Every year, a social media conference called the Blogworld Expo takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It’s the largest blogging conference in the world and includes more than 50 panels, seminars and keynotes featuring social media’s brightest personalities. Topics range from how to sell more advertising on your blog to taking smart risks with your online personality.

Last weekend, I attended the expo on behalf of Nemo Design and absorbed tons of valuable information. Below, I’ll detail everything you need to know about the convention and why you should consider going next year!

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND A CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO SOCIAL MEDIA?

Blogging has grown into much more than an idle hobby. It’s a way of life and a viable way to make a living. According to Blogworld’s stats:

* Over 12 million American adults maintain blogs (and more than 57 million read them).

* 22 of the world’s 100 most popular websites are blogs.

* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.

* 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.

* Over 120,000 new blogs are created every day.

MY THREE FAVORITE CLASSES AT THE CONFERENCE: WHAT I LEARNED

1. Beyond Blogging

With social media, marketing is essential. Unfortunately, everyone thinks they can perform marketing tasks well with no training.

Transparency can be difficult for corporations dabbling in social media because as they get larger, they don’t necessarily know who they are any longer. The overall vision (and truthfulness) can get lost in a sea of PR and marketing teams trying to craft a visibly perfect image. Successful bloggers within corporations are authentic, passionate and know what they’re talking about.

2. Taking Smart Risks with Your Online Personality

There’s a difference between pure risk and smart risk online. Smart risk is about having a plan. There are many great things that can come out of showcasing your personality and letting people know who you are. Think about how you want your intentions to play out in the long run and develop a corresponding plan.

A very finite number of negative outcomes can arise when you put yourself out there (on the internet) and most of them can be controlled. In contrast, there’s an infinite number of great possibilities that can happen and they usually outweigh the bad. Examples include job leads, networking and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Remember, it’s up to us as our own personal brand managers to control our image. Be aware, consider the persona you’re projecting and your reactions / responses. The residue can last forever. Figure out what your boundaries are and give some consideration to your personal image before you step out publicly.

3. Opening Keynote

Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park had some really inspiring, basic advice during the keynote.

First of all, it’s important to give fans a brand that’s consistent with what you’ve promised them.

Secondly, you don’t want to fight the battle of competing with everyone else. Don’t be an asshole. You’ll meet everyone on the way down that you met on the way up. Being nice isn’t the same thing as being passive. Being cordial and direct and assertive doesn’t cost you any extra time and pays off.

Timothy advised us to “talk to your readers the way you’d talk to your friends after two drinks.” Cut out the nonsense and show them what they want to hear. Don’t avoid offending people; it comes across as fake.

He also related that It doesn’t matter how many times you’re rejected or how many people don’t get what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s about how many do.

IS THE BLOGWORLD EXPO RIGHT FOR YOU?

If you’re serious about blogging, either as an individual or for the company you’re employed by, Blogworld is for you. With up to seven seminars to choose from a few times each day, there’s a huge variety of topics on varying levels ranging from introductory to professional.

Meeting Steve Pavlina!

Beyond receiving the opportunity to learn everything there is to know about blogging, Blogworld is a fantastic place to network! I was able to meet Timothy Ferriss (totally approachable), Steve Pavlina (he’s hugely inspiring and even showed his raw food stash of snacks to us!), Darren Rowse and I came very close to meeting Guy Kawasaki on a few occasions (next year, perhaps?!)

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

1. The convention hours are early (9 a.m. on average), so unless you’re a ‘morning person,’ staying out all night and partying on convention days is not recommended!

2. The cost ($400.00 for an all-access pass) is only worth it if you stick to a pre-planned, class-packed schedule. If you plan on taking extended breaks to nurse your hangover, don’t bother attending.

3. The food options at the convention center are exorbitant and not very tasty. Plan ahead and bring tons of snacks!

4. Sign up for a Twitter account in advance. It’s the preferred way of communicating at the convention. (See the live Blogworld 08 Twitter feed here).

