Carol Stephen, Author at

Social Media Question? “It Depends” is the Right Answer!

September 1, 2016 By Carol Stephen 10 Comments

Social Media Question? “It Depends” is the Right Answer!

Why do social media “experts” always say “it depends!” as an answer to every question?What the heck? Don’t they have the real answer? Well, yes, they do. But the answers usually have so many variables that you can’t get an answer without providing more details. So when they say “It Depends,” they’re not lying to you. They’re telling it from their viewpoint. Here are some examples.

Can My Post Go Viral?

Sure it can! That’s not to say that it will. But you can prepare the groundwork by doing your best writing, having a terrific image or five to go with that post, and posting at a good time. However, most posts don’t go viral! You can increase your odds with an aww-worthy cat sitting atop that widget you sell, or making it controversial, both of which might detract from your trustability. Will it go viral? It depends!

How Soon Will I See Results?

If you’re selling real estate in North Dakota, that might take longer than if you’re selling iPhone covers in Cupertino. There’s a huge range. Maybe you’ll see results after two weeks, maybe it’ll take two months. Or in some cases, two years. Again, it depends.

Where Should I Look for Content?

Who’s your audience? Do you know their age, their location, and their interests? The more you know about them, the easier it will be to answer this question. Without knowing who your audience is, there’s no way to know. And in the beginning, you may need to take an educated guess! Once you can pinpoint that audience, you’ll know more about what to post.

How Do I Make People More Involved?

It depends! If you’ve figured out who your ideal audience is, then you’ll know what’s important to them. That information, in turn, will make your chances of getting them involved higher. Perhaps your audience isn’t the type to comment on posts, though. So your first goal might be to get a few “likes.”

What Unanswered Questions Do You Have?

If you’ve been trying to get answers, the best you might get is more questions. Leave me a question and I’ll answer it with a question! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: audience, it depends, results, Social Media, viral post

Startups: The Five Cs of Success You Need to Know

August 25, 2016 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Startups: The Five Cs of Success

You’ve just joined a new startup. The world is an exciting place and you’re right in the middle of all that innovation and newness. Your friends are envious, and your mom has no idea what you do during the day. How do you know that your startup is heading in the right direction, though? After all, according to Forbes, 90% of all startups fail. Will you be among the 10%?

Here’s a playlist of social media articles for startups:

Customers

Real customers use your services. At first, it’s the warm leads, the friends and family, who sign up. Later, you reach out to the companies who need the services you provide. At first, the sales team is anyone who has free time to make a phone call. Later, there’s a concerted effort for everyone to pitch in. Next, there’s a real-live sales person. And eventually, an entire team, all coordinated. After all, you can’t legitimize your business without real customers.

Here’s a great article about landing your first customers on a shoe-string budget. Hint: Follow-up is key.

Photo by david__jones

Confidence

Confidence can be anything from a fearlessness about asking questions to the ability to tackle changes in direction. At first, being ambitious might feel uncomfortable. But after awhile, confidence has its own momentum. Getting an entire team into the habit of being involved and committed also creates its own momentum.

As Jacqueline Whitmore outlines in her article in Entrepreneur, there are Six Actions You Can Take to Build Your Self Confidence. I particularly like: “Positive energy leads to positive outcomes…”.

Commitment

When everyone who works at your startup is excited to get to work, that’s a sign that you’ve got a good thing. During the first couple of years, that pre-launch drive translates to overwork and insomnia. Sometimes, sending an email or text at midnight and getting an answer back within minutes, is thrilling. When you’re committed, and prepped for success, the orders come in. Having “skin in the game” is a common pathway to that commitment.

Paul Graham says in his article What Startups Are Really Like (still as true in 2016 as in 2009, when he wrote it):

“What people wished they’d paid more attention to when choosing cofounders was character and commitment, not ability. This was particularly true with startups that failed. The lesson: don’t pick cofounders who will flake.”

Coworkers who are working at more than one startup will often not have the energy to get a startup off the ground.

Photo by garryknight

Communication

If you have transparency from the founders and your team, you’ll be able to know what’s happening from top to bottom. Often what’s said out in the hallway or between meetings is the really important. But the critical thing is knowing that you can discover what’s happening quickly if you should need to know something.

