I’ve been reading the book “Brains on Fire” from the company of the same name, and a passage I was reading during lunch today struck me immediately.
“Don’t try to out-Google Google…Instead, find the spirit of what makes you who you are, and let your identity reflect it transparently – all the way to the core.”
What struck me about this idea was the example of recent events in the tablet world. Amazon recently came out with their Kindle Fire, which some want to say is an iPad-killer (consensus is that it’s not). However, Amazon went about this new tablet in their own way. They didn’t try to copy the iPad and they certainly didn’t copy other Android tablets. No, they made the Fire reflect Amazon’s identity.
What is your identity?
Are you trying to be like everyone else and spread yourself too thin?
A lack of identityis also an identity.
People will see through your lack of focus and see you’re not clear about your message or focus. Your audience will wonder if your lack of focus translates to your business practices as well (which it probably does).
Or you have a singular purpose, say, you’re a photographer and all your public social media accounts relate to your photography work. Your accounts reflect your identity.
We’re not talking donuts at the office either! (Thank goodness, because I can’t keep my hands off those!)
What we are talking about is limiting the amount of characters in the titles of your blog posts. Did you know that Google displays less than 70 characters of your title tag in search results?
What does this mean for you if you’re not aware of this? It could mean this:
Notice the ellipse (…) at the end of the title? What if you had important info at the end of your title? Or that was your catchy phrase you thought would drive in traffic? It’s not even coming up in Google’s search results now!
What can you do?
I’ve installed the free WordPress plugin “Post Title Counter“. It does exactly what the title says: it counts the number of characters in your title, and displays in while you write your post.
Description of the plug-in from the author’s website:
A simple plugin that will count your post or page title just like twitter character counter, this plugin is good if you want to limit your post title count used for Search engine optimization.
This will also help if you are limiting your title because of some styling issue in your theme.
Feel free to go and visit and try it out! What can a little SEO hurt?
It can seem tough in today’s world to stand up for what you believe in. A recent article in the New York Times profiles NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Buffalo Bills. Amazing 5-2 season so far is not the point of this post. The point of this post, however, is the comittment Fitzpatrick displays week-in and week-out with a very simple message: his wedding band.
The article goes to point out that there are many good reasons for NFL players not to wear their wedding bands, but Fitzpatrick hasn’t even doubted not wearing this symbol of love and fidelity. Says Fitzpatrick,
“It stands for something. It’s not like I’m trying to throw a message in anybody’s face. It’s just a personal thing between me and my wife. It’s important for me not to take it off.”
Think about this for a second:
What challenges are you facing in your life today? New job? Trying to get your kids to practice on time? Dealing with the 72-day fiasco of the Kardashian wedding?
Now think about what really matters to you. Your family? Your wife? Your children? Maybe it’s your favorite hobby, or finding time to exercise. Whatever it may be, continue to renew your commitment to those things that matter to you. Only when we’re tested in the harshest of conditions (like getting sacked by 360lb linemen!) do we find out how strong our resolve and commitment really is.
I previously wrote that being the eMarketing Manager is not necessarily about having the technical background in your industry, but the ability to find and tell the story that you want to share.
So, what is the quest of the eMarketer? So far, I believe it’s to tell your story, or find the people in your company best suited to tell the story of your company.
I’ve been reading “Brains on Fire” at the suggestion of my boss, and it’s been a great read so far. In general, the book is about creating a sustainable movement about your company. (That’s definitely selling the book and its authors short, but you’ll have to check it out for yourself!) How do you go about creating this movement?
Find the passion.
In my first few weeks in my new job, it’s been easy to see the passion in my coworkers. But it’s even easier to see the passion in our customers. You see, what matters to customers is not always a new feature, or a lower price, or another bullet point in your product’s technical specs. No, what matters quite a bit is your ability to connect on a personal level with your customer.
“Hi, my name is John Wiedenheft. When I was starting out blogging, one of the biggest problems I faced was… I eventually overcame this when I started these 3 easy steps…”
Instead of:
“STARTING A NEW BLOG? FOLLOW MY NO-FAIL-GUARANTEE 3-STEP PROCESS!”
It’s easy to confuse enthusiasm with passion. I believe that sometimes you can fake the former, but you definitely cannot fake passion.
In this day and age, there are many ways to get your message across. But one of the best things to remember no matter the medium or the message is this:
Find your passion, and share it with others.
There’s so many titles for this position these days.
Social Media Manager
Social Media Analyst
Social Media Strategist
Interactive Marketing Manager
and many more!
The question I’ve been asking myself for my first 5 weeks on the job is this:
What can I do to tell the story of my company?
Yes, I’ve been at a disadvantage of not knowing specifics of the leasing industry, or knowing certain financial terms. It’s been an uphill journey these last few weeks learning acronyms, terms, deals, etc. But what’s really important?
