Virtual Event Success

I had the pleasure of speaking at Blog World & New Media Expo this past week. It was the first time I was excited to go to Las Vegas because I knew that ALOT of my friends would be there.

Blog World & New Media Expo is the merging of two shows – Blog World Expo which started in 2007 and Podcast & New Media Expo which started in 2005. I’ve been involved with the latter as a speaker since the 2006 show. The founders of the Podcast & New Media Expo (PNME), Tim & Emile Bourquin, put on a fine event. Every year, it was top notch. So, I had high expectations for Rick Calvart and Blog World & New Media Expo. About 90% of my expectation were met.

Why I Liked Blog World

But first, let me speak about the show itself. Blog World & New Media Expo (BWE) was fabulous. I was surprised at the

Me, Leesa Barnes, Speaking

number of people who showed up. Given that most shows are experiencing a decline in attendees, it was nice to see that the exhibitors floor and each of the session rooms were FULL of people.

Quality of Exhibitors

The quality of the exhibitors was also top notch. One of the problems with the PNME is that the lower notch exhibitors started to take over. The exhibitor floor at the 2008 PNME looked shabby. I remember some of the exhibitors either didn’t bother to show up (hence empty booths) or if they did, they put up a cloth banner with their logo finger painted on (I’m not kidding) and gave out nick knacks that had NOTHING to do with their business.

BWE was vastly different. Every exhibitor put alot of work into their booths. Shiny lights, colorful backdrops and well staffed booths with amazing people. It was beautiful to see a mixture of big name companies, such as Ford who had a gorgeous Taurus on the floor to other companies I had never heard of.

Ford's New Taurus

Quality of People

And the people I met? Wow! I chatted at length with Coach Carter’s son, caught a glimpse of Jalen Rose & Don Lemon from CNN and met a fiery PR lady from New York whom I’m chatted with (something in the works).

And of course, everyone I’ve been networking with FOREVER online who I finally met in person. People like Warren Whitlock, Denise Wakeman (she and I spoke for an hour on a coach at the Tweetup I was co-hosting – whoops), Mari Smith (yes, she stands at least 2-inches taller than me), Jeff MacArthur (Amber’s brother), Andy Walker, Christina Hills, Connie Bennett, Sean Carruthers, Jason Van Orden, Paul Colligan, Mignon Forgarty (finally!), Paolo (and I can’t remember his last name), Mark Joyner, Bryan Person, Elizabeth PW, Sarah Robinson, Carla Young, Allison N, Jeff Hecht, Tee Morris, Brian Solis, CC Chapman, Shel Holtz, Maggie Fox, Coach Deb (sporting a gorgeous pink & white jacket, remember to send it to me), Rob Walch, Chris Brogan, Tim Street, Mark Evans, Adria Richards, Tracy C, and others whose names I’ll add as I remember them.
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Ian McGonnigal shared Five Powerful Ideas for Using Facebook for Events. His suggestions are excellent for those who plan events.

I like his suggestion on using Fan Pages to raise awareness about your event and to give attendees a place to connect with each other before, during and after the event. This strategy can work nicely for virtual events too, however, I recommend that you create a private Facebook group for attendees so they can post information that you don’t want the world to see (especially those who didn’t pay to access your virtual event).

Fan Pages are great because they’re indexed by search engines and you don’t have to login to Facebook to read the content. But what happens if an attendee needs the call-in details and another attendee shares it on your Facebook fan page (this happened to me, but with Twitter)? Now, anyone who didn’t pay for access to your virtual event has the connection details to get everything for free.

That’s where a Facebook group comes in. Because groups in Facebook are not indexed by search engines and can’t be found unless you login to Facebook, attendees can safely share info about your virtual event knowing that only other attendees will see.

To really make your Facebook group hidden, make sure you make this group private and choose the option for it NOT to show up in Facebook search results. That means that each person can only join your Facebook group by invitation only.

I stumbled upon this video recording that Sanyika Colloway-Boyce did for me while we both attended Milana Leshinsky’s The Bliss Factor workshop back in April 2009.

I had a chance to share with the attendees how they can use social media to attract coaching leads to their business.

This is a small clip of the 60-minute presentation that I did. In it, I share with attendees how they can release their social media fears. As you view this, I invite you to follow the exercises to release your own fears about social media, podcasting, virtual events or any other online marketing tactic. I’d love to hear your fears in the comments section below.

In Part 2, I’ll share the part of the presentation where I show you how to shake those fears so you can tackle social media, podcasting, virtual events or any other online marketing tool with confidence.

In August 2009, I became part of the five figure Twitter club. For the first time since I sent my very first tweet in 2007, the number of people that I’m following and who are following me on Twitter climbed to just over 10,000.

