Ed attends a session at Wordcamp Boston

Time for the six month check-up, a look at where I am now, and to possibly define my direction for the next six months. To find out how I got here, check out this post, and this post, both written after I attended Podcamp Boston.

Here’s what has happened since that warm weekend in August:

Rehash Website- I’ve escaped the iWeb/MobileMe/GoDaddy trifecta and moved on to WordPress; the change has been instrumental in my understanding of social media marketing and search engine optimization techniques. WordPress comprehension has also given me a new skill set to market as a service. I’ve taken on a client, showed her the benefits of WordPress, and helped her launch her own site. I’m encouraging other clients to move to WordPress, but even if they don’t, I now have excellent knowledge of ways to optimize their Google presence.

Define my role - Yes, you read that last paragraph correctly. I now have clients, people I help to walk the tight-rope that is social media. One of my glaring weaknesses coming out of Podcamp Boston was that I could not define what is was that I did. Now, I have purpose and vision, and I’m actively seeking clients to help achieve their goals. Currently, I’m doing this work pro bono, and will continue to do so until I define my focus a bit more.

Networking opportunities and professional development - I’ve come out of my shell a bit, attended a handful of  social media meetups, a second Podcamp event, and a Wordcamp event. I’ve seen some familiar faces, passed my cards around, practiced my elevator statement, and look for opportunities to talk about how I can help or collaborate with others. Working a crowd at a networking event still challenges me, but it gets easier the more I do it.

The lessons of the last six months have been ample. I’ve grown professionally, focused on my skills, defined a role, and helped others understand how they can use social media in their own professional and personal lives. Along the way, I’ve posted several blog entries documenting my progress and kept a nice record of my thoughts and actions while learning and growing.

So I will continue on this same path, with a goal of defining my focus, marketing my services, and looking for more networking opportunities. Stay tuned for a full report in six months.

Boston Wordcampers get expert advice at the Wordcamp Genius Bar

Put 400 bloggers/social media enthusiasts in one really hip building, add in interesting session topics, excellent food, cool swag, and a few surprises, and you get Wordcamp Boston. The inaugural event took place at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA, on a frosty Saturday in January. Here are my takeaways:

1. Build a persona – In order to write to a target audience, you must create a persona exemplifying said audience. This was the first of many excellent tips offered by Hubspot’s Karen Rubin, during her informative and entertaining session, Rock My Blog. Writing to a persona helps you focus your message, and ensures you stay on target over the long run.

2. Define the look of a webpage – When talking to clients, I often struggle to articulate the look of a web site. Thanks to Jake Goldman’s excellent Themes 101 presentation, I now have ways to describe different webpage styles.

3. Use short codes for more versatility – Wordcamp’s Ignite sessions offered a wealth of information in rapid fire mode. For example, during Michael Susz’ presentation, I learned how embeded short codes in .php files can perform helpful tasks. Great. As if searching for plug-ins and themes weren’t distracting enough. . . .

4. Meta Keywords have no SEO value – This quote direct from SEO expert Cory Eulas during his talk on SEO Analysis. I’ve known this fact for a while, but for some reason, the fallacy that meta-keywords hold the key to Google glory keeps creeping up.

5. Microsoft Nerd Center – Time for full disclosure here, I work for Apple, and have been to the Cupretino mothership twice. It’s a cool campus with great design, but this Microsoft space in Cambridge was the hippest place I’ve seen. The tenth/eleventh floor workspace presentation area offers several industrial design work/meeting areas, random online workspaces, and cozy corners that demand thoughtful creativity. The place is so well designed to foster productivity that I wanted to sit down and start banging out tweets and blogs posts.

Were you there, pressing your word knowledge on the banks of the Charles River? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Kathy talks about her experiences at the inaugural WordCamp Boston.