SMOjoe.com

I just used my Roberrific Twitter account to update my 114 followers that tomorrow’s Smojoe Social Media Marketing event has been moved to 533 King St West because of high demand for seats. The seating requirements have already exceeded the capacity of The Spoke Club gallery.  Its a nice problem to have, but a problem all the same. With just twenty four hours until the start of the scheduled event, Deb Lewis and her team must now race to get the word out about the venue change, rent chairs, buy beverages, and set up a digital projector and screen at ICON home design (533 King st West) which is on the south west corner of King and Spadina - I pray to God that the internet connection will work flawlessly and so I’m importing Will Webb from Innate Media Group as an insurance policy.

How To Be Famous On The Internet is actually focused more on the business of blogging, and features guest appearances by Raymi the Minx and Petite Fashionista, who are certainly two of the most influential bloggers in Toronto with large international followings. Its so great to have them both together in the same room actually, as they have very different styles and approaches to web journalism.

Date: Weds May 27, 2009

NEW Location due to high demand, ICON Home Design, 533 King Street West SW Corner of King and Spadina) www.iconhomedesign.com
Time: 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Networking
For tickets go to: https://secure.gettickets.ca/?event=15051
Cost: $45

Raymi The Minx Vs Petite Fashionista

As discussion forum moderator, I hope to glean from these two local bloggers exactly how they’ve used their blogs to create online community and hype. The event highlights the idea that every successful business in the 21st century will blog out of necessity, but the best will profit from the activity in many different ways. I hope to get specific about the fundamentals of online marketing and demonstrate exactly how Smojoe uses blogs and bloggers like Raymi and Christa to build social media marketing campaigns that win Google searches.

This is another great event by Deb Lewis of Toronto City Events and I sure hope I see you there.

Noon Friday March 20th, 2009 Rob Campbell of Smojoe social media enjoyed a working lunch with the Petite Fashionista at her blog workshop at Eglington and Yonge, uptown Toronto.

Petite Fashion Blog Workshop

Speaking to a packed room, Christa Jean highlighted the finer points of blogging and emphasized interactive widgets, video components, and how to obtain helpful analytics to know and better target random readers. She made it personal by talking about her own experiences growing her blog, including her June 22, 2008 charity event where she raffled off dresses from a celebrity designer Hayden Panettiere for her Save The Whales campaign. That one event tripled Petite Fashionista’s traffic and online reputation as it pushed her Google page rank to PR5.

Here’s a shot of me enjoying a cucumber avocado on whole wheat sandwich. I was caught half puckered trying to appear surprised in a not-so-candid photo. It didn’t really work out.

Three bites later I set my sandwich down and snapped a lovely shot of Christa describing the process she uses to shoot, edit and post videos on YouTube.  She’s having lots of fun streaming videos and packing powerful messages into moving images. Check out her video gallery on her Petite Fashionista Ning community website.

Overall I was impressed with Petite Fashionista and her cozy little information exchange. The fun and friendly gathering is another reflection of her charisma and experience. In so many ways Christa is wise beyond her years; she’s an absolute expert at building online communities and growing a dedicated readership.  Some of her web tactics are downright brilliant. She impressed me with her ideas about joining small groups, and how important it is to find and build a core community of genuine friends that read and connect with each others’ blogs everyday.