New York is one of my all time favorite cities and have spent quite a bit of time in Manhattan enjoying the sights, sounds, restaurants, and oh yes, the shopping! I have fond and special memories of the "city that never sleeps", and it wrenched my heart to see pictures of the damage that was left in Sandy's wake.
However, New Yorkers are tough and resilient. It's heartwarming to read the positive, uplifting stories about how New York businesses and entrepreneurs are coming together to support each other after Hurricane Sandy. I loved the story about a lower Manhattan bagel shop owner who personally picked up her employees and brought them to work. Now that's a caring and dedicated boss!
Seth Godin, one of my favorite marketers, shared an inspiring post this morning on his blog:
"There's never been a better opportunity to step up and make an impact, while we've got the chance. This generation, this decade, right now, there are more opportunities to connect and do art than ever before. Maybe even today.
It's pretty easy to decide to roll with the punches, to look at the enormity of natural disaster and choose to hunker down and do less. It's more important than ever, I think, to persist and make a dent in the universe instead."
Sending positive, healing thoughts to all those who suffered damage and loss, especially small business owners. My heart goes out to you all on the East Coast!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Why It's Time to Get Rid of the Noise & Simplify Your Message
We are bombarded with noise on a daily basis. In my Modern Poetry class, there was a line in a Walt Whitman poem,"blab of the pave," that reminds me of all the noise that surrounds us, especially technological noise. When Whitman wrote "Song of Myself," he used this "blab" (and his rambling long lists and catalogs) to connect with his readers. Whitman was a democratic writer and wanted to include everyone in his message. However, blabbing in 21st century doesn't quite have the same impact unless you fancy yourself a Whitmanian poet. Good 'ole Walt wasn't known for his less-is-more-approach with his poetry as he was quite wordy - and that's where you can get into trouble with your messaging.
If you feel like your messaging is getting lost and you are losing your audience as a result, it may be time to refine your message and keep it simple (the K.I.S.S. school of thought). You don't have a lot of time to make a good first impression so here are a few tips to help you cut out through the "blab" and stay on track with your messaging. Marketing and public relations isn't about who can be as grandiose as possible with their message. Sometimes simplicity can be just as powerful.
Take a page from the Bard: "Brevity is the soul of wit." If you want to be an effective communicator, it's sometimes important to use less words in order to say more. While there is some "blab" that is important, blabbing for ten pages isn't always an effective way to get your point across to your audience.
If you feel like your messaging is getting lost and you are losing your audience as a result, it may be time to refine your message and keep it simple (the K.I.S.S. school of thought). You don't have a lot of time to make a good first impression so here are a few tips to help you cut out through the "blab" and stay on track with your messaging. Marketing and public relations isn't about who can be as grandiose as possible with their message. Sometimes simplicity can be just as powerful.
- When writing a press release or blog post, don't cram every bit of information you possibly can into one page. Target your message and keep it news-worthy and pertinent. How will your audience benefit from the information you share with them? Just share the key points to get your point across.
- Say it with video or audio - the medium is your message. You don't always have to "write" your message. Use visual mediums to get your point across. You only have to look at the popularity of YouTube to know that video marketing can pack a walloping punch. Video is a very powerful way to send a message so look into shooting a short video to share your message - keep the video length around two minutes.
- Scale back complex, confusing, and abstract ideas. Jargon can easily overwhelm your audience so remember to explain and present complicated ideas in simple, easy-to-understand language.
Take a page from the Bard: "Brevity is the soul of wit." If you want to be an effective communicator, it's sometimes important to use less words in order to say more. While there is some "blab" that is important, blabbing for ten pages isn't always an effective way to get your point across to your audience.
Monday, October 1, 2012
The MOOC Debate: Does the Online Class Model Really Work?
I'm starting Week #4 of my Coursera Modern Poetry (ModPo) class and I'm learning more in just three weeks compared to college classes I took almost 20 years ago.
But there is a big debate buzzing around the academia water coolers. Does the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) model really work? Are we, as students, getting a watered-down education experience by enrolling in such free online courses offered through Coursera?
