There are all kinds of great events going on all over the world and I could give a fig about most of them.   But NAMS is proving to be an animal of a different breed and my curiosity is piqued.  After reading comments from many I know and respect, I’ve decided that I just can’t let another NAMS go by.

I can’t sit at home reading tweets from friends who are there – networking, learning and JVing without me!

The next NAMS event is set at the end of January 2010.  It’s located in Atlanta and I’ve just registered to attend so that I could take advantage of the early bird discount. (I saved $500!)

If you’ve been thinking about attending an internet marketing event in 2010, I invite you to consider coming to NAMS.  We can meet and learn together!

And hey, if your seriously considering – seriously consider acting before the end of the month cuz that’s when the early bird price expires.

NAMS (Niche Affiliate Marketing System) is a bi-yearly event hosted by founder, David Perdew. The NAMS event was created for the newbie, intermediate and advanced internet marketer seeking to find out in-depth information on how to profit as an affiliate marketer. One of the things that impressed me about David is his integrity and passion for inspiring others to reach their goals by providing a step-by-step system for anyone with a desire to LEARN, COMMIT and (apply) ACTION.

This past weekend included the above and more. I opted for Intermediate classes, however found myself in the newbie classes as well because I wanted to hear what each speaker had to say on both levels.

I chose to attend NAMS for the opportunity to gain additional insight into affiliate marketing as well as to meet people ‘in person’. Having been online for over 10 years, it was time to see people in person, to get a feel for who they really are ‘off’ the computer. Seeing people for the first time was truly an experience that I’ll treasure for a very long time. Everyone was so friendly, hugs were exchanged, private conversations took place, getting to know each other on a more personal level happened all weekend!

Nothing Beats a Live Event

Live events offer the opportunity to talk in a way that’s somewhat challenging via instant messaging or emails and sometimes the phone. I have this thing about looking people in their eyes to see who’s really in there (LOL!), what they’re REALLY all about and I have to say, out of all the people I met there, I saw authenticity and passion along with a sincere warmth towards others.

All attendees were required to sign a NDA (non-disclosure agreement), we aren’t able to discuss the specifics about the event outside of the event. But I will say that the speakers who stood out most for *me* were, Lynn Terry, Willie Crawford, Cindy Dawson, Traci Knoppe (breakout session) and David Perdew because they speak from the heart, not to say that others weren’t good, it’s just that these are the ones who made a lasting impression for me. In other words, they don’t hold back like at some events that you attend that are only designed to tease you and then attempt to sell you various packages from the back of the room. The majority of the speakers were all about (sincerely) helping the attendees understand the topics they were covering and a few setup assignments to be completed before the end of the sessions.

On Friday evening, I had the awesome opportunity to chat with Nicole Dean. Her conversations provide substance. In other words, she’s inspiring, encouraging, motivating and a beautiful person to be around. She helped me realize some things about my business by providing tips and ideas that when applied will produce awesome results. I’m thoroughly grateful for the time spent with her.

The highlight of the event was the video that was created “How to Create Products In Less Than 90 Minutes Using Recordings” that was done right there at the event! It was so cool watching it come together. I think sometimes we make things more complicated than they should be by being analytical, wasting time and procrastinating. Anyway, I’m in the video but the funny thing is that I was talking so fast that I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence. This is an example of what NOT to do when asked to do a video off the cuff! You can see me in the video, meant to say ‘do teleseminars the right way’!  (I’ve done several teleseminars before), it was a hoot, I couldn’t stop laughing.

A couple of my friends were getting on me about the bluetooth that I kept in my ear all weekend, (I’m ALWAYS available for my customers) but one of the things I learned is how to trust your team to handle things while you’re away… I’m working on it

If you’re wondering if you should attend an event, I encourage you to seriously think about it. What’s your reason for going? What are you looking to walk away with? What can you contribute? What do you need to brush up on? What new things do you need to learn to better your business?

I left NAMS with my mind racing at 100mph! Now to put those ideas into action. Whether you’re a newbie or an advanced business owner, there is always room for networking and higher learning. Willie Crawford spoke a message that I’ll place on my office wall and that is after planning: “The Speed of Execution Is Very Important.”

