This past weekend, I attended two events. Friday was #bcvan10, or BookCamp Vancouver, and Sunday was #smcv10, or Social Media Camp Victoria. Both events made quite an impression on me.
Here’s a bulleted list of what I learned at Social Media Camp and BookCamp. (I’m too tired to turn my notes into prose.)
I need to leave the house more often. (So much for the glamorous benefits of being self-employed.)
Book publishers are trying really hard to succeed in the area of eBooks. Some are fighting the ePub revolution tooth and nail, but many houses are working to convert entire back catalogues to ePub format. The problem is, they’re spending far, far too much money to do it. Their methodology for this needs serious re-examination.
Social media ROI is measurable after all – it’s not just about karma. Correlating the relationship between tweets and visits to my blog is easy. Visits to my blog has a direct relationship to new client intake. (But don’t mess with karma, regardless.)
I’m not the only one who wants to know the real people behind my social media connections. People can build a certain amount of trust online, and that’s accomplished best with video (I know that from personal experience – nobody said it this weekend) but meeting people in the real world is what closes the deal.
My personal understanding of the way SEO and social media work together was not fantasy – it was bang on. (Blog post or white paper forthcoming.)
I think I’m going to re-issue a number of the eBooks I’ve created under various pseudonyms with my real name slapped on the front. Re-brand, re-market.
People trying to self-publish fiction need a whole new way of connecting and doing business. I hope that some of the people I met on Friday at BookCamp have a chance soon to attend Social Media Camp. Everyone in that business is either lost, frustrated, or slowly going broke. It’s crazy. Non-fiction has it much easier, but there’s a reason I don’t do fiction. It’s just sooooo hard.
It was very encouraging on Friday to hear that so many people are on the eBook bandwagon. I had serious concerns about being the naughty eBook girl in a room full of hardcover lovers. (Which I still am, by the way.) But instead, I felt encouraged and optimistic about the relationship between eBooks and traditional publishing houses, for the very first time. Many companies might survive, including ones that only a year ago had self-prophesied their doom.
I need to be much more consistent about my own application of social media. My Klout rating had dropped to *6* from 24. But, after today, it’s now up to 35. @meganberry was right – it’s not about the number of followers.
This is going to be a crazy next three months.
And one more thing: #11. Affiliate marketing is still the big pothole that I see missing from both the book marketing picture and the social media picture. (Document of some sort forthcoming.)
Cool people I met, connected with, or otherwise admire from this weekend:
I’ll be speaking with the other two Book Broads on Sept. 25th for the Editor’s Association of Canada (Editors.ca), about Creating and Editing Social Content, from 10am to 4pm at SFU’s Harbour Centre Campus, in downtown Vancouver. George Plumley, the Author of WordPress 24 Hour Trainer will be joining us to talk about WordPress, the world’s most widely-used blogging platform and content management system. (And the platform upon which this blog you’re reading is built.)
The focus of our talk is about creating that which really drives social media: CONTENT. Without loyalty to platform, we’ll talk about various platforms and their advantages and disadvantages, including blogging, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many many others. We’ll send you away with some fast tools that you can put to use right away, and of course, some chocolate.
Early Bird pricing ends Sept. 14th, $100 for Members of the EAC, and $160 for non-Members. Click here to register.
I’ve been saying for some time now that if you don’t start to take video seriously as a major marketing/educational medium, you and your book or other business are toast.
In this article on Biznik.com, Contributor Michael Shuett (who works with a video production company in Washington State) clearly states it yet again. “Being without a professional video will soon be equivalent to not having a website; it will be as necessary as it used to be to have a listing in the Yellow Pages.”
Shuett offers statistics from the Unica State of Marketing 2010 study, which clearly demonstrates that most organizations intend to use video (especially in mobile social media content) this year as part of their marketing strategies. We have known for some time that search results always favour video content over any other content, including text, blog updates, and even audio.
The big obstacle for most of us? We freak out when someone suggests that we should be on camera. I also have a face made for radio, but I still get up there and do video regularly. Consider these options for freaked-out video creators;
Narrate A Slide Show: This is the least threatening and easiest way to start with video. If you do any sort of speaking or teaching, a good first video exercise might be to take one of your training sessions and simply narrate it while you flip through your slides. This way, only your voice is present, and people will see your presentation, not your face. You can use a variety of tools to create this, including Jing (free) and/or Camtasia (not so free).
