We are all producers now. The social web has transformed the way we communicate, share and create, and it’s showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Creating compelling web content has proven to be one of the most effective ways of marketing for business, non-profit, individuals, and even governments. However, it can be a challenge to consistently create timely, relevant and interesting content across your online channels. How do you get over the fear of putting yourself out there? How can you organize and coordinate your content plan so that it’s effective but not all-consuming? Introducing Produce: The Art of Creating Digital Content Using Professional Production Techniques. This book has been a labour of love for me for the past year, but it’s been in my head for more than 20 years. As a professional television producer, I learned many techniques for telling great stories using video. I have brought those skills forward into the digital realm for the past 17 years and I’ve finally written them down to share with you. If you want to create better digital content of any kind – blogs, video, social media, podcasts, you name it – this is the book for you. You’ll come away with the renewed energy and confidence you need to be truly compelling online. Pick up your copy on Amazon Kindle today! Just click the link below:
The Importance of Taking Breaks
I haven’t been here for a while. At first, I felt bad about it. But then, I realized that sometimes it’s good to take a break from things. I’ve been blogging fairly regularly here since 2006. 8 years of putting out content, playing in my sandbox, and sharing snippets of my brain with you. This past year, I’ve been working on a lot of things personally. In the Fall I went through a bad bout of depression and anxiety, and it forced me to take a step back from everything for a while, even work. I have been rebuilding since, and learning a lot about setting limits and living more skillfully and mindfully. It’s been a great journey, and my recovery has taught me a lot about how to better cope with the stresses of life. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned through this is that it’s okay to take breaks from things. I took a break from filling my calendar with event after event. And I took a break from writing here. Partly this was because at a certain point, I could only handle so much. And partly it was because I really wanted to focus on finishing my book, which comes out this summer. So how does one go about stepping back, when the demands of life are many and persistent? Here’s what I have learned: Just say no. “No” is the most important word I’ve learned in the past 8 months. Before I got sick, I was into everything. No matter what came along I would jump at it, and before I knew it, I was stretched WAY too thin. Suddenly, I was cancelling all sorts of commitments at the last minute, and letting people down. It wasn’t healthy for me or for my relationships. Then, I realized that I have the ultimate control over what I choose to do or not do. So I started using the word “no” more often, and a funny thing happened. The world did not end. People did not get mad at me. And suddenly I had more time to focus on the things that I COULD do, as opposed to the things I felt I SHOULD do. It was an amazing revelation. Stop when you need to. My illness caused me to have to drop everything and rest as much as possible. It was really hard for me at first, because I am not used to being a lump on the sofa, taking naps all afternoon and sleeping 10 hours a night. But that’s what my body and mind needed at that time. Thankfully, I have a very supportive business partner and a wonderful husband and family who allowed me to take the time I needed to properly recover. What I’ve learned is that I need to not ignore the signals, and stop when my body and mind tell me to. Meditate. This has been the most challenging for me. To stop and listen to my mind, focus on my breathing for a period of time is not something I’m naturally inclined to do. But I’ve been learning that meditation can take on many forms. It can be just taking a minute to take a breath during a stressful moment, or it can be walking to the store. It can be a focused half hour of silence. It doesn’t require anything but to just take a moment and breathe and be mindful and present. And it’s been the thing that I find has helped me the most. We cannot function well if we are continuously running at 100 mph in 1000 different directions. Taking a break, slowing down, saying no, and focusing on the present are all vital to living a healthy life. How do you take breaks?
