10 Reasons I Dislike ‘Top 10’ Articles
First things first: yes, the title is intentionally ironic. And no, I won’t actually be giving you ten reasons. Because I dislike that. Instead I’m going to use paragraphs, like in the good old days.
It works a little bit like this. Still with me? Good.
If you’ve been on the internet recently the first thing you will see is Donald Trump. Sorry about him. The second thing will be a headline featuring a number, you know the ones: 12 Cities to See Before You Die, 15 Online Classes you Can’t Live Without, or, my personal favourite, 57 Ways to Beat Procrastination. Look a little longer and you might even find a combination of both: Donald Trump’s 25 Best Hair Days.
Wince.
At this point, marketers will want to say something along the lines of giving multiple options provides something for everyone or it’s a great SEO strategy or offering multiple call to actions will increase your click-through rate.
And to these kind sirs or madams I say: no.
Giving multiple options, or reasons, or ideas, or styles, or products, is lazy. It’s quantity over quality. Not only will this approach dilute your key message, it lacks depth and reiterates to your audience how little you truly understand them. For every example in your article someone finds interesting or relevant there will be twice as many they don’t.
If you really want to create content that provides value, or positions your company as an opinion leader, don’t sit on the fence with a crowd-pleasing buffet of options – have an opinion. And have it on one thing. Yes, there will be people who disagree with you, there always are. That’s okay.
Every memorable discussion throughout history started with a disagreement. Probably.
Stay tuned for next week’s article: You’ll Never Guess This One Weird Reason I Totally Can’t Stand Click-Bait….
THE ART OF OPPORTUNITY
Yes, you’ve probably seen this before. If you haven’t – it’s a wonderfully botched painting restoration turned internet phenomenon from August 2012. You have to feel at least a little sorry for the 80 year old ameteur artist, Cecilia Giménez, for her monkey-resembling attempt.
But I wouldn’t commiserate for too long. Hidden within these wayward brushstrokes is an important lesson in business marketing – within every failure lies opportunity. In the year following the failed restoration, tourist activity generated 40,000 visits and more than €50,000 for a local charity.
Unfortunately, opportunities rarely unearth themselves from failures – which is why learning to recognise them is key. Here are my top three opportunities hidden within failure:
1 Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn
The easiest opportunity to unearth from any failure is learning.
Every time you fail, stop and ask yourself these three questions: What went wrong? Why? What should I change to prevent future failures? This way, every time you fail, you will also improve.
2 Whoops, my bad
If your failure negatively affects stakeholders – customers, suppliers, partners – you are presented with the opportunity to apologise.
Do not underestimate apologies; they are one of your most powerful tools for strengthening stakeholder relationships. As long as they’re authentic, of course. Some of the most effective marketing eDMs I’ve seen have been apology-oriented. People love to hear companies say sorry. This humanises businesses by demonstrating human emotion. It also fosters trust for your brand.
Combine your apology with a gift (product/service discount or freebie), and you’ll leap from doghouse to top dog.
3 Sorry not sorry
Not all failure requires an apology – sometimes things don’t work out and it’s no one’s fault. So carry on as normal, business as usual, right?
Wrong.
A failure is an event. Events are interesting. You can use interesting events to communicate with customers by telling them what your business is up to, or reiterate your brand values. Failure shows people you are trying, so make sure your efforts don’t go unnoticed. It’s also a great time to ask for feedback on your products or services. Asking for feedback demonstrates you want to improve, and keeps you humble too.
There are of course many opportunities within failures, and these are but a few. So next time you fail – take a moment to pause. Maybe lock yourself in a room with a whiteboard for fifteen minutes. You’ll be surprised by the good that’ll come from it.
DOES SOCIAL MEDIA MAKE US FEEL UNLOVED?
You’re scrolling through the usual updates on Facebook, when all of a sudden it comes to you. The funniest status update of all time. You begin to type… The race to get Dad a Christmas present usually ends in a tie. You chuckle to yourself – because it’s funny, right? Hell yeah it is. And then you post the update.
