Tag Archives: SocialSpark

Conferences

10 Better Reasons to go to IZEAFest 2009

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Back in February I wrote a post of the 10 Best Reasons to Go to IZEAFest. No with a mere 36 days left to go before the big event I think that a few of you might need some further convincing. So here are 10 BETTER than BEST reasons to attend!

First off you are going to need a ticket. Go buy a Ticket to IZEAFest 2009 – It is the BEST Value for the money.

#10. Location – When I mentioned Location the first time around I knew about SeaWorld as the location but couldn’t say anything about it.

Shamu! - PAD #1058

So forget the Mouse because Shamu’s place is where it is at! The Party starts off on Thursday October 1st at Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens! This is going to be the most frightfully fun opening kickoff party ever. Imagine 500 bloggers descending upon the horrors of the park. I fear that we may scare the cast. Then we have two awesome days at the Ports of Call facility for daily sessions. At Night We kick it up at ICEBAR Orlando Friday Night and Howl At The Moon Saturday Night. This is all followed by a Sunday in the SeaWorld Park. That ticket is INCLUDED FREE with your IZEAFest ticket!

#9. SWAG – Certainly not as awesome as my Big Box of Awesome but good none the less.

BenSpark's Big Box of Awesome!

Do you own Crocs? Well if you register for IZEAFest prior to September you get a free pair. That is but the tip of the swag iceberg. I for one will be bringing some great items to give away to lucky attendees. Find me and ask me for some EBOOST or maybe even an Xshot or a Flipbac or whatever else I may have up my sleeve. I even have a super special item that is going to each and every attendee in their swag bag. The swag bags at IZEAFest are the bomb. Last year we received some awesome stuff. This year the swag will be bigger, better and bolder.

#8 Sponsors – Sponsors for IZEAFest rock. This year the host of sponsors range from funky footwear to energy-a-plenty!

Lenny and Tyler

Obviously the big deal sponsor of them all is SeaWorld and Budweiser. Seems that libations and hydration and energization are the keys to IZEAFest, this is an intense weekend, more intense than anything you’ve ever done as a blogger before, believe me. Sponsors like Le-Beast, BluFrog Energy also add to the mix.

IZEAFest would not be complete without sponsors what help us bloggers do what we do. Maybe you live vlog, there we have USTREAM, or maybe you produce a podcast BoinxTV Software is something you have to check out. We also have Doterati which is a community for advancing professional development, education, community networking and overall inspiration for our digital society. They are based in Central Florida, a Doterati NorthEast would be cool. We also have Adrants as a sponsor which is about marketing news with attitude.

Two of my favorite sponsors are people I have worked with on multiple occasions. One year ago the Xshot was given to Ted Murphy by an unnamed source (Me) and since then Xshot has become a vibrant advertiser on SocialSpark. This year Xshot is a Sponsor of IZEAFest. I am so excited to finally meet Michael, the inventor of the XShot in person after being friends online for so long. Fantastic! Also Unique Blog Designs, the guys who made the design for Read To Me Dad will be on hand to help you with the most fantastic blog designs possible.

Two sponsors who are not on the official site yet would be Me – BenSpark.com and PokenGirl. We are sponsoring a karaoke party at ICEBAR on Friday night. So rest up your voice and be ready to rock out for some fantastic prizes.

#7. Food – I’m an eater. You can tell that just by looking at me that I enjoy my food. I’m trying to make that less apparent but hey I’m only human.

At the Waitiki

I’m really hoping for a lunch by Ted’s favorite burrito place Pancheros. Every time Ted Tweets about them I want to eat there and I’ve never been. We have some time in the schedule where we are free to go get dinner. I really want to go back to B.B. Kings for their Fried Pickles. That was a delicious meal. I’m thinking that some informal blogger meetups at local places are in order and if I know Ashley then I know he’s probably negotiated some discounts for us at the local places.

#6. The IZEA Team – Holding Strong at #6 are the people who work for IZEA.

IZEA Staff Conferring

They have a phenomenal way about them. I am so glad to call them my friends. IZEAFest wouldn’t happen without Ashley. That man rocks!