Teaching in a 21st Century Classroom
After taking a year off, I’m super excited to be heading back into the classroom at Algonquin College this summer. I’ll be teaching a project management course in the Mobile and Social Media Management program. What really excites me is the way this course is being run. Students are given the option as to whether they attend class in person or online. If they attend in person, they will experience pretty much a regular in-class experience. If they choose to attend online, they can do so from a PC, tablet or smart phone. Let’s break down what this means in terms of technology and teaching style. Technology We use the BlackBoard learning management system for the course, including the virtual classroom tool BlackBoard collaborate. Both online students and in-class students have a chat room that they can use to interact with me and with each other. I am linked up to the online students via video (using this really cool swivel cam set up with a web cam that follows me wherever I wander in the classroom), and audio (a nice little SHURE wireless lapel mic). I run two computers in the class, a 27′ iMac, where I present my lecture and other learning materials, and a MacBook Pro laptop where I display the chat window so I can follow the backchannel conversation. All in all, it’s a pretty smooth little set up! Teaching Style The addition of the online “from anywhere” component of the class definitely changes the teaching style, but in a really cool way. First, I have to pay attention not only to the materials I’m presenting, but to the students inside the classroom AND the students online. This is tricky, and while I do have some experience with this pedagogy, I know it will take a bit of getting used to. Second, the inclusion of the backchannel discussion via chat creates a lot division within teaching circles. There is the camp that believes that allowing students to chat during class is a distraction and if they are chatting they aren’t listening. Then there’s the other camp that I fall into, that believes that the backchannel is an important part of the learning experience. Students who have the opportunity to share their own ideas, links, and resources tend to have an enriched learning experience. Their participation in the backchannel conversation allows them to deepen their understanding and strengthen relationships with their classmates. It’s a good thing! I’m super excited to be part of this innovative and interesting program, and I can’t wait to dig into the content with the students. I will keep you updated on my progress through the course as the summer goes on, and I hope to have some great discussions about the challenges and triumphs of working in the 21st century classroom.
Social Media’s Coming of Age
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post asking if I was over social media. In a sense, I am. The “shiny object” of social media has taken a back seat for me now. It’s just something I do as a normal part of my day now, like brushing my teeth or checking my email. I can do without, it but I sometimes miss the connectedness when I’m not there. Given the choice whether use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and blogs as channels or to give them up entirely, I’d definitely go with the former. I was amazed at some of the responses on the post. Lots of people agreed with me that for them, social media is a bit “over”. They are tired of the constant sales pitch of Twitter. Facebook’s advertising algorithm is intrusive and affects their experience. They’ve grown weary of keeping their personal blogs updated. But at the same time, social media use continues to grow at a rapid pace. 14 million Canadians – that’s nearly half the population of the country – are using Facebook daily. Twitter is continuing to enjoy huge growth in popularity. It’s becoming more important than ever for businesses to build an online presence. These days it’s not whether you have a web site, or use social media channels to reach your audience – it’s how you’re going to do it. A short time ago, I had students coming into my corporate training classes who had never even been to Facebook or Twitter. They had never heard of Instagram and Pinterest was a vague concept. I had to start from the very beginning with these folks. Not only that, but a big part of my job as a teacher and digital marketing consultant was convincing them of the value of social media and the digital space in general. How things have changed, in just one year. Nowadays, the people coming into my classrooms are more savvy than ever before. They’ve spent time with the tools, or at least read up on them, or had their kids show them some stuff. They are coming in, not to learn the difference between an @reply and a DM, but to gain an understanding of how to be effective on the tools. They are already convinced they need digital. They just need to figure out the best way to do digital. I believe we are entering a new era of social media. One where ubiquity reigns supreme. Where we don’t have to think about why to do it as much as to do it. What does this mean for you and me? Well, I think it’s a pretty exciting time – the most exciting since the dawn of the social Web. Now is the time we get to see just what these channels are capable of, and more importantly, what people are capable of, once they are truly connecting and sharing and providing value. In fact, this new coming of age could change the world. Again.
What Being in a Band Has Taught Me About Business