You might want to consider a Communication Architecture, as Unreasonable did, which dictates the way your team talks. And the standing meeting ensures that meetings stay short.

It’s important to have a structure for your team’s communications. While more meetings are necessarily positive, regular meetings ensure that everyone’s aligned.

Celebrations

Nearly every day, something good happens that is worthy of celebrating. While there is still a lot of hard work to be done, there are also a lot of high-fives, impromptu bottles of wine and champagne being opened, and smiles. Being supportive of one another, although it might sound corny, goes a long way to making people want to stick with the crazy work hours. There are many ways to celebrate success, from a brag board to a morphing trophy, as recommended by American Express.

Photo by miamism

Is There a Sixth “C”?

Please leave me a comment and let me know what other signs of success I might have missed! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: celebration, commitment, communication, confidence, customers, finding first customers, Five Cs, signs, Startup, Startups, success

Donald Trump’s Prison in the Depths of Social Media Hell

August 18, 2016 By Carol Stephen 10 Comments

Donald Trump’s Prison in the Depths of Social Media Hell

Many news articles about Donald Trump describe remarks so horrendous that his PR team later tries to rewrite what he says, explaining how his remarks were “taken out of context” or that he was “joking.” When the news is horribly negative, (and it usually is), then it was “meant as a joke.” And then social media, controlled as it is by the “liberals,” takes the negative comment and makes it worse. If I were on Donald Trump’s social media team, I’d be worried about having to continually reframe The Donald’s words.

Has Social Media Helped or Hindered Trump’s Slide?

Like many others have postulated, it seems that The Donald may never have had any intention of being president. His comments are so envenomed that it’s unfathomable that he could ever really win. The Huffington Post has even suggested that Clinton take a break from campaigning, as doing nothing could help her win. And recently, Michael Moore, who just last week said that Donald Trump would probably win the presidency, now says that Trump “never actually wanted to win the presidency.” How has social media helped or hindered Trump’s rapid decline?

Mistakes Are Magnified on Social Media

At one time, maybe as recently as ten years ago, some of the things a candidate said could go unnoticed. The microphone wasn’t always on, as it were, and nothing would happen if a candidate made a faux pas. But now, with everyone having a cell phone, Facebook, and Twitter, any misstep is sure to spread faster than the Zika virus. So the magnification of any mistake can make the error look far worse than it actually is.

Google Trends: Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

Google Trends: Donald Trump and Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

Trump and Google Search

Although the number of Google searches might not indicate where the Donald ranks, it’s still interesting. As recently as March of 2016, the New York Times indicated that “Google Searches Point to a Strong Showing for Donald Trump.” Near the end of July, 2016, the Huffington Post reported that the search term “Donald Trump treason” showed a spike. And then there’s this interesting article about Trump responding to video claiming that Google skewed search results to be more pro-Hillary. And if any publicity is good publicity, then Trump is getting his fair share of Google searches. Although a search on “Donald Trump treason” which was recently trending doesn’t seem to bode well.

Twitter Fails

On the Twitter front, Forbes recently published an article about Trump’s Twitter account, “We all know that Mr. Trump’s use of Twitter rivals the Kardashians’. He has amassed over 10.7 million followers and sent over 32,000 tweets.” By any account, that’s a huge number of tweets. But is Trump’s presence on Twitter helping him when many of his tweets show such negativity?

Big Data and Tweets

To me the most interesting article about Trump and social media is this one that covers Trump’s tweets. Read the text analysis from the data scientist David Robinson, who does a comparison of the data from two different phones (Android vs. iPhone). And he claims that only some of the tweets, those from the Android, are from the Donald himself. And those tend to be the angrier ones.

Fascinating stuff.

David Robinson goes on to say: “Trump’s Android account uses about 40-80% more words related to disgust, sadness, fear, anger, and other “negative” sentiments than the iPhone account does.”

