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#ContentWritingChat Recap: 2017 Content Creation Tips and Tricks

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#ContentWritingChat Recap: 2017 Content Creation Tips and Tricks

This week on #ContentWritingChat, we decided to switch things up a bit! As you may know by now, we typically have a guest host join us every week. Well, this Tuesday we decided to have a community chat and just let our participants be the main focus. After all, we do love each and every person who joins us for an hour of fun every Tuesday! This community chat went so well that we’re actually going to incorporate them into our #ContentWritingChat schedule every month. We’re even going to give you you the opportunity to give input on upcoming chat topics, so stay tuned! But for now, let’s dive into the recap of this week’s chat where we talked all about content creation tips and trick for 2017! #ContentWritingChat Recap: 2017 Content Creation Tips and Tricks Welcome to #ContentWritingChat! Today, we’re having a community chat all about content creation tips and tricks! ?? pic.twitter.com/fNahyGR0hz — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) July 11, 2017 In Tuesday’s chat, we invited everyone to join us and talk content creation. Being that so many members of our #ContentWritingChat community are writers, it’s no surprise that they all had some great advice to share. Let’s get to it! Q1: When it comes to content, what’s the first step you should always take before you begin creating? Before you dive head first into writing content, there are a few things you should do beforehand! What might those things be? Here’s what a few of our participants believe are the essential first steps: A1: Think — what does my audience/ideal customer need to see? #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/f0CaOh27Pk — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) July 11, 2017 Sarah is spot-on with her answer! She knows that you have to determine what your audience needs to see before you can start with content creation. After all, if you aren’t sure what your audience needs, how can you create content that will resonate? A1: Get to know your audience. Learn what information they need and how they want to receive it. #contentwritingchat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) July 11, 2017 As you spend time getting to know your audience, you also want to determine how they like to receive content. Do they prefer a specific content format or a certain platform? These are all important things to consider before you create. A1. Date your audience. Get to know them before asking them to take a content journey with you. #ContentWritingChat — Bourbon & Honey (@BrittanyBrander) July 11, 2017 We like the way Brittany put it! Date your audience to get to know them before taking them along on your content journey. A1 Have a message! If you have no takeaway point, then your content becomes rather meaningless! #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/lghgUkqHXI — HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) July 11, 2017 Having a message behind your content is important as well. You want your audience to read your content and be able to walk away with something of value. Make sure your content always serves a purpose. A1 Be really clear – know WHY you’re abt 2 create this content. What purpose does it serve? Are you creating to create? #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/vNHy0UdugG — Zala Bricelj (@ZalkaB) July 11, 2017 Zala also agrees that your content needs to serve a purpose. Everything you publish online should add value to your audience in some way. A1. Research! #ContentWritingChat — Megan McCarthy (@ImMeganMcCarthy) July 11, 2017 As Megan mentioned, research is a very important step to content creation. Before you can begin writing, you may need to conduct research to learn more yourself or so that you have sources to back up your ideas. A1 Discover trends/ research topics that do the best on the specific platform you’re writing for. Analyze audience & SEO #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) July 11, 2017 Julia’s advice is to begin by discovering trends and topics and perform the best on the platform you’re writing for. You can then analyze the audience and SEO. A1: Define goals, marketing objectives. How will content help you get closer to achieving those goals #ContentWritingChat — GetApp_Marketing (@GetApp_Mkting) July 11, 2017 You can’t forget to set goals either! When you have clear goals in mind, you’re able to create the content that will help you achieve what you want. Q2: What types of content do you create to build and maintain an authoritative, ROI online presence? There are all kinds of content types out there in the online world! For that reason, it can be difficult to choose what’s right for you. Here’s some advice for you if you want to create authoritative content that helps you get results: A2 Whatever types your audience prefers. Authority is a measure of trust, and speaking their language builds trust. #ContentWritingChat — Lex (@estherproject) July 11, 2017 Les knows that it’s important to consider the content types your audience prefers. If your audience loves to read, they’ll probably enjoy your long-form blog posts. If they’re more visual, they’ll be happy to watch your YouTube videos and live broadcasts. Always keep their preferences in mind! A2: Relevant, helpful content via a variety of mediums – must consider that people absorb information differently #ContentWritingChat — Elizabeth Greenberg (@BettaBeYou) July 11, 2017 Elizabeth recommends trying multiple mediums for your content. This is a great opportunity to see what performs best for you and what your audience likes the most. Whichever content type you choose, it’s crucial that you share a relevant, helpful message. A2 NEVER overlook your core content types if you want to build a killer authority SEO presence – blogs & landing pages #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) July 11, 2017 Julia urges you not to overlook your core content types. Make sure you aren’t neglecting your blog and the various landing pages you have on your site. A2: To build your brand as a thought leader, I find the best form of contents are Infographics & blog Articles #ContentWritingChat — J. Pablo H3 (@HinoIII) July 11, 2017 Infographics and blog posts are two ways … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Making Content Marketing & SEO Work for Your Brand with Gini Dietrich

