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How Writers Can Use QR Codes

November 28, 2011 By

What can writers do with QR codes? Do we even need them? When most writers still have that “I’m a writer, not a marketer” attitude, embracing something as 21st century as a smartphone, let alone a QR code, is going to be difficult.

But, if you’re trying to reach a particular kind of audience — let’s say a tech-savvy audience — or people who might not otherwise discover your work, a QR code could be a great way to market your work in some surprising and creative ways.

QR Code to my About.me page

QR Code to my About.me page

The whole point of a QR code is to reach a mobile audience. People who use their mobile phones to read articles and watch videos. People who use their tablets to read ebooks. Basically anyone not using a laptop or desktop computer, or reading paper-based articles and stories.

By tapping into the growing mobile market — and it’s growing fast — writers can get their words in front of a brand new audience, or at least an audience who can access your old work in new ways.

You can reach that mobile market in a few different ways, including emails, or making people tap long URLs into their web browser. But a QR code — that funny looking pixelated square — is something people can scan with their mobile phones to perform a certain action, like open a website or a video.

For writers, you can point a QR code at some of your work, and allow people to read it on their mobile phones. Here are a few places you can point them:

  • At one of your best articles or short stories: This should be the first place your QR codes should go. Point them at some of your best work, and then put the QR code on a business card or writer’s resume. Or if you’re at a conference, put it on a t-shirt. Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. Best way to do this? Install WP-Touch on your WordPress.org blog, or use Blogger, Posterous, or WordPress.com for a mobile-ready blog. Warning: Do not just point a QR code at your main website. For one thing, it’s boring and unimaginative. Hopefully you’ve already got a short, and clever, domain name, so a QR code is wasted. But if you don’t have anywhere else to point it, at least make sure your site is mobile friendly. A site designed for a desktop is awful to negotiate with a mobile phone.
  • Your book page on Amazon.com: Have a book flyer or sales card? Put a QR code on it and let people scan it. They can make their purchase right on their mobile phone and have it shipped to their house or office.
  • A mobile-only video: If you have a book trailer, consider making one especially for mobile use, and maybe even specifically for QR users. Speak directly to the user — “Hi, thanks for scanning the QR code and checking out the video.” — and tell them what is so special about this particular video. (“I’m sharing three additional personal branding secrets you won’t find in the Branding Yourself book.”) Make sure the video works on your mobile phone too. Some videos can’t play on mobile phones, so make sure you choose the right format and size.
  • At your ebook: If you’ve got an ebook for sale, whether it’s on Amazon.com or another ecommerce page, write up a small card about the book, and put a QR code on it. People can read the ebook on their phone or tablet, especially if they’re using the Amazon Kindle app.
  • At a secret page on your website: One of the best uses I saw of a QR code was a friend who put it on a t-shirt that he wore to conferences. People who scanned the code were immediately taken to a hidden page on his website where they could find how to connect with him via Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., as well as some special information that wasn’t available on his regular website.

The nice thing about QR codes is that you can point them anywhere you want. When you want to change pages, just edit the QR code. No need to create a new one or get rid of anything with the old code on it. Just go to the place where you created it, change the destination URL and you’re set.

You can put your code just about anywhere it can effectively be scanned, and point it anywhere that makes sense. On your business cards pointing to your book pages. T-shirts to your About.me page. Book covers to mobile videos. Anywhere you can think of, you can point it. Just don’t point it at your regular website, or put it on a highway billboard.

Watch Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) talk about QR codes and how they should and should not be used.

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    Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : How Writers Can Use QR Codes  •  Keywords : qr codes, writers, marketing, social media, smartphones  • 
    Filed Under: Blog Writing, Blogging, Marketing, Personal Branding, QR Codes, Social Media, Video, Writing Tagged With: , , , ,

    Calling Out Bad Behavior via Social Media

    November 22, 2011 By
    Table 1

    We tend to be pretty passive-aggressive as a society. And social media seems to have made it worse, in some ways. Social media has made it possible for us to point out bad behavior, and we’ll often do it to a complete stranger, but we won’t do it to our friends.

    I did a short (unscientific) survey last month to find out whether people would call out bad behavior on the part of strangers versus friends. I wasn’t surprised by some of the results, partly because most of the people I know are pretty nice people and not prone to being online jerks. But mostly because many respondents are from the Midwest, and we’re annoyingly nice about a lot of things.

