It’s time I finally recap my experience at Blogworld 2009 in Las Vegas.

In one word “Awesome”.

Since I’ve been working for myself consulting and building Charles & Hudson I spend a huge amount of time alone and behind the computer screen and not nearly enough time building face-to-face relationships and hearing from folks who have something to share about blogging and the business of blogging.

The conference started out with a keynote from Richard Jalichandra, CEO of Technorati. I’ve been a Technorati user for years and often referred to it to see who linked to me and to measure the reach of my blog. In the past year or two I’ve become much less reliant on Technorati as Google started indexing blogs and I started pulling in real-time referral data from my RSS reader, Google Alerts and Sitemeter. Jalichandra is convinced that Technorati has changed with the market and will again be a leader in the blogosphere. Time will tell but if I no longer reference Technorati since my authority fell back to 1 and never updates.

The greatest bit of serendipity from the show started from the keynote when I happened to be seated behind Rebecca Orlov. Rebecca and I had emailed briefly through her Blog Out Loud organization in Los Angeles and at the keynote she was furiously tweeting the event. I couldn’t help but notice her laptop screen was opened to her Blog Out Loud Twitter account so I made an introduction. As nice as she was online she was even sweeter in person and we’ve since struck up a great friendship which was enough to make Blogworld a success for me. Fortunately there were many more people to meet and things to learn.

After the keynote I took some time to walk through the Expo. It was a small selection of vendors and in less than an hour I was able to narrow down who I felt revisiting later in the show.

My intention for attending Blogworld was to reinvigorate and refocus my blogging efforts. Monetizing my blog and building an audience were the workshops I was most keen on attending. One of the most amazing panels consisted of Brian Clark of Copyblogger, Darren Rowse of Problogger, John Chow and Zac Johnson. Brian and Darren by far provided the most insight for me and what I’m trying to achieve. I’ve been reading Problogger for about a year now and both he and Brian keep things simple and not too sensationalized.

I came up through the blogging ranks in NYC and the blogs/websites I admired were successful through hard work, great style and obsessive focus. Gawker, Curbed, Gothamist and Apartment Therapy were all daily reads for me and to this day none of them place a 300×250 Google Adsense ad in the left middle of their content. Obviously they are big enough to survive via other means but their editorial focus hasn’t “sold out” and that’s a line I’m trying to walk with Charles & Hudson.

Another great monetizing workshop was most interesting to me because the moderator Dave Taylor kept things on target. I had the pleasure to chat with Dave briefly at the expo and like most folks I ran into at Blogworld he was open, knowledgeable and showed interest in my work. Dave made it clear that when monetizing blogs you need to keep moving and adjusting on a weekly, daily or hourly basis. If a program or product isn’t performing to your standards try something else. You can always go back to something that worked but you’ll never learn and possibly earn more if you don’t give other networks or ads a shot.

The main theme I took away from Blogworld was “Influence”. I sat in on Micah Baldwin as he and his panel chatted about building authority and creating relationships. This is something I’ve always strongly believed in and through Micah’s candid approach and by sharing his own experiences building brands it was easy to see how important this is. Chris Brogan the author of Trust Agents is another must follow for social media advice. He’s got a long running disagreement with Guy Kawasaki as to how Twitter should be used and although I’ve been a longtime fan of Guy I’ve got to side with Chris on this one. Twitter is about relationships and real people not automated tweets and bombarding followers with multiple tweets of the same content. I can’t follow Guy anymore because of this. Just because a tool can do something doesn’t mean you do it.

To summarize. The attendees and speakers I met were all interested in learning and teaching and everyone seemed open to sharing. The Tweet screens that were up at every keynote and speaker panel was a fun interactive way to follow the discussion as well as ask questions and take part in the conversation from your seat. There was so much more I didn’t have time to check out such as the video and podcast sessions. There was also a large contingent that swears by affiliate marketing but I have yet to really give that a shot.

I’d definitely recommend this conference to anyone interested in starting a blog, building their blog, growing their audience or monetizing their site.

See you in 2010!

The answer is of course not! This article from the New York Times ponders a Facebook backlash and the Wall Street Journal chimes in with the notion of how Facebook can ruin friendships. There is truth to various parts of these articles but fortunately Facebook keeps on growing not only in scale but also in evolving to what users want and not forcing changes or restrictions upon them.