As I posted about this feat on Twitter, I got many questions from people wondering how I went from 13 followers in 2007 to 10,000 2 ½ years later.

To some, taking just over two years to gain 10,000 followers may seem rather slow, especially considering all the various tools out there where you can buy a few hundred followers per day. For me, I value quality over quantity and I’ve been rewarded with thousands of dollars worth of sales from those who follow me on Twitter.

So, how can you authentically grow your Twitter lists from a few hundred to a few thousand? Here are just a

few of my tips.

First, I had a “me” attitude when I tweeted. In other words, I tweeted about the things that had my attention. I found that when I tweeted telling people what was interesting to me, Twitter became very easy to use.

I tweeted from conferences, I tweeted while traveling, I tweeted while sitting at the hairdressers. Whatever I found interesting, funny or odd, I would share it with my followers. That’s the beauty of Twitter – you can blather on about your interests and only those who find it captivating will interact with you.

Second, I completely ignored the numbers. Whether I had 13 people following me or 300, it really didn’t matter. What was important was the interactivity of my audience. I was more concerned about people NOT responding to me, than whether or not I lost a follower or gained 10 more. Once I let go of the numbers,

Twitter became a true social networking tool.

Next, I followed people who fit my criteria. I didn’t follow someone else’s formula. Instead, I put together my own requirements and followed those who met it. So, what was my criteria? The person had to have a picture posted, had to have tweets sent within the last 72 hour period, and had to tweet using their real name. Yup, that’s it.

I was very unforgiving with spammers. If someone’s first contact with me includes a link to a squeeze page, free gifts, and offer, or a video extolling the services of their new MLM, I quickly block them.

Some spammers unfollow you as soon as you follow them so they can add more people to their list. Typically, if there is a difference of a few hundred people between your follower and following lists, it means you have quite of number of spammers following you and you’ll need to clean them out. So, once every 30-days, I use a service called Twitter Karma to cull my follow list.

To grow your follow list on Twitter, be selfish, tweet about what has your attention and follow those that fit your criteria. It may take you a few months, but your business will be rewarded with ample prospects hanging on to your every word.

People always ask me: “Leesa, how do I create meaty content for my podcast, blog or virtual event?” Here are 7 ideas to get you started.

Interview Experts

Put out a call to clients whose area of specialization compliments yours. Run through your list of online
connections – the professionals who contribute their ideas to the same social networks as you do. Think about this in terms of audience intrigue. Who else might your subscribers learn and benefit from, besides you?

Dig up Recordings from Teleclasses or Workshops

Maybe you ran a telecourse last summer that went over big. To you, that class feels like old hat – but remember there are still plenty of people out there who will really appreciate the information. Syndicate portions of your old learning materials, then package in podcast or video format and upload to your blog.

Check Your Inbox

Did you email some spot-on advice to a client or colleague recently? Well, turn your advice into a blog post or a teleclass.

Check Your Website’s Referral Keywords

Make your back end work for you. Use Google Analytics or a similar tool to find out who’s landing on your pages via which keyword phrases. Do some research on those topics of interest and share your findings with blog readers. Sometimes your web traffic results can surprise you.

Be the Answer Guy (or Girl)

Post a question on your blog. “What are the top 3 questions you have about ?” Have podcast listeners call in their question via a telephone recording line set up Virtual Event Audio. Write up your responses as a blog feature or record as a podcast interview.

Get Success Stories

Other people’s success stories inspire and motivate us. It develops confidence, builds trust in our readership and brings more business. Why not add a category to your blog called Success Stories? Each month, highlight a recent victory or milestone – yours, a client’s or a colleague’s. Win-win for all involved.

Provide Updates from a Conference or Trade Show

Create a buzz around your next trade show or exhibition. Bring the digital camera or video recorder along. When you return, take a few moments to jot down event highlights. Share commentary and footage with your audience.

Leesa Barnes is an award winning author, virtual event marketing specialist and CEO of Marketing Fit Inc., a training & development company that teaches business how to get active online using profitable tools.

If you liked these tips, you’ll LOVE the virtual event tips found at the Association of Virtual Event Managers, Organizers & Hosts. To start your membership for 50% off the regular price, click here for more details.

Although I focus on helping business leaders and business owners use podcasting to attract new clients and generate leads, podcasting is just one slice of the social media pie.

And that brings us to the biggest question of all – “What is social media?” The definition on Wikipedia.org is pretty lousy, so instead, I’ll share with you my definition of social media.

Social media is simply the tools that you use online to share content with other
people.

Simple, huh?

If you stay away from the technology and just think of the concept, you’ll find that social media is so simple to understand.

For example, a hammer is a tool with many uses. It can be used to build a home, as a weapon to harm someone or protect yourself, and can also be used as a prop in a play.

