Social Media Archives - Page 10 of 25

Get Blogging Voice: Part 2

06/11/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Yesterday, we addressed how better to understand blogging voice beginning with a look at video blogging. By using examples within others’ writings, voice becomes more apparent. In the first part to this series, there was a quick exercise to get a baseline of your own blogging efforts. Today, we’ll further our quest for blogging voice with several exercises to identify and develop a strengthened voice on your blog.

So, here’s a quick review:

Determine the type of voice you want to portray and write with

Observe others’ styles of voice and begin to emulate that approach to a degree

Use the exercises yesterday and today to strengthen your purpose and “sound”

Develop your voice with consistent writing and get comfortable

Step 1: Know Which Factors Contribute To Voice

There are several key factors that remain the same across for all bloggers interested in finding voice. If you write with snark or in a friendly manner, all the elements below are critical to let your voice shine in your writing.

Five Key Factors of Blogging Voice

Passion for what you write and the excitement or positivity you show. If you want to create community, you have to bring them with your passion. Remember what was mentioned yesterday — passion begets a connection with your audience.
Confidence with yourself and your personal esteem to show you should be believed, you are credible, and you deserve attention.
Authority and command for your topic are critical. If you inject your writings with “I think, I’m not sure, perhaps, could be true,” then readers will be unsure, too.
Personality has to come forth; are you naturally an extrovert, introvert, cracking jokes all the time, snarky, happy? Each of these characteristics contribute to word choice, exclamations, and personalization that make you, you.
Consistency is critical to success of voice. When you post 3-4 times weekly, you’re writing A LOT. You’re always thinking of topics to write next and hopefully, you’re putting them in draft on your blog or tablet. When you keep writing, you eventually find a comfort and flow in how those words appear. You’ll stumble every now and again, but making mistakes for all to see is human and important. Writing more than twice weekly is important for voice because all of the above weaves in harmony.

But how do you develop these factors?

Exercise 1: How to Build Confidence and Authority

I’m of the opinion that confidence in what you write is the first success factor before anything else. With confidence comes voice. Here’s an example of a tried-and-true blogging method I use frequently to build confidence and authority:

When you read and something strikes you, jot a note, tear the page and keep it, bookmark it, or sit down to write.
Tell about that news event or story you read to bring your readers to the same page as you. (Tell it briefly and provide a link to the story.)
At bottom, interject with your own opinion.

Better yet, add your opinion and then add five tips you’d offer to your audience.

You’re building connection, being authoritative, and showing your intelligence. With this healthy pairing of a news event with a few tips alongside your opinion, there’s no better way to showcase confidence.

As an example of what I mean, the Lance Armstrong crisis provided much blog fodder. I elected to wait until well after the interviews with Oprah to write this blog post, “Did Anyone Media Train Lance Armstrong?”

In the post, I referenced Advertising Age and its story with three experts answering that very question. I shared the story and what the experts said, and then I gave five of my own professional tips at the bottom of the piece. This formula is a good model because people can see your expertise and creativity shine.

Exercise 2: Showcase Personality and Verve

The streets of Santa Monica were really busy with a lot of people who were attending the farmers’ market.
The sights and sounds of Santa Monica during the Saturday morning farmer’s market always delight with the chatter of vendors hawking their wares, and families and cyclists zigging and zagging through passersby while ogling the incredible array of fruits and vegetables.

It’s obvious; you can feel, sense, visualize, and imagine the scene in Santa Monica at the Saturday morning farmers’ market after reading the second example.

When you write a blog, it’s important to draw readers in with some of that kind of voice. You have to communicate what’s in your head on screen to make your audience want more!

Pick out something you’ve written in the past.
Read it out loud.
Is it dry and a bit boring, or do your words have personality and verve?

A blog is not a feature story, but it is certainly featuristic and demands your attention to word choice and the personality you inject.

Step 2: Add Style to Your Blogging Voice Foundation

Ever hit a blog and the comment section is a graveyard? Even if you want to comment, there’s really nothing to say or contribute. Sometimes the blogger is just spewing content with no real connection to a reader; voice is stilted and boring.

To make sure your comment section isn’t a graveyard, try channeling one of these styles in your writing:

Snark. There are only a few people I know who write well with snark. Their voice is abrupt, littered with cuss words, appealing to a special audience, and it may be a way they build confidence with an “I-don’t-care-what-you-think mentality. Warning: Snark does not work for everyone! Be careful when trying this approach to voice; it can fail easily.

