Blog World Expo: A Report from JoeTech

Guest post from: JoeTech:

I had never been to the BlogWorld and New Media Expo before. I'd heard a lot about it, especially about BlogWorld 2007, but I wasn't quite as serious about blogging back then, either.

Things have changed and this year. As my blog grows, I find it more and more important to find new tools and sites to help it grow.

When I go, there's a lot I do to get my money's worth:

Brand Recognition A key focus for me at BWE08 was getting my brand name, "Joe Tech" and logo more recognized. What better place to get my business card and brand in front of the right people than THE blogging expo of the year?

Just remember to bring a lot of cards and always have them with you. If I spoke to someone within the walls of the expo, they usually had my card in their hand before we parted ways. Learn from Experts No matter how good you think you are, there's usually someone better.

I paid the extra $300 for Full Access so I could take advantage of the panels. Good panels are comprised of experienced speakers who are known as experts in their fields, and focus on topics that will help the rest of us get a little further up the food chain. The panels I attended included such speakers as John Chow, ShoeMoney, Zac Johnson, etc. Reading their blogs is helpful, but having the opportunity to sit in the same room and get real-time answers to your questions is invaluable.

If you're serious about blogging and can afford it, you should attend the panels.

Although I only attended the few that I felt were very important at the time, there were about 50 to choose from, so you can't go wrong.

Visit Every Booth OK... Admittedly, there will be booths that you know will hold no value for you, and you can skip those, but hit all the rest. The companies you've never heard of are some of the most important because skipping over them may mean missing out on some great software, monetization opportunities, information, or business contacts.

I found what may be (pending testing) an incredible tool for blog posts, because I went to every booth and talked to everyone I could. Visit the booths of the companies you're already familiar with, too. Visiting the SezWho booth, I was provided with an opportunity to share suggestions for updates they might add, a stop at the Unique Blog Designs helped me learn that they're also in Arizona (we'll probably sync up for a beer soon enough), and a quick hello at the Market Leverage booth turned into a spontaneous marketing opportunity with John Chow.

Don't forget to take your business cards with you and ask questions. Being there in person makes question asking so much easier.

Be Social I am a shy person in the flesh. It can take some deep digging, but I try my best to come out of my shell for these events.

Don't be afraid to go up and say hello to someone if you recognize them or their blog name. Have conversations, and above all, go to the parties you can get into.

Social events are relaxed and open a lot of people up to new contacts. It's also a nice relaxing distraction from the "business" end of things during the day. Still, bring those business cards, but try to have some fun. You'll still make contacts and can swap cards if it doesn't feel pushy.

Twitter It, Blog It, Tag It These days, most of these events provide attendees with their preferred hash tags and keywords to use when talking about your time there.

For BlogWorld 2008, the standard is to tag all blog posts, videos, and photos with "bwe08" and on Twitter, include #bwe08 in any tweets.

Not only does this let the organizers know what you're talking about, but people searching for these tags will easily find your post, tweet, or media.

Additionally, your update may end up syndicated at the official site, which is a nice way to reach people who couldn't make it.

Come Prepared You'll be asked 100 times about the focus of your blog or what you write about. Know your answer. Bring your business cards, a note pad and a couple pens, some way to post from the event (laptop, smart phone), a narrowed down schedule of just the panels and events you plan to attend, and medications to aid with headache, sinuses, etc. Bring a camera and extra batteries. Everything is so much more relaxing when it runs smoothly.

Copyright JoeTech 2008

Affiliate Summit West Interview: JoeTech

Thru the Entrecard system, I've had the priviledge and opportunity to 'rub shoulders' with some great bloggers.

When I learned that JoeTech went to Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas last month, I asked him right away if I could have an interview.

JoeTech was very gracious and said to send my questions over. I'm so please to bring you information directly from a regular 'joe' about the most recent Affiliate Summit event so here we go...

I asked: Hello Joe Tech, how are you?

Joe Said: I'm still getting caught up on my email and Entrecard messages after my laptop took a turn for the worse in Vegas, but it's all better now, so I'm getting back on track.

Pam: Thank you for your time today, I wanted to know more about your experience at Affiliate Summit West, what did you like about the Seminar? Dislike?

