BlogWorld Expo - Some Random Thoughts

I'm at McCarron Airport in Las Vegas, waiting for my flight back to Burbank after attending the BlogWorld Expo. Since I'm not in a rush, I gave up my seat on the overbooked flight I was on in exchange for $100 + the cost of my flight.  That will pay for my flight to see my family at Christmas! And it gives me some time to reflect on the last few days.

For me, BWE started on the flight to Las Vegas when I was seated next to a fellow who had been hired by Pajamas Media, one of the BWE sponsors, to entertain folks at their booth. Evan Sayet is a right-wing comedian and though our politics were polar opposites, we had a nice chat.

I relay this encounter because it is about the power of social media and blogs. Sayet gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation on how modern liberals think, a few months ago. It was posted on YouTube and has been viewed over 300,000 times. As result of the exposure, he got a book deal with an advance. You never know who is going to read your blog or see your videos.

For Sayet, it was a fluke and has lead to more gigs. As it was for our friend Gregory K. Pincus who wrote a blog post that went wildly viral and resulted in a NY Times article and a 3 book deal.

There were bloggers of every stripe at BWE, but our focus was on business and how blogging and new media can support and BUILD your business. Getting a book deal supports your business, so if you're wondering where I'm going with this post, that's it. Use the tools that are available. Connect with bigger and better targeted audiences through blogging, audio and video.

Get your message and your passion out to the world in any way you can. Blogs are simple publishing tools.  Don't like to write, then create a podcast or audio blog and use a really easy application like Utterz to post content from your cell phone.

There's more to tell, but this post is getting long. As it turns out, I didn't attend many sessions. Mostly networked with colleagues which is where the best stuff happens anyway.

I did attend a session with Steven Van Yoder on using Web 2.0 to build your brand. Will write about that later.