Photo Credit: Anton Diaz
My favorite US National Holiday, Super Bowl Sunday, is coming soon! I’m rooting for the Seahawks because I have family in Seattle. I hope my allegiance to the defending champions doesn’t “deflate” the hopes of my Boston-based friends (insert drum rim shot here).
Here are your share-worthy links for the Social Media ReInvention Community. Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday Brunch! (more…)
Photo Credit: epSos.de
61% of survey respondents say their personal blog helped Them Win Their Latest Job. My personal blog launched my new career in digital marketing strategy and analytics.
My last post shares why our professional and digital identities shouldn’t be beholden to a single social media platform. Do more than the herd. A personal website or blog differentiates you from other job candidates by showing how you go the extra mile. (more…)
Photo Credit: Anton Diaz
Happy 2015! Hard to believe a new year's already here?
I found many interesting and thought-provoking articles to share this week. Thank you for supporting the Social Media ReInvention Community. Enjoy your brunch!
1. Fast Company: 14 Tips to Make 2015 Your Most Productive Year Yet. How are you doing with your New Year’s Resolutions? I’ve already slipped up. Maybe, there’s a better way: Focus on Themes Not Goals. Let's focus our efforts on one thing at a time so these changes become productive, lifelong habits.
That’s a goal worth shooting for (yes, rah-rah puns intended)!
2. Seth’s Blog: The Meritocracy Trap. Seth Godin calls out the David Sacks quote discussed in Joe Nocera’s New York Times Op-Ed piece on personal success and meritocracy — "Silicon Valley’s Mirror Effect.” Seth’s post describes the perils in achieving ultra-phenomenal success: it can lead to self-serving cultures, attitudes, and mindsets.
Seth’s and Joe’s articles make me think what I can do as a proud dad and father to two young daughters. I want the best for them. I want them to have the same opportunities (and more) my parents created for me and my sister.
That’s how this next article comes into play …
3. WSJ Online – Digits Blog: The Year Silicon Valley Spilled Its Diversity Data. This interactive, diversity data website simply and visually explains the hiring data story behind Silicon Valley’s gender and diversity gap in The Valley’s most prestigious and successful companies:
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. If you disagree, I would love to hear from you. I’m also here to read, listen, and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Comments are open. So let’er rip!
Ideas that spread win. You can unsubscribe any time you like.
Please share my work with your friends. Many Thanks!
Photo Credit: Anton Diaz
Hi Social Media ReInvention Community Members! Apologies for not consistently posting our Sunday Brunch Edition. External circumstances prevented me from keeping up. I promise to do better job. I hope you celebrated blessed and happy Thanksgiving Holidays with loved ones and friends.
Here are your share-worthy links. Enjoy your Sunday Brunch!
1) CNET: How-To Video: Upgrade Your RAM on Your MacBook Pro. I upgraded the RAM on my MacBook Pro 15 this week. I suck as a do-it-yourselfer (DIY). I researched required steps and tools to lessen my anxiety and increase my confidence. The Result: I successfully upgraded my MacBook Pro 15 (late 2011) from 4MB to 8 MB of RAM (and she performs like a champ)!
As I type, I’m running seven (7) applications: iTunes, Google Chrome (with 12 tabs open), Apple Preview, MarsEdit, Finder, Evernote, and Dashlane. Here’s the content I found most helpful:
2) Fast Company: What Every Young Designer Should Know, From Legendary Apple Designer Susan Kare. Kare has two (2) simple rules for designers: 1) Fake It Tlll You Make It and 2) Design Never Really Changes. I personally relate to Rule #1. When she applied applied for Apple’s graphic designer position, she worked at a furniture store. She prepared for her interview by studying graphic design books from the Palo Alto library (direct article quotes):
Having designed many of the Mac's early system fonts such as Chicago, the (original) San Francisco, Geneva, and Monaco, Kare is one of the pioneers of early digital typography. But when she first applied to Apple, she was pulling her type design qualifications out of thin air.
