What made my decision to drive-overnight-to-Nashville-with-three-strangers more worth the risk than anything else? The closing keynote address at Blissdom, given by Scott Stratten. Both he and his book, UnMarketing, kick ass. And not just because he’s willing to dress up like a princess.
His closing session was so full of great nuggets that instead of sharing one huge wrap-up post about Blissdom, I’m sharing my takeaways from his session all by themselves, because I want you people to read this!
Blissdom ’11 Closing Keynote Address from Scott Stratten (@UnMarketing)
On Blog Comments & CAPTCHA:
Only 1-3% of your readers will comment on your posts.
We all love blog comments, right? They make us feel all warm and fuzzy and validated. So why do we keep doing things to discourage commenters?
Those “CAPTCHA” things where you have to type in a word before submitting your comment? Scott had one thing to say about that: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
(I agree . . there’s nothing more frustrating when commenting than having to jump through hoops just to click “submit.”)
9 out of 10 times blog comment moderation is not necessary. There’s nothing more discouraging to a reader than to share their thoughts only to be faced with “This blog comment is awaiting moderation.” It keeps them from being able to immediately join in the conversation.
(I personally have spam protection built in with my WordPress blog, so it’s never really an issue.)
If you are going to have comment moderation enabled, customize the message to make it more friendly and personal.
Recommendation: Use the Disqus plugin for threaded comments. Also, it emails you when someone comments on the blog, and you can reply to the comment via email (and have it show up on the blog).
On marketing:
Marketing is not a task. Every time you engage with someone, you are marketing yourself.
Marketing isn’t hard. You just have to care about people.
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. So what are you doing to increase these three factors?
In regards to blog success:
People spread awesome. Awesomely sweet. Awesomely great. Awesomely horrible. Awesomely funny. People don’t spread “just ok.” Therefore, blog when you have something awesome to say.
When you haven’t posted for a while, and you do finally post, you want people’s reactions to be “OH HOLY MOSES, HE FINALLY POSTED! I HAVE TO GO READ IT!”
Just be honest with yourself: you know when you’ve created the awesome, just as well as you know when you’re just creating “content.” If you’re more focused on posting frequently than on posting “awesomeness” – that’s lame.
On making your site user-friendly:
Make your site mobile-ready. Check how it looks on an iPad, Droid, iPhone, etc. Scott recommends the WP Touch WordPress plugin to help make it more mobile-friendly.
On SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
We tend to over-SEO stuff.
Nobody ever said “This article is ok, but wow, I love how it’s keyword optimized!”
On “contact me” forms on websites:
For every field you add to a form, there is a 10-30% loss of registration. In other words, the more fields you have, the fewer people will actually fill the form out. Keep it quick-n-easy!
On social media platforms:
You can’t use every site all the time, so choose a primary platform and stick with it. Twitter? Facebook?
If you use Twitter, you can get your stats at TweetStats.com
Twitter is all about building relationships.
The great thing about sharing info on Twitter: you’re not spamming people, you’re sharing items and then they can choose if they want to check it out.
On negativity:
The more emotional currency you spend worrying about trolls and negativity, the less you have to spend on those you care about.
And that concludes the nuggets I can share from Scott’s speech. I wish you could have been there – he was 100% awesome, shared 100% interesting and helpful info, with about 50% stand-up comic. Want more? Go buy his book. It’s totally worth it.
PS: Now that you’re done reading, here are some awesome links:
- My insane overnight drive to Nashville with strangers
- Follow UnMarketing on Twitter
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.com (created by Scott)
- Scott on making money with your blog
- Scott’s Website
Disclaimer: No, I was not compensated for talking about how awesome Scott and his book are. It’s my 100% my personal opinion. But if you buy his book through my link, I do get a minuscule bit of dough.
Blissdom ’11 Closing Keynote Address from Scott Stratten (@UnMarketing)
What made my decision to drive-overnight-with-3-strangers-to-nashville-in-a-snowstorm more worth the risk than anything else? The closing keynote address at Blissdom, given by Scott Stratten. Both he and his book, UnMarketing, kick ass.
His closing session was so full of great nuggets that instead of sharing one huge wrap-up post about Blissdom, I’m sharing my takeaways from his session all by themselves, because I want you people to READ THIS!
Do I have your attention now?
On Blog Comments & CAPTCHA:
Bloggers, listen up! Only 1-3% of your readers will comment on your posts.
We all love blog comments, right? They make us feel all warm and fuzzy and validated. So why do we keep doing things to discourage commenters?
Those “CAPTCHA” things where you have to type in a word before submitting your comment? Scott had one thing to say about that:
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
(I agree . . there’s nothing more frustrating when commenting than having to jump through hoops just to click “submit.”)
9 out of 10 times blog comment moderation is not necessary. There’s nothing more discouraging to a reader than to share their thoughts only to be faced with “This blog comment is awaiting moderation.” It keeps them from being able to immediately join in the conversation.
(I personally have spam protection built in with my WordPress blog, so it’s never really an issue.)
If you are going to have comment moderation enabled, customize the message to make it more friendly and personal.