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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Making Content Marketing & SEO Work for Your Brand with Gini Dietrich

By now, you probably know how important content marketing and SEO are for your online brand. But do you really know how to implement them? In this #ContentWritingChat, we discussed this topic and received some really great advice from our chat participants. Keep reading to learn more! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Making Content Marketing & SEO Work for Your Brand with Gini Dietrich Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, June 27th at 10 AM Central Time with @ginidietrich! pic.twitter.com/EVjz2mKquj — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) June 20, 2017 Our guest host this week was Gini Dietrich. Gini is the CEO of Arment Dietrich. She’s also an author and a speaker. In this week’s chat, she shared some valuable tips you’ll want to use for your own brand. Q1: Content marketers today have to know SEO. Do you have a process you recommend to combine both? To kick off the chat, we asked everyone to share their tips for combining both content marketing and SEO. Here are some of the responses we received: A1: I do, in fact! The process is this: 1) Define keywords where you can compete; 2) Create headlines (cont…) #contentwritingchat — Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) June 27, 2017 A1: 3) Develop your ed calendar based on those headlines; 4) Publish content; 5) Earn high-value links; 6) Watch results #contentwritingchat — Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) June 27, 2017 Gini’s process includes the following: defining keywords where you can compete, creating headlines, developing an editorial calendar, publishing content, earning high-value links, and tracking results. A1 Know your keywords (use @semrush). Optimize a headline & craft outline. Create comprehensive, best-answer 2000w blogs #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) June 27, 2017 Julia says it all starts with knowing your keywords. She loves to use SEMrush for this. Then, she writes an optimized headline and begins creating her content. A1 Identify key keywords through Google Keywords + other research. Find out what people want to know about through this. #ContentWritingChat — Emma Thibault (@EmmaAThibault) June 27, 2017 For Emma, her process starts by identifying keywords with Google’s Keyword Planner and other research. She knows it’s important to figure out what your audience is looking for. A1: Take advantage of tools like @yoast to guide your SEO efforts. It gives you an idea of #SEO basics. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/c3CgrTcPLY — Mallie Rust (@malliefe2o3) June 27, 2017 Mallie recommends using Yoast, which is a powerful WordPress plugin. It’ll give you an understanding of the basics of SEO. A1: Write for your audience, not for Google’s robots. #contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/kC0Qu5B9nY — Mike Bryant (@MichaelRo22ss) June 27, 2017 Make sure you always write with your audience in mind. You need to create content that will appeal to your human readers. A1: They should work together like a PBJ sammich these days. End goal = getting right content in front of right people.