#beyondsocial101 in Columbus, Ohio was a Solid Educational Experience for Bloggers from all Walks of Life

It feels like just yesterday but it has already been almost 2 weeks since I presented at the #beyondsocial101 (www.beyondsocial101.com) event in Columbus, Ohio. This event was was hosted by my long-time online marketing buddy Tiffany Odutoye, founder of Talk Social Networking.

Tiffany and I had discussed the idea of a an event focused on advanced topics in social business and/or social technologies various times over the course of 2010. I remember a specific phone conversation with Tiff where I told her that at my Advanced Topics in Social Media & PR session at last year’s #FredNMT2, the attendees really seemed to enjoy the “non-101″ level material being shared with them. I had also shared that if we did end up doing an event together, we should focus on “beyond 101″ topics and really emphasize intermediate or advanced-level sessions in social media.

Well, despite my best intentions to partner with Tiff and launch our joint-event vision together, I learned soon afterward that I was pregnant After a few short months into the pregnancy, my overall health declined with various challenging, pregnancy-related symptoms.

In the end, it was the fabulous Ms. O who single-handedly pulled off the successful debut of the first-ever “Beyond Social 101″ event. Super kudos to Tiffany for a job well done! And many thanks to her for facilitating a venue where like-minded folks could extend their knowledge on blogging, digital technology and social media! The opportunity to make new friends and meaningful industry connections further west of Washington DC was, for me, much appreciated

Blogging for Business

The primary theme of the day-long Saturday event was blogging for business. Interestingly enough, shortly right around the time of the event, the New York Times had come out with a February 20, 2011 article called Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter. Honestly, with tidings such as these, a “blogging for business” event couldn’t have come at a better time.

As one of the #beyondsocial101 speakers, I had the opportunity to help facilitate a “blog pitch” session along with Jennifer Abernethy (author of The Idiot’s Guide to Social Media) and Girlfriendlogy blogging diva and founder Debba Haupert.

My Content Approaches for Business Blogging Session Was a Success!

I also had the opportunity to lead a breakout session entitled Practical Content Strategies for Successful Business Blogging.

My 1-hour session covered a variety of approaches and tools to not only curate targeted, relevant content but also to help keep the content development fires inspired and burning. So often the main complaint or challenge when it comes to business blogging is CONTENT-related.

Common content questions usually asked by those responsible for business blogging on behalf of their company or for their clients include:

• What do we write about? And how often?
• What story angles would be of interest?
• Where do I find ideas and inspiration for story angles of value?

I wish we could have had more than an hour!!! Honestly by the time I got my 2-minute warning I was not even close to being done with my sharing of ideas, tips and best practice approaches. Still, I think attendees got a lot of value from my session. I was pleased to have had the opportunity to help provide solid content direction and guidance for the bloggers in my class.

BTW…

I’ll be looking to hold my content approaches and best practices session locally in the Washington DC area and am also looking at possibly launching a webinar series in the near future.

Want to stay tuned? Sign up for my email newsletter for the latest updates and registration discount-codes

Thanks again to Tiffany and warm hellos to the many new friends I made while spending a gray, cold but super fun Saturday at TechColumbus!