Regina Baker is the co-creator of Wahmcart and an Ecommerce Solutions Advisor. Wahmcart is a full ecommerce software solution for work at home moms without the huge price tag. She’s dedicated to educating the small business individual (sole proprietors) and companies with ecommerce solutions that will allow them to work smarter, not harder while at the same time providing an affordable solution that the “average” person can afford.

The NFIB Virtual Summit is an exciting, informal online conference we are hosting on September 15, 2009.  No travel arrangements are necessary – you can attend from the convenience of your home or office!    In case you are not familiar with NFIB – we are the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.  NFIB’s mission is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow their businesses.

NFIB is proud to be the host of the Virtual Summit because now – more than ever, it is important for small businesses and entrepreneurs to come together to participate in open dialogues about critical issues that are directly affecting your business.

Who should attend the summit and why will it be beneficial to them?

This virtual conference is focused on entrepreneurs and small business owners.  It will give them a chance to meet and network with peers and industry experts.  This conference format is an exciting new way to connect, discuss the issues, learn from experts, and most importantly – find solutions to better your business.

What features/topics will be discussed at the NFIB Virtual Summit?

Inside the virtual “Auditorium” – NFIB, eBay, Google and Facebook will present webcasts on topics including:  “The Keys to Success for Your eBay Sales”, “Digital Marketing and Social Networking”, “Healthcare for Small Business”, and “Focus on the Economy”.

Will there be any Q & A sessions available for those attending that may have questions about topics talked about?

Each of the webcasts in the “Auditorium” will be followed by a scheduled chat session in the “Networking Café”.  Attendees will have the opportunity to ask industry experts questions – live!

Looking at the site I see an auditorium, exhibit hall, networking cafe, resource center and information. Can you explain what those areas are for and how they will work during the conference?

From the main lobby, there are numerous rooms to explore.  You can download free resources into your “virtual tote bag” in the “Resource Center”.  The “Exhibit Hall” will feature sponsor booths including eBay, Google, Solveras, Dun & Bradstreet, as well as our media sponsor, SBTV.  The booths will include prize giveaways, free small business resources, and will be staffed by company representatives to answer any questions you may have.  The Networking Café will be open for people to connect and network, exchange virtual business cards, participate in live schedules chats, as well as contribute to the “Hot Topics” message boards.

Registration is free with the promo code bgg737.   Register online at:  www.NFIB.com/VirtualSummit

Last week’s Spark an Idea Thursday was about Making ‘Real Life’ Connections With People You Know Online.

Interestingly enough, my Spark an Idea round up post is late because I was away from the home office ;ast Thursday and Friday making several great ‘real life connections’ with women I’ve met online over the last six years

Here’s what our Sparkplugging Author’s have to say:

• Leslie says to attend live events.
• Traci recommends joining the Smart Solopreneurs Meetup Group.
• Lynette says to be the first to reach out to someone else.
• Michelle suggests picking up the phone to talk with your customers.
• Brandie likes to have virtual coffee with people. (I’ve had VC with her before!)

If you’d like to chime in on next week’s Spark an Idea topic – “Spark an Idea about Motivating Others” , we’d love to have you join in.  Grab our image and make your post by 9am EST on Thursday the 23rd, then tweet me to let me know and I’ll include you in the round up post here on Sparkplug CEO.

I bought myself a netbook this year with an eye for light and easy access to email and blogs while on the road.  For a light occasional traveler like me, a netbook makes perfect sense.

I’ve read a few comparisons and reviews but wasn’t terribly influenced by them.  You can end up paying more for some high end netbooks than you’d pay for a full blooded laptop if features and keyboard size are important to you.

Sparkplugging Author Lynette Chandler admits that netbook keyboard size is a factor for her and from the comments on her post, it’s important to others as well.

For me, price was pretty much the only factor in my decision.  I’ll admit that I didn’t even bother comparing features.  I spent less on my Acer Aspire One ($238) than I spent on my BlackBerry Curve ($300) in 2007 so it felt like a no brainer.

I’ve been working with my little Acer for a little over a month now and I’m satisfied with it.  I don’t mind the small keyboard at all – I’m not using it for hours on end after all and compared to thumb pecking with my Curve, it’s a dream to manage.

Since I am home most of the time, it hasn’t received any heavy use so far.  I will occasionally take it to my comfy recliner to answer email and have used it to watch Netflix movies in bed a couple times.  I have to say, that’s been my favorite use so far!