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/Qwsju66PjQ — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 27, 2017 As Sarah said, your end goal is always to get the right content in front of the right people. A1 SEO is key to getting your content to the right eyeballs! Great content won’t spread without some strategy! #Contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/LLS5XisNt9 — HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) June 27, 2017 Kristin agrees that you need a strategy in order to get your content in front of the right people. Q2: So, are you saying we need to create content for robots first? The big question here is… Who do we focus on when creating content? Do we focus on the human reader or the robots running the search engines? Here’s what our chat participants had to say: A2: Not necessarily, no. You should have a list of questions customers and prospects ask. (cont…) #contentwritingchat — Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) June 27, 2017 A2: A list of questions you answer via email. Your FAQ. Then look up keywords based on those. #contentwritingchat — Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) June 27, 2017 Gini doesn’t feel robots should be your primary focus. Instead, she recommends keeping a list of questions your customers and prospective customers ask. You can then do keyword research and create content based on those commonly asked questions so you can better address your audience’s needs. A2: Nowadays, Google’s getting smarter and smarter – if you produce great content for people, its bots will follow suit#ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/0HuBwVNpyo — @AndreaTorti90 (@andreatorti90) June 27, 2017 Andrea is right. Google is getting a lot smarter and they do pick up on it when you create great content for your human audience. A2. Quality Value Audience = 1st. #contentwritingchat — Gabriela Cardoza (@CardozaGab) June 27, 2017 Gaby’s advice is to focus on providing quality, valuable content for your audience first and foremost. A2. I always write for my audience first. #SEO tweaks can be made afterward w/o compromising story. #contentwritingchat — Kristin Huntley (@seekristintweet) June 27, 2017 Kristin focuses on writing for her audience and makes SEO tweaks afterwards. A2 Robots don’t care about your content, your audience does. SEO is a stepping stone, not the end goal. #Contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/sK6Flouhju — HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) June 27, 2017 In the end, your audience is who really cares about the content you create. Always keep them in mind. Q3: The Google Keyword Planner only gives ranges for non-advertisers. How can we get more specifics? Our chat participants had some great advice for getting more specific information when it comes to keyword research. Here’s what they had to say: Q3: There are lots of tools. I’m partial to the Moz keyword planner tool. #contentwritingchat — Gini Dietrich (@ginidietrich) June 27, 2017 Gini likes using the Moz keyword planner, which is a favorite for many content creators. A3: There are other fish in the sea if you’re willing to pay. Moz, SEMrush, keywordtool.io & others are available. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/MBQ2MLwbGE — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 27, 2017 Sarah suggests looking towards some other tools for help. She recommends Moz, SEMrush, and keywordtool.io. A3: Big fan of using the @semrush tool to help identify keywords and @majesticseo to analyze backlinks/kw’s #contentwritingchat — Devin (@DevDawg) June 27, 2017 SEMrush and Majestic SEO are … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Language in Content with Tara Clapper