According to this article in the The Chronicle of Higher Education, A Pioneer in Online Education Tries MOOC, Ann Kirschner lends a somewhat biased opinion on her MOOC experience specifically her experience with Coursera.
I find it interesting that she is quick to judge the entire MOOC model based on only one class she took through Coursera. Yes, she has experience in online education but times are-a-changing: add social media and you have a new dynamic when it comes to virtual learning.
She even readily admits that she made a half-hearted attempt and procrastinated throughout the class. As I mentioned to my fellow ModPo classmates, it's all about your personal experience with the class: you can make it good, bad, or indifferent. She was also quick to point out the flaws with the instructors and makes it sound that ALL Coursera classes don't work and will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth: i.e. how professors are not actively involved and that students are rude and leave nasty comments on the forums.
Of course, there are going to be techie glitches and there will always be trolls who purposely fuel the debate fires by posting incendiary comments. She does point out some "positive" benefits of Coursera, but the tone of her article leans to the side of anti-MOOC.
If you check out the comments left by my fellow students, many of us encourage Kirschner to enroll in Filreis' course. Yes, we are learning about modern poetry, but even more important we are creating a real online community - a virtual poetry salon that consists of 30,000 plus people learning poetry. I don't know how Al and our TAs keep up with our forums and Facebook group, but they do and actively post and interact with students. That has been the most impressive part about this class- to have a professor who genuinely cares, is very supportive of students, and leads by example. Al's enthusiasm and passion for poetry are contagious, and I am excited every time I click on "Go to class" on Coursera's site.
According to Kirschner, she is not entirely convinced that MOOC will work and poses that it could just be a passing "silly fad." My question to Kirschner: what's silly about opening up the education experience to people across the globe? The one point that she misses in her article is that the MOOC experience isn't just about the American-based higher education system. MOOC expands learning to the far corners of the world, and I don't find anything silly or bad about expanding people's minds - especially people from diverse backgrounds and cultures who want to learn about Modern American & Contemporary Poetry but would never have the opportunity to experience American poets otherwise.
You only have to peek inside the virtual doors of ModPo and see a shining example, thanks to Al and his TA team, that MOOC and online learning really works and IS successful.
But there is a big debate buzzing around the academia water coolers. Does the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) model really work? Are we, as students, getting a watered-down education experience by enrolling in such free online courses offered through Coursera?
According to this article in the The Chronicle of Higher Education, A Pioneer in Online Education Tries MOOC, Ann Kirschner lends a somewhat biased opinion on her MOOC experience specifically her experience with Coursera.
I find it interesting that she is quick to judge the entire MOOC model based on only one class she took through Coursera. Yes, she has experience in online education but times are-a-changing: add social media and you have a new dynamic when it comes to virtual learning.
She even readily admits that she made a half-hearted attempt and procrastinated throughout the class. As I mentioned to my fellow ModPo classmates, it's all about your personal experience with the class: you can make it good, bad, or indifferent. She was also quick to point out the flaws with the instructors and makes it sound that ALL Coursera classes don't work and will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth: i.e. how professors are not actively involved and that students are rude and leave nasty comments on the forums.
Of course, there are going to be techie glitches and there will always be trolls who purposely fuel the debate fires by posting incendiary comments. She does point out some "positive" benefits of Coursera, but the tone of her article leans to the side of anti-MOOC.
If you check out the comments left by my fellow students, many of us encourage Kirschner to enroll in Filreis' course. Yes, we are learning about modern poetry, but even more important we are creating a real online community - a virtual poetry salon that consists of 30,000 plus people learning poetry. I don't know how Al and our TAs keep up with our forums and Facebook group, but they do and actively post and interact with students. That has been the most impressive part about this class- to have a professor who genuinely cares, is very supportive of students, and leads by example. Al's enthusiasm and passion for poetry are contagious, and I am excited every time I click on "Go to class" on Coursera's site.
According to Kirschner, she is not entirely convinced that MOOC will work and poses that it could just be a passing "silly fad." My question to Kirschner: what's silly about opening up the education experience to people across the globe? The one point that she misses in her article is that the MOOC experience isn't just about the American-based higher education system. MOOC expands learning to the far corners of the world, and I don't find anything silly or bad about expanding people's minds - especially people from diverse backgrounds and cultures who want to learn about Modern American & Contemporary Poetry but would never have the opportunity to experience American poets otherwise.