"I was working at a furniture store at the time, and I didn't know the first thing about designing a typeface," she told me. "But I'd studied graphic design, so I said, 'How hard can it be?'" So Kare went to the Palo Alto Library and took out a number of books on typography. "I even brought them to my interview to prove I knew something about type, if anyone asked!" she laughs. "I went into it totally green."
She's not so green now. Here's a great video of Susan Kare sharing her design expertise:
Susan Kare, Iconographer (EG8) from EG Conference on Vimeo.
If Susan Kare listened to The Resistance, she wouldn’t have achieved her Apple Legendary Designer status. So let’s fake it till we make it. Or, as Dorie Clark of Reinventing YOU, says: “Fake It Till You Become It.”
3) Fortune Magazine: GE CMO Comstock's New Job: Reinventing the Lightbulb. I’m a HUGE Beth Comstock fan. Her strategy to reinvent and power (pun intended) GE's 130-year old lighting business includes embedding social and digital media throughout the business. Comstock transformed GE into a creative, infuential and credible digital marketing player:
Here’s a direct quote from the Google Think article about Beth Comstock titled Market Maker:
The 52-year-old often describes her job as "connecting the dots"–between GE's seven segments (Power & Water, Oil & Gas, Energy Management, Aviation, Transportation, Healthcare, Home & Business Solutions), its many markets, and between the company and the outside world. It's something Comstock regularly does as head of GE's sales, marketing, and communications, and in her management of the company's multi-billion-dollar Ecomagination and Healthymagination initiatives, dedicated to environmental and health care innovation respectively.
In her travels and conversations with customers, she constantly scans for patterns. "When you're in this business, you see a lot of things," Comstock notes. "Marketers are in a great position to notice if something's happening in an industry like energy or healthcare."
Think About that Quote for a Moment. Beth Comstock explained how a great marketer’s expertise is a game changing asset in understanding and exploiting opportunity. Digital and social media marketing continues accepting the rap, “we can’t measure return on investment (ROI)!” Follow her advice and make the case of how not only your digital marketing efforts identify relevant opportunities but also how your expertise uniquely enables you (personally) to identify new business opportunities.
If that’s not a measurable ROI, I’ll be this guy’s uncle:
Photo Credit: Gemma Stiles
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. I’m here to read, listen, and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Comments are open. So let’er rip!
Ideas that spread win. You can unsubscribe any time you like.
Please share my work with your friends. Many Thanks!
Share-worthy links Social Media ReInvention Community Members can enjoy during Sunday brunch:
1) MarketingLand: Up Close: Ello, The New Social Network That Is So Hot Right Now. I read / curated many articles on Silicon Valley's latest social networking sweetheart. Martin Beck's comprehensive review is a must-read:
2) Fast Company: LOVE POST-IT NOTES? YOU'LL LOVE THIS NEW PRODUCTIVITY APP THAT DIGITIZES THEM. 3-M developed this brilliant iPhone app, Post-it(R) Plus.
I'm a visual person. Post-It(R) Notes are my storyboarding savior (colleagues say I have an illness and should seek professional help).
3) TechCrunch: Closing The Gaps In Mobile Health. Dan Pelino's piece describes the IBM-Apple value proposition and long term implications of the Apple econsystem in a real-world example. Look out healthcare this strategic alliance wants to disrupt your industry. Their solutions will focus on physicians and patients.
And, speaking of IBM …
4) Fortune: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty Gets Past the Big Blues. IBM's first female CEO shares her thoughts on the Apple alliance and her strategic vision for Big Blue's latest transformation:
5) Budweiser: Global Be(er) Responsible Day | “Friends Are Waiting” Campaign. The #FriendsAreWaiting spot to discourage drunk driving is storytelling brilliance in 60 seconds or less (almost). This video hits all the right notes: emotional, memorable, conflict, and resolution. Somewhere, Pixar creatives are smiling.
