20 Jul 2010

Tip: Tweetify the Lead of Your Emails

In this age of information abundance, we all get a little too much email. It's highly likely that - thanks to the message preview function - your recipient will make a decision about what to do with that message before he/she even opens it. This means that the first few characters of your note are essential. You got to hook 'em or they be gone.

Here's a little tip I am going to try - don't bury the lead. Instead, Tweetify it! Here's why...

Most email systems preview the first 50-75 characters of an email. Therefore, to be heard, you increasingly need to write your first sentence like a tweet - or more like half a tweet. Skip openers that start with "my name is" and get some of the meat in your first sentence. It will increase the likelihood that your reader will get further into your note.

Here's a good example. Brett Kelly, whom I have never corresponded with before, sent me a brief note about his new eBook on Evernote called Evernote Essentials. He made the point right up front, which piqued my interest and encouraged me to read on further. 

It doesn't matter if you're trying to reach a CEO or a friend, the model works. To practice, head over to this site and write your first sentence there. Then come back to your email client. Your recipient will thank you.

Disclosure: Brett sent me a free unsolicited copy of his ebook, which is valued at $25.
16 Jun 2010

Obsession + Topic + Voice = Content

Marco Arment captures how John Gruber and Merlin Mann consistently create compelling online content...

Gruber says that when he’s writing Daring Fireball, he’s picturing his ideal reader — a copy of himself — and conceptually writing just for him. With everything he writes, he’s writing to and for that one ideal reader, not trying to boost his SEO for target phrases or appeal to an ever broadening demographic.

Simple formula, but it's rare people follow their interests so obsessively that they want to create content around it. Be that guy or gal before someone else is. Walk in the footsteps of giants. Give a listen to the full podcast that Marco links to as well. It's worth the hour spent. #

16 Jun 2010

Finding the Write Words with Data

1st Web Designer on finding the right keyword:
1. Define the keywords that people use to find your business
2. Find out how many people are actually using the keywords you have selected
3. Define your competition and make sure the keywords you have chosen are relevant
4. Finding the best keywords
5. Breaking keywords into pages

Great advice. But swap out the word website and substitute any content that ends up online - blog posts, videos, press releases, journalism. Everyone who aims to be creating findable stuff needs to sweat the data.

#

24 May 2010

One-Step Bitly URL Shortening from the Address Bar

Recently I had a chance to spend some quality time with the folks at Bitly, getting to know more about their terrific service. There's a wealth of data there if you dig in. Not all of my Twitter clients integrate with the Bitly API yet, but I find myself seeking out apps that do allow me to enter my account info since it gives me rich analytics and (hopefully) insights into how I can be more effective.

If you like Bitly, here's a killer tip that Andrew Coen, Bitly's co-founder, recently shared with our team. You can actually shorten a link in just one step right from the address bar in any browser, even a mobile one. All you need to do is either enter "j.mp/" or "bit.ly/" before the address of the page you're on and Bitly will then automatically shorten it for you. What's more, if you're logged into Bitly and it's integrated with your Twitter account, you can tweet right off the page it refers you to.

This has been a real time saver for me and also has me using their service even more.

16 Apr 2010

The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media

Image Credit: Jay Leno carrying on with Taylor Hicks (by Techbirmingham via on Flickr)

I am a big believer in using stories and visuals to convey a message. My teammate David Armano is helping me with the latter. Here's a metaphor that I have been using with our clients that might be helpful to you.

Some businesses have a Twitter or Facebook presence or a blog, yet they're not getting the kind of activity or engagement they hope to receive. This is understandable and a common problem. There's a lot of competition for attention. But one night I was watching the Tonight Show and it hit me. From that point on I started talking about "The Jay Leno Rule of Social Media." It's simple and it works.

If you think about it, the celebrity slots on The Tonight Show are pretty formulaic: guest walks on; guest engages/yucks it up with Jay about broad human interest topics (life stories, current affairs, etc.); guest promotes his/her book, movie, TV show, event, shows a clip, etc.; guest moves down the couch; rise, repeat, wash. This has been the script for decades, going all the way back to Jack Parr.

It struck me that this is a great model for any company hoping to build relationships through social media. The "Jay Leno Rule" is deceptively simple and easy to implement. Basically, here's how it works...

If you want to get people to care about what you're selling, you have first to get them engaged by being informative and/or entertaining. In short, you need to get us interested in what you - a brand, an NGO, an individual - have to say beyond your domain. Such pathways to engagement include stories, humor, links to interesting information, ideas, questions and participating in other discussions (e.g. Follow Friday, etc.) Then, once you get us hooked, it's easier talk about what you want to sell us. We'll be more receptive.

This isn't rocket science. In reality, it's human relations 101 - but it's something a lot of companies forget. After all, most marketers focus on themselves and what they want to say.

Mint is a company that does this quite well. They embrace the Jay Leno Rule. Mint has a great blog that shares lots of tidbits that encourage financial well-being. Then, once in awhile, they interrupt the flow with product news. It's simple and gets me reading more.

Simple enough, yet effective, right?

Steve Rubel's Posterous

Steve Rubel (bio) is SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, a division of Edelman - the world's largest independent PR firm.

He is charged with helping clients identify emerging technologies and trends that can be applied in marketing communications programs. Rubel also explores these topics on his site and in monthly columns for Forbes.com and Advertising Age. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook as well.

Steve can be reached via email at steverubel@gmail.com.

Note: Everything posted on this site is Steve's personal opinion. It does not represent the views of Edelman or its clients.