Genre-istic. When you land on a blogger who is a daddy or mommy blogger, they’re writing with purpose — to build community and authority for a specific target audience and perhaps the corporations who need them to market their wares. There are also many tech bloggers who review products and devices; they, too, are trying to appeal to that gear-type audience. The voice is highly authoritative (or should be) with confidence that they know their subject matter. If they’re selling product, they’ll have a strong sales voice to encourage calls to action. With the goal of blogging in a category, you can become an authority when you believe in your product and your mission. This is a perfect example of why you need to establish goals and a purpose for your writings.

Friendly, Casual. There are many bloggers who just write because. They are blogging as a hobby and use quotes, jokes, storytelling, self-deprecation, book reviews, and more. The tone could be friendly, dry humor, funny, and addressed to a community the blogger knows really well. There may be a finite number of folks who are part of that community who also contribute to the banter. Those who write in a casual way often are hobby bloggers or finding their way. Voice comes, yet purpose is elusive.

Corporate Business. Company blogs have an automatic professional voice and tone, but they don’t always have to. When someone’s voice is so stilted and painful to read, it sends readers running. When a company decides to launch a corporate blog to push authority and products, it’s imperative they find someone to write who can inject some personality to the writings. No one wants to read a dry, unfriendly business blog; in fact, it’s the first ingredient for disaster.

Verve, Personality. If you want to write a personal blog where you let down your hair and invite the riff-raff in to judge you, then develop a thick skin. You will get spammers and anonymous commenters who will have a hay day with your content. If you’re blogging for therapy and to heal, your community will come out in droves to support you. There are many people who take solace in these types of support blogs, and it’s highly therapeutic. The blogger’s voice has to be soothing, conversational, friendly, soft, and respectful of readers. Most often, that blogger has to be willing to share personal stories that connect with readers interested in sharing something similar.

Healthy Mix. Probably the best blogs deliver a healthy mix of all of the above. Depends on the mood of the day, right? If you’re a professional blogger, then mixing up the topics, while maintaining a healthy voice, shows confidence to let your community get to know you better. After all, behind every blog is a person, humans love to connect, and bloggers have that opportunity to make that connection.

There really is no tried-and-true method of teaching voice; it is elusive. The examples above merely provide a brighter light about the factors that contribute to blogging voice. In the end, it’s totally up to you to relax already and get comfy with your topics while zesting it up with a little of this and little of that. Try cooking without a recipe; that’s the ultimate in creativity, and that’s how blogging voice gets baked, too.

This post is part two of a two part series about developing your blogging voice. Check out yesterday’s post on figuring out what a blogging voice is.

This post originally appeared on the Shareaholic blog March 1, 2013 by Jayme Soulati.

Get Blogging Voice: Part I

06/10/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Just how does one find blogging voice?

The answer is…elusive! Not sure there is a solid answer, but at the bottom of this article we ought to have a much better understanding of what the hoopla is about a vlogger’s voice.

Omgosh.

When I typed “blogger” in the last sentence, it came up “vlogger,” and I am so grateful that happened whilst sitting in the middle seat in a full airplane cabin pecking letters one by one because the batteries died in my iPad keyboard.

So, instead of using merely a blogger to understand voice, let’s first explore the world of vlogging as it relates to that. Video blogging is so much more visual which makes it easier to illustrate the concept of voice.

What is Voice? Examining Voice and Vlogging

What is your impression watching peeps on camera?

It’s pretty painful sometimes, right? When a vlogger has to look at the camera without furtive eyes or naturally down-turned mouth (without a smile), it is difficult to make great video.

Now think of the words delivered during a video blog.

Are you following along and listening?
Is that blogger making a connection with you?
Are they droning on and on without coming quickly to a point?
Did they tick off an agenda or a bulleted list of items they’d cover in their piece?
How about tone? When someone speaks, it’s normal to listen for inflection and excitement and authority. Is the tone of that vlogger credible? Do they take command of their subject matter and do you believe what you hear?

Exercise 1: How to Identify Others’ Voice on Video

Run and get a video blog you recently watched; I’ll wait. Spend two minutes only re-watching the vlog and pay careful attention; no multi-tasking!

In your head, jot down your impression of clarity, confidence, body language, tone, personality, credibility. Don’t worry, you’ll notice these automagically now that you’re looking and listening more closely.