[20 seconds since posting] You’re excited. Which one of your 452 Facebook friends is going to LIKE it first? What about James? He’s into witticisms. Or Fiona – didn’t she get her Dad a tie last Christmas?
[1 minute since posting] You’ve decided that Rob is going to LIKE it first. Rob’s a serial LIKEr, plus, you can see he’s online right now.
[3 minutes since posting] 0 LIKES 0 COMMENTS… Did you spell everything correctly? Of course you did. Facebook has built-in spell check. And this sentence is a squiggly-red-line-free-zone. You decide to put your phone back into your pocket and carry on with your life.
[3 minutes 10 seconds since posting] Phone comes back out of pocket. You check Facebook and search for that ray of sunshine – a little red notification indicating an update. No such joy. What’s wrong with everyone?
[5 minutes since posting] …hmph.
[17 minutes since posting] *ONE NEW COMMENT* A rush of excitement fills your veins. You lurch to see latest updates, your thumbs have never moved so fast…
Jasmine Fulton: “LAAAAAAME”
The skies darken, your heart sinks, and for the umpteenth time this year you consider deleting your Facebook profile.
Now honestly, have you ever experienced a similar seventeen minutes? If so, you’ll be glad to know you’re not alone on this rather nutty emotional roller coaster.
The brain’s reward system is complicatedly primitive, an oxymoron I know – but stay with me. Global studies suggest that receiving LIKEs light up the same part of your brain that fires up to imagery of food and even sex (that’s the nucleus accumbens, in case you were wondering).^
More importantly, these feelings are addictive.
I’m no conspiracist who believes that social networks are out to turn us into update-addicts. But I do think they are very aware of our reward system’s addictive nature, so it’s important that we are too. And with this in mind, having an emotional reliance on ‘how many updates you receive’ may not be a healthy long term strategy.
In conclusion, despite how you sometimes feel, 0 LIKES 0 COMMENTS 0 VIEWS does not mean you are unloved, unimaginative or uninteresting. It just means the best place to receive a hug is not the internet. So perhaps it’s time to go outside and play.
^ http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/29/science/la-sci-sn-sex-food-facebook-20130829
Image courtesy of Vancouver-based graffiti artist iheart
TOO LONG DIDN’T READ (TL;DR)
The old guy above is Blaise Pascal. He’s on my blog because he once said something really important and really relevant to today’s world:
“I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short.”
What. A. Quote.
And not bad considering he was actually more of a mathematician stroke physicist who died in 1662.
How is this quote relevant to today’s world, I hear you ask. Actually in several ways:
Way number one – people have never been so time-poor. Thanks to technology, we can do things a lot faster and easier than 50 years ago. But does that mean we have more free time? Absolutely not. We just use our free time to do more things, which makes us even more busy and productive and in some cases darn right exhausted.
Way number two – our attention spans are at an all time low. In fact, I’m surprised you’re still reading this. I thought you would have drifted off to another shiner website by now. A recent study revealed the average American sees up to 16,000 brands every day, so the latest battle in every marketing department is how can we communicate our message in its simplest form? Messages have to be succinct and powerful to cut through the noise.
And it’s only going to get more cluttered. More brands, more channels, more messages, more languages and more more.
Which is why I think things will trend towards less. Less words. Less clutter. Less messages… but to achieve more impact. If all the TV ads shout specials at you one after another, blaring their one day sales or prize giveaways, wouldn’t it take a quiet one to truly stand out? Food for thought.
PROBABLY THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD
The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates said that. Smart chap. If you want to examine life then What a Wonderful World is the book for you.
Why is the sky blue? How does a radio work? What is a black hole? What is the quantum enigma? All the answers are right here, neatly stitched together by the master of layman’s terms Marcus Chown.
Chown breaks things down so simply that even I could understand them. Now that’s a skill.
ALL YOUR CARDS. ONE COIN. DROOL.