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Are any of you planning on attending the Blogworld Expo next year?

Over the last several years, blogging has grown from a casual hobby to a full-blown phenomenon. The Blog World Expo was created to assist and educate the increasing number of bloggers and will be hosted in Las Vegas from September 19th through the 22nd, 2008. This convention is unique in that it is the only industry-wide tradeshow, conference and media event dedicated to blogging and new media. Included in the expo are over 50 seminars and panel discussions that aid bloggers in becoming more prolific and successful within their niches.

According to Blog World’s stats:

* Over 12 million American adults maintain blogs (and more than 57 million read them).

* 22 of the world’s 100 most popular websites are blogs.

* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.

* 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.

* Over 120,000 new blogs are created every day.

Besides providing a stable platform for individuals and companies to express their views, promote products and connect with the public, blogs are ripe with social networking opportunities. According to Synovate, though more than half of adults in 17 countries don’t know what social networking is, it’s blazing along in the U.S. with an expected participation rate of nealy 45% of internet users by the end of 2008.

Wikipedia claims that “The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers.” Early incarnations of the blog were usually integrated into personal websites and coded by hand. The popularity of blogging quickly spread in the late 90s when hosted blog tools like Open Diary, Live Journal and Blogger began offering free, user-friendly services.

Now, many bloggers use blog software that they have installed on their personal domains since they can more closely control the customization, track stats and monetary opportunities. Popular software options include Wordpress, Moveable Type, Textpattern and Drupal.

The future of blogging is bright: 89% of companies surveyed say that they think blogs will be more important in the next five years. Companies are seeing the potential in running blogs now more than ever before because they give fans and consumers a way to connect directly with the products and services they love. And, individuals are capitalizing on blogging as well. Some are now earning enough advertising and sponsorship dollars to blog full-time.

In only ten years’ time, blogging has revolutionized the way we get our news, network with like-minded individuals, gather product information and share our views. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it…

How has blogging impacted your life?

Here at Nemo, we were lucky to be graced by the VP of Business Development at Ning, Rachel Masters on Friday (read Dave Allen’s account here). What’s notable about Ning’s web-based platform is that it that allows you to create your own social network for anything and is fully customizable in almost every way imaginable.

One of the most beneficial elements of Ning I discovered is the option to use your own domain name. In essence, Ning can be built to function as your main website and many corporations and bands have leveraged this option with fantastic results. The band Good Charlotte uses Ning as their main site while Saturn has created an official gathering place for fans and employees of their line of cars.

Speaking of Saturn, they are a sponsor of the Bravo hit show, Project Runway. Now on its fifth cycle, this season features Portland alum Leanne Marshall of the chic Leanimal label. Though she first auditioned for the show in 2007, waiting out a year turned out to be to her advantage. She took the downtime to further develop her point of view and refine her designs and it shows in the crisp yet voluminous designs.

It’s true that Portland is a hotbed of creative talent. And, as the success of Ning and other social networking platforms have shown, connecting with like minded individuals needn’t be a chance encounter any longer. Whether you’re a fan of Saturn cars, Project Runway (or anything else for that matter), the odds are that a social network is only a click away.

Social Media is no longer viewed as just a hobby or a passing fad. According to Adweek, a handful of advertising and PR agencies are seeing the potential of web-based client promotion and have recently launched Social Media divisions in addition to their more traditional offerings.

As more advertising dollars continue to make their way to the internet, Brain Sells notes that “more than just ad dollars following a trend or digital hype, the growth is being driven due to real changes in behavior: (the) rising number of people online, the introduction of cheap laptops and the growing popularity of TV shows on the Internet.”

Furthermore, ChasNote shows us the migration of U.S. ad dollars in which the amount of money spent online in 2007 swelled to $21 billion, an increase of almost 26% from the previous year:

The social media teams at various agencies are becoming savvy enough to realize that buying up ad space on large networking sites like Myspace and Facebook is not necessarily the answer. Michael Nathanson, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company states that “the jury’s still out on MySpace’s ability to monetize” and “we don’t have much conviction in the long-term ability to grow this business based on what we’ve seen lately.”