In a recent vlog I saw, unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the end and here’s why:

• The person was forced and lacked personality.
• S/he was cracking jokes that were not funny, and the content was subpar.
• It was a sorry attempt at connecting with community using a medium that appeared uncomfortable for him/her.

Let’s revisit some of the factors that make a video blog successful:

• Tone
• Facial expression
• Personality
• Connection with audience
• Command of authority
• Believability

When you add all of the above together with high marks, what you get is a masterful vlogger. Yet, it takes time and practice!

No one can master being on camera unless they are trained broadcasters (who daily practice news delivery prior to going on camera).

Think of Anderson Cooper next to David Letterman. That provides an awesome dichotomy, doesn’t it? The two can’t be farther apart in personality and tone yet they command respect, authority and attention.

Understanding Your Blogging Voice

Are you starting to get the picture of how we’re going to segue into blogging voice?

Many bloggers experience months and months of blogging only to feel a lack of connection with HOW they write. When you read a blogger using English as a second language, the content is often stilted and word choice is sometimes stark. There isn’t naturalness to the flow of the article, and it takes the reader more time to connect with the writer.

This is not a criticism in the least, it’s merely an observation about how those words jump from the screen and in what tone and fashion. It’s how the reader connects with the writer that makes voice come alive.

Blogging voice is extremely different than journalistic voice or that of an author of romance novels. When bloggers write, there is more usage of the first person. Some new bloggers feel compelled to thread the word “I” throughout writings thinking perhaps that writing in the first person is more personable. In one opinion, it’s more egocentric and boorish.

Bloggers who have “found their voice” seem to fit right into an easy presence and comfort in their blogging skin without too much toil.

Here’s how you get to find your voice:

Establish Goals

When you start blogging, you need to set goals for yourself and the blog.

Do you want to build community and subscribers?
Do you wish to be an influencer or thought leader?
How about being the leading blogger in a genre or category like a parent blogger?

The goals you set drive how you write and thus your voice. If your goal is to sell diapers to moms, then you will need to command authority and then add a sales bent to that voice. Right?

Example of a Mommy Blogger Selling Diapers
Yesterday, I tried the new brand of diaper, called Baby Undies, on my infant daughter and learned the hard way that pretty packaging doesn’t mean better-quality diapers! (I think I’m going to stick to my favorite brand, Diaper G, instead!)

Tone: Personable and friendly

Credible: She experienced a negative event and is warning other moms not to buy that brand

Soft sell: She’s sharing a factual event and encouraging her community to follow her advice

Be Consistent. It takes 12 months of posting about three times a week to find comfort with your online presence. If blogging is your profession, in that 12- month timeframe you most likely have accomplished a few goals and have already switched it up a few times. If blogging is your hobby, then 12 months may be when you see a few milestones happen, and you grow from there.

Know Your Audience

Who is reading your blog? Better yet, who do you want to read your blog? If you are an online educator for home-school kids in fifth grade, your voice will be friendly, informal, conversational, yet authoritative and credible. Your audience is also the home-school parents who duel as teachers.

If you’re the pastor of a community church, blogging voice is going to be oriented to inspiring families to volunteer, tithe and attend church. That pastor blogger will walk a fine line between creating community, encouragement and being a leader.

Understanding your audience who is or may be reading your blog is critical to finding your voice. You will write more powerfully instead of in a meandering way. You will connect with them to attain your goals each time you write. You’ll think of what they want to hear and write with that purpose.

Think About Buyer Persona.

Have you ever heard of a buyer persona? At first, I thought it silly, but after really thinking hard about who buys my services, I could picture that person reading my blog. ‘

My blog articles began to take on a more professional tone to address some common marketing issues in companies.

My voice amplified confidence in my subject matter, and I felt a connection to the person I’d like to have visiting my blog.

This has contributed to a good feeling about my writing, defined my blogging purpose, which ultimately contributes to my voice.

Exercise 2: Start to Identify Your Own Voice

How and where you find blogging inspiration for writing fodder is a topic for another day. For the purpose of this exercise, select a topic you’d like to write about. Perhaps you’re a master gardener with a blogging goal to enroll people in your master gardening classes so they can earn their certificate and join your ranks. (Can you recognize the blogging goals in that last sentence?)

How will you write? With purpose!

Your words need to be visual and help the reader connect with your passion about gardening. Do you sense the personalization that has to come across in blogging? Your passion must be apparent; if you write with dryness you will not connect with your audience. Passion for our topic begets connection with your audience.
Ever read the children’s books Fancy Nancy? Certainly, the illustrator made those books but she had to have the words as inspiration. It was a team effort, for sure. Your words need to inspire anyone with the hint of a green thumb that they can become a master gardener just like you.