Now this is a fantastic bit of kit. And the website is drool-worthy too.
Coin allows you to digitally scan and save all of your credit cards, gift cards, reward cards onto one Coin. You can then ‘select’ which card you want to use with the press of a button. Magic.
Oh, and ask me if it text-reminds you if you leave it behind somewhere? A hells yeah it does.
PASSWORDS ARE DEAD. AND SO ARE PIN NUMBERS. AND SO ARE CAR KEYS.
Ready to learn a new word?
Biometrics. I know, I hadn’t heard of it either. Biometrics refers to the quantifiable data related to human characteristics and traits. In other words, biometrics uses physiological things that are unique to us (like fingerprints or DNA or iris recognition) to identify us as individuals.
And that’s where Nymi comes in. It’s a bracelet that reads your electrocardiogram pattern (heartbeat) to identify you as you. Then you can start unlocking things like your computer or iPad or car or house by just moving closer to them or with a gesture.
New technology, old theme – creepy cool.
MOBILE LOVERS – BANKSY’S LATEST SOCIAL CRITIQUE
Our favourite anti-hero and graffiti artist Banksy strikes again. And he’s hit bulls-eye.
Don’t you just love how their faces are lit up – not from the joy of their embrace, but the backlight on their mobile phones? I do, it’s genius. And a rather sad reflection of where we’re headed.
Last week, I noticed it’s no longer socially acceptable to sit alone in a public place unless you’re on your mobile phone. True story. Next time you’re picking up a coffee look up and around. Everyone – without exception – is glued to their digital significant other.
Yes, smartphones are cool. And yes, they’re brimming with potential to enrich our lives on so many levels. But please, don’t forget to look up every once in a while.
Life’s real treasures aren’t found in an app store, I promise. Rant over.
*UN-WINCE*
*Wince* That’s what I do every time I see the word literally being misused.
But as of this moment, I can un-wrinkle my nose and sigh with relief. Some(amazing)body has created a plug-in that automatically swaps the word literally with the word figuratively when you’re browsing the web. That’s literally all it does. But my my my. That’s all it needs to do! Yes, it does also swap out the correct use of the word, but you and I both know that doesn’t happen often.
If you’re thinking I’m a grammar snob, then your* right. Want to un-wince as well? Download the plug-in right here.
*Just kidding, I know it’s you’re.
ADOPT A STARVING YOUTUBE ARTIST TODAY
I can imagine the TV appeal now… with the big 0800 number call to action… some ragged creative artist in the street, emptying cigarette butts into a paper bag… and a smartly dressed, super concerned looking TV presenter talking directly to the camera…
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Meet Ryan
[Camera pans slightly left, zooms, and pulls focus on Ryan’s scruffy unshaven face]
Despite what you might think – he’s a YouTube artist.
[Camera pans right, back to the presenter, refocuses]
You probably want to know how Ryan ended up this way?
Well believe it or not, it’s all YouTube’s fault.
And here’s how.
[Animated infographic fades in and takes over screen]
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But seriously, you should check out Patreon, what they’re doing is pretty awesome. I guess it’s like a kickstarter campaign, but instead of supporting a project you support a creative person’s career by pledging donations when they reach creative milestones. It allows you to support and engage with the creatives you love.
READY TO LOSE YOUR SH*T?
Because now finding it is going to be a breeze – with Tile. It’s a gadget you attach to things you value (keys, wallets or purses, your bike). Then through the tile app on your phone you can track distance to your lost item.
Nifty indeed…If you want to put GPS tracking on everything you own.
Where will you draw the line? I’m sure it’ll start with car keys.. then your car… then your partner’s car? Kids? Other people? Oh, the possibilities! And without sounding Edward-Snowden-paranoid, where will all this data be housed exactly? Can companies buy it?
The line between usefulness and privacy invading continues to blur. But I’m sure Google Glass will help sharpen our focus.
RESUMÉ & PORTFOLIO 