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Facebook released its 2014 Q2 earnings report on July 23rd. Here are some mind-boggling financial performance factoids from Reed Albergotti's Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article:
Remember concerns about Facebook arriving late to the mobile advertising party two years ago? How quickly sentiments can change. Here's Reed Albergotti's Wall Street Journal (WSJ) video review of Facebook's Q2 2014 financial performance:
I've reviewed numerous articles explaining how and why Facebook continues transforming and reinventing itself under Mark Zuckerberg's visionary leadership (including but not limited to):
Noticeable patterns / themes in these articles give clues to Facebook's and Zuckerberg's long term corporate strategy.
Here's my take on the Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook 5-Point Plan for Future Growth and Mobile Dominance:
Zuckerberg described in his July 2014 WSJ article how roughly 2.7 billion people currently have Internet access. That sounds like a lot, but the majority of the world lacks connectivity. He knows Facebook's future growth is tied to increasing and sustainable investment in wireless infrastructure. The phrase "a rising tide lifts all boats" takes on significant implications not only for Facebook but also for its competitors.
Here are some key quotes from his article:
"Bringing the other two-thirds of the world online will enable them to invent and create new things that benefit us, too."
"Not only do the vast majority of people have no access to the Internet, but even more surprisingly, Internet adoption is growing by less than 9% each year. That's very slow considering how early we are in its development and that rate is only slowing further."
"The challenge for our industry will be to develop models for Internet access that make data more affordable while enabling mobile operators to continue growing and investing in a sustainable way. Efforts like Internet.org — a global partnership founded by Facebook and other technology leaders –are already under way to solve this by working with operators to provide free basic Internet services to people."
Here's a great 2013 CNN interview with Zuckerberg describing Internet.org (my apologies for any commercials preceding the interview):
2. Make Facebook THE Killer Mobile App
Flurry (the mobile ad and analytics firm Yahoo recently acquired for $200 – $300 million) says mobile users spend 17% of their time on their phones in Facebook's app. This metric shows Facebook's mobile app is the most popular app on iOS and Android devices. Facebook's Q2 2014 Quarterly Financial Reporting slides show a consistent, steady climb in daily and monthly mobile users:
Zuckerberg knows consumers live in a mobile, one-screen world. The only screen users care about is the one in front of them. That's why Facebook's mobile apps have to deliver simple, fast, and seamless user experiences.
Based on these mobile user numbers and the percentage of Q2 2014 revenues generated from mobile advertising, Zuckerberg and Facebook nailed it. And, speaking of killer, seamless, mobile apps …
In April 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. They recently acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in February 2014. March 2014 marked the acquisition of Oculus VR (a virtual reality headset company) for $2 billion.
Zuckerberg views virtual reality as the next communication platform. It will be fun to track how Facebook leverages Oculus' technologies beyond gaming. Until then, here's a graphic from Austin Carr's Fast Company article showing the 700 million Instagram and WhatsApp users resulting from these acquisitions:
Zuckerberg's brainchild employees 7,000 people. Even at Facebook, creativity and innovation slowed under increasing bureaucracy and jockeying for resources (in both talent and money). Stringent metrics and timelines meant new products had little time to improve post-launch.
That's why Creative Labs is vital to Facebook's future innovations (and talent retention). Zuckerberg created it as a separate division in February 2014. It operates outside of Facebook's traditional product management processes with looser time constraints. That level of freedom and "small-team feeling" produced Paper, the mobile app for reading an responding to the News Feed.
Even Facebook "likes" innovations from skunkworks — cool twist or reinvention of The Hacker Way.
Facebook's successful foray into Mobile App Install Ads, and the experiments it's running with the Facebook Buy Button show how simplifying the consumer buying process results in higher conversion (and that elusive digital marketing ROI).
It's mobile phone, 1-Click Shopping:
In Austin Carr's Fast Company article describing the resounding success of Facebook's mobile app install ads, developers love this advertising medium because:
This advertising medium has resulted in 350 million app installations (Carr estimates this equates to almost $1 billion in revenue). He cites one mobile gaming CEO who invests 75% of his marketing budget in Facebook mobile install app ads because they drive $70,000 in revenues per day.
