Twitter isn’t so crazy
This morning I was out rollerblading and I crossed paths with these two lovely ladies that I see out there from time to time. They’re probably about 65 and they’re on their bikes.
We were traveling in different directions and passed each other three times. At each pass, we had these mini-flyby conversations, like this one:
As we approached…
Lady 1: I love your little car!
Lady 2: What is it?
As we passed each other:
Me: Subaru.
Lady 2: The Impreza?
Me: Yep.
Over our shoulders:
Lady 1: Do you love it?
Me: Totally. Awesome car. And affordable.
Both Ladies: Thanks!
The world, as I see it, is currently divided into two camps: those that love Twitter and those that hate it. Which is why I love when I see ‘Twitter’ enacted in real life. ‘Cause them I can say, ‘You know what? Twitter isn’t so crazy…it happens all the time.”
Image credit gianmerizzi
Filed under How To, Networking, Social Media | Tags: Networking, social media, social networking, Twitter | Comment (1)A tale of two bags
This is what happened to me last night:
Women on Fire
I went to hear a phenomenal speaker, executive coach, the founder of Women on Fire and the author of the book by the same name, Debbie Phillips. She talked about, well, being a woman on fire – the steps that you have to take for courage, inspiration, following your heart and the like. She was funny and motivating and charming – and everyone was très fired up.
And, then, Debbie invited us to have an experience. We each wrote on a card the following three things:
- What is your biggest accomplishment from the past year?
- What are you fired up about right now?
- What do you need to help turn that fired up thing into an accomplishment?
Speaking out
We all wrote down our answers and then got into groups of four to discuss them. Five minutes later, Debbie asked people to stand up in front of the room (120+/- women) and share. If you haven’t noticed, I have a big mouth and I jumped right up – though not really because of my inability to keep my mouth shut.
The thing I’m fired up about is the writing of my book and the big mama publishing house that’s interested in it – but I’m watching myself stand off to the left of this fact. Do you know what I mean? I’m so excited, but when I tell people I feel like I’m peering around the trophy, not holding it square in front of my gut. I have a toe in the shoes, but I’m not standing in them. The news is too big. It is too much ‘everything I’ve ever wanted’. So, I thought, well, I’ll just get up in front of all of these women and say it, loud and proud. And I’ll feel it, believe it, own it.
After all, Debbie said again and again how important this process was – to be on fire and share it in the safe company of other women on fire. She said safe and connection and support so often during her talk, each enveloping and practically obliterating my fear. So I stood up. I said what I was on fire about. People clapped and cheered. Afterwards, many of the women asked me about the book and gave me huge hugs…
Pause
I’m going to pause now and tell you that someone very near, dear and wise to me believes that we have miraculous powers of manifestation and creation. That we call to us exactly what we need when we need it.
Obviously I’m struggling with some fired-up issues, which is one of the reasons I wanted to attend Debbie’s talk in the first place. I felt pulled to be around other women and to be inspired. Debbie herself says it best:
“I’ve always been inspired by the energy of brilliant, dynamic, caring women coming together to create something more vibrant than what they could on their own. I live near the ocean on Martha’s Vineyard and call this my ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ theory.”
Yes! So, according to my friend, I created this event last night so that I could experience the rising tide. But what about all of the worry and self-doubt? Where’s that energy going? What’s it creating?
Un-Pause
…and then BLAM. A woman standing right in front of me, eyeing me with a hardy dose of skepticism and perhaps a little disgust quivering about her upper lip, says, “Soooo…what’s this ‘book’ about?” I told her, and I swear on my MacBook, she says, “and they want you to write it?” As if she was questioning Hitler’s ability to pen a benevolent history of the Jewish people.
The safety had disappeared, vanished. I wanted to call Superman and beg him to fly backwards around the Earth several times so that I could pull the fire-laced words back into my mouth. Keeping them safe…you know…inside.
And so it is…
I’m carrying two big bags around on my shoulders. One is full of the excitement and thrill of a dream being realized. The other is a sack of shit: self-doubt, creative blockage, paranoia, isolation and fear. And when I walked into that room – both sacks were waiting for me to confront, absorb and choose between.
The good bag was warm and spirited – it led me to achieve my answer to #3 (What Do I Need?) – which is a stable, consistent group of women that meets regularly to share, support and inspire each other. I started forming it last night, and I can’t wait to get started. I seek community.
The bad bag was a mean, nasty, seething troll. Competition, greed, insecurity, doubt…they all live there.
I’m going with the good bag.
Whew!!! It feels good to say that out loud.