From the Horse’s Mouth

Trump complains on Twitter that newspapers can say whatever they want:

It is not "freedom of the press" when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016

Sadly for Trump, when he tries to outwit his detractors, he seems to always lose. He may have so many followers because people want to see him stick his foot in it. And then threaten to sue. See the excellent article Top Trumps: Seven of The Donald’s biggest Twitter fails, including a few tweets of Trump defending his hair. Seriously? Yes.

Meanwhile, on Instagram

Over on Instagram, Trump has been waging a campaign ad trying to target Bill Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky debacle. His campaign tries to insinuate that Hilary Clinton doesn’t protect women. Wired Magazine says that Trump is “winning” on Instagram by being himself, “But here and there you see the often unsavory linchpins of his campaign: the bullying, the bravado, and the bull crap. It’s unfiltered, every bit as sophomoric and occasionally vulgar as his rallies and tweets.” Of course, that was back in March. Now it’s August.

Maybe it’s true, as Liz Krokin says in the Observer that Tech Companies Apple, Twitter, Google and Instagram Collude to Defeat Trump. Still, could any of Trump’s detractors do any worse damage than Trump has to himself?

Your Turn

What do you think? Is the deck stacked against Donald Trump? Or is he spiraling out of control all on his own? Leave me a comment! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Apple, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Donald Trump search, Google, Hillary Clinton, Instagram, social media hell, Twitter

Revamp Your Social Media: 10 Quick and Easy Ways

August 11, 2016 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Revamp your social media: 10 quick and easy steps

Whether you’re a startup or a business that’s been around for awhile, revamping your social media takes a lot of work. And you may worry that a remodel will take up all of your time. However, if you want a quick makeover, here are some places to start.

Audit

You don’t need a fancy 12-page document to do a quick makeover. However, you might want to plan what your makeover will look like. For instance, do you want to touch all the different platforms? Suggestion: choose the top three platforms and fix those. Save the rest for another time.

Change your passwords

Change Your Passwords

Lifehacker recommends that your passwords be 12 characters or longer in order to be secure. But how many of us do that? You could also run it through an online password checker to be extra sure. So no more “123456” passwords! In the same article, there is reference to a 12-WORD password. That would do the trick, for sure!

Update your profiles

Update Your Profiles

If you’ve been using the same profile on Twitter since 2008, maybe it’s time to change it! Because you’ve probably changed, your business has changed, and Twitter has changed. What’s new in your business right now? For instance, my Twitter profile now lists Startups, since I work with a number of them. By the way, here’s a fun Twitter Bio Generator, to get your creative juices flowing.

Take a quick look around. Here’s a quick and dirty list for you:

Delete or hide boards that you’re not using. Move the pins to another board if they’re performing well.
Delete pins that aren’t getting traction.
Repin pins, and change their descriptions for a better chance at being found.
Here’s a post that could help: How to Avoid Writing Bad Pinterest Headlines and Get Found.

Facebook

If your strategy hasn’t changed, it’s time to mix it up! For instance, if you’re not using video, you might want to try that. Back in the day, it was easy to get people to see your posts on Facebook. You might also want to change the number of times you post. If you post once a day, try twice a day and see how that affects your numbers.

Twitter

Try retweeting more of the tweets of your best followers. The old-school way was to simply post a lot of your own stuff. Also, try more conversations. Ask questions, join chats where your clients might be, or where you could meet collaborators.

Recycling Content

See what evergreen content you can reshare. It could be on “Throwback Thursday” or simply in a ICYMI (in case you missed it) post. Here’s a post on how to recycle content the 10 best ways, ICYMI. (Do you get that one?)

Did somebody say #SmoreFun ???? pic.twitter.com/FnzZ1wCHBi

— Beth! (@Adventure1Photo) August 10, 2016

Ride Trending Topic Waves

As I write this, it’s Happy National S’mores Day! Do you think that some of my friends are using that topic to post a cool pic? You betcha! And you might even get retweeted by Hershey’s if you do! Congrats, Beth of Adventure Photo Studios!

Try Some Humor

Now it doesn’t have to be a Memefest, but a joke now and then never killed anyone. That is, unless they died from laughing. If your brand is lighthearted, then your posts should show that as well.

Collaborate

Try guest blogging on another business’ blog, or try creating a campaign with a complementary business. Collaboration is a fun way to revamp your presence. There are lots of benefits to collaboration.

