My Recent Book Reviews about Communications

I'm learning a lot, and getting many good reminders about what I already know, by reading smart writers' books about Communications.  Here are the links to some that I recently reviewed:

The Nonprofit Marketing Guide 
http://dfischman.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-nonprofit-marketing-guide-by-kivi.html

Robin Hood Marketing 
http://dfischman.blogspot.com/2013/04/robin-hood-marketing-by-katya-andresen.html

Strategic Communications for Nonprofit Organizations
http://dfischman.blogspot.com/2013/04/strategic-communications-for-nonprofit.html

Switch
http://dfischman.blogspot.com/2013/02/switch-how-to-change-things-when-change.html

How to Find a Job on LinkedIn...
http://dfischman.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-find-job-on-linkedin-by-brad.html

Many of these authors, and other smart people, are giving good advice every day on Twitter.  Follow me @DennisFischman and check out my Communications list.

A Priest, a Rabbi, and a Communications Pro Walk into a Bar...

Can you tell a joke?  Then you can write for blogs and social media.

I don't mean to say that what you write has to be funny.  Although, God knows we could use some humor sometimes!  But jokes have the basic ingredients you need to make people want to read what you write, and then, to remember what they've read.

Jokes invite the audience in.  Whether it's "knock-knock," or "What did the one say to the other?", or "A priest, a minister, and rabbi walk into a bar," jokes get the listeners involved. You can see them lean forward, wondering what comes next. 

The next time you write, look for the opening line that makes your reader want to read the next line.

Jokes have a structure.  Human beings like to know where they're going and how long it's going to take to get there.  People waiting for a bus or subway are much more content to wait if they see a sign that says "Next train to Alewife Station, 10 minutes."  When they're listening to a joke and they hear that something happens three times, for instance, they know something unusual is about to occur and they're waiting to find out what it is.

The next time you write, look for the structure that tells your reader when the main idea is going to arrive.

Jokes have a punch line.  Sometimes people even forget how the story went, but they remember "That's what she said," or "I'll have what she's having."  It's the payoff.  It leads to a reaction: laughter, or a groan, or both...but an emotional response.

The next time you write, figure out the response you want to provoke first.  Then, tell the story that will elicit that response from your readers.

A priest, a minister, and a rabbi went into a bar, and the bartenders said, "What is this, some kind of a joke?"

I'll bet you remember that one.

"Three Ways You're Making Sure I Won't Read Your Tweet"

"It's like drinking from a fire hose," people say about social media. We all know the problem: there's so much information out there, how do I pick what to read?  Or, from the writer's side: there are so many writers competing for an audience out there, how do I make sure that readers pay attention to what I say--or that they even notice it?

I've been following on Twitter since May 2012, and I've noticed contributors using the same few strategies for getting attention over and over again.  They must work.  In fact, some of them hook me.  But I'm always sorry afterwards.  Even if the content I read was worthwhile and useful, I feel a little soiled because of the way the writer lured me in the first place.  Those sordid strategies include:

1. Scare tactics.  If you called me up on the phone and asked, "Are termites eating your foundations?", I'd say NO and hang up.  I don't respond to a hard sell.  I know it's not in my interest to do so.  Same thing online.  If the message is "Read this or your competitors will eat your lunch," I'm beginning to skip right by that tweet without opening the link.  I'll take my chances on missing a bit of information just to avoid being taken for a sucker.
2. Negativity.  "How your blog is turning people off."  "The mistakes you're making on Facebook."  Now, I'm not perfect.  I know I have a lot to learn.  But couldn't you possibly present me with an opportunity to do better, instead of telling me that everything I'm doing is wrong?
3. Arbitrary numbers.  Nothing wrong with presenting a list of  four questions, or top ten links, or twenty-two websites...except that everybody's doing it.  After a while, all these numbers run into each other and blur.  They sound like a gimmick, and they are.  Can we possibly save numbers for when they matter?

You may have noticed that the title of this blog entry uses all three of the strategies I think are being worked to death.  How did you respond when you read the title?  What do you think now?  What are some different (and perhaps better) strategies for standing out and being read?

"How to Find a Job on LinkedIn..." by Brad & Debra Schepp

If you have never used LinkedIn, read this book.  If you have used LinkedIn for years (as I have), read this book!  Go through it with your web browser open to LinkedIn.  You will keep looking back and forth between book and screen and finding ways to:

1. Make your profile more expressive of what you can do, and more attractive to employers.
2. Expand the network of people that you can rely on for advice, information, and referrals.
3. Build a reputation for being an expert in your field--and a helpful person whom people want to help in return.
4. Find companies you want to work for and people there who might be willing to talk with you.
5. Actually apply for jobs using your LinkedIn profile, which can include a lot more than a printed resume can do.
6. Receive thoughtful answers to your questions about how to do the job, once you get it.

LinkedIn is the focus of this book (even though it also includes useful chapters on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+) for one simple reason: people are on LinkedIn to talk about doing their jobs, not to watch cute cat videos or share recipes. The authors consider it the single most important online site for job seekers, and yet they are clear about what it can and cannot do.  With all their emphasis on professionalism, they still write with a funny, human voice, and give tips on how you can distinguish yourself by doing the same.

It is amazing that a book published in April 2012 can contain any out-of-date information, but social media sites change so rapidly that the printed word cannot keep up.  Usually, if the book says a feature is on LinkedIn (or Facebook, etc.), it is still there--you may just have to look in a different menu to find it.  Then there are things that really have changed, like LinkedIn no longer letting you display a reading list.  (I had to do an online search to find out that it was really gone from the site and I wasn't just overlooking it.) 

The book is most useful for ideas on how to use these sites, rather than specific techniques.  That's the advantage the Schepps bring to their readers.  They know what works.  We can figure out how.  I am having a wonderful time doing just that.