Kribaby

Great Times at Blog Indiana

2008-08-21T13:04:00-04:00

Over the weekend, Andrew and I were at BlogIndiana. First off Noah and Sean did a fantastic job of organizing.... for a first year conference everything went well (except the wireless at IU, which isn't really their fault).... the conference had great attendance (over 150 people I think), good sessions, food, shwag bags, sponsors and a low price (only $50) to attend.

Indiana (yes, in the sweet midwest) wouldn't have been the first location I would have expected to find a well-run, well-attended blogging conference. Sometimes living in the midwest makes me feel out of touch with the tech community - there is so much going on in SF, NY, Boston, Austin, etc that it sometimes feels isolating to be out here. Blog Indiana showed that there is a blogging and tech community here - we just need leadership to make these events happen. PodCampOhio was another great example of a local event that brought the tech community together.

So, if you weren't at blogindiana - you definitely missed out. The good news is that (I believe) they are planning to do this again next year, and I'm sure that the conference will only get bigger and better. See the pictures below.....

Great Turnout at Day 1 Breakfast...

I thought that there was some great information shared in the session and great questions, so I thought I would post with some of the insights revealed for building community and traffic to your blog.

1. Depth over Breadth
Choose to go deep on a few tools and really make a difference, vs. attempting to use every tool and only being half-present in each one. We all have limited time to spend online and can't afford to get into every tool and have a deep online presence. Focus on a few tools and really participate actively in the community.

2. Leverage other Blogs
Using trackbacks and comment on other blogs... Many people comment, but trackbacks are an underused tool for driving trackbacks. Trackbacks are important because 1) You share linklove with another blogger, 2) You can drive traffic through their comments and 3) You are interacting with readers who are interested in your content. This is a great way to participate in the community and it can help generate interest in your blog. Caution: do not spam. Take the time to genuinely participate in the community and engage when the conversation is RELEVANT.

3. Find Niche Sites
Focus on syndicating your content on sites with an audience that it relevant for your content. For example, on Hyperphocal we participate in a community called photographyvoter. This is a community of photographers and gives us the opportunity to engage with other photographers. Look for sites like this for your audience.

4. Analyze your current traffic!!!!
Look at your current sources as inspiration for sources to drive future traffic from. Check out all the sites that are driving your current traffic. Can you leverage these sites better? What did you write about that was of interest to those who use that site? Checking out where your current traffic comes from can be a great source for tools to leverage.

5. Not all traffic is created equal
Many people focus on getting on the front page of Digg or getting that stumble traffic. You can get a lot of traffic from these vehicles however they will likely be one-time visitors, and they can actually have a negative impact on your regular readership (crashing your servers, leaving distracting comments). Focus on building a community that is genuinely interested in your content and you will grow over time. One time traffic builds tend to be short-lived.

So, thanks to all of you who came out to the panel and shared your questions and experiences. The session was truly a pleasure to host, and I enjoyed the discussion and conversation :)

- Krista

Party Like a Rockstar with Guy Kawasaki at Blogher08

2008-07-18T15:28:37-04:00

Blogher08 started last night with a hot party at Guy Kawasaki's house (thanks, Guy, for having us). Photrade was there in full force.... and we have LOTS of pictures.....

First - the house - after an hour on a bus we arrived at Guy's house

Obviously the highlight of the party was when I managed to seduce Guy with my Photrade charm, PLUS I got his hat :) Obviously guy couldn't resist me (and by that I mean he had no idea what was going on).

And the party began :) Debba (also from Cincinnati) at Girlfriendology and Wendy from sparkplugging... don't they look hot????

Andy had Guy sign his book....

One of the other MAJOR highlights was that we had an entire contingent out from Cincinnati. Yup. The Cincinnati BlogHers...

More to follow, so stay tuned :) Off to my panel... DIY Content Syndication. This will be HOT.

Meet me at BlogHer!!!

