If I were attending the whole day, here’s what I would do:

• Start the day by registering early, so I could connect with the other participants
• 8:45 – 9:45 – Listen to Tom Snyder from Trivera Interactive talking about Social Media: Fun and Games or Business Tool
• 10:00 – 10:45 – Listen to 800-CEO-READ president Todd Sattersten teach how to go about  Blogging Your Way to Success
• 11:00 – 11:45 – Sit in as Augie Ray, Sue Marks, Joe Woelfle and Scott Baitinger talk about Social Media for Small Business Success
• Enjoy lunch until 1:00 with 3 or 4 other folks that I didn’t already know
• Get a seat early for my session that starts at 1:15 – 2:00 – Execute a Twitter Success Plan in 30 Minutes a Day
• 2:15 – 3:00 – Enjoy Find and Fuel Fans with Facebook from Sara Meaney (this looks like a definite repeat session, though I may get to give my session again)
• 3:15 – 4:15 – Finish the day with a keynote by Jay Steinfeld (CEO of Blinds.com) teaching How to  Get Your Customers to Brag About You with Social Media.
• 4:30 – 6:00  – Hang at the Networking/Tweetup with other participants and presenters.

If you can’t attend, you can follow the day’s events by following hashtag #SMUM on Twitter (or click here to go right to the Search for this tag, already populated by a few folks).

Will I see you there?

Please leave a comment if you’ll be attending so I can be sure to say hello to you. I’ll be getting there around lunch time and sticking around much of the rest of the day.

How do I do this, besides scheduling my times? I write my blog using an offline editor, so even when I am not connected to the Internet, I can still write articles, input images and other cool stuff so when I do connect, I can just upload my article and go back to sleep.

What’s my favorite free offline blog editor?

Windows Live Writer is my favorite offline blog editor, hands down. I am a Windows guy (sorry Mac friends) and Windows Live Writer lets me edit my images right in my blog post, lets me post to 3 different blogs (and downloads the styling of my blogs so I can see exactly how my article will look before it goes live on my blog). I couldn’t live without it.

Other offline blog editors

1. ScribeFire – a plug-in for the Firefox browser. I used to love this and used it for a few  years, but I like Live Writer a lot more.
2. Qumana – Mac and Windows users rejoice, Qumana will work for all of you. I used this one for a short period of time, but it wasn’t very intuitive to me.
3. Post2Blog – Never used it. Looks useful and interesting.
4. w.bloggar – Never used it. Looks really cool because it will run on a USB drive, perfect for folks using a little netbook or something else that has a small hard drive.
5. Blogdesk – Also never used this one, but from the screenshots, it looks the most like Windows Live Writer.

• What’s your favorite free offline blog editor?
• Have you ever tried the editors I haven’t used?

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

First, why spend any money when you can set up a blog for free? Lots of reasons, but here are my 3 most important ones.

1) Credibility – If you have your own domain, folks take you more seriously. I experienced this first hand, as I used to have Make It Great! over at TypePad (you can see it at http://makeitgreat.typepad.com if you wish). When I told people what the URL was, they would inevitably type makeitgreat.com which is someone else altogether.

2) Personal e-mail – As much as I love Gmail, it’s nice to have phil @ philgerbyshak.com to give people, plus it looks better on a business card.

3) Control – I get a LOT more control now that I have my own domain on a shared hosting. I can add widgets to the sidebar, I can control my design, I can change colors, and if I wanted to, I could add advertising and do other things to make money. Please note: I am not going to tell you how to be a professional blogger. If you want those tips, please head to http://problogger.net and Darren Rowse will tell you how to do this!

There are tons of other reasons you may want your own domain, and one day I may go through them with you. For now, if you’re interested, please keep reading, and if you’re not, then go ahead and go back to set up your blog for free.

Register your domain for $10 a year and sign up for small hosting at A Small Orange (It’s only $5/month). Pick your name, pick your mantra, pick your niche, but pick something easy to remember and easy to spell (except for your last name). ALWAYS register a .COM address. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this!

Wait for the e-mail to come to you with your control panel (CPANEL) information. It usually takes less than 15 minutes.

Log into CPANEL and scroll down until you see the Fantastico De Luxe smiley face. Click on Fantastico De Luxe smiley face.

Look on the left side for WordPress and click on it.

