“Aussies: Win a Trip to Africa to Blog for Good” plus 2 more

Aussies: Win a Trip to Africa to Blog for Good
Mastering the Moments that Matter
Overcoming Blogger Fright

Aussies: Win a Trip to Africa to Blog for Good

Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:10 PM PDT

It’s been a couple of weeks since I returned home from my Tanzanian Blogging for Social Good trip.

I reflected to a friend this morning that the trip changed me on many levels – both personally but also as I reflect upon how blogging and social media can be used to make the world a better place.

Aussies: You Could be on the Next Trip!

I’m really excited today to be able to announce that together CBM Australia (the organization I traveled to Tanzania with), Telstra and ProBlogger are running a competition to identify another Australian Blogger to go on a similar trip in 2012.

If you’re an Aussie and blog (or want to start a blog in the next few months) you can be a part of this journey to identify the next blogger.

Terms and conditions are being finalized at the moment but the prize for the blogger selected will include:

a week long trip with CBM to a country in Africa (to be determined)
training from CBM for the trip (this was invaluable for me)
return economy airfare, accommodation, meals etc on the trip
we’ll also get to meet in the lead up to the trip as at the least I’ll be involved in your training/preparation (I’m trying to be able to come on it with you too)

In the lead up to the trip we’ll also be running some ‘blog for good’ coaching sessions (both in person and online) so that bloggers preparing their blogs to enter can have them in tip top shape before judging commences later in the year.

Free Melbourne Coaching Event Next Tuesday

The first of these coaching sessions is on in Melbourne next week on 29 March (next Tuesday). It’s a free event for all Melbourne bloggers – you can get details and reserve your spot here. For those of you not in Melbourne – there will be online events coming soon.

At this event on Tuesday we’ll be sharing more about the competition as well as reporting on the trip we just did. I’ll also be presenting a few tips on how to build a more successful blog – whether you’re going to enter the competition or not – and there will be plenty of time to interact with other Melbourne bloggers so should be a lot of fun.

What Next?

If you’re interested in entering the ‘Blog for Good’ competition the best thing you can do right now is start working on your blog.

We’ll release judging criteria as the year progresses but we’ll be looking for bloggers who have the ability to communicate, who are building engaged audiences and who have a heart for using blogging and social media for social good.

Entries will open for those who want to enter on December 1 2011 so you have plenty of time to get your blog firing. The winner will be announced in January 2012 and the trip will take place in Feb/March 2012.

We’ll publish more details as the year progresses but I wanted to get this out there today so that everyone knows what’s happening – particularly about the event in Melbourne next Tuesday night!

Also: Check out Telstra’s announcement of Blog for Good here.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Aussies: Win a Trip to Africa to Blog for Good

Mastering the Moments that Matter

Posted: 21 Mar 2011 12:04 PM PDT

This post was written by the Web Marketing Ninja—a professional online marketer for a major web brand, who's sharing his tips undercover here at ProBlogger. Curious? So are we!

Ask any seasoned marketer which is easier—finding new customers, or selling to existing ones—and you'll always hear the same answer: it’s easier to sell to people who’ve already bought from you.

Ask what's the most powerful form of marketing, and nine times out of ten you'll hear the answer, "word of mouth referrals."

Yet still so many marketers fail to focus on being exceptional on both fronts.

Delighting your customers in such that they're likely to buy more stuff from you, and—even better—tell all their friends how cool you are, isn't rocket science. It's all about mastering the moments that matter.

What's a moment that matters?

Let's image you go to the same cafe for lunch every single day. Today, you order a slice of pizza. You slice arrives and you dig in. After the first mouthful you realized that the pizza is cold, so you flag down the waiter. What happens next is a moment that matters…

The good: The waiter apologizes and organizes a new slice of pizza post haste.
The bad: The waiter sticks his finger in your slice, says “There's nothing wrong with this pizza,” and walks away.
The magic: The waiter apologizes, organizes another slice, organizes another round of drinks for you and your friends, and slips you a voucher to come back tomorrow so they can make it up to you.

Which of these outcomes do you thing is likely to drive repeat business and a customer referral?

Moments that matter for bloggers

As bloggers, we've got a mountain of moments that matter. Here are just a few…

First impressions: Does your content make an impact? Is it relevant to what visitors expect they’re going to be reading about? What types of ads are appearing on your site? Do they benefit a reader or will they leave a bad impression? Do you encourage engagement with, and promotion of, your content?
Trust and email addresses: When someone trusts you with their email, do you honor that trust not to share it or spam them with irrelevant messages? If you promise something in your newsletter do you deliver? Do you allow people to unsubscribe if they wish to?
First conversation: If someone reaches out to engage you in a conversation with a comment, an email, or even face to face, do you ignore them, acknowledge them, or make the extra effort to make them feel special?
First purchase: If someone decides to spend money with you, does their dollar deliver what is promised? If it doesn't, will you return their money? Will fulfillment of the product purchase be seamless and will their details be protected?
When something goes wrong: When something goes wrong, how quick will you react and how will you turn a frustrated customer into your strongest advocate?

How you perform in each of these moments can have a long lasting effect on a customer. You can't make everyone happy, but if 100 people tell five of their friends about your product, that could mean 500 new sales, and if you repeat the performance with those 500, you could be looking at an extra 2,500 sales.

If you’re selling a $20 product, that's $50,000 extra in your pocket.

If you want to make money the easy way, then referrals and happy customers are important. How do you rate on the moments that matter? I've shared five moments that I think matter for bloggers, but I'm sure there are more. I'd love to hear from your own experience how you've turned a good situation into a great one by mastering the moments that matter.