While poking around Amazon I just discovered that you can actually buy a netbook very similar to mine with access to the AT&T 3G service.  You pay just $150 for the netbook, then it looks like the monthly service plan runs about $60.  If you spend a lot of time away from WIFI access this could be attractive I suppose.

So, what’s your plan?  Is a netbook in your future?  Do you have your eye on something in particular?

Bloggers who had been selling text links in a wide variety of ways were suddenly being penalized for their actions. Most of them, myself included, were pretty much blindsided by the move. Most bloggers only sold sidebar text links or did paid reviews for companies that were relevant to their topics and that they wanted to endorse anyway. We were faced with a decision: lose our text link advertising and/or review revenue by putting “NoFollow” tags on paid links, or risk getting de-indexed by Google.

Bloggers weren’t the only ones that paid a heavy price after this shakeup. Two companies hardest hit by ‘the new sheriff in town’ were TextLinkAds and PayPerPost.

But PayPerPost had been under fire well before the Google fiasco. As a written review broker, they didn’t require their bloggers to disclose that the reviews were sponsored. This no only pissed off WOMMA, who was setting the ethical standards of word-of-mouth-marketing, but it also pissed off a lot of bloggers. I did a handful of paid reviews through another company, and set a high bar of transparency and disclosure when I wrote them. I didn’t want PayPerPost’s bad reputation to rub off on me – so much so that I stopped doing paid reviews at all because there were too many people doing it wrong and I didn’t want to be a part of it.

Soon after the Google shakeup, PayPerPost changed their name to Izea. I wasn’t phased. I assumed it was a simple rebrand of PayPerPost and I continued to keep my distance. Izea even asked me to present at their IZEAFest in 2007 and 2008 and I completely blew them off. I wouldn’t touch it.

Fast forward to now, and I am at a party at BlogWorld this last weekend. I run into Ted Murphy, the founder of PayPerPost. I had really enjoyed his panel last year at BlogWorld07 about finding & obtaining venture capital funding and we started talking. And then he starts pitching me on the newest initiatives with Izea. I do an internal eye-roll and look for a way to get out of the conversation. (LOL)

But then Ted tells me about SocialSpark and their new ethics standards. Bloggers in the program are required to adhere to 100% disclosure, 100% transparency, 100% real opinions, and (this is when my jaw dropped) 100% NoFollow on any links in their review posts.

I was completely impressed. Oh, my gosh, I thought, Izea finally got it. They listened. And they acted. But then it got even better. Ted told me about their plans to roll out an affiliate network that would require affiliates to disclose that the links are affiliate links. Suddenly Izea not only had worked to meet the ethics standards of WOMMA, but they were now exceeding them. And there is NO other affiliate program out there requiring this level of disclosure.

I interviewed Ted at BlogWorld this year, because I think they are a fascinating case study:

• You might have to work years to overcome bad first impressions. Had I not run into Ted at that party, I would have continued to ignore Izea forever.
• Work fast to correct mistakes. I’m not sure how long it took PayPerPost to transition it’s business model to what it is today, but if they had reacted sooner when all of the bad attention was on them, they would have been able to correct people’s assumptions about them much faster.
• They listened. They may have been resistant at first, but they listened. I completely respect them for that.
• They are walking their talk. Izea was recently accepted as a member of WOMMA, which is no small feat. They didn’t have to go beyond WOMMA’s ethics standards, but they did. That tells me that this isn’t just a show, but they mean it.

Lastly, I can only imagine how hard this was to go though for Ted. As an entrepreneur, you want to build something based on your vision. But when your vision doesn’t jive with most of the population you are trying to appeal to, it must be difficult and humbling. Rebuilding your company like Ted did is SO MUCH WORK, and quite frankly, a lot of people would have given up faced with these challenges. But I find it inspiring that he has been able to push through so much and reposition his company in a really respectable way.

By the way – here’s my disclosure: The only reason I’m writing this post is because I wanted to. Ted didn’t ask me to do this, nor is anyone paying me to. I just love seeing what other entrepreneurs are doing and spreading the word when they deserve it.

Half of the Sparkplugging team is here, the rest are coming in today. Besure to watch our video coverage over on our BlogWorld Blog! Even if you can’t go to BlogWorld in person, you can go to BlogWorld in spirit with us!

