This past Thursday, I delivered my  workshop on using social media and blogs to build your brand and professional profile at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Conference For Women. I was honored — pleased — amazed — gratified — excited by the reception given to the workshop, both at the event and afterward.

Quite simply, it reminded me why I love what I do for a living.

The 500 or so  women in the audience were very engaged.  I had about 6 or 8 questions at the end, and I’m sure there would have been more had I not gotten “the hook” from my timekeeper, because  I was mobbed at the podium at the end. The best part was afterward, though, when folks stopped me in the exhibit hall or came to my book signing to talk more about the topic or get my advice on a more personal level.

And my book! I don’t know how many copies of Professional Blogging For Dummies the conference bookstore had on hand, but I do know that the Pennsylvania ladies wiped it out. My book was sold out by 2pm.

What do I do for a living?  I help:

• connect brands and bloggers in win-win relationships
• companies integrate social media into their marketing and customer service strategy
• people find their social media and blogging sweet spot through my book and workshops

But really, what I do is help people and brands tell their stories. And so many of the women at the conference had wonderful stories to tell. I truly hope they start blogs because I want to  hear from and about them.

That’s why the very best thing was the thank-you note I got on Facebook today from someone who attended my session and bought the book. She wrote that I inspired her to get moving on her business and a blog.

That makes all the difference.

Because I know that I made a difference.

I love what I do.

–

If you are in Houston or Boston, don’t miss the upcoming conferences in these states. I’ll be doing the social media workshop at both, and look forward to meeting you there. In fact, I am giving away a pass to each. All you have to do is leave a comment on my September 25th post for your chance to win.

Good friend Morra Aarons-Mele’s company Women Online is a sponsor of the conferences, in good company with firms like Citizens Bank and State Farm Insurance.

Last week I attended the AARP Orlando@50+ Conference. Snide remarks from friends on Facebook aside, I was not in Orlando as an attendee to plan my post-retirement life, although had I been, there was plenty of information on the show floor and in the sessions to help me. I’m still a couple years shy of the calendar milestone, and as for retirement, that’s at least 20 years off.

I was at the conference to present two workshops on Connecting and Communicating with Social Media as part of Kaplan University’s educational track within the conference. The room was full both times – about 280 capacity – even though the room was as far from the front door as you could possibly get and on Saturday it was one of the last sessions, competing with all the entertainment Orlando offers.

It’s impossible to introduce folks to “everything” social media has to offer in an hour session, so I focus largely on blogs and Facebook. Even then, people – especially in beginner audiences – tend to have very specific “how do I do this…” questions, and there is no way to get to all of them. That’s why I am particularly glad that as part of its deliverables for the AARP attendees, Kaplan has created reinventyourself.kaplan.edu, a site dedicated to expanding on the topics presented at the conference with self-paced in-depth courses on each topic. The site launches October 7. I’ll add a link here once it is live.

I helped develop a course based on my workshop, and got a sneak peek Saturday. The online course developers did a great job translating my concepts to the online interactive format. It is a great start for anyone dipping their toe into social media for the first time, at any age. It’s also free!

Of course, if you want to delve more deeply into blogging, and especially making money on your blog, my book Professional Blogging For Dummies is also a good choice! Links in the sidebar to your online bookseller of choice.

The workshops I am doing for the Conferences for Women in Pittsburgh, Houston and Boston use a similar outline, with a slight shift on focus to women and how these tools can help them personally and professionally. I’m giving away tickets to Houston and Boston; all you have to do is leave a comment on my post Using Social Media to Build Your Brand for a chance to win.

For more on technology use by older Americans, check out this post on the AARP blog ShAARP. I was honored that they included the story about my mom that I use in my workshops to make two important points about technology and the Internet. First, there is no age requirement or limit. Second,  don’t think – or let anyone tell you, that you can’t do something. We learn how to do the things that let us accomplish our goals. Even if it seems – or even is – hard.

I’m really looking forward to speaking at the upcoming Pennsylvania Governor’s Conference for Women (10/14), the Texas Conference for Women (11/10) and the Massachusetts Conference for Women (12/9).

At each conference, I’ll be teaching a workshop on Using Social Media to Build Your Brand. Here’s the abstract:

In this tough economy, it’s more important than ever to develop a brand and set yourself apart from the rest of the masses. Whether you have a job and are looking to advance, in the midst of a job search or working to build a business, social media provides the skills, network and energy to create a serious career advantage. This interactive workshop will explore ways to master social media to help create and reinvent your brand, reputation and thought leadership. Attendees will learn how to utilize social media to:

• Establish access to new networks
• Leverage Facebook and Twitter as a practical professional tool
• Create a blog to align with and help you achieve your short-and-long-term professional goals
• Break into new industries, professions and business opportunities

I’ll be arriving in each town the day before the conference and generally taking off sometime in the late afternoon of the conference, but would love to connect with as many folks as I can while I am in town. If you are planning to attend one of the conferences, or just live locally, please email or dm me and let’s see if we can’t get a meet-up/tweet-up going the night before the conference.