If the experiments with the Buy Button prove fruitful, Facebook can validate the ROI value of digital marketing in not only building awareness, but also in converting eCommerce sales. Here are direct quotes from the experts:
Debra Aho Williamson of eMarketer:
"With this step, Facebook is becoming even more firmly established as a major player in direct response advertising, and though this test is still only a test, it's a definite sign that Facebook wants to restart its efforts to become an e-commerce company as well."
"If the test is successful and rolls out, Facebook could eventually earn money on the feature by charging a fee or revenue share in exchange for processing payment and improving conversion rates. It could also use the purchases to prove return on investment to advertisers, encouraging them to buy bigger campaigns."
Mark Zuckerberg is the next Steve Jobs (along with Sergey Brin and Larry Page). I was publicly criticized for making that statement more than three years ago. He is a visionary leader. Remember how Facebook originally started out as a desktop application? That's what makes its reinvention as an industry leader and emerging pioneer in the mobile space so impressive.
And, it only took two (2) years! I can't wait to see what's next as Zuck & Company keep moving fast and breaking things.
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
15% of Americans Surveyed Hate Their Jobs — The Highest in a Global Survey. According to research and the following infographic by Yahoo Finance, Monster Worldwide, and GFK, American workers are the most dissatisfied among seven (7) global countries. 31% of Americans workers rated themselves as "satisfied."
The following image from Sydney Brownstone's Fast Company article highlights describes the seven country respondent breakdown:
Possible Root Causes Americans Hate Their Jobs Compared to Other Countries. Ms. Brownstone cites these facts:
Is There More to This? Here's one more item for consideration:
The American Worker DOES NOT Feel Appreciated
205 Million Google Search Results. The following search phrase: "do americans feel appreciated at work?" delivers sobering results.
Using Technology to Say "Thank You" and "I Appreciate You." In a 24/7, always-on, Internet Age, the power of direct relationships matter more than ever. Let's not forget to use that technology (and some olders ones) to let people know we appreciate them by:
1. Picking Up the Phone. I'm guilty of this more than any one (because sending an email is fast and convenient – more on that in a moment). But, actually hearing someone's voice and genuinely telling them how he/she makes a positive difference IS MEANINGFUL.
When did pleasant, I wanna give you a high-five, non-confrontational conversation become a dying art form? Thank you caller ID. How many times have have you seen a certain number flashing on your mobile phone, and you default to not picking up. Why do we automatically assume: "What's wrong this time?"
Let's gradually address that negative trend in our own minds (and our colleagues). Why not call her to say, "The only reason we're at this point with XYZ client is because of you. Thank You. I couldn't get to this point without you."
The positive impact and reaction may surprise you …
2. Using the Email CC: to Praise Versus CYA. Email was the first social network. Warner Bros. released this hit twenty-two years before The Social Network:
Thank Teammates AND Inform Their Bosses of How Much We Appreciate a Job Well Done. How about using email to:
AND, inform that person's boss and other key management team members of this teammate's significant contribution via the email CC:.
A subject line stating: "Thank You for a Job Well Done" isn't half bad either.
3. Spreading Kindness Via Twitter's #FF #FollowFriday. Twitter isn't considered much of a "bright and shiny object" anymore. But, I'm still a believer (as are others).
#FF or #FollowFriday Is a Great Way to Acknowledge People / Organizations Who Give Versus Take. Take time to personalize a tweet stating why you think others should follow other helpful individuals or organizations. On The Internet, random acts of kindness equal great karma:
Am I Doing My Part? After reading the aforementioned articles, I questioned if I'm consistently letting my colleagues, clients, and online connections know how much I appreciate their contributions to my professional success.
I'm Not.
I'm an Account Director in a management consulting firm. My job is to build relationships and directly connect my clients to talented team members who I believe can address challenging problems. How well my teammates and I collectively build these relationships and collectively address these problems is the final and only relevant success metric.
"It takes a village" is a reality in my business.
This Goes Beyond Thankfulness for Having a Job. For the past four (4) Thanksgivings, one of the many blessings I'm grateful for is being employed. But, that's not enough. I need to do a better job of thanking every teammate who helped me and our clients succeed in a challenging year.
Thank You Kantar Health Teammates. My success is yours.