Recommendation: Use the Disqus plugin for threaded comments. Also, it emails you when someone comments on the blog, and you can reply to the comment via email (and have it show up on the blog).
On marketing:
Marketing is not a task. Every time you engage with someone, you are marketing yourself.
Marketing isn’t hard. You just have to care about people.
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. So what are you doing to increase these three factors?
In regards to things going “viral” online:
People spread awesome. Awesomely sweet. Awesomely great. Awesomely horrible. Awesomely funny. Not “just ok.”
Therefore, blog when you have something awesome to say.
Here’s what you want to create with your blog: When you haven’t posted for a while, and you do finally post, you want people’s reactions to be “OH HOLY MOSES, HE FINALLY POSTED! I HAVE TO GO READ IT!”
And be honest with yourself: you know when you’ve created the awesome, just as well as you know when you’re just creating “content.” If you’re more focused on posting frequently than on posting “awesomeness” – that’s not good.
On making your site user-friendly:
Make your site mobile-ready. Check how it looks on an iPad, Droid, iPhone, etc. Scott recommends the WP Touch WordPress plugin to help make it more mobile-friendly.
On SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
We tend to over-SEO stuff.
Nobody ever said “This article is ok, but wow, I love how it’s keyword optimized!”
On “contact me” forms on websites:
For every field you add to a form, there is a 10-30% loss of registration. In other words, the more fields you have, the fewer people will actually fill the form out. Keep it quick-n-easy!
On social media platforms:
You can’t use every site all the time, so choose a primary platform and stick with it. Twitter? Facebook?
If you use Twitter, you can get your stats at TweetStats.com
Twitter is all about building relationships.
The great thing about sharing info on Twitter: you’re not spamming people, you’re sharing items and then they can choose if they want to check it out.
On negativity:
The more emotional currency you spend worrying about trolls and negativity, the less you have to spend on those you care about.
– – –
And that concludes the nuggets I can share from Scott’s speech. I wish you could have been there – he was 100% awesome, shared 100% interesting and helpful info, with about 50% stand-up comic. Want more? Go buy his book. It’s totally worth it.
You can watch his entire closing address here:
PS: Now that you’re done reading, here are some awesome links:
· My insane overnight drive to Nashville with strangers
· Follow UnMarketing on Twitter
·
Blissdom ’11 Closing Keynote Address from Scott Stratten (@UnMarketing)
What made my decision to drive-overnight-with-3-strangers-to-nashville-in-a-snowstorm more worth the risk than anything else? The closing keynote address at Blissdom, given by Scott Stratten. Both he and his book, UnMarketing, kick ass.
His closing session was so full of great nuggets that instead of sharing one huge wrap-up post about Blissdom, I’m sharing my takeaways from his session all by themselves, because I want you people to READ THIS!
Do I have your attention now?
On Blog Comments & CAPTCHA:
Bloggers, listen up! Only 1-3% of your readers will comment on your posts.
We all love blog comments, right? They make us feel all warm and fuzzy and validated. So why do we keep doing things to discourage commenters?
Those “CAPTCHA” things where you have to type in a word before submitting your comment? Scott had one thing to say about that:
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”
(I agree . . there’s nothing more frustrating when commenting than having to jump through hoops just to click “submit.”)
9 out of 10 times blog comment moderation is not necessary. There’s nothing more discouraging to a reader than to share their thoughts only to be faced with “This blog comment is awaiting moderation.” It keeps them from being able to immediately join in the conversation.
(I personally have spam protection built in with my WordPress blog, so it’s never really an issue.)
If you are going to have comment moderation enabled, customize the message to make it more friendly and personal.
Recommendation: Use the Disqus plugin for threaded comments. Also, it emails you when someone comments on the blog, and you can reply to the comment via email (and have it show up on the blog).
On marketing:
Marketing is not a task. Every time you engage with someone, you are marketing yourself.
Marketing isn’t hard. You just have to care about people.
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. So what are you doing to increase these three factors?
In regards to things going “viral” online:
People spread awesome. Awesomely sweet. Awesomely great. Awesomely horrible. Awesomely funny. Not “just ok.”
Therefore, blog when you have something awesome to say.
Here’s what you want to create with your blog: When you haven’t posted for a while, and you do finally post, you want people’s reactions to be “OH HOLY MOSES, HE FINALLY POSTED! I HAVE TO GO READ IT!”
And be honest with yourself: you know when you’ve created the awesome, just as well as you know when you’re just creating “content.” If you’re more focused on posting frequently than on posting “awesomeness” – that’s not good.
On making your site user-friendly:
Make your site mobile-ready. Check how it looks on an iPad, Droid, iPhone, etc. Scott recommends the WP Touch WordPress plugin to help make it more mobile-friendly.
On SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
We tend to over-SEO stuff.
Nobody ever said “This article is ok, but wow, I love how it’s keyword optimized!”
On “contact me” forms on websites:
For every field you add to a form, there is a 10-30% loss of registration. In other words, the more fields you have, the fewer people will actually fill the form out. Keep it quick-n-easy!
