@ Adam – I only figured out in the last couple of days that you are going to be there – I’m PSYCHED to meet you!! And yes, that is indeed a good challenge!

@ Sheila – I think that a lot of people don’t realize how much they lean on blogs for information based on how well they rank in search results. SEO is really one of the best ways to reach out beyond our own “ice cream cone”. I’ve got a few more ideas up my sleeve – but I’m going to also put the audience to task in my presentation!

I’d like ideas about getting our voices into print media and TV media; I like your idea of offering syndication to the local paper.

We are very much a “self-licking ice cream cone.”

I think I’d like to hear about how to make your blog/site something that people are passionate about. A place they love to go. A place that has the power to change people’s lives.

If it’s about the “in crowd”, then my question would be, “How can I make every visitor feels as if they are magically a part of the in crowd?”

How’s that for a challenge?

I explain that most business, organizations, etc will have blogs now, and its an excellent way of getting some feedback on things you have questions about. Every read articles from an author that you truly enjoy? Find their blog and ask them all those burning questions you had about their latest project! Have some company you have a major gripe about? You can track them down also! LOL! Want to learn and discuss issues about hobbies, your industry? There are alot of people out in cyberspace that have some good quality information that you can really learn from, and share with others your experiences.

I honestly don’t think the blog deal has hit their hit or anywhere near yet! These blogs are amazing, and also give you a chance to get what you need out as well!

Also, Lorna, I do promise to post something about my presentation after the event. I’ll likely video/audio record it too, but I’m not sure if we will be posting those to the public.

My question: Do we really want to get out of blogosphere? Where readers would be puzzled why would somebody start his site with the end, not with the beginning? Where readers would get lost in sidebars, blogrolls, ads, widgets, and other stuff? Where readers would not know that they CAN submit a comment? Where readers have no idea that there’s a dialog out there?

I asked myself all these questions just before I started blogging: I was sure those people were nuts, because they started with the end, when I wanted to read a story from the beginning. They were nuts because they made annotations at the end of the pages, instead writing new ones. They were nuts because they kicked you off their site each time you clicked a link.

Now I think different and it is very possible that in a few years from now, all internet users will think different. Then, we will have internet = blogosphere.

I hope you are able to do a write-up of your presentation for those of us who can’t make it to SOBCon. I’d love to see what you come up with!

While I am still focused on getting links (because my Technorati ranking gets me ridiculously excited), I would love to get some ideas on how to get non-bloggers with an interest in my topic (environmentalism and personal development) to start reading my posts. Perhaps you could focus on how to market to people in a specific niche . . . I suppose it could be something as simple as passing out business cards or as complex as combing online communities to find the people who would be interested in/benefit from an individual blog.