Naked Writing | Aqua Vita | Page 2

1.05.2010
Naked Writing

Four Unbreakable Social Media Rules

Published by Michelle Pierce under Naked Writing

1. Thou shalt be active.

In social media, you have to establish yourself as part of the community. Don’t just set up an account, make a couple of status updates or send a couple of tweets, and then decide that it’s not working. Social media marketing is not a magic bullet (nothing is). It takes time, and the most popular people online have been doing it for years.

Look at it as an investment. You’re investing in a community that will give you more informal access to your customers, to their hopes and dreams and disappointments. You can find out what they love and what they hate about you. It is easier than EVER to get feedback from people on how you’re doing, so that you can make your company into everything that your ideal customer would want.

Once you’re doing that, you can transform casual customers into hardcore fans. And hardcore fans are the ones who pimp you out to everybody they know.

2. Thou shalt be transparent—but not too transparent.

If you’re balancing work and personal stuff on sites like Twitter and Facebook, go for the 80/20 rule: 80 percent professional, 20 percent personal. That’s just enough to make people feel like they “know” you without giving up a ton of your privacy. And remember: people are more likely to buy from people they know than from people they don’t know.

Also, unless you’re plugging the awesome deli on the corner where you just had lunch, nobody cares about what kind of sandwich you’re eating. Even your personal posts need to have some guidelines.

3. Thou shalt not worry about making somebody angry.

Participating in any kind of back-and-forth with dozens—or hundreds—of anonymous people will eventually result in somebody getting ticked off. People don’t agree on everything. Heck, I can’t even get three people to agree on a radio station in my car. Just accept that sometimes, especially when you’re expressing an opinion, somebody’s going to take offense.

The only way to stop it is to make everything you write so utterly bland and flavorless that nobody would read it long enough to agree with you. And in social media, that’s more often worse than making people angry.

I’m not saying that you need to be deliberately antagonistic when you’re writing a post, or a Twitter update, or a bulletin. Just don’t completely neuter your point of view.

4. Thou shalt not post when angry.

And when somebody does get angry, as we discussed above, remember this rule. Never post when you’re angry. Don’t comment, don’t send an email, don’t interact with anybody. It’s so easy to spout off online when you’re angry, and engaging in a flame war will have very real, detrimental effects to both you and your business if you’re not careful.

Take some time to cool off before you post. Step away from the computer. Take a walk. Get some other work done. Eat some chocolate. Just make sure that you have to have control of yourself before you sit back down at the keyboard.

The thing to remember about the online world is that nobody has the benefit of hearing the tone or seeing the body language behind the words, and everything you do reflects on your company. Everything.

A poor reaction could cost you business. However, if you handle negative posts properly, you’ll earn a lot of esteem and respect in your community for doing so.

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Picture by dullhunk

12.23.2009
Naked Writing, TGIF

Brand Identities, Bunnies, Moms, and Coffee – A Collection of Posts

Published by Michelle Pierce under Naked Writing, TGIF

We’re a grand total of two days away from Christmas (Have you finished your shopping/wrapping? Because I sure haven’t. Oh no.), and while we’re preparing for the holidays, I thought I would share some of the posts I’ve found in the past few days that have really made me think. Or smile. Or in one particular case, laugh until tea shot out my nose. (I don’t recommend that.)

On Dying, Mothers, and Fighting for Your Ideas – This personal, moving post from Jonathan Morrow talks about his mother’s determination to keep him alive when a doctor told her that he wouldn’t live to see his second birthday. I walked away from the post with a wide-eyed admiration for his mother and her resolve, and a new appreciation for how hard Jonathan has worked to get to where he is.

Sometimes, All You Need Is A Pile Of Bunnies – BUNNIES! Bunnies are cute, and fluffy, and the object of the most adorable marketing lesson I’ve seen all month. This comes from Naomi Dunford over at IttyBiz, adding yet another cool marketing lesson to her entire repertoire of cool marketing lessons. And it does make you think: What assets do I have that I can use? And how can I use them in a way that will catch people’s eyes? And most importantly, will it involve adorable fluffy bunnies?

The Best and Worst Identities of 2009 – This is the only best/worst link on the list, I promise. Logo design has fascinated me ever since I sat down and saw how our designer works on logos, from beginning concept to final execution. The list (from Brand New) counts down the top 12 best and worst logo designs of this year, from corporate rebrandings to new companies just emerging. Not to mention some of the featured comments on the logos are pretty funny.