JoeTech: I have a long list of things I liked about it. I noted some of them in my blog posts, but in short, I enjoyed the amount of detailed information I obtained from the people who are actually making tons of money with affiliate marketing. In the forums, the attendees are encouraged to ask questions, so the amount of learning to be had is really up to you. There were invaluable opportunities to make new contacts.

I think the only thing I really disliked about the event was that it ran Sunday through Tuesday. For those of us who still have day jobs, this means two days off work. Affiliate Summit East is in Boston in August and it's the same thing, Sunday through Tuesday. If anything keeps me away from Boston, that'll be it.

Pam: Was this your first Internet Marketing Seminar?

JoeTech: It was. I've been to other conferences and I was on the board for one, but never a marketing conference. I really learned a lot more than I ever thought I would.

Pam: How did you find out about Affiliate Summit?

JoeTech: I think it was John Chow. He had a contest to win a ticket. Then John Cow did the same. Initially, I put my hand up in the air for both, but ended up attending with press credentials, instead.

Pam: Why did you decide to go to Affiliate Summit?

JoeTech: I went for the same reason I think most people wanted to go. I wanted to learn all the secrets of successful affiliate marketing and make new contacts.

Pam: I read all your entries on your blog during the Seminar, did that help you crystallize your thinking about the events of the day while you were there?

JoeTech: It definitely did. I really wanted to do more blogging from the event itself, but the laptop issues I mentioned made that pretty impossible. Having done this once, I have some pretty clear ideas of how to improve on my live blogging from another event like this.

Pam: In your pictures on your blog, there seems to be a lot of areas that weren’t that well attended. I know the Seminar was sold out. Did you see a lot of folks everywhere or did you get the Seminar speakers/organizers to yourself a lot?

JoeTech: It actually was pretty well attended. I got to the Moniker live domain auction when it was about half over and it looked like a lot of people had been there for the first half but left for some reason. It's too bad, too. They missed the sale of Pay.com for $1.5 million.

Everything else was pretty full, but I took some pictures before everyone showed up. I made sure to show up a bit early for a couple events to get a good seat. I also did manage some one-on-one time with a few of the experts because they were very approachable.

Pam: What are the main things you might tell someone considering going to an Internet Marketing Seminar to convince them that they should go?

JoeTech: First and foremost, don't forget your business cards. I would even say that you should pack those before anything else. Socks and underwear are easy to pick up if forgotten, but if you have to get business cards printed from some random printing shop in an hour, you'll probably wind up with cards that don't impress. I saw at least one example of this. Bring comfortable shoes and headache medicine, and map out what booths you want to visit and what forums you want to attend ahead of time.

Pam: Sounds like it was a wonderful experience for you, is there anything else we should know about the Seminar?

JoeTech: One thing I heard people say a lot (mostly in comments on John Chow's and John Cow's blogs) was that they just don't understand why anyone would shell out that much cash to attend this event. Before I attended, I also wondered if it was worth the ticket price. If you're looking at an event like this and want to know if it's worth it, do your research and see what others are saying.

Pam: Tell me a little bit about what you are doing online, add a URL for the convenience of our visitors.

JoeTech: I'm just dipping my big toe into some affiliate marketing now that I've returned from the summit, armed with some tips and tricks. Since JoeTech.com is a tech blog, I'm also trying to get back to more tech posts, so I've got a couple projects on the burner that involve a tennis ball, a robot, a Cube World toy, and a video camera. That's all I'm going to say for now, though.

I'm also working on another tool for my tools page (http://www.joetech.com/tools), so watch for that update soon.

Pam: Did your experience at Affiliate Summit affect what you are doing already? Or will you implement changes later?

JoeTech: Honestly, I wasn't doing much affiliate marketing before I headed to Vegas, but I will be now, and what I already have in place will be getting an overhaul. I'm pretty sure I can make a lot more on my blog with less ads with just a few small changes.

Thanks a million JoeTech, I learn a lot from interviews like this, I'm grateful for your thoughtful responses.

It was my pleasure and I'm honored to do it.

Joe

Copyright 2008 JoeTech & Pam Hoffman

Pam Hoffman