On social media platforms:
You can’t use every site all the time, so choose a primary platform and stick with it. Twitter? Facebook?
If you use Twitter, you can get your stats at TweetStats.com
Twitter is all about building relationships.
The great thing about sharing info on Twitter: you’re not spamming people, you’re sharing items and then they can choose if they want to check it out.
On negativity:
The more emotional currency you spend worrying about trolls and negativity, the less you have to spend on those you care about.
– – –
And that concludes the nuggets I can share from Scott’s speech. I wish you could have been there – he was 100% awesome, shared 100% interesting and helpful info, with about 50% stand-up comic. Want more? Go buy his book. It’s totally worth it.
You can watch his entire closing address here:
PS: Now that you’re done reading, here are some awesome links:
- My insane overnight drive to Nashville with strangers
- Follow UnMarketing on Twitter
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.com (created by Scott)
- Scott on making money with your blog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6CwR-kshUM&feature=related
That’s all for today. I have more Blissdom nuggets to share, but will be spacing them out amongst regular blog posts.
Disclaimer: No, I was not compensated for talking about how awesome Scott and his book are. It’s my 100% my personal opinion.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.com (created by Scott)
· Scott on making money with your blog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6CwR-kshUM&feature=related
That’s all for today. I have more Blissdom nuggets to share, but will be spacing them out amongst regular blog posts.
Disclaimer: No, I was not compensated for talking about how awesome Scott and his book are. It’s my 100% my personal opinion.
29 Comments
Wow, thanks for sharing. Very helpful! The 1-3% of readers commenting sounds about right. 🙂
THIS is AWESOMELY awesome =) you rock
Yup, I can attest to the 1-3% of commenting. So frustrating.
love it.
Scott was a definitely a highlight of the conference.
Thanks for capturing the essence and meat of his speech so brilliantly for those who weren’t there!
He sounds great! I’m definitely reading that book. And, thanks for sharing all the highlights. This was a GREAT and helpful post!
Jenn – So glad you found it useful; that means I achieved my goal! 🙂
I clicked the tweeted link for the photo. I wasn’t disappointed.
The article was good too, I guess….. 🙂
Scott’s the best.
Lovely to see him in a dress.
Read this poem,
Then go spread some awesome!
He was freaking great. It takes a lot for me to laugh & I laughed a lot at this dude. Needless to say, I learned a lot too. Thanks for the notes. There were some things I totally forgot about. P.S. I don’t think we got to meet. Maybe next time? 🙂
Robin – Thanks for stopping by! I don’t think we met, but I was in a daze half the time from missing an entire night’s sleep. 🙂
You know what I like? I like blog posts about conferences that contain useful information and not just awesome pictures (which are great, but half of the time are less amusing since you probably “had to be there” or know those people to really appreciate them)
Happy you were able to attend and thanks! 🙂
Mrs. Notouching – I totally get what you mean! I was there, yet because I didn’t really know anyone (Except my awesome roomie) going into the conference, even I see the posts that are all photos of groups and still feel a bit out of the loop.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Scott Stratten, Amanda Compton, JennaFarelyn, Teresa DeFord, Elena Verlee and others. Elena Verlee said: Love it! RT @unmarketing: Check out the post by @borrowedabode about my #Blissdom keynote if only for the pic http://goo.gl/Nbuss […]
Yikes! Jane, I am going to have to slowly digest this post a couple more times… and I was THERE. How can that be?! 😉
Awesome recap.
Katie
You are so right! Scott is awesome!
I know realize how lucky i was to hear him speak every week for 14 weeks!
okay with a couple tests..
I didn’t take notes during Scott’s speech (shame on me!) so I’m so glad I came across your post. What a wonderful recap!
Well, I just became the president of your fan club!
Thank-you for this, and not just the epic pic!!
You summarized my points better than I ever have. Thank-you so much for the kind words, I’m so glad I had a hand in making the event worth it for you.
It truly was one of the greatest audiences I’ve ever spoken to.
really awesome info.. thanks for sharing! 🙂
[…] 33 Before 33 « Blissdom: @UnMarketing made it awesome. […]
Was there a neat story behind the princess costume too? Or does he just like wearing it? Either way, I like it.
Speaking making commenting easy…the open ID option here isn’t working at the moment. Not sure if it’s you or if it’s me…
Ack! I lecture about easy commenting, then cause trouble? So sorry,
and thanks for letting me know.
[…] If you actually want to read about the stuff I learned at Blissdom, click here. Posted in Ramblings, Trip Pics blog comments powered by Disqus /* […]
[…] you on that mystical quest to publicize a blog? Jane generously shared these tips she learned at a […]
Brilliant, and hilarious. Thanks for sharing
[…] one session at Blissdom, several other home bloggers were asking if they should pay for a custom blog design. While the […]
[…] to the speech he gave at Blissdom, but it’s so much more fun to watch him than to read my notes on the talk. Posted in {Re}Fashion, Blogger Shout-outs blog comments powered by […]
Great info! Thanks for sharing.
[…] Social Media Tips from UnMarketing […]
[…] Find my recap of his first Blissdom keynote here. […]