How Would You Revamp Your Social Media?

What did I miss and what resonates with you? Leave me a comment!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: change passwords, renovation, revamp, Social Media, update profiles

Should You Do Your Own Social Media? Absolutely Not!

August 4, 2016 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Should You Do Your Own Social Media? Absolutely Not!

Here’s something I hear all the darn time: “social media is easy! My [insert 12-year-old relative here] could do it for me! Yes, they could do it for you. Just as you could do it yourself! But do I fix my own plumbing? Nooooo! So should you do your own social media? Again: Noooo!

Analytics

In order to make the best decisions about when to post, what to post, and how often to post, you’ll need to look at your analytics. If you don’t know what that means, then you’ll need to study up on analytics. Here’s a post about Twitter analytics, for a start.

Choosing Your Platform

Do you know where your audience is? Do you know the average age of people on the different platforms? Do you know the best place for women to hang out online (hint: it starts with a “P” and ends with a “T!”

image centrism

Image-Centrism

I’m not sure that’s a real term, but you know what I’m saying. These days, you need a good image. Gone are the days when you could post an article without a good image to go along with it. There are some exceptions, of course. But not many.

Your Time

Recently, I started to use Noko, a great time management tool. How much is your time worth? Do you really want to use it to learn how to manage your time online, when there’s someone who’s already ironed out all the kinks of an online posting system?

frustration

Frustration

Will you know what to do when there’s an emergency online? Who will you talk to if something goes wrong? Wouldn’t you prefer to have someone else handle everything for you?

Do You Do Your Own Plumbing?

If I did my own plumbing, probably there’d be a lot of leaks. Also, a lot of extra pieces of pipe that went nowhere, spurting water. It would maybe look like the Winchester Mystery House, except I couldn’t charge money for people to come over and see it.

Research and content

Research and Content

How will you handle finding your own content for posting? Will you create original content every day? How much time will that take away from your other business? How will you know what to post?

Constant Changes

Today, Instagram introduced Instagram “stories.’ Recently, Facebook changed its newsfeed to focus more on friends and families. Will you be able to keep up with the rapidly changing social media scene? Will you want to?

Still Think You Want to Manage Your Own Social Media?

Many people think they don’t have the budget, or the means to hire someone. Possibly that’s true. And a few people do a good job themselves. But if you don’t do your own plumbing, why would you do your own social media? Tell me why in the comments! Thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: analytics, images, platforms, Social Media, time management

How Diversity Attracts Valuable People To Your Startup

July 28, 2016 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

How Diversity Attracts Valuable People To Your Startup

Recently it was International Women’s Day, and I got to thinking about diversity. Mostly I thought, why isn’t International Women’s Day every day? This has been on my mind more lately because I’ve noticed from being in San Francisco how many of the guys in startups are, well, guys. That is, there are mostly guys, and there really isn’t that much diversity.

Lack of Women in High-Tech Startups

Much has been written about the lack of women in technology, startups, engineering and Silicon Valley. And San Francisco is no different. If you walk around during lunch on any given day, you’ll notice who isn’t there: women. Recently, I even heard about a dating service that is going to be flying in women from New York because there are so few women in San Francisco. So where are all the women? And why aren’t more of them being hired? As this San Francisco Chronicle article explains, women rarely reach the top in high tech, despite signs that diversity pays.

If you’re a woman in high-tech, you may find yourself having to speak differently, or more loudly, or more often to get your voice heard. Being in the minority can make you feel like an outlier. However, having diversity at a startup goes beyond having female faces.

Diversity in Language

One thing I loved about going to school at Berkeley was the variety in languages and faces that I saw every day. Sometimes conversations could be difficult because not everyone spoke English as their first language. But having so many different points of view was invigorating; knowing that not everyone would agreed with me made me more carefully weigh what I said and wrote. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to run a startup, too? That is, with the idea that not everyone has to agree?

Mature Voices Attract Others

Another wonderful thing, now that I’m no longer 20-something, is to work alongside people of all ages. Having experienced, mature people working alongside you can be invigorating, too. Having people who “remember back when” without obsessing on it could help maintain a focus on what’s critical. And if your audience consists of baby boomers, then you’d be wise to have a few of them on staff.