Prioritize Audio Quality: Use a good quality microphone – sound quality is essential. You can get away with crappy lighting and bad photography if people can still hear your message, but if they can’t hear you, they stop watching. A headset is my preference, and seems to get the best results, partly because it’s maintained at a steady distance from my mouth at all times and doesn’t move around. However, I recognize that this can make you look like you’re trying to launch a space shuttle. If you’d prefer a handheld (and there are cases where I prefer a handheld – see a future post about that) you can get away with a surprisingly affordable one. I paid about $160 US for my headset a couple of years ago (here’s a link to something similar – very comfortable, as I wear these a lot) and about $35 for my handheld (including shipping) on eBay. Test everything before you start shooting. (Best tip: be sure the microphone switch is turned to the ‘on’ position. No joke – I’ve done it.)
Do It Yourself: Although Shuett suggests that video should be professionally-produced or nothing, I must say that I disagree. Video created on-the-fly with a gritty home-grown quality can provoke a better response than professional quality. I mean really, who trusts a script? (You can always tell when it’s a script and someone’s reading from a cue card.) It’s so easy to just sit in front of your webcam and make a fast recording. I’ve even created video while driving. (Safely and legally, I swear.) Homegrown is better than nothing.
Use YouTube’s Natural SEO Benefits: The overwhelming majority of video viewed on the web these days is still ultimately hosted on YouTube.com. When uploading a video there, you’ll be prompted with a variety of fields, including one specifically for keywords. (Be sure to do your keyword research up front.) Don’t neglect all these other fields – fill them out completely! People don’t necessarily have to find your very own website to discover you. Simply searching YouTube will help them find your video, and this will lead them back to your site, because of course, your URL is clearly present there for them to click on.
Don’t Edit: After the first few years dealing with editing video, I’m now really a one-take sort of girl. If I mess up seriously, I’ll re-take it, but I hate chopping in second cameras, voiceovers, etc. What a drag, and a delay to posting. I just shoot and post. I will vaguely outline what I want to say verbally before turning on the camera, but I rarely even write it down anymore. If you know your stuff, it comes easily anyway.
Be Funny: This is synonymous with being real, keeping it loose, etc. Boring = viewers who leave. Funny = believability. If you’re not naturally funny, don’t try to fake it, but keep it friendly at least.
Recently, for the first time, I was recognized in a crowd at a business event, because people had seen me on video. They already trusted me and my company, because they had seen me talk about their subject, and they knew my style. I’ve always said, if a fat chick in her late 30′s isn’t credible these days, who is? It’s the one thing I have going for me. (Along with good teeth.) Find out what you’ve got going for you, and use it on video.
Writer’s tools are extremely expensive, especially in terms of software. Here’s a great list of free open-source software designed just for writers.
First, lets define exactly what open source software really means. The term “open-source” comes from the idea that the source code of the software is revealed to the public, unlike Microdaft where everything is super-duper secret. (Or at least, so they think.) When the source code of a piece of software is available to anyone, it means that anyone in the software community can use it – within certain very loose guidelines – to create new software, create add-ons, refine the program, and so on. The one major caveat: they cannot take this free source code and sell it for a direct profit.
Does that mean it’s free? Well, sort of. There’s a strong code of ethics in the open-source community, and almost nobody abuses the grass-roots system that has grown up around this concept. Most people who contribute to open-source projects make their living by consulting, designing, supporting, and doing other things alongside the product of the open-source project, not the project itself.
However, this same code suggests that if there’s a donation button, and you’re happy with the software, then by all means, buy the programmer a virtual coffee. Realize that programmers of open-source software make only marginally more than your average freelance writer. Yep – a couple of bucks wouldn’t hurt either of you.
The website osalt.com has a massive database of open-source software for almost any purpose. (Be aware that they also offer downloads of commercial software – scroll past that to get to the free stuff.) But here are some of my personal recommendations for writers;
- OpenOffice, an alternative to Microserf Office. I have not used any MSO products for several years – this does more than MSO ever will, and looks almost identical. Virtually no learning curve, except for some exceptionally cool new stuff. Imagine this: free, does more, and fewer crashes. I once used this to layout an entire book for print, which I’ll talk about in a future blog post.
- WordPress, the blogging platform that this blog you’re reading is based upon. (This is different from WordPress.com, which is when you use it on a public server, which I do not generally endorse for writers.) I’m talking about WordPress.org, which offers the version that you can download and install on almost any webhost. A zany array of plugins and graphical themes are also available at WordPress.org/extend/.