Thank You to my clients who stuck with me and our team. I know the daily financial pressures confronting you.
Thank You to the wonderful people I connect online with everyday. YOU show me why the power of The Internet and direct relationships matter.
May You and Your Families Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving.
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Fast Company writer, Austin Carr, published two (2) great articles yesterday about Apple's recent hiring of Burberry CEO, Angela Ahrendts, as its Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores. Apple created this new position specifically for Ahrendts, and she'll report directly to Apple's CEO Tim Cook.
In one of the articles, Carr shares videos of Fast Company interviews with Ahrendts from July 2013 and early August 2013. Within the context of these videos, Carr describes what he thinks these interviews signal about Ahrendts' strategy to rejuvenate Apple from an offline (retail) and online perspective.
I think Carr's great article signals something bigger. I think Apple's hiring of Angela Ahrendts signals Apple's return to the values of what made it an iconic company.
Angela Ahrendts' retail philosophy as described in interviews from Fast Company, Apple's New Consumer Experience Chief, Angela Ahrendts, on the Future of Retail by Austin Carr, October 15, 2013
"My dad used to always to say that he could teach anything but he couldn't teach how to feel. That's the hardest part when you have 11,000 people: How do you teach them how we feel?"
"The thing is, I don't want to be sold when I walk into a store to be welcomed. The job is to be a brilliant brand ambasador. Everyone is welcome. Don't be judgmental whatsoever."
"Don't sell! NO! Because that is a turnoff."
I Invested in a MacBook Pro 15 Because of How It Makes Me Feel. My MacBook Pro makes me feel like I'm a writer / artist. It's the easiest-to-use, best-looking, slickest, and coolest thing I've ever had the privilege of using. And, my company-issued iPad is rapidly making me feel the same way in my day job ever since I paired it with a Logitech Ultrathin iPad Keyboard.
Owning and / or using my MacBook Pro 15 and my company-issued iPad are cherished privileges. That's how good they make me feel.
I Invest in Myself and in this Blog Because of How it Makes Me Feel. Members of the Social Media ReInvention community know the reasons why I love blogging / writing. Blogging / Writing forces me to use critical thinking and creative muscles I never knew existed. Exercising those muscles makes me feel good.
Exercising the other muscles. That's a different story. But, I think that's a little more manageable now that my 2-year old daughter finally sleeps throught the night …
Who are the people, the organizations, the heroes, and the experiences that you cherish most in your life? For me, it's the ones who share my values. Those are the people, the organizations, and the experiences that have made the most lasting and positive impression on me.
For the things that mean the most to you, did any of the above try to sell you on why they should be a part of your life? Did they try to pitch you and drone on and on with a PowerPoint deck filled with waves of God-awful, just-makes-you-want-to-hurl-all-over-the-room bullet points?
I doubt it.
I'm Excited About Apple Again. After watching these videos, I'm excited about Apple's future. I now believe they're focusing on making us feel the way we all individually felt when we first fell in love with Apple.
You Know Who Angela Ahrendts Reminds Me Of in Those Interviews? This Guy.
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. I’m here to read, listen, and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE. Comments are open. So let’er rip!
Ideas that spread win. Please share my work with your friends.
You can unsubscribe any time you like. Many Thanks!
Introduction
The Social Media ReInvention Community knows how much my family loves dogs. My family is blessed with two loving German Shepherds utterly devoted to our young daughters. And, one German Shepherd is a rescue.
One of this community's most popular posts, 3 Social Media Tips for Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love, shares the story of how a generous and caring family rescued a loving and affectionate dog from the direst and most hopeless circumstances.
Note: My apologizes for the brief commercial in the video's introduction. I couldn't locate the commercial-free version. But, I promise it is a moving and soulful content marketing example.
Full Disclosure: I donated literally minutes ago to Georgia English Bull Dog Rescue via their website, and I purchased the song "The Best Day of My Life" by American Authors via iTunes because I support, believe in, and respect their video's unselfish call-to-action.
