Learn more in 2011 – Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Happy New Year!
Wishing you a great 2011.
Wishing you lot’s of moments out of your comfort zone

International
My overall theme for 2011 is international.

One of my long term goals is, international paid speaking gigs. This way I can meet people from all kinds of cultures and learn. Also it will give me the possibility to do video interviews with entrepreneurs that make a difference from all over the world. With these video’s I want to create an online inspiration magazine.

SOBCon
Last year Liz Strauss gave me the opportunity to participate in a panel at SOBCon in Chicago. The panel was moderated by Becky McCray and Sheila Scarborough, they started Tourism Currents at SOBCon 2009 and made it profitable in the first month after the launch.

The panel was about starting your business, “A Business is Born and Branded”. The photo is me out of my comfort zone in 2010 at the SOBCon panel 🙂

In 2011 I will again visit SOBCon in Chicago, the ideas that are generated there are amazing. The speakers are super inspiring. Love it.
Thank you Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker. Join me and visit Chicago in April. Love to see you there.

Since the trip is pretty long, I want to find some speaking gigs around SOBCon, before and after. If you can help me with that please leave me a comment or send me a message at @ernohannink.

BlogWorld
Next thing on my US calendar is BlogWorld. The dates are not set yet but it should be somewhere around October/November. For this event I will apply to speak or be in a panel.

Next11
Also in May there is an event in Berlin, next11. For this event I am working with the Social Media Club to do something special in Berlin. Planning a great meetup for all European SMCs.

Guest posts
To be able to speak more internationally it is important that people learn about me professionally. For this I will write more on ernohannink.com, I have experienced the effect from increased blogging on ErnoHannink.nl in 2010.

One thing I haven’t done much in 2010 is guest blogging in Dutch. This will change in 2011, I will be writing for a new platform, Online Success. The launch will be in the next few weeks.

To really kick start blogging in English I will write guest posts for blogs that I really appreciate. This year already started of extremely well in this aspect with a guest post on v3im.com, Make your small business rock on Facebook.

This is a guest post written by my friend Erno Hannink, whom I was fortunate to meet at Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker’s SOBCon Event this past spring. And by the way, if you’ve not yet explored SOBCon, being held in Chicago on 4/29 – 5/1, you should.

Guest Blogging is a good way to attract more visitors to your blog, and build realationships with experts in your field. Read the great ebook by Chris Garrett on this topic Guest Posting (aff).

Get out of your Comfort Zone
The guest posts and speaking in English means getting out of my comfort zone. Writing on your own blog is somehow more protected then writing on another blog. The readers on your blog are familiar with your writing style, on other blogs you have to adapt your style to fit the blog and be respectful to the readers of that blog.

Looking forward to learn a lot just because I get out of my comfort zone.
Let’s see what get’s shipped by the end of 2011. Planning and preparing is a great feeling, but in the end shipping only counts.

Land Art Day 31
Creative Commons License photo credit: Mooganic

Have you planned any guest posts? Speaking? Or other actions that is outside your comfort zone?
Please share below.

By Erno Hannink

Sparring and accountability partner for entrepreneurs who create sustainable positive impact. Explores decision-making. Shares his insights on this in, articles, books (Dutch), podcast, newsletters, and tools. Has a life mission to reduce social and ecological inequality. Father of two children, husband of M., runs, referee for the national soccer league, and uses stoicism for calm. Lives in the Netherlands. Speaks Dutch, English, and German.