Winner of the Week - BlogOnExpo, an Online Blogging Conference

Learn more about Internet marketing strategy by subscribing to my RSS feed - free and updated daily!

This week’s winner is Aditya Mahesh, a web entrepreneur who started BlogOnExpo, an online conference covering blogging and Internet marketing. Conferences are a great way to learn new marketing techniques and to network with other like-minded bloggers. Unfortunately, between the hotels, airfare, and conference passes necessary, the cost of attending these conferences is extremely steep and not affordable for most people. Aditya’s goal through this project is to emulate the expensive offline business conferences on a free online medium using podcasts, video, and textual content. If you haven’t checked it out already, be sure to visit BlogOnExpo to see some great presentations by top Internet marketers like John Chow, Rand Fishkin, Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker, and Neil Patel.

Honestly, I was a bit skeptical of BlogOnExpo and the value it could provide. Aditya contacted me early on letting me know of the conference and asked me to help him out in gaining exposure for the cause. I’m impressed by the quality of the presentations and the useful content that they contain. An online conference is definitely not the same as a huge gathering at a convention center with real face to face networking opportunities. However, BlogOnExpo is a step in the right direction that can help complement business conferences, especially for those who just don’t have the time or money to travel.

Below are some of the other stories I found interesting this past week:

• How to Create Social Media’s Favorite Type of Blog Post
  Well what is social media’s favorite type of blog post? It’s a resource list. Resource lists are an easy way to attract links and exposure for your site. They may be time consuming to create but they do provide high value and help out the readers in your niche. In fact, this Winner of the Week post is essentially a resource list. Go figure.
• SEMMYS - The Year’s Best Posts in Search Engine Marketing
  Speaking of resource lists, Matt McGee of Small Business SEM has started the SEMMYS, awards for the best search marketing posts of 2007. Readers are able to vote for the best posts. This project, although controversial in terms the selection of nominees, has gained tremendous support and links. Be sure to cast your votes and read some of the great content.
• Yahoo To Cut 20% Of Its Workforce?
  In an attempt to gain higher market share, it looks like Yahoo will be cutting it’s work force by up to 20%. Although I’m not a huge user of Yahoo services, I do want to support them because it’s never good to have a market dominated by one player - Google. It’s unfortunate for the 2,000+ people losing their jobs, but maybe this will be the move that will help Yahoo to focus its efforts and become more profitable.
• So I Quit My Day Job - Holy Cow! I Took the Plunge
  Another week, another top blogger going pro working full time. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits describes his plunge into problogging and how he got this point. If your dream is to work for yourself as a pro blogger, be sure to read this inspiring real-life story.
• The 4 Different Types of Authority Links (and 11 Ways to Get Them)
  Wiep breaks down the 4 types of authority links and 11 creative ways on how to attain them. If you’re serious about link building and want to gain more exposure and higher search engine rankings for your site, be sure to read this article.