You don’t have to understand how a hammer is made or what type of tree was chopped down to make the handle. Instead, you know what a hammer can be used for and you select it based on the project you need to complete.

If social media are the tools, then how are people using them online? Here are 7 unique examples to help you understand what social media is all about:

1. People share photos using websites such as Flickr and Bubbleshare. Here are a few pages of photos that people took of me at conferences I attended in 2007.
2. People share video using websites such as Blip.tv, YouTube and Revver. I created a video called What Is Podcasting and uploaded it to YouTube.
3. People share text using blogs such as WordPress, Blogger or Typepad. I used WordPress for my blog and I just love the flexibility.
4. People share bookmarks or links using Technorati, Digg, StumbleUpon or del.icio.us. If you find something interesting, instead of bookmarking it using your browser on your computer, you can share it with other people online.
5. People share laser quick info using Twitter, Jaiku and others. Otherwise known as microblogging, you can share short burst of information in 140 characters or less to update others on what you’re doing. People can read your updates online or through their mobile phones. When I first started using Twitter in 2007, I used it mainly to update people on the progress of my book.
6. People share audio using a podcast, or websites such as Talkshoe, Audio Acrobat or Blog Talk Radio. These tools help you create your own online radio program that you can share on your blog, your website or through podcasting directories.
7. People share contacts and interests using Ryze, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Ecademy, Plaxo or Xing. You create a profile and then you’re connected to others based on your interests, hobbies and business needs.

Whether you share what you create or share the creation of others, think of social media as simply the tools that enable you to share, give and help others online.

If you’re using Twitter, you may get automatic direct message (autoDMs) from people who you follow for the first time.

I hate these autoDMs. If someone is contacting me for the first time on Twitter using an autoDM that contains a URL to a blog, squeeze page, gift, bonus, video or some other freebie, I not only unfollow, but I also block that person.

Here’s a gem I received recently from someone who had less than half the followers I do:

Here’s another from someone who wants to share with the me the easy ways to make money online (containing an affiliate link, of course):

Here’s another one. If the person really got to know me, she’d know that I’m so not into using ads to make money online:

And here’s one from a lady who wanted to make sure I saw her autoDM, so she sent it 6-times in a matter of seconds:

I’ve been on Twitter since 2007 (check this website if you doubt me) and I refuse to let the spammers win. So, here’s a few tools I’ve been using to lessen the number of autoDMs in my direct message box on Twitter:

SocialToo

Spammers typically follow people then quickly unfollow them to boost their numbers, so SocialToo allows you to unfollow people who unfollow you within a certain time period. SocialToo will only work if the person whose autoDMs you want to stop are also using SocialToo.

TweetLater

This website also allows you to opt out of receiving people autoDMs. Like SocialToo, it will only work if the person is using TweetLater to send autoDMs.

fun140

If you’ve been getting DMs asking you “Which Michael Jackson song are you” or “Which Harry Potter character are you”, you can use fun140 to opt out of receiving these autoDMs asking you to take the quiz. I found out about this site through Sarah Robinson when she tweeted the link to the site.

Are there any other Twitter opt-out sites that you’d like to share? If so, share the link in the comments area below.

I was reading a post written by Dennis Shiao on Virtual Event ROI. Dennis participated on a panel at the 2009 Virtual Edge Summit talking about the return on investment on hosting virtual events.

His post got me thinking about all the ways I measure the return on my virtual event investment (ROVEI?). I’ve used both the phone and webinar technology to host my virtual events and you may think that these 2 tools lack a way to measure your results.

In one sense, yes. But where there’s a lack, I use other tools to help me measure what I’m doing. For example:

• I use Cartville to manage my affiliate commissions, clickthrough and sales. The image below is a screenshot from my 2008 Social Media Telesummit, an 8-day virtual event I hosted entirely over the phone. My affiliates used special links to share with their network to help me promote the event. The screenshot below shows which sales were referred by my affiliates and the total commission I paid out to them.

• I used a URL shortening service that tracked clickthroughs to a summary of the content I heard after the first day of the 2009 Social Media Telesummit. I just love budurl.com and used it to shorten my really long virtual event URL so I can share it on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Not only does it track clicks, but budurl.com tells you where it’s coming from. The screenshot below is a screenshot from budurl.com.

• To measure attendee engagement, I use a hashtag on Twitter. This helps me to monitor how engaged attendees are in what they’re hearing. The screenshot below shows a few tweets from attendees from one of my more recent virtual events. The Twitter hashtag my co-host and I used was #osmt.

There are certainly other tools that I use, but these are just a small sample of what’s in my virtual event measurement toolkit. This helps me to keep the costs low since most of these tools are free or low cost.

What other tools would you suggest to help virtual event managers measure sales conversions and audience engagement?