You only have to peek inside the virtual doors of ModPo and see a shining example, thanks to Al and his TA team, that MOOC and online learning really works and IS successful.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
How Modern Poetry Helps Me In Business
What does modern poetry and business have in common? If you asked me that question a few months ago, I probably would have laughed. I just started an online Modern & Contemporary Poetry class through Coursera (taught by Al Filreis from Penn). I originally signed up for the course because my copywriter's brain feels stagnant, and felt a calling to return to the "classroom" (albeit the virtual classroom). I also wrote poetry in my 20s and I'm hoping the class will inspire me to write poetry again.
Today is Day #3 of our online course. There are over 30,000 students from across the globe enrolled in the class. From a sociological viewpoint, I find that fascinating unto itself. But as I thought about it more yesterday, I contemplated "how will this class help me as an entrepreneur and copywriter?"
Business professionals usually tend to stick with their own kind and don't venture into unknown territories - i.e. a modern poetry class. Just the word "poetry" alone can be downright scary and intimidating. You want me to read poetry for ten weeks straight? Huh?!
As business professionals, I invite you to step over that line into your imagination - your "house of possibilities" (to quote Dickinson). Poetry makes you dig deeper and delves inside the cobwebbed-corners of your brain. It's easy for me to sign up for webinars to learn how to be a better social media marketer or copywriter. These seminars will make me better at my job. But it was a big leap out of my professional comfort zone to take a modern poetry class. Even though my minor was American Studies in college and have read some of these poems, I would not call myself a poetry expert.
Poetry challenges you to look at language through new and brighter filters. It takes you into the past, but brings you back to present day. As a copywriter, it makes me look at words themselves in a richer, more layered context. I realize I've been looking at words on the surface, or maybe I just forgot how beautiful and poignant words really can be. I hate to admit it but I have lost an emotional connection to words, and I have a sneaking feeling that poetry will help rekindle that relationship again.
When reading poetry, there is no wrong or right answer. It's also a time to put your overachiever, perfectionist Type A tendencies on the back burner (I speak from experience). And sometimes poetry just doesn't make any sense at all. It might take weeks or even years to understand one line or even word. But that's okay. In the world of poetry, you are allowed to stumble and be frustrated, and you don't have to jump on the bandwagon and think like everyone else. Entrepreneurs are innovators so it makes sense that poetry might just light a new fire that takes your business out-of-bounds.
I'm not preaching that every business professional should run out and take a modern poetry class, but I invite you to step across the line. Take a class that expands your brain in a way that makes you feel just a little bit uncomfortable. Even as a lover of literature, I find myself squirming. Give me a call to action or an article and I can write it. But throw down some Emily Dickinson (who I wasn't a big fan to begin with) and I'm stumbling to gain my literary footing. But I don't plan to run for the hills. For me, it's all about having fun and taking a leap into the wild unknown land of modern American poetry.
Don't let fear stop you from taking the plunge. You may be surprised at what happens if you open up your mind and just take a chance. And sitting on the sidelines gets lonely and boring.
"Their comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear."
— David Mahoney
Today is Day #3 of our online course. There are over 30,000 students from across the globe enrolled in the class. From a sociological viewpoint, I find that fascinating unto itself. But as I thought about it more yesterday, I contemplated "how will this class help me as an entrepreneur and copywriter?"
Business professionals usually tend to stick with their own kind and don't venture into unknown territories - i.e. a modern poetry class. Just the word "poetry" alone can be downright scary and intimidating. You want me to read poetry for ten weeks straight? Huh?!
As business professionals, I invite you to step over that line into your imagination - your "house of possibilities" (to quote Dickinson). Poetry makes you dig deeper and delves inside the cobwebbed-corners of your brain. It's easy for me to sign up for webinars to learn how to be a better social media marketer or copywriter. These seminars will make me better at my job. But it was a big leap out of my professional comfort zone to take a modern poetry class. Even though my minor was American Studies in college and have read some of these poems, I would not call myself a poetry expert.