Your plot of land becomes your canvas to create a breezy, flowy, rainbow garden that brings a gasp of visual pleasure with butterfly wings a flutter.

How did that sentence grab you? I hope it created a bit of a visual…don’t butterflies always do that? Notice the word choices that are lighter and more creative with visual appeal. Try to put more of these types of words in your writings and loosen up. Quit being so stilted. A blogger with voice is comfortable with self first and that confidence helps portray authority.

This post originally appeared on the Shareaholic blog Feb. 28, 2013.

Soulati Media On The Street: Why Conferences IRL Matter

05/28/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Soulati Media On The Street brings Randy Bowden, of Bowden 2 Bowden Marketing, to the screen from the New South Digital Marketing Conference May 17, 2013 in Myrtle Beach.

Randy makes it his goal to attend as many conferences within driving distance as possible. Why? You can find that answer right here when you listen to Randy’s answer as Jayme tries to act a bit southern and fails.

Meanwhile, don’t miss Randy blogging right here and also his own foray into G+ hangouts on “Marketer 2 Marketer” where he just featured two prominent influencers, Danny Brown and Sam Fiorella, who just published their book, Influence Marketing!

The Happy Friday Series: Amazing Online Friends

05/24/2013 By Jayme Soulati

When I started my social media marketing agency 5 years ago, I did it for a variety of reasons.

I didn’t have a job. I had just been laid off from the magazine that I worked for when a larger publishing company bought it out. They were in OH, I was in NC, we didn’t know each other, and I was easy to cut.
I have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. In early 2000s, I made President’s Club when I was in sales because I was the first to do email blasts. A few years later, I started the concept of selling Webinars to my advertisers at the magazine.
I started my blog in 2003 – I was a “mom” blogger before most moms even had email. I was on LinkedIn the first year; I was on Facebook when there were less than 800,000 people and so on.
I’m BIG on customer service and helping people succeed.
I’m very social. I like to meet people.

One of the BEST parts of social media is getting to know people. I have met some amazing people that I would never have had the opportunity to meet were it not for social media. I met my friend and mentor, Mark Schaefer because of Twitter. I don’t know what tweet it was that he saw, but he reached out to me and offered a half hour of his time to “mentor” me. I was floored and giddy all at the same time. Whether he liked it or not, he had a follower for life. I wouldn’t meet him in real life for at least another year and that was when he came to be the keynote speaker for me at ConvergeSouth. He came to speak because of our relationship that we had built online.

Meet Whom You Tweet

You can build amazing relationships with people online but at some point, you REALLY want to meet them in person. To put a face to a Twitter handle or avatar is the best feeling in the world. That’s why I go to conferences.. it’s not to learn (added bonus if I do!) but rather to MEET WHO I TWEET!

I think it’s so important to find these opportunities to connect in person that I started a group affectionately called the #BWTs.. Broads Who Tweet. My point is getting to meet my online friends makes me happy for days. The energy I get from our BWT weekends will feed my soul for weeks. I just love taking those online relationships to the next level.

BWT is a group of tech-savvy women who I had gotten to know over the course of time and we had built such great online relationships that we wanted to get together in person. We have a hoot when we’re together.. we laugh, we support each other and we talk non-stop. After a few lunches, I thought…Hey! Why don’t we go on a retreat! We can get away from the family for a few days, drink copious amounts of coffee and wine and learn from each other.

And just like that, the #BWT Beach ReTweet was born.

We’ve done two of these retreats, and I’m in the process of planning the third. These relationships began on social media. We’ve carried them into real life and formed real friendships. I know that I can call on any one of these women to help me with something and they will be there in a flash. And they know that they can ask the same of me. It was because of this group that I joined forces with my friend Adrienne and together we created a new, bigger and better social media agency. It doesn’t get much better than that, friends.

You never know where you will find your next friend or your next tribe. Some last, some don’t. I’m grateful that I have them and all of you. Every chance I get to grow my social media circle, I do it because you never know where it may lead.

About The Author

Kristen Daukas is the Director of Social Media for Atlantic Webworks. When she’s not creating magic for clients, she’s busy trying to keep her sanity as she navigates the water of raising three teen and tween daughters. She also enjoys long walks on the beach in the moonlight with her husband. And she thinks she’s really funny. Come share a tweet and circle her at Google+!