The exception to this is Boston. While I hope to have a home base in Connecticut by then, we’ll still be living in Mass. as well. The plan is to see the calendar year out here, and then transfer my son to his new school after the December break. So I won’t be scramming after the Boston conference with quite the same speed!

I’ve already given away my pass to the Pennsylvania Conference,  but I have a pass to give away to each of the other two conferences as well. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Be sure to let me know which conference you’d like to attend, Texas or Mass. I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winning comments. The first comment number generated will get the pass for her conference of choice, and then I will generate numbers until I get a comment for the other conference. Please post your comment by midnight EST Sunday October 17, 2010. I’ll pick the winners early the following week.

Also, if you have a copy of Professional Blogging For Dummies and you’d like me to sign it, please feel free to bring it with you. I always have time for that!

Update 8 October: I will be doing book signings at the Conferences for Women bookstore so if you don’t have a copy yet, you will be able to buy one there.

Back on the speaking circuit…

Tuesday April 6th is the Blog With Integrity webinar on best practices for blogger outreach. We’ve got a great blogger panel who will share their experiences working with brands — Beth Blecherman from TechMamas, Michelle Madhok from SheFinds and Tim Hurst from ecopolitology.

Saturday April 9th I will be at BlogPaws in Columbus Ohio speaking on a panel about best practices for doing reviews on your blog.

April 20-23 I’ll be out at New Comm Forum in San Mateo California. On the 20th, I’m teaching part of the full-day Intro to Social Media for Business pre-conference workshop, and later in the week, I’m doing two conference sessions — a panel on Social CRM and a session on the impact of the FTC Guidelines on Endorsements and Testimonials on businesses. Added attraction: Dave Carroll of United Breaks Guitars fame will be speaking at lunch on Wednesday!

I’ve got discount codes for all three events. Drop me a note at sgetgood@getgood.com or @sgetgood on Twitter with your email address and the event you are interested in.

Between the book, travel and work, my blogs have been a bit neglected this year. So, I’m really glad that I can finally take the wraps off the Blog with Integrity projects we’ve been working on since the beginning of the year.

Advisory Board: We are honored to welcome Liza Barry-Kessler, Gwen Bell, Isabel Kallman, Lisa Stone and David Wescott to the team as members of the Blog with Integrity Advisory Board.

New website: We’ve updated the website with more information about the team, our mission and upcoming events. We also added an Organizational Pledge so companies can show their support for the principles of the pledge.

Bridging Brands & Bloggers webinar: We are very excited about this webinar for PR, marketing and advertising professionals to be held on April 6th from noon to 1:30 eastern. We’ll talk about best practices for blogger outreach and the impact of the FTC endorsement guidelines on brands and bloggers. Plus an exclusive panel of influential bloggers will share their experiences working with brands. More details and registration information are on the website. Please spread the word!

Bridging Brands & Bloggers is sponsored by the Council of Public Relations Firms, and we are very grateful for their support.

On the road: We’ve been taking the Blog with Integrity message on the road. In February, I spoke at BlissDom about best practices and disclosure, and at Mom 2.0, my colleagues Liz Gumbinner and Julie Marsh were on a panel about the FTC guidelines. In the coming months, I’ll be on panels at BlogPaws, TBEX and BlogHer talking about disclosure and ethical best practices. I’m also doing a session for for marketing professionals about the impact of the guidelines at New Comm Forum.

I have a discount code for BlogPaws so drop me a note if you are planning to attend. For New Comm Forum, register here using discount code NCF117.

And then there’s the book. Professional Blogging for Dummies (Wiley, July 2010). As my Facebook page says: “I used to have a life. Now I have a book.” If you have a few minutes in the next few days, I would so appreciate it if you would take the blogger survey for the book. I’ll probably close the survey next week. Here’s the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8GY3Z2F

Apart from my rather hectic return North on Friday (which you can read about on Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip), BlissDom was absolutely great, and I wish I could have stayed longer.

BlissDom and Disclosure

As promised, here is a PDF of the complete slide deck from the “You Should Know Better” general session on Friday morning. Kristen Berman from Intuit covered best accounting practices, Liza Barry-Kessler gave an overview of the legal issues facing bloggers in their small businesses, and I talked about disclosure as a best practice and the FTC guidelines on endorsements and testimonials.

We were lucky that Stacey Ferguson was in the audience. She is an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission advertising practices division and was able to help answer a few questions.