I’ve been involved in music since about the 4th grade. Over the years I’ve played instruments, and in the past 15 years or so I’ve been a singer. I was in a women’s chorus, an a capella quartet, did the odd solo thing, and now, I’m a singer in a rock and roll band. It’s been a really amazing experience so far. I am by far the newbie in the group. My five band mates have all been playing for decades. But they are super supportive and helpful and have been extremely patient while I’ve learned the ropes. Being part of this group has taught me a couple of important lessons that I think can apply to many things in business. Playing Music With Others is All About Trust There are six of us in the band – Lee Ann on lead vocals and guitar, Chris, vocals and guitar, Jamie on keyboards, Dave on bass, Chris on drums and me, vocals and percussion. Each of us brings our own talents and personality to the band. When one of us can’t make it to rehearsal, we are missed. But the biggest thing is, if you’re going to be a successful band, you have to trust each other immensely. We need to completely trust that we’re each going to show up knowing our parts, practiced, and ready to rock (literally). Bringing all of the pieces together well demands that each person be both trusting and trustworthy, or it all falls apart. This level of trust and trustworthiness serves one well in business too. If one person on a team proves themselves not to be trustworthy, shows up unprepared, or doesn’t get things done, then it all falls apart. Being trustworthy and reliable is one of the most important aspects of being successful in one’s career. And being able to trust others is also critical. You need to be able to rely on your colleagues to pull their end of the bargain. Just like a band falls apart without trust, many an organization has fallen apart for the same reason. Real Connection Our band got a new guitarist earlier this year. Before we found Chris, tried out a number of different guitarists that were not a fit. Maybe it was that their style of playing was not quite right for our music. Maybe they didn’t have the availability to make a solid commitment to the project. Maybe their personality just didn’t jive with ours. Whatever the reasons, we knew there just wasn’t a connection. But when we found Chris, it just gelled. We knew right off the bat that he was the right fit for us. When you work on a creative project, it gets very personal very fast. Once the band starts to gel, you develop a real connection with the other people in the group. You become quite close to each other. If there isn’t that connection with all members of the group, it won’t work. So when you find that connection, you hang onto it, tightly. In business, connection is vitally important. I’ve recently connected to a new person in my professional circle. We met for a coffee a few weeks ago and immediately hit it off on a personal level – there was that instant connection. We are now finding ways to work together on some things, and it’s very exciting. Finding people you really connect with on a business level is critical to success. If you’re going to work that closely together, there had better be some sort of connection, some sort of gelling that takes place, just like with the members of a band. Those bonds are powerful, and they enable amazing things to happen. Trust and connection. It’s the backbone of any musical project, and as it turns out it’s the backbone of business, too. What do you think? Have you learned things from your creative ventures that you can apply to the business world? Rock Stock and Barrel Original Song – Emotions More live tunes on our YouTube Channel
Are You Publishing Content or Producing Stories?
Ira Glass, host of NPR’s “This American Life”, talks about storytelling in terms of building blocks. Stories are built on two important things; anecdotes and reflection. You can think of anecdote as action. What is happening in the story? How is it moving along? What is the order in which things transpire? This is the root of all storytelling. Something happens, then something else, then something else. But the second piece, Glass explains, is what distinguishes a good story from a great one. The second part is reflection. Reflection, as he explains it, is the point where the storyteller tells you why they are telling you the story. It’s the point where you have a realization that you’ve learned something new. That is the brilliance of good storytelling. I think that one of the biggest mistakes a lot of content marketers make is that they don’t root their content in story. There’s so much pressure on online content producers to put out loads of keyword rich, timely, relevant stuff, that the art of storytelling really gets lost. Think about your average blog post. Most people take a very formulaic approach to writing blogs these days. They have a catchy title, a pithy introduction, and then a big long list of stuff. Sure, there’s something to be said for brevity and scan-ability, but is there not room for spending a bit more time on creating a good story, too? Thinking about content in terms of story takes work up front. Before you even start tapping words on the screen, you need to look seriously at why you’re doing what you’re doing. In other words, you need to answer the last question Ira Glass asks first. You need to reflect. Now, reflection need not be a long and labour intensive process. Really, what it takes is asking yourself a few important questions: Why am I telling this story? What value am I providing to my audience? What new thing are they going to learn by hearing my story? If you can answer these questions, you’re already on your way to telling a better story, whether it’s a blog post, a podcast, a video, or a book – any kind of content. Then, once you’ve got a good handle on the reflection piece, you can work backwards from there and figure out the anecdotes, or actions, you’re going to use to move your story along. Need an example? Read everything Seth Godin writes, and watch his presentations. Each thing he does is an experience, and is rooted in story. You walk away having been entertained but you also learn something new. Anecdote and reflection. Anecdote and reflection. Does applying good storytelling techniques take more work? Well, at first, it will. After a while it just becomes a habit. I promise you that your content will be better for it. Story is one of the things I delve deeply into in my new book, Produce: The Art of Creating Anything Using Professional Production Techniques. It comes out in June, you can read more about it here and subscribe to my mailing list to receive updates.