2008-07-08T10:31:10-04:00

OK, so it has now been a year since I attended my first blogging conference. A year ago, I just barely knew what a blog was. I had just started working for Photrade part-time (was still at P&G) and Andrew and I were on our way to BlogHer in Chicago.

Fastforward to this year. I am moderating a panel at Blogher on DIY content syndication. I am full-time VP Marketing at Photrade, and I am managing 2 blogs (which is why I am not writing on this one nearly enough).

If you'll be at Blogher08 let me know!!! I'm looking forward to meeting so many great bloggers (for the second year in a row)!!!

We promise to take lots of picture this year :)

- Krista

News Alert: Facebook and Myspace Neck-and-Neck

2008-06-17T11:56:51-04:00

According to the Washington Post, Facebook and Myspace are now neck-and-neck. In April 2008, for the first time Facebook officially caught up to Myspace in terms of unique monthly visitors at 115 million / month.

Despite the many social media types who claim that Myspace is "dead", Myspace still dominates the US market - with 72 million monthly uniques vs. 36 million for Facebook. Based on current growth continuing it will take Facebook 4+ years to catch up to Myspace in the US.

Be Careful Who you Tweet With. What are You Picking up from Your Social Network?

2008-05-29T16:28:06-04:00

A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine says that social networks can play a key role in helping people quit smoking. Last year the same researchers reported that obesity also spread through social networks from person to person, like a virus.

The latest study showed that a smokers decision to quit was highly related to their social networks - including online social networks.

"a person's decision to kick the habit is strongly affected by whether other people in their social network quit -- even people they do not know. And, surprisingly, entire networks of smokers appear to quit virtually simultaneously."

The level of influence that our social networks have over us is possibly more than we had thought, especially online social networks. The power to harness the potential of social networks for positive social change is incredible.

An example of a company who is leveraging the power of virtual social networks is Nike through their running trackers. Research shows that exercising with a partner increases your chances to stick with it, and the Nike running system lets you virtually race and track your progress against other people. I haven't seen any stats on it yet, but I'd bet that the Nike Running participants are getting more exercise than they would if they ran in isolation.

The research referenced above shows that a social network can have a positive (quit smoking) or negative (gain weight) impact.

Who is in your social network, and what are you picking up from them?

The 30 second spot is dead? Not according to the Television Bureau of Advertising....

2008-05-08T14:00:00-04:00

Neilson just released a study, sponsored by the Television Bureau of Advertising showing that Television is still influential and important. And just when we thought it was dead! (note the sarcasm).

Apparently among adults 53% of consumption is TV and 90% reported watching it in the next 24 hours vs 72% for the internet. (On a personal note I just canceled my cable and prefer to watch TV online and movies through Blockbuster). Apparently time spent on TV is over double that spent on the internet.

So who cares that people are still watching TV???? They are all skipping the commercials (or at least most of them are and they all will be in a few years). Grasping at straws....

Now, this is where it really gets interesting - you ready for this? They have an answer to cynics like me.

TV had the most persuasive advertising (69.9%) and internet had the lowest (5.1%). Furthermore, respondents said that brand and product awareness were most effective on TV (55%), with internet the second highest at 18.7%.

So, lets address these one at a time. First, TV has the most effective advertising. Of Course it does!!?!?!?! Marketers have years, and years and years of experience with TV - it is one of the oldest forms of advertising. Many, many years and many many millions of dollars have been spent perfecting the 30 second spot (and now the 15 second spot) and analyzing results to death perfecting both the best ways to run TV ads and the best ways to measure results. The internet is new. It takes time to learn the best ways to both use and leverage a medium and to decide the best ways to measure results.

Second the brand and product awareness are better on TV . First, this was consumer reported - they asked respondents where they learned about products and brands.