The story.
As the newbie, one of my first projects was editing together some testimonial video of dealers that our company works with on a regular basis. By this point, I had been on the job less than a week, but had heard and seen the great work atmosphere, the friendliness of all the employees, and the comraderie among the coworkers. When I started watching these testimonials, however, I heard the dealers speak of the same themes. And that’s when it hit me.
It’s not about the details, it’s about the story.
I didn’t go to school to get a marketing degree, and I certainly didn’t leave school with a business degree. When I went to school, I wanted to tell stories. When I graduated from school, I wanted to tell stories. When I got my first job, I wanted to tell stories. And all that has never changed.
So, what is the quest of the eMarketer? So far, I believe it’s to tell your story, or find the people in your company best suited to tell the story of your company.
The real reason that I started yesterday’s post was that I was curious about how the move (and aforementioned hiatus of blogging), was affecting my web traffic and other analytics. Turns out, when you stop posting, people stop listening.
The last 2.5 months for my site according to Google Analytics. -- Click for Larger Image --
At the beginning of August, I was spending a lot of time at home with my job search. As the month progressed, I started doing my job work at coffee shops instead of home. As such, I spent a bit more time focusing on what I wanted to do rather than get a job NOW! (even though both were important). I think that resulted in more posts and Tweets. This culminated in the spike (small it is) that happened in early September, around Labor Day. At this point, I had applied for two positions in Cedar Rapids, both dealing with social media and marketing. Shortly after that, I had some interviews, and I spent time preparing for those rather than continuing to post.
Aside from the website, I was paying attention to my Twitter Followers as well.
Twitter Followers, according to Twitter Counter
Here again, you can see a semblance of a pattern. When I returned from my honeymoon in early July, I spent a bit of time cultivating new followers and my general message / topic on Twitter. (About this time, I also rolled out my new background.) The first arrow on the graph indicates about when I started using the bulk scheduler on Hootsuite, allowing me to craft regular Tweets without taking up a tremendous amount of time. The second arrow on the graph represents when I accepted my new position at GreatAmerica. Since then, I’ve basically spent my time at work, packing, driving, or doing homework for work (i.e. paperwork, etc).
Like I said yesterday, I think I’ll get right back into the swing of things when we get settled down. Here’s hoping that’s true!
Know what comes out on Blu-Ray today? I’ll give you a hint: it has six movies, ewoks, and lightsabers.
Okay, give up? It’s Star Wars!
There’s been a lot of recent news including Star Wars. From Major League Baseball to astronomy, Star Wars has been everywhere this last week.
Even in the realm of SEO. Probably not a surprise that SEO geeks like Star Wars, right? Well, one site has taken to combine both SEO and Star Wars.
If you’re skilled and brave enough to master the Force [of magnetic content], it’s time to drop that lame cowboy hat and pick up a lightsaber! Yes, SEOs, it’s time to embark on a “Star Wars” journey…
… 5. Many have been lured by the path of the black hat dark side, only to endure great suffering. (e.g., JCPenney and Overstock)
[Yoda:] “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
This is actually a very good way to get SEO principles understood by people who are either new to SEO, or even to some of your customers! And it’s a fun read!
So, enjoy your Star Wars Blu-Rays tonight – we’re heading to a party with friends tonight to watch them – and choose your lightsaber for your SEO fight!
SEO Wars: Forget Black Hat, White Hat – What Color Is Your Lightsaber? – Search Engine Watch (#SEW).
Saw this post from MarketingDaily at MediaPost on a new campaign the Environmental Protection Agency is putting out. From the article:
In one spot, Rip “weirds out” a woman about to run a dishwasher that’s nearly empty; in another, a guy who’s letting the faucet run while brushing his teeth, and in the third, a guy who’s letting the hose run incessantly while washing his car.
The voiceover message at the end of all three spots: “The moment using water becomes wasting water, it gets weird. Get normal by visiting Wastingwaterisweird.com.”
I think the campaign seems to be hitting something right on the mark. I think that many times, especially in the realm of conservation, marketing can’t always guilt people into changing their behaviors. As the article points out, the “campaign reflects a pragmatic, research-based approach to changing behavior…”
Doesn’t seem so weird now, does it?
MediaPost Publications Using Humor To Sell Water Conservation 09/14/2011.
Can Facebook help determine the possibility of world peace?
The social network’s data team touted its contribution to the Peace on Facebook page in the form of a chart titled, “Is World Peace Possible?,” which asks the question, “Do you think we will achieve world peace within 50 years?,” to users in 11 countries in their native tongues, displaying the sentiment graphically.
Here’s the link to the Facebook page: http://peace.facebook.com/
The Data Piece of Peace On Facebook.
