A look at why authenticity, becoming known, building a tribe and utilizing blogging and social media is so important in your business today.

1. Becoming Well Known in Your Industry via Blogs & Social Media Erin Blaskie www.erinblaskie.com @ErinBlaskie (Twitter)

2. 5 Things Most People Don’t Know About Me I’m afraid of the dark. Big-time mega scared. I auditioned for Canadian Idol but didn’t make it  I won’t eat sandwiches with the crust still on. My favourite song of all-time is Bette Davis Eyes. I much prefer Star Trek (Next Generation) over Star Wars and I haven’t seen any of the Star Wars movies.

3. And, 5 Things Most People Do I am in love with the Internet and addicted to Twitter. I play a lot of video games and started a gaming site to harbour this obsession. Even though I’ve been to nearly 400 cities in 15 countries, my favourite city on the planet is New York City. My professional / geek crushes include Matt Mullenweg (creator of WordPress) and Wil Wheaton. I really, really, really love Tim Horton's coffee.

4. Our conversations become collective monologues, and we never really understand what’s going on inside another human being. -- Stephen R. Covey,“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

5. Telling You About Myself is Only One Side of the Equation I don’t really know you. Yet. How can I get to know you? Where do you engage most with your tribe? Why is a tribe important? How transparent are you in your activities? What sort of tools are you utilizing in your biz?

6. Why Does “Being Known” Matter? Shortens the “know, like and trust” timeline People view you as an expert in your industry which leads to credibility and opportunity Expands your network allowing for engagement that may not have been possible before As human beings, we need to feel validated and being known validates us individually

7. Our neural pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns. -- Riker, quoting Data's definition of friendshipQuoted from Star Trek: The Next Generation

8. Know, Like & Trust People purchase services, products and advice from those they’ve built trust with. To gain trust, you need to put yourself out there in a big way. To gain trust, you need to have other people talking about you too. To gain trust, you have to be known.

9. How Do You Achieve the Known Part? Blogging (this talk covers the first two) Social media Speaking engagements Media (traditional or new) Connecting with your peers / industry General outreach Marketing (offline and online)

10. Blogging 101 – Foundation Create a blog that showcases your expertise and offers interactivity WordPress is the most popular and recommended blogging platform Plug-ins like Twit This, Share This and Sociable make sharing a possibility between readers Commenting (Disqus plug-in recommended) allows for a conversation to happen between yourself and the readers and even between the readers themselves

11. Blogging 201 – Strategy Carve out a niche topic area where you can really showcase your expertise Blog often and do your research – higher quality blog posts increase your credibility Create interesting, compelling and engaging blog posts by asking questions and encouraging comments

12. Blogging 301 – Syndication Spread the word about every blog post Tweetly Updater (plug-in) will update Twitter Facebook Notes can import your RSS feed Ping.fm can syndicate to other social networks LinkedIn allows you to import your blog feed and you can post to groups inside of LinkedIn

14. Likeability is an ability to create positive attitudes in other people through the delivery of emotional and physical benefits. -- Tim Sanders, “The Likeability Factor”

15. How Do You Achieve the Like Part? Be authentic, transparent and real Balance your personal life with your business life in a way that creates unique connections Carve out the time in your schedule to interact, engage and build relationships Network selflessly – engage with others without trying to sell yourself

16. How Social Media Keeps You Real Everything is transparent online Connecting with multiple audiences showcases your diversity and authenticity Sometimes forces you to deal with issues and contrasting opinions publicly Avoids the “untouchable” phenomena that happens to some CEOs and company leaders

17. Social Media 101 Focus on the primary three Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Create accounts in your name and your company name Broadcast with a company Twitter account and engage / build relationships with personal account Facebook profile / fan page in your name with secondary fan page for business(es)

18. Social Media 201 Use Tools to Keep Responsiveness High But Not Distracting TweetDeck for “in the moment” Twittering & Facebook connections Hootsuite for pre-programmed Tweets Tweetie for mobile Tweeting and Facebook / LinkedIn apps for mobile access Twitter lists to cut down the “noise” and focus

19. Social Media 301 Reach Out to People You Don’t Know http://search.twitter.com - advanced search will let you find people similar to you www.twellow.comand www.wefollow.com Furthering Your Engagement www.gist.com offers users a way to track people through their various networks and e-mail Keep track of your high engagers and provide them value often

20. Today, marketing is about engaging with the tribe and delivering products and services with stories that spread. -- Seth Godin, “Tribes”

21. How Do You Achieve the Trust Part? Give people the ability to “try you out” Provide free teleseminars, info-products, a free consult or ask to speak at events Let your tribe speak on your behalf Create a testimonials PDF or “star” your best Tweets in Twitter and showcase them using http://twitter.com/goodies/widget_faves Share your stories

22. Why Building a Tribe Equals Success One-to-Many Approach Your opinions, advice, answers and solutions should service many people – not a single client There is Power in Numbers According to Noetic Sciences, a group of people who are all thinking alike is more powerful than a single mind You Rely Less on “Slimy” Marketing & Let Your “Cheerleaders” Bring You Business

23. Engaging the Tribe Create a group on Facebook or a Ning site where your tribe can hang out together online Reach out daily to people through social networks, e-mail and your blog Provide tons of free content to attract in more people who think like you do Reward the people who are consistent, reliable members of your tribe

24. The 1-2-3 Approach Create a Blog Post often and post quality content Engage and support commentary Utilize & Integrate Social Media Choose 1-3 networks and be fully present Create new relationships and follow-up Engage With People Every Single Day

25. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they don’t find them, they create them. -- George Bernard ShawQuoted from John Naisbitt’s “Mind Set!”

26. Engage With Me So That I May Engage With You @ErinBlaskie on Twitter www.erinblaskie.com and www.bsetc.com erin@erinblaskie.com Please e-mail me if you’d like (free): 5 Ways to Get More Love for Your Blog Posts Social Media Automation Webinar Recordings

27. If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren't doing enough asking. -- Jack Canfield