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#ContentWritingChat Recap: Language in Content with Tara Clapper

Are you ready to step-up your writing skills? In this #ContentWritingChat, we got technical by talking about language in content. We discussed the use of formal language, changes to style guides, the role an editor plays, and much more. #ContentWritingChat Recap: Language in Content with Tara Clapper Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, May 30th at 10 AM Central to chat with our Content Development Specialist, @irishtara! pic.twitter.com/6cW0sK8TFM — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) May 23, 2017 Our guest host this week was our very own Content Development Specialist, Tara Clapper. We were excited to have her join us and she shared some helpful advice you’ll be able to put to use when creating content of your very own. Let’s dive in! Q1: When should you use colloquial vs. formal language in your content? Colloquial vs. formal language. How do you know which one to use when creating content? Here are some tips from this week’s chat that will help you decide: A1: Use language that reaches your audience. Speak as they do! Make them feel loved, not talked down to. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/zrGkpQTo97 — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) May 30, 2017 This is great advice from Tara. She recommends using language that is going to reach your audience. You can speak like they do and make them feel loved and appreciated. It’s just one way to help you better connect with them. A1: You really want to consider the audience you’re writing for and the type of content you’re creating. #ContentWritingChat — Rachel (@redheadrachel) May 30, 2017 Not only do you want to consider your audience, but you also want to consider the type of content you’re creating. You might find that various content types require a different style of language in content. A1 Think about your audience first, then your goals, then decide which type of language will best resonate. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/sYsa7kGlck — Krystal Blais ? (@krystalblais) May 30, 2017 Krystal knows that it largely depends on who your audience is. When you know what will resonate with your audience, the decision is much easier. She also suggests considering the goals you’re trying to reach as well because the language you use can impact that. A1) I keep it formal in ads, but in regular content I make sure to use my informal, down-to-earth, humanizing voice #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/0TLnk7IciE — Jason Schemmel (@JasonSchemmel) May 30, 2017 For Jason, he likes to stick to formal language when creating ads. However, he’s more informal, down to earth, and humanizing in his regular content. Many choose to switch up their language depending on the type of content they’re producing. A1: In “marketing/sales” content, be more formal/professional. In your blog/SoMe interactions, talk like you would IRL.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/mOk89TeF5W — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) May 30, 2017 Sarah from ThinkSEM feels the same way. Marketing and sales content is more formal, but blogs and social media interactions are reflective of how you’d speak in real life. A1: Maybe it depends on the type of content but I find in our line of work, anything too formal will go over heads #contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/J0HYK4uohG — Sara Tetzloff (@que_sara) May 30, 2017 This is a great reason to consider what your audience is going to resonate with. For Sara, she’s noticed that anything too formal in her industry goes over the heads of her readers. You don’t want this to happen, so make sure you choose your language style wisely. Q2: Recently, AP formalized the use of the singular “they.” Should brand adopt trends before style guide changes? By now, many of us are pretty familiar with the AP Stylebook. They’re known to make changes with every new edition, but does that mean brands should adopt changes before they’re made official in the AP Stylebook? Here’s some advice: A2: Yes. Style guides change because of usage, not the other way around. Be in tune w/how your audience speaks. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) May 30, 2017 A2B: If you want to be seen as a progressive brand, you need to make those shifts fast. If traditional, you can wait. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) May 30, 2017 Tara said brands can absolutely adopt trends before style guide changes are made. As she said, those changes come about due to usage, which means people have already adopted them. It helps to be in tune with how your audience speaks. She also suggests adopting changes quickly if you want your brand to be seen as progressive. If your brand is more traditional, Tara feels you can wait. A2: I’d say brands should write how they want to write; not EVERYONE adheres strictly to a style guide.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/qa53EqidST — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) May 30, 2017 Sarah said brands should write however they want to write. Not everyone is going to adhere to the rules in a style guide, which is absolutely fine. You have to do what’s right for you. A2: Yes, because language evolves quickly: by the time the style guide changes, the language may move again. #ContentWritingChat — Jeremy Murphy (@jeremypmurphy) May 30, 2017 As Jeremy said, language evolves quickly. You never know what language trends people will have adopted by the time style guides are updated. A2 Adapting to newly formalized changes shows that you’re standing updated on trends – shows progress & education. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/K8AqIdzCqp — Farmore Marketing (@FarmoreInc) May 30, 2017 When you adopt new changes, it shows that you’re staying updated on the trends. Your audience will likely appreciate that! A2 Being on social means knowing about trends way before any formal guide catches up. Use your discretion and adapt #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/JrDTkVGH41 — HeyOrca! (@HeyOrca) May 30, 2017 Being on social media is one way to pick up on trends early on. You’ll likely notice a shift in language just by seeing how others are talking. Q3: What is a sensitivity edit? Should social media messages pass one? Have you heard of a sensitivity edit before? Do you think social media messages need to pass one? We asked … Read more

#ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Content That Builds Community & Generates Leads with Kathleen Burns

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#ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Content That Builds Community & Generates Leads with Kathleen Burns

Did you catch #ContentWritingChat this week? If not, there’s no need to worry! We have a recap of our latest chat and it’s filled with amazing tips to help you take your content to the next level. If you’re ready to learn how to create content that builds community and generates leads, keep reading! #ContentWritingChat Recap: How to Create Content That Builds Community & Generates Leads with Kathleen Burns Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, January 31st at 10 AM CST with @katbu! pic.twitter.com/AnoEdAtpm2 — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) January 24, 2017 For this week’s chat, we were joined by Kathleen Burns. Kathleen is the Community Manager the United States Blog Editor for our friends over at SEMrush. She joined us to share her tips on creating content that not only builds community for your brand, but also helps you generate leads. Q1: How can you create content that appeals to your audience? What steps do you need to take? One key element in creating successful content for your brand is appealing directly to the people you’re trying to reach. Without creating the content that speaks directly to them, you’re going to wind up attracting all the wrong people or worse… No one at all! Here’s what you need to know about creating content your audience will love: A1a: Talk and listen! Learn questions/issues by reading reviews, forums, blog comments. Develop reader personas! #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/XOhp0XjGw9 — Kathleen Burns (@katbu) January 31, 2017 A1b: Content must answer what’s in it for them. Talk about how you can address their pain points and get to it fast #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/tzgmuzKIcc — Kathleen Burns (@katbu) January 31, 2017 As Kathleen said, the first step in creating content that appeals to your audience is talking to them and listening to what they have to say. You can learn so much about the questions they have and the issues they’re facing by just asking them. Reviews, posts on online forums, and comments on your blog are also great sources of feedback from your audience. She recommends creating a reader persona so you know exactly who you’re writing for. It always helps to address your audience’s key pain points. Not only will they appreciate it, but it’s the best way to provide tremendous value to them. They’ll want to keep coming back for more and more after that. A1 ? Listen to your audience first! Just like in a real life relationship, you can’t get to know someone w/o listening. #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/6s5BpYdC0g — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) January 31, 2017 Julia agrees! Listening is key to getting to know your audience and understanding their needs. Treat it like a real life relationship and start making those connections through conversations and listening to what others have to say. A1 – Step one is always the same: Know your audience. I mean KNOW them. Know what they care about and motivates them #contentwritingchat — James Ellis (@thewarfortalent) January 31, 2017 James said step one is always to know your audience. Without truly knowing who you’re trying to reach with your content, you aren’t able to create the content that will speak to them. Get to know and understand your audience before you move forward with creating blog posts and social media content. A1a: Know your audience. What are they talking about, what have they liked of your content so far? #ContentWritingChat — Kristi Kenyon (@kkenyon86) January 31, 2017 Kristi agrees that knowing your audience is the first step to content creation. She suggests determining what they’re talking about, but also what they have liked of your content so far. For example, see what your most popular blog posts are because it’s likely a good indicator that your audience would love to see more content that’s similar. A1 Understand your audience, first and foremost. If you’re not learning their preferences and pain points, it’s like… #contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/NJHZ5r6w22 — Bill Skowronski (@BillSkowronski) January 31, 2017 Bill’s advice is to learn the preferences of your audience as well as their pain points. When you know they’re preferences, you can determine what content formats they like the most and which topics are their favorites. Understanding their pain points gives you the opportunity to solve their biggest struggles. A1 Understand your audience. That means get out and talk to them. Ask what they need, where they struggle and then serve #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/uh6AScoVuj — Cassandra Schwartz ⭐ (@MWestMillennial) January 31, 2017 Cassandra’s advice is spot on. If you want to get to know your audience, it helps to get out and actually talk to them. Strike up a conversation in your blog’s comments, on social media, or within your email newsletter. The options are endless. Figure out what they need and what they’re struggling with and then deliver exactly what they need. @ExpWriters A1: Understand their problems, desires, or wants. Know what they are looking for and answer how you can provide it #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/N2JMRjS5QA — Jacob Rouser (@J_Rouser) January 31, 2017 As Jacob said, you want to understand the problems, desires, and wants of your audience. Once you have that figured out, you can create the content they need the most. Q2: Why is it important to set goals for your content? Discuss goals to set for community building and lead generation. The content you create should always serve a purpose, whether it’s a blog post, a video, a podcast, or something else. In order to determine if you achieved what you set out to do, you need to set goals that you can actually measure and track. Here’s what some of the participants in Tuesday’s chat said about setting content goals: A2: Content goals provide direction and depth for content dev. Make it measurable. Define success. Align to biz goals #ContentWritingChat pic.twitter.com/7jWZA2j0CS — Kathleen Burns (@katbu) January 31, 2017 Kathleen said content goals provide direction and depth for content development. Here advice is to make your goals something measurable and define what a successful piece of content means for you. That could be … Read more

#ContentWritingChat May 17 2016 Recap: Key Ways to Promote Your Content After You Hit Publish

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#ContentWritingChat May 17 2016 Recap: Key Ways to Promote Your Content After You Hit Publish