- XMind, a mind-mapping application that can be used not only to distill your writing ideas, but also to map out characters, plot lines, and even help you figure out who the murderer is.
- PDF995, which although not really an open-source project, it is still free and very reliable. Even though you’ve read in other posts what a fan I am of Adobe products, I still use this for creating most of my PDF documents from typed documents, because it’s lighter and faster than the real thing. This version displays ads each time you use it, but you could just slap down the $10 and not see the ads.
- Celtx (pronounced “Kel-tix”) offers an alternative to the writer’s plague of crazy pieces of paper in every room of your house. Designed as a pre-production and planning tool for screenwriting and similar story-based art forms, it’s very useful for writers. Think of this as a digital binder, collecting your ideas and storyboards, not to mention the actual script, all in one place. Great collaboration tools for more than one contributor.
And for Writers Who Podcast…
- My beloved Audacity, the program that I use to record and edit almost all my audio podcasts. Easy to use, with cool built-in effects and a very forgiving undo button. Even the kids will love this.
- I recently discovered The Levelator, a dandy yet tiny application with big benefits for any podcaster. Smooths out levels and jumpy volume levels. This saves me hours of work.
If you can find a way to give back to the open-source community, please do so by donation or by promotion. It will keep writers in software for a long time coming.
I’m heading to Blog World Expo again this year for some educational fun. Speakers this year include Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and Chad Vader.
OK, I admit I’m most excited about seeing Chad, the internet video sensation created by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda. Everyone’s favourite grocery store night manager, Chad has captured more than my own heart. (Even George Lucas gave it his thumbs up.) My main mission at the Expo this year is to go to sessions about podcasting, and the brains behind Chad Vader’s viral video success are two that I wish to pick, if only from a safe distance, down there, in the audience. Perhaps I can sit next to Chad’s girlfriend Clarissa.
What’s your own podcasting mission for your enterprise? Lately, I’ve become more bipolar in my own approach, as I created a more polished set of videos for TheBookBroads.com’s YouTube channel, and yet streamlining my “joie de le moment” approach for certain cell-phone generated video content. (Soon to be released.) There are advantages to each approach, and I enjoy doing both.
I’ll be happy to do my best to honour any special requests for specific blog or podcasting-related info from the show made via email, Twitter, or comments on this blog.
In non-fiction writing, Authors can often consider themselves to be Teachers. Here are some tips to help the Reader learn more from your material.
The essentials of instructional design tell us that it’s not enough to simply impart information to the Learner. The Learner must digest that information and put it to good use before the Teacher is successful. Learners must take ownership of of the material by using it in their own unique ways.
Here are my top 3 tips to enhance your Reader’s / Learner’s experience:
1) Focus on the improvement factor.
What is the intended outcome of the act of reading your material? There’s a huge difference between telling readers how to do something, and giving them an opportunity to make comparisons of new techniques to what they are doing now. Learning is active, not passive. If a reader participates in the material through an exercise, answering a series of questions, or even simply reading a well-designed “if / then” chart, they can compare their current skills or status with a new set of desired skills or status.
2) Create a sense of community.
Readers want to know that they are not alone. Community does not necessarily mean arranging real-world meetings of groups of Readers, but if that’s appropriate, why not? Online discussion groups are also now extremely easy to set up. If the content is not an easy thing to put into public discussion, you can use characterizations and examples to personify parts of the learning process, such as creating a character that is always referenced in your examples or stories. (Example: “If Sally uses probing questions with her prospect, she can learn more about the buyer’s needs…”) Real-life endorsements and stories from users perform this function before the book is even in the Reader’s hands.
3) Testing solidifies and confirms the Learner’s experience.
Think back to elementary school: did you ever really know how well you were doing until that math test came back with your mark on it? Feedback is important all the way through the learning experience, and testing is the easiest and fastest way to make that happen. A test doesn’t even have to look like a test, as summaries at the end of a chapter or section will help the user perform self-testing. Even clever section titles can help the reader ask themselves questions and lead them down a logical path that you plan for them.
Treating the Reader like an intelligent Learner is the best way to ensure that your content is thought of as useful and professional. Readers always want information they can put to use imediately.
This extremely funny TED video is of a talk by Author Dr. Sir Ken Robinson, who delivers this moving talk about creativity and education.
