I discussed writing good content and posting consistently for a decent amount of time in the first Every Dot Connects Blogging Basics post – How to start a blog, and whether you’ll ever make money from it.

The next obvious question is, “How do I get anyone to read my blog?”

It may surprise you to learn that marketing and publicizing a blog’s content (thereby increasing traffic if the content is good) doesn’t happen on the blog.

Sure, outbound links to other sites from your blog posts are seen by those sites as inbound links/backlinks, and their authors may click back through to see what you’re saying and what you’re all about. That’s why it is important to pay attention to who links to you, and respond.

In that sense, you are publicizing your writing directly from your own blog, but that is only part of the battle.

Blog publicity happens via a whole ecosystem of online and face-to-face interaction.

• It happens via Facebook, because a blog post link that you put on your Wall or in your status is seen on the Home pages of everyone in your network.
• It happens via LinkedIn the same way, through your network’s Home pages.
• It happens via your comments on other people’s blogs or in an online forum, because usually your name on a comment is a hyperlink back to your blog (so think before you comment. Ever wonder why more readers don’t comment?)
• It happens via Twitter, both because your blog URL should be listed in your bio, and from the occasional post URL of your own that you tweet. You don’t just auto-post everything onto your Twitter stream, do you?  Good; didn’t think so.
• It happens via StumbleUpon, which is especially nice when someone Stumbles one of your posts. Give back;  Stumble other people’s good content.
• It happens when you bookmark on Delicious.
• It happens when you do any of the above and it shows up in your FriendFeed.
• It happens via Flickr photo – I try to remember to put applicable links in the description of photos that I put online. Here’s one of my Chicago photos with links, as an example.
• It happens via YouTube videos; put links in the description of those, too.
• It happens via email – when people see your blog’s hyperlinked URL in your email signature line.
• It happens when people see your blog’s URL on your business card.
• And finally, it happens when you go “Old School” and meet people in person at conferences and networking events, and you mention your blog if it is appropriate.

Be everywhere, representing your writing.

Be ubiquitous, along with your content.

Marketing happens OFF of the blog.

More from Every Dot Connects

• Blogging Basics: How to start a blog, and whether you’ll ever make money from it
• 6 ways to improve your destination marketing (and why you’re toast if you don’t)
• Social Media Blog Carnival – Your Best Shots

I’m getting ready to leave on a press/media trip to Hutchinson, Kansas;  several of the city’s public relations and marketing folks decided that bloggers and wired writers offer a different way to get the word out about their destination.

My travel-related posts will be over on my Family Travel blog and the Perceptive Travel blog, but there’s an online angle here that’s intriguing. Some in Hutchinson have already impressed me with their Web connections – over 1,100 in the WhatsUpHutch.com Facebook group. Go, small town social media!

I don’t know that everyone I’ll encounter will be quite as plugged in, however.  Something that I noticed on the China 2.0 Tour was bouncing around in my head this morning, and as I was getting ready to send an email to one of the trip organizers about dealing with wired writers, it occurred to me that I should write a blog post instead.

That’s because someone like me thinks a bit differently than a mostly-print writer. We’d rather write a blog post to reach many than an email to reach only one, and we’d rather do it NOW.

Public. Rapid. Sharing.

That’s why we’re different, and for people who are used to dealing with print writers and journalists, there are a few other things you should know:

• We may be talking about your organization or destination before we even get there. We talk about it on Twitter and on Facebook. Our TripIt widget on our LinkedIn profile says we’re coming your way, and we’re bookmarking Web sites using StumbleUpon or Delicious for some advance research. Can you hear us?  Do you have rudimentary Google Alerts set up? Do you know how to search Twitter?
• We’re immediate, or at least pretty darn quick. You’re used to seeing print articles a few weeks to a few months after a journalist visit, but bloggers are different. Many of us are blogging while we’re still hearing briefings or touring attractions. We’re posting videos on YouTube. We’re uploading photos of your destination on Flickr.  We might be talking about lunch and dinner on Yelp. We’re uploading photos and comments to our Facebook page.  Constantly.
• Where are you on the Web? Does your organization have a blog? A Flickr pool? A video channel? Are you on Twitter? Where’s your Facebook page or group? Not to be dismissive of people’s efforts, but you’re not knocking anyone’s socks off these days simply by having a Web site.  A Web site is a given, like a phone number. Please tell us where you are – if we like your stuff, we’ll be linking to it and talking about it.  Do you see our links coming in? Come on over and comment on whatever we’ve posted.
• Everything is on the record and recorded unless you say otherwise, right up front.  Our style with speakers is a little different   –  for presenters or PR folks who aren’t used to geeks, it’s like a digital Normandy invasion. We all arrive in some conference/briefing room and swing into action. We’re crawling under tables looking for electrical outlets to plug in our stuff, we’re opening laptops, we’re aligning our Web cams to live-stream your presentation to the Web as it happens, we’re firing up to live-tweet on Twitter using our iPhone, we’re holding up our Flip video cameras to start shooting, we’re snapping photos and uploading them right then.  You’re ON, not only to the bloggers, but to everyone outside the walls who is in the blogger’s many networks (and questions will come in via Twitter and video chat boxes from those who are watching and listening outside the conference room.)  Don’t be alarmed. You want reach, you got reach!

For organizations who are used to a lot of “control” and one-way broadcast of their message, it’s a bit disconcerting to look at people who all seem to have data streams coming out of their bodies, going who knows where.

In my experience, wired writers and bloggers are generally a pretty sharing, friendly group although our communications techniques may be different than what you’re used to.  We’re big on authenticity and transparency, and we talk about things that we like.

Be the one we talk about. Be ready to engage.

More from Every Dot Connects

• Blogging Basics: How to start a blog, and whether you’ll ever make money from it
• 6 ways to improve your destination marketing (and why you’re toast if you don’t)
• Today’s lesson: your private conversations ain’t so private

“Birds of a feather….”

Connie and I do realize that when you spend a lot of time around the feathered tribe of tech-savvy folks (thereby miraculously becoming two of Austin’s Social Media Mavens) it can be easy to forget that not everyone’s world revolves around LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and blogging, aka “the tech-o chamber.”

As my teen would say, “Duh.”

We know that lots of people find social media to be one big confusing alphabet soup of applications, jargon and insider jokes.

That’s why we run classes and workshops; to demystify the gobbledygook, and that’s why we love speaking engagements with great organizations like Austin’s venerable Metropolitan Breakfast Club.

From the MBC Web site:

“The Metropolitan Breakfast Club is a 20-year Austin tradition that’s anything but traditional.  Every Wednesday morning our members are informed and entertained by a variety of local and internationally recognized experts in business, politics and education. Our speakers share stories of Austin’s past, our current challenges, and future opportunities in and around Central Texas.”

Since 1984, the Club has been renowned for its extraordinarily eclectic speakers – everyone from the city Police Chief to historians to company CEOs to astronauts to the person who organizes the local rodeo.

Connie and I are thrilled to be included in the distinguished lineup on this coming Wednesday morning, March 11 – you can RSVP here if you happen to be in Austin.

We will do our best to rock the house with a combination of two of our favorite presentations:

• Email is for old people – Connie gets laughs and lots of attention with this one because, just like me, she IS one of those “old people.” More mature and particularly more skeptical audiences tend to listen to someone who does not appear to be 22 or live in her Mom’s basement, especially when she cheerfully blows up preconceived notions about social media for businesses and nonprofits. 




• Follow the bouncing blog post – I use a series of tabbed Web pages to show audiences how the information in a single blog post moves through the Web on other blogs, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, StumbleUpon and even (how retro!) email. Newcomers to social media say that it gives them a clear visual demonstration of the power of Web communications.

We’ll then open the floor for lots of questions and answers.

