On November 13th 2009, Tim and I attended Phoenix WordCamp, a conference for WordPress developers, bloggers, and geeks alike. The speaker line up was interesting and even entertaining… and of course some spoke about things we already know. Speakers included Matt Mullenweg founding developer of WordPress, Merlin Mann of 43folders.com, Jim Christian- SEO guru from Godaddy.com, Dave Moyer from Bitwire Media, Lorella Van Fossen, Clintus McGintus, Jayson Cote founder of WPCOOP.com, Brent Spore, and John Hawkins. Tim and I have often discussed how users of WordPress can take a simple blogging platform and turn it into a business. So what better way than to listen to experts in the world of WordPress.
Although the sound was a bit troubling at times (which really was my only complaint) , we gained some valuable insight we wanted to share with you
Value of content – I really liked Lorelle VanFossen’s mindset when it comes to blogging with a purpose and bringing back the human element into blog posts. So often I’ve seen blog posts written just as a promotion vs focusing on your readers. I’ve often wondered if people understood the true purpose of blogging – that yes, it can help you promote your ideas, products, services… but if your blog only contains PR … is that really going to hold the attention of your reader? It was so nice to hear another professional blogger state that blogging should be personal, thoughtful and focused towards your readers… not just what you want to promote.
Quick easy ways to blog - Lorrella also discussed how WordPress has the capability of “scheduled” posting. A light bulb came on and realized how effective this can really be. Often times as bloggers, we run out of ideas or we don’t feel like writing. Then inspiration hits us and we feel like writing 2-3 blogs. With scheduled posting, this makes it easy as you can write several articles at a time, but leave them for future posts. This way you still get a chronological stream of content for your readers, but you write when the mood hits you.
Social Media Overkill - Merlin Mann kept me rolling with his quirky sense of humor about the internet. In his presentation Something Something Social Media: The Overdue Minority Report … he discusses how social media can be used in some not so good ways. According to him social media is about describing our relationships with others in public, specifically on the internet. Where social media can be cool in many ways, the downside is it can be overwhelming and even disrespectful at times.
I totally agree. Often I’ve seen companies and individuals create tons of profiles on various social medial profiles. Although this may sound ideal, I don’t see the point. I believed social media is only as effect as the effort you apply. What is the point of a profile with no personal activities? Would you ignore your customers if they walked into your restaurant? So why do you ignore them if they post on your profile? Kind of like blogging – if the only post on your Facebook profile your specials and discounts without engaging your time with your friends…then it’s not social media. It’s self promotion. People will see right through it. They know they are just being promoted. I think it’s insulting for the visitor.
So you have to ask yourself the question…how much time do you have to spend to engage yourself? Between Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn… managing social media can take alot of effort. It’s enough to make you go mental. In my personal opinion, before you dive into the world of social media… ask yourself are you committed? Are you willing to reply to comments and actually LISTEN to your customers? Are you willing to share with the world your personal message about your organization that’s outside of what is on sale for the day? Do you know your voice? You need to define yourself first, apply yourself, be honest, respectful to others and keep it going.
Global IP: During our break we chatted with Jim Christian, lead SEO expert at Godaddy.com. Curious on how to obtain rankings in the US market for one of our clients, he mentioned how from what he understood Google is looking at the global IP. Some things you need to factor in is the location of the server. In addition, there is a setting in Google Webmasters tools where you can select your Geo targeting. Although he did mention he was not sure about the reliability of this – it was another option.
1. Go to Google Webmasters Tools
2. Under Site Configuration—> Settings, find the Geo Target area.
3. To learn more about Geo Targeting visit Google Webmaster’s Geo Targeting information page.
Changes in Google: During our conversation with Jim, he did mention he’s heard Google will make some alterations in their servers which may impact rankings around Nov/Dec/ Jan……more to come about this topic…
These were tid bits of what we gained from this conference. Useful and absolutely worth the $30.00 You can watch hi-lights at WordCamp 2009 hilights sponsored by Godaddy.com