If you missed #ContentWritingChat this week, grab a snack and catch up with the recap of our latest chat. We talked all about how to promote your content online for more exposure: there’s a lot to learn! #ContentWritingChat May 17 2016 Recap: Key Ways to Promote Your Content After You Hit Publish Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, May 17th at 10 AM CDT with guest host @Siddharth87! pic.twitter.com/MNnlbAQRxE — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) May 10, 2016 This week, our guest host was Sid Bharath. Sid is a writer, contributor to Content Marketing Institute, and the VP of Growth at Thinkific. To check out his insights on content promotion, keep reading for loads of great tips from the chat! Q1: How can you encourage your audience to share your newly published posts? So, you’ve written a brand new blog post and you’re pretty proud of it. Now the question remains: how do you get your audience to share it? Basically, good quality content + make it really easy to share = more shares! #contentwritingchat @writingchat — Siddharth Bharath (@Siddharth87) May 17, 2016 Our guest host, Sid, knows the formula for shareworthy content! Create good, quality content and make it easy for your audience to share. A1) Step one – write share-worthy content – then let people know it exists thru social, email, forums, etc #ContentWritingChat — David Boutin (@dmboutin) May 17, 2016 David is spot-on with his answer! If you want people to share your content, you need to write shareworthy content in the first place. Don’t forget to promote your own work through various channels including social media, emails, and forums. A1 Start by sharing it yourself! On all platforms w/ a great visual. Email a list who signed up to get your blog updates #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) May 17, 2016 Our CEO, Julia, was on the same page as David. She also mentioned sharing your content yourself. After all, how can you expect someone to find your work if you aren’t sharing it? A1: Engage with your audience. Care about them. Then ASK them to promote! 🙂 #ContentWritingChat #Teamwork pic.twitter.com/yd2pqxF7Of — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) May 17, 2016 Tara knows the importance of engagement! It makes a huge difference when you take the time to just talk to your audience. Once you’ve developed a relationship with them, asking them to share becomes so much easier. A1: If it’s great/relevant/useful content, hopefully they won’t need further encouragement 🙂 #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/m0WTlV4aCV — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) May 17, 2016 First and foremost, you need to focus on providing value to your audience through your content. As Sarah from Think SEM said, if you’re publishing great content, your audience will want to share it. A1: It starts with learning about your audience. Find out what they want to read and then they will want to share it. #ContentWritingChat — Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) May 17, 2016 A1: Know your audience and know what they want to read. Your audience will share your content if it’s content they want. #ContentWritingChat — Elexicon (@Elexicon) May 17, 2016 To ensure you’re providing your audience with great content, you need to get the know them. Who are you writing for? What are they interested in? How can you help them and solve their problems with your content? When you give your audience the content they want, they’ll certainly want to spread the word. A1. Producing great content in the first place. But a little “please share” doesn’t hurt. #ContentWritingChat — Brittany Brander (@BrittanyBrander) May 17, 2016 Brittany knows that asking your audience to share your content never hurts. Saying “please” helps too, right? A1b) Make it easy to share! Share buttons and “Tweet this” functionality is a must! #ContentWritingChat — Tim Fawkes (@Tim_Fawkes) May 17, 2016 Don’t forget! If you want your audience to share your newest blog post, you need to make it easy for them to share. It should never be a hassle for someone to share your post to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Include social sharing buttons on your blog posts and even the Click to Tweet plugin. You’re sure to see an increase in shares! Q2: What are key ways to engage with people who are sharing your posts on social media? Do you take the time to respond to the people sharing your content on social media? You should! Here’s what you should do: A2: A personal outreach/thank-you note goes a long way! #ContentWritingChat @writingchat — Siddharth Bharath (@Siddharth87) May 17, 2016 A2b: For a more valuable interaction, ask them what they liked about it. That will give you ideas for future posts #ContentWritingChat — Siddharth Bharath (@Siddharth87) May 17, 2016 If someone shares your content, say thanks! Sid also recommends following-up to ask what that person thought of your content. It’s a great way to spark a conversation and get their thoughts. A2. Say thanks! And return the favor by sharing their content too. #contentwritingchat — Kristen Dunleavy (@KristenWritesIt) May 17, 2016 A2) Gratitude goes a long way. Be sure to thank them for sharing & reciprocate by sharing their content. #contentwritingchat — Pamela Muldoon (@pamelamuldoon) May 17, 2016 A simple “thank you” goes a long way to show someone you appreciate the share. Even better? Share their content too if it’s great and fits with your audience’s interests. A2: Keep It Simple — thank them! Then, I like to ask them what they liked most about it. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/yyUT7sUjqZ — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) May 17, 2016 A2 Thank them for sharing your content and ask them follow-on questions about it. #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/1VGfGJFDCO — Erika Heald (@SFerika) May 17, 2016 Sarah and Erika agree in sending over a quick thanks to anyone who shares your content. To encourage a conversation, ask the person who shared your content what he/she liked the most about it. It’s a great way to get direct feedback from your audience. A2. I’ve always like a simple “Thanks for sharing!” tweet or comment. It’s a good start to … Read more

Is The Amount of Content Plagiarism on the Web Embarrassing?

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Is The Amount of Content Plagiarism on the Web Embarrassing?