In Search of Customer Intimacy – Seth Godin has a way of consistently posting thought-provoking blog posts, and though this one is short, it does make you think. You hear so much nowadays about social media and relationship marketing, and it seems some companies only know that they need to get into those things without considering what they need to get out of them. Read this and ask yourself: what is real customer intimacy?

And on a completely random note:

15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee – Who doesn’t love coffee? (Actually, I don’t. Our esteemed owner/technical director has made it his life’s mini-mission to get me to actually like the stuff. I’ll stick with my tea, thank you.) However, I do love this brief illustrated history of coffee, which includes the world’s easiest-to-understand guide to how caffeine works. How cool is that?

That’s it for me. You all have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

12.08.2009
Naked Writing

Four More Writing Mistakes You Shouldn't Make

Published by Michelle Pierce under Naked Writing

This is not the first time I’ve touched on this subject, and I doubt it’ll be the last. Here are four more writing mistakes you should avoid:

Peak/Peek/Pique

A pet peeve of mine is when I see people use the phrase “peak my interest” or “peek my interest.” It’s “pique,” dammit.

“Peak” is a noun, and means the highest point of something, like “mountain peak” or “peak traffic time” or “peak oil prices.”
Writing Mistakes
“Peek” is a verb that means “to look quickly.” For example: “Go on, take a peek.”

“Pique” is a verb that means to provoke, excite, or wound (especially pride or vanity, in the case of the third). Since the phrase “pique my interest” means that your interest has been provoked, this is the homophone you use.

Cue/Queue

I don’t know why everybody has suddenly started using “queue” in place of “cue.”

“Queue” is a noun that means a waiting line. That list of movies in your Netflix account that you have waiting to come home? That’s a queue. When you get in line at the grocery store? You’re “queuing up.” (That’s the only time it’s used as a verb.)

When you set the music to come on at a certain time? That’s “cuing” it. When you forget to come out on stage at the appropriate time? You’ve missed your “cue.”

Yes, I know that “queue” is much more fun to spell, but unless you’re talking about a waiting line of some sort, you’re probably misusing it.

Rein/Reign

I know I’m getting tired when I’m typing and I can’t tell the difference between “rein” and “reign.” It takes a lot longer than I’d like to admit to remember which one I’m supposed to use.

“Reins” are the ropes that you tie on to the bridle of a horse. As a verb, it means “to curb or restrain.” When you need to pull something back, you “rein it in.”

A reign is the rule of a king or queen, and as a verb, it means to have power or sovereignty. So, if you’ve got a maniacal monarch running rampant over his people, well, his “reign” will not be remembered with much fondness.

Past/Passed

Like the “rein/reign” conundrum, this is one that throws me for a loop when I’ve been staring at the computer screen for four hours and I can feel my brain slowly shutting down.

“Passed” is the past tense of “pass.” For example:

“He passed the football.”
“She passed the class with flying colors.”
“She got in trouble because she passed notes in class.”

“Past” means that something has already happened, “to go by,” or “beyond.” So, you have:

“That week sucked, but it’s all in the past.”
“They walked past the house.”
“We are past all hope.”

Remember: When all else fails, Dictionary.com can be your very best friend.

Got any grammar/spelling/writing questions? Send ‘em my way! Or, sign up for our RSS feed to get fresh, piping hot blog posts sent directly to you every time we update.

Picture by Niccolò Caranti

11.10.2009
Naked Writing

So You Want to Be a Web Slinger

Published by Michelle Pierce under Naked Writing

So you’ve finally realized just how darn beneficial the web would be for your business. Now the biggest question: how on earth do you get started?

HAHA! Worry not, my friends. Here are a few useful things to know to help you make the most of your site.

Getting started with design

Design is the part of the site you see, so you assume that’s where you should start, right?

Well, not exactly. Design is the shiny part, but you need to know the content of the site before you ever commence with design.

Now, by “content,” we don’t mean every single word of copy that will grace the pages. By content, we mean you have to have these questions answered:

Who will be reading your site? What do they expect?
What information do you want to convey there?
What do you want it to do? (Do you actually make sales on the site? Do you want to encourage prospects to call you? Are you an informational resource?)
What kind of mood do you want on your site?

These questions will influence the design, the colors, and the structure of your site, and the answers will ensure that you appeal to your audience/demographic/prospects/pick your term. That which intrigues middle-aged engineers is far different from what will appeal to teenage girls starting their first year in college.

Don’t forget browser compatibility! Not everybody uses Firefox (and much to my surprise, some people actually hate it! *mind is boggled*), and that which looks beautiful in Internet Explorer can break when viewed in Safari.

