Month: March 2006

Are you scrolling through feeds waiting for something to catch your eye? Do you have a special criteria for deciding whether to read more or read less? Is it the headline or the first sentence?

I am pondering this myself, because of this article on Seth Godin’s blog today. He is talking about paying attention to those whom we have GRANTED permission. This one caught my eye only after I had read quite some way in … after all, I have already given Seth my permission to appear in my RSS reader.

But then, about halfway through I started to like the surprising direction of this post. I liked the way that it turned around to put the onus on the person who accepts the meeting. Sure, it can be boring and tiring (sometimes) in meetings, but if you are there … why not get something out of it! After all, as Seth says, "everyone’s an expert", and it just may be that the person you are meeting knows a lot about something that you don’t. Perhaps there is a meeting technique that they use well, or use badly, perhaps it is the stain on their lapel or the way their mobile phone keeps ringing. Or maybe it is even the firmness of their handshake and their sense of purpose.

But if you are going to be in the meeting, then BE there. Challenge the person you are meeting — ask questions, request ideas and so on.

Similarly, when you are reading a blog, drop in a comment. If you have your own blog, add a trackback or a link. Part of the fun of writing online is this sense of engagement and community. Don’t forget, you get out what you put in!

S.

You know, when I started out I was aiming to write one blog entry each day with the aim of making it to 999 in around 3 years. But apart from anything else, I was interested in what disciplines may be required in achieving this. And as today the total number of entries sits at 100, I can say that I have been humbled by the beast!

There are 5 things that I have learned:

1. Just because you write something doesn’t mean that it will interest anyone (no matter how much you love it)
2. You have got to share the love in order to get some lovin’ yourself (ie don’t think that others will read your rantings if you don’t read those of others)
3. Keep focused because your readers are interested in the TOPICS you rant about … not necessarily in all the tangents that you throw up (unless your blog is about tangents)
4. Don’t take it too seriously
5. Don’t just "report", analyse and add perspective
6. Anyone still reading? Yeah I know this is six, but the final one is keep trying to surprise yourself AND your readers.

Thanks to all those who keep reading!

S.

One of the problems of working in marketing or communications is that the words we use easily become part of the industry jargon. And the more we use such words, the faster they become laden with "industry meaning".

And as marketers thrive on innovation in language, we constantly reinvent. We create new compound words, adjectives and even nouns. And we appropriate. Why? Because the new connotations that we create (we hope) will provide new stimulus to our language … we are aiming to create a deep resonance within language that taps into the emotions of our audiences.

But it is a real challenge to avoid falling into jargon. Unfortunately, even the "new" words that are used to indicate new directions can quickly be seen as jargon. This is the nature of the flexible English language in all its forms — it is the trademark, the reason for its success and also the reason for its failure. Words can become outdated or superseded very quickly these days. Take, for example, Johnn Moore’s recent admission.

Now there is not much that you can argue with in the post. But if marketing is to be meaningful, then clearly it has to be meaningful for its intended (as well as its unexpected) audiences. Without that relevance, then it is just marketers writing for marketers. And hey, while that might get you an award or two, it may not always translate into meaningful experiences or dollars in the bank.

S.