Steve Hall – AdRants
David Peralty – Xfep
Dave Taylor – AskDaveTaylor
Lynn Truong – Wise Bread

Our session will address the step-by-step process of making a direct advertising deal on your blog. It will include the following: how to answer sales inquiries, how to attract and land premium advertisers, how to put together a proposal, know what advertisers are looking for and what terms to know like “added value,” “roadblocking,” and ROS” * how to negotiate the best price * how to find “outside the box” monetization opportunities * how to write your “advertise” page * what to do during the campaign implementation (what to monitor, how to report, etc) and much more.

What Do You Want to Know About Finding Advertisers for Your Blog?

I want to know what you want to know from these talented marketers. While I’ve got a great list of questions, I want to know what kind of information you most need to know. Please leave a comment and we just might add your question to our presentation on Sunday

The good news for you is that we are ALL going to be armed with laptops, video cameras, audio recorders and cameras. Rick Calvert from BlogWorld has given us a special opportunity to cover the ENTIRE event while we are there – sessions, interviews, parties – we will be covering it all and posting constantly throughout the entire trip. So even if you aren’t going to be going to BlogWorld, you can attend ‘virtually’ through our videos, podcasts, blog posts, and photgraphs. We’ve even set up a whole new blog on our network just for the BlogWorld coverage we will be giving you!

But wait – did you say you still might be able to go to BlogWorld in person? If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, stay tuned because we’re getting a 20% off coupon just for Sparkplugging readers.

I couldn’t be more proud and grateful to Epson for sponsoring our trip – Epson is a brand I’ve always respected, even have one of their printers in my office (that I paid for!). And they are going to be giving away two printers from their brand new line of products during the BlogWorld event. One printer (”The WorkForce”) will be for a lucky attendee – another (”The Artisan”) will be for a lucky member of our at-home audience who will be watching our coverage (did that sound sufficiently like a game show host from the ’70’s? I was doing my best Johnny Olson voice for ya)

Yes – nearly my entire team will be there:

Edward Mills & Marla Tabaka from Ask the Coach

Susan Payton from The Marketing Eggspert

Lorna Doon Brewer & Tamara Berry from Freelance Parent

Jessica Smith from Celebrity Business

Kristie McDonald from eBay & eCommerce

Derek Semmler from The Man Page

Shannon Hutton from Believer in Balance, Momsational & Seasonal Kids Activities

Brandie Kajino from The Home Office Organizer

Amber Watson-Tardiff - my behind-the-scenes marketing assistant

So no matter if you go to BlogWorld yourself or go to BlogWorld virtually via our video coverage, you aren’t going to miss a thing. This is going to be the biggest ‘party’ Sparkplugging has ever had – can’t wait to see you all there!

GENEVIEVE THIERS – Sittercity

BLAGICA S.BOTTIGLIERO – Founder and President, Bsolutions LLC (and also a very good friend of mine!)

LAURA ROEDER – Roeder Studios

JA-NAE DUANE – Opera Singer, Founder of Wild Women Entrepreneurs

JESSICA ASHLEY - Healthy Living Contributing Editor on Shine

LEAH JONES – Digital Culture Evangelist, Edelman Digital

DIANE BURNETT- Senior Consultant, Ebove & Beyond Inc

This one day internet marketing workshop is designed for women business owners, start-ups and individuals who are interested in learning not just how to get their business online – but get noticed. Increased online awareness can contribute to new leads, sales and opportunities for a business – so learning how to maximize your online presence is essential to stay competitive.

Who Should Attend

• Women entrepreneurs
• Women small business owners
• Crafters & hobbyists
• Marketing professionals
• Work at home moms
• And of course, men are welcome too…

This is a really affordable event – only $90, and if you use coupon code “omwespeaker “ as a Sparkplugging reader, you’ll get $20 off. So for $70 bucks, come hang out with us next week and learn a ton from some amazing women entrepreneurs!

In fact, I’m the exact opposite – I was a natural born follower. I spent my childhood and teenage years doing what everyone else was doing, and believing and behaving as I thought people expected of me. By the time I was 18 years old, I had a bit of an awakening. I realized that there was not one part of my personality that wasn’t an imitation of something or someone else I wanted to be like.