    Summary

    Basically what I found is, we are more likely to forgive friends, but we will stick it to a complete stranger.

    • If we are wronged by a friend, we’ll point it out privately rather than call it out.
    • 40% of us will hang a stranger out to dry publicly; nearly all of us will tell someone else about it.
    • Only a very few people will say or do nothing, either about a friend or a stranger’s bad behavior.

    The Survey

    This was a four question survey, with a series of answers that asks about responses that range from very direct (and rather jerky) to very passive (being a doormat).

    For example, question #1 asked: When a friend — who uses social media — wrongs me in some way, I am more likely to:

    1. Call them out BY NAME on a social network. “I can’t believe @edeckers stood me up for our meeting this morning.”
    2. Point out my annoyance, but don’t mention their name. “Got stood up for a 7:30 am meeting.”
    3. Send them a private message pointing out the problem. “Did you forget we had a meeting this morning?”
    4. Absolutely nothing.

    The Results

    So would you @reply someone or set your Facebook status to call them out by name? Or would you passive-aggressively point out to the whole world that some unnamed jerkface missed your morning meeting?

    I wasn’t that surprised by the results. Most people are nice enough to keep our gripes private, and to not air our grievances in public, and the numbers bore this out. Out of 107 responses to Question 1:

    • 80 people (74.7%) said they would email their friend privately to point out their problems.
    • 12 people (11.2%) would call out the incident, but not name the person.
    • 11 people (10.2%) would do absolutely nothing at all.
    • 4 people (3%) would call that person out by name.

    I was intrigued that the number of people who would do absolutely nothing to tell the other person what they had done was nearly the same as the number of people who would point out the bad behavior but not name any names.

    When I’m in public, and someone does something annoying, I am more likely to:

    Friends vs. Strangers

    Question #2 was about whether people would point out something annoying that someone else did, but not to them: When I’m in public, and someone does something annoying, I am more likely to:

    1. Point out their bad behavior on a social network, including pictures or video. “Check out this jerkwad being an ass to his wife.”
    2. Point out their bad behavior, but give them their anonymity. “Some guy next to me is being an ass to his wife.”
    3. Email a friend privately and relay the story to them.
    4. Absolutely nothing.

    The results were a little more dramatic this time compared to what people would say to their friends. Out of 106 responses (someone missed this one):

    • 57 people (53.8%) said they would email a friend privately to tell them about the stranger’s behavior.
    • 32 people (30.2%) said they would call out this stranger’s behavior, and include pictures or videos
    • 11 people (10.3%) would call out the behavior, but not include any identifying information.
    • 6 people (5.7%) would do absolutely nothing.

    When a stranger does something annoying in public, I am more likely to:

    Observations

    This is the stuff that intrigues me, and really makes me wish I had paid better attention in stats class in grad school. Because there are some interesting correlations between what we consider acceptable behavior toward friends versus complete strangers.

    • Most people (nearly 75%) will tell friends privately about their own bad behavior, but 40.5% of these people will publicly call out bad behavior from a stranger.
    • Compare that to 3% of people who would call out a friend by name on Twitter or Facebook. This tells me that most people are nice, and a few can be rather cut-throat and nasty.
    • Surprisingly, more people — 30.2% vs. 10.3% — will point an accusing finger at a stranger by including evidence of their bad behavior than will give them anonymity.
    • 94.3% of people will tell someone about a stranger’s bad behavior, whether it’s publicly or via email.
    • The number of people who would point out bad behavior but protect the person’s identity in either situation is nearly the same: 10.3% will talk about a stranger versus 11.2% who will call out, but not identify, friends (11 people vs. 12 people).
    • The percentage of people who will do nothing when a friend wrongs them versus a stranger nearly doubled — 10.2% versus 5.7% respectively, or 11 versus 6 people.

    Conclusion

    So what does all of this mean? Are we people with a strong sense of moral outrage who will point out the failings of other people, but only when they’re not anyone we know? And do we hold back out of fear of retribution or respect for our friends’ feelings? Or do we have an overwhelming sense of schadenfreude, but refrain from doing it at inappropriate moments?

    What about you? What do you think? What conclusions can you draw from this study? What do you think this tells us about ourselves, as it relates to social media?

    The rest of the questions:

    Question #3: When I am having an argument with a friend or family member, I will start/continue the discussion on a social network.

    • Yes (2 people)
    • No (105 people)

    Question #4: Which social network do you use the most?

