#isanyonelistening

What If the Real World Was Like Twitter? First of all, it would be very loud.

I’m going to start this blog by saying that I love twitter. I’ve used my Twitter account since 2009, made plenty of friends and had the occasional celebrity follow. Twitter is an awesome community, and it comes as no surprise that it is also a top social marketing tool. But, before you start auto-tweeting all of your blog posts (don’t worry, I’m guilty too..) think before you tweet. Twitter can engage you to customers, or it can make you seem distant and obnoxious. How would you like to appear?

Let me paint a picture of what Twitter would look like in the real world.

Mark walks by a building and notices flashing lights, loud music, and lots of chatter. There is one unassuming door with the simple word “twitter” across the top. Mark opens the door, and a friendly bouncer greets him.

“Hi Mark, welcome to Twitter! Here’s the rules – come find me if you need help,” hands him a pamphlet and disappears. Before Mark could get scared, a celebrity runs past him drinking a beer and laughing at the top of his lungs.

“Oh my gosh was that?” his shock is interrupted by 1000 people running behind him yelling at the star.

“Hey, I drink that beer too!”

“OMG your like my favorite! Follow Me”

“You are so dumb, why did you even laugh at that!”

Then, before Mark could blink, a second wave of people pop up from nowhere:

“Want more people to follow you, follow me and I’ll tell you how!”

“Get coupons on all your favorite beers.”

“All the celebrity news you can stand! Follow right now!”

Still in shock, but not deterred. Mark ventures further into Twitter and begins to tweet.

“Hi, My name is Mark.”

He looks around waiting for someone to respond. Nothing.

Then after 5 minutes (3 days in the real world) someone appears. It’s Josh.

“Hi, my name is Josh.”

Mark cheers up. Now he is going to have the fun everyone else was having. He begins to tweet more, writing about his dog, his favorite food and his favorite sports. More and more followers appear, but they don’t say anything. Mark looks around at them wondering why they aren’t talking. Then after he had 15 followers, and it had been a few weeks, someone replies.

“Thanks for the follow check out my website at ___”

Mark is devastated. Is this what Twitter is about? His inbox starts to fill with spam messages as his timeline is full of links and self glorifying posts.

He tried replying to the posters but it was as if they couldn’t hear him. They just continued posting.

#isanyonelistening Mark screams.

The room goes quiet. Mark opens his eyes to see everyone looking at him. Then the chatter begins. Uproars of chatter. Uncontrollable chatter. Mark has started a trend.

#isanyonelistening started popping up around him.

Mark ran out of Twitter in disgust – never to return.

Is this what your brand is doing to people? Do you engage with your customers or do you leave them out there feeling ignored? Think about it the next time you tweet- Don’t be tweet-noxious.

What We Can Learn about Social Media Marketing from Hip Hop

“Whose World Is It? The World is Yours…” Nas

When I was a teen, I never realized how true those words would ring in my professional life as an online writer. But in our Internet economy it is becoming increasingly truer. Today’s #ReBlog Sunday is not taken from a WordPress blog. It is from the official weblog of Henry Jenkins, the Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. So, you will have to actually click the link- I know, I’m sorry. But, I promise, it’s worth the read.

Today’s pick is about the Internet’s effect on music promotion. No, this is not a dated piece on how MySpace and YouTube started many of the people we enjoy today. This discussion tackles something way more interesting to me: social media and general online presence.

One of the main points is to be the most effective, your social media marketing has to be timely, appropriate and viral. Some Hip Hop artists seem to get this – taking their wordplay craft online to tap into the huge market of the world.

If you have been thinking about how to effectively use social media marketing, I encourage you to read the article. .. and if you are the video watching type, congrats, it has two embedded videos!

http://henryjenkins.org/2014/07/the-world-is-yours-a-film-about-hip-hop-and-the-internet.html

Informative eBooks: A Useful Collection of Links

My mother gave me an eReader this year, and for the short amount of time that it worked, I decided to indulge in a little online reading. Let me first explain something about myself- I read medical journals for fun. So, it can be frustrating sometimes to read ‘books’ that don’t provide me with any useful information or enjoyment. If I’m not learning something I didn’t already know, it is a waste of my time. For me, most eBooks are akin to reading the magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store- except they don’t have the good pictures.