Poetry challenges you to look at language through new and brighter filters. It takes you into the past, but brings you back to present day. As a copywriter, it makes me look at words themselves in a richer, more layered context. I realize I've been looking at words on the surface, or maybe I just forgot how beautiful and poignant words really can be. I hate to admit it but I have lost an emotional connection to words, and I have a sneaking feeling that poetry will help rekindle that relationship again.
When reading poetry, there is no wrong or right answer. It's also a time to put your overachiever, perfectionist Type A tendencies on the back burner (I speak from experience). And sometimes poetry just doesn't make any sense at all. It might take weeks or even years to understand one line or even word. But that's okay. In the world of poetry, you are allowed to stumble and be frustrated, and you don't have to jump on the bandwagon and think like everyone else. Entrepreneurs are innovators so it makes sense that poetry might just light a new fire that takes your business out-of-bounds.
I'm not preaching that every business professional should run out and take a modern poetry class, but I invite you to step across the line. Take a class that expands your brain in a way that makes you feel just a little bit uncomfortable. Even as a lover of literature, I find myself squirming. Give me a call to action or an article and I can write it. But throw down some Emily Dickinson (who I wasn't a big fan to begin with) and I'm stumbling to gain my literary footing. But I don't plan to run for the hills. For me, it's all about having fun and taking a leap into the wild unknown land of modern American poetry.
Don't let fear stop you from taking the plunge. You may be surprised at what happens if you open up your mind and just take a chance. And sitting on the sidelines gets lonely and boring.
"Their comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear."
— David Mahoney
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Tweet Heard 'Round the DNC: How to Lose Your Job With Just One Post
CNN correspondent Erick Erickson is in serious hot water for his tweet about the Democratic National Convention. The women's advocacy organization, UltraViolet, circulated a petition today urging CNN to fire Erickson (over 30,000 signatures so far) because of his "sexist" comment. This is the tweet that has been heard 'round the DNC and cyber water cooler:
"First night of the Vagina Monologues in Charlotte going as expected."
Erickson missed the memo on journalistic ethics and integrity when posting on social media (especially on behalf of CNN). He also forgot this simple netiquette rule: "if you wouldn't say it to your mother, then don't post it on social media."
And how did Erickson respond to the public's reaction to his tweet, especially from women?
“My apologies to those offended by my tweet. Wasn’t my intention.”
Sounds like a half-hearted attempt to save face so he doesn't lose his job. I don't know what his "intention" was but he obviously knee-jerked that tweet and didn't think about the consequences of his public comment.
Erickson wouldn't be the first person to lose his job as a result of an insulting tweet heard 'round the world. Learn from Erickson's mistake...and his comment goes way beyond just a "whoops" on social media. Think BEFORE you tweet. When you insult the First Lady of the United States of America, that's a pretty big deal.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Not All Publicity is Good Publicity: Why You Can't Save a Sinking Ship
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, publicity is defined as "an act or device designed to attract public interest; specifically : information with news value issued as a means of gaining public attention or support." In the case of Todd Rutherford, the saying "there is no such thing as bad publicity" is a misnomer.
If you didn't catch the New York Times article this week, Rutherford is the fake book reviewer who was outed by a disgruntled customer and was caught by Amazon for posting fake five-star book reviews. His clients paid him a pretty penny to write the fake reviews, and those pennies added up to a whopping $28,000 per month. I wrote about Rutherford a few days ago and warned authors/writers to steer clear of paid book review scammers.
The reviews are mixed about the "ethics and morals" behind Rutherford's actions. The general consensus in the book/publishing industry is that he is a swindling con-artist. Unfortunately, self-published authors are taking the heat as a result of the article's whistle-blowing; it's just bad publicity all the way around. He has literally bit (OFF) the hands that fed him at one time, and he has pissed off legitimate, ethical self-published authors in the process. And I don't blame them for being mad.
After digging around to see what I could find on Rutherford, I stumbled upon an interesting revelation via a Publisher's Weekly blog post, Paid Reviewer Goes Down Honest Path (thanks Gabe Habash for sharing this interesting tidbit). I had a sneaking suspicion that Rutherford pulled his own publicity stunt - trying to save face after he completely obliterated his business. He emailed Publisher's Weekly a press release a few days before the New York Times article was published. In his press release, Rutherford announced the article would make a "big splash" and he was making a career comeback..wait for it...in "book publicity".