I don’t want to dive too deep into disclosure in this post but one thing most definitely bears repeating: the FTC does not dictate how you should disclose other than it must be “clear and conspicuous.” There are many ways to be clear and conspicuous. For example, put the disclosure at the top of the post, at the top of the blog sidebar or within the text of the post as you write about whatever it is. All pretty clear. You just have to be sure that the reader has an opportunity to see the disclosure without searching for it. But… there is no checklist that says the FTC approves these five ways to disclose and does not approve these other five.

That’s why best practices are so very very important. Also common sense. For example, if you have written a long, long blog post, putting the disclosure at the bottom of your post, and only at the bottom, isn’t too conspicuous. No one says you can’t put it there — not even the FTC —  but I will tell you that it’s not a best practice.

On the other hand, if you write snappy short product bits that fit in the first screen (“above the fold”),  a disclosure at the bottom of the post is pretty conspicuous. It’s simple common sense – just ask yourself, if I was reading someone else’s blog, where would I want to be informed about the endorsement or material relationship?

Stacey also made it clear to the audience that the FTC does not require that blogs have a disclosure policy nor does a blanket disclosure policy cancel out the need to disclose in your posts.

Best practices demand that you do MORE than the FTC requires. A disclosure policy is a best practice that helps your readers understand your point of view, your relationships and your biases.  Use best practices and common sense, and you should be fine.  The slides from the BlissDom session have some suggestions, and Blog with Integrity will have more free webinars on this and related topics like copyright and fair use.

Super Bowl Ads
Liked: Snickers, VW, Clydesdales [Updated 2/9 to add that I also liked the NFL, Google and HomeAway ads, all of which were spot-on in their branding]
Didn’t like: All the misogyny (Dodge, Bridgestone, Dove, Go Daddy), creepy eTrade babies, people acting like dolphins, stuffed animals acting like people

Survey for Professional Blogging for Dummies
I’m heads down most days on my book right now, and I’d like your help. A key feature in the book is case studies, anecdotes and tips from successful bloggers. I’d also like to have some trend data about professional blogs. How are people making money? Do they have a business plan? What sorts of opportunities have bloggers gotten as a result of their blogs? So, I’ve got a little survey up on Survey Monkey. If you write a professional or small business blog, I hope you will take it.

I love speaking to groups. Or really, with groups, because the best part is the interaction with the audience.

A good thing, as I will be doing a lot of it over the next few months. Happy to do more, so please get in touch if you need a speaker for your event.

Here’s where I’ll be. Hope to see you there!

• February 4-5, 2010 – BlissDom (Nashville, TN)
• February 3 & 6, 2010 – Educational Travel Conference (Providence, RI)
• February 18-20, 2010 - Mom 2.0 Summit (Houston, TX)
• March 23, 2010 – NorthEast Contact Center Forum (Hopkinton, MA)
• April 9, 2010 – BlogPaws (Columbus, OH)
• April 20-23, 2010 – New Comm Forum (San Mateo, CA)
• June 26-27, 2010 - TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) 10 (New York)
• August 6-7, 2010 – BlogHer (New York)

And watch this space for announcements about the 2010 Blog with Integrity webinars.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

2009 has not been a banner year. The economy really impacted my business, as it has so many. Among other things, the competition for projects got quite fierce. When full-service agencies slash their fees to the bone, it is pretty hard for an independent to match it. And the projects that did come in tended to be smaller than in previous years.

Things seemed to pick up a little toward the end of the year, which makes me hopeful for 2010. I’m also always looking at all my options. If  you’ve got something in which you think I might be interested, whether a project, long term assignment or full-time job, please never assume I am too busy or wouldn’t be interested. I am always interested. Always.

There were some highlights over the year:

• I have some wonderful clients, both long-term and recent, and  am tremendously grateful for the confidence they have in my work. I just want more like them! And fewer deadbeats who never pay their bills.
• I am excited to be working on my first book, Professional Blogging for Dummies (Wiley, Summer 2010).
• The community response to the Blog with Integrity initiative made me proud — once again — to be a blogger. We’ve got some exciting plans for next year, so stay tuned.
• The trip to Africa with my mom and brother was the experience of a lifetime. Full reports on my travel blog and a dedicated site set up by my brother MashatuTiger.com
• I started writing about Digital Parenting for BlogHer’s Family Connections project.

But no lie, I am ready to kick 2009 to the curb and say hello to 2010.  There’s a lot to look forward to. I’ve just started work on some challenging new client projects and as I mentioned above, we’ve got good stuff in the works for Blog with Integrity. And of course the book. I have to write a chapter a week every week until mid-March. Doesn’t sound like much until you start to do it, and then it’s a bit like having a term paper due every week. Worth it in the end though.

I’m also honored to have been invited to speak at a number of conferences over the next few months, starting with the Consumer Electronics Show next week in Las Vegas. Here’s the schedule, through April 2010.

