Great to meet Scott Stratten (upper left), photo (cc) Kenneth Yeung - www.snapfoc.us

It took me a little time to fully process everything I learned at BlogWorld 2010.  While many other attendees produced glowing blog posts within hours or days of the Oct 15-16th conference, my head was still a little “spinny”.  I can’t wait to implement and share what I’ve learned, but that will fill waaay more than this blog post.  So I will attempt to share at least SOME of the awesomeness with you right now!

Start by Being Awesome

The opening keynote practically felt like a dialogue with Scott Stratten, President of UnMarketing (@unmarketing) and set the tone for the entire event.  Scott spoke about the traits that have contributed to his success namely: connecting with your audience by giving a damn and providing awesomeness.  Scott quipped “When you are your authentic self you have no competition.” I love it!  This is a message we all need to take to heart.  It’s time to discover and use our strengths, the traits that make us great, if we want to succeed.  As for his definition of providing awesomeness, Scott talked about creating content that your followers and clients will find, what else, AWESOME!  My favorite quote of Scott’s keynote though, which made me burst into laughter, was “When somebody gets a notification that your new blog post is up, I want them to crap their pants and say, ‘I’ve gotta read this now.’” It certainly drove home the point for me—so I’ll be working on more awesomeness to come.

My Top 7 Take Homes

So here’s your abridged Cliff’s Notes on Blog World 2010:

• Be yourself (your most awesome version) and you’ll blow the competition away
• For love of Pete, Use Common Sense when it comes to blogging, social media (or any branding/marketing for that matter).  And if you don’t have any common sense, hire someone who does.
• Get ready for big changes in the way people consume information (hint, hint: mobile)
• Don’t be afraid to take the risk and put yourself out there! As Mark Burnett said in his keynote: “People who need all the conditions to be right [to take action] don’t have the intention of following through anyway. …Take the Risks”
• Work together. It’s time for the marketing, branding and sales teams to work together to achieve social networking success.
• Provide meaningful [read: awesome] Content that your clients, customers, friends will actually want to read!
• Get networking already. If you don’t have a social media or blogging presence, get going, this isn’t a trend, it’s a great opportunity to connect on a meaningful level with friends, colleagues and customers.  So don’t miss out.

The Future of Blogging (& Social Media) – A Recap & Some gratitude

Some of the great people at Blog World: Ashly, the guys from SMReach and even Top Chef Rick Moonen!

So as many of you know I got a free ride to go to Blog World 2010 in Las Vegas, a few weeks ago via Mashable.com.  (I know ‘Lucky’ 19 right?)  I won my ticket as a result of answering a single question, namely: “What is the future of blogging?”.

This was my answer: “As blogging grows and matures it will continue to provide a venue for transparency and community/connection in business. I see it evolving from “everyone writing about everything” to more and more experts writing from their wealth of knowledge whether that’s in parenting or rocket science. It will become more clear who is providing fluff and who is providing meaningful content.”

Someone recently asked me, after attending Blog World, do I still agree with my winning comment? Yes, yes I do—content is king and it will continue to weed out the mediocre.  But, man I learned a lot more at BlogWorld than just that!  I look forward to sharing some exciting new things in the coming months!

Thanks again Mashable & Blog World for probably the best time I’ve ever had in Las Vegas!