Instead, the future is pointing towards more focused ad campaigns targeted at niche blogs that have highly faithful followings. As Dave Allen, Director of Insights & Digital Media at Nemo Design says, “Companies should be advertising directly to those niche groups and networks that include people who would like to hear from their brand. (On other social media sites) the brands need to wait until they are invited in. A mass, scatter-shot approach to the large social networks will only fail.”

The bottom line: there is no quick way to propel a company to the top through social networking; it takes time and the earning of users’ trust. The competition is constantly growing and social media users are becoming increasingly savvy. Patrick Garrett, Outrider’s U.S. managing director is right when he proclaims that “social media is a long-term investment.”

As celebrities are constantly followed in the media with their every move recorded and scrutinized for a slew of gossip shows and blogs, a side effect has emerged in the form of the ‘human billboard.’ Now more than ever, celebrities themselves have morphed into lucrative brand names, hawking everything imaginable from credit cards and cars to perfume and yogurt.

The line between celebrities and the products they’re pitching has become increasingly fuzzy as the two merge to create mutual benefits. Brands are now relying on hot stars to not just stamp their name on products, but to co-design their own lines that capture the attention of their rabid fan bases. 

The Power of Celebrity Endorsement

While the endorsement of products and services by celebrities is nothing new, there has been steady growth in this area over the last ten years with an estimated 14% of all U.S. advertisements including stars last year (via marketing research agency Millward Brown). 

Why is this phenomenon so powerful? Why do stars sometimes earn more from advertising revenues than they do from their actual day jobs?

The truth is that companies would not be paying celebrities exorbitant fees to stand in as spokespersons for  their brands if they didn’t see a positive effect on sales. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and if they truly believe that their idols actually use the products they are paid to pose with, sales and (website traffic) can go through the roof.

Consumers are constantly shown glimpses of a celebrity’s lifestyle and even though they may not be able to afford the cars, mansions, and private parties, they can at least buy the fragrance, t-shirt and sunglasses their idols (appear to) prefer. It’s easier to live vicariously through products and services than to look inward to the real issues. 

Controversy: The Downside of Endorsements

When a company chooses a celebrity to endorse their brand, it’s all about image. To make a partnership successful, they have to decide whether a person’s image is in line with their values and further enhances their reputation. When Magic Johnson announced his HIV-positive status in the early 90s, he was swiftly dropped from endorsements, though the companies claimed it was the affair factor that sealed the deal. 

Sometimes controversy can help a celebrity land even more endorsement deals after the dust has settled. Supermodel Kate Moss weathered a scandal in 2005 when she was caught snorting cocaine. Her lucrative contracts with Chanel, Burberry and H&M were dropped, yet Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci held on. Since her release from rehab, she has landed even more endorsement deals from the likes of Calvin Klein, Longchamp, Bulgari, Stella McCartney and Virgin Mobile. Amazingly, Hollywood.com claims that these deals have reportedly brought Moss’ earnings from $10.3 million before the bust to $17 million after!

Celebrity Power and Ranking

The numbers for celebrity endorsements in advertising are down this year after hitting an all-time high of 19% in 2004. In the over-saturated world of advertising, this may be the beginning of a trend. Many companies are now realizing that their roster of brands are being overshadowed by the bold-faced celebrity names they once courted. While the celebrities promoting the products are gaining increased notoriety, the company image can be lost in the shuffle. In the last few years, Pepsi has dropped Beyoncé and Britney Spears for this reason.

Companies are now looking to the two year old Davie Brown Index to see how hot a celebrity is. Ranking a total of 1,800 celebrities, the D.B.I. determines a celebrity’s ability to influence a relationship with the brand and to also encourage consumer purchases.