Ashley & Me

There are also some amazing people who are behind the scenes, the folks in customer love and the dev team. I am happy to call them my friends especially these folks.

Andrew and Trevor

You will not meet a happier group of people who are loving what they do. That sort of enthusiasm is contagious and you will catch it, I guarantee it.

#5. Cake Plows and IZEAHunt – There is one thing that you have to watch out for at IZEAFest and that is some creative use of foodstuffs and shaving cream. I’ve been known to participate in a cake plow or two and I was a human sundae at IZEAHunt last year. It is crazy fun and you should be a part of it.

My Cake Plow

Oh and if you win the IZEAHunt your team members will each get $500 Home Depot gift cards.

#4. Friendships – I can’t believe that I put friendships at #8 in the last version of this list. Friendships are so important and I know that you will meet at least one other blogger that you can connect with online and off. You get to see people that you have probably only talked to to twitter or through your blog. Now it is time to make some connections to real live people in real life.

Telling the Truth

Also you have such access to everyone at this event. So you may form friendships with anyone at the conference. I challenge you to treat everyone as if they are at the same level, that means speakers to newbies. Everyone has something that they are awesome at, find out what it is. Listen more and talk less, ask more questions. Just be real to each other and amazing things can happen.

#3. Ted Murphy – Yeah I dropped Ted one point on the list and it it is because, while he is awesome, he’s a catalyst for the event and what #1 and #2 bring to the table is intrinsically of higher value. Ted is big at promoting others. He’s been amazing at promoting the venue, the speakers and things that he likes from all over. Ted changes the game constantly and this IZEAFest he’s going to change the game on us all. I personally have a very vested interest in his keynote Developing Your Brand. Ted is amazing at branding. He fiercely knows what he wants and how it is presented. And he is going to be able to help you think about your own personal brand.

Ted and Me!

Ted’s keynote will set the tone for the conference sessions but he cannot do it all himself. There will be an amazing group of people there to help you with your blogs through their fantastic topics and sessions. I’m talkign about the speakers.

#2. The Speakers – I hope that you remember last year’s sessions with great speakers especially the one I moderated which was the Big Money Bloggers Panel, I was nervous as all hell.

Nervous as All Hell

This year the speakers will blow you away. I already mentioned Ted Murphy’s Keynote (sort of like Steve Jobs keynoting those Apple events) but there are so many other speakers and such great sessions.

Tip: Prior to IZEAFest you should become familiar with each of the speakers, their blogs and their twitter accounts. I personally created a folder on my Google Reader with feeds from each person’s blog. I also set up an IZEAFest column on Tweetdeck so I could follow not only the speakers but also the people who were attending IZEAFest.

Here are the fantastic speakers for IZEAFest

Keynote – Friday – Developing Your Brand – Ted Murphy (@tedmurphy)

Session 1 – Friday – Traffic Strategies That Work – Brian Clark (@copyblogger)

Session 2 – Friday – Screen Gems –
Moderator – Sarah Evans (@prsarahevans)
Panelists – Sarah Austin (@pop17) and Julia Roy (@juliaroy)

Session 3 – Friday – Rockstars of SEO
Workshop Masters – Michael Gray (@graywolf), Rae Hoffman (@sugarrae), Mystery Guest

Session 4 – Friday – Session Title TBD – Arleen Anderson (@alohaarleen)

Session 5 – Friday – Social Media Promotion – Panel Discussion
Moderator: – Lucretia Pruitt (@geekmommy)
Panelists: – David Binkowski (@dbinkowski), Chris Heuer (@chrisheuer), Wendy Piersall (@emom), Warren Whitlock (@warrenwhitlock)

PHEW!!! That is a lot of stuff for Day one – But hang on tight we have one more day of amazing speakers ahead!

Keynote – Saturday – Marks of an Influencer –Aaron Brazell (@technosailor)

Session 1 – Saturday – Go Deep or Go Home – Chris Brogan – (@chrisbrogan)

Session 2 – Saturday – What Advertisers Want
Moderator:
Brett Bumeter (@brettbumeter)
Panelists: Joseph Jaffe (@jaffejuice), George Smith (@), Zena Weist (@zenaweist)

There will be more but they are not up on the schedule right yet. The speakers will be pretty darn amazing. I am very excited and hope my brain will be able to take in all the info.