Some say he was drawing on intellectual tradition. Some say he was a plagiarist. Others just call him Thomas Jefferson. Hang on a minute. Did we just call Jefferson a plagiarist? Maybe a little. There was a man named John Locke, and it’s said that Jefferson copied directly from it for the Declaration of Independence. (Check out the reasoning behind this claim here). This meme sums up how most of us would probably feel regarding this claim: Does plagiarism go back that far? Has it gotten worse in the age of all things digital? Content Plagiarism of Olde: Let’s Take a Little Peek Content plagiarism didn’t suddenly begin when the Internet happened. A poet in 80 A.D., Martial, wrote some poetry aimed at a plagiarist that was copying his work. The original word he used, a Latin word plagiarus, described his unnamed thief – and was the formulation of today’s word, plagiarism. Interestingly enough, the word originally meant to kidnap. Yikes, Martial was pretty angry at the copier of his poetry – but hey, I totally get his anger. But before and after Martial’s age, it was common practice to copy off other people, even in writing complete history books, with little repercussions. It is said that Benjamin Franklin plagiarized entire volumes. (Whoa, dude!) Jefferson reportedly stole from John Locke to create the Declaration of Independence. Shakespeare even swiped entire plot scenarios from others. He took entire whole phrases from Plutarch and copied them in his play Antony and Cleopatra. But, some have stolen from Shakespeare, too (the famous early author, T.S. Eliot). So as you can see, it’s actually “olde practice” to copy off others. But not all olde practices are good practices, especially this one. In the 18th century, originality really started becoming an idea, or a thing. In 1755 the word plagiary was added to Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, defining a plagiarist as a thief in literature.  More recently, there was a plagiarism fiasco that went on at the widely Internet-famous BuzzFeed. It was related to some crappy content going out (never put out crappy content, folks). Do you remember the controversy of that Washington Post live chat where Gene Weingarten held forth on that Benny Johnson plagiarism scandal that happened at Buzzfeed? To jog your memory: Johnson took full lines from sources that ranged from Wikipedia to Yahoo! Answers. That plagiarized content was then used for some rather bottom-of-the-barrel posts. What Weingarten had to say about this was “…to be guilty of theft one must steal something of value.” You can find the full, hilarious opinion here. Is It Merely About Repackaging? Let me put this to you: one man’s treasure is another man’s trash. Of course, using direct quotes without the right citations or marks is indefensible. But is there anything inherently evil about repackaging another person’s ideas in a way that resonates a little more loudly with audiences? I mean, isn’t this a variation of the entire model used by some of the biggest Internet platforms, from Pinterest to Facebook? Let’s Talk Content Attribution Attribution. This is where the problem lies. The bad thing about the Internet is that it’s just too easy to steal stuff. The good thing about the Internet is that it’s just so easy to link to the primary source. This was probably the biggest crime in Benny Johnson’s piece – there was a lack of quotation marks in some of the direct quotes, but had he included a link to the source, it would’ve been more acceptable. The entire practice of linking is a service for both terrible and good content. It gives the original writer their credit or alerts readers to a questionable source when content isn’t up to par. What about Content Originality? Did you know there’s an unwritten rule in advertising – you can steal from a book, movie or anything else so long as you don’t steal from another ad. The principle here makes a fair point. Originality sells. Finding that smidgeon of reality that is appropriate to your client and their product is basically advertising’s holy grail. But hasn’t the Internet gone and changed what we perceive to be wholly original to a more widespread, collaborative type of originality? While the World Wide Web had transformed our view of “originality,” it’s also made it a lot easier to plagiarize and even detect plagiarism. So you can go and, um, ‘borrow’ ideas from ads. Or you can use the Internet to check you’re not unintentionally ripping someone else’s ideas off. Does That Make Every One Of Us A Copy Plagiarist? Doesn’t that seem like a level playing field then? Or have we all become plagiarists? Or, gasp, have we always been? A lot of teachers view plagiarism as a clear cut issue. They bring it up when you’re starting out a research paper, discuss it during, maybe, one period, and never come back to it, unless a student is caught copying. Teachers warn us not to copy or there will be consequences. They tell us to present detailed citation guides; they teach us how to quote, summarize and paraphrase. Then the onus is on us to use these techniques properly. But It’s All Right There – Online – Staring At Me In an age when students can gravitate to online sources for their research, and when copious amounts of both questionable and reputable information is available – many people have come to regard the Internet as a culprit in plagiarism. Some teachers will even go so far as to forbid their students from doing research online, mistakenly believing that if they use hard-copy sources only, the problem will go away. Can We Completely Blame The Internet? Many a commentator blames the easy accessibility of the plethora of information online as the main cause of student plagiarism. Sue Carter Simmons, a researcher, dispelled this myth, though. She has shown that we have been plagiarizing since the 19th century. In fact, a 1986 survey of high school students – a time long before the Internet was a cultural phenomenon, confirmed this finding: as … Read more

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