    • Twitter (51 people)
    • Facebook (50)
    • LinkedIn (5)
    • Google+ (1)
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        Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : Calling Out Bad Behavior via Social Media  •  Keywords : social media, bad behavior, survey, study, Twitter, Facebook  • 
      Filed Under: Communication, Facebook, Research Desk, Social Media, Social Networks, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , ,

      Search and Social: A Partnership for the Ages

      October 19, 2011 By
      Robbie Williams

      Robbie Williams is an SEO Consultant at Slingshot, and wrote this guest post in exchange for a guest post I wrote for their website.

      Robbie Williams

      Robbie Williams. I love his version of 'Somewhere Beyond the Sea' from Finding Nemo

      What grabs a social media guru’s attention faster than mentioning the term “social media guru?”

      The answer: Providing data-driven ROI statistics for their industry and, better yet, doing it in conjunction with SEO.

      Worked, didn’t it?

      Now that I have your attention, I want you to dabble in my thoughts for a moment.

      I’ve often pondered how a social media practitioner would address the topic of “Search and Social” as they are the two dominating powers on the Internet. Now I know. They turn to the SEO professionals to address it.

      As we all know, the Google algo is one of mankind’s best kept secrets. So I’m not going to come out and tell you that I know anything in my industry to be a 100% fact — aside from what Google tells us directly (which often keeps me up at night). However, I can back up my opinions and observations with the experience of day-in, day-out SEO practice, where dealing with rankings for an array of keywords is my entire world.

      Within this digital domain, I’ve had first-hand experience with the algorithm and how it responds to certain human signals; e.g., social signals. However, (drumroll please….) social signals alone have yet to produce an identifiable, data-proven effect on rankings in the majority of SERPs. So yes, given the access to the data streams of Twitter and Facebook, there has been a trace amount of evidence where social media has had a noticeable effect on rankings in certain keyword search queries.

      Now, back to proving ROI for social media with search. We all know how powerful social media has become and it’s not unreasonable to think that Google doesn’t realize it too. As a matter of fact, it has attempted to gain access to the Twitter and Facebook “fire hoses” (the full feed of information behind their massive firewalls) but to no avail … yet. As soon as this happens, you better believe that social media is going to have a significant effect on rankings, and it’s only a matter of time.

      ***Disclaimer: As an SEO professional, I am required to mention the discussion Correlation vs. Causation when discussing this topic. So here it goes: a page/brand/keyword will typically have social cues surrounding it because it’s a good page/brand/keyword and it will rank accordingly because of this. The reverse is not true, a page/brand/keyword will not rank only because it has social. In the world of SEO, it’s never that simple.***

      Imagine a graph illustrating the respective positions of traffic-driving, conversion-producing keywords in individual SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Now overlay it with another graph of social media activity that’s been strategically produced around the same SEO keywords.

      What do you see? Positive correlation (not necessarily causation). Additionally, imagine a Google Analytics graph showing increased conversion, increased on-page time and click-through rates, as well as a decrease in user bounce rates for those same keywords and their associated pages, overlaid on top. (I’m drooling at the thought of this, I don’t know about you…)

      Boom. professional search engine optimization company. Aside from work, he loves being outside; running, mountain biking, adventure racing, etc. Robbie’s current motto: If you keep life full, you never have time to worry about tomorrow.

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        Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : Search and Social: A Partnership for the Ages  •  Keywords : social media, search engine optimization, websites, SEOmoz, Slingshot SEO, Robbie Williams  • 
        Filed Under: Blogging, Corporate Blogging, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Experts, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

        People Who Don’t Use Social Media Shouldn’t Dismiss Social Media

        October 4, 2011 By

        “I don’t use social media because I don’t want to tell people what I had for breakfast,” declare social media haters.

        “I don’t use Facebook because I don’t care enough about the minutiae of other people’s lives to bother reading it,” they say with the dismissive snottiness of people who refuse to own a TV.

        I’m always annoyed by people who just outright dismiss social media as a place where people talk about breakfast, bathroom habits, and life’s inanities, despite the fact that they have never used it.

        I read a recent article — Academics and Colleges Split Their Personalities for Social Media — where several commenters proudly crowed about their dislike for social media, and declared it inane and useless. (Hat tip to my friend Anthony Juliano for a great response.)

