By writers that kill!  But it’s important to remember, as noted in my notes below, that content isn’t just the written word.  It’s pictures, videos, widgets, everything. The panel consisted of:

• Lisa Picarille, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine (Moderator)
• Angel Djambazov, OPM, Custom Tailored Marketing
• Kim Rowley, Founder, Key Internet Internet Marketing, Inc.

Overall it was a great panel, and Lisa did really well as a moderator despite unfortunately loosing her voice between last night & this morning.

Bullet Point Review!

• People want to write but they’re generally intimidated when they don’t have the “education” to do so.
• Passion & a unique voice are key.
• Ask yourself: how am I going to constantly update the readers & provide something new?
• Know your audience and craft your message.
• Ask your users for submissions.
• Contests are great – sometimes merchants will give you freebies to give away for the exposure & talking them up.
• Readers can tell the difference between reviews that are genuine and reviews that are written just to make a buck (hint: usually they’re overly talkin’ them up).
• Content isn’t just the written word, it’s also pictures, UGC, videos.
• Engage your audience & it will create content & ideas.
• Ask questions to engage readers.
• Be sure your ads contribute to your overall message – example given was a site for memorials for loved ones who’ve passed on with a banner ad for a popular dating service.  Message FAIL.
• Design does contribute to the content, and can make it “seem” better.
• The design sets the tone for the content – a good example is TheDailyCandy.com – the design is fun & so is the content.
• Have some content that’s controversial…sometimes it gets more hits.
• Ping.fm is a great aggregate that lets you post across MANY social networks at once.
• Create an affinity with your audience.
• How do you get help?  Ask knowledgeable family members, friends, users, and a professional outsource if necessary.
• What makes content the most compelling?  Angel says be organic & open, be yourself, have some humor, & give a takeaway.  Overall, be consistent!  His example was Chrisbrogan.com.

Points brought up during the Q&A

• Keep video to 2-3 minutes max to keep attention – unless you’re damn compelling.
• Stories are better than iteration of tech knowledge.
• You need to get specific with your niche.
• Promote new blogs to the readers of your current blog.
• Passion resonates.
• Archives need to be accessible and easy – if I just found you & really like your blog, I’ll want to see what you’ve written about before.
• Effective to use analytics to understand how your audience interacts with you.  It helps narrow down the sweet spot of your topic.
• Use Wordpress plugins to your advantage to highlight the most popular posts.
• ShareThis is a great tool.

It was totally great!

 Powered by Max Banner Ads