Chris Brogan: Be there for people before the sale

My take: Be willing to reach out and help someone solve a problem. Don’t focus on what you have to offer. Get to know someone, their story, their problem and then try to solve it for them. This may not end up with you selling a product or a service.  But you’ve helped someone find what they need. You’ve made their day and my bet is that they’ll remember you for it.

Peter Shankman: Take responsibility for your actions

My take: If you screw up – admit it. Don’t try to hide – don’t try a cover up. Your motive for admitting a mistake is not to clear your path for future success. But there is an unintended consequence for doing so. Admitting a mistake demonstrates that while you may not be perfect, you may still be a trustworthy person.

Amber Naslund: “We are wayfarers. It’s not the era of experts…

It’s the era of inquisitors. It’s the era of the curious.”

My take: We’re at a pivotal moment in time. Social media and technology are giving us opportunities to do business, life and relationships in a new way. Let’s not only capture the wonder of where we are but also question everything we do and how we do it. Out of our questions, let’s create a new way of doing and being in business.

Darren Rowse: Be Useful and Make Life Better

My take: With social media, we have an opportunity to touch many more lives than we did a few years ago. Let’s use it for good. Help people – and make life better – for everyone.

Doug Anweiler: Don’t be a drive-by-social-media-ite

My take: Okay this isn’t exactly verbatim. Doug was actually talking about Twitter but it was such a great metaphor. Being a drive-by-er means being there to post your comment/s and then disappearing from the social media landscape. A drive-by-social-media-ite is like a fair weather friend. There for the minute and gone when you need them. Be available for people.  Stay, engage and be part of an ongoing conversation.

Did you attend BlogWorldLA? If so, what were some of your favourite truisms for social media?

And if you didn’t attend, what advice would you add?

Let’s talk … leave a comment below.

Why don’t we do that? Seth Godin says fear and I agree.  I am afraid to say it like it is.  Often.   And sometimes I don’t have an opinion but I still want to say something.   There’s a lesson in that.

However, I think there is more.  But you be the judge.

Greek or Latin?

Writing naked is hard

It’s hard work to pare down to the naked message. It’s easier to meander through flowery language and leave it there.  Writing naked requires severe editing.

We love our writing

Writing naked means that we have to slash our beloved words.  Writing naked means no pontificating.

Writing naked requires that we know what we want to say

Sometimes we write bunches of text because we don’t know our point. If we knew, we could be to the point.

Writing Naked can upset your client

I write content for clients. My clients expect a certain amount of text.  Here is where quality trumps quantity.  I often eliminate site text that does not add information.

One last reflection on writing naked: sometimes writing naked can shut down feedback.  And if it is feedback that you want – watch your naked writing.

So do you think fear is the only reason. Or do I make a point?

For a front-end, gaining-in- knowledge WordPress convert, I learned a lot at WordCamp. I appreciated Jeremy Wright’s keynote address about social media.  Jeremy talked about some of the “failures” of social media – but really he was pointing out how we have cheapened social media.  He mentioned

Jeremy Wright Keynote WCTO2010 flickr.com/photos/blucier

• SPAM problems – spamming is counter to SOCIAL media
• people having a mob mentality (we’re too influenced by who is saying what)
• the rise in Twitter Interns and how this changes social media from SOCIAL media to social MEDIA – we put the emphasis on the wrong idea
• An entitlement mentality – sometimes we’re just looking for the next handout
• Twitter Followership – we are still working for numbers – we’ve forgotten about the social part

Jeremy suggested some ways that we can filter all the noise so that we can focus on social media basics.

1. If someone is talking all the time, they aren’t listening.
2. Social media is all about  ‘how can I help’
3. Listen first, then get involved when it makes sense (then exchange business cards)

Then he gave some great SOCIAL media reminders:

1. Listen more than you talk – don’t expect to get until you give
2. No boasting – don’t paint the old as new
3. Don’t steal – give credit to people (whether it is photos, text, ideas… anything)

I may have missed some of his other really important points.  But I have to say that I didn’t miss his main point.  I can’t stop other people from cheapening social media and turning it into “what can I get from it”.  But I can look at my own social behaviour and ask myself  “Am I making social media into social MEDIA or am I keeping it as SOCIAL media?”

On a more personal note, Jeremy and several other speakers made a similar important point for me.  For WP newbies (and I kind of consider myself one of them), he stressed that we should just get started blogging … don’t step back and develop some big strategy – find something you enjoy – figure out what you want to say and then start saying it – work on strategy later.

I heard this so many times this weekend that I couldn’t help but think of the adage that when the student is ready, the teacher shows up (or something like that).  So I am going to relax, blog about what jazzes me instead of trying to write blogs about what I think I should be writing about.

Thanks Jeremy for bringing me (us) back to SOCIAL media basics and thanks for speaking to me directly (even though we didn’t even meet f2f!).