We are all Producers Now
I remember the first time I realized I wanted to be a producer. I was 11 years old and living on the beautiful island of Haida Gwaii with my family. My Dad, in addition to being a proud Navy man, was very involved in the community. He helped to start the first community television station on Haida Gwaii, called Masset-Haida Television (MHTV), back in the 1970s. It was a family affair; Dad was the camera man and editor, Mom was his lovely assistant, and my brother and I read the Community Announcements live on the air. The other thing we did was help produce a telethon every year. The telethon was put on my the local chapter of the Lion’s Club, and raised money for disabled kids. But my Dad was the producer. He took care of bringing all the pieces together to make a successful 21 hour live TV show – making sure the entertainment was where they needed to be when they needed to be there, ensuring the hosts had everything they needed, and confirming the number switching girl (sometimes me!) knew what to do and when to do it. As I watched my Dad coordinate this live program every year, I became more and more intrigued. It was exciting, fast paced, and I got to stay up late – all things that any 11 year old would be keen on. By the time I got to high school, I already knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to go to broadcasting school, and then become a producer. And I did. I was fortunate to go to a great college where I got tonnes of hands-on experience. Then, as luck would have it, I walked into a producing job at a community TV station in Ottawa that, while being quite a bit bigger, was not unlike good old MHTV. Flash forward 25 years or so and we now live in a world where anyone with a great idea and the motivation to make it happen can be a producer. The online world has opened up so much opportunity for people to be producers of amazing things. But so few of us actually produce. In fact, studies have shown that only about 10% of people online produce 90% of the content. What that means is, a lot of people are out there who have great ideas, but are not, for whatever reason, producing them. To me, that’s a lot of missed opportunities. Do you have a great idea? Are you having trouble taking it to that next step of actually starting to produce it? You’re not alone, as the numbers show. And that’s why I wrote Produce: The Art of Creating Digital Content Using Professional Production Techniques. In it, I lay out a practical approach to producing that is based on my 25+ years experience as a television and multimedia producer. What this book will do for you is provide techniques and guidance about how to remain focused, mitigate risks, and actually get to the point where you can make your idea a reality. The book releases in June 2014, and over the next several weeks I’m going to be sharing my take on producing and giving you some insights into what you’ll glean from the book. If you want to find out more, check out my Book Page, and sign up for my mailing list. You’ll get tips, tricks, insights, sample chapters and special offers. And no spam! Writing this book is the culmination of many years of hard work and learning. It is a dream come true for me and I’m very, very excited to share it with you.
Am I Over Social Media?
Seven years ago this week, my life changed. I wandered in off the streets of Toronto to something called “Podcamp”. All I knew is that it was a free “unconference” and that people would be talking about podcasting, something I had been curious about for a while. At the bottom of the stairs, two guys stood, friendly smiles on their faces. One wore a t-shirt that said “Free Hugs”. I wondered what kind of conference this was. They introduced themselves as Chris and Chris, and invited my friends and I into a meeting room. We sat down, and opening remarks began, with some other guys named Bob, Julien and Mark. As they talked about all of the things that would be going on that weekend, my mind began to swim. Who were these people? How did they all know each other? What the heck were they all doing here? As the weekend went on, I attended session after session – some on podcasting, some about blogging and some about this new thing called Twitter. Being a video specialist, my primary interest and reason for attending had been to learn more about video podcasting. But these people were opening my eyes to a whole new world. They were all connected, through their respective blogs, podcasts, Twitter and Facebook accounts. They all lived in different cities and even different countries, yet they were all very close friends. I was in awe. That weekend, I became friends with the Chrisses, along with Bob, Julien, Mark, John, some guy named Scarborough Dude, and many, many more amazing people. These relationships changed the course of my life. I came back home with the motivation to learn everything I could about this new form of communication. My new friends were great mentors (and still are), and I dove in head first to my new world. I was a sponge, spending hours and days learning and experimenting. In fact, at that time, we were all really learning together, trying to sort out what these platforms really meant. We were playing, and out of our play came best practices. Eventually, our understanding began to pay off. Some of the guys went on to write bestselling books, others became leaders in the field of digital marketing. I wound up teaching and consulting others about digital marketing and social media, helping them to navigate these waters in a more effective way, drawing on what I had learned. It really has been quite a journey, and I know it’s far from over. But something has changed for me lately. I’ve not been blogging here nearly as much (barely at all since 2014 started). I haven’t been as active on Twitter. I stopped podcasting. If I am going to be online these days, it’s mostly on Facebook. Am I over social media? I started to think my interest in social media was waning. I was getting plenty tired of the constant sales pitch of Twitter and the amount of fluff blog posts arriving in my news readers daily. I stopped reading, except for the occasional post recommended by a friend. I actually began to feel guilty about it. I mean, if I’m going to be an effective teacher of digital marketing, I need to keep up on it, right? I felt I was losing my grip on the business. But then it dawned on me. It’s not that I’ve lost interest in social media. It’s that my interests have evolved. Nowadays, I go to Twitter if I want to follow breaking news or an event, or see what’s up in my city. I still interact, but really only with a small segment of people. I am still blogging, but it’s more about working with clients, editing and refining their work, and doing some writing for them as well. I’m also a contributor over at Owner Magazine now, and that keeps my blogging brain challenged. I am using social networks, but again, a lot of it is for clients and things like the Cracking-Up the Capital Comedy Festival. So I guess ultimately, I am still just as involved in social media as I ever was; just in different ways. I don’t think social media is going anywhere, and I don’t think my love affair with it is anywhere near over. I think I’ve just settled into it a bit more, like a pair of comfortable shoes. There is still plenty to learn and plenty of evolution yet to happen. I for one am excited to see where the road goes next. Aren’t you?