Who’s with me?
Image courtesy of anikaviro
Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To, Networking | Tags: creative writing, creativity, debbie phillips, inspiration, motivation, self-doubt, support, women, women on fire, Writing | Comments (28)Blur the Lines
If you go to search Google today, you’ll find this in the top right hand corner of your screen:
Once upon a time, the list included ‘Blogs’ as a category. You can still search blogs exclusively if you click the ‘more’ carrot – but the significance here is that blogs have been absorbed into the greater category of ‘Web’. This didn’t happen yesterday, mind you – it’s not breaking news, but it’s a prime example of lines being blurred and the inclusion of social media in mainstream ‘information accrual.’
The other day, I was talking to the glorious Nevette Previd, and I was explaining social bookmarking. As I defined it in a narrow box kind of a way, Digg, Stumble, etc., she (who admittedly is not uber-familiar with social media) asked me, “wouldn’t links within blogs be social bookmarks as well?”
But, of course. And brilliant. It’s all so clear to those of us not bogged down by it, right?
For a while now, I’ve been referring to Twitter as a social bookmarking tool – but she is exactly right. All of the social networking sites and blogs are also social bookmarking tools – because links are being favorited, shared and saved.
And social networking extends beyond Facebook, Linkedin, etc. because we’re also networking, connecting and becoming fans on Digg, Stumble and Kirtsy and on blogs via subcriptions, blogrolls and comments.
And blogging? Well, we’re microblogging on social media sites with our updates and we’re leaving comments and reviews on social bookmarking sites…so that works too.
But don’t just stop there. Social media, new media, traditional media – they’re all blending. Or rather television and print journalism are integrating with new media at a neck-breaking rate.
The definitions are growing fuzzy and that’s good, I think – everything is being integrated. The best parts are being used, the bad stuff will be left behind. Maybe we’ll all be on the same page some day…or perhaps just on the same url.
Image by billselak
Filed under Blogging, How To, Myth or Reality, Networking, Social Media | Tags: blog, Blogging, Digg, facebook. linkedin, Julie Roads, kirtsy, social bookmarking, social media, social networking, stumble, Twitter, Writing Roads | Comment (1)Open in a New Window
Just in case you weren’t sure quite how nerdy I really am…
The debate du jour surrounds blog writing etiquette and linking. We all know it’s best practice to link out from your posts – but is there a correct way to format these links? There are two ways to go:
1. Open link in the same window.
2. Open link in a new window.
When you open the link in the same window, it obliterates the page from which you received the link in the first place. This disturbs me as a reader because I lose track of where I was and can’t make my way back (especially if I was on a new site that I found and was focused on the content, not the name and url). To me, it’s the equivalent of falling down the rabbit hole. Who knows when I’ll find my way back.
As a blogger, it concerns me that my readers will experience what I just described. That they’ll click on a link and be lost forever. Via a lively debate on Twitter, Ron Miller said:
ron_miller @writingroads I know, but I still don’t think you have to have the link open in a new window. Your readers will come back.
Maybe…but what about the person that followed a link that looked like this: “is.gd/e9k5″??? They might not know where they are. And this isn’t some sort of writer’s insecurity for me. I can be reading the most fabulous post I’ve ever read, click a link and get lost or busy or distracted.
Some people feel very strongly that the link should be opened in the same window, here are a few:
adamconnor @writingroads opening links in new windows is typically a usability no-no. Have seen it confuse users in a few studies.
CharJTF @writingroads Accessibility-wise, opening in new window isn’t easier. Personally, I hate links that spawn new windows…I can do it myself.
The issue for them with opening links in a new window is that users suddenly have multiple tabs open. I love multiple tabs. I build them up as my day goes on. Firefox allows me to have over 20 tabs open, and I move with the dexterity of a jedi from window to window throughout the day. My ADD mind loves the options, the accessibility, the madness of it all.
But, I also love that when I click on a link, I can read it, close it and then find myself back on the original site without having to store any info in my crammed brain. Suddenly this site is before my eyes, and I say, “Nice site! Hey, I’ve been here before! Oh, this is where I was before I clicked to read that other article….” Understanding sets in and a warm, almost fizzy, feeling of recognition floods my body. No, I’m not ’simple’ – just busy.
Is there a right way? Is there a wrong way? Not entirely sure, but there do seem to be a lot of opinions. As for me, I’m thinking: If I love Japanese food, but abhor Italian, why would I feed you lasagna? You’ll notice that I almost always open links in a new window.
Image courtesy of Qtea
Twitter Baiting
No, I didn’t say, ‘twitterbating’ – that’s another topic entirely.