You will also have a chance to meet Me and the other the members of the IZEA Insiders:

– Kathleen Argonza (@KatArgonza)
– Laurie Brosius (@laurie_pooh)
– Brett Bumeter (@brettbum)
– Elizabeth Edwards (@Table4Five)
– Corrin Foster (@CorrinRenee)
– Lisa Martin (@blm03)
– Steve Sanders (@steven_sanders)
– Heather Smith (@HeatherinBC)
– Julie Vazquez – Via Twitter Only 🙁 (@JustJulie)

And the Number 1 reason to go to IZEAFest would be to watch Evaboo watch the Shamu Believe Show!!!

Is it Time for IZEAFest Yet?

Er…. No that isn’t right…. The #1 reason to go to IZEAFest 2009 is….

1. YOU – It was the top before and is the top again.

Post Cake Plow

YOU are what makes IZEAFest an amazing conference. Without YOU and YOUR unique self it would somehow be less of a good time. Having YOU at IZEAfest is pretty much the best thing about it. By going YOU are saying that YOU are motivate to be the best possible blogger that YOU can be. Also that YOU love blogging about things YOU love and having fun. YOU want to learn and interact with an amazing group of people. YOU don’t have to be famous or have a huge blog, YOU just have to be YOU and have a willingness to have a great time. That is the best thing about IZEAFest 2009, YOU being there.

There are three very special people who understand that. They are my winners of the Ultimate IZEAFest Prize Pack Contest. Our Grand Prize Winner MommaDJane and runner up winners Buck Daddy and Melinda are prime people who will put their YOU in IZEAFest.

Want to save %20 on your ticket? Use the promo code BenSpark (case sensitive) and buy your IZEAFest Ticket today! -See YOU in little over a month!

Blogging

How to Add Your Blog to SocialSpark – Blogger Version

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After writing the How To Add Your Blog to SocialSpark WordPress version and the How To Add Your Blog to SocialSpark Typepad Version I figured that a How To Add Your Blog to SocialSpark Blogger Version was in order. And as I look through the blogs of members of the I’m Not A Famous Blogger Crew I see that many of them use blogger/blogspot. So I hope that this helps out.

Many comments that I get from new I’m Not A Famous Blogger Crew Members and non-crew members alike have to do with getting their blogs added to SocialSpark and having them approved. There are a few places to get this information and while the information is sound I don’t think it covers it quite like this little tutorial will. So strap in because this SocialSpark Saturday post is Double Sized

Adding your Blog to SocialSpark

First off you need to sign into SocialSpark and mouse over the Account tab.

SocialSpark Home Page

Next you will get a drop down menu of options. Choose Manage Blogger Account and Click it.

Manage your Blogger Account

From here you are going to want to click on the Blogs field in the middle of the screen.

Manage your SocialSpark Blogs

This will bring you to a list of your blogs (if you’ve already entered any). There is a link “Add Blog” Click it.

Add a Blog to SocialSpark

Now you are on the add blogs page. There is much to fill out here.

SocialSpark Add a Blog Form

Click Submit at the bottom of the page and that’s it, you have now added your blog.

Are you ready to claim it and submit it for approval…

Sure you Are!

LET’S DO IT!

Claiming your blog

Assuming that you follow my instructions above and you added your blog to the SocialSpark network then you are ready to claim your blog. It is pretty easy to do this.

Get the SocialSpark Code

Take a Look at your blog status. You will most likely see three red X’s. This means that you have not claimed your blog. You can find out more about why you need to claim the blog by clicking the “?” next to Claim Your Blog. This is what you will see when you click the “?” next to Claim Your Blog.

“Before you get your blog approved, we need to verify that you really are the owner. We have not yet verified that you own your site. Click the Get Code button to grab the code, place it on your site either before the closing HEAD tag or somewhere between the BODY tags. Then click Refresh here to run the verification script. Once you’ve claimed the site once, you can remove the claim code (Not ITK) from your site.“

The Second red X means that you have not installed the IZEA Tool Kit (ITK), you’re going to need to do this as well. Why? Here is the explanation that you see when you click the “?” next to Install ITK.