Spoiler Alert: WATCH THE VIDEO FIRST before reading further!! Resisting that temptation is worth the wait …
This past Friday, Fast Company published Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling–Visualized. Several of these storytelling rules are inherent in this moving video. Highlighted in blue are the storytelling rules I quickly recognize.
For your reference, here are Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling shared by former Pixar storyboard artist, Emma Coats:
1. You admire a character for trying more than their successes.
2. You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
3. Trying for theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about till you're at the end of it. Now rewrite.
4. Once upon a time there was ____. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Until finallly ___.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do the deal?
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
8. Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
9. When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you've got to recoginize it before you can use it.
11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you'll never share it with anyone.
12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th — get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likeable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.
14. Why must you tell THIS story? What is the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it.
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.
17. No work is ever wasted. If it's not working, let go and move on — it'll come back around to be useful later.
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best and fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How would you arrange them into what you DO like?
21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't 'cool'. What would make YOU act that way?
22. What's the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build from there.
Also, here's a SlideShare presentation / document with Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling created and shared by James Caswell of Caswell Design:
Joshua Mikel is The Man! A few hours ago, Georgia English Bulldog Rescue's Facebook Page informed me how Joshua Mikel is the creative/driving force behind this remarkable art. Thank you for creating and sharing your art — it's genius!
Rule 16 is Highlighted Differently for Obvious Reasons. When the video ended, a lump entered my throat and tears filled my eyes. I don't know what else to say …
The Content We Should Create / The Stories We Should Tell. I'm currently reading / studying Mitch Joel's wonderful book, Ctrl Alt Delete. Mitch makes a valuable and insightful point about committing the common mistake of "creating content just for the sake of creating content or telling stories just for the sake of telling stories … "
Direct quotes from page 196 of Ctrl Alt Delete:
"Marketers often will often say that the best ads are the ones that tell stories. While you can easily shoot back with a 'Duh, tell me something I don't know,' take a cold hard look at all of your marketing collateral and ask yourself if you're telling a story worthy of being told—-or are you just telling a story to get something sold?"
It's not all about content. It's all about stories. It's not all about stories. It's all about GREAT stories.
Your Turn. How did this video / art affect you? Which 22 Pixar Rules of Storytelling do you recognize? How about comparing notes? Please let me know in the comments.
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
When Hugh Macleod launched his latest book: Freedom is Blogging in Your Underwear, I counted the days till Amazon delivered it. Hugh's love letter to blogging describes:
Similar to how "writing for yourself" addresesses blogging self-sabotage, experimentation, the writing process, and writing's iterative nature are also important.
1. Experimentation Drives Improvements In Writing
A personal blog is an adult's sandbox for experimentation, learning, and sharing. William C. Taylor, author of Practically Radical and co-founder of Fast Company magazine shared these thoughts about writing:
"The third thing I did differently with this book, which I guess is not so different anymore, is that I used blogging and other social media to experiment with my ideas before I commited them to a book."
"For a writer, what's great about the Web is that it allows you to experiment with language, to tell stories, to tease out lessons, and to see quickly what material strikes a chord with readers, what really engages them."
Listen and Learn. If the audience doesn't respond, you received a gift. The readers taught you something valuable (just keep looking). If they responded with criticism, open your mind and listen.
Record the learnings in your idea notebook (so you can these lessons in your next blog post). It's all part of your "permanent beta" to continue learning, iterating, and improving.
2. Writing Is About Action
Showing up and doing the work is everything. It's not glamorous. It's about repetition and discipline.
3. Iterative Design RULES (Especially in Digital Media)
Dan and Chip Heath took a design approach to writing latest book, Switch:
"We were much more iterative in writing Switch–we went through many drafts and many cycles of feedback. Chip and I have both been inspired by the "design thinking" that's taught at Stanford's D-School and elsewhere, and the more iterative writing approach was our way of moving in that direction."
Ship Your Work — That's What Counts. There's nothing wrong with tweaking and modifying after pressing "Publish." Take advantage of digital publishing's "permanent draft mode."
Get your work out there. Get your art out the door. Publish it. And, don't look back …
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy for organizations and individuals in his marketing strategy blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.