One of the reasons I love being a blogger is: I get to communicate with other bloggers online whenever I want. But, meeting up in person sometimes takes some doing. When I got a personal invitation from Wendy Piersall to attend a ladies night out event, I replied immediately – I’ll be there!

Thanks so much to Wendy Piersall, CEO of SparkPlugging, Epson and Barbara Jones of the One2One Network for hosting a fabulous night out on Lake Shore Drive! I ...]]>  

One of the reasons I love being a blogger is: I get to communicate with other bloggers online whenever I want. But, meeting up in person sometimes takes some doing. When I got a personal invitation from Wendy Piersall to attend a ladies night out event, I replied immediately – I’ll be there!

Thanks so much to Wendy Piersall, CEO of SparkPlugging, Epson and Barbara Jones of the One2One Network for hosting a fabulous night out on Lake Shore Drive! I met Wendy and Liz Strauss of Successful Blog at BlogHer07 in Chicago – and am so happy we’ve stayed in touch! In this picture, Karen Putz, who writes Deaf Mom joins us, it’s always so good to see Karen.

What a nice surprise to see Deb DiSandro and Dianne Morr, two friends from the National Speakers Association’s Illinois Chapter. Each accomplished speakers, they’re both going to start a blog.
I feel like such a slacker; many of the women I met write for several sites. I’m happy to introduce them to you, too.
New blogging connections for me include Jessica Ashley, Kim from Accidental Mommies, Lisa Martin and Kim Moldofsky. 

This is the kind of event that works so well on so many levels . . .

• presenting products: we got to see the new Epson 600 printer in action [my first comment? what’s that sexy thing over there? I really thought the printer was some kind of high-end stereo component] it’s fast, wireless and amazing at making gorgeous prints – I love the picture of me and Liz I got to take home
• pictures, pictures, pictures, from a pro photographer like Beth Fletcher, who blogs at I Should Be Folding Laundry
• networking in a relaxed setting that allows for extended conversations
• connecting authors, readers and subjects in new ways – I found out about new blogs, new markets and new opportunities
• extending community with a memorable event that everyone will recall [and probably write about!]
• highlighting sponsors who get visibility with event promotion and goody bags items, many shipped out in response to a HARO request

Maybe the biggest benefit of all – to me – was feeling like I am, indeed, part of a much, much bigger community. Even though Wired PR Works is not a “mommy blog,” I am a mother of three teens who writes a blog. Many of my readers may be parents. We are all part of one community; finding new places to meet and share stories makes us that much closer. 

Your Turn

How do you connect your virtual and real worlds?

You’ll find all of my BlogWorld08 twoverage [tweet +coverage] here.

Thanks to those of you who asked me to share these updates.

Reader’s Guide: Each line represents a live update made on @wiredprworks on twitter.com. ...]]> Interested in what happened at BlogWorld? During the sessions, I sent out enough twitter updates to fill a 15 page Word document, which added up to over 300 updates. This post covers Book Deals, Digital Assets And Corporate Sponsorships with Prince Campbell, Jonathan Fields and Geoff Nelson.

You’ll find all of my BlogWorld08 twoverage [tweet +coverage] here.

Thanks to those of you who asked me to share these updates.

Reader’s Guide: Each line represents a live update made on @wiredprworks on twitter.com. Reporting is in reverse order; so start at the end and read your way up. Note that this is exactly what I typed during the session, misspellings and all. When you see @name, this means that the person who was talking may be found on twitter.com/name. Apologies in advance for any inaccuracies. 

Did you go to BlogWorld? Please share your takeaways and resources in the comments section.

I walked in late to this session – too many people to talk to in the hallways. Other places to find more detail

Glenda’s recap of day two sessions covers major points from several sessions, including book deals, digital assets and corporate sponsorships

Ducksnorts, a sports blogger, summed up blog and book marketability highlights: “The panelists focused on the importance of marketability, with the two big lessons here being that price is all about perceived value and that you always want to keep your end game in mind, ensuring that everything you’re doing is pulling you in that direction.”

Book Deals, Digital Assets and Corporate Sponsorships for Bloggers Session Transcription by Barbara Rozgonyi @wiredprworks on twitter.com

retheauditors: Will work on that. RT @wiredprworks @lizstrauss to get published need a marketable manuscript and be someone who’s easy to work with #bwe08

@lizstrauss to get published need a marketable manuscript and have to be someone who’s easy to work with #deals, #bwe08

how big of a platform do you need? depends, smaller pubs, smaller platform #deals, #bwe08

you need to know what your endgame is, make sure everything you are doing is headed in that direction #deals #bwe08

RT thanks DaveTaylor @wiredprworks psssst Peter Shankman’s Twitter Id is @skydiver #bwe08

