Here’s my short video spilling some of the great items I found on the show floor (figuratively, not literally…) at Blog World Expo 2009.

During this evening’s closing keynote speech, there was a running gag about Kevin Pollock selling his badge to people in the crowd. I think in the end he got a nickel for it. So, after the session, I went up to Mr. Kawasaki and offered him $1 for his speaker badge, which he turned around and handed to me with his trademark big smile.

Guy was a fantastic host this evening to an incredible panel. He’s a brilliant business strategist and Author. I think this badge is worth a few bucks to contribute to the #beatcancer Twitter campaign that’s been going on this week at Blog World Expo here in Las Vegas.

What do you think? What should I do with it? Comment or tweet me.

Here’s a clip I took today during this morning’s keynote at BlogWorld, “The Death and Rebirth of Journalism”, with a panel consisting of (from left to right) Joanna Drake Earl (Current TV COO), Don Lemon (CNN News Host), Jay Rosen (Journalism Prof at NYU and Blogger), and Hugh Hewitt (Radio host and lawyer). The panel was moderated by  Brian Solis (Principal of FutureWorks).

In this video, Don Lemon is describing his feelings about social media vs. big media.

I should note that Mr. Lemon took a few major checks against the boards this morning at this panel discussion, and in my personal opinion, while some of them were rather tough, some of them were deserved. There were some heated moments when I turned my head to see if there were any security guards in the room. Being that I was sitting in the very front row, not 10 feet away from these panelists, I admit at times I felt rather uncomfortable, uncertain how far people might exercise their obviously strong feelings.

The essential points from the Blogger community amount to that they find traditional media to be slow, cumbersome, incomplete, and not without a certain amount of unjustified self-assurance that comes across as arrogance. The traditional media claims not to feel threatened by social media, and furthermore, they want to work with social media to form a more “horizontal” system of news gathering and distribution, rather than a “vertical” one. “Let us in the loop,..” they ask. (This particular comment inflamed the Bloggers in the audience, who felt that they were being asked to do the “dirty work” of data-gathering for journalists, rather than being treated like equals.)

Another heated point related to the issue of fact-checking. While it’s true that the gatekeepers of traditional media make judgements about what to report based on what they feel will be of greater interest to their viewers (read=have greated ad-selling potential), they also perform an essential task when reporting on events: fact-checking.

Lemon openly stated that of course the system could not be perfect, and it was simply not possible to fact-check every single bit of information before it makes the airwaves. Bloggers however, want it understood that while there are some “bad apples” who perpetuate misinformation, perhaps maliciously or more often simply out of ignorance, most bloggers consider themselves ethical enough to want only to report that which can be substantiated and which they know to be true and accurate.

The debate will doubtless rage on for decades more, but this was a very interesting event for me to witness. As I said, heated moments, which made for stimulating and thought-provoking conversation for the rest of the day.

I’m heading to Blog World Expo again this year for some educational fun. Speakers this year include Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and Chad Vader.

OK, I admit I’m most excited about seeing Chad, the internet video sensation created by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda. Everyone’s favourite grocery store night manager, Chad has captured more than my own heart. (Even George Lucas gave it his thumbs up.) My main mission at the Expo this year is to go to sessions about podcasting, and the brains behind Chad Vader’s viral video success are two that I wish to pick, if only from a safe distance, down there, in the audience. Perhaps I can sit next to Chad’s girlfriend Clarissa.

What’s your own podcasting mission for your enterprise? Lately, I’ve become more bipolar in my own approach, as I created a more polished set of videos for TheBookBroads.com’s YouTube channel, and yet streamlining my “joie de le moment” approach for certain cell-phone generated video content. (Soon to be released.) There are advantages to each approach, and I enjoy doing both.

I will be interviewed and interviewing all weekend at the show, October 15th through the 17th, from the show floor and various locations around Las Vegas. You’ll find any new videos at the Wizard of eBooks’ new YouTube channel at YouTube.com/wizardofebooks.

I’ll be happy to do my best to honour any special requests for specific blog or podcasting-related info from the show made via email, Twitter, or comments on this blog.

I’m being interviewed on July 2nd by Sheri Kaye Hoff, regarding eBooks and the video trailers to sell them. I’ve compiled a list of good and bad examples of video book trailers to make a few of my points clear.

Love, Stargirl

This one was the winner of the 2007 Teen Book Video Awards. (Like, if there’s an award, we should all make sure this is top on our priority list for book marketing, right?) Even though this example comes from a highly-niched fiction market, the comments still apply for business and non-fiction books.

Things I like about this one:
- extremely involving sequence, tone, etc. to draw in the watcher
- cool imagery appeals to the designated audience; in this case, teen girls
- a little weird and makes good use of “creepy” element
- it’s well-edited and looks very Hollywood-quality (essential here to foster the fantasy, but not essential in every case)
- kudos to them for finding an appropriate contest to enter and gain additional publicity

Things I think could be done better:
- more visibility of a URL or book title throughout production
- a clickable purchase link at the end (YouTube allows you to do a lot of custom stuff with a bit of research – see a future post about how to manipulate YouTube)
- I don’t see this in a lot of other locations, distributed on blogs, etc., which means somebody didn’t do the legwork

Duma Key

You may be surprised that this is my least favourite video of the bunch, and not just because this is a Stephen King cookie-cutter product: blood and gore, etc., etc. Loyal readers like my husband love this stuff, and the video gives them what they want. This is also the shortest – only just over 30 seconds.

