There’s a cardinal rule to effective digital writing. You have to write for attention first, then add whatever message you might have. Lead with value, lead with insights, and start with the outcome. That’s how writing for social media works right now, and it begs the question: is this still authentic self-presentation? Cory Zue pondered … Continue reading “Authenticity” in the Digital Age
Category: Audience
Things That Kill The Village
Online communities often remind me of villages, offering a sense of belonging, a place to grow roots, and a bustling exchange of ideas and services. I found my 'village' among sci-fi enthusiasts and software entrepreneurs online. And I do my best to contribute to the continuation and improvement of these communities. But not everyone has … Continue reading Things That Kill The Village
The Bad Kind of Attention
Attention! It feels like attention has become a currency of its own right in our digital economy. Where the eyeballs go, the wallets follow. Naturally, we all want a slice of that attention pie. We all want an audience, be it readers, followers, customers, or supporters. And we want their attention. We would do a … Continue reading The Bad Kind of Attention
Self-Censorship on Twitter
In my Twitter Teardowns over the last few weeks, I've noted a lot of budding audience-builders struggling with what to talk about and what not to say. It makes sense: we're afraid to be labeled as one thing or another. Twitter is widely regarded as a divisive and vitriolic platform where people constantly fight about … Continue reading Self-Censorship on Twitter
Twitter Teardowns: 3 Low Hanging Fruit to Massively Improve Your Twitter Presence
Ever since I offered to tear down my followers’ Twitter profiles on a whim a week ago, I have been inundated with requests. At $100 each, this has been a very popular offering, and I have recorded dozens of videos diving into Twitter profiles and pointing out the small changes that can make a whole … Continue reading Twitter Teardowns: 3 Low Hanging Fruit to Massively Improve Your Twitter Presence
Permission to Follow Up: The Difference Between Owned & Borrowed Audiences
Email newsletters aren’t new — they might be one of the oldest forms of digital mass communication. I certainly remember signing up for them in the late 90s, when social media didn’t exist. But they’re back with a vengeance because they allow for something that got lost in the age of social media: direct and … Continue reading Permission to Follow Up: The Difference Between Owned & Borrowed Audiences
Choose Your Own Adventure: Creator, Curator, Commentator, or Connector
People love to put other people in boxes. Metaphorically, of course. We do love our categories and classifications. On social media, we can leverage one of four major roles: we can be creators, curators, commentators, and connectors. Focusing on one of these roles will provide a clear path toward building an equally focused audience. Let’s … Continue reading Choose Your Own Adventure: Creator, Curator, Commentator, or Connector
How I Find Twitter Content Ideas
On Twitter's own blog, their "content idea" section suggests that you "tweet a GIF." Yeah. Let's come up with something better. I've been building an audience of over 50.000 on Twitter over the last two years. I will share the strategies and tactics I use to come up with relevant and helpful daily content to … Continue reading How I Find Twitter Content Ideas
What Founders Can Learn From Web3 Community-Building (And What They Can’t)
If you're an entrepreneur planning to build a community around a particular subject, you'll benefit immensely from observing what's happening in the crypto space. Even with the rampant scams and rug-pulls, the web3 space demonstrates what groups of people can accomplish when there is alignment between the leaders and the members of a community. Because … Continue reading What Founders Can Learn From Web3 Community-Building (And What They Can’t)
Building in Public: Balancing Building and Sharing
One of the major problems that Build in Public novices face is how to split their attention between creating their product and talking about their journey. How much do you build before you tell your audience? How much should you talk the talk before you walk the walk? The first step to finding answers to … Continue reading Building in Public: Balancing Building and Sharing