Tag: Social Media

Is SEO killing the lede?

“Tell me, Carmen, do you know what foreplay is?”
“No.”
“Good! Neither does El Guapo.”
…and apparently neither does Google.

One of the first lessons that hit home for me in writing was the concept of the introduction. The lede. The hook. Those crucial first few seconds that a writer has to catch the reader’s attention, get her to taste the bait long enough for the claws to sink in, gain traction and snatch her up for the ride.

To accomplish this, I try to use interesting metaphors, analogies and anecdotes in the introductions that can appear to have nothing to do with the subject at hand and then find a way to tie it creatively to my main points. The rule I follow for most feature stories says that the reader should be captivated and interested in the first paragraph, but not realize what the story is really about until the end of the second paragraph.

The problem, unfortunately, with following this rule is that if you’re sneakily walking your reader down a winding path, you’re probably not going to use the major keywords that align with your subject matter very often in the beginning. After all, you don’t want to scare her off, and the punch line is nothing without an efficient set-up.

But sadly, search engine optimization (SEO) techniques frown on any fooling around, even during the courting stages, and encourage you to get the point early and often.

This is because writing that has keywords in the titles, headings and lead paragraphs of the text will have increased visibility in searches for related content, and thus, usually increased views. This strategy plays nicely with news stories, since the most important information in a news story is concentrated in the lead paragraph. But what about stories that don’t blow their load in the first three lines?

Isn’t the chase half the fun? I think so, and I’m afraid of having to choose between SEO and quality content. I prefer the seductive, methodical ledes that serve the story rather than the search and think that increased exposure to compromised content is counter productive.

But is there a way to accomplish both?

What role does the introduction play in your writing?

Where is the value in social media? Follow Gladwell.

Most people can’t go a day without hearing or reading about how vital social media is for a business or how channels like Facebook and Twitter are revolutionizing our relationships and the way we communicate. If you are absorbed by social media on a daily basis, both personally and professionally, it can be especially difficult, at times, to remind yourself or convince others that social media is not the answer to all of life’s problems.

I encourage you to read Malcolm Gladwell’s recent essay in The New Yorker for an excellent commentary on the value of social media: Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted.

He provides some interesting examples and clear arguments for why activism and revolution didn’t, don’t and won’t require social media to have an effect. As with most of his work, I enjoyed this piece and echo much of his sentiment. My takeaway from this article is that in most cases social media serves best as a means to provide added value: compliments to the core.

A solid business model is probably not going to fail due to the absence of an active Facebook page or thousands of Twitter followers. If you have a bad fight with your best friend or family member, you’re probably not going resolve it on his wall or via Direct Message. However, most successful businesses, and people for that matter, look for and find ways to provide and receive added value. And this is where social media shines.

One person may love tagging her friends in photos on Facebook while a company may use the same channel to gauge customer sentiment after a new initiative. A co-worker may post daily updates on Twitter about lunch plans while his boss may use it to vent about computer frustrations and catch up on sporting news.

Whatever way you use it, you, and millions of others across the world, find this added value in social media. But the key to keep in mind here is that this value has not taken the place of the most important values or people in your life (I hope). As phenomenal and ground-breaking as social media is, it is still not a substitute for a solid business model, a strong friendship or a passionate movement.

4 Takeaways from the Steven Slater Exit

JetBlue flight attendant, Steven Slater quit his job after an apparently heated exchange with a disobedient passenger. Reports say that when the plane was taxiing to the gate, he yelled at the passenger over the intercom, grabbed two beers out of the drink cart, opened the emergency exit and slid down the slide, onto the tarmac, out of a job and into Internet stardom. (Full story here.) In the days since the incident, Slater has dominated the headlines and has become somewhat of a folk hero. After all, who hasn’t wanted to put a jerk in his place or quit a job with a splash?

But, before you start planning your escape, there are a few things about this incident that you should keep in mind.

JetBlue gets it

A rogue employee, swearing at a customer is not exactly the image a company wants to present to the public. However, JetBlue, so far, has handled the volatile situation commendably. They’ve remained actively engaged with customers on social media, built upon a pre-existing solid brand image foundation and addressed the situation with a genius post on their company blog. Note in the post how JetBlue used this opportunity to spin the situation by using it as an opportunity to thank and acknowledge their employees. It not only served to boost morale internally, but also told customers that they don’t have to worry about flight attendants flipping out. In effect, “one loose cannon out of over 2,000 straight arrows ain’t bad.” Major props to the JetBlue PR team.

