James Key Lim (dot) Com

NOTE: Sorry, typed this live. Please excuse the typos and errors.

• link to session description
• To get someone’s attention you need to 1) show them something they’ve never seen before or 2) in a way they’ve never seen before
  • real picture of big foot
  • UFO
• look for the missing subjects
  • find the missing pieces
  • not everything has been said, and even if it has it can be said simpler, easier (in a new way)
  • find a new angle
    • don’t regurgitate
• ex. how to install wordpress
  • millions of results
    • do you really need another article
• husband is a aero engineer
  • he looks for what’s missing
  • is it the problem or are they describing the symptoms
    • that’s what to write about
      • fill in that blank
        • if can’t identify it then you’re missing something
    • in school, if you ask why?
      • they said because or that’s the way it’s been done
    • there’s always another way
      • need to understand why
• Ask the ‘why’ and fill it in
• traditional publishing industry
  • editors see the whole picture
  • you are now the editor and publisher of your blog
• where are you holes? when did you really look at your blog
• just like a blogger who thought they wrote a post, but can’t find it because they never really wrote it
• how many hit feeds before you start your day
  • read the feeds at night and sleep on it
• be sensible blogger and absorb the information
• psychology of readers
  • holding off on blogging you can potentially be the sane voice
  • people read blogs in the moment and the readers perception may be different
    • calmer the reader is the calmer they read and they believe you have
  • be the wiser blogger
    • that’s when you make the connection
• word of the year
  • relationships
    • diff b/t website and blog
      • comments
        • it’s the conversation - this is the key difference
• e.g. liz straus - successful/blogger.com
  • SOB - successful, blogger
    • writing a book on 200 of the most unique blogs
    • puts a badge on it
    • when you blog you blog for one person
      • you blog for you
        • it’s not about your passion or what makes you happy
          • e.g. when you go on a trip and you come home and you’re on your toilet being home…
          • successful blog is one that you arrive on with intent of finding information
            • it’s familiar
            • it’s safe
            • and it looks like me
              • you want your readers to be you
              • you want them to be you
              • you want that personal connection
                • get comments, ‘you’re so right’
          • when you design your blog
            • that first impression
              • this is the place that has the answers i need
              • as you working on blog
                • what are you saying to people
                • what emotion
                • what feeling
                • make your blog meet that for you and to you
                • it’s a mirror reflection
                • i have the content you want to hear
• if you have cell phone content
  • have a picture of a cell phone. not purple flowers
• how do you know when a blogger is faking it?
  • tons of affiliate links
    • money
  • just linking to excerpts
    • ‘block quoters’ and linking
• what you write is preserving a moment in time
  • do you think about that when you write
    • dedicated blogs to niece and nephews
• write for the future
• when you fake it your readers know
• how do you get the conversation going
  • who says, i don’t get any comments
  • too many people are still writing for your 8th grade teacher
  • we’re taught to write in complete thoughts complete sentences. don’t do it
    • don’t blog the whole idea
    • don’t finish the idea, let your readers do it
    • instead of 10 tips; give them 7
      • chose to forget
    • incomplete thoughts help create conversation
    • let the readers play the missing game
      • e.g. liz strauss does this excellently and gets rows and rows of comments
• do you respond to every single comment
  • DONT. it’s crap
  • but the secret is to make readers think that you do
    • they have to believe that you do
      • how
        • stop faking it
        • blog your passions
        • show that you care
          • say thank you
• how many guilty of ’so what do you think?’
  • stop it
    • you might get an answer
    • you might not like what you get
    • pretend you and your reader are best friends or you’re a married couple
      • you’re finishing each others sentences
        • make your readers finish your sentences
• participate in a conversation
  • if late into a conversation
    • extend it
  • memes stupid
    • don’t challenge people to blog about something
      • you may be interrupting flow
• link to other blogs
• sobfcom (chicago)
  • attend next year
    • healthywebdesign.com
      • every 5th word find noun and links to a blogger that talks about that noun
        • you get caught up in the conversation
        • all these single voice and blogs on a single topic
• circularcommunications.com
  • writing blog posts about what other bloggers wrote about a subject
    • he did a virtual conversation
      • and dug through blogs to answer the question
    • new, novel way of presenting information
      • interview without him being there
      • (showing how to do something in a new way)
• ways to create conversation
  • comment on other blogs
    • ‘how not to comment on comments’
      • say something intelligent
        • make your comments make people want to click on your link
          • people are checking those comments
            • the point is say something intelligent
  • our comments sets an example for other bloggers
    • job for fellow bloggers to help other bloggers continue the conversation
      • readers help other readers
• intro
  • blogging since 1994
  • write for the codex
• questions
  • timeless content? is what latest bestest’?
    • you never know what’s going to popular
      • the masses are fickle
    • write timeless
      • like having readers repeat and comes back to me
      • like making readers happy
    • make it like the old western days
      • the community comes together to build a barn
  • blogotainment
    • entertainment blogs
      • goes back to faking it again
        • it’s like what people hate, pay for post
      • disclosure
        • tell them who you are?
          • tell the world
            • if 40 years old, i’m going to learn again what it is to be 14 years old again
  • if too many do’s and don’ts aren’t you traditional media
    • i live with a lot of rules
      • but she doesn’t talk about her private life
        • but don’t tell intimate stories until related to things
  • how did you get started with wordpress
    • before make decision research to death
      • like everyone was talking about it
  • how do you manage spam. use these 3 tools. to fight comment spam we need to do it together. fight as working as team and stop at root.
    • akismet - hit spam, not delete
    • spamkarma -
    • badbehaviour