So, if I seem highly critical of the electronic book- I am.

So, it is always problematic for me when I take an eBook project. I struggle with writing something that is just a bunch of words with strategically placed links for the purpose of content marketing. I value the readers time, and I probably spend more time than the project is worth searching for that nugget of unique information to put in the writing.

Once again, I am probably over-thinking it, and I wonder if I am the only one. After spending a couple of days reading all of the nonfiction eBooks my brain could stand, I noticed a trend.

Many of them were poorly written summaries of information you could find online. Thankfully, they were free, because I could have taken a screenshot of Google page 1 listings and have gotten the same result. But, there were the few that I felt understood what an ebook is best suited for and wrote in an entertaining (if not useful) style.

In my idealized view of the Internet, an ebook is an extended blog post rather than a technical training. In the non-virtual world, it would be similar to going to a presentation to see someone speak on a topic that interests you. That presentation could be engaging, with music and slideshows and cookies, or it could be an absolute bore, where you cannot understand the speaker, and even if you could, you couldn’t hear him anyways.

Many people think they can take the short cut and throw a few words on some paper with some links and they now have authoritative content. Here’s how that looks in the real world.

“Introducing Jenn, she is going to speak about online writing. Now open up your computers! Wait you don’t have a computer? Go get one. The rest of you, type google.com. This is online writing. Please don’t forget to rate this ebook!”

Good thing I served cookies, because that would have been a total waste of your time. Oh wait, I ate all of them while you were reading.

eBooks don’t have to be like this. If content creators are willing to spend the time investment writing something worthwhile, there are people who will gladly read it. These people will be so grateful for the information you have provided them, they will tell their friends, and support whatever it is you do. Writing an eBook just because it is the thing to do is bad Internet citizenship. If you want an eBook for your online presence, but don’t know where to begin, I’ll be glad to help- but bring your own cookies.

 

 

Proofreading vs Copyediting (There Is A Difference)

When interviewing potential clients I often get asked the question about the difference between proofreading, editing and copy editing. I’m sure there are some industry definitions, but since this is my blog, I am going to explain how I approach the topic.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the process of checking for errors and typos. It really is that simple. You read over the work and see if there are misspellings, grammar errors or typos. Proofreading is a basic task, but when you have a lot of content – such as a book or a website, it’s easy to let a few things slip though.

Another reason why someone may hire a proofreader is if their content requires a certain style, such as MLA citations, or AP editing style. A proofreader will check to confirm that the work is written with those guidelines in mind.

Editing

Editing is less about grammar and more about style. Editors answer questions such as: Did you clearly express what you were trying to say? Is your writing redundant or convoluted? Are you using a consistent voice? Editing is useful for most types of writing and can ensure that your writing reads well. Editing includes proofreading and is great for academic writing, novels and online content.

Copy-editing

To understand the difference between copy-editing and editing, you have to first understand copy. Copy is basically persuasive writing. It is used in advertisement and marketing, but it has also become quite popular in the online world. That is because most web-content is copy. If it is not purely entertainment or educational, there is most likely some sort of commercial interest involved. (There’s also some places online where the lines between educational, entertainment and commercial are quite blurred.) Basically any writing that wants people to take some sort of action can be considered copy.

A copy editor is responsible for proofreading, editing and ensuring that the writing fulfills its purpose. They can take an educational blog and edit it into an affiliate site. They can take social networking sites and make them into monetized opportunities with just a few words. They are that cousin that can talk anyone into anything, but they do so with a pen.

If you are looking for a copy-editor for your online content do not hesitate to contact me. I can revise your current content into something that is compelling and engaging. I love creating copy that pulls at heart strings, pushes people to take action, and softly sells an idea or product. You write content for people to take action, hire a professional copywriter to ensure that it does.