The Future of Advertising

The future of advertising may be in ‘friend endorsements.’ Allen Stern of Center Networks makes the case that most of us would rather have our best friend recommend a product to us over a paid celebrity. This is becoming increasingly easy since many of us are connected into tight webs of friends, family members and acquaintances with similar interests via social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook.

The reason why we value the opinions of friends over celebrities comes down to one thing: TRUST. Celebrities are instantly recognizable and even likable, but that doesn’t mean that a consumer fully trusts their endorsements when making purchases. For this reason, social networking truly is the wave of the future for advertisers.

For musicians, 1000 true fans may be the way to lift their sales, and therefore their careers, out of the flat plains of the Long Tail. Looking for information about 1000 fans, I entered ‘1000 friends’ as a search term in Google - it returned 12.2 million results. Here are the Google results.

In this context there isn’t much difference between ‘fans’ - who support musicians and artists, and ‘friends’ - who tend to support causes and the environment. For instance, 1000 Friends of Houston wants 1000 people to donate $100 each to kick start an initiative to improve livability in Houston. Meanwhile the musician Jill Sobule put up a web site asking for donations to make a new album. She needed $75,000. If you visit the site today she happily proclaims that she has achieved her goal and recording is under way. Here’s her original post setting out her goals and the different levels of donor participation.

Kevin Kelly, who describes himself as follows: “Kevin Kelly is a Senior Maverick at Wired magazine and is currently editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website” says in a post at his site, The Technium, “A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.”

Kelly’s article [from which I borrowed that image] provoked a lot of comment and in one case an outright rebuttal from a musician who has been using the 1000 fans technique to sell his music. As this musician wrote, he couldn’t make a living from operating with such low income. [I would argue that the real point of reaching out to your true fans is networking and not about trying to make a living solely from the income derived this way. It should be treated as another arrow in the quiver of tools that musicians already use.] Kelly then wrote another article entitled ‘The Case Against 1000 True Fans.’ The debate continues.

I like the idea of 1000 true fans. It’s rather like a patronage and when it works it must be wonderful to be that artist who feels the affirmation of her fans. Yet what if it doesn’t work? Fundable is a web site that helps artists by putting up the page that solicits the donations. If the artist requests $5000 for her next work to be created but falls short of that goal then no one pays. Fundable helps in two ways 1. It’s an easy way to create a web site for this purpose, and 2. Artists learn how many fans are willing to support their endeavor before starting a new project.

Arguably these groups of donors are more than just ’super fans’ of artists, they are a micro social network. In April, Peter Bowman, a contributor to the web site Internet Evolution wrote a post about the emergence of micro social networking. He argues that companies and businesses that have built micro-sites for their brands are now branching out and creating micro social networks and asks:

“Will this growing micro-social trend dilute the existing power of social network elites like Facebook and MySpace , or will they empower more people to participate in a wider selection of online communities based on their individual needs and wants? Large brands and businesses have been using micro-site spinoffs to vertically promote products and services while targeting a very defined and loyal online market. Micro-sites have worked wonders for companies that want to align something specific to a targeted online audience. Now, there is a growing movement to transform micro-sites into micro-social networks to become more in line with Web 2.0 applications that aim to engage users with more interactivity and peer-to-peer networking options.”

I think he’s right. As people tire of the faceless anonymity of Facebook and MySpace they will either seek out or start their own network to attract like-minded people to their particular cause, movement, musical group or hobby; a group such as the one that donated $83,000 to Jill Sobule. Sobule should start a Ning network to help all those people stay in touch with each other. After all, they share a common goal.

On a much larger level, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails had huge success with his direct sales set up where he sold a deluxe package that was a combination of MP3s, CDs, DVDs and a book that he called an “Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition” package available in an edition of 2,500 units. Critics scoffed but he sold every one of them raking in around $750,000 gross. That’s a micro social network in action. His next release, ‘The Slip’ comes as digipak CD in a limited edition of 200,000 units.

Dave Allen, Director, Insights & Digital Media, Nemo Design.

Related Post: On Social Media, Blogs and Advertising.