for W3c validation

So- I’ve had a couple days to think about everything that was covered at the Blog Business Summit. Here’s a couple major takeaways from my perspective:

1. Companies need to come to the realization that they can not control their brand- only influence it. That said, companies need to try to maximize their influence. This goes along with the point you always hear- “Engaging in the conversation.” It’s hard to influence without engaging.
2. John Battelle’s keynote was great! Relating to all the talk about user generated content, he mentioned that “If you can figure out how to get your customers to help you build your business, you’re in.” John also talked about how companies need to understand the intent of the end user if they intend to produce content. Much of the reason that search is so powerful is that it all but eliminates waste & the users intent is (relatively) clear– customers are looking for something specific when they type words into a search engine, which makes placing a relevant advertisement against those keywords a good possibility.
3. Disclosure. When talking blogging, this subject inevitably comes up. I think the vast majority of speakers, except Jason Calacanis, don’t mind the PayPerPost model as long as there is full disclosure. Personally, I think everyone should disclose when they are being paid to post a message.
4. Engagement– Just look at Robert Scoble’s blog and you’ll notice what a vibrant discussion he has going on his blog. He gets comments on about every single post, which makes his audience much more valuable because people are paying attention to everything. They are THERE to be part of a discussion- not listen to someone cramming their ideas down their throat (there are some bloggers I’ve seen that do this). I wish I could say traditional marketing is all but over, but I don’t think it is entirely irrelevant (yet). But great word of mouth, which is more powerful than advertising will ever be, is far and away the most trusted source of information. Blogs are the 21st version of word of mouth because they have the potential to be so engaging.
5. SEO (search engine optimization)- There were a lot of amazingly smart people at the event that had very creative ways of monetizing their blogs. I’m simply amazed that it’s possible to draw so much monthly traffic to a blog. And Google loves blogs due to the focus on fresh, original content and links.
6. Podcasting and Video is up and coming. Those in the video game now have a huge early mover advantage- the ScobleShow is in a great position in my mind.
7. PASSION- good bloggers are passionate about what they blog about. This is utterly apparent. If you don’t have an opinion about lots of different issues (and want to voice them), you probably won’t be a good blogger. Blogging is not for everyone. I actually did relate to Jason Calacanis when he said, “It’s (the blogosphere) not broken. You suck. How well you do in the blogosphere is up to YOU. No one else.” If you don’t have good traffic to your blog, don’t complain. Do something about it- success in blogging really is all up to YOU. Don’t make excuses why your blog doesn’t get traffic.

Honestly, I think I’m on blog business summit overload- all I’ve done the past week or so is think about blogging- sorry to not have a more insightful post (i’m disappointed with myself on this one but thought I’d post it anyway). Here’s a good summary of the event if you’re interested in reading more. Teresa at Blog Business Summit has started to post session slides from speakers that have e-mailed them already- check the BBS blog.