If you’re in town, we hope to see you bright and early Wednesday morning!

It’s that time of year again, when the tech universe is abuzz with the digital creative delights of the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference in Austin, Texas.

Since I live in the Austin metro area and this is my third “South by,” I thought I’d update last year’s post on why SXSWi is like Disney World and revisit the lure of conferences.

Just yesterday at Jelly Coworking, I discussed the five geeky days of craziness with City of Round Rock communications guy Brooks Bennett.

This will be his first SXSWi and he’s really psyched about it, but also a bit overwhelmed by the barrage of offerings.

Here’s the advice I gave him….

• Forget about seeing everything. Heck, forget about seeing half of it!  There are the big keynote speakers, a crazy-huge number of panels, the smaller Core Conversations (I’m speaking at one with writer Pam Mandel, about travel blogging) plus book readings on the Adobe Day Stage (where I heard then-unknown Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek speak in 2007,) early evening salon discussions and my personal “secret” favorite that often has big names in a small setting, the Studio SX discussions in the northeast corner of the Exhibition Hall.  There are hang-out lounges and parties galore, both official and “unofficial.” This goes on for five days – you’ll be fried.
• Pick everything that sounds good, and weed it all out later. Here’s what I do – I go through the online schedule and say, “Yes, Yes, Yes” to everything that sounds good and every speaker that I know and/or like.  I don’t worry that I’m double-, triple- and quadruple-booked for events. I print the whole thing out (yes, print – paper always boots up & never needs a power outlet or WiFi) and stuff Beast Schedule in my purse. Each morning of the conference, I do ruthless triage to pick the happenings that it would KILL me to miss, saying a fond farewell to the rest. It really sorts itself pretty clearly as the conference wears on;  some people hardly make any panels, but their whole day is a schmoozefest in the hallways and lounges. Whatever works for you!
• Loud, packed parties are overrated. Networking and socializing are not.  Look, I’m not a big party girl if it means jammed, loud rooms full of people that I don’t know.  I assure you, however, that I get plenty of fun time at South by – I’m socializing in smaller gaggles, with lots of folks I don’t know but a few that I do, hanging out in places where we can actually find a seat.  Many people do the same thing – go to the “big” parties, discover they’re not all that insanely fun, go back out on the sidewalk and regroup, run into someone from the day’s panels and all go off together to have a civilized beer and proper geek bonding. (OK, you want a nice bar? The Driskill Hotel, since 1886. Take that, Sixth Street lemmings.)
• The basics – bring business cards, check that your cell phone has unlimited texting, pack a couple of energy bars, bring a water bottle, comfy shoes, power cords. It is truly an endurance event, but I mean that in the most positive way.  While we’re talking basics, there’s good BBQ right around the corner from the Convention Center: Iron Works BBQ at 100 Red River.

I hope to run into any and all of you during South by Southwest – I’m @SheilaS on Twitter, Connie Reece is @conniereece and Jennifer Navarrete is @epodcaster (don’t forget @sxswi – unofficial tweets – and @sxsw – official tweets.) See you there!

More good advice:

• Attend Friday’s How to Rawk SXSW: The Basics
• A guide to SXSW Interactive networking, from the Austin American-Statesman (and the Statesman‘s latest Austin Dining Guide.)
• The SXSW09 PBWiki.
• SXSW Interactive survival tips, from The Adventures of CindyLi.com
• SXSW Baby! especially the forums.
• The SXSW09 Insider’s Guide Ning group.
• Kent Brewster’s Things to Remember About SXSW

(If this post was helpful for you, please vote it up on Kirtsy, or Stumble it on StumbleUpon. The Digg and Delicious links are just below the post as well. Thanks very much!)

My first piece of advice is that you DON’T want to “quick-launch” on LinkedIn; do it slowly and deliberately and do it right the first time.

What?

You say you’ve just been laid off, or there’s some other career crisis, and you didn’t “dig your [networking] well before you’re thirsty?”

OK, it happens.