Dr. Robinson is the author of the book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, which I’m dying to read. His stories here in this video are so encouraging, even as the points out the major flaws in our current educational system, and how creativity is as important as basic literacy. Yet, our educational system is designed specifically to destroy the natural creativity we are all born with – the challenge is to keep our creativity as we become adults.
Check out this how-to video I just found on YouTube. The next time I catch myself harping about production quality, I’ll remember this “little video that could”.
This video author has created a small and stylish video to tell the world what she does in her spare time – she weaves placemats using an ancient and simple method. Creating something completely mundane might be the last thing you’d imagine being used as an example for quality documentation, but this video moved me. Watch her face as she shows you the flashcards. She’s mysterious, and perhaps somewhat sad, and you want to know what the end of the story will be.
Quality documentation (such as training materials) should all;
- be easily accessed
- be easily understood
- use careful and spare choices of words and language
- be visual rather than theoretical no matter what the subject
- create a storyline to emphasize the learning potential
- engage the reader / viewer on an emotional level
- make use of all new media tools available
- address an appropriate level of detail for the audience
- make the uninteresting parts interesting
- give opportunity for feedback
- be easy enough to produce that we can afford to create more
… and do it all with style.
Have 5:57 minutes of fun while you learn something new, below.
Teaching children to be writers teaches children to be readers. My clever 2-year-old hopped up the other day into her little recycled school desk, grabbed my desk calculator, and slammed it down on the desktop like a notebook computer. A moment later I heard her little fingers tickling the keys. When I asked her what she was doing, she smartly told me that she was “writing stories”.
Children can write stories as soon as they can hear them. There is a publishing program for children based in Virgina called “Book in a Day”, which was founded (and still run) by Kwame Alexander, who serves as the President.
As per the BookInADay.com site, “…Alexander has worked as a literacy trainer, creative writing teacher, poet-in-the-schools, and writer-in-residence. As an author, he has written eleven books, including Do The Write Thing: Seven Steps to Publishing Success. As a publishing professional, he has published more than 100 authors. Though Book-in-a-Day is a relatively new program, it is an extension of more than fifteen years of his literacy, literary, and publishing work. ‘Our goal is to tap into students’ emotional intelligences, connect with them in a powerful way. By publishing student work, we can open those doors,’ says Alexander.”
The BookInADay model can be used in any school or group for children, thanks to the documentation developed by the program. “In Book-in-a-Day, students learn how to write a wellcrafted poem, or piece of prose, and how to publish their own work for public consumption. This writing and publishing program is built on the belief that students become avid readers and writers when they assume complete responsibility for becoming authors. When students see the fruit of their labor and the response from readers, a permanent reading/writing connection is made that will transform the way they view and appreciate language and literature.”
As soon as my Dolly is able, I plan to use a POD like Lulu to help her publish her own book. In fact, I think she already understands the concept, because when a new book comes into my office, she always asks, “Mine?”
I’m going to be out of my regular office from Tuesday, September 9th, through about November 10th, 2008. All of my regular phone numbers, email addresses, and instant message contact info will still work, but you may find that you will be asked to leave voice mail more often than reaching me in person.
Where am I going, you ask? I’ll be in Langley, BC until September 14th, and then on a working sabbatical in Las Vegas Nevada (not a vacation – I swear), with some side trips to visit family in SoCal. Don’t worry – all my regular clients will still be hearing from me regularly as per our appointments previously scheduled.
The most exciting part of this trip is that I’m going to have an opportunity to break out of some stale routines, refresh my own writing, and inject some energy into ongoing projects. All of this involves stuff that will benefit all my current and future clients and projects. I’m especially looking forward to attending BlogWorldExpo 2008 in Las Vegas, from September 19th to 21st. I promise to make some video podcasts from the show, so watch this space for interesting stuff!
This past weekend, I attended two events. Friday was #bcvan10, or BookCamp Vancouver, and Sunday was #smcv10, or Social Media Camp Victoria. Both events made quite an impression on me.
, which I’m dying to read. His stories here in this video are so encouraging, even as the points out the major flaws in our current educational system, and how creativity is as important as basic literacy. Yet, our educational system is designed specifically to destroy the natural creativity we are all born with – the challenge is to keep our creativity as we become adults.
. As a publishing professional, he has published more than 100 authors. Though Book-in-a-Day is a relatively new program, it is an extension of more than fifteen years of his literacy, literary, and publishing work. ‘Our goal is to tap into students’ emotional intelligences, connect with them in a powerful way. By publishing student work, we can open those doors,’ says Alexander.”