Download - Teresa O’Connor, Keynote Day 2
The Journey of Building A BrandTeresa O’Connor of Seasonal Wisdom
1http://garden-bloggers-conference.com/
Copyright Teresa Connor SeasonalWisdom.com
Please Fasten Your Seat Belts
• A Quick Trip Back to Past• Various Stops Along the Way• Moving Forward
– 7 Social Media Steps to Success• What’s Your Direction?
http://garden-bloggers-conference.com/ Copyright Teresa Connor
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But First, Let’s RewindBack to ...
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2009
My Journey Began
• Professional Writer ... With strong background in marketing and PR.
• Master Gardener ... Trying to break into gardening and food writing.
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Three Women Pushed Me On
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Seasonal Wisdom Was Born
• New blog• New creative direction• New way to network
Baby Steps
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2009 – 2011: Glory Years of Twitter
• Lots of excitement• Everyone “new”• More interaction• Less self-promotion• Conversations galore• Many friendships began
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GWA 2009
• First Tweet-Up Ever• Hosted by @HelenYoest• All “knew” each other• Instant recognition• Steps ahead already!
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You Can Still Benefit from Twitter
We’ll talk about HOW in a minute.
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Next Stops on Journey
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But most of us met on Twitter...
Unexpected Side Trip• 3 Months on Twitter• Asked to Co-Author• First Crowd-Sourced
Garden Book• Social Media Driven• Recipes, photos, ideas
from across the globehttp://garden-bloggers-conference.com/
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Grocery Gardening TeamOther Authors:• Jean Ann Van Krevelan
@JeanAnnVK• Amanda Thompsen
@KissMyAster• Robin Ripley
@RobinRipleyhttp://garden-bloggers-conference.com/
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12100 % Virtual Team
Next Stop? Podcasting
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Nest In Style on iTunes
Co-host: Jayme Jenkins @JaymeJenkins
Interviewed Nearly Everybody
• Rosalind Creasy (Leader in Edible Landscaping)
• Magazine editors, garden designers, book authors and more...
Recorded on iPhone
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Nest in Style Interviews• Garden designers like @SusanCohan (NYC
metro) and @SweetRebecca (San Francisco)• Garden Show organizers like @JanetEndsley
(Northwest Flower & Garden Show - @NWFGS)• Garden editors at @FineGardening @SunsetMag• Book authors like @DebraLBaldwin
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Benefits of Podcasts
• Met lots of people• Gained knowledge• Got great content• Built relationships• Showed skills
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Nest in Style Hort Radio
Monthly Segments for Horticulture Magazinehttp://garden-bloggers-conference.com/
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Next Stop? A New Look
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Moved On to WordPress
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Web design and technical help - Fern Richardson of LifeOnTheBalcony.com
Kicked Off with Week of Giveaways
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Hasn’t Slowed Down Yet...
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Trip Highlights
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Garden2Blog with P. Allen Smith
One of “Ten Great Garden Blogs,” P. Allen Smith.
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Two Years of Garden2Blog Invites
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Best Part? Meet Other Bloggers
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• @UrbanGardens• @OurLittleAcre• @LifeOnTheBlcny• @HelenYoest• @MulchMaven• @PunkRockGardens• And many more fun,
talented writers...
Bing’s Summer of Doing Vertical Gardening Expert
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Speaking OpportunitiesPanel on Incredible Edibles Talks from Boston to Boise
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Joe Lamp’l, Willi Galloway and Graham Kerr “Galloping Gourmet”
Resource for Garden Companies
Pleasant Valley/GrowOrganic.com Burpee’s Blog
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Edible flowers video on company site Herb tips in Burpee’s blog
Media Source Gardening, Food, Folklore
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Columbia News Wire Story Multiple Stories on Seasonal Folklore
Editors Started Calling
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National Garden Authors Team
What About Your Journey?
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Success You Want1. Often when you’re most discouraged, the
phone will ring. Keep moving forward.2. It’s easy to forget what you’ve accomplished.