CES, Las Vegas, January 8, 2010 –

• MommyTech Summit - Mommy Power 101 panel. Moderated by Beth Blecherman of TechMamas.com, the panel will talk about how technology advancements have empowered moms and changed our lives.
• Help, My Mom Friended Me on Facebook, part of Kodak’s in-booth television studio. Session will stream live over the Internet (January 8, 11 am PST). The panel, which also includes Jill Zarin from Real Housewives of NYC, will be talking digital parenting and the impact of technology on our children and our families.

BlissDom ’10, Nashville, February 4-6, 2010 –

• Social Media & the Women Who Love It. Advanced Social Media Workshop (Feb. 4, 2010)
• You Should Know Better:  A Blogger’s Guide to Legal, Accounting and FTC Guidelines. Session. (Feb. 5, 2010)

ETC 2010, Providence, Rhode Island, February 6, 2010 –

• Navigating Social Media: A Hands-on Approach. Workshop.

Mom 2.0 Summit, Houston, February 18-20, 2010 –

• Got Strategy? session (Feb. 19, 2010)

BlogPaws, Columbus, Ohio, April 9-10, 2010 –

• Gulp! The FTC? What the New Guidelines Mean for You (April 10, 2010)

New Comm Forum, San Mateo, California, April 20-23, 2010 –

• Introduction to Social Media for Business. Pre-conference workshop. April 20, 2010
• Social CRM Stories: Case Studies, Challenges & Emerging Best Practices. Moderator. April 22, 2010
• Disclosure: It’s Not Just for Bloggers. Impact of the new FTC guidelines on corporate social media programs. April 23, 2010

If you have a moment over the next few days, please take my blogger survey about marketing pitches and Facebook contests. Only 10 questions! Results will be reported here and on the Blog with Integrity Facebook page early next week.

I’d like to end the year with the lyrics from Louis Jordan’s holiday classic May Every Day Be Christmas (listen to it on Last.fm). Sums up my wish for all of us in the coming year:

May every day be Christmas
And every day be blessed
Let the end of every day be filled with happiness
And may the Lord be good to you with every rising sun
All through the day have a smile for everyone
[repeats] At night time comes a longing to be with ones you love
To sit around the fireside and dream of stars above
So may God bless you and keep you, come what may
Then every day will be a happy day [end repeat]
May good times come to you every day.

I’m back from Africa, and slowly getting back into the groove. I’ve got a couple topics rolling around in my head that I plan to write, but for now, I just wanted to highlight two upcoming events.

First, the Social Media for Small Business conference. Developed to help the the small business owner integrate social media into the business plan, the conference will be held October 22-24 2009 at the Renaissance ClubSport in Aliso Viejo California (about half way between LA and San Diego). I’ll be participating in a panel about Blogger Relations.

The Society for New Communications Research Symposium and Awards Gala is always a great event to recharge your intellectual batteries. This year the event will be held November 5 and 6 at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

New Comm Forum is known for assembling a terrific group of social media and marketing experts, and this year is no exception. On Monday April 27th, I’m honored to be moderating a panel on blogger relations featuring some of the honorees from the 2008 SNCR Awards:  Julie Crabill, SHIFT PR, Laura Tomasetti, 360 Public Relations and Paull Young, Converseon.

Other speakers on the program include: Sashi Bellamkonda, Chris Brogan, Laura Fitton, Tom Foremski, Paul Gillin, Francois Gossieaux, Shel Holtz, Shel Israel, Charlene Li, Geoff Livingston, Mike Manuel, Jen McClure, Jeremiah Owyang, Katie Paine, Brian Solis, Joseph Thornley, Todd Van Hoosear, Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu and Zena Weist.

This year, New Comm Forum is co-located with the Inbound Marketing Summit, and New Comm attendees will have access to the Summit’s expo area. The combination of the two events in the same space should foster some very interesting hallway conversation, with New Comm drawing a national group that tends to have more experience with social media, and Inbound attracting a more local audience looking to understand what it’s all about.

Event Details for the 5th Annual New Communications Forum
April 27th – 29th, 2009
Marriott Hotel
4th & Mission
San Francisco, CA
http://www.newcommforum.com/2009/

REGISTER NOW WITH DISCOUNT CODE SNCRFRIEND & SAVE $100. PARTICIPATE IN THE ENTIRE THREE-DAY CONFERENCE FOR JUST $695 OR JUST ONE DAY FOR JUST $395

About New Comm Forum

Now celebrating its fifth year, NewComm Forum is the premier conference that brings together thought leaders and decision makers to discuss the impact of social media and emerging communication tools, technologies, and models on PR and corporate communications, marketing and advertising, media and journalism, business, culture and society. The Forum provides an in-depth exploration of the future of communications. In its five year history, it has come to be known as one of the world’s leading conferences focusing on the latest trends in new emerging media and communications platforms.