        One of the comments by “transparentopaque” caught Anthony’s and my attention:

        I do not have a Facebook or Twitter account. So, I have nothing to worry about. I have yet to figure out what anybody could possibly have to say via Twitter that I absolutely need to read. Is anyone’s life really that interesting? Yes, but only those people who do not waste their time posting on social media networks. Life is happening, and many people today are wasting it away talking about it. Instead of living in the moment, people are analyzing every aspect of their life to determine its suitability as a Facebook status update.

        I’ve determined that it isn’t really the “sharing” that drives people to social media, it is the sense that they have a captive audience. But that is only an illusion. Few people participate in order to read what others have to say; they participate in order to have a forum in which they can hear themselves speak. Narcissism has finally found its place in this world.

        The problem with “transparentopaque’s” attitude and practice is that as someone who does not use social media, he/she has no way of knowing how other people are using it.

        We see this with business owners all the time. “Our customers don’t use social media.” But they have no way of knowing this for certain, since they never use it.

        It’s like saying “no one visits that restaurant because I’ve never been there.”

        And yes, I was struck by the irony of someone asking whether anyone’s life is interesting, and then declaring social media to be “a forum in which they can hear themselves speak,” in the comments section of a website — another form of social networking.

        I always get agitated by people who say they’ll never do something, eat something, watch something, or participate in something without ever having tried it. (Although to be fair, I won’t eat mussels after reading Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. And yes, I have eaten them before. But if the guy who has an entire TV show about eating nearly anything on the planet won’t eat them, it’s probably a good idea to avoid them.)

        If you don’t try something, how do you know you won’t like it. If you don’t use Twitter or Facebook, how do you know what people are using it for?

        Of course, there are always those people who say “I don’t need to try heroin to know it’s bad for me.”

        True, but Facebook isn’t heroin. One is an addictive experience that will open up new worlds to you while at the same time isolating you from friends and family, and the other is an illegal narcotic.

        But unless you’ve tried Facebook or Twitter for a while (at least a month, for 20 minutes a day), you don’t know enough about it to dismiss it without looking like a myopic, close-minded curmudgeon who still thinks TV is a passing fad.

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          Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : People Who Don't Use Social Media Shouldn't Dismiss Social Media  •  Keywords : social media, Twitter, Facebook, television  • 
          Filed Under: Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

          Dear Social Media Haters: Social Networking Isn’t Going Anywhere

          October 3, 2011 By

          Business blogging and social media can be effective in helping products or services find an audience to generate conversations. Business blogging is the hub of any social media campaign. Yet, how do you move large segments of the population to evangelize your product or service like a preacher can move a congregation?

          Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. 

          This has played out recently with the events that have happened in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Tunisia. By accounts, small segments of the population were able to use Facebook and Twitter to steer their ideas into a majority which resulted in what has become known as the “Arab Spring”.

          Who says that cannot be done for a product or service? Look at Facebook, which is used by nearly half of the US population (170 million US users), or Twitter, which is used by 14% of the US’ adult Internet users.

          But to be a part of this trend, you have to participate in social media first. If you are not even engaging in conversation online, then your brand or competitor could be eating your lunch.

          As one of our clients said, “If you’re not tracking Twitter or Facebook, your brand could get destroyed. People can be really mean.” So participation is key. Because the 10% rule can go both ways. It can work for you or against you.

          Why? Consider this, Generation Y has now surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest population in the United States. They don’t watch television like Baby Boomers still do. Generation Y is online, texting and watching Youtube. If you want to reach Generation Y, television and newspapers will not do it.

          If you want to move them and become a majority product in their circles, you will have to participate in social media to make it happen. It’s scientifically proven that it only takes 10% for a movement to move like fire.

          Paul is the President of Professional Blog Service. PBS works with clients making strategic investments into business blogging, social media and search engine optimization.

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            Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : Dear Social Media Haters: Social Networking Isn't Going Anywhere  •  Keywords : social media, social networking  • 
            Filed Under: Blogging, Business Blogging Content, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Twitter Tagged With: , , , ,

            5 Reasons B2B Sales Need Social Media

            September 22, 2011 By

            “We’re in B2B sales, we can’t use social media.”

            I hear it many times. B2B salespeople who think they can’t use social media, because social media is just for fun. It’s just for kids. Their clients don’t use it. Blah blah blah.