Context counts

This iconic “I quit” didn’t just happen out of nowhere. The allegedly unruly passenger has been the main focus, however, we also need to factor in that Slater reportedly was under a lot of stress at the time: his mother is dying from lung cancer, his father died of Lou Gehrig’s disease and he’s had issues in the past with alcohol and substance abuse. These may not be excuses for blowing up, but they are reminders that often, actions are caused by many contextual issues that can tip things from beneath the surface. Read “Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell for more on this concept.

Scarface is still the coolest quitter

Inevitably, media coverage of this story has resulted in references to famous quitting scenes on the big screen. The obvious scenes from Jerry McGuire and Office Space made the rounds, but Scarface’s “I-quit” scene remains my favorite. (Don’t click this last link if you can’t stand F-bombs.)

Never burn bridges

Yeah we’ve all had fantasies of setting fire to the sinking ship, but if this was your employee would you hire Slater back? Facebook pages, blogs and websites have been created to urge JetBlue to forgive and forget. But even if you love what he did, can you blame a company for not wanting to have an employee with this on their record? Furthermore, his position is on the front lines, representing their company and interacting with valued customers. I wouldn’t. You’ve got to be able to keep your cool, whether you’re on the ground or flying at 30,000 feet.

Would you hire him?

Chile Earthquake on Twitter and Facebook

This weekend was the first time I can remember feeling a gnawing void in communication and a vested burn to get informed about a crisis. Social media came through in the clutch.

I lived and worked in Santiago, Chile as a freelance journalist from June 2008 to August 2009. From Rolando at the corner store, to co-workers at The Santiago Times and Revolver, to my furry housemate Leo (who loved to rummage through the fridge and take craps in the living room), every person I met and relationship I had, contributed to my unforgettable Chilean experience.

You can imagine my distress when I woke up to a text message Saturday morning that read, “Awful news in Chile.”

A rush of faces, worry and possible explanations ran through my head as I jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs to see what was going on. I needed to know what the heck happened and that my friends were safe.

I didn’t turn on the TV. I didn’t turn on the radio. I didn’t call my aunt, who sent the text message.

Without thinking, I opened up my laptop and checked Facebook and Twitter.

Within thirty seconds, I saw that #terremotoenchile was a trending topic on Twitter and read this on Facebook from a friend: “8.5 Earthquake about 345 am. Lasted about 2 minutes. Incredibly shaken up, lots of broken stuff. We are okay. Thanks for all the emails. Will update when possible. Communication is still a hit or miss right now.”

And like that, I was informed.

I rushed to read more posts, check profiles, tweet updates and search for more information. Fortunately, I did not have to go far, and the panic gradually subsided.

  • “All fine over here! My friends and i got through the quake safely. I was dancing to the cure at a local club when it all happened!”
  • “Yo estoy bien Adam! Hablé con [name of friend] también y estamos ok” (Translation: I am ok Adam! I spoke with [name of friend] also and we are ok)

  • “Hi everyone, we are really lucky and no major damage was done to my apartment or my being. I came home last night around 4am…Things started shaking, and I didn’t think anything about it at first, but soon enough we were huddled under the bathroom sink!! Very scary! Thanks for worrying everyone, love you guys, let’s hope everyone else is OK!”
  • “etamos vivos hueooooon!!!!! gracias por la preocupacion!” (Translation: we’re alive dude!!!!! thanks for the worry!)

  • “If someone hears anything from my parents please send me a message.” Followed by this, less than an hour later: “Mom and dad are ok… the house, not too sure.”
  • “if anyone in Chile needs me to phone someone in the UK/mainland Europe, just let me know who and the number.”

After about half an hour of exhausting Facebook, Twitter and Gmail chat, I finally turned on the TV and checked Google news for additional information. (Google News and Google Reader are usually the first two places I go when I log on.)

Aside from a few statistics, it was mostly old news to me. The video and photos added some color to the tragic picture, the weather center offered tsunami predictions and the fluid injured/missing/dead tallies did not shed much light.