Schedule time to pat yourself on back.3. Success is much easier when you’re working
with others. Find travel companions.
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Seven Steps to Social Media Success
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#1 – Think Outside YourselfYou are NOT alone:• Share like crazy• RT/FB shares/ G+• Reach out to others• Join conversations• Promote more than self
Social Media = Communityhttp://garden-bloggers-conference.com/
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From the Very Beginning ...
• Stories about others:– Favorite plants– Favorite projects– Favorite seasonal tips– Favorite recipes– Favorite books– Reviews of their books
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Speaking of Recipes ...May Wine from
OurLifeinIdaho.Blogspot.comTomato Sauce from FoodandStyle.com
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Four out of Five Hall of Fame Nominations for
“Best Overall Blog”Already featured on
SeasonalWisdom.com
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#2 – Collaborate• Partner with others• Interview others• Form “support” groups• Link to each other
Garden Designers Roundtable
http://gdrt.wordpress.com/
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Guest Contributors
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Plus! 5 Reasons Bloggers DON’T want Guest Posts @ TeresaTOconnor.com
#3 – Provide Value• Go the extra mile• “News they can use”• Links, photos, research,
other sources• Think refrigerator
journalism – would they hang this on fridge?
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#4 - Entertain
• Show versatility• Give hard-to-find info• Do unexpected• Make them laugh
Would you want to follow you on Twitter?
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#5 - Reciprocate
• Repay “favors”• Show gratitude• Do unto others ...
Reciprocity makes the social media world turn.
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BonBonBreak.com
• Features other bloggers• Promotes weekly• Receives lots of
RTs/shares
Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook support
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#6 – Step Up!
• Speak at garden events• Do podcasts• Consider products• Support community• #gardenchat, #rosechat,
#treechat, #groundchat
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Gardeners on TwitterBrenda Haas @BG_garden
#gardenchat @TheGardenChat
Monday 9 p.m. ET
Trends on TwitterOften reaches 100K folks via 100+ participants.
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Rose Lovers #RoseChat
• Hosts: Chris VanCleave @RedneckRosarian, Teresa Byington @AGardenDiary
• Podcast, Twitter chats, and more...
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Gardeners on Pinterest• Pamela Price of
Redwhiteandgrew.com• Vegetable Garden
Bloggers + Garden Bloggers on Pinterest
• Garden bloggers share posts, reach thousands
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7 – Stay on the Right Path
• What feels right?• Is it still fun?• Are you growing?• Showcasing your skills?• Time for new direction?
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Questions to Ask Yourself
• What matters most to you? Fun? Portfolio? $?• What does “success” mean to you?• Advertising? Guest Posts? Giveaways?• Who could help with writing, photos, design?• What stories do you want to tell?
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Trip Report Summary
1. Blogging is a journey, filled with unexpected surprises.
2. You never quite know where you’ll end up.3. Don’t go alone ... travel with others who
inspire you.
http://garden-bloggers-conference.com/ Copyright Teresa Connor
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A Few More Travel Companions• Growing a Greener World @GGWTV• Leaf Magazine at @LeafMag• Theresa Loe @TheresaLoe• Robin Haglund @GardenMentor• Nancy Wallace @SassyNancy• Niki Jabbour @NikiJabbour• Annie Haven @GreenSoil• LaManda Joy @TheYarden• Carole Sevilla Brown @CB4wildlife• Kerry Michaels @ContainerGarden• Lynn Felici-Gallant @IndigoGardens• Chris McLaughlin @Suburban_Farmer• Maggie Lawrence @BackyardWisdom• Kathy Vilim @NativeGardener
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Plus, so many more...
Wherever You’re Heading ...Enjoy the Ride
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Any Questions?
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www.SeasonalWisdom.com
Photos Courtesy of Flickr and ...Amphalon
Crazy House CapersDamian Gadal
Enoksonerjkprunczyk
H is for HomePamla J. EisenbergThrift Store Addict
UpNorth Memorieshttp://garden-bloggers-conference.com/
Copyright Teresa Connor SeasonalWisdom.com
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