            I don’t know who keeps perpetuating the myth that social media is some kids’ playground that “real” businesspeople aren’t allowed to use, but it’s wrong. There is no one who can’t benefit from social media. Even spies can use social media — the CIA has one at ICouldTellYouButI’dHaveToKillYou.com.

            But I was in B2B sales long enough, in a past life, that I can see exactly where and how B2B salespeople can use social media.

            1. Solve problems.

            The best way to find customers is not to call them up, one at a time, from a phone list, and hope for the best. The best way to find customers is to happen upon them when they have a problem, and fix it. Even if it’s just a small problem that’s easily managed in a single Twitter message or 500 word email, you will get a person’s attention when you help them.

            You answer their question, show them how to fix the problem completely, and they’re grateful. They’re so grateful, they check out your profile, see who you work for, and visit your website.

            They don’t buy anything from you right then, but they start paying attention to you on Twitter, on LinkedIn, or an industry discussion board. They see you helping others, and they realize you solve problems. You’re honest, you’re helpful, and you provide value to them.

            And then one day, they realize they have a problem where they need your help — paying-you-money kind of help. You meet, show them how your product can fix their problems, and they buy it.

            2. Become your industry’s expert.

            Solve problems for a lot of people, not just a few. Start a blog and write important articles about industry trends. Write articles about how trends in other industries affect yours. Write articles that show people how to fix a common problem. Write articles about other articles other industry people have written.

            But do it without pimping your product. Don’t write commercial after commercial about your products. Don’t write about “5 ways our rotary wankle engine beats the competition.” Don’t even write about problems where your product is the only solution. People hate that, and will ignore you.

            Then, share those articles on your social networks — Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. As your customers and prospects read your articles, they’ll figure if you know enough to write about these issues over and over, you must know what you’re talking about.

            Not only will they think you’re an expert, they’ll realize you know enough to fix their specific problem. They won’t want the help from the person who just called them up for the 8th time. They want the expert whose wisdom they’ve been reading for the last several months or years.

            3. Deepen relationships.

            Social media lets you connect with other people, in all industries, all career levels, all over the world.

            You can be Twitter friends with your favorite customers. You can be LinkedIn colleagues with important decision makers. (And you can keep tabs on the competition.)

            Social media lets you deepen important work relationships without constant face-to-face meetings. You can find out interesting things about people, things you would never learn in a real meeting. And things that show you care about them as a person.

            “I saw on Twitter that you got a new puppy. How’s she doing?”

            Now you’ve connected with them, gotten to know them better, and you can start deepening that relationship. Only it doesn’t stop growing when you’ve left them. You can continue to grow it when you’re back at your office.

            People buy from people they like. By using social media to grow your relationships, you can get people to like — and buy from — you.

            4. Avoid gatekeepers.

            Anyone who is in sales has learned that gatekeepers are the bane of our existence. It seems their sole purpose in life, the reason they were put here on this earth, is to say no to salespeople.

            Guess what.

            Those people are not monitoring your customers’ social networks. They’re not on Twitter blocking your tweets. They’re not on LinkedIn intercepting your group discussions.

            Your customers using it themselves. They’re paying attention to you. They’re reading what you have to say. And because you’ve done the previous three steps, they’re willing to talk with you on the phone or meet with you face-to-face.

            Because the one phrase that trumps all gatekeepers, and is like sunlight to a vampire to them?

            “He asked me to call.”

            5. Keep up with client turnover.

            People move on. They get promoted, they change jobs. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve called someone only to find they left that job. All that work, all those phone calls and meetings, wasted. I could catch up with that person in their new job, if the gatekeeper was willing to share it, but a good bit of the time, that wasn’t possible.

            With social media, because I’m keeping up with the people in my industry, I know when someone is moving on. I see their announcement on Twitter, I get the profile change notice on LinkedIn. I can send them congratulatory messages, follow up after they get settled in, and help them in their new role.

            Occasionally, I can connect them to other people who can help, or write a blog post that relates to their new role and ideas to consider in their new position. (Sort of like this one.)

            Social media is a force majeure in the business world, even while old school sales and marketing pros are still questioning whether and how to use social media, not realizing it’s already being used to great effect. Especially by the competition.

            If you want to stay up with current trends and be a valuable resource to your current and potential clients, start using social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Facebook. (But that’s for another post.)

            It sure beats playing Dialing for Dollars day after day.