For the record, here’s the breakdown of browsers that people use to view our site:

Firefox: 57%
Internet Explorer: 21%
Safari: 17%
Chrome: 3%

If we only made sure our site was compatible with Firefox, nearly half our visitors would be unable to view it properly. And that? That’s no good.

You must make sure that your site will look great, no matter where your visitors are viewing it.

Creating content – research, research, research

I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge fan of keywords. However, you can’t argue with their effectiveness. Research what terms people are using to search in your niche. Try every possible combination that you can think of. (Use Google’s Keyword Tool for some help there.)

Once you’ve done that, pick one or two keywords and incorporate them into your title tags, h1 tags, content, and META description to aid in search engine optimization.

When it comes to home page content, PLEASE, avoid “happy talk”(to paraphrase Steve Krug). These are words that the visitors’ eyes glaze over, stuff like “Hi! Welcome to our site!” Tell people what you do. Identify the problem that you solve immediately, so they know that they’re in the right place. (If you are not a good writer, hire one.)

Tools Every Webmaster Should Use

Here are some tools that help you make sure that search engines can read your site (and that your visitors don’t see a mess in their browser):

XML Sitemap: No, this isn’t that page you have that outlines your site for visitors. This is an XML page that outlines your site for search engines. You can get one from Google, and it’s just a little HTML file that you drop in your main site folder.

WC3 Validation: They have tools to do both XHTML and CSS validation. This will scan your site and let you know where you have errors, which can trip up browsers and search engines trying to read your site. That way, you can fix them!

Google Webmaster Tools: I love this because it tells you where there are 404 errors on your site. That way, you can fix them and ensure that all the incoming links on your site are going to regular pages, not a 404 error. It also has a list of outgoing links and incoming links, so you can see where people are linking to you.

Google Analytics: There are other analytics tools out there, but this one is free, and gives you most of the statistics you need to gauge the effectiveness of your site. Find out where visitors are coming from, which pages of your site they’re landing on, and where they’re leaving.

What’s your advice for people getting started online? Answer in the comments!

Need some help with your website? Have questions? We’re here for you. Click here to contact us.

11.03.2009
Naked Writing

Michelle's 30-Second Guide to Possessives

Published by Michelle Pierce under Naked Writing

Last time we discussed the ever-elusive apostrophe, I kept it short and sweet, touching on the most common rules that we run in to while writing. However, when it comes to making possessives, it’s a little more complicated than adding “apostrophe + s.”

Never fear, though. Here at Aqua Vita, we’re all about clear communication and making the rules easy to remember.

So, here’s how you handle possessive nouns:

Singular possessives are pretty easy. Just add an apostrophe and “s.” For example: Michelle’s glass, Jack’s computer, the dog’s tail, the waitress’s table.
For plural possessives that end in “s,” you just add an apostrophe at the end. For example: the churches’ vans, the students’ bags, the teachers’ break room.
For plural possessives that do not end in “s,” you add an apostrophe and “s.” For example: women’s shoes, men’s clothing, the children’s playground.

Easy enough so far, right? Now it gets a little trickier:

If two or more nouns share the possession of something, then you only need to make one of the nouns possessive. For example, say Jack and Jill share a pail of water. You would write “Jack and Jill’s pail.” You always make the last noun the possessive one.
By contrast, if Jack and Jill each owned a pail, then you would make both nouns possessive, like so: “Jack’s and Jill’s pails.”

Well, maybe not that much trickier.

Anyway, what about all those names that end in “s”? Like James or Williams or Achilles or Xerxes? (I’m quite impressed if you’re writing about Achilles or Xerxes, by the way.)

Those are what the trusty AP Stylebook calls “Singular Proper Nouns that End in S.” (Sounds fancy, doesn’t it?) For these words, you just add an apostrophe on the end. For example, Charles Dickens’ books, Xerxes’ army, Achilles’ tendon.

So, here’s the summary:

Singular possessive nouns: Add apostrophe + s.
Plural nouns ending in “s”: Add an apostrophe.
Plural nouns that don’t end in “s”: Add apostrophe + s.
When there’s joint ownership between two or more nouns, the last one in the list gets the apostrophe + s.
When there’s a list of two or more nouns that own something individually, then you make each of them possessive.
For “Singular Proper Nouns that End in S,” you just tack an apostrophe on the end.

Got any other grammar questions? Ask them in the comments, or just click here to shoot me an email.

Picture by todd*