I’ve reams of notes as a result of last Friday’s ProBlogger Training Day in Melbourne.
Many served as excellent reminders on what I should be doing and others, as light bulb moments.
Here are five of those moments that resonated most with me.
1. eBooks: It’s not about a launch DAY but a launch MONTH
Darren Rowse, Creating and launching eBooks: The ProBlogger way
I’ve had eBooks on the agenda for longer than I’d care to admit. And while I had surprising success with my one free eBook, EXPOSED: The secret life of a web designer, I’ve yet to launch the paid flavour.
This resounded with me. You focus so much on the launch day, but why? When you sit back to think about this, it doesn’t make sense. A lone day doesn’t make the most of all the hard work you’ve put in, so you won’t reap the rewards – whatever they may be for you.
2. Surprise your readers
Darren Rowse, Blog smart – but from the heart
Mix it up. If you’re generally a serious blogger, craft a humorous post. Just snap your readers out of their zombie state; a state that we all get in when we flick disloyally from site to site, hardly paying attention.
Darren delivered the goods on the day, too. He surprised his audience by inviting Tim Ferriss along. With quite a few swooning women in the audience (alright, alright, I was one of them!) we were privileged to hear from a worldwide success story.
3. Forums should not be democracies
Sonia Simone, What’s the difference between a tribe and a business?
People united by passion will always have conflict. And someone needs to control this, otherwise it will get out of hand.
It’s up to you to be the sheriff. You are the law. This is not a democracy.
I’ve never run a forum; I can only speculate on what’s involved. And I haven’t participated in many either, for the exact reason that so many seem out of control, full of trolls, stalkers, ignorance and unnecessary rudeness.
With project plans well underway for 2012, this is the time for me to think about this. From my personal perspective, the sheriff idea seems a great place to start.
Better shine my badge and polish my boots.
4. Use cookie content to engage your readers
Sonia Simone, Creating content that builds “Know, Like and Trust” relationships
Treat your readers like dogs. Reward them with a cookie whenever they do something for you.
How do you teach a dog to do something? With a treat. An incentive.
The same applies to readers. If you want your reader to do something, then give them reason to.
This is cookie content. It’s content that is bite-sized; it can be digested straight away for immediate satisfaction.
This idea works. But it leaves me with a certain hollowness. Life today is so full of immediate satisfaction. What about depth? Contemplation? Discussion?
Someone in the audience had read my mind. They asked that very question.
So Sonia answered. There is a time and place for this style of content. It’s called paid content. This is not the stuff you give away; this is the very soul of your business. Value it for what it truly is.
The quality of the cookie content will demonstrate you’ve the knowledge; the same cookie content that will funnel your readers to your paid content.
Huzzah.
5. Your blog is a business, not a blog
Social Rabbit’s Lara Solomon once again asked the punters on the single most important tip of the day. This is mine.
(I’ve had some problems with the timing of the video! If you can’t see me, I start at 9mins 38secs)
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