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              Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : 5 Reasons B2B Sales Need Social Media  •  Keywords : social media, B2B sales, sales, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging  • 
              Filed Under: Blog Writing, Blogging, Business Blogging Content, Corporate Blogging, LinkedIn, Marketing, Personal Branding, Reputation Management, Social Media, Twitter Tagged With: , , , , ,

              Is Facebook On Its Way Out? The Folly of Calling Things Dead

              September 8, 2011 By

              Given some social media pundits’ “premature speculation” of calling things dead, I’m surprised no one started sounding the “Facebook is dead!” knells after we learned that StumbleUpon surpassed Facebook as the top source of social media traffic. (Also see this post on ReadWriteWeb.)

              Zombie girl in the water

              She was declared dead too. Now look what you've done.

              Sure, no one believes Facebook is suffering, because 1) we’re only talking about social media traffic, 2) there are still questions about the methodology, and 3) Facebook is f—ing huge.

              But after hearing that Facebook was going to kill Google, that Twitter was going to kill email, or that social media is going to make corporate websites irrelevant, I’ve decided that people who declare things dead are only doing it to get attention (this post’s headline notwithstanding).

              Is Facebook going to die, just because it got surpassed in one small category? Hardly. Yet, I heard someone declare “nobody Googles” because Facebook had just surpassed Google in number of minutes on site, by a total of 2 million minutes, based on worldwide usage. But Facebook and Google do two different things. Besides, being a 799-pound gorilla doesn’t make you irrelevant.

              Is Twitter going to kill blogging? Never. Because if you can sum up your deepest thoughts about life, the universe, and everything in 140 characters, you’ve got all the emotional depth of a high school prom.

              Is email dead just because some jegging-wearing hipster carrying a 60-year-old camera would rather send a text on her smartphone? Hell no. How else is Facebook and Twitter going to notify her that she’s got new friends and followers?

              I truly am surprised that no one tried to declare Facebook dead after the StumbleUpon news last month. I figured every Wrongway Feldman-praying Internet pundit would have been all over that news, declaring that the days of social media were at an end, and that we were all going back to rotary phones and typewriters.

              Or maybe that’s finally dead.

              Photo credit: rodolpho.reis (Flickr)

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                Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : Is Facebook On Its Way Out? The Folly of Calling Things Dead  •  Keywords : social media, Facebook, StumbleUpon, dead  • 
                Filed Under: Facebook, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

                People Who Can’t Need to Stop Dismissing the Work of Those Who Can

                September 5, 2011 By

                “I’m tired of people who ‘don’t’ attacking the people who ‘do.’” — Britt Raybould

                Writer, crafter, and blogger Britt Raybould put the dope smack on people who dismiss the work of others, saying “I could do that,” or “that costs too much” (Dismissing the Myth of Easy). It got me to thinking about the critics, both the professional and amateur a-holes, who give a knee-jerk negative reaction about some new venture, and why it won’t work, without considering whether it actually might.

                There were people who thought Facebook would fail. They still write blog posts about why Google+ is doomed.

                There are people who have been predicting the death of email, blogging, and now Twitter for years, and despite their egregious incorrectness, still insist on doing so.

                There are people who dismiss modern art, writing, and even social media consulting as “too easy,” and they don’t value it.

                Britt’s pretty tired of it, and after reading “Dismissing the Myth of Easy,” I’m right there with her.

                You don’t have to like my work, but don’t you dare say that it’s easy or has no value. Maybe not to you, but unless you’re willing to ante up, I don’t want to hear it anymore.

                If you want to have a best-selling book, write one. Quit slamming people who’ve already got one. If you want to host a widely popular webinar AND charge money for it, then figure out what the market wants and do it. If you want a custom quilt, then by hell, buy the 12 different fabrics, cut out 200+ pieces, and sew the damn thing together.

                It’s not easy to sit down and come up with words that string together into powerful sentences and come together to make big ideas. And it’s not easy to take your version of the blank canvas and create something out of nothing. It may look easy, but that’s just the result of time and a willingness to do the hard work.

                So the next time you see me, please don’t say, “I could do that, too.” I highly doubt it, and you’ll just piss me off.

                I face this all the time as a professional writer. The problem is we all learned to write in the 8th grade. But for a lot of people, that’s where they stopped. And since the extent of their writing is dozens of emails, they know how to write. As a result, they don’t value writing, because they think it’s easy.