Emily Post would have a field day writing about the general lack of manners online but when it comes to Facebook it’s easy to manage your account to shut out the noise and also limit what some “friends” see. Be it political or a matter of not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings, we all add friends that we know we’d never sit down with for a drink or invite to a ball game. Do you really want to know what these same people are doing 24/7 especially if they update constantly and conversely do you want to give them access to all of your photos and personal information?

The Facebook lists are incredibly powerful feature and you can select your privacy level with each list. Chris Brogan shares his approach to managing his Facebook account and if you follow the similar steps you’ll have much more confidence in using your profile as well as knowledge in knowing that people only see what you want them to see.

So reconsider the notion that Facebook has become the new MySpace until it actually happens.

After a tough loss this week, Robert Henson an inactive rookie from the Washington Redskins, tweeted “All you fake half hearted Skins fan can .. I won’t go there but I dislike you very strongly, don’t come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!”

He also wrote: “The question is who are you to say you know what’s best for the team and you work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds.”

Understandably the team, management and veteran players were upset with him. Beyond the fact that he’s entirely wrong in this situation. Fans pay good money to watch a team and part of attending a game is the opportunity to boo or cheer even if it is your home team.

Again this is a situation of someone who is new to the public eye and making a comment that they would never send out through their press agent but don’t realize that their Twitter account is just or even more powerful than a press release.

The NFL and players association should encourage all players to embrace social media. Obviously not to participate in posting updates during team functions or anywhere that talking on a cell phone would be inappropriate. Fans continue to crave an inside perspective and Twitter provides a direct conduit from fans to players.

The NFL should immediately layout clear guidelines in regards to social media beyond their initial list of rules. Fines should be levied against those who break the rules. The NFL rookie symposium should dedicate at least a good 2-3 hours covering this but the NFL shouldn’t be scared of Twitter, they just need to learn how to make it work for them or this won’t be the last time we hear of this issue.

***UPDATE***
Robert Henson has not reacted by quitting Twitter. Maybe he couldn’t handle all the negative @replies but now he’s gone and cut the lifeline that would have also been his best way to redemption. Well done Mr. Henson.

***UPDATE II***
Busy day for NFL players and Twitter. Larry Fitzgerald’s brother is complaining via Twitter that Kurt Warner sucks.

It’s fair to say that Dahlism is pre-occupied with Twitter but when stories about President Obama calling Kanye West a “jackass” are broke on Twitter, then the world should realize how the lives of public officials and regular folk have changed. Even though his comment was “off-the record”, the casual nature of Twitter and easy of tweeting made this the perfect type of tweet to go viral.

Just another reminder that with great power comes great responsibility and Twitter provides you with both.

A couple months ago Facebook announced they would allow users to acquire vanity URLs so your personal account would be http://www.facebook.com/timothydahl (insert my name with yours). It was basically a land rush and as soon as they turned on the service you could grab your name and it would be yours to use. For Facebook it was genius. It brought them more press and more importantly an opportunity for all of their users to promote their Facebook profiles with all of their offline and out-of-network friends.

I’m fortunate enough to not have a super common name and I actually forgot about this announcement but was still able to grab my name the next day. What have I done with it? Nothing. It’s comforting to know I have it but beyond that it does nothing for me nor my friends who, if they visit my profile, are doing so while already perusing Facebook. I would also prefer to promote my name before Facebook and since I own my domain name I can use it for just that. Although I have yet to set it up I can go with:

timothydahl.com/facebook
timothydahl.com/twitter
timothydahl.com/whateveriwant

If you’re a business or manage a Facebook page it’s a bit tougher to get your own vanity page URL as Facebook requires 1000 fans. I’ve done nothing to promote our page for Dahlism but plan to build this page up shortly. If you’re so inclined friend us and we’ll only be 999 fans away from our own URL!

There are many social networks that I don’t have any presence on and don’t feel it’s as important. I rank the importance of a social network profile in how well that social network ranks in search engines (Google). Ultimately your own domain name is the most important and I’m wondering how many babies these days are named via available domains?

Here’s how I would rank the steps to acquiring and controlling your online identity.

1. Vanity Domain – You can have a primary domain that’s not your full name but you should also have your first and last name with a .com and maybe even a .net and point that domain to your primary domain.

2. LinkedIn – LinkedIn profiles rank very high in Google and as they offer professional information about you it’s important that your profile comes up quickly when a possible employer or date “Googles” you.

3. Facebook – This social network also ranks high with Google but you should be cautious about what you post in updates, on your wall, and in your photo gallery (also what others post about you). I’ll cover ways to manage this in a later article. Facebook ranks well and also shows a bit of personality as it shows people what pages you are a fan of and what network you belong too.

