Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Why You Must Make It Personal
Part 1 of 2
Last week, Rachelle did a three-part series on what writers, publishers and agents can learn from Kodak’s failure to stay out of bankruptcy. One of her posts was on the importance of knowing your content consumer (reader).
I’d been thinking about our readers as well. What prompted my thoughts wasn’t Kodak but a featured item on PBS News Hour. The feature showcased Jessica Beinecke, a 25-year-old Voice of America journalist who has become a sensation among young, mainland Chinese by creating, from her apartment after work and using her webcam, a show in which she teaches American slang. Seven months after her show’s debut, it has more than 7 million hits on Youku, the Chinese equivalent to YouTube.
What can Jessica teach us about connecting with our readers? Ponder how to apply that question to your “content consumers” as you read on:
- Interaction is a must. Every day Jessica receives hundreds of suggestions from her fans for topics to cover. She, in essence, let’s them dictate her content rather than deciding what her audience might like to know about American slang. Viewers not only submit ideas but they also shoot their own videos to interact with her–and thereby submit questions and practice their English. Imagine how excited her a viewer is to discover his or her question is being answered or the video that person created is being shown. They feel like participants, like co-creators.
- The connection is about so much more than content. If you followed the link to watch a part of Jessica’s shows, you’ll see that she makes sure viewers are being entertained while they learn. As the PBS report points out, she uses a highly dramatic, upbeat and engaging way to communicate what a slang term such as “road rage” means.
- What she has to offer is not readily available. Her Chinese fans state that they can’t pick up an English-language textbook and learn how an American might use a word such as “jiggly.” Jessica will point to her jiggly underarm to demonstrate the phrase. So she is meeting a need yet doing so in a personal, fun way.
What can we learn about connecting with our readers from Jessica? Here are a few of my thoughts:
- Be personal. Most Chinese learn English in classes that aren’t interactive and are taught using one technique: rote. Up steps Jessica, who is using gestures and facial expressions she learned from her girlfriends when she lived in China. She acts out situations and uses self-deprecating humor. As authors today, your readers want to not only read your words, but they also want to know you. And fortunately many tools are at hand for you to use, with more being created every year. The obvious ones are Facebook, Twitter and your e-newsletter. But what about Pinterest? Or Google Circle? Explore new connectivity possibilities, always thinking about them as tools of your trade rather than just another new-fangled technology device you have to learn.
- Be fresh. Jessica’s idea started as a regular part of the Voice of America platform, but she decided to think outside the box of standard broadcasting. Using her imagination, she creating a link to younger Chinese through technology they employ to connect with their friends. She didn’t need any fancy new equipment, just a new way to see her audience and how to personalize what they already were engaged in–learning English. What points of commonality do you have with your readers? How can you use those “bridges” to engage your readers in you and your content?
What’s your response to translating Jessica’s techniques to being an author? Can you over-connect with your readers? If so, how? What barriers keep you from employing these concepts?
Janet, I needed this today. I just finished reading Steve Laube’s blog about what agents look for in an author blog–and honestly it discouraged me. I’ve been using social media for four years, and as soon as I’m doing one thing right, the rules change, and it feels as if all of the hard work I’ve done gets wiped out. (Facebook profile vs. page!)
Plus, some of the figures are just unrealistic for any aspiring author to achieve. Maybe a few can reach those numbers, but the majority won’t.
So, I took my dog out and soaked the sunshine in, and realized why I’m frustrated. I WANT to connect to people. That’s my main goal. A few good friends convinced me to start vlogging, which is a LOT of fun! My first vlog went live today. I hope aspiring authors don’t get discouraged by “numbers” and “shoulds” but instead, find ways to enjoy social media. Our numbers naturally increase when we’re being authentic.
Jill, what a great example of *really* connecting with readers. If the goal is *only* to get numbers, the writer becomes so driven by that aim that he/she forgets readers are pretty intuitive about an authentic connection vs. a product-oriented connection. I’m eager to hear how the vlogging goes for you!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Janet. So much of my journey in social media has been about taking chances and trying new things. I don’t succeed at all of them. Some things I completely drop the ball on! But I’m a typical writer–I just pick myself up and keep trying.
Jill: You’re a natural-born encourager! 🙂
(And I’m sending you over an “encouraging” hug! (((Hug!))) Do you feel the love?
Ooo, I’m taking that hug, Cynthia! Here’s one right back at you!
Jill, I read that same blog earlier this morning and had those same feelings of discouragement. As someone who works full time, I’m hard pressed to fit in my writing time let alone more time for social media. I shudder to think what my Klout score is. 😉
Hugs. I’m off to check out your VLog. I did one last year to post my Genesis thanks. It was fun.
Mary, I hear you. Frankly, Klout stands for everything I’m against. It rewards people with more “Klout” for promoting “Klout.” Eww. Even if it didn’t, I left my popularity contest days behind me long ago. Yes, I could dump everyone I follow on Twitter to get a better Klout score, but that’s kind of like ditching my friends to look cool. No thanks!
🙂
Great post, Janet. I have to admit, the weeks I don’t make it out here I am not as inspired as during those weeks I do.
I watched the link to that interview with Jessica. Loved the road rage spot. I also stopped by to watch Jill’s first vlog. I love these things. I’ve been wanting to do them, but haven’t gotten there yet. The first thing that came to mind when reading your post is blog content. As authors we can’t make our blogs about us all the time. They are about providing fresh content that engages our readers.
I’m not sure if you can over-connect with readers, but I suppose if you allow feedback from others to move your original purpose away from what you feel God intends, that would be something you wish to avoid.
Being a technology dummy has made things challenging for me. I really need to get my hands around a technology product or software before feeling comfortable using it, so sometimes I am slow out of the gate.
I look forward to more this week. I could use the inspiration to keep moving along.
Cheryl, I was really touched that you took the time out to stop by and check out my vlog. When I start thinking about what I should do, I get stuffy and uninspired. Lately, I’m focusing more on who I am and what I’m about (not stuffy!). I really like the header of your website. It told me so much about who you are and what you write!
Cheryl, while I don’t think we should move outside our zone of who we are, we need to let our readers shape *how* we present our message. For example, if you post a blog, and you have an idea you want to communicate, but the comments turn lively and take a turn you didn’t expect, go with the flow! You commenters are telling you that your blog got them to thinking–just not in the way you expected. Tomorrow in my blog I write more about how our readers can help to shape what we create.
I’m in fundraising and one of our old adages is: If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice. People love to have that connection and opportunity to give input.
That’s a