The long answer is that you treat all of them with respect and dignity, find out what it is that they are looking for, and help them to find it.

Once you begin to build a community, you will find that there are some that are more interested in getting involved than others. One of the things that this kind of community member is looking for is Engagement. These readers and “doers” will enlist in your community expressly to get involved with other people - to talk, to listen, to help. They are looking to be a part of something larger than themselves.

Your goal should be to empower them to do so

How does your blog or website deliver to this type of reader/community member? Is there a comments feature that allows people to post their own opinion? How about a forum where the members can engage each other in a much broader fashion?

There are two schools of thought on allowing comments on a blog. One holds that it allows the readers to engage the author, and each other, in a discussion - a conversation - about the topic of the post. This can be a very powerful method of getting the word out about your site, as more people talk about and comment. The downside of this is the possibility of spam - fake comments from pr0n sites - and that you need to monitor the comments for inappropriate behavior. This is the primary rationale for the second school of thought on comments - don’t allow them.

How should you manage your empowered community?

Creating and nurturing a community takes time and effort. It means that not only do you need to give of yourself to create the content that the community is looking for, you need to share part of your creation with the community. A Web forum is an excellent tool for sharing this content and the responsibility for managing it. Sometimes called a bulletin board or message board, a Web forum is an online center for ongoing, in-depth discussions of specific topics and issues.

One of the more interesting features of the Web forum membership is that users frequently self-select for monitoring what is going on. As the “leader” of the community you can enlist these active volunteers to become moderators for the various topics and keep an eye on the postings and comments.

Seek these people out, encourage them to take the next step. Share of yourself and see what happens!

The first blush edition of the SOBCon09 schedule is up.
Here’s some of what you’ll find …

• We’ve added Friday sessions so we can get in-depth conversation on products and practices.
• We’ve limited Saturday to five workshops so that mastermind groups can really dig in on the content that gets presented.
• We’re planning to have a second evening event on Saturday, since the group seemed to like being in the same place.

Lot more detail to be filled in … but it’s shaping up into something special already.

You’ll find the program for SOBCon09 here.

Can’t wait to see you!

Liz and Terry

We have been brainstorming some ideas and now we need your help too. I originally sent out this survey as an e-mail, and received a bunch of good responses. But for those that may not have received it, here it is again:

If you could be in charge of putting together a program for an extra half-day of the conference, what would you like to include? How about having a series of short, intensive, highly practical “How to” sessions on Friday? What kind of format would you prefer for this program, say from noon until 5:00:

• 3 tracks of 45-minute sessions, featuring content for new bloggers and for experienced bloggers
• 2 tracks of 30-minute sessions, again with content for new and experienced bloggers

Next, within that format, what sorts of things are you dying to learn? Do you need help with things like:

• How to strengthen the connection between your business and your blog
• How to make it easy to comment and discuss posts
• How to design your website or blog for sales conversion - not just copywriting but the architecture, Ad placement, Affiliate sales, etc.

Please feel free to name your own course category, the one or two things that you would really, really like to take home from this year’s conference and put to use immediately.

Many of the responses that I have already received included comments to the effect that the group/brainstorming sessions were the best part, putting what the presenter just said into practical terms. What do you think?

Finally, if you had a chance to sponsor one of these sessions, and have a spot to promote your blog/business, would you do it?

What do you think that would be worth to you?

What would you want people to know about you and how would you like to get that message across?

Leave a comment, let us know what you think.

Terry, Liz, and Everyone!

It’s the first official SOBCon09 meetup!
Rumor has it that we’ll start talking about what’s going to be happening at SOBCon09 … Will you be there?

We’re meeting at the
Emerald Loop
216 N. Wabash - one block south of Wacker and Wabash
Chicago, IL
312-263-0200
on Monday, November 10th
Starts at 7 pm.

But I bet we’ll be there long before that.

–Liz

Choose your position carefully

Last week we talked about how you can drive a successful business through your blog and without being a salesperson. Today we will go over some of the steps that you can take to position yourself as an expert and your blog as a valuable resource.

Remember, while the goal is to increase the presence and reach of your blog in order to grow your business, it is not all about you. It is about getting positioned properly to showcase your customers and how their problems were addressed successfully.

Creating Value as an Authority

1. Use your blog as a platform to communicate value. What benefit do your readers get from coming to or subscribing to your blog? Is that benefit immediately obvious? Is there a suggested path that readers can take to find the information that they are looking for? Also write about your customers and vendors, featuring them as the hero of the story. They will spread that story around for you.
2. Use offline resources as well as online. Newspapers, while losing circulation (and, increasingly, any objectivity or relevance) still have some readers, and may be your only method of introduction to the less-than-savvy consumers that are not frequent blog-readers.
3. Offer your services as a speaker. Your local Chamber of Commerce is an ideal resource for networking and exposing yourself to the business community. The Chamber is always looking for speakers and presenters at a variety of events. Your presentation should focus on an aspect of the business market that showcases your knowledge and expertise, but not your business specifically. For example, if you are a motivational speaker or job coach, you could give a presentation on employee morale and how its ups-and-downs affect productivity and the bottom line.
4. Become active in your trade association. There is an association for nearly every industry and professional service. Get involved. Go to the meetings, volunteer to lead a group or head up a project. Get to know the movers and the shakers, and learn from them. Soon your knowledge and credibility will be at a point where you can offer to teach courses or give a presentation at a regional or national conference.
5. Cultivate a different presence. I am not advocating crazy or risque attire, rather something that sets you apart from the rest of the pack. Everyone has a business card, you can hand out CD-ROMs, or flash drives, or something else particular to your industry. Computer-related items are particularly useful for adding value to your marketing, as they can include links to your blog, your portfolio, and other examples of your online presence.