Twitter baiting is the Twitter equivalent of link baiting – wherein people lure bloggers, visitors or companies to their site through a variety of tactics. According to Rob Sullivan on Search Engine Journal, link baiting sounds like black hat (or dirty and sleazy) SEO, but it’s actually just the process of getting other sites to link to yours.
Link Baiting is just like fishing. You publish a new page on a topic…and set it free on the web. Hopefully others pick up on the content as fresh and interesting and link to it. The article is the bait, and the link is the catch.
You just witnessed link baiting, as a matter of fact. Rob wrote a good article, and I quoted it and linked back to him.
It must be noted that some folks do fish for links in a bad way – with false claims, antagonistic or controversial content.
The Twitter Translation
So how does this convert to Twitter? Well, people are using their tweets to lure people to their sites, of course. Not for links only, but also for traffic, body counts, retweets, buzz. Twitter baiting happens in the following ways:
- Controversial or attention-getting tweets
- Contest, challenge or giveaway tweets
- Asking for retweets
- Misleading tweets that tease X and deliver Y
- Plain, old-fashioned, good quality content
Sometimes it’s good: when the tweeted link leads to a quality site offering high value and solid information.
Sometimes it’s bad: sending you to product pushing sites, scams or long sales letters (or just junk).
Wait. And Eureka! Either way, Twitter baiting really isn’t that far from Twitterbating after all! I mean, it is all about self-pleasure…right?
Is Twitter Baiting good or bad? Is it all in how you do it? Is it simply the nature of the beast?
Image courtesy of Aaron_M
Filed under Blogging, Marketing, Myth or Reality, Networking, Social Media | Tags: Julie Roads, link baiting, social media, social networking, Twitter, twitter baiting, Writing Roads | Comments (6)In the Flesh: Networking in the Real World
Of course this post presupposes that you’re like me – and you spend the majority of your waking hours plastered to your computer.
I’m writing, of course, but I’m also taking advantage of the opportunity that online networking, aka social media, affords me. We, you and I, can connect with people all over the world to collaborate on projects, build project teams, get new work. I’ve built an entire business in this virtual manner.
But, today, are you sitting down? Today, I’m going to a real live networking event. I know! It’s shocking.
You know I love my social media, but I believe high value is still to be found in meeting people live and in person:
- Nothing compares to looking someone in the eye and having a conversation.
- I don’t care how good you are (or your writer is) at crafting copy–charm and personality are not two dimensional. Caveat: Unless you don’t have any.
- As the service/product supplier, it’s helpful to have the body language of your potential customer at your disposal. Does this person need hand-holding, humor, a take charge attitude, old-school professionalism?
- People often come to seminars, workshops and networking events in pairs or groups. How great to have Billy say, “Jack, you’ve got to come over here and talk to this lady.” And then pull him over to you and say, “He needs you so bad!”
- I’ve been told that there are studies out there that say too much computer exposure is bad for our health, that sitting hunched over our desks isn’t good for the back and that a lack of in-person social interaction might make us depressed. That’s what they say, anyway.
- Live events are slower than the speed of, say, Twitter. You don’t have time to craft the perfect response to an inquiry when you’re face to face with it. Keeps us on our toes, right? Makes the heart pound? Love it.
When was the last time you left your computer for an event? How do you compare online versus live networking?
Image by Adactio
Filed under How To, Networking, The Business | Tags: copywriting, Julie Roads, marketing writing, networking events, online networking, social media, social networking, Writing Roads | Comments (6)Your Personal Brand Doesn’t Belong to You
No matter how hard you work to build your personal brand, it won’t be airtight. Not everyone will get the impression you’re hoping to express.
Do you remember English class back in the day? One of my all time favorite teachers, Miss Riddle – swear to god, ask my mother – is the one that first implanted the concept of poetry on my brain. Not the rhyming or the rhythms – but the meaning of the poetry. And then, Dr. Puhr – the one who turned me into a feminist – explored the meaning of prose, of stories, of novels.
Both of these women showed me that, when interpreting someone’s writing, there is no one answer and essentially there is no wrong answer. The color purple could represent the heart of a woman, the ‘fount’ of a woman, bruises, emotion, the sky, femaleness. It could be just one of those things or it could be all of them, to another reader it could represent something that you and I – even Alice Walker – never dreamed of.
The analysis, the interpretation – all depends on us. As readers and be-ers, we attach our histories, our very souls, our experiences to what we read and see. And from there we create our own understanding. It may not be what the writer intended – but it isn’t wrong. It’s real. As in ‘interpreter-based’ reality.
