SOBCon08 – Biz School for Bloggers… A report, part 1

Liz and Terry sure nailed it this year. Not only in concept but in execution. Their goal – create an event where business owners and bloggers come together to learn from each other – both about social media and about running a business. In my opinion, much needed and only scraping the surface of what’s needed around social media. The weekend was great…here’s my experience.

The flight to Chicago on Friday was quick and uneventful. We landed just before a storm rolled in that delayed a number of SOBCon-ers, including Chris Cree and Gorgeous (his name for his wife). I jump on the orange line out of Midway which deposits me, 40 minutes later, a block and a half from my hotel – in a downpour. Cab it or walk…I chose to walk. And when I stepped into Hotel 71 I was drenched.

I get to my room, dry off, unpack and out comes the laptop. I was thinking of a short nap before the afternoon’s festivities, but turns out Chris Garrett was looking for a lunch date. Sonia Simone and I join Chris for a stroll down Michigan Ave, a nice chat and a great lunch lunch at Carmine’s. Thank God the weather cleared up.

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Are you coming to SOBCon08?

I’ve been set on coming ever since I left Chicago last May. The event in 2007 was great. Lots of great people. Lots of great information. And, of course, lots of of great conversation. But what would I expect from an event that was partially the brainchild of Liz Strauss, Miss Conversation herself (now, that’s my opinion and she would probably deny it even though it’s the truth)?

That’s why I was so excited last fall when Liz and Terry Starbucker started planning for SOBCon08. This year’s theme – Biz School for Blogging. Notice the title closely. It’s not blogging for businesses. Rather, it’s� business school for blogging. In other words, bringing sound business principles into the blogosphere.

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I get asked all the time why a business owner should be blogging or engaged in social media.

The answer I give almost always revolves around creating relationships. If you’ve been reading a while, you know one of my favorite statements is people don’t do business with businesses, they do business with people. So relationships become key to business success.

Before the internet, before social media, much of the business world seemed to focus on producing and selling. You’d produce a product or create a service and do everything you could to get people to buy. In other words, marketing was about peddling what you had.

Today, however, [ continue reading & share your thoughts → ]

Speaking of bugs…who’s that guy up there in the corner? Well, that’s me, of course. You finally get to see what I look like (without having to dig around my bio page).

Well, I’m back. Yeah, I know it’s been a while. But I’ve been pretty hard at work.

You’ll also notice that in my month-long absence, I’ve managed to complete a new design of my blog. My goal was to clear out the clutter so the good stuff would be easier to find.

And while I don’t see this layout as being complete, I felt it was close enough to launch it tonight. What I’d love is your feedback. What do you like and don’t like. What works, what doesn’t. And please, if you run into any bugs, let me know. If you could list the browser and operating system you’re using that would be most helpful.

I’m really excited about the layout changes. I’ve got lots of plans for the coming year – including podcasts and video casts. I’m also working on a customized homepage layout – which I’m in no rush to put up.

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I’m always amazed at people who think that bloggers mostly write about their personal life.

Think about how often you’ve heard someone say, “why would I want to blog? I don’t care about what someone at for breakfast.”

What’s often missed in statements like this is that blogging isn’t just about sharing your personal life. It’s also about sharing your business.

Unlike a traditional, static website however, a blog – or as I like to call it a personal publishing system – gives you the opportunity to connect directly with other people. People who may be in your target audience. Or peers and others who gain something from reading your posts.

But a blog is more than another medium for connecting with people in your target audience and peers. It also provides a platform to engage in conversation. Those conversations can lead to relationships. And those relationships can lead to increased business.

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Why? Why not?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot since David Armano talked about it at SOBCon last year. His basic point was that “blogging is a commodity. Anyone can do it. We are human beings with passions and interests that come out in our blogs—not the other way around. Stop calling yourself a blogger. You are a… (designer, businessperson, marketer, artist, baker, mother, grandfather, etc). Calling ourselves bloggers takes away from what makes us unique.”

I have to say that I agree. I think the term blogger is overused and often misunderstood. When I talk with businesses about blogging, they often, even after all this time, think of journaling. They haven’t fully appreciated the breadth of what the term blogger can mean.

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Benjamin Franklin was a blogger – without a doubt.

He may not have had a computer to share his thoughts, nor the internet to spread them. But he did have a printing press where he printed regular installments of Poor Richard’s Almanack.

Ben Franklin was known to have a sharp and witty mind and a love of things social. He loved to share his thoughts on any number of subjects. He loved to stir the pot…and he loved debate.

Think of any bloggers like that?

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