In our Every Dot Connects social media workshops, here are some of my top tips for starting a good LinkedIn profile:

• Upload a photo. People like to see a face, and when you connect with folks after conferences and meetings, it also helps jog their memory about who you are and what you do. Get a professional headshot, not some fuzzy picture with your head against a blank wall taken with the family Kodak by your long-suffering spouse.  If you are located in Central Texas, I recommend Korey Howell.
• Personalize your public profile URL.  The default URL for your profile is an alpha-numeric jumble, but you can change it to read “www.linkedin.com (slash) YOURNAME.”  It looks a lot more professional, especially when you add your profile URL to your standard email signature, which essentially attaches your resume to every email you send.
• Spend a lot of time crafting your one- or two-line “elevator speech” that goes under your profile name.  Freelancers are sometimes too quick to demonstrate “versatility” by saying they can do everything.  No one will search for that or want to spend money to hire that – they will look for specific expertise.  I do lots of things, too, but in my own profile, I aimed for a pithy distillation of the most important skills:

“Sheila Scarborough – Travel and motorsports writer, Web 2.0/social media trainer and teacher. Austin, Texas Area. Writing and Editing.”

• Use that billboard just below your photo; the box that asks, “What are you doing?” at the top of your profile. Think of it as free advertising for your business activities. Keep it updated every few days with projects you’re working on, articles you’ve written or professional conferences you’re attending. Every time you update your status, your LinkedIn network will see it on their own Home page.

Filling out the rest of your profile is pretty self-explanatory, but be mindful of the unique challenges of writing for the Web.  Chunk up your text and provide plenty of white space.

Whenever you exchange business cards with anyone, add another step and connect on LinkedIn. You never know when a network might come in handy, and it’s a lot tougher to develop one when the situation is desperate.

In a future post we’ll talk about the benefits of joining Groups, and building credibility by participating in Questions and Answers.

I always enjoy writing for the Marketing Watchdog Journal, published by Austin-based Bulldog Solutions (see my March 2008 piece about how to build a blog that draws a crowd.)

Connie Reece stops into Bulldog as well; check out her article about whether your PR team is social media savvy.

The latest Every Dot Connects offering in the Journal is about networking on LinkedIn….is it a fly-by-night fad – or the best networking tool around?

I wrote about beefing up your LinkedIn profile, then some details about powerful tools on the site that are generally underutilized (Answers and Recommendations, for starters.)

For more details on becoming a LinkedIn power user, click here for the Journal article.

I’m a parent and a travel writer, so of course I’ve gritted my teeth through “It’s a Small World After All,” stood patiently in long lines to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and scribbled advice for anyone else who wants to tackle the Walt Disney World behemoth.

The similarities are striking between planning an assault on WDW and sorting out the myriad possibilities during next week’s jam-packed South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) tech conference in Austin, Texas.

I’ve always advised prospective Disney visitors that unless they want to spend a lot of money to be really frustrated, they need to do their homework to enjoy the parks. You can’t just give it all over to serendipity; there’s too much going on and too many people all trying to do the same things.

It’s the same with SXSWi, but the lure of connection, learning and good times at conferences is like the search for magical Disney moments, right? Aww, put on your Mouse ears and go with me on this one….

Here’s some Disney advice applied to “South By:”

1. Research. Lay out a game plan. At Disney, know the park layouts (yes, WDW is more than one park) and the rides/shows that you really want to see. At SXSWi, know the event layout for each day of the conference — major keynotes, the panels that you don’t want to miss and evening parties that sound promising. I’m sorry about the gobs of awesome events going on simultaneously, but cloning is not an option.

2. Use FASTPASS. Well, maybe there’s no real SXSWi equivalent to Disney’s scheduling system for the most popular rides, since everyone has the same conference badge, but I’ll call it FASTCHAIR. To state the obvious, unless you like standing at the back of crowded rooms for popular speakers/panels, get there early for a seat where you can see and hear. You did pay a lot of money to do all this, so be in a comfortable position to enjoy it.