Introverts versus Extroverts

Here’s another group I’d love to see more of: introverts. They’re not all hiding in the back room avoiding people, either. They’re speaking (albeit quietly, at times), listening, and finishing big projects. By the way, you might like this post about introverts: Six Facts About Introverts and Social Media That Will Impress Your Friends. Giving voice to introverts, who often have more to say than they let on, gives your business a better chance at innovation. Here are three steps to attract—and retain—introverted employees, from Forbes.

Political Diversity

During an election year, it’s natural that people might feel more challenged to agree with the “other side.” This election seems especially rancorous. And how many times have you thought, “the next person who rants about Donald Trump is going to get unfollowed!” I know I’m guilty. But someone is going to win the election, and then what? We’re never going to speak to those Republicans ever again?

Benefits to Attract the Culturally Diverse

Allowing more flexibility so that your employees are happy is key to having an innovative workplace. “Offer benefits such as onsite daycare, childcare subsidies and flexible schedules, and let new hires know that you are willing to accommodate cultural and religious holidays and diversity-friendly (but office appropriate) apparel choices,” as is outlined in How to Increase WorkPlace Diversity.

How’s Your Workplace Diversity?

If your workplace isn’t culturally diverse, how does that feel? What groups of people would you like to add to the mix where you work? And if it is culturally diverse, how does it affect how you work? I’d like to know, so leave me a comment, s’il vous plait!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: benefits, diversity, Donald Trump, extroverts, introverts, maturity, men, race, Startup, Startups, women

Spotlight on WordCamp Orange County: Ten Reasons Not to Miss it!

July 21, 2016 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Spotlight on WordCamp Orange County: Ten Reasons Not to Miss it!

Are you considering going to a WordCamp? WordCamp is a conference with its main focus on WordPress, run by volunteers from the WordPress community. Here are some of my reasons to go to the one in Orange County! This is my fourth year. Here are reviews of previous years:

Free lunches really do exist!

It’s a HUGE Bargain

And by huge, I mean ginormous. For the entrance fee of about $40, you get classes from experts on blogging and plugins, two lunches, snacks, coffee and other beverages, networking, honest opinions, swag, and much more.

Photo by Orange County Archives

Meet Your Peers

Those people you’ve seen online, those friends of friends, and the people whom you didn’t know you needed to meet? They’re all at WordCamp! And Orange County WordCamp is my absolute favorite for friendliness!

Photo by Jason Hargrove

Support Others

There’s always someone you want to support because they’re speaking and they’re a friend of another friend. Nothing beats giving them an in-person shoutout.

Give Back to the Community

The WordPress community is wonderfully generous. And you can give to the others who’ve helped you along the way, as well as meet people who might need your expertise. And others may end up answering your questions as well.

Our very own @JenBlogs4U and @sageshilling entered Plugin-a-Pooloza!#WordPress #WCOC16 pic.twitter.com/HbiDWNGJ3J

— WomenWhoWP (@WomenWhoWP) July 10, 2016

Discover New Plugins

This year’s Plugin-Palooza showcased four new plugins. Hearing about how people developed those plugins in person, and getting to meet the developers was a wonderful thing.

Add plugins

Find Collaborators

You might need people to test something with you, to be co-conspirators on a new project, or collaborate on another WordCamp. Going to a WordCamp is how you meet those people.

Email or tweet this guy to join the "Blogger Support Group" and start #blogging better. #wcoc16 pic.twitter.com/6SjNK173mn

— Stephen Harvey – WP Evangelist🗣⛪ (@SC_WordPress) July 9, 2016

Take a Deeper Dive

Much of what I took away this year was the emphasis on soft skills during the business track. Also, that “Blogger Support Group,” where you can do 50 posts with Scott Buscemi (not Steve Buscemi) looks pretty sweet! We’ll see what happens with that.

Grow Your Little Gray Cells

Three out of four people agreed that attending WordCamp Orange County makes you smarter. You could also do some of the things in this article: If You Do These 20 Things, You’ll Become Smarter.