Things I like about this one:
- short and to-the-point
- high-contrast graphic imagery makes it easy to see on the smallest of screens, like iPods, etc.
- the book graphic at the end makes it clear what’s being sold, as this is still new for many readers
- release date stated clearly at the end

Things I think could be done better:
- again, no direct link for ordering (Like, haven’t any of these people heard of affiliate programs?)
- perhaps this is too “corporate”, in the sense that it is rather predictable: a new author may consider taking bigger risks to gain an audience
- the imagery is somewhat disjointed, in that there is no “story” to this video – it’s just a bunch of scary stuff with a splash of blood, with nothing to involve the reader and link to something in their own lives (this is really about “features” vs. “benefits” again)

Nineteen Minutes

This video for popular Author Jodi Picoult was produced by AuthorBytes.com, a company that specializes in this type of media – and it shows. I’ve never read any of Picoult’s work because I thought it was something I wouldn’t be interested in. I think I may have been wrong.

Things I like about this one:
- the Author herself narrates the entire video, and there are photos of her periodically that help readers connect with her
- the shock value of the commentary is quite powerful, demonstrating contrast that I suspect will also be present in the Author’s work
- the commentary asks us to think of ourselves in perspective of the book’s subject matter
- the accompanying copy (“Details” in YouTube) is well-composed and easy for bloggers and others to use
- the narration and imagery reference other works by the same Author that have been highly successful and are easily recognized
- this doesn’t need full-motion video throughout to make the message work, and still images are used extremely well
- all the technical gunk is there at the end, such as ISBN number, cover format, page count, etc. which means this video is not just useful for consumers – it’s also very useful for booksellers and other markets

Things I think could be done better:
- again, no direct purchase link (How many times do I need to say this?)
- could be a lot shorter and still tell the story well
- the “clock” intro at the beginning drags a fair bit
- the music selection is not appropriate or powerful, and a better choice would make all the difference in the world
- this has 36k views and yet no comments, so perhaps a few “plants” would attract more viewers, and this may also signify a lack of effort to distribute and make use of this valuable resource

I’m really looking forward to our conference call about eBooks and video book trailers on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009. Click to Author Sheri Kaye Hoff’s page to register for this free call. Hear you there!

I’ve just updated my website with a new tab labeled “Speaking”, and there you’ll find my revised speaking topics for the rest of 2009.

Short Talks:

1) Using Online Marketing to Get Attention for Your Brick-and-Mortar Business

2) What is “Social Media Marketing” and How to Use it for Greatest Effectiveness

3) Tapping the Potential of Digital and Paper-Based Publishing for Small Business

Long Talks (1.5 hours or less)

1) eBooks – The Next Generation

2) You’ve Written an eBook – Now What?

I’ll be traveling quite a bit this summer, and offering these talks to various organizations in Canada and the USA. If you’d like to book me for a lecture or talk, please call me toll-free at 1-866-907-4084, please drop me a line at info@humanuspublishing.com.

I also really enjoy creating fresh material tailored to the needs of your organization. If you don’t see a topic listed that you’re interested in, just ask. I may already have it in my archives. Some of my additional topics include;

- PodCasting (What It Is, and How Anyone Can Do It)
- Affiliate Marketing for Authors
- Building Your (e)Book Business
- Market Research for Your Book in 1 Hour or Less
- How to Create Your (e)Book From Scratch
- Using You Tube to Market Your (e)Book with Video
- … and more

I’ll be going LIVE again at 3:30 Pacific time this afternoon with Kim Plumley, or “KimPossible”, the CEO of Publicity Mavens. Call in LIVE at (347) 205-9352.

Get answers right away to your questions about publicity for Authors and other solopreneurs. To listen, just click to: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Peggy-Richardson/2008/11/19/Publicity-for-Solopreneurs-Interview-with-Kim-Plumley.

We had such excellent feedback about our podcasts with Kim earlier this fall that I was thrilled when she agreed to answer your questions on the air. This is your opportunity to get FREE advice from an expert in the area of literary publicity. Don’t want to call in? Just send your question right here using the “Join the Conversation” blue comment bar below, or email them to us at info@humanuspublishing.com.

Catch you on the air!

I’d love to hear what’s working for you to promote your book. What’s the best stunt you ever pulled, or the wackiest marketing promo you ever dared to do? Tell me, and I’ll talk about it on the air in a special podcast or LIVE at BlogTalkRadio.com.

We’ll be scheduling more BlogTalkRadio shows that target your hottest publishing, writing, and book marketing questions. Besides your hottest promotion tip, don’t be afraid to send me any other cool stuff that’s working for your micro-publishing enterprise.

For the last year, I’ve been wearing geeky shirts that advertise my services. They’re great conversation starters with potential clients, interview subjects, and fellow editors, publishers, and now bloggers. For BlogWorldExpo, I wore this one on the Sunday. Thanks to Tara Anderson of Lijit.com (a cool search gadget that I’m investigating) for this photo of myself and my partner in nerdiness, Geoff Clay.

The next time a client tells me they’re not sure that blogging, social media marketing, and new media will work for their company, I want them to watch this video.

Bruce is not ashamed to stand in a booth at BlogWorldExpo and beg people to blog about him and his company. It apparently worked, because his booth was swarmed by people. In fact, I’m extremely proud to say that just as I was putting away my own video equipment form this interview, the anchorman from the local newscast in Las Vegas dropped in the booth to beg for a short interview. (Gee, did I get in before you guys? Awww, that’s too bad.)

What I was late on was finding out about the concrete company’s product, because it might have save me about 10k on the construction of my new house. Oh well: next time.

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