So, I kept the TV on for background noise, the Google News tab open in my browser, and went back to social media. CNN, The New York Times and The Guardian may have served well to inform the masses, but my Facebook and Twitter channels provided the instant information I needed from the sources I cared about and trusted.

No newscast, newswire or newspaper could have replaced the tweets, comments and status updates I read on Saturday morning. And that is one of the many reasons why social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are not going anywhere.

If you are trying to contact a person in Chile and haven’t been able to locate him/her, Google is providing this application that could help: http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/

Reading between the lines of @OGOchoCinco

I get about 10 pitches a day offering tips, case-studies and seminars that promise to improve the way I use social media. After I scan the last of the morning’s barrage of tweets, emails and blog-posts, my eyes usually glaze over and turn inward, just in time for lunch.

Self-proclaimed experts do provide valuable nuggets from time to time, but most of the advice from the guru lot is regurgitated redundancy.

So, in efforts to liven up my daily feed and diversify my cabinet of social media advisors, I have turned to Chad Ochocinco, a different kind of guru all together. While he may not be a seasoned public relations professional or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, he can teach you a few things about social media, and make you laugh in the process.

The flamboyant, outspoken and captivating Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver (born Chad Johnson, before legally changing his last name to match a loose Spanish translation of his uniform number: 85) uses an array of social media channels to create that intimate, “my-boy’s-a-superstar reality” for hundreds of thousands of people.

Why should you care about this?

Because, unlike other celebrities who use the new media sparingly and primarily for promotional and commercial purposes, Ochocinco’s all-access, comprehensive and constantly hilarious social-media model provides key values and takeaways that can be translated to anyone’s use of social media.

Be Interesting

“Anybody have anything they want to confess before the new year gets here#handraised-I dated Jennifer Anniston for 2 hours and 34 minutes” — posted to Twitter on December 31, 2009 by @OGOchoCinco

The six-time Pro Bowl, three-time All Pro, multimillionaire’s personality makes Rod Tidwell look like Ron Weasley. And even though he does post about mundane day-to-day issues, he makes it interesting and adds value by injecting himself and his attitude into his messages.

Obviously not everybody has his draw or built-in prominence and celebrity, but what you can take away from this is that you need to find that unique, interesting and personal angle on your seemingly mundane messages to make them valuable to your audience. Nobody cares what you had for lunch or that you are on your way to pick up your kids from school, but they will care if you provide something useful like a heads up on traffic, a new recipe or something whacky your kid said.

Be Honest

“Oh hell na, I need ustream right now to discuss me not having a f ing VALENTINE, this is gonna be classic cuz I’m level 5 pissed” — posted to Twitter on February 12, 2010 by @OGOchoCinco

One of the many beauties of social media is the natural filtering process that occurs between the audience and the speaker. If a person is not getting any value out of what is being said, they will just stop listening. That kind of selection process gives power to the receiver and puts pressure on the sender. If you are fake, selling something or working towards an agenda, people will usually sniff you out and turn you off.*

So be genuine in conversations, celebrate true accomplishments and, most importantly, embrace and expose your flaws. As scary as this may be to some, you will have more credibility with your audience and receive the same respect in return.

Be Active

“If I break it, you might as well believe it.” — Slogan for OCNN (Ocho Cinco News Network)**

Ochocinco is online almost 24/7. He broadcasts an Internet TV show, tweets all day from @OGOchoCinco, plays video games online (gamer tag Esteban 85), has a massive Facebook fan-base and recently launched OCNN in efforts to eliminate the middleman in mainstream sports media and break sporting news directly from the sources. He responds to fans, courts love interests, complains about NFL policies, calls out other athletes, posts pictures of his family and much, much more.

I am not saying that everybody should tweet as much as @OGOchoCinco or that I’m going to start my own ustream.tv station. I am saying that we all need to experiment with various forms of social media and maintain a constant and appropriate presence on the channels that we deem valuable.

Chad Ochocinco may never keynote a social-media seminar or dissect his tactics for the public, but the next best thing for anybody looking to get more out of their social media efforts is to filter the feed from the “certified” experts and start reading between the lines of OchoCinco.

Who’s your off-the-beaten-path social-media advisor? How do you filter your feed?

Find Chad Ochocinco on:

*Copy Chat expands on this concept in a nice post
**Source: Mashable