Install WordPress

Here’s a screenshot with 1 of my domains

• Leave the install in directory blank
• Enter your administrator name (please don’t use administrator) and your password (please make it 7 or more characters with letters and numbers to be safe).
• Enter your name in the Admin nickname, and your e-mail address in the Admin e-mail.
• Enter your site name in the site name, and enter 3 or 4 keywords in the description field, then click Install WordPress.
• Click on Finish Installation.
• Follow the instructions on screen to get your admin stuff (if you followed my instructions, you’ll be able to login with your administrator username and password at yoursite.com/wp-admin
• Get writing!

And now you are set up with your website for just $70 for the entire first year!

Any questions?

Over the next few days, I’ll be writing about the basics of blogging, from getting started to writing your first few articles, to finding images that work for your blog and even some more advanced things that I’ve found useful.

How to Start a Blog for Free

1. Go to http://wordpress.com or http://blogger.com and sign up for a free blog. Make the userID your name or something close to your name, or choose your mantra. I started out with MakeItGreat.Blogspot.com (no longer in service). Wordpress.com wasn’t around when I got started writing my blog, or I just didn’t know about it. I would use Wordpress.com now if I wanted to start a free blog, though Blogger.com is good too.
2. Set up 3 pages: About You, About Your Specialty/ Service/Company, and Contact You.
   1. About You – Write about yourself in a way that’s comfortable for you. Write in the first person or the third person. Use a conversational tone or a formal tone. Use the words you want people to know you by in the about you section. Just be consistent in what you write. Example: About Phil Gerbyshak
   2. About Your Specialty/Service/Company – Share what you’re good at or why you’re writing or what your company does or sells, in a way that focuses on what’s in it for your visitors. Use testimonials if you have them. Example: 10 Ways to Make It Great!
   3. Contact – Make it easy for folks to contact you. Some say to put this in your sidebar, I say put it on it’s own page and make it clear folks can contact you in a variety of ways. Don’t worry about putting a phone number on it. TRUST ME: Nobody is going to call you! Create a contact form if you can, otherwise include your email address, your phone number, and a mailing address, in the order you wish to be reached. Example: Contact Phil Gerbyshak.
3. Choose a Theme – Pick any theme that looks good on screen. White backgrounds are better than dark backgrounds for most people’s eyes. Bigger fonts are better than smaller fonts. Don’t worry too much about this with one exception: Don’t pick a busy background and write on top of that. While you may like pink and purple polka dots, most people don’t.  Most of the time that is super hard to read, though if you’re writing a teen blog, maybe you can break this rule.
4. Write your first article – Write an article that focuses on 1 key thing in your specialty. You may even want to start with an article about why you started this blog.

Congratulations! If you were following along with me, you’ve now got a free blog setup with 1 article.

Next up: all you have to do is write some articles.

What should you write about?

Stay tuned and I’ll share that in tomorrow’s article.

Photo credit

I write a blog called Slacker Manager. You can visit it at http://slackermanager.com Don’t be distracted by all the stuff going on up top or on the sides when you visit the website. Look at the left side of the page, and you’ll see a new article every day for the past year or so on the topic of management. I do this because, by day, I am a vice president of information technology and manage people as a large part of my job. If my firm were ever to let me go, I now have an online collection of my thoughts on managing people in a business environment. It is a much richer, more-complete record than any resume could possibly be.

Don’t worry–you don’t have to write every day once you create your blog. It doesn’t hurt if you write every day, but you don’t have to. If you plan to get ahead in the field of your choosing, though, you need a blog.

Why do you need to start a blog?

1) Blogging creates visibility - If folks don’t know you exist, it doesn’t matter how great you are. More and more recruiters and headhunters are doing a Google search of prospective candidates. Having a blog on the topic you are passionate about gives folks a sample of your style and thoughts on the topic. It gives them just what they may be looking for: a way to know you better before they even talk to you.

Not everyone will agree with everything you write, and you may even lose out on some jobs because of what you write. Wouldn’t you rather know you’re not a fit before you interview or begin work somewhere rather than after you have accepted a job?

2) Blogging creates a safe place for conversations to happen - Think of your blog as your living room. You can invite folks into your house and set the rules for participation. You can create a blogging comment policy, decide what to talk about, and determine how it looks and who can visit you. Don’t be fooled; you don’t get total control, but you do get significant control. And wouldn’t you rather have your friends visit your house than you traipse over to theirs every time?

