All right, little blog. . . what’s your story?

This past weekend I was fortunate to attend the MN Blogger Conference held at the Allina Commons in the Midtown Exchange Building in Minneapolis.  This was a significant event for me for a number of reasons: 

1. It gave me the opportunity to yet again showcase my complete and utter lack of directional skills when it comes to navigating the streets of the Twin Cities in a timely manner.  

2. It encouraged me to dip more than my pinky toe into the pool of information exchange that is Twitter.  

3. It was a great chance to learn from all kinds of people who have been doing this blogging thing a lot longer and better than moi.  

And so what did I learn (beyond the fact that I should probably invest in a GPS device)?  

Probably the biggest take away from this experience is the idea that one’s blog is an opportunity to stand for something.  Keynote speaker Lee Odden from TopRank Marketing pointed out that to dominate in the blogging world you need to stand out for something specific.  Now, not saying that I have delusions of world domination in this area, but it did give me something to chew on.  What exactly do I want “I [heart] Hibbing” to be?  What do I care about and how is that part of this blog?  And once I answer those questions, I am faced with another—how does this connect with all of you out there?  Are there people who care about the same things I do?  

I’m starting to answer those questions and will be sharing my progress with you all (and asking for your feedback) throughout this next week.  So stay tuned.  

Also, before I sign off, a special thanks to Aaron Brown  at MinnesotaBrown for alerting me to the existence of this conference and for graciously giving this little baby blog a plug on his website.  Welcome also to those MinnesotaBrown readers who have found their way here.  Although I anchor myself in Hibbing, there’s a lot of Range-wide love to go around.  My hope is that as I experiment with the structure and content of this blog a virtual space can be created for Rangers near and far to celebrate our roots and promote positive development for hometowns like Hibbing that many of us hold dear.