Even while I was in college, I struggled to find myself in the midst of all of the facades I had built. But it came to a head when I had to plan my senior project in order to graduate. I was forced myself to take a leadership role with a group of friends I considered my peers. I still cringe when I think about it.

Being a leader was so NOT natural for me. Any time I found myself having to make decisions, I naturally sought guidance from outside sources to figure out what I needed to do next. I didn’t trust myself, didn’t trust my experience, and just desperately wanted someone to tell me where I should be headed.

What if I led people in the wrong direction?

What if I made a mistake and hurt someone?

What if I wasn’t enough to handle the job?

What if, what if, what if???

You may not believe me, but still today I sometimes have to force myself to be the leader. When I was a follower, I saw leaders as confident, powerful, and popular people that seemed to naturally gifted in the art of perfect words and actions. What I am finding more and more as I get to know other entrepreneurs, is that most of the time, even with a plan, experience, and even guidance, we sometimes feel like we are free-falling off of a cliff.

While at BlogHer last week, I had the honor and privilege to be in a room with many women entrepreneurs at all levels of experience. It was led by the inspiring Susan Mernit Co-founder & CEO of Peoples Software Company and Patricia Handschiegel, founder of StyleDiary (sold for a tidy sum to StyleHive in 2007).

Being in the room was like finding my long-lost tribe – and I realized that perhaps none of us are the kind of leaders that I assumed existed.

None of them were perfect.

None of them found success easily.

All of them were scared – even terrified – at one point.

All of them had faced and had to overcome their own What If’s.

Some quotes from the session (thanks to Ann Corriston!)

Sometimes what holds us back is not the glass ceiling but the sticky floor. (My new favorite quote!)

Success is about persistence. Keep fighting your way through. Figure out how to keep going no matter what.

Your recovery strategy is what’s important; avoiding mistakes is not.

Combine believing in what you’re doing with riding through the absolute fear.

Entrepreneurship is like a soccer game – sometimes you’re running, sometimes you’re kicking, sometimes you’re sitting on the bench.

Failure is in the eye of the beholder. You’re in charge of how you’re going to view what’s happened.

And I added:

Inner challenges are the hardest to overcome. You shouldn’t ask, “Who am I to do this?” but rather, “Who am I not to do this?”

A great entrepreneur is someone who can live in chaos and uncertainty. Entrepreneurs say, “I think there’s a better way.”

Most of all, what I got out of this session was the realization that it doesn’t matter if you aren’t born and bred to be a leader. In fact, most people aren’t.

What does matter is how much you are willing to face your fears to do what you are put on this earth to do.

Thank you Susan, Patricia, Li, Gwen, Susan, Tara, Laura & Laurie, Micah, Catherine, Barbara, Kira,  Corinna, and everyone else in that wonderful room full of fuel for the entrepreneur’s soul.

Just by continuing to show up, you have inspired me.

I’ve talked in the past about the great workshop-style conferences (SOBCon & Unleashed) – BlogWorld has great sessions, but I spent most of my time there last year meeting some seriously great people, including Jeremy Wright, John Chow, Andy Wibbels, Scott Allen, Janet Meiners (AKA NewspaperGrl),  Erin Kotecki Vest (AKA Queen of Spain), Jim Kukral, Tony Berkman from BlogCatalog and where I didn’t meet Michael Arrington.

Each conference has great networking, but in different circles. BlogHer is all about powerful women. SXSW is full of rock stars (that you may or may not be able to actually talk to), and BlogWorld is THE place to be for people who make money because of their blog. And there are certainly rock stars to be found.

People ask me all of the time what conferences they should go to – I tell people SOBCon if they are business bloggers, Unleashed if they are small business owners looking to build a presence online, SXSWi if you want to meet influential people, BlogHer if you are a woman blogger (or want women bloggers to know about your company or product), and BlogWorld if you want to learn about monetization and internet business from the people that are doing it.

By the way, I’ve gotten to know the BlogWorld founder Rick Calvert pretty well since last year. Iv’e specifically asked him to increase the amount of women speakers at this year’s event and he enthusiastically agreed. I can only imagine the coolness he has lined up for ‘08. I hope to see you there – be sure to let me know you’re going so that we can hook up!

By the way, did you know that BlogWorld has an affiliate program through Shareasale? If your readers would be interested in going to this conference, you should definitely be spreading the word with affiliate links!