2) Blogging improves your writing skills - The more you write, the better you write. Obvious, I know. Still, it’s worth saying. When I started out writing a blog, my writing skills were just okay. Now, I’d say they are well above average, and I am able to get my thoughts written faster and more accurately. The more you write, the better your writing skills become.

3) Blogging connects you with people who can help you - You’d be surprised at the people who will come out of the woodwork to help you when you ask for help on your blog. There are tons of searches done every day on every topic imaginable. Folks you’d never be able to connect with in person because they are halfway around the world might stop by and offer to help. Folks at a competing company might offer to help you. Folks at your own company might offer to help you. But you’d never receive all that help if you didn’t have a blog within which you could ask for it.

4) Blogging allows you to help others - Just as others will help you, you can help others, too. From folks who e-mail you asking for help, to folks who leave a comment on your blog, to anyone who links back to you, to folks you had no idea were reading your blog, you will be able to help others when you write well on popular topics.

5) Blogging clarifies your thinking - The more you write about a topic, the more you know about the topic. The more you know about a topic, the more you clarify what you believe about a topic. Greater clarity leads to a greater ease with which you can handle the routine things that come your way. I write about a lot of really basic management stuff at Slacker Manager, and I’ve realized that many people need help with the most-basic aspects of management, so I keep writing about the basics.

6) Blogging allows you to be seen as an expert - If you write about the same topic over and over again, and if you interview experts, and if you read what other people say about a topic, you’re going to become well-versed in whatever topic you choose. The more time you spend, the better you get at it. The better you get at it, the more people will see you as an expert. Remember what I said in reason 1: It doesn’t matter how smart you are if nobody knows your name. If you’re putting it out there day in and day out, you’re going to make a name for yourself, and you’re going to be seen as a better source than the person next to you who isn’t writing about their knowledge.

What do you think? Do you think you need a blog?

1 - Thou shalt add value first, and sell LAST - If you have zero people in your network, and 3 articles on your blog, telling me about a joint venture opportunity I can REALLY benefit from is not going to work. Instead, leave a nice comment that adds value to one of my articles, or better, write an article on your own site that references my article, and then send me an e-mail letting me know about it.

2 - Thou shalt listen twice as much as you talk - You have two ears, and one mouth. Please use them in that proportion! Pay attention and pick your spots to contribute. You are NOT an expert in everything, no matter what you might think.

3 - Thou shalt not spam all your contacts - Just because we are connected, doesn’t mean I’ve given you permission to spam me with every time you come up with a new idea. Ask me…and I may give you permission.

4 - Thou shalt not act like a stuck up jerk, no matter how many folks are following you on any/every platform.  In fact, I would say ESPECIALLY if you have a million folks who follow you. Seth Godin is a very friendly guy who responds to email, blog posts, and other things directed at him. If Seth Godin can make time to reply to email, so can you!

5 - Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s contacts - After I meet folks in person, I often invite them to connect with me on the various social media networks I’m part of, and I am always happy to introduce you to someone who can help you, or who you can help. I always USED TO say: “If there is anyone in my network you’d like to meet, let me know and I’ll be happy to make the introduction.” I say USED TO because I had someone who went through my network and cherry picked more than 50 people to make a connection to because he thought they could all “benefit from his services.” Guess how many I introduced him to? HINT: It rhymed with hero! Instead, I now say “Let me know of 1 or 2 people in my network you’d like to meet, and what value you can add to their life, and I’ll be happy to introduce you.” That simple twists helps me weed out the spammers!

6 - Thou shall personalize every invitation I make to join any network - automated messages are for robots! Remind me how you know me and why, and it’ll help me remember why I should let you in. Especially annoying: Automated DM after following on Twitter.

7 - Thou shalt remember that 10 can be more powerful than 10000 - If someone has 10 readers to their blog, they might have a little more time to review your book or talk to you than someone who has 10000 readers and is constantly promoting the latest this or that. Therefore 10 can be WAY more powerful than 10000.

8 - Thou shalt not beg (for anything) - Don’t beg me to be your friend, to give you a link, or to connect me to so and so. Just ask nicely, tell me what value you’ll bring to the equation, and I’ll be happy to assist if I can.

9 - Thou shalt be authentic and transparent in all you do - Don’t hide anything from your readers. There’s no shame in promoting people you like, but say you like them. Also, there’s no shame in promoting stuff you believe in for a few dollars in an affiliate program, but don’t be shy about it and hide the URL in something on your domain that forwards to an affiliate link (unless you disclose it). I typically will shorten the URL if I’m doing an affiliate program, or you’ll if it’s short enough, you’ll see it.