Brand and product awareness was also dominated by the tube, with 55% of respondents saying they were more likely to learn about products and brands they might like to try and buy on TV, trailed by the internet at 18.7%, magazines at 14.6%, newspapers at 7.1% and radio coming in last at 4.5%. - Ad Age

People are used to TV ads - we've been shoving them down their throats since most of them were born. Of course it is the first place they think of when asked this type of question! Furthermore, on the internet, "advertising" (meaning shoving banner ads at people) isn't the most effective way to communicate with consumers. The measures are all wrong!!!!!!!!!

Its interesting that the Television Bureau of Advertising is publishing studies like this. Focusing on the wrong measures, trying to convince the world that their sinking ship is not in-fact sinking.

I suspect that the only people persuaded by these stories are those who are on the ship and rather than jumping off, would rather believe that the ship could not possibly be sinking.

Krista: Cultural Learnings of America for make Benefit Glorious Nation of Canada (Repost)

2008-04-05T15:35:33-04:00

This was my first blog post EVER. Posted to my Myspace Blog on April 12 2007. Unedited. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Two Tickets to the Gun Show.

As an American "Resident Alien" I decided it was time to exercise my Second Amendment right "the right of the people to keep and bear arms". It's in the constitution. I picked up a fellow Canadian and we headed to The Gun and Knife Show. Despite dressing up for the event (wearing army green, camo and army boots), it was apparent that we were out of place – in addition to being 2 of about 5 women in the entire place we appeared to be fairly far away from the general demographic of the event.

After adjusting to the environment it was time to get to our objective – get educated on guns. Sweet.

Lesson 1: "If you shoot someone, you want to make sure you kill him - otherwise he can sue you...". Note to self - aim for kill - I don't want the inconvenience of a law suit.

Lesson 2: "My ex-boyfriend is stalking me – we're looking for some protection" Is apparently a perfectly acceptable reason to purchase a gun – even if you clearly know nothing about guns and have never shot one before.

Lesson 3: Ideal gun: Revolver No Hammer; compensates for bad aim and won't catch on your purse. After perusing and trying (yes, holding, touching and pulling the trigger of) various firearms it was decided that the ideal form of protection for this situation was a revolver with no hammer. The revolver is ideal because you can fire off a number of shots quickly, which can compensate for bad aim (should people with "bad aim" really be buying guns?), and you don't want a hammer because it can get caught when you pull it out of your purse.

Lesson 4: Carry the gun, loaded with you at all times. Question: So…I would carry this in my purse with me? Answer: Yes - for protection. (OBVIOUSLY). Question: I've heard things about gun safety where you keep the bullets somewhere separate from the gun? Answer: That makes no sense. Why would you do that? (WHY INDEED). Question: So….is there a safety on this…you know, since I would be carrying it loaded in my purse? Answer: No. You just gotta be careful. (RIIIIIIIGHT – there is a better chance of me shooting my foot than whatever I would intent to shoot).

Lesson 5: Licensed dealers will not sell guns illegally; they will only point you in the right direction. Having had all of our questions answered we were ready to move on to purchase. Question: Would I register my gun? Answer: NO! Trust me; you don't want to do that. (Apparently no further explanation required). Question: So what do I need to walk out of here with some protection? Answer: Just an Ohio Drivers License. DAMN! As a Canadian I don't yet have an Ohio license! I guess that I won't be able to get any protection…… we begin to walk away…….. Pssssttttt….(motions us back and leans in and whispers)"I'm a licensed dealer, so I really can't help you out, but if you are serious about getting some protection there are lots of guys here who can help you out". Seriously. At least the guy understands his professional obligation as a licensed dealer.

Lesson 6: It is easier to buy a gun illegally than to just GET an OHIO license (which involved a lot of documentation and testing). Upon further investigation I learned that over 40,000 people die in car accidents every year vs. about 30,000 deaths per year involving guns, so maybe it should be harder to get a drivers license than a gun...........

Lesson 7: I am not "The People" I guess it should be easy to get a gun – it is a Right after all. But apparently "Resident Aliens" don't have the right to keep and bear arms. We aren't "The people".