I happen to know that the SOBCon crowd is particularly innovative - and I invite you to share your own positioning tactics. What would you add to this list?

Do not be like this guy

Many people started blogging as a hobby, in the traditional sense of the online journal. In the last couple of years, however, blogging has become an industry with legions of entrepreneurs telling you how to make money online. The number one means of making money online? Sell something.

But what if you don’t know how to sell? Or like to sell? Can your blog be a business if you are not out there selling?

Yes it can.

How to blog your business without being a salesperson

Going online and trying to sell something can be a demoralizing experience. There is a lot of competition out there in every market and every niche. The secret to being a success in your online business is to focus on your potential customers, rather than on your products. Communicate with your possible purchasers and build a relationship.

It is much easier to build trust with your pool of customers than it is to expect them to find your product or service and give them a sales pitch, or jam them into a squeeze page. Providing value to your readers, getting involved in their communities, and building relationships should be your core business model.

6 Steps to Providing Value

Instead of studying books on sales techniques, I’d like to recommend that you turn your attention to a series of other skills that will make your business much more powerful and successful:

1. Learn how to position yourself and your business
2. Learn how to promote yourself and your business
3. Learn how to interact with your community
4. Learn how to make effective presentations
5. Learn how to engage your audience
6. Learn how to connect with your potential customers

Over the next few weeks we will discuss the steps that you can take to develop these skills and take your blog and your business to the next level. Our goals?

• Empower our audience to get involved
• Engage our audience with useful content
• Enlist our audience to spread the word and grow our business

What is your potential customer looking for?

This is your homework assignment for the week: Think about your business and the product or service that you provide (or are considering providing).

How does your blog deliver value to that customer or market?

Does your blog make it obvious what actions to take to get that result?

Next week we will discuss how to position your blog to take advantage of this value.

The long answer is found in this list of articles in a group writing project started by Brandon Hull of SalesTeamTools. I found this list some time ago and definitely suggest checking it out: 100+ Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn (from the LinkedIntelligence blog). There are many useful ideas from actual LinkedIn users.

:

• Business Development / Marketing / Sales
  
  • A Tool to Help with Reference Selling - Dave Stein
  • Getting More Than Just Answers - Diane K. Danielson
  • How to Use LinkedIn to Build Your Business - Liz Ryan (via The Virtual Handshake blog)
  • Market Your Company on LinkedIn - Gordon Choi
  • Using LinkedIn for Market Research - Loren Baker / Jason Calacanis
  • Secrets LinkedIn Can Tell You About Your Customers - Matt Asay
  • Using LinkedIn to Make the Sale - Al Chase (excerpt from The Virtual Handshake)
  • Warm Calling via LinkedIn - Alex Iskold
• Career Management / Personal Branding / Resumes
  
  • Becoming a Recognized Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn - Barbara Rozgonyi
  • Brush Up Your Resume - CarlenLea
  • Enhance Your Resume with LinkedIn Testimonials - Harry Joiner
  • LinkedIn and Career Management - Jason Alba
  • LinkedIn as Resume 2.0 - Scott Sehlhorst
  • Your Reputation: Create a Permalink - Todd Defren
• Job Search
  • Best Practices for a LinkedIn Job Search - Konstantin Guericke (via Dave Taylor)
  • How Do I Use LinkedIn to Find a Job? - Dave Taylor
  • How to Use LinkedIn to Find a New Position - Eric Mariacher
  • How to Find a Job Using LinkedIn - Liz Ryan (via Dave Taylor)
  • LinkedIn and Your Job Search - Alison Doyle
  • Following Up on Inside Connections at Potential Employers - Scott Allen
  • Searching the Hidden Job Market for Opportunities - Debra Feldman
  • Using LinkedIn to Prepare for Your Job Interview - Darlene McDaniel
• Recruiting
  • Companies Use LinkedIn to Find Top Talent - Desire Athow
• Growing Your Network
  • Grow Your Network While You Don’t Need It - Eric Mariacher
  • Growing Your Network Online - Kathie Thomas
  • LinkedIn as Cult Builder - Matthew Reinbold
• Keeping in Touch
  • Borrowing the Expertise of Others - Eric Eggertson
• Meeting Face-to-Face
  • Breaking the Ice at a Meeting with LinkedIn - Pete Johnson
  • Using LinkedIn to Fill Out Your Business Trip - Scott Allen
  • Using LinkedIn for Travel - Marc Freedman
  • Connecting with People in Your Network When Traveling - Stewart Rogers
• Organizing and Extending Groups
  • Using LinkedIn to Create a Granfalloon - F. John Reinke
  • Pros and Cons of LinkedIn for Alumni Groups - Andrew Shaindlin
• Miscellaneous
  • Introducting Your Network to Each Other - Scott Allen
  • Using LinkedIn to Find Celebrity Guests - Stan Relihan
  • Unpredictable Benefits of LinkedIn - Nathan Gilliatt
  • LinkedIn a Box - Brendon Connelly
• Specific Jobs / Industries
  • 10 Ways Journalists Can Use LinkedIn - Penelope Trunk
  • LinkedIn for Startup Entrepreneurs: 5 Reasons to Join - Dharmesh Shah
  • Five Ways IT Managers Can Get More Out of LinkedIn - Shane Schick
  • Five Ways Authors Can Profit from LinkedIn - Mahesh Grossman
• Lists
  • How to Change the World: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn - Guy Kawasaki
  • 20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively - Web Worker Daily
  • Making Your LinkedIn Business Network Pay Dividends - Tatsuya Nakagawa & Peter Paul Roosen
  • Top Reasons to Use LinkedIn - Various, compiled by Chris Pirillo