10 - Thou shalt take the blog off the blog – Blogging and twittering is GREAT but now and then, go to a conference or two. Enjoy a cup of coffee or brew with someone local to you. Pick up the phone and call someone. Handwrite a thank you note. Take the blog off the blog.

Am I crazy?

Is this too much to ask of folks? Or are these 10 commandments of social media all you need?

Pete Kistler put together this nice template for explaining your personal brand based on work by Meg Giusseppi. They are encouraging others to use it for themselves, and so here I am.

My vision is:

A world where everyone is connected to the people, places and tools they need in order to be successful.

My purpose is:

To make difficult ideas simple so that everyone can be remarkably successful.

My passion is:

Helping people understand their uniqueness and maximize their presence to the world.

My values are:

1. Simplicity. I like to make things as simple as possible and no simpler. Complicated ideas are only complicated until someone explains them in English.
2. Authenticity. I am good at some things, and not good at others, and I’m smart enough to know the difference. I’m willing to admit when I made a mistake…and I’m willing to share what I learned with you.
3. Relationships. Business is person to person, regardless of what business they are in. The more people you can develop relationships with, the more you can accomplish.

My goals are:

1. In one year, I will have 10 courses/products completed around finding your brand and showcasing it for the world to see.
2. In three years, I will be delivering courses and keynote addresses 30-50 times a year, with at least 50 courses/products for folks to use to build their brand.
3. In five years, I will be published by Wiley or Portfolio with a book on the power of being a relationship geek.

My top three brand attributes are:

1. I constantly am dreaming of new ways to do things better and more effectively
2. I constantly envision what could be and believe in the power of YOU!
3. I love people!

I excel at:

Uncovering patterns and strategies for simply explaining who you are and what you do.

Getting deep quick with people to understand what is REALLY there and not just what’s on the surface.

People describe me as:

Energetic, authentic, passionate, helpful

My weakness is:

Lack of attention to details. I spend a lot of time thinking about the big picture, and the details can get lost.

My target audience is:

27-40 year-old professionals/entrepreneur who wants to take their career/life/business to the next level!

I know I have competition. What differentiates me is:

My ability to break things down into the simplest possible terms and explain it to others in ways they can understand and take action.

What do YOU think?

Is this a helpful exercise for finding your brand?

What’s on YOUR personal branding worksheet?

Ideas for action:

Take some time to go through this exercise and find your unique brand.

Share it with those who know you best.

Revise often until you find something that really FEELS like you.

Many people have a plain vanilla greeting, and often you’re not even sure if you reached a human being or just a machine. “Hi, you’ve reached 555-1212. Leave a message.”

BARF!

Who am I calling, and why should I care enough to leave a message with you?

“Hi, this is Phil. Leave a message. I’ll call you back. Thanks.”

That’s a little bit better. At least I know I called Phil. Does he check his voicemail often? What if this is an emergency? Is there another way to reach Phil?

“Hi, you’ve reached Phil Gerbyshak. I’m not available to take your call right now, however your call is very important to me. If this call is between 7:30 am and 5:30 pm, please feel free to give me a call at work at 414-555-1212. Otherwise, leave your name, number, a brief message, and your favorite 80s rock band after the tone, and I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Thanks for calling. Make it a great day!” Hey, now that’s pretty good. There’s another number to reach me at, I let the caller know they’re important to me, I injected some humor into the situation (favorite 80s rock band, favorite 80s baseball/football/basketball player, you use what works for you), and I closed with energy: “Make it a great day!”

Most people do leave me a message, most laughing by my request for favorite 80s something or other, and then tell me what they need. Then I call them back as soon as I can with the same energy as I have on my voicemail greeting. After all, who wants to talk to someone plain vanilla boring?

Not me!

Energy is another key to your voicemail greeting, so practice having energy.

Reachability - Put some alternative methods of reaching you, and you’ll ensure people leave you a message with the information you need to make it a great day!

Variety matters. Change your voice mail greeting at least once a month. 12 times a year to change your greeting. That’s not so hard, is it?

Include your uniqueness. How many other people can you name who have the same greeting as you? If the answer is more than 1, you’re not being unique enough. Think about this as your signature phrase, where people think of you when they hear it. My friends leave me messages that tell me to make it a great day because I’ve added that as my signature to my voicemail greetings.