Photo by boris.baldinger

The Fun You’ll Have

You might go to WCOC to learn, and then suddenly you’ll be having fun. All WordCamps are like that, but especially this one.

Hey #WCOC16! A camp wouldn't be complete without an exclusive sticker. Make sure to snag yours! pic.twitter.com/P3dHUbIYPh

— WP Engine (@wpengine) July 9, 2016

The Swag, The Swag!

The t-shirts, the mugs, the stickers, while not the reason to attend, are nice bonuses! Do you have other reasons to attend? Please leave me a comment! Thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 2016, blogging, Plugin-Palooza, WordCamp, WordCamp Orange County, Wordpress

How to Write a Headline That People Will Want to Click

July 14, 2016 By Carol Stephen 12 Comments

How to Write a Headline That People Will Want to Click

Do you get stuck writing your headlines? Here are some things I do to make my blogging life easier! Thanks to Bridget Willard (read her posts if you never have!) for the idea of making this into a blog post!

You Want People to Read

As bloggers, we all want extra eyes on our posts, whether we’re writing for a brand to gain SEO, or personally, when sharing our stories. Some people, like Ogilvie, believe that a headline is worth 90% of the cost of advertising. So spend some time.

Pick Your Topic (and Use Your Brand Voice)

What topics would entertain, entrance, or help your audience? Try to stick with those topics. Clement Lim has created the definitive post about branding: Creating a Kick-Ass Brand Identity, which I highly recommend for finding your brand voice.

Plug Your Topic Into a Good Headline Analyzer

My first secret is the CoSchedule headline analyzer. Start with anything you want to write about. Go ahead: I’ll wait here. Keep trying different headlines until you get a number you’re happy with. For the blog you’re reading, I tried 15 different headlines. When I first began this method, I had to try 20-25 headlines, by the way. The process gets easier.

Get a Good Mix of Words

I like to have some common, uncommon, emotional, and power words in each headline. And I like either a B+ or an A+. The CoSchedule analyzer helps with the word balance and gives you the score, too. Since most people will retweet/share your post without reading it, according to The Verge, the headline has to be extra delicious to make people click on it.

Put the Headline Into Your Blog

I like to write right on my blog. There are always a bunch of drafts, in various stages of writing. So before you forget your wonderful headline, throw it into your blog. You can come back to it later. Spend some time on your headline, though. Having a robust headline can help you whether you plan to post on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Write for 15 Minutes

I like to write for a minimum of 15 minutes. Do you have 15 minutes? Sure you do! Write as fast as you can for 15 minutes. You have permission to stop after 15 minutes. But maybe there’s something else you want to say. I like to use an old-school egg timer. For some reason, the ticking sound helps. Sure, you know that writing a headline is a pain in the asterisk, but go ahead.

And Another 15 Minutes

The writing process is not about correcting yourself. You can do that later! Or you could hire an editor to help you with it. Either way, just get started. Keep writing. And don’t edit yourself.

Photo by ttuananh

Read Your Headline (and Article) to a Friend

I am blessed to have an editor friend for when I get stuck. Remember, you can’t call your friend all the darn time to have them help you. Pay them or take them out to lunch, for the love of Strunk and White.

Photo by jennypdx

Tweak the Headline

If what you’ve written no longer reflects the headline, go back and tweak it. You might want to run it back through the headline analyzer tool.

Need Help Writing?

Yep, I do help others with their blogging and social media.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Blog, blogging, editing, Headline, writing

Tested Ways to Fail with Your Holiday Social Media Posts

July 7, 2016 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Tested Ways to Fail with Your Holiday Social Media Posts

You’ve probably heard lots of advice about what to post on social media during the holidays. But is anyone telling you how to fail? Maybe not! So here’s my two cents about the best ways to fail!

Photo by Marc-Anthony Macon

Brag About Your Cooking

Show closeups of all your holiday meals, and post them on Instagram, but use the #HumbleBrag hashtag so people know you’re kidding. And tell people why you deserve that brand new outdoor Tandoori clay oven. Believe me, people want to know!

Bonus Points: Tell people how hard it is to get good help these days!