4. Twitter – Your actual name isn’t as vital here but always helps to have especially if you are a business. As the influence of Twitter the value of your own name will only increase.

5. All other networks – I know I’ve ignored some big ones here that have millions of users so please prove me wrong in the comments if I’ve left one off. MySpace is great for some people but to me it’s not a vital network to be a part of if you want to control your identity especially if you have all of your other bases covered.

More Dahlism available:

Dahlism on Twitter
Dahlism on Facebook
Timothy Dahl’s LinkedIn

As celebrities and public figures continue to use Twitter as a mouthpiece for public relations they will also be held responsible and liable for every statement they post on Twitter, good or bad. Just like anyone, celebrities can be sensible or rude and clueless when it comes to their social media updates.

Recently I came across this great blog that is focused on new media and the law. Specifically the area of defamation on the internet. We all may be lulled into the feeling that just because it’s easy to make a statement online by just turning on your computer and posting a blog entry or Twitter update, these types of actions can be used in a court of law.

Recently internet celebrity and MTV personality Tila Tequila accused NFL star Shawne Merriman of choking and restraining her. He countered that he was only trying to keep her from leaving his home while intoxicated. The truth probably lies somewhere in between but because Tila Tequila decided to tweet numerous statements (that were subsequently deleted) that may have had incriminating in a court, the DA decided not to pursue charges against Merriman.

Perez Hilton, no stranger to lawsuits or Twitter spats, had it out with Kirstie Alley on Twitter. She was over the top on her comments while he maintained his composure and never threatened her. This all broke out because of his recent Twitter fight with Demi Moore regarding her daughters outfit.

Even as these celebs get more savvy so will the number of “famous for being famous” celebrities who have little or no PR experience and will wish to continue their 15 minutes through any medium available.

Have you ever come across a great blog and you’d like to give the blogger positive feedback or ask them a question but nowhere is their contact email available? This is the first of “5 Blog Annoyances” that I often run across. Their are many great blogs on the blogger network but the only reason I post that screenshot is that for some reason a high proportion of the blog annoyances listed below are in the blogger network. This is probably attributed to newbie bloggers who are looking for a free and easy way to start making a fortune or sharing their life with the world.

1. No Contact Email Address – It’s perfectly fine if you wish to blog anonymously and don’t expect any feedback or contact from those who find your blog. But when it’s obvious you want readers to comment or send you tips or advertise and you leave no contact information, then your blog is going nowhere fast.

2. Required Registration and no URL signature – Building a community and contact list is important for many big and small-time blogs and one of the most common ways of adding to your list is by requiring readers to register before commenting on a blog post. If it’s fast and easy than great! I’m all for it, but many times it is a slow, confusing and cumbersome process and you leave the blog before posting your comment. The other drawback is that these registration systems often times don’t allow you to enter the URL of your own blog or website which typically would highlight your name and link to your site which is great for building your own audience and simply letting other commenters know more about you.

I’ve been using a third-party commenting system on Charles & Hudson called Disqus for a couple years now and have found it much more user-friendly than the default Movable Type system. Since I’ve had success with it I’ve implemented it Wordpress which you can see on Dahlight. Disqus continues to roll-out new features and stays abreast of the always moving social media landscape and I highly recommend them for your blog.

3. No RSS or Twitter Feed – To be honest since I’ve been using Twitter I don’t check into my RSS reader as often as I should but I always want the option when visiting a blog to add their feed to my reader and any blogger should want to build their RSS subscriber base as much as they can. Use a service such as Feedburner to track your subscribers and allow them to subscribe using any time of reader. I now get a lot of my news from my various Twitter feeds which I’ve segmented using Seesmic and I love seeing blogs with Twitter accounts as I feel I can get a greater sense of what they are about beyond their regular or irregular posts.

4. No Content – In the early days C&H was guilty of basically being a link aggregator with no original content. We’d link to an interesting story inside a sentence or paragraph about it and leave it at that. Sometimes this works but in the long-run these posts had little SEO juice and didn’t create the depth I feel a blog should have to really connect with readers. Content is king so they say and original content stating your own opinions and viewpoints will always resonate with readers much more than a brief critique of others.

5. Too Many Ads – We all (almost all) want to make money blogging but throwing ads on your site when you’ve only got 1, 2 or 3 posts is an immediate turn off. Give your blog some time to gain traction and readership and make sure your first set of ads are not obtrusive or take away from your content.

