PR 101

The post I wrote a couple of weeks about good writing being a necessity for social media – and everything else – continues to spark a lot of debate. That’s a good thing. It occurred to me that besides just talking about the need for good writing, I should talk about how I feel it should be done.

Becoming a good writer takes persistence and diligence. But, anyone can do it if they are willing to do the work.

Before I start, let me present my credentials as a writing maven. I have been writing since I was five. My seventh grade English teacher, Mr. Mulvey, gave me my first concrete lessons on writing for publication. I was journalism major in college and had the pleasure of being taught by one of the best writing teachers ever – Dr. Paul Snider. Dr. Snider was tough on bad writing. We lived in fear of his editing, but it made us better writers.

I then spent 26 years in newsrooms, perhaps the best place to learn how to write well. Editors have very little patience for bad writing and let you know in a very direct way. It toughens you up and teaches you much.

I have also worked with writers groups as I write my novel and short stories. It is always good to work with other writers. They will provide insights into your work that you won’t be able to see yourself.

Plus, I read incessantly. Any person who wants to be a writer needs to read other writers. I will get to who I think you should read later on.

Sorry that took so long. But, I wanted to demonstrate I know what I am talking about. So, let’s get to it.

What you choose to use to write is up to you. I have friends who write long hand on legal pads, others who still use typewriters, and those like me who use computers. It doesn’t matter how you physically produce the words.

Now for the creative part of the process. There is a story that is probably apocryphal told about author Kurt Vonnegut when he was teaching at the Iowa Writers Workshop. Vonnegut walked into the classroom one day, surveyed the assembled students, and said: “how many of you here want to be writers?” Of course, everyone raised their hand. Vonnegut paused for a minute, looks around, and said: “so why aren’t you all out writing right now?”

Apocryphal or not, the story makes a good point. You want to be a writer – write every chance you get. Make time to do it. Make sure nothing gets in the way.

That brings me to a suggestion every writing teacher I have ever had has made – keep a journal. Write in it everyday. Don’t show it to anyone. It’s kind of like going to a private gym. A journal is a place to experiment and to practice. You can make all of the mistakes you want. That’s why you should not show it to anyone. You don’t need anyone to critique it. It’s your space – no one else’s.

Of course, like any craftsperson, a writer needs tools. There are three I suggest:

• A good dictionary. Do not use the Microsoft word dictionary, especially when it comes to syntax checking. I suspect engineers wrote it. Whoever wrote it needed some basic writing training. The ultimate word source is the Oxford English Dictionary. You can purchase an online subscription. But a good edition of an American dictionary works just as well.
• The key source for all writers – “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. This little book will tell you everything you need to know about grammar. It is also online. I use the online version because I have gone through two printed ones, both which eventually fell apart from use.
• A book called “Eats, Shoots, & Leaves.” It is subtitled “The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.” It was written Lynne Truss, an English editor and writer. The title tells you what the book’s about. It is invaluable. Proper punctuation can be a minefield. Many people do not realize how a misplaced comma or the lack of a semicolon can change a sentence’s meaning. This book will show you.

Speaking of writing, another key to good writing is saying as much as possible using as few words as possible. I will discuss how to do that and other things in Wednesday’s blog. In the meantime, I will end this piece here.

There was a large readership, but not a lot of comments, on Monday’s blog covering what I feel are the rules of social media. I guess that means people agree with the rules I am proposing.

As I said Monday, every community needs rules. Otherwise, there is anarchy. No one can do anything is a community in that kind of atmosphere. Social media is no different.

So, here are some more divided by the applications I use most:

• So let’s talk about LinkedIn first –
  • If I do not know you, do not ask me to endorse you. I have over 6,000 followers on LinkedIn, all good smart people. But there is no way I will ever know enough about most of these people to provide an endorsement. I enjoy interacting with them, but that’s not a basis for a recommendation.
  • Join some groups on LinkedIn. That’s one of the best parts of the site, connecting with people who have similar interests. Once you are accepted into a group, don’t be a lurker. Comment on discussions and start discussions of your own. It’s how we all learn.
  • Speaking of groups, if I don’t accept your invitation to join a group, it means I don’t want to. Don’t keep sending invitations.
  • If someone sends you an invitation, and you do not want to accept, do not IDK them. Archive the invitation. As I understand it, if a person accumulates enough IDKs they are banned from LinkedIn. So be nice.
  • Now Twitter –
    • No one is saying you have to tweet 30 times a day, but once or twice a day is nice. Why else are you on there if you don’t tweet?
    • Retweet tweets you like. It is just common courtesy, plus it helps spread the word.
    • This is a personal one, but I do not like people who use bots to increase their follower numbers. I have almost 8,500 followers, but I did it organically, one at-a-time. So don’t send me tweets saying you have a program that increases my followers. This is not high school; the person with the most followers doesn’t win.
    • If you post a blog or something else, tweet about once. That tells everyone that it is out there. That’s okay. But only tweet once. Anything more than that is like ringing the doorbell 20 times in a row.
    • Don’t use auto tweets. I was guilty of this myself last year. It is wrong and I stopped doing it. It is just not honest.
    • Do not send me any tweets about multi-level marketing schemes. I don’t believe you and I will never will.
    • Facebook. I admit I have some issues with Facebook. I think there is way too much extraneous stuff on it. Frankly, I think marketing attempts get lost in the thicket of Farmville, Mafia Games and other stuff.
      • Now, I admit I have taken a couple of quizzes on Facebook. But, it was my decision. I do not play Farmville or Mafia games. I worked on a dairy farm as a kid. It is not anything like that game. For one, you do not get manure all over yourself and the cows don’t kick.
      • As for the Mafia Wars game, I covered the Mafia a lot as a reporter. Not a nice group of people, frankly. I hate it when people glamorize a group that killed people. I have never understood the appeal. What’s next, Al Qaeda Wars? So, don’t ask me to play.
      • Do not create a fan page of yourself and then ask others to become your fan. Remember that rule about not thumping your own chest in social media? Well, this is the penultimate example. To me, it is egotistical and narcissistic. You build fans by demonstrating value, not by asking.

I could write an entire blog about the dos and don’ts of blogging. I have been at it for over year. I think I will cover it next week.

Again, if you like or don’t like these rules, please let me know.

There’s no crying in baseball and no rules in a knife fight. But social media does have rules. Don’t know what they are or you don’t believe me? Well, read on.

Remember, social media is all about building a community. All communities need rules or they descend into anarchy. Hard to market anything in that environment.

I decided to start to codify what I believe are social media rules for two reasons:

• More and more, I seeing people do things on social media that really irks me. They have no idea of the purpose or reasons for using social media.
• I spoke last week on social media. I named some of the rules, but realized there was no one accepted set of the dos and don’ts. I have no idea if my list will become that set of rules, but somebody has to try.

So here is my list of social media rules with some explanations on why I feel the particular rule is needed.

Oh, one note – I doubt I will be able to cover all of the rules in one posting. I will most likely continue this Wednesday. Plus, I plan to list any suggestions you make. In fact, I want to encourage you to send me what you think should be rules for using social media. If you don’t like one of mine, tell me why.

Now then, here they are:

• Don’t lie. The reasons for that should be obvious. Social media is particularly unforgiving about anyone who tells a falsehood. It will destroy your, or your company’s, credibility.  No one buys from such a company or hires such a person.
• Do not spam. Here’s the definition of spam I like. It comes from answers.com: “Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.”  You spam me, I report to you whatever provider you come from and I block you. I should add my rule is don’t ever solicit me. If I want a service you provide, I will find you.
• To follow up on that last point, soliciting business violates the spirit of social media. The whole point of social media is to demonstrate yours or your company’s expertise. If people like what you say, they will buy your product. You want to give people solid reasons to buy your product. You want your customers to endorse your products, which provides reasons for others to buy. It is like fishing: you cannot ask a fish to take the hook; you have to give it a reason, such as an enticing fly.
• I have four basic rules for connecting with me:
  • Use your real name. My first thought when someone uses a “cute” name, is what do they have to hide?
  • Post a picture. Again, what are you hiding from? Why don’t you want people to see what you look like? If you are company, post your logo.
  • Post a brief biography and a link if you have one. Again, what do you have to hide? I want to know something about you before I connect.
  • Ask me once, and only once, to connect. I get lots of email – somewhere around 100 a day. I might not get to your request right away. That does not give you license to bombard me with continuing connection requests. Doing that ensures I will not connect with you. One more thing, I do get through all of my email within two days of receiving it. If I don’t respond to your request, it means I have decided for any number of reasons not to connect. Don’t take it personally and don’t ask again.
  • Once we are connected, I also have rules:
    • Do not tell me what you had for breakfast, what cute thing your dog did today or that the sun is shining. I don’t care. I connect with people, who are marketers, bloggers, social media wonks, or into politics, fiction writers or people I find interesting. I am here to learn and discuss. If you post anything that falls into what I view as banal, I will block you.
    • Never, ever try to sell me anything, or tell me you have a surefire method for ensuring I will become a millionaire by working 15 minutes a week. I don’t believe you. I will never believe you.

Okay, that’s enough for today. I will cover some more rules Wednesday.

Please let me know what you think about these rules. Provide with me some of your own. I will report them.