RETWEET @suziecheel 2pm Launch of my book “emergings- a meditation on the emotions of change” by @lizstrauss @photrade booth 510 at #BWE08

ShannonRenee: Retweeting @wiredprworks: follow session updates http://tinyurl.com/3emc8m (expand) #bwe08

if you want to speak at a conference, propose the whole package, not just a session @lizstrauss #deals, #bwe08

might take 6-7 tries to get past gatekeeper to get corporate sponsorships #deals #bwe08

people talk about corporate stuff, but it’s really all about relationships #deals, #bwe08

follow session updates http://tinyurl.com/3emc8m (expand) #bwe08

couple of ways to approach radio, radio and tv internet report rtir.com?, HARO @petershankman, set up sattelite radio tour #deals #bwe08

ShannonRenee: Retweeting @wiredprworks: we leave a footprint that lasts forever online – get it out there and comment on company blogs #bwe08

we leave a footprint that lasts forever online – get it out there and comment on company blogs #bwe08

@jetblue has a dedicate community manager, his job is to check out twitter, use the places that you use to reach out #bwe08

if you have an audience and what you’re saying is what people are interested in, they/companies will come to you #bwe08

call companies and say I blog alot about this – how can we work together? #bwe08

in digital assets sessions, this is where real $ is, facebook session too full to get into s/b in here #bwe08

Book Deals Panelists

Liz Strauss, @lizstrauss

Prince Campbell

Jonathon Fields, @jonathonfields

Geoff Nelson

Searching for popular blogs to follow? Yahoo’s Blog directory lists blogs by category. Shown here is a screen capture I took this morning. At the time, Wired PR Works was number one. So . . . I told my newsletter subscribers about it. [Apologies to my newsletter readers for letting this news get me too carried away. You'll be pleased to know my ego is back in check.]

And then . . . I decided to take a look at ...]]>

Searching for popular blogs to follow? Yahoo’s Blog directory lists blogs by category. Shown here is a screen capture I took this morning. At the time, Wired PR Works was number one. So . . . I told my newsletter subscribers about it. [Apologies to my newsletter readers for letting this news get me too carried away. You'll be pleased to know my ego is back in check.]

And then . . . I decided to take a look at the link a few hours later. As of this moment, I’m number eight; former two is now seven and former three is now eleven. Click on the web page graphic to see the PR blog list. Yes, that’s right, there only 18 PR blogs listed.

More than most people, I know the shelf-life of a top-ranking: sometimes you can measure it in seconds.

What I want to know is how can the blogs switch places so dramatically an quickly? Yahoo answers the blog popularity question by saying the order is determined by Yahoo’s search technology.

If you’re looking for a.) blogs to follow or b.) directories to submit your blog to, check out Yahoo’s blog directory guide.

My big audience for my big announcement?

Two boys: ages 9 and 13. The location: my sister’s almost empty attic.

My announcement went something like this . . .

Me: Hey guys, my blog just got named number one! 

9 year old: Uh . . . where does it say that?

Me: See, here’s a chart and ...]]> Last Saturday, I discovered Wired PR Works blog led a group of 100 PR blogs –by over 650% – in the most improved Technorati ranking category.

My big audience for my big announcement?

Two boys: ages 9 and 13. The location: my sister’s almost empty attic.

My announcement went something like this . . .

Me: Hey guys, my blog just got named number one! 

9 year old: Uh . . . where does it say that?

Me: See, here’s a chart and I’m the first one on the page.

13 year old: Cool!

9 year old: What’s a blog?

Me: It’s a website that has pictures and stories.

9 year old: Oh . . .

13 year old: What are your going to do to celebrate?

Me: I’m going to write a blog post.

Here it is almost a week later and I have yet to write the post.

Why? I’m thinking I’ve been promoting my own accomplishments a bit too much lately.

I even hesitated to bring this up in my weekly chat with my newsletter readers. And, no, they don’t know yet.

But then I wondered . . . what might you be publicizing that you’re not?

And, why not?

For many people, it comes down to these issues: confidence, overexposure, time and money.

What do you need to start publicizing?

It Pays to Put PR in the title of your blog

Matthew bases his Top 50 PR blog rankings on the AdAge Power 150. He looks for blogs with PR, Public Relations or Publicity in the title. I admit it, I prefer the PR sound and focus over marketing, although we talk about that here too, don’t we?

Continually Refining and Measuring ...]]> Congratulations go out to every PR blogger who made Brendan Cooper and Matthew Watson’s recently released top-ranked PR blog lists.

It Pays to Put PR in the title of your blog

Matthew bases his Top 50 PR blog rankings on the AdAge Power 150. He looks for blogs with PR, Public Relations or Publicity in the title. I admit it, I prefer the PR sound and focus over marketing, although we talk about that here too, don’t we?