Photo by SF CHEFS

Drink Before Posting

Before you post anything, make sure to have a lot of Arnold Palmers. Or Whiskey Sours! Then, when you try to spell, it’s so much more exhilarating and creative! Why, it becomes almost like a game! Which reminds me, here’s my post about the Gamification of Social Media that you might like.

Bonus Points: Posts with no punctuation!

Photo by Kamal H.

Drink While Posting

You’ve heard of Wine Wednesdays, right? Who says you can’t drink and post or drink while posting or — or — where was I going with this? Oh, right. Nowhere.

Bonus Points: Videos with the sound of breaking glass, then silence.

Send Many Direct or Private Messages

It’s so easy to send messages these days. And why not send an invitation to your (holiday) sale to everyone who follows you? And now on Twitter you can send direct messages to multiple people. The joy, the joy!

Bonus: Create a Facebook event and invite people you have never met to your sale!

Photo by DaigoOliva

Post Embarrassing Photos

Post the worst pictures you can find of your closest relatives, huddled over a smoking bbq with charred hamburgers. That should show them a thing or two! They might not appreciate it right now, but they will in the future! Better still, blackmail them with those photos. By the way, here’s some great ways to fail on Pinterest.

Bonus Points: Not sure this can get any worse. But maybe it can!

Silly Stuff

Anything that makes your followers go “Huh?” is fair game! The less they understand, the better! See drunk posting, above. Talking to yourself is a good way to go.

Photo by Nick Kenrick.

Don’t Spellcheck Anything

That’s right, anyone can believe. But weather you should believe? And by the way, here’s why you shouldn’t rely on spellcheckers.

Inappropriate Invitations

Have you ever received an invitation from someone in another city? State? Country? Now you can not only be the recipient of inappropriate invitations, you can originate them, too! Yay!

Photo by Prayitno / Thank you for (10 millions +) views

What Failures Have You Seen Around Holidays?

I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, and some fails are harmless. Have you seen any good ones?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: direct messages, embarrassment, holidays, Social Media

This Could Be So Much More Awesome

June 30, 2016 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

This Could Be So Much More Awesome

Lately, I’ve been thinking about perfectionism and how big a problem it is to many of us. Getting started is the worst problem for me, and maybe for you as well. How do you avoid perfectionism, though? Is there any way to get out there without being so worried about every little thing you say online? Of course there is! Being less of a perfectionist can also be something improving your productivity.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

It’s such a cliché, isn’t it? Just be happy. And don’t worry! It’s one thing to think that, and another to truly believe it. Not caring about what people think is a tough one. If you only compete with yourself, though, then you can stop worrying about what others think. Oddly, this is a branding question. If you’re really yourself, the people who are attracted to you will really like the real you. Everybody else can go fly a kite!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz-T30WZKo8

Shooting Granny Style

Once upon a time way back before 1980, there was a basketball player named Rick Barry. Rick Barry played for the Golden State Warriors who recently choked and let Cleveland kill them in the finals. But I digress. Barry threw underhanded free throws, getting an amazing 90% of them in the basket. Although at the time, Barry was laughed at, his stats prove that he was right. He never cared what others thought. However, not until recently did his style catch on. The point is do what works for YOU.

Photo by Rodolphe Pollet

Not Every Hit Flies out of the Park

To borrow a baseball analogy, sometimes you need a hit that merely connects with the ball. A bunt, if you will. When I’m writing, I’m not always “in the zone,” and being in the zone doesn’t always matter. The important thing is to write consistently. By the way, if you like baseball, you might like: Social Media Managers: How the San Francisco Giants Can Improve Your Game.

It Could Always Be Better

Isn’t that always the case? Not everything I do is going to be perfect. Not every post will go viral. Keep writing anyway. Keep going anyway. Eventually, you will hit your stride, and be “in the zone.” The stars will be in alignment, and you’ll hit it out of the ballpark. I really like this article: The One Thing You Need to Know to Avoid Perfectionism.

Photo by bambe1964

Perfectionist Much?

Let me know in the comments if you struggle with perfectionism. I’d appreciate if you made a spelling error or two, too! Thanks!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, perfectionism, writing