I spent the beginning of last week soaking up the smart from SMX West and thought I’d share some of the thoughts and ideas I brought home from the conference. I have attended a lot of conferences over the years. I always attend with an open mind and the desire to learn. I might not learn new concepts every time, but I always come away with a new tool, a new technique, a new idea that will help me be a better marketer. I think it’s really important for everyone in this industry to stay humble and have an open mind. I don’t think everyone does, but I think it’s important – that’s how I approach learning and I’ve never regretted it!
I think most would agree with me when I call SMX West 2013 the “Conference for Content.” Continue reading
First up is the SEOMom, Gillian Muessig, Founding President Emeritus, 
To make contests relevant and successful you need to have a prize of significance, prizes of relevance, don’t give away someone else’s product, Push the promotion.
First up is 
How to turn your community ….. Something I totally missed the first slide, it went by at light speed. You need to determine if you’re building the right audience. Building a community isn’t just digital.
The key things that make it different is 1) It does something useful in a new way. Basically bookmarking with images – easier to process than a list in a feed. 2) it solves a problem; and 3) it appeals to publishers, curators, seekers and stashers. Oh – and it’s easy to use.
People ask John if he thinks Google+ will last, he doesn’t know but they pushed all in with it, so they’re in trouble if it doesn’t.