Continually Refining and Measuring PR Blog Popularity

This time Brendan welcomes these new PR blogs to the PR Friendly Index: Socialized PR, Flacks Revenge, PR Media Blog, From PR to Eternity, Beyond the Hype and Observations of PR. As usual, Brendan breaks out a new tool or two to measure something different. See how Brendan suggests measuring your brand’s social media visibility. 

Your Turn

What top 50 list could you publish on an ongoing basis?

That’s my only update on Friday night, the first night of BlogHer 08. If I ever needed confirmation that someone valued what I had to say, this was it. Making it onto Alltop’s online PR blog feed-magazine rack, a collection of the best of the best feeds, was a dream come true for me. What timing!

This screen shot shows Wired PR Works in between PR Week’s The Editor’s Blog and Shel Holtz.

I met Shel about 10 years ago ...]]>

That’s my only update on Friday night, the first night of BlogHer 08. If I ever needed confirmation that someone valued what I had to say, this was it. Making it onto Alltop’s online PR blog feed-magazine rack, a collection of the best of the best feeds, was a dream come true for me. What timing!

This screen shot shows Wired PR Works in between PR Week’s The Editor’s Blog and Shel Holtz.

I met Shel about 10 years ago when I was on Sears, Roebuck and Co.’s internal communications team. Since then Shel’s been one of my idols-I even kept his handouts from his in-house seminars. Now that we’re neighbors, maybe I can get enough courage to introduce myself.

Guy Kawasaki, the co-founder of Alltop and a partner at Garage Technology Ventures sent me an email the other day welcoming me to Alltop. . . I’m printing it out and saving it in the same file as Shel’s handouts. And, I think I’ll frame a copy, too.

Today, on his How to Change the World blog, Guy talked about how to Imagine a Bigger Market and You’ll See a Bigger Market. 

He suggests . . .

“Maybe if entrepreneurs imagine that their market sector is larger than what it is, they’ll do better. This is an unscientific leap of reasoning, but entrepreneurship requires unscientific leaps of reasoning.”

Thanks, Guy, for stretching my imagination.

And, yes, this post will show up on Alltop.

Your Turn

What’s the next leap you need to make? How will you do it?

In selecting an image, I went with the auto show ...]]>

Every Tuesday, Liz Strauss at Successful-Blog hosts an open comment night. Last week the group came up with the idea to host a blog showcase. Blog-to Show? Showcase Your Blog at Successful-Blog July 26-27 outlines the details of how to get in. With all entries in, the show is up – live – now with over 250 blogs to browse through. Kudos to Liz for setting up this event!

In selecting an image, I went with the auto show theme mentioned in the event promos. This one is from the 2008 Chicago Auto show. Although I didn’t plan it this way, it’s a contemporary self-portrait.  

Here’s my Blog Showcase entry:

Blog Title: Wired PR Works by Barbara Rozgonyi
Blog URL link: http://barbararozgonyi-wiredprworks.com
Blog Tagline: Getting the Media to Work for You

A fine blend of branding, entertainment, public relations, SEO and social media.

“You can be anyone you want to be – you just have to tell your world about it. Come on over – I’ll show you how.”
Barbara Rozgonyi, speaker, entrepreneur, imagemaker

Blogging Advice
Think beyond the theme, the categories, the posts.
Look down the road, a few months or even years
ahead to map out where you’d like to go, who you’ll
invite to come along and how you’ll all get there.
Blogging is a transformational journey.

What I love about this concept . . .

- brings together a band of bloggers

- incentive to look [and sound] your best

- promotes everyone all at once

- acts quickly on readers’ suggestions

- generates at least two-way traffic, more if blogs link to ones they like

It’s amazing that this event came to life in a few days. To take it to the next level . . .

- line up screenshots in a gallery

- give bloggers badges to promote the show

- award people’s choice prizes

- set up categories

- parade around the web – not sure how to do this, but I do have a video of fire trucks to get it started 

Image: Jaguar in Jeans, copyright 2008 Barbara Rozgonyi. Like auto shows? Check out my 2008 Chicago Auto Show set on flickr.com

Love to hear your thoughts as to why Heather Armstrong has some negative perceptions about her as alluded in the article about BlogHer and how Mommybloggers profit. [To take the focus off of Heather and her blog - www.dooce.com I'm modifying the question to: Any downsides to being "too" successful in the celebrity blogosphere?]

“Armstrong even limited her time at BlogHer because her biggest fans – other bloggers – tend to react to meeting her ...]]> A reader writes:

Love to hear your thoughts as to why Heather Armstrong has some negative perceptions about her as alluded in the article about BlogHer and how Mommybloggers profit. [To take the focus off of Heather and her blog - www.dooce.com I'm modifying the question to: Any downsides to being "too" successful in the celebrity blogosphere?]

