Enter to Win Full Pass to Blog World Expo 2009 in Las Vegas
Webgrrls International often receives tickets to industry events and we have three FREE Weekend passes to attend the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas that we want to offer to our members. The dates for the Conference are October 16-17. The value of each pass is $495.
If you are interested in the opportunity to attend the conference, please let us know by clicking on this link and entering your name and membership id. You must be a member to participate…so, if you are not a Webgrrls member or your membership is not current, please Join or Renew your membership now.
We will randomly determine who receives the ticket for the conference at 3:00PM on August 21. Please note that if you are selected, you will be responsible for your flight and hotel accommodations and other personal expenses.
See Conference Overview
Enter to win
Also, all Webgrrls are eligible to receive a 20% discount to attend the event. Be sure to enter discount code: WGVIP when registering.
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BlogHer ’09: The Geek Lab Sessions
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| Photo by veesees on Flickr |
“Wow! I now know how to solve the issue with my site!” Is exactly what I like to hear as an instructor…knowing that someone is connecting with the information that I am sharing. So, I was thrilled when I heard that exclaimed from the back of the room in one of my sessions.
I had the privilege of teaching four sessions at the BlogHer ’09 conference this year. I was slated for three: HTML for bloggers, PHP for bloggers, and Apache and was asked to conduct a fourth when the original presenter of the htaccess session had an emergency come up and couldn’t make the session.
Each year the BlogHer conferences get better and better and each year they are getting geekier and geekier…hmmm, I wonder if there is a correlation. As a true geek, I would have to say “of course”. I have been on the BlogHer Tech Committee since 2006 and I am happy to see the progression of geekiness at the BlogHer events.
This year, all of the technical sessions were called “Geek Labs” and were focused on providing quick hands-on tutorials on many topics surrounding blogging and were for those bloggers who wanted to get their hands a little dirty and find out what’s under the hood.
This being a blogging conference, I was concerned that no one would show up to my sessions but to my surprise, I had full rooms for the HTML and PHP sessions and a goodly crowd at the other two more technical sessions. It really continues to show a real need and strong desire of many of the attendees to understand more about technology and learn the skills they need to help them succeed as they adopt the tools that will make them more efficient in their efforts.
Watch Wren from Wrenassaince & Jill from scarymommy.com share their Geek Lab experiences in these short videos.
Also, check out the recaps from Virgina Debolt & Liz Henry, who taught some of the other Geek Lab sessions.
Thank you to all who attended the Geek Labs this year and I hope to see you all again next year at the BlogHer ‘10 conference in New York City. If you have any suggestions on Geek sessions for BlogHer ‘10, please let me know and I will be sure to pass them on to the BlogHer team.
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HTML for Bloggers
Today, I conducted an HTML for Bloggers workshop at BlogHer ‘09 conference. The workshop was designed to help bloggers understand the basics of HTML to help them gain more control over how their content displays on a page.
We covered some of the most common HTML tags, commands, and attributes that would be useful to bloggers.
You can view & download the presentation & resources for further learning below. To download, click on the menu icon at the bottom left corner of the slideshare screen and select the “Download Presentation” option.
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Small Business and Social Media
A friend of mine has a small fashion business based in Brooklyn, where she makes clothes, accessories, and bags from recycled items. She is very talented, if I do say so myself, and I feel for her and others who are in business for themselves and trying to stay afloat during these difficult times. Before the recession hit, she had three full-time employees; now she has only one part-time seamstress. My friend has designed for several fashion shows, but she has not garnered any significant business, or even been paid any sum of money for her participation in them (the latter, I hear, is commonplace). I cringe to think of the money and effort she has put into making her vision a reality, and the continuing drop in sales.
The situation is far from hopeless, because she continues to build relationships with designers and boutiques in New York City and beyond, using traditional networking and marketing methods. Even with the economy being what it is right now, I know that more can be done to help boost her profile, reputation, and overall sales. While I am no expert, I have learned (along with millions of others) how important an online presence is for small businesses. My friend is also aware of this, and even though it is an overwhelming feat for her, she is learning the more about the power of social media for business. For example, she has a Twitter account for her business, but she has not spent enough time finding and following other users and replying to their posts. When I told her that this was necessary to help expand her networking and marketing possibilities, she was both surprised and intimidated by the process.
To help my friend overcome her micro-blogging fears, I encouraged her to attend the Webgrrls Workshop: How to Use Twitter for Business on July 29 in New York City. I know there are many entrepreneurs like her who are unaware of the power of social media, and its networking and marketing advantages. Some are so overwhelmed by other aspects of their businesses that they have given up, or won’t even attempt to enter, the world of social media. My friend knows she cannot afford to be afraid anymore, so I know she will soak up as much as she can from the upcoming WG Workshop. It may be cliché to say it, but “knowledge is power,” and we all need as much of it as we can get.
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How to: Create a Share on Twitter link for Wordpress Blog
Sometimes when you need a marketing tool…you just have to build it yourself…I wanted to implement a way that our readers (who use twitter) could let their followers know when they were reading a great blog post on the Webgrrls International Blog…Webgrrls Wisdom.
So, I have recently created “Share on Twitter” functionality and link on the Webgrrls Wisdom blog and you can use this functionality too…for your blog and for extending your brand.
Here is how it works
When readers click on the “Share on Twitter” link after they are finished reading the post, the following twitter entry automatically gets posted to their twitter account:
Currently reading on Webgrrls: Title of Blog Post & Shortened url to the blog post (ie. Currently reading on Webgrrls: Book Clubs for User Experience Professionals http://tinyurl.com/kmm9oy)
Now, when you do it, of course, it will have your blog name and branding information
Here is a step by step guide on how you can implement this feature on your blog:
- Click the download button below to download the plug-in file to your computer.
- Uncompress the downloaded .zip fil and Upload/FTP the tinyurl-functions.php file to your Wordpress /wp-content/plugins directory
- Activate the TinyURL Function plug-in in your Wordpress Admin area.
- Add the following link code to any of your theme files, where you want the “Share on Twitter” link to appear.
<a href=”http://twitter.com/home?status=Currently reading on Webgrrls: <?php the_title(); ?> <?php echo get_tiny_url(post_permalink($id)); ?>” title=”Click to share this post on Twitter”>Share on Twitter</a>
That’s It! it is a easy as 1,2,3,4…Good Luck and get blogging and of course Share it on Twitter!
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