Food and Cats? Why I do It
I sometimes jokingly warn people when they start following me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook to be prepared for lots of photos of my dinner and my cats. It’s usually good for a chuckle or two. The truth is, I do post a lot of food and cat pictures on my social media profiles. Why? Well, I suppose the easy answer is because I like food and I like cats. But there’s actually a little more to it than that. Cats Rule the Internet My husband and I have three cats. They are rambunctious and playful, adorable and exceedingly photogenic. A few years ago when I got my first iPhone, I started to take close up photos of our cats and share them on Facebook and Twitter. Every day I would take one photo of one of the cats and post it. After several months, I happened to skip a couple of days. Suddenly, my friends and followers were asking me why I hadn’t posted a “Daily Kitteh” lately. Some were even concerned that something had happened to the cats. I was amazed that so many people had been paying attention! That night, I bought DailyKitteh.com, and started a Tumblr blog where my kitteh pictures now reside. I have had strangers come up to me on the street and say “Hey, you’re @Suzemuse – I love the Daily Kitteh!”. You know, it all seems kind of silly when I actually write it out. The Daily Kitteh isn’t a social media strategy. I don’t do it in order to drive traffic and engagement. I do it because I love my cats and I love to take pictures of them. But my Daily Kitteh DOES drive traffic. It IS a way to engage with people. I’ve met a bunch of folks just because of that one thing I do. Cats really do rule the Internet. We All Gotta Eat The other thing I do quite often is post photos of my food. Usually it’s something myself or my husband has cooked up for dinner, and occasionally it’s a lunch out at a great restaurant. Either way, posting photos of what I’m eating has been another amazing way of connecting and sharing with others online. You see, food is the great equalizer. We all have to eat. And many of us are very passionate about food. The truth is, I get more engagement on Twitter and Facebook about my food photos than anything else. I get into some really great conversations with people around food – whether its sharing recipes, or others sharing their food experiences – I’ve made many great friends over food. Ultimately, your experience with social media is what you make it. Even if you look at it as a business tool (which I do), there’s still plenty of room for allowing your personality to come through. All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl, so consider how you might try to mix things up a bit more on your social channels. You might just open up a whole new world of connections. How do you let your personality shine through online? Let me know in the comments.
My Three Words for 2014
Thanks to Chris Brogan, I’ve been doing the three words exercise for a number of years now. Basically, instead of making resolutions I’ll never keep, I come up with three words that will guide my actions in the coming year. It’s a great exercise and I find it helps me to get really focused on what’s important. So, here goes…my three words for 2014 are: Clarity – 2013 was the year my anxiety disorder finally came to a head. I got to the point where I realized that I was not functioning as well as I should be. I sought treatment, and got support. And now, 4 months later, I have clarity of mind that frankly, I have not had for years. This newfound clarity is helping me to rediscover many things in life – my love of music (listening to and playing), reading, writing, and spending quality time with the people in my life that matter. I also have a renewed commitment to doing my part to stamp out the stigma of mental illness, which is one of the reasons I talk so openly about my own experience. Nourish – I’ve always been sort of lackadaisical about fitness and nutrition. I would go to the gym in fits and starts, and be very on again off again with healthy eating. My health issues of the past year have taught me that I can no longer take these areas of my life for granted. Nourish means nourishing my body, mind and spirit from the inside out. That means regular exercise, healthy food choices, getting enough sleep, and taking time for me. Make – 2014 is the year of making things. I am going to finally finish the book I’ve been working on (my newfound clarity is helping that immensely!), and I’m going to spend more time in the kitchen making healthy meals for my husband and me. That means planning meals for the week, shopping with a list, and then actually being prepared and organized to cook. I will also make a lot more music in 2014 – not only with my amazing band, but for myself. That means writing more songs, practicing my guitar, and seeing where my musical journey wants to take me. There you have it, my three guiding words for 2014. Now, over to you! Feel free to share your three words in the comments. Happy new year and have a joyous 2014!