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Friday, September 26, 2014

How to Blog Like a Rock Star

Blogging Like a Rock Star - Lessons from Mack Collier

Last week, I traveled to Atlanta, GA to attend the Type-A Parent Conference 2014. Besides seeing old friends and meeting new ones, one of the things I was most excited about was hearing Mack Collier speak. I am a faithful #blogchat participant, and I love the ideas Mack and the other regular participants share each week.

Mack was not only speaking, he was the opening keynote - he was the guy setting the tone for the ENTIRE CONFERENCE (no pressure there). His topic? "Think Like a Rock Star - How to Create Fans and Build Community."

Now, let me tell you a little secret . . .I have always wanted to be an actual rock star. I spent much of my teen years singing into a hairbrush in front of a mirror in my room. Truth be told, that may be part of the reason I started my blog in the first place . . .to have my very own stage. And now with Mack's help, I'm going to rock it.

Mack shared stories about how real rock stars, like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, engage their fans and turn them into "super fans".  The poignant thought here:
Rock Stars don't think about the "new" fans - they think about the fans they already have.
So spending my time and energy in search of new people to "like" and "follow" me, may be growing my perceived "reach" - but it may also be leaving my faithful readers in the dust - not something I ever intended to do. So while I was sitting there taking notes, I got an idea for "Fan Friday". 

Each Friday, I plan to take a minute and recognize some "fans" from the week. That may be people that RT'd me on Twitter, engaged on one of my Facebook posts or left me a blog comment. It's a step towards showing the gratitude I feel for each interaction you take the time for.
"Reward the behavior you want to encourage." - Mack Collier
The second brilliant take-away for me was to find the "bigger idea" behind the content you create. So it's not really about the camera for your readers . . .it's about taking amazing photographs. What are some ways you, as a Blogger, can make your content more customer-centric? As a Blogger, it's my job, my responsibility if you will, to create amazing experiences for you, the readers that love (or at least like) me.

So in the weeks to come, I hope you'll start to see a little deeper-level post. A more customer (you) - centric presentation of the content I am sharing. If you don't - I hope you'll call me on it, so we can fix it. Tweet me, leave a comment - whatever you prefer. But keep me honest and help me keep improving the stories and experiences I bring to you.

Unlike a "real" rock star, I perform every day - right here on my blog, so I hope you'll come around and see what I'm up to. Rock on!

catch you soon -

12 comments:

  1. It was a very poignant keynote presentation, addressing something that we all need to have in our minds when we write. Loved it!

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    1. I agree so much Jessica - such great information and reminders . . . sparks a lot of ideas! Thanks for leaving your thoughts!

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  2. You are a rock star in my book Hillary! Love the Fan Friday idea!

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    1. Thank you Robin - how sweet of you. You've been on my list of "must watch" bloggers for years - so thank you for all of your great advice and role modeling!

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  3. Thank you so much Hillary! Glad you enjoyed the keynote and so happy we could finally meet!

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  4. Thank you for sharing this. To me, bloggers like you and a lot of the ones I've met through PSMM and TypeA are already rock stars because you're authentic.

    And, we really need to get together at Ikea! I just realized we had talked about something for the end of September, and October is here already.

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  5. What great ideas! I love that way of thinking about the fans you already have, I've been trying to grow and I think some times I need to step back and make sure i'm interacting with those who were there from the beginning.

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  7. Looking at this from the small business perspective, he put everything I've been reading about and listening to about customer engagement so simply into 2 powerful statements. I love this and am sharing in my business networking group!

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