I could go on and on about how important (and fun!) it is to take online relationships offline, but suffice it to say I attribute a big part of my success to getting out and meeting people in person.

It’s also incredibly important to get out of the house when you work at home – it sounds counterintuitive, but it’s so true. I’ve been reading more and more lately about entrepreneurs who worked at home and gave it up because they missed interacting with a team – they got lonely. Personally, I can’t afford to let myself get to that point anymore – I mean, how exactly could I run a blog network for people who work at home from an outside office? Not exactly congruent.

Anyway, it’s easy to pull events like this together – especially if you do them in non-busy hours when restaurants or other meeting locations are eager to bend over backwards to get your business. I’m no event planner either – here’s my brain-dead list of what I did to pull our Tweetup together:

1. Emailed everyone I knew in the area and figured out a date that would work for our core group
2. Found a restaurant. Sanfratello’s (who didn’t do anything for this plug and have my most favorite pizza on the planet) were awesome, they didn’t require a deposit, didn’t care that I didn’t know how many people would show up, and gave us our own room as well as group pricing. I didn’t even know I booked a place that had free WIFI and half-price wine on Thursdays – how lucky could I get?!
3. Spread the word on Twitter, asked friends to retweet and spread the word
4. Hunted down some people on TwitterLocal.net and sent them tweets to invite them
5. Jim added the event to Upcoming
6. Showed up
7. Hung out with Brad, Jim, Kim, Jeff, Barbara, Derek, Carolyn, Jerome, and Karen
8. I warned you this was brain-dead simple, right?!

By the way, if you’re in the Chicago area and missed our meeting, we’ll be doing them quarterly. Colonel Tribune from the Chicago Tribune is also having one next week in Chicago.

Our Tweetup was a BLAST. I highly recommend it. Someone asked me in an interview recently why I thought it was important to go hang out with people offline like this. I told them that adult conversation is way cheaper than therapy.

I’ve been watching and waiting for the SXSW Podcast Blog to release our panel in their podcast series – and YAY, they finally did! So go listen if you are new to online advertising (and I’d have to say that we covered some good intermediate stuff, too).

Here’s the scoop from the SXSW gang, too:

When a Web site or blog launched out of personal passion reaches a certain scale in terms of traffic, readership, and popularity, a Big Question arises: Can I make money with this thing? Some bloggers and publishers can. Some can’t. But you need to try to find out. Online advertising is the fastest-growing sector of advertising today. According to some estimates, online ad spending is expected to surpass magazines, network television, and radio this year. How can amateur publishers take advantage of that? This panel will bring together professional bloggers, leading Web ad networks, and progressive affiliate businesses to discuss the monetization options available to small publishers. We’ll consider strategic steps you can take to add money-making elements such as ads and affiliate sales to your site or blog. We’ll address ways to increase your visibility, traffic, and reach. And we’ll offer an inside look at what ad networks and affiliate programs look for as they consider new sites and blogs for inclusion. At the end of the conversation, you’ll not only know whether you should take a stab at monetizing your site – you’ll know how.

I think that the majority of readers of this blog are running an eBusiness at some level, and I wanted to highlight two conferences that I believe are kind of standing out from the pack this year – namely SOBCon and Small Business Marketing Unleashed (Elite Retreat too, but since it is sold out, I’ll keep that one out of this post).

I know that I’ve talked up the networking part of going to conferences in the past – and honestly, I believe that meeting intelligent, influential people is going to be the #1 benefit from going to any conference, period. What SOBCon and Unleashed are doing differently, though, is that they are focusing on being a true teaching/consulting experience. And you’d pay a heck of a lot more than the ticket price of either of these two conferences if you were to hire these consultants on your own.

I do have to say that all of the other conferences I went to were fantastic for learning some new things, but left me kind of scratching my head as to how I could fit that knowledge into my business. It’s not a putdown , it’s just they are a different kind of experience. But SOBCon and Unleashed are specifically formatting their sessions to enable participants to apply the theory of what is being taught to their specific businesses. They are both doing it in their own way, but both have an end goal of sending participants home with a plan of action that they can implement immediately. 

Honestly, I think that is a super-important distinction to make. You won’t get that at the trade-show style conferences that are coming up this year.