                There’s a big difference between plopping out an email and actually writing something that’s powerful and moving. There’s a difference between whipping up scrambled eggs and cooking a souffle. And there’s a difference between playing a kazoo and playing a piano concerto.

                But those people who write emails, make scrambled eggs, or have mastered the kazoo seem to think that what they do is on par with the professional writer, the trained chef, and the concert pianist.

                It isn’t. Not even close.

                The people who dismiss it as “not that hard” or “not worth anything” either need to go out and show us how smart they really are, or step out of the way of the people who are actually doing the work.

                Because until they understand what actually goes into creating something, their criticisms and out-of-hand dismissals are nothing more than the meaningless and petty ramblings of the perpetually envious.

                And anyone can do that.

                Photo credit: hfabulous (Flickr)

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                  Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : People Who Can't Need to Stop Dismissing the Work of Those Who Can  •  Keywords : writing, craft, social media  • 
                  Filed Under: Opinion, Social Media, Speaking, Writing Tagged With: , ,

                  Scott Stratten Smacks Down Realtors Who Misuse Social Media

                  September 4, 2011 By

                  Scott Stratten is pleading with Realtors to stop misusing QR codes, social media, and even advertising claims. He’s having a go at Canadian Realtors, but the message applies to American ones as well.

                  Here’s the gist of his complaint:

                  • QR codes are for mobile phones. Don’t point a QR code at a desktop website. Create a mobile-friendly website. If you can’t do that, don’t use a QR code.
                  • Don’t just put Facebook and Twitter logos on your advertising. Tell us where to actually find you on Facebook and Twitter. Make it easy for your clients to find you.
                  • Don’t treat your Twitter feed like a listing service. If you’re not engaging buyers and sellers, then you’re not going to get any benefit out of social media at all.

                  Coming up this week, I’ll have a post about five ways Realtors can properly use social media.

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                    Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Copyright Year : 2011  •  Headline : Scott Stratten Smacks Down Realtors Who Misuse Social Media  •  Keywords : social media, Realtors, Scott Stratten  • 
                    Filed Under: Facebook, Marketing, QR Codes, Social Media, Twitter, Video Tagged With: , ,

                    15 Social Media Tactics to Promote Your Upcoming Theatrical Show

                    August 30, 2011 By

                    We just finished the 10-day festival of independent theatre and weirdness known as the Indianapolis Fringe Theatre Festival, and I had a chance to see a few shows, including a couple of old favorites.

                    I also had a chance to talk social media — because I’m an annoying geek that way — with a couple performers, and decided to write a blog post based on what I told a couple of them.

                    Didi Panache and Wayburn Sassy of the Screw You Revue

                    Didi Panache and Wayburn Sassy of the Screw You Revue

                    This post is written for any musician or performer, especially the independent theatrical types who depend on ticket sales to make their living. For some of these performers, they bounce from festival to festival and make a good portion of their income from their take. Some even use one festival to pay for the next one.

                    This is a strategy they can use to improve their take next year.

                    What You’ll Need

                    • A laptop computer
                    • A digital camera with video capabilities. If not, your laptop’s camera will do.
                    • A Twitter account.
                    • A blog (WordPress.com or Blogger.com are great free platforms, as is Posterous.com and Tumblr.com)
                    • A YouTube account.
                    • A Facebook page. (This is different from a personal profile. You want an Artist’s page.)

                    What You’ll Do

                    These are in a general chronological order, but not in a do-one-then-the-next lockstep order. I’m using the Indianapolis Fringe (#IndyFringe) as an example, but this will work for any concert, performance, show, or festival.

                     

                    • First, make sure your Twitter bio includes a line about the name of your show, or your most famous character’s name. If you only performed in one festival, put the name of that in the bio too. “You may have seen me at the #IndyFringe Festival!” You can always change your bio, especially as you move from festival to festival, or follow specific groups of people.
                    • Start following people on Twitter. People will follow you back, especially once they see that you’re a performer at the festival they went to, and even moreso if they were at your show. To find people who were at the festival, do these steps:

                     