What does YOUR voicemail greeting say about you?

I’d love for your feedback on my greeting. Call me anytime at 414.640.7445. If you’re a little more shy, leave your favorite greeting in the comments below.

And don’t worry…My greeting isn’t what’s listed above anymore. I’ve already changed it!

Guy Talk photo credit to CarbonNYC

Business Insanity Radio with Barry Moltz

Barry and I talked for 10 minutes about Networking for Nerds (his words, not mine):

• Relationship Geek - oxymoron or business truth?
• Offline networking - as important as online?
• Feeding Your Friendlies - what’s this all about…and can you really use this to get more business?
• Social Media Saturdays - how are you planning to teach folks Social Media in just 5 30 minute sessions?

Bridging Old & New Social Media Series with CB Whittemore

CB asked me some great questions about social media:

• How/why did you get involved in social media?
• What do you like most about social media?
• What do you like least about social media?
• How has social media changed how you interact with the marketplace as a consumer or customer?
• What 5 suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?
• Any other thoughts to share about the effectiveness of social media in forging stronger relations with customers and how best to do so.

If you’d like to have me as a guest on your show/blog or have any questions you’d like me to answer, please contact me using the contact form found in the top navigation on your  or by clicking here.

NOTE from Phil: I got introduced to Chris when he featured me as one of the 150+ Experts on Twitter ALL Job Seekers MUST Follow. I was impressed with the time he took to create this list, and the care he took to really talk a bit about each person he profile. I quickly realized this was someone to learn from, so I asked him to write a guest post and he asked me to write one, so here goes his fantastic article.

Bloggers from across industries and areas of interest are always seeking new ways to reach greater audiences with their articles and gain increased recognition for their expertise.  Developing your reputation as a blogger often takes a lot of time, effort and patience through consistent publication of valuable content.

Because we live in an age in which we are being bombarded by more and more information on the screen, it is increasingly important to be able to convey the content of your blog in a concise and visually pleasing manner that visitors can swiftly survey and assess.  One way to generate more buzz for your blog (i.e. attract more visitors and get talked about) is to compile and publish critical information in lists.  A list appears shorter and more organized on the screen.  Furthermore, lists are easier for busy professionals to digest on-the-go.

You can create buzz-worthy lists on just about any topic that is relevant to the theme of your blog. Even when you are not specifically writing a list, you should think of ways to break down your articles into bullet points or shorter parts to make them more quickly digestible for your readers and in turn, increase the potential for them to go viral.

The following is itself a list of some ways to generate buzz for your buzz-worthy blog content:

• LinkedIn offers a number of ways to promote your blog content.  First, place a description and a link to your new article in your LinkedIn profile status.  Second, join LinkedIn groups (maximum limit is 50 groups) that are relevant to your industry or areas of interest, and,  where appropriate, submit the article link to each group’s News section.  Third, if you own or manage your own group, you can send the link out in your weekly announcement to your group members.
• Facebook is not the ideal syndication platform for your articles; however, you can also use your profile status to link friends to your article.  If you have a Facebook group or fan page for your blog or website, there you can create a link to your article for your members or fans.
• Twitter offers you the opportunity to “tweet” or broadcast a short description of your article and its link to your followers.  While you should never overtweet anything, you may choose to tweet this to your network at a couple different times of day throughout the week to provide your followers more of an opportunity to see content of interest to them.
• Business Exchange, by BusinessWeek, is a great resource for reading material that is relevant to your areas of interest.  It is also a place where you can syndicate specific articles from your own and other blogs and websites.  You can submit your article to multiple topic categories for increased readership.
• Ning networks within your areas of interest offer you forums where you can share your article content and links to your blog.
• Newsletters are great channels for the distribution of information.  If you maintain an email list of consenting newsletter recipients for your blog or website, your newsletter can be a great place for you to include a link to your article.
• MOST IMPORTANT:  If your lists or articles feature people, blogs, websites, services, organizations , books or anything associated with someone who would value such press or promotion, don’t forget to contact them by email, LinkedIn message or Twitter direct message to let them know about their coverage and politely request that they promote it to their own personal networks.  We all appreciate recognition (you wouldn’t be reading this article if you didn’t) and we are often more willing to do something to help someone else if it also helps us, too.

Chris Perry is a Gen Y Brand and Marketing Generator, a Career Search and Personal Branding Expert and the Founder of Career Rocketeer, the Career Search and Personal Branding Blog.