When you’re creating your identity for your self, your business, your work – you, just like a writer, craft your words and your message with a specific intention and meaning. But your clients and customers, just like readers, will bring themselves fully and without excuse to their interpretation of who you are and what you represent.
Your personal brand, therefore, is not singular or definitive – and I’d hardly call it your own.
Image courtesy of Earth and Eden
Filed under How To, Marketing, Networking, Social Media, The Business | Tags: being authentic, blog, blogger, branding, building a business, copywriter, copywritng, Julie Roads, Marketing, marketing writer, personal brand, Writing, Writing Roads | Comments (5)The LOVE ebook
I’m delighted to present you with a fantastic new option for Valentine’s Day. This one doesn’t die or wilt (flowers), it doesn’t harm trees (greeting cards) and it doesn’t cause a sugar high, a sugar low or unsightly poundage (candy).
The LOVE ebook is your long-lasting, eco-friendly, calorie-free alternative, though I won’t lie and tell you it’s not full of sugar. Because it is – by way of many beautiful love-inspired poems, photos and works of art from a spirited group of writers and artists. The stunning design comes by way of Kyle Lacy of Brandswag.
The goal of The LOVE ebook? To spread happiness & positivity and to make a difference for people struggling with the recession.
Because I want everyone to have access to the good stuff, The LOVE ebook is available for FREE download below, but I strongly encourage you to take a moment to CLICK HERE and make a donation to Career Gear as well. As a national non-profit, Career Gear helps men find jobs and keep them through skills training, interview clothing and relationship building.
Career Gear has been so wonderful to work with…gracious, supportive, excited. John Sanful, Executive Director of Career Gear, says it so well:
“Career Gear is thrilled to be receiving the proceeds from The LOVE ebook. Clients of Career Gear learn self-confidence and motivation. After gaining employment they continue to work on themselves and improving their relationships; professional and personal. The LOVE ebook is about relationships as well. Enjoy The LOVE ebook and cherish the relationships around you. Career Gear is honored to be associated with this project and is so grateful for this outpouring of support for our organization.”
Download The LOVE ebook….and then head over to Career Gear to make a donation – every little bit helps! Remember The LOVE ebook will only be available from February 11th to February 14th.
Want to do more? Help promote the book! Just grab the following code for these banners and blog about it…or Tweet, or Facebook, and on and on! Thank you all….
For 728 x 90 banner, copy text below.
Filed under Blogging, Myth or Reality, Networking, News, Social Media | Tags: art, Blogging, career gear, charity, Julie Roads, love, photography, poetry, recession, social media, the love ebook, unemployment, unique valentine's day gift, valentine's day, Writing Roads | Comments (20)A Few Fun Ways to Cover Your Ass
I’m not the only one, right?
I’m not the only one who has that little voice in my head that sometimes preys on my fears and messes with me, but mostly provides me with invaluable insights and guidance…right?
And, I’m not the only one who sometimes blatantly ignores this voice, tells it NOT NOW! I”m busy! and goes about my business with an uneasy, ‘but what if…’ feeling…right?
For the last two weeks, I’ve been living on a steady diet of my Macbook, adrenaline and dark chocolate (with a little soup thrown in for good measure). Amongst other things, sleep has been missing. But last night, I hit a wall and decided to go to bed at 8:00 pm.
When I got into bed, my little voice said, ‘Where’s your Blackberry? It sure would suck if it started ringing and woke you up!’ No one’s going to call…it’s fine, I said. My excuse? I was really warm and it was snowing outside. (Though the phone was in my dining room and I don’t have to go outside to get there.) Then, I fell asleep quickly and easily for the first time in, like I told you, weeks.
The phone rang at 9:30.
The phone rang at 10:15.
It’s the loudest, most obnoxious ring you’ve ever heard so that I don’t miss calls from John Stewart, Ellen, Arianna Huffington or Random House (in that order). I also would answer if Oprah called. Or Anderson Cooper.
Oh, and Silas started barking at 4am – anyone want a dog? Just kidding, Silas, I would never – but that’s another story. The point is that my good, long night of sleep was ruined. I am not good at being woken up, my mind starts racing and writing and worrying – and I have a hard time falling back to sleep.
So, I started thinking that scenarios such as this arise in life and work, and that while that little voice is sometimes ignored, there are other factors at play. It all comes down to covering your ass. How can you avoid ruination?