                    • Go to FollowBlast.com and do a search for #indyfringe, and follow anyone using that term. Keep in mind that these hashtags only work for about 30 minutes, so it’s actually a good idea to access this site while you’ve got some downtime at next year’s show.
                    • Build a hashtag archive at TwapperKeeper.com. I’m still trying this out, but I’m hoping it will collect old hashtags, unlike FollowBlast.com. However, it only goes back 7 – 10 days, and back for 1,500 tweets. It will then go forward and continue to save tweets. You should set this up before your next festival starts. Work in conjunction with the festival organizers, because they may want to use your archive as well. Also, before you start, search to see if anyone else set up an archive before you so you don’t duplicate efforts.
                    • Go to search.twitter.com as another way to search for #hashtags. Put in #indyfringe and see what you can find. Search results are somewhat limited, but you may be able to find older tweets that FollowBlast and Twapper Keeper couldn’t, especially if you’re seeing this now, and are scrambling to recover those old tweets.
                    • If all else fails, try Topsy. It’s not 100% accurate, but it gives you more than you might get if you’re looking for a festival that ended three weeks ago.

                     

                    • Check out the festival organizer’s Twitter page and follow everyone they follow (not everyone who follows them). If they have been good Twitter stewards, they have vetted the people they’re following. Those people will include other performers, supporters, festival-goers, and other people in the industry or festival business. (This last group could be a good connection to getting into other festivals!) Do this with any festivals you plan on going to next year as well.
                    • Use Twellow.com and Twellowhood.com as a way to find other people who are in the cities where you’ll be next year.

                    • Why You’ll Do It

                      Okay so far? You’ve built your Twitter list for a very important reason: Promoting stuff! You’re going to promote next year’s show through videos, your blog, and even email newsletters. Here’s how.

                      Zan Aufderheide of Welcome to Zanland

                      Zan Aufderheide of Welcome to Zanland

                      • Now you need your camera. Start shooting some short videos. Update us on what you’re doing, where you’ll be, thoughts on stuff you did this year. Treat it like a diary. If you’re an actor playing a part, do it in character, especially if that character is going to be back at the festivals next year. Shoot the videos in character, or tell some jokes, or give people a preview of what you’ve been working on. Shoot some rehearsals, some special messages to individuals, or perform a new song.
                      • Post those on YouTube.com (make them public), and make sure you fill out all the details, like Title, Description, etc. (all this stuff is indexed by Google, which makes your videos found more easily by people searching for you or the festival).
                      • Share these videos on Twitter and your Facebook page, and post them to your blog (do the same with any photos you take). This will accomplish a lot of pre-show promo before you ever set foot in the city. And if you can get people buzzing about the show before you start, you’ll be selling out more shows.

                      You can get a Flip camera for as low as $170 now, and if you think that’s still high, use the money you were going to spend on fancy-schmancy postcards and spend it on the camera instead. The postcards are immediately dated once the festival ends, and you can’t reuse them. The video camera will pay for itself with all the videos you shoot and the postcards you don’t buy.

                      Finally, there are a few things you want to do next year, to get ready for the next off-season.

                        • Build a mailing list of all your attendees. Send around a clipboard before your show begins, or have them sign up before they leave. Ask people for their HOME email, not their work email — especially if your show is laden with profanities and cross-dressers. Guard this with your life. Promise to never, ever spam them. Use it only for newsletters and occasional social media communication.
                        • Load that list into a Gmail account (here’s why you should use Gmail), and then either use the Rapportive.com Gmail plugin, or upload the email list to Gist.com, to start finding where your list members can be found on the different social media networks. Follow them on Twitter, and connect with them on Facebook.
                        • Send out an occasional newsletter — no more than once a month — and email it to them. Let them know what you’re working on for next year so they get excited about your upcoming visit. Give them an opportunity to unsubscribe, but try to give them useful information so they won’t want to.
                        • Use your video camera to shoot post-show testimonials and get them up on your blog as soon as a show ends. Tweet the new blog posts to your Twitter network during the show, so you can continue to remind people you’re there and you’ve got an awesome show. Ask your Twitter network to retweet your show information, so they can help you spread the word.

                      There is so much more you can do with social media. Believe it or not, this is just scratching the surface of what can be done. But while it seems overwhelming, keep in mind two things:

                          1. This will get easier as you do it more often.
                          2. It beats the hell out of busking and handing out postcards in 90 degree heat.

                      Photo credit: Erik Deckers

                     

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                      Author :  •  Content Location : Indianapolis, IN  •  Headline : 15 Social Media Tactics to Promote Your Upcoming Theatrical Show  •  Keywords : social media, tactics, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, video  • 
                      Filed Under: Blogging, Facebook, Marketing, Personal Branding, Public Relations, Reputation Management, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Tools, Twitter, Video Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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