3. Block out open time so your head can breathe. At Disney you can crash at your hotel so the kids can play in the hotel pool, but somehow that option isn’t as much fun at SXSWi. Instead, you may want to talk to exhibitors like Creative Commons or Utterz while wandering/schwag-collecting in the Interactive/Film Trade Show + Exhibition, see exhibitor special events or watch the Frag Dolls all-woman gamers team kick some overly-confident behinds during the ScreenBurn gaming fest.

4. Don’t forget to eat. At WDW you can call ahead to (407) WDW-DINE to make lunch and dinner reservations at park restaurants, but many don’t do that and end up standing (with itchy kids) in long, hot lines for food. At SXSWi, there are some small food kiosks and cafes in the Convention Center, great BBQ nearby and plenty of Austin eateries, but I always carry a couple of energy bars and water in case my hunger intersects with a speaker that I don’t want to miss. Be your own food Sherpa.

5. Go to the back of the park first. When the parks open at Disney, many visitors start with rides and attractions at the front of the complex. Instead, go straight back and work your way to the front, to help avoid mobs and find lesser-known gems. At SXSWi, you’ll probably have to “throw some sharp elbows in the paint” at popular panels/keynotes, but speakers are much more accessible at Book Readings, the Adobe Day Stage Cafe (where then-unknown Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Workweek spoke last year) or at the live interviews at Studio SX in the Exhibition Hall. Two examples of great stuff at SX Studio 2008: Techsploitation’s Annalee Newitz chats with Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani, and keynoter Henry Jenkins talks to author Daniel Pink about the first business guide done in Japanese manga.

6. Prepare to walk. I’ve seen some really dumb footwear at both WDW and conferences, and I get to sound like your Mom now because I am one. Wear shoes that you can get around in. The Convention Center does have some rooms off in the boonies, and while downtown Austin is fairly compact you will do some walking unless you have unlimited funds for pedicabs or taxis. March weather in Austin can range from 30-80 degrees F. Really.

7. Reserve lodging early. Doh. The most desirable, most convenient lodging at the best prices needs to be reserved early, both at WDW and at SXSWi. It’s a little late for 2008, but if you are pretty sure you’ll be back to South By in 2009, lock down a room now. Even better, amongst all the great people you’ll get to know, nail down an Austinite who will have a spare room/floor space for you next year.

Any big, sprawling venue like Walt Disney World or South by Southwest Interactive holds the promise of amazing experiences or overloaded misery, but a little forethought and planning can help anyone navigate towards the better of the two possibilities.

Final hint: do not miss Bruce Sterling‘s yearly end-of-SXSWi rant, even if you’re hung over (or especially if you’re hung over.)

See you in Austin!

More resources:

• Social media tools like Twitter, Seesmic, live-blogging etc. change how we absorb information at conferences
• Connie Reece, Robert Scoble, Jeremiah Owyang and others light up the night at An Evening of Conversation Starters on March 10
• Chow down on where to eat during SXSW 2008, from the helpful SXSW Baby!
• Need help figuring out where all the parties are? Step right here for the Shiner beer-assisted map
• SXSWi 2008 coverage in the local indie Austin Chronicle
• SXSWi events on Upcoming.org, even including a rodeo visit
• Hey, there’s not enough going on — let’s do BarCampAustin III!
• SXSW ’08 Insider’s Guide on ning

Networking and meeting great people:

• Online networks expand your in-person networks and 5 mindsets to reshape your networking
• SXSW: How to fit in at a geek conference, from a Texan who knows
• Austin-based Thom Singer’s 66 tips for better networking
• Chris Brogan’s ideas for improving your conference meet-ups
• Join the Twitter village and see all the tweeps coming to Austin on the SXSW Twitter wiki
• The ultimate guide to networking with bloggers, on ProBlogger

Update  –  The Every Dot Connects post for SXSWi 2009: Tips for South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) from a local.