(List compiled by Brandon Hull)

People talking, people connecting

More than an Online Resume

As you can see, Linked in is much more than just a futuristic resume, it is a tool for connecting. Here are three more things that I to do with LinkedIn:

1. Focus on connecting. Whenever I get a business card from someone I enter them into my Highrise HQ account, then search for that person on LinkedIn right away. Because I have their email, I can send them an invitation to connect.
2. Increase your visibility. Don’t add people to your network and then forget about them. While everyone you meet may not be a “business” contact, they may be a referrer. How will you know? Use the Question and Answer function on LinkedIn. Also, make sure your public profile is complete. I like to recommend people in my network, I also ask them to recommend me. Every time I do one of these activities, LinkedIn posts updates online and in weekly updates to everyone in my network.
3. Make LinkedIn your homepage. Whenever I open my browser, I can immediately review my “LinkedIn Home Page” which shows what others in my network are doing and who they’re connecting with. I also check every 2-3 days to see “Who’s Viewed My Profile.” Just as you can use web statistics to see who is looking at your website, you can also see who’s been checking out your profile.

For a real-world example, I recently used the Question and Answer feature for doing some research on a post about working from home. This is something that I have been struggling with for some time now and it occurred to me that I had a large base of people that I know that have been working from home for years. Who better to ask for tips?

I asked a question, and a lot of people answered! In fact, many more than I expected. I consider myself blessed to have so many contacts that are so engaged and willing to help. One of those that chimed in with an answer was Grant Griffiths from Home Office Warrior, who graciously offered to host the collection of tips as a post on his blog. Click on through to see this amazing list of tips for working at home.

Chicago, Illinois

Can’t wait to see you!

Join us for the Chicago Moms Blog Donors Choose Challenge!

Over at Chicago Mom’s Blog and their sister sites, we are rising up to the worldwide 2008 DonorsChoose.org Bloggers Challenge to help thousands of kids in high-need public schools.  Last year during the 2007 Blogger Challenge, internet history was made in one short month: more than 100 bloggers raised $420,000 for school projects on DonorsChoose.org.  This year, we’re aiming to make internet history again.

DonorsChoose.org is the brainchild of Charles Best and a group of teachers from the Bronx.  Charles, a science teacher, was frustrated at the lack of materials in the classrooms.  He saw how the students were affected by not having adequate materials to teach and work with. He set up DonorsChoose.org to pair donors with educational projects all over the world.  The beauty of DonorsChoose.org is that donors have complete control over which projects they choose to donate to.

Since I have a heart for deaf and hard of hearing children, I took a look at the projects that focus on those kids:  Projects featuring deaf and hard of hearing children.  I also found projects covering students in special education.  And for Chicago Moms, there are many projects covering Chicago Public Schools and the surrounding suburbs.

This fundraiser is so profound, that Fortune magazine has an article covering this month-long philanthropy effort:  It Takes a Blogosphere.

The Chicago Moms Blog and our sister sites aim to kick some serious butt (some of us have to pause and wipe a butt) and raise the most money for several school projects for the Moms Blogs Challenge. We invite our readers to join us in raising the most money.  Turn your couch upside down and find some change.  Encourage your kids to donate some of their allowance.  Grab a bunch of moms in your neighborhood and join together to select a project to fund.  And if you have a rich uncle, ask him to cut a check– and make a difference.

For the month of October 2008, click on the Chicago Moms Help Public Schools button in the top left corner and send your contribution on its way!  Watch as the competition heats up as we work together to raise funds.

We come away from those events on natural highs. We promise ourselves we’ll do some things. Perhaps for you it was simply to stay in touch. Other folks will promise to change their blog, some will say they’ll change their life. Some people even offer business opportunities. It’s a very exciting time in our lives.

Read the whole thing here [link].