Maybe you already have an action plan – and you just need great contacts & exposure. Then maybe SOBCon and Unleashed aren’t the right conference for you. SXSW, BlogWorld, and BlogHer would be at the top of my attending list if that’s the case. SXSW is more entrepreneurish, BlogWorld is perfect for small bloggers/publishers, and BlogHer is a must attend if you are a ‘Her’.

Because I was a visible conference junkie in 2007, I get a LOT of people asking me which conference they should go to this year. If you really want to make your online business a success, or make it big enough to enable you to quit your day job and you aren’t quite sure how to do that, then the two I’d be looking at are SOBCon and Unleashed.

And don’t even ask me if you should go to conferences at all. By now you know you should.

*Disclaimer – I’m speaking at both of these conferences.

Quite honestly, I’ve never been able to do it – and I don’t think I ever will.

There is something simply unexplainable as to why the relationships we make online are made infinitely stronger when we take these relationships to the next level offline. I have some dang strong relationships with people I have never met. At the same time, I have stronger relationships now with people I talked with for 10 minutes than I do with some readers who have been hanging around here for months.

All of this only covers meeting people I consider my peers. This is where ‘Rawking’ SXSW kicks in – because not everyone at SXSW is someone I consider a peer. Honestly, I had more than one ten fangirl moments as I got to meet and connect with people I consider role models and leaders in our industry.  I swooned over Heather Armstrong (she’s amazingly sweet and approachable), dined with Shel Israel, lunched with Brian Clark (recently named as one of the 50th most powerful blogs on the internet), and hooked up with Hugh MacLeod via Twitter as we were waiting in the Austin airport at 5:00am. Plus I got to hang out with friends like Tamar Weinberg, Shoemoney, ProBlogger, Liz Strauss, Sheila Scarborough, Rick Calvert, Aruni, Laura from Sk-rt and ‘Queen of Spain’ Erin Kotecki Vest (among so many others).

You may think I am name dropping at this point – and I am. But I’m not claiming to be anyone special by saying I got to hang out with these superstars – I’m saying it because if you were there you would have been able to do the exact same thing. And connecting with these people that are so incredibly intelligent, talented, influential and friendly quite honestly brings out the best in me as well.

You may have noticed by now that I haven’t even mentioned speaking on my Online Advertising for Newbies panel yet with Darren Rowse. Honestly, it was a fantastic session, and when SXSW releases the podcast I’ll make a permanent place for it around here – it was an excellent primer in moving your blog beyond AdSense and Amazon.

Photo by Tris Hussy – see the rest of his most excellent SXSW photo set.

And you’d think that speaking at SXSW was a highlight of the conference. It was great, don’t get me wrong, but the true highlight of the conference happened not in the sessions or in the keynotes, but in the hallways.

Our business – social media & blogging – is all about the conversation, business and personal. And I wish I could describe what it is like to move the conversation off of the internet and into a room with real people you can hug, laugh with, and connect with on an emotional level. The conversations we have online together are amazing – but if you aren’t going to conferences, you’re missing out on half of the experience of social media.

I guess it boils down to this :: “Social” comes before “Media” for a reason. And as much as we love to talk tech, it’s the people that make this industry amazing – the technology is just our platform. It was an honor to hang with everyone at SXSW this week – I hope I can pay forward the awesomeness that rubbed off on me.

Thus far it has been really incredible. There are REALLY big names in blogging here. I’ve gotten to meet a few of them, and I have my fingers crossed that I get to meet a lot more. Dooce is hanging around here somewhere, and even though she doesn’t know me from Adam (Eve?!), I totally want to meet her and have my own little fangirl moment.

You can just go to Technorati and browse through the SXSW tags, but here are some of the better posts I have found today:

The Suxorz: Worst Social Media of 2007

Social Marketing Strategies Metrics, Where Are They?

High Tech Craftiness at SXSWi 2008 (This panel was fantastic!)

Also keep an eye on photos from Brian Solis and Tris Hussey – two guys who have a knack for taking some really excellent shots!

Please drop me a note if you’ll be there!

And if you do plan on coming, by all means, get on the Beer Bus with Darren and Chitika. Darren is throwing a contest for a few spots on the bus, party commencing at 3:00pm on Sunday. Looks like we’ll be having a blast!