“Armstrong even limited her time at BlogHer because her biggest fans – other bloggers – tend to react to meeting her by publishing every detail, and sometimes those details are less than kind. ‘There are hundreds and thousands of strangers who detest me,’ Armstrong said. ‘It’s a weird reality to live with.’” – clip from the article

As far as I can see, most of the tweets during  co-speakers Heather Armstrong and Stephanie Klein BlogHer08′s closing keynote, “Living the Truman Show,” are positive.

I’m not going to make this too personal, except to say that I respect and admire Heather. I don’t read her blog regularly, but now I might: she really spoke to my artistic side. And, I loved her purple tights. Her blog logs between 5-6 million readers a month.

Now, back to the negativity . . .being a positive person this is a hard place to go, but it’s all too real to ignore.

I’ve seen this happen with not just bloggers, celebrities and every day people, but with issues, proposals and projects.

My advice? Listen to everyone, see if there’s any validity in the negativity and focus on the positive. That’s easier said than done, especially when emotions get in the way.

Let’s face it: today it’s all too easy to attack anyone and be anonymous on the Internet. Preparing for blog bullies, a BlogHerald post, counsels that meanness is bound to happen. Are you ready?

Take a look at Oprah.

Remember how much negative publicity via social media she got for endorsing Obama? How did she handle it?

She didn't. Oprah's PR firm did.

Their role model? Paris Hilton - no stranger to all kinds of publicity and commentary.

In closing, I'll let Stephanie have the last words from her post "the divine secrets of the BlogHer ’08 sisterhood“. . .

“When people in my life preface what they’re about to say with, ‘you cannot write about this on your blog,’ I pretty much always respond, ‘Don’t flatter yourself.’ You’re not that important or interesting (even if you are). It’s the one thing in life we find so hard to believe: that no one notices or pays nearly as much attention to us as we do.”

Image: Be nice to me or I'll blog about you t-shirt I got at BlogHer08 - thanks CafePress!

What do you think?

Do you plan for or anticipate "less than kind details?" Would your trade more success for more exposure - of all kinds?  

See what I had to say on twitter about BlogHer, including a live tweet stream from the monetization panel.

In the Home and Garden breakout session, I heard about the water usage restrictions in California, how Houston doesn’t recycle, what’s going on with sustainability and what secret resources people use to blog better. 

Meeting up with Chicago  bloggers introduced me ...]]> Warner Brothers, Bravo and Hearst opened the day with a HybridMedia keynote. To read more, visit the BlogHer08 live conference posts.

See what I had to say on twitter about BlogHer, including a live tweet stream from the monetization panel.

In the Home and Garden breakout session, I heard about the water usage restrictions in California, how Houston doesn’t recycle, what’s going on with sustainability and what secret resources people use to blog better. 

Meeting up with Chicago  bloggers introduced me to new local connections. The closing keynote was dramatic, inspiring and real.

With four floors of drinks and refreshments, the Macy’s party was fun and ended too soon. Ever the networker, I got cards from people on the escalator on the way out and folks on the street on the way back home.

On the way to the airport, I met Kristin from Crib Ceiling. Sitting here at SFO writing this post, I overheard someone I hadn’t met – yet- at BlogHer talking about how tired she was. “I didn’t sleep, but it was worth it.” I hear you sister. Gotta go – maybe I can still find her and get to know her and her blog.

Cards from fizzy and phenomenal people I met  . . . did I miss you? Leave a comment with a link to your blog.

This Pile

Kristen King, Inkthinker

Nicole Simon

Jane Goodwin, One by One Media

Stay at Aum Mom

Marie Millard

Mommy Needs a Cocktail

Amanda Wolfs, Parents

Jenifer Scharpen, notcalmdotcom

Katherine S. Gray, The New Civilization

Celeste Lindell, Average Jane

Dana Loesch, mamalogues

Alysson TeCarr, six apart

Jessica Okui, Zakka Life

Elaine, WannabeHippie

Wendy Felton, glossedover.com

Erica Rios, commonsensemedia

Jeremy Pepper, PR Pro, Blogger and All-Around Nice Guy

Home and Garden

Monique Hartt, RecycleBank.com

Genie Gratto, The Inadvertent Gardener

Jesse Engle, swatchbox

Debra Roby, A Stitch in Time

Mary Hunt, In Women We Trust and The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability

Desiree Northend, LookiLoos

Julia Prodis Sulek, LookiLoos

Chicago Breakout

Jacqueline Fitzgerald, teleflora

Dana Kavan, Chicago Examiner

Tarrant Figlio, Retro-Food.com

Everyday Adventures of Me in the City

Free and Flawed

Jamie Villarreal, Oh How Lovely

Janna Porrevecchio, Weber Shandwick

Esther Crawford, faintstartlite

MJ Tam, Sugar My Bowl

Dawn Meehan, Because I Said So