These 5 blog annoyances are easily overcome and if remedied will make a world of difference to your readers.

Perez Hilton vs. Demi & Ashton

Just as I take notice of the Tweet battle brewing between Tila Tequila and Shawne Merriman, an even juicer showdown is occurring between Perez Hilton (the most famous celebrity blogger in the world) and the Hollywood duo of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Typically I might smell a celebrity PR stunt for publicity but since it involves Demi’s daughter Tallulah I feel it’s a legitimate squabble.

The LA Times blog has the details which involve a back and forth on (you guessed it!) Twitter. All three combatants happen to be among the most popular celebrities on Twitter and have been known to create PR buzz through other stunts played out on Twitter so this battle has the makings of a classic with a possible finale played out on Ustream for the world to watch.

Books can and will be written about how Perez Hilton, like Tila Tequila, became internet and then mainstream celebrities. He seems to be willing to take on the establishment of other celebrities who ply their craft via old school methods such as acting, singing, or participating in beauty pageants. What is ironic about his latest spat is that previously Perez railed against Miss California, Carrie Prejean, and in turn the born-again Christians as she stated her opinion on same-sex marriage which he vehemently disagrees with. This time he’s taking the “high-road” and criticizing Demi Moore’s 15-year old daughter, Tallulah, and the way she dresses which he finds inappropriate. If a parent starts taking child-rearing opinions from Perez Hilton then they’ve got bigger issues and methinks Demi is probably already over this.

p.s. – Perez weighs in on the D-List Twitter war between Rachel Zoe and a Real New York Housewife. Damn is Dahlism getting off track here! But hopefully this drives home a point.

Tila Tequila and Shawne Merriman

Celebrities used to be restrained by their PR firms who delicately leaked statements to the press and the eyes of public opinion were glued to mainstream media which were controlled by these spin gurus. But since social media (Twitter in particular) has been grasped by celebrities, they now have an unedited megaphone from which to spew their intelligence or lack thereof.

Social media has also given rise to personalities who have become celebs through these channels such as “Tila Tequila” who before MySpace would have had to rely on nightclub exploits covered by the tabloids to eventually become as popular as she is now and still would probably never reach the audience she currently speaks to.

This past weekend news broke that Shawne Merriman, a popular football player for the San Diego Chargers, was involved in a physical altercation with his girlfriend, Tila Tequila. Without delving into the details which are widely available online, what I’ve found most fascinating is how this has played out in our current state of digesting news. Mainstream media outlets such as CNN and the LA Times used to be the first to deliver news through a staff of investigative journalists but now these same journalists are following the same twitter feeds that anyone can subscribe to for statements directly from the celebrities themselves (or their web savvy PR consultants). Mr. Merriman may want to temper his tweets as he’s going up against one of the most savvy social media personalities of all-time in Tila Tequila. She’s risen to popularity by manipulating online audiences and media to meet her objectives which I assume are fame and minor fortune.

As you and the media continue to watch how this drama unfolds, be assured that it will be the first of many that are now played out as a live stream in your Twitter feed which is now the place to turn for breaking and ongoing news, especially from celebrities.

I’m headed to Honolulu, HI at the end of the month to launch the website and online marketing campaign for the Joe Aloha Food Truck of Joe Aloha Catering. Mobile lunch wagons have been around for a long time but only recently have they become “hip” by offering more than the standard taco, hot dog and greasy food fare.

Much has been written on the success of KogiBBQ and their reliance on Twitter to share their location and food status with an always hungry group of 42k+ followers. But it’s also their unique melding of Korean/Mexican cuisine that helps build on the buzz. David Chang of Momofuku (superb pork dumplings) in NYC was one of the first to venture into this style by opening Momofuku Ssäm Bar which at one point specialized in Asian burritos.

Joe Aloha will not be serving Mexican or Korean as they stake their reputation on true Hawaiian food that would have been popular 30 years ago and not the typical BBQ and mac salad that has come to represent current day Hawaiian casual food. They will offer an assortment of smoked meats, fresh vegetables and grilled fish on a daily basis at locations throughout Honolulu and the island of Oahu.

The owner of Joe Aloha, James “Kimo” Akaka, has been schooled in fine kitchens such as Luttece but has returned to his roots as the premier caterer of Hawaiian food in Honolulu. His lunch wagon will provide islanders with his fine food 5 days a week so you’ll no longer have to search out events catered by him to enjoy his grindz.

More updates to follow from paradise…