Bruce Knowlton, Reno-Tahoe AMA’s Vice President of Membership, is Allegra Print & Imaging’s Director of Outside Sales.  Bruce was recently honored by the Allegra Network franchise system as one of the Top Ten International Sales Performers in North America.  The award is presented annually and was presented to Bruce based on sales volume and providing an outstanding level of customer service.

September 20th’s AMA luncheon, To Blog or Not to Blog drew more than 100 people interested in learning more about how blogging can be beneficial for their business.

The results from the surveys collected after the luncheon indicated a need for both more fundamental information, as well as advanced tips and tricks. We will work toward providing that in the future. Furthermore, some of the verbal feedback I received consisted of skepticism surrounding the amount of time required vs the benefit. The resounding question: Who has time to read all of these blogs?

Clearly, many people are not familiar with, nor utilizing RSS (Really Simply Syndication) Aggregators like MyYahoo, Google Homepages, or BlogLines. They make the organization and consumption of information so much easier and faster. You’ll be amazed at what you can do to customize your homepage. Personally, my Google Homepage contains a web analytics dashboard for my company’s website, stock quotes, weather, AP stories, and RSS feeds for more than 50 blogs and company news pages that I continually monitor for information that helps me to do my job better.

Another important aspect of blogging that I do not believe was stressed enough at the luncheon is the differentiation factor. Diane Cohn and Erica Olsen are perfect examples of this. They are differentiating from the competition by demonstrating their expertise in a personal, two-way dialogue that just so happens to also help them with search engine optimization.

There are endless examples of how a blog can help you land more customers than the competition. The Web 2.0 world is filled with savvy consumers that look beyond corporate speak to make their purchase decisions. This diagram, which I got from Rojo, does a good job of illustrating what I am talking about.

Chances are there is a conversation going on about your particular product or service, or even your individual business. Are you going to participate, or let someone else?

Until our chapter can put together a hands on seminar for blogging, feel free to visit my blog for some helpful tips and tricks on blogging.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the next AMA event!

This video was posted to YouTube and was featured at the top of the homepage for two days. Millions of visitors were exposed to an event that happens in Reno, Nevada each year. Whether you are an individual, business, or geographical area, YouTube offers excellent marketing opportunities. The one caveat: Consumer generated media is an open forum. If and when you use it you must be open, honest, and especially with YouTube, you better do it well.