Key Take Aways from Open Room: Your Blog™
i’ve actually got quite a fair bit to share, but i suppose the details can be further articulated in later posts. what i want to share is perhaps key takeaways that i got from Your Blog™ as a blogger from each of the presenters.
Overall
i know the session was about marketing your blog, but a great sense i got from each presenter, was that they actually don’t make money from their blog, but rather, their blog was both personal branding and a marketing tool for who they are as people, as personalities.
my suspicion (correct me if i’m wrong) is that earning a living from blog advertising for personally owned blogs is a bit of a myth. Whether it’s a question of eyeballs or sustainability, all three bloggers who shared use their blogs as pieces of thought leadership, reputation and authority. Only Arti, who was an ex-journalist was paid for her professional writing skills.
Yongfook: 8 profound and live changing things that happened because of my blog
Yongfook was one of my original heroes when i first started blogging in 2003. Back then, he was still writing his crazy Japanese food blog posts, talking about dealing with isolation in a rural Japanese village, and i thought “I want that! I want a really fun blog!” And so that’s my key takeaway, even as Yongfook matured and evolved to his current lifestream, he’s always maintained that unique Yongfook personality.
Arti Mulchand: Write Right
Key takeaway: You don’t have to use long flowery language to be a good writer. A good writer communicates clearly, gives readers content that is easily understood and makes a point. One good method to sustain reader interest, is by ’scattering gold coins’. Give them a good reason to read the next paragraph. Always.
Design Sojourn: How to be a __________ superstar
Key Takeaway: Managing your blog’s branding / personality so that you’re not an expert, but an authority on your given subject. My personal take on Brian Ling’s insight, is that it’s hard to be considered an expert in the field without actual accreditation, but being an authority is more feasible, valuable even perhaps. It allows you to share your opinions confidently, while always being open enough for discussion. Sometimes it’s not always about having the final say in things and have your words treated as ‘gold’, but being regarded in your area of interest / field of expertise. And you can play your cards right, is to share knowledge, share good things, invite different opinions, distill for further insights and maintaining both online and offline relationships. So those Technorati links that add to your authority? There’s some truth to that system!
Toysrevil: Eh, You Singaporean Meh?
Key takeaway: Original content. Toysrevil is the embodiment of passion when it comes to sharing knowledge, opinions on all things toys. But what really struck me, was how he puts his personal stamp on each picture he takes of a toy. In some sense, there is only one such picture in the world, they each tell a story, and convey important information for those in the toy scene. Each picture is uniquely his, and i believe that has helped add fans to his growing fan-base.
All’s well that ends well
And those were the key takeaways i got from the speakers! I’m sure everyone’s got an opinion and some key takeaways! May i invite you to share what yours were if you were here at Your Blog™ with us?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 2:08 pm and is filed under The Open Room Sessions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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March 11th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
[...] out the key take aways summarized by Brian Koh of [...]
March 11th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Heya Brian, total awesomeness for my 1st event. I gotta say major “steadyness” to the three of yous for putting real thought into the topics. PLus for Pat to put Toysrevil’s preso together in 3 minutes was rock stardom! .
My main takeaways :
Yon Fook : Amazing journey but perhaps his evolution is only his own. Only that many people get to date (hopefully) Natalie , move to Japan and be a Heartthrob. What i would like to know is whether his key summaries apply to those like myself who are starting out. e.g If we are all niche, then there is no niche. yes? (sorry didnt think of this till now, wouldve been a good Q no?) But his presentation skills are up there with demi gods, pace, flow , humor.
Arti: For me , the best inspiration to write better. Her input really got me thinking about where my blog is going and how i can get it to the next level. She was brilliant face to face as well when i got the chance to say hi
Design Sojourn : Totally gonna follow his tip on mapping and diversifying his brand portfolio. Realising i may need another ( gulp) blog site in order to accomplish this.
ToysRevil : Savvy dude who certainly is a major talent. I think he missed out that major point. He actually takes super steady photos and that is sheer talent there. The work he puts in to aggregate and touch up etc is unnerving. Plus Brian , you’re right, his other Up is definitely his killer work ethic.
All in all, too much rambling here (sorry Arti) but honestly, you 3 were steady all the way. Love much much
Melvin
March 12th, 2009 at 1:14 am
[...] read Key Take-aways by Brian [...]
March 15th, 2009 at 2:34 am
[...] express our gratitude to them for helping us that evening. Singapore Entrepreneurs, Krisandro, and Brian have written their key takeaways about the event. Have a [...]
March 16th, 2009 at 3:15 am
[...] Brian from the team has written a summary about the night here. [...]
March 16th, 2009 at 4:26 am
[...] and owned be Brian Regan. Drawings by me!Related Blogs: » Key Take Aways from Open Room: Your Blog™, Brian, Comedy, Cook, Dane, Figures, Funny, Games, kids, party, Regan, Stick, [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
[...] The Open Room: Key Take Aways from Open Room: Your Blog™ Brian Koh from Ogilvy has created a brief summary from a recent session at The Open Room. I truely agree with him that earning a living from blog advertising for personally owned blogs is a bit of a myth still and one still has yet to prove it well. [...]