Here are some ways that I cover my own:
1. I just published an eBook. No matter how many times I edited the thing, I found a new mistake. So, I added a simple line in the book:
Oh…and by the way, I’ve tucked some adorable typos into
this book. If you can find them, you get a prize. Something fun
like a link and a shout out on my blog.
Voila, ass covered. If there are typos, they are now there on purpose and everyone’s happy.
2. I have a LOT swimming around in my head: business, creative, family – don’t you? The best ass saver in the world is a machine that not only remembers everything, but also shows me instant search results at the hint of a word cue from me. My tool is my Macbook. In every single application, I can type any word or words into the search bar to find anything I’ve worked on. Doesn’t matter if it got filed wrong or if it was last year. Did I mention the search results are instant? As in, they show up as I type.
3. Always pack food, water and floss. Even if you’re just running into town for a quick errand. If you don’t, chances are that you’ll end up hungry, thirsty and with food in your teeth.
4. I ask for as much information as possible to be delivered to me via email. Many times, especially when meetings are scheduled weeks in advance, I forget all of the details. This applies to countless other situations. But, if everything is documented in my email, I can do a search (see #2) for that topic or name, and read the whole story – re-acclimating myself to the details, actions and expectations.
5. Be completely honest all the time. I’m not trying to sound like your mother, really, I’m not. But if you are completely honest 100% of the time, you will never waste any time, or screw up a relationship, by trying to remember what you said, who you said it to or when you said it. Or so I’m told.
6. Back up. People, if you aren’t backing up your work on your computer, I simply can’t keep talking to you. Do it.
7. Turn off your phone before bed. I’m sure that Ellen will leave you a message…and why would she call in the middle of the night anyway?
Your turn because there must be a zillion more ways to cover your ass, and I’m exhausted from all the not-sleeping.
How do you cover your ass? Go.
(p.s. this post is dedicated to my buddy, James Moreau)
Filed under Blogging, How To, Marketing, Myth or Reality, Networking, News, The Business | Tags: business, copywriter, Julie Roads, marketing writing, worklife balance, Writing, Writing Roads | Comments (13)The Precarious Balance: Life as a Freelancer
One minute there is no work to be seen…for miles. The next? You have projects and deadlines coming out your ears. In a perfect world, you would have a steady stream of projects flowing in, one after the next at a speed that matches your writing pace exactly.
But, the world isn’t always perfect. And this is how I deal with it when it isn’t:
When I’m not busy with client work…
…I use my time wisely. There is always work to be done, really, in terms of promotion and marketing. And action is key – stay busy with something. Approach a company you’ve been dying to work with, rewrite your website, rework some blog posts as articles, network on Twitter, answer questions on LinkedIn. As you take action and reach out, the work is sure to come. Do not sit, mope and think your world is ending. It’s not (unless you sit around and mope and think your world is ending!)
When I’m happily busy, but not overwhelmed with work…
…I never stop thinking about the future. This means that I continually network, market, pitch to new clients, seize opportunity and write all of my thoughts and ideas down in a place I can find them (very important).
When I’m so busy that I can’t see straight…
…When it rains, it pours – cliche, but true. The busier I am, the busier I get – which is why I’m encouraging you to stay busy in the case of scenarios #1 and #2. But you do need to manage your time. If you say yes to every project – make sure that you either give realistic deadlines or that you actually have the time to get everything done.
If someone approaches you for a job, and you simply can’t do it ‘right now’, you will be faced with one of the hardest decisions we face as freelancers (or at least those of us who are not also highly skilled fortune tellers). Do you:
1. Turn down the work not knowing if the next week will bring a freak occurrence of ‘all current projects are now on hold.’
2. Say you can do it, but not for a month (or whenever).
3. Worry that saying #2 will cost you the job.
4. There’s also the ‘law of scarcity’ option where clients love that you’re so busy and will wait because You are the goods.
5. Take the job but siphon it off to a junior/’nother copywriter. In this scenario, you can take a finders/editors/management fee from the project fee and pay the other writer the rest. And you’ve come through for the client, keeping the relationship strong for future projects.
6. Worry that the pinch-writer won’t pull it off like you could, which means you’ll have to scramble to redo the work (one way to avoid this is to find a really good No. 2 writer – and 3 and 4 in case 2 is busy – that you can count on for quality goods).
How about you? What balance issues do you come up against in the non-secure and wild world of freelancing? And how do you handle them?
Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To, Marketing, Networking, Social Media, The Business | Tags: copywriter, copywriting, freelance copywriter, freelancing, how to freelance, Julie Roads, life of a freelancer, managing time, project management, Writing Roads | Comments (7)
