it. You don’t want to be taken advantage of, but if someone is reasonable and only asks for a little help from time to time, then give it!
• Have a blogroll, or a weekly link love post, or some place where you regularly give mention and exposure to other bloggers.
• Comment on blogs to keep conversations lively and active. Don’t comment just to promote yourself (although most do let you make your name linkable to your site).
• If you use WordPress, use a plugin like CommentLuv to allow those who comment on YOUR site to get an extra boost of exposure.

On the other hand, I frequently see sites and blogs that have serious bad blog kharma. You have bad blog kharma if you have committed any of the following:

• Mentioned a site but didn’t highlight the name of the site and link to it.
• Held back from linking to other blogs or sites because you were afraid you would leak some of your Google PageRank, send someone away from your site, or because you’re afraid you’ll boost their search engine rankings and not your own, or for some other blog-selfish reason.
• Used nofollow for your blogroll or links inside posts. I don’t believe in nofollow. If it’s worth linking to, it’s worth getting the credit with Google. Also, many bloggers don’t know about nofollow. So it’s disingenuous. They think you are helping them, but you really aren’t. Don’t know what nofollow is, or want to know how you can spot a nofollower? Comment below. If there is enough interest, I will do a post just on the subject of nofollow.
• Not linking at all.
• Not commenting at all.
• Only commenting on other blogs to promote yourself or insert a link to your blog or post. You should talk WITH the blog community, not AT it.

Before you even get all commenting and ranting below, I will address this right here and now: Yes, I know there are reasons for doing the stuff on my bad kharma list. If there weren’t reasons, people wouldn’t do those things. I’m talking about something else, being generous, and being a giver not a taker in the Blog Community.

In the old days, a web site was a self-contained entity, an island unto itself. This is the world of Web 2.0. This is a community people, no different than the one in which you physically live. Be a good citizen. And here is a hint. Good blog kharma does pay off. So you are even being selfish by giving.

_{Image of connecting figurines, copyright spekulator on stock.xchng.}