Oct 11, 2010

As mentioned previously, I was fortunate enough to moderate a panel with the following folks:

Ginny Skalski – @ginnyskal
Damond Nollan – @damondnollan
Dan London – @danlondon
Patrick O’Keefe – @ifroggy

As always, I learned a ton. First off, thanks to everyone who was there… especially the panelists and Claudia Kimbrough. It was an awesome topic and a fun and informative night.

Tell stories.

Anyone can repost a popular article and add a bit of commentary… and this isn’t a bad thing. However, to take your blog and readership to the next level, you need to tell stories. Stories help us relate to others and are a better means of communication than regurgitating content.

Be yourself and be consistent.

I have several soapbox posts about being passionate about what you write, but too often we find ourselves straying from who we really are. Don’t do that. If you want a smarter person telling you that, read what Amber Naslund wrote about it and how her presentations were impacted. Consistency is also extremely important, both in your delivery and in your process.

More is better, but less is too.

This seems counter-intuitive, but stay with me. More posts will yield more traffic, so keep grinding and get content out there. However, niche is better. If you’re passionate about something specific… be the expert at that. A good example is my main man Greg Ng. Freezerburns.com is the leading frozen food review site, but if Greg had chosen to do food reviews… it might be a different story and would definitely take more time to become the leading expert in a more generic and competitive space. This is similar to SEO and long-tail keywords.

Brain crack kills.

If you’ve worked with me, you’ve heard me say “analysis by paralysis” and I probably advocated to go ahead and get something out there. Patrick led me to a wonderful video by Ze Frank about how sometimes it is best to put ideas into play rather than trying to make them absolutely perfect.

Check out the slides I put together to guide our discussion below.

Blogging – A panel with Patrick O’Keefe, Ginny Skalski, Dan London, Damond Nollan and Chris Moody at NC State University for the MBA Program

View more presentations from Chris Moody.

A sweet blogging panel at NC State for the MBA program

I’m excited to be a part of an awesome panel assembling tonight at 6pm to discuss all things blogging. I’ll be moderating some insanely smart people (note: insanely smart != insane).

Ginny Skalski – @ginnyskal
Damond Nollan – @damondnollan
Dan London – @danlondon
Patrick O’Keefe – @ifroggy

Rumor has it that the event will be live-streamed or recorded (maybe both). I’ll be sure to add those details as I get them and will post a recap and some slides later this week. Watch the live stream at 6pm EST.

Props to NC State for understanding the importance of social media and incorporating that into their MBA program.

Another reason why NC State is better than your school. The best Halloween costume ever – a real life R2D2.

Just watch the video and give props to the NC State grad that made this. That is all. :)

Look for this costume at Hillsborough Hike.

Social Media Practitioners: Your help is needed!

Help Social Media.

They say social media is dying. They say social media has too much publicity. They say nobody really knows what social media is. Is that what you say?

The Situation

If you haven’t heard, NC State has added a social media course to its MBA Curriculum. For those in the Raleigh area and the many @triangletweetup folks, this is great news! MBA 590 Social Networks and Web 2.0 Media in Marketing will serve as a trendsetting course exploring all things social media, virtual world, and Web 2.0.

The Kicker

I’ve worked with Claudia Kimbrough for years in various Marketing courses at NC State and am fortunate enough to be a Visiting Lecturer for this course. Having dipped my toes in social media, I’m smart enough to know that I don’t know everything. There are tons of subject matter experts, and even a large number within driving distance to the NCSU campuses. This leads me to my main point.

The Call to Action

With most of us having full-time jobs, massive amounts of responsibility, and priorities involving multiple departments in our organizations, social media has become a great personal branding outlet. You can show your expertise, offer insight, connect to others, and build your network. This is where we need your help.

Social media by nature is a living, breathing creature that is constantly evolving. We want to keep this course fresh, up to date, and balanced. This post is going to serve as a stake in the ground. I’m appealing to you, the social media practitioners to propose what you feel should be included in this course. It could be a number of things:

A core concept
A fundamental tool or product
An up and coming strategy
A social media network
Things to avoid doing or practicing
Tips for successful implementation

You are all smart people. Please help us continue to add value to this course by suggesting what you would like to see included. We may even call on some of you to join us in class for a session and impart your knowledge!

Trust is also important. I can assure you that anything you suggest will be credited to you. Whether it is in a course slideshow, or teaching a concept, we will make it a point to stress who suggested that “module” and help to increase your personal brand.

The fact that the course itself can be a social media outlet by having interactive content and suggestions is exciting. I hope that some of you find this as appealing as I do. Thanks for taking the time to read this.