Date: April 22 Reading time: 5 minutes Key Takeaways: Being invited to speak is exciting, but "invited" doesn't always mean what you think it means Legitimate conferences do not charge speakers to present. Full stop. Three minutes of Google research can save you hundreds, or thousands, of dollars If you can't find real humans behind the event, that's your answer A real conference will never be offended by due diligence; a predatory one will pressure you to skip it Ask who bou

Tis that time of year... No, I don't mean the holiday season. I mean this is prime season for online, social media voting contests. Let me shoot straight from the hip. Here is the #1 truth you need to start with before you enter a voting contest: "Winning a social media voting contest takes strategy" Wait, what? Yes! Having a strategy ("a winning formula") is more important than the number of followers, email addresses or likes you might have. Case in point: Two of my p