Stay tuned from most posts by the secretive Web Marketing Ninja — a professional online marketer for a major web brand, who's sharing his tips undercover here at ProBlogger.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Mastering the Moments that Matter

Overcoming Blogger Fright

Posted: 21 Mar 2011 06:06 AM PDT

“I don’t think I have what it takes to put myself ‘out there’ every day.”
“Who would want to read what I have to say?”
“Do you ever get used to the fact that strangers are reading what you write?”
“I don’t think I have enough ego to do this!”

These statements—and others like them—are pretty typical sentiments that I hear from many new bloggers whose main barrier to blogging comes down to self-doubt, shyness or … Blogger Fright.

I remember having similar feelings myself. The thought of writing something and having complete strangers read and comment upon it was something that took me a little time to come to grips with, particularly as a relatively shy and private person.

So how do you “get over it”?

Let me start by saying that I’m not sure you ever completely get over these feelings—and perhaps that’s a good thing.

I still get a little freaked out from time to time that people are reading what I have to say. It strikes me most when I meet in real life a person who has been reading my blogs. The sense that they “know” me (or feel like they do), despite me not knowing who they are, is a feeling I doubt I’ll ever completely get used to.

I don’t think that there’s any problem with having these feelings. In some ways, it’s probably good.

I suspect that if I didn’t have the feelings there’d be a danger: I’d be blogging without boundaries or consideration of personal safety/privacy. I also find that these feelings drive me to ask myself whether what I’m writing is going to be useful to others.

Having said that, I do come across some bloggers (and by no means is it the majority) who become a little paralyzed by their own shyness and self doubt. Perhaps there’s a middle ground that we should be aiming for as bloggers.

How to become more comfortable as a shy blogger

1. Take your time

Most bloggers become more comfortable with the public nature of blogging over time. It takes time to work out boundaries and to get used to interacting with complete strangers online. It also takes time for your readers to get to know you and become comfortable with you.

This is similar to a real-life relationship in some ways—you generally wouldn’t walk up to a compete stranger and tell them about your love life, or that nasty rash, or your financial situation. You start off on a lighter level and, in time, as you develop trust and build the relationship, you might move on to deeper things.

2. Start small

If you do wish to get a little more personal on your blog, but you don’t quite know how, start small. Perhaps one way to do this is to tell a story of an experience you’ve had. It might not be a tale of a major personal turning point, but revealing something about an interest you have or a non-threatening experience that you’ve had might be a good starting point.

It might be an in-passing comment about something you did over the weekend, a reference to a conversation you’ve had, or a mention of a job you once held.

In time, as you get comfortable sharing a little about these smaller things, you might find yourself becoming comfortable with revealing a little more.

The same is true for using your own image or even posting a video of yourself. You don’t need to do these things on day one of your blog—in fact, you may never need to.

For example: I know one blogger who started blogging anonymously (with a nickname). Then a few weeks later, she started using her first name and published a small picture of herself which just showed her eye. In time, she became more comfortable—she now blogs under her full name and regularly posts videos of herself. The blogger let things develop as she grew more comfortable, but it was a series of small steps.

3. Identify boundaries

It’s good in the early days of your blog to identify some boundaries around what you will and won’t share. You might draw the line at people knowing your name (or your full name). You might decide that you’ll let people know your name but never share your photo. Or perhaps the line is around talking about the city you live in, or some level of revealing details about your family.

Knowing ahead of time where your boundaries are on some of these issues is good, because it’ll stop you getting carried away in the heat of the moment. Of course you’ll probably also want to discuss your boundaries with family and friends to make sure that they’re comfortable with them, too (where they apply to them).

4. Write for people you do know

Some bloggers I come across tell me that it’s the ‘stranger’ factor that makes it hard for them to write in a personal way. Writing for an unknown number of faceless and nameless people makes it hard for them to get in the groove of writing.

One technique that I’ve found helpful in this area is to write posts with people I do know in mind. Actually visualizing a friend when you’re writing, and producing a post for them rather than a crowd of strangers, can help you to get going and write in a more personal tone.

5. Find a blog buddy

If you know you’re a person who gets Blogger Fright and it’s holding you back, find someone who you trust to help you move forward in this area. A blogging buddy need not be another blogger (although that could be useful)—really they should just be someone who believes in you, who is encouraging, and who will help you to move forward.

In the early days of my own blogging, I had another blogger friend who I would regularly send posts to, to bounce them off him—particularly posts that I felt a little uncomfortable with or had doubts about. On 95% of the occasions I sent him those posts, he simply replied with, “this is great. You need to publish it.” Occasionally he’d reply with suggestions. And on one occasion he told me it might not be a good thing to post, and to listen to my own internal hesitation.

In time, I found myself sending fewer posts to him as I gained confidence, and found my voice and style of blogging.

You do have something important to say!

I guess the last thing I’d want to say to encourage those suffering Blogger Fright is that I believe we all have something worthwhile and important to share. Don’t completely ignore the fears or nervousness you might have—but don’t let them paralyze you either.

Most people who feel this way find it improves in time, so the best thing you can do is to start blogging in a way that you’re comfortable with, and to let yourself become more comfortable with it over time.

Lastly, remember that in the early days of most blogs that, while your content is out there for anyone to read, it takes time to build an audience. You’re unlike to have a vast crowd reading from Day 1—your audience will grow bigger as you grow as a blogger.

Post from: ProBlogger Blog Tips

Overcoming Blogger Fright