Blogger’s Connect
For those who weren’t able to join us at Inman last week (or those who have short-circuited and forgotten everything already), I’d like to share with you the takeaway moments from every panelist on every panel at Inman Blogger’s Connect:
Creating Content That Hooks Readers
The conference was kicked off by an exciting panel discussing blog content creation. The moderator was Kris Berg and the panelists included Benn Rosales, Ben Martin, Jeff Corbett, Mike Simonsen and Sarah Hromack.
“If you have like buyers in front of you, ask them why they chose you, how they found you,
and that creates the content for your blog. Repeat success!” -Benn Rosales
image courtesy of The Real Estate Zebra
“Inject your personality into your writing voice.” -Ben Martin
“Content starts one sentence, one paragraph at a time.” -Jeff Corbett
“People do business with people they like.” -Mike Simonsen
image courtesy of The Real Estate Zebra
“I don’t want to hear about your cat.” -Sarah Hromack
How Four Bloggers are Closing Sales
Jay Thompson moderated Teresa Boardman, Mary Pope-Handy, Laurie Manny and Linda Davis as they shared their case studies and success stories with a large audience.
“My blog IS my business.” -Teresa Boardman
image courtesy of Ginger Wilcox
“Make your blog a joy to do and it will sustain you.” -Mary Pope-Handy
“Stop blogging and sell real estate.” -Laurie Manny
image courtesy of Heather Elias
“If you have a crappy business, a blog isn’t going to help.” -Linda Davis
Leaving a Digital Footprint
This lively discussion was lead by Joel Burslem and the panel included David Gibbons, Jay Thompson, Pat Kitano and Rudy Bachraty, all with different theories of leaving a digital footprint.
image courtesy of Kristal Kraft
“Criticism is one of the greatest marketing opportunities you have. It’s a chance to correct any misperceptions.” -David Gibbons
image courtesy of Kristal Kraft
“It’s really easy to get overwhelmed. You don’t have to facebook every day, you don’t have to anything every day.” -Jay Thompson
image courtesy of Dru Bloomfield
“Twitter is supplanting blogs.” -Pat Kitano
image courtesy of Dustin luther
“Be proactive. Engage the consumers.” -Rudy Bachraty
How NOT to Get Sued
The title alone is scary, but moderator Joe Ferrara did a great job of guiding the conversation between Ardell DellaLoggia, Melanie Wyne, Russ Cofano and Todd Carpenter.
image courtesy of Desiree Daniels
“You have to own and be accountable.” -Ardell DellaLoggia
“Don’t be a jerk… it helps you not get sued.” -Melanie Wyne
image courtesy of Desiree Daniels
“If you’re going to use a trademark, make fun of it. Parody is a great defense.” -Russ Cofano
“I just delete them.” -Todd Carpenter
Take Your Blog to the Next Level
Everyone was all ears as moderator Jeff Turner and the panel debated not only what the next level of a blog is but how to get there. Daniel Rothamel, Dustin Luther, Jim Cronin and Nicole Nicolay all weighed in.
image courtesy of Jeff Corbett
“Life does NOT happen inside your computer. We operate in the real world with real people.” -Daniel Rothamel
image courtesy of Daniel Rothamel
“The biggest missed opportunity for social media marketing in real estate is existing social networks.” -Dustin Luther
“Stop patting each other on the back and bring in the consumer.” -Jim Cronin
“Have conversations with people IN your niche.” -Nicole Nicolay
The Wrap Up
After the conference ended, we all ended up at various restaurants and happy hour discussing the panels and the consensus was that the Blogger’s Connect was extremely successful- the audience crammed a *lot* of learning into one day. Can’t wait until ICSF09!
