I am one of Those People who plans on waking up before dawn tomorrow to watch the Royal Wedding. Some people understand, some people don't, but regardless, it's going to be a once in a lifetime spectacle that shouldn't be missed. We've been hearing about the planning, the dress, the flowers, the diet and the souvenirs ever since Prince William placed that beautiful blue diamond on Kate Middleton's finger. Aren't you dying to see what all the fuss is about? I'm going to be on my couch, pen in hand, ready to take notes for my own wedding.

But I'm pretty sure that their "wedding favors" will put mine to shame. We've seen commemorative items associated with the event pop up all over the place. ASI, one of the national ad specialties industry associations, notes that the royal wedding merchandise sales could be close to $26 million. We have the classy items that will be cherished forever...



Source: royalmint.com



Source: havens.co.uk

And the fun souvenirs.



Source: skreened.com



Source: rlv.zcache.com

There are items for those who are a little bitter...



Source: assets1.notonthehighstreet.com

And items for the grateful fans.



Source: blog.tshirtstudio.com Even some of our vendors are jumping on board with extravagant displays.



Source: adsoftheworld.com

3M has been posting enormous Post-it notes around London. The product's tagline is "Hold Stronger and Longer" and 3M even developed a wedding-related tagline for this demonstration.

"May you stick together forever. Congratulations."

Tomorrow is going to be an incredible day for two very important people. It's fascinating that the whole world is going to share this moment with them, from beginning to end, from every magnet to Post-it. We will watch in awe, almost as though we know the couple personally and have a genuine reason to wish them nothing but happiness. Aside from the crazy amount of media coverage, I feel that the promotional items play a huge part in that relationship.

Rumor has it that there is a refrigerator with William and Kate's face on it. I'll give free chocolate to the first person who can find that gem for me.

Last Friday, Julianne and I attended a Blogger Brunch hosted by the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and Carrie Fox of C. Fox Communications. The brunch was Part 2 of a two-part PR and Marketing Boot Camp. Lindsay attended Part 1 a few weeks earlier. The brunch was meant to showcase a panel of local bloggers, discuss trending topics, and teach attendees how to get noticed by the "blogging community" and how to improve their own blog.



It seems like a lot of information to squeeze into one brunch, doesn't it? I won't lie. It was definitely a lot of information that might have only been completely absorbed by a few audience members. The audience ranged from regular bloggers to marketing professionals to those who had no idea about how to even start a blog. There was also a diverse group of bloggers on the panel, including Christie Garton from USA Today Kindness, Jessica McFadden, otherwise known as A Parent in Silver Spring and Greg O'Neill, the Greg of Greg's List.



The 6-8 topics we discussed on Friday could easily provide enough material for several brunches. My challenge is to share this information with you in a condensed version that will offer the most benefit for all of us. As the Marketing Manager here at Sonic Promos, I embrace the fact that we have so many marketing outlets at our disposal: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, the SonicBlog, our newsletter and of course, our best referral source to date, the personal conversation. Whether you have just begun to use these outlets or if you consider yourself a social media expert, I think we will all agree that our common goal is to create a brand for ourselves and generate conversation. These social media outlets are designed to do just that.



Here are a few things I learned at the brunch that you can take into consideration when trying to generate conversation and enhance your own blog. After all, word of mouth is the best referral source... so let's get people talking!

1. Find your local patch.com. Patch is a great website that houses a ton of local events and stories that are happening right now. Start commenting on articles that relate to you or your business. Attend a local event and bring some business cards. Volunteer at an upcoming event and network with your community. To me, Patch is where small businesses and organizations come together; it's time for you to start communicating with them!

How it helps your blog: I have found that commenting on other blogs drives traffic to your own blog. Patch is a great place to start. Track your page views and see if it helps.
My personal tip: If you are the first or second person to comment on a post, you'll see more clicks back to your own blog than if your comment was buried on the 3rd or 4th page of reader comments.

2. Get on the Twitter bandwagon. I will be the first to admit that when Seth told me over a year ago that he wanted to get a Sonic Twitter handle set up, I was very hesitant. I didn't understand Twitter at all. What was the point of sharing information only 140 characters at a time? A year later, my opinion has changed. Twitter is a great resource to share your blog posts, follow trending topics (#creativemoco for more brunch information) and even attend events. If you know an industry-related trade show is happening across the country and it's pretty obvious you can't attend, start following the conference via Twitter. A hashtag (#) is almost always set up, and participants and speakers will tweet up-to-date information from the conference. Following certain topics will also keep you current on what your industry is addressing at that particular moment. Use this information to generate your own blog posts. Writing about popular topics will generate more traffic to your blog and website.
How it helps your blog: If someone goes to your blog and sees a Twitter button, I think they smile a little bit. It's encouraging to know that those behind the blog are not just writing a blog but are an active member of the social media community. If they click on your button, and start following you, they will get timely updates of your new posts and can both respond and share with others immediately.

3. Start a Facebook page and use it correctly. It takes just a few seconds to set up a Facebook page but it takes a little more time to utilize its worth. Consider your Facebook page for conversation purposes only. Use your page to link to other organizations (i.e. @SonicPromos). Post general questions to spark user engagement and pitch ideas to your readers.

How it helps your blog: Consider your blog the main event and your Facebook page the cocktail hour. Starting a conversation on Facebook will not only generate interest for potential readers, but will also enlighten you to different perspectives. Let your readers help build the foundation for your post.

I know it seems like some of these tips are going back to the basics. Sometimes that's exactly what we have to do. In social media, there are so many people who "get it" and just as many who are still very new to the whole concept. I think it's important to go back and utilize the tools that you started with and perhaps learn how to use them in different ways. If you see a blogger brunch, social media conference or another related event in your area, I encourage you to attend. There is always something new to be learned in this area of marketing, and putting real faces/personalities to the names on your screen adds a new dimension to relationships inititated through social media.