“The IZEA ToolKit (ITK) is a suite of tools that maximizes what you can do in the IZEA Network. After you place a piece of Javascript code on your website, we begin collecting statistics that gives you a RealRank and allows you to use other network features such as PPP Direct and SocialSpark Blog Sponsorships.“

We need to take care of the first two red X’s before we can tackle #3. To do this we are going to have to tackle code. Don’t worry it is not difficult at all. Click the Get Code button. The screen will darken and a new screen will appear with three boxes of code. You should only see three boxes if code is missing from your blog. So the first time you install code you will see a box of missing code that has both of codes from the second and third boxes (So you don’t have to copy and past code from each of the boxes. That would be redundant.). Just install the missing code anywhere between the < body > tags in your blog html code.

Copying Code to Claim your Blog on SocialSpark

This might seem scary to some but it really is not. Working with the code is not that difficult. These instructions are for Blogger. Start with signing into your Blogger account. You should default to your Settings Screen. From Settings click Layout.

blogspot_09_00

You are now looking at the layout of your blog. You might be tempted to create an HTML/Javascript gadget and put the ITK and Claim code there. DON’T DO IT! You’re going to have to delve a little deeper. Click Edit HTML.

blogspot_09_01

Now you are in the Edit HTML area. You might be tempted to post your code in the code box right away. Again you have another step. You need to click Expand Widget Templates. That way the complete code of your blog is now in the Edit Template Box.

blogspot_09_02

Your screen will refresh and that lets you know that you’ve Expanded the Widget code and you should now see a check mark in the Expand Widget Code box. Click the scrollbar and scroll to the bottom of your code.

blogspot_09_03

Now you are at the bottom of the code box, paste in the code from SocialSpark directly above the < / body > tag. Then click Save Template.

blogspot_09_04 copy

Now go back to the My Blogs page of SocialSpark and you are going to test to see if the code was added correctly (it had better be if you followed these directions). Start off by clicking the Refresh button. A spider will go out and check your code to see if the claim code is installed. If it is your red X will turn to a green checkmark. Please note that the ITK installed might not go to a green check right away. That is okay, give it a little while and click refresh again.

Checking my claim on SocialSpark

Once your blog status has two green checks like the one below you are ready for the last step. The most important step.

ITK is installed

Submit your Blog for Verification

Once you have claimed your blog and added the IZEA Tool Kit to it you are ready to submit for verification and approval… or are you? Review the qualifications for having an approved blog first. This is from the Terms of Service.

“”Verified Blog”.
A blog that has been Claimed, and also meets these additional requirements:

1. Blogs Only. SocialSpark only accepts blogs, and not websites, message boards, e-mails, IM or other similar services.
2. English or Spanish Only Blogs. The blog and all posts relating to SocialSpark Opportunities must be in the English or Spanish language.
3. Original Blog Content. The blog must contain original editorial content in addition to Opportunity-related or other paid posts. Blogs that exist primarily for payment will not be accepted.
4. Appropriate Content. Blogs submitted to the marketplace may not include or support: excessive profanity, violence, or racial intolerance, illicit drugs or drug paraphernalia, pornography, adult or mature content, or any other content that promotes intolerance, illegal activity, or infringes on the legal rights of others.
5. Minimum Blog Age. Blogs must be live for a minimum of ninety (90) days, counted from the date of the blog’s first post, with at least twenty (20) pre-existing posts written in the 90 days prior to registration with the SocialSpark Marketplace.

SocialSpark will not accept certain blogs and Bloggers as determined by SocialSpark in its sole discretion.”

If your blog fits those qualifications and you are ready to go then it is time to submit your blog for Verification.

To do this you must click the Get Verified link under Blog Status.

Time to submit to verification

That’s it, you do that and you are done, now you wait for Customer Love to check out your blog, a manual process to make sure that quality blogs are approved, and let you know that you are approved to take opps in the system. Your blog status should look like this.

Success on SocialSpark

Now start earning some money!

I am an IZEA Insider and my crew is called the “I’m Not A Famous Blogger” Crew and I want YOU to join me. Here are simple instructions on how exactly you can join my IZEA Insider Crew on SocialSpark.