Habash sums up exactly how I feel about Rutherford's attempt to save face with his press release. It backfired on him.
In Rutherford's case, sometimes you just can't save a sinking ship.
If you didn't catch the New York Times article this week, Rutherford is the fake book reviewer who was outed by a disgruntled customer and was caught by Amazon for posting fake five-star book reviews. His clients paid him a pretty penny to write the fake reviews, and those pennies added up to a whopping $28,000 per month. I wrote about Rutherford a few days ago and warned authors/writers to steer clear of paid book review scammers.
The reviews are mixed about the "ethics and morals" behind Rutherford's actions. The general consensus in the book/publishing industry is that he is a swindling con-artist. Unfortunately, self-published authors are taking the heat as a result of the article's whistle-blowing; it's just bad publicity all the way around. He has literally bit (OFF) the hands that fed him at one time, and he has pissed off legitimate, ethical self-published authors in the process. And I don't blame them for being mad.
After digging around to see what I could find on Rutherford, I stumbled upon an interesting revelation via a Publisher's Weekly blog post, Paid Reviewer Goes Down Honest Path (thanks Gabe Habash for sharing this interesting tidbit). I had a sneaking suspicion that Rutherford pulled his own publicity stunt - trying to save face after he completely obliterated his business. He emailed Publisher's Weekly a press release a few days before the New York Times article was published. In his press release, Rutherford announced the article would make a "big splash" and he was making a career comeback..wait for it...in "book publicity".
Habash sums up exactly how I feel about Rutherford's attempt to save face with his press release. It backfired on him.
The email, meant to drum up more interest in Rutherford and his “comeback,” is a clear sign that he doesn’t think he’s committed any fault and further reinforces the image of an individual who’s only aware of his enterprises, not of his enterprises’ context or their consequences. In other words, he’s out of touch with reality (in a way that’s reminiscent of “publisher” PublishAmerica). Rutherford’s email is evidence that he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with manipulating the system if it allows him to manipulate it. The only problem is that he doesn’t seem aware that he’s been caught.
In Rutherford's case, sometimes you just can't save a sinking ship.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Writers Beware: Why You Shouldn't Pay For Book Reviews
I came across a very interesting article in the New York Times that talks about a hot debate in the publishing industry: paid book reviews. While reading the article, I recognized a familiar name - Todd Rutherford. A former author client hired (and then quickly fired) Mr. Rutherford due to his "questionable" ethics concerning marketing his book. My radar went up instantly and I dug around to find out more about Mr. Rutherford and his background. I quickly learned about the complaints against him, and told my client to steer clear of him. I always tell my clients never to buy book reviews.
For Mr. Rutherford, his once booming $28,000-per-month "fake book review" company took a nose dive, which led him to close up shop and is now currently selling RVs.
For Mr. Rutherford, his once booming $28,000-per-month "fake book review" company took a nose dive, which led him to close up shop and is now currently selling RVs.
"When Ms. Lorenzana found GettingBookReviews.com, $99 seemed reasonable. But the review did not show up as quickly as she expected. She posted a long, angry accusation against Mr. Rutherford and his service on several consumer sites, saying she had received better treatment from a reviewer whom she had hired for $5. (“You could tell that the person had really spent a few minutes checking out the information about my book and getting a feel for it before just diving into writing a meaningless review.”)
Mr. Rutherford refunded her fee, but his problems were just beginning. Google suspended his advertising account, saying it did not approve of ads for favorable reviews. At about the same time, Amazon took down some, though not all, of his reviews. Mr. Rutherford dropped his first name in favor of his middle name, Jason, so that people who searched for him through Google would not automatically see Ms. Lorenzana’s complaints." (Source: New York Times)What's the moral of Mr. Rutherford's demise? Scammers don't last long, and fake paid reviews are NOT considered ethical book marketing. If you want to be taken seriously as a writer and don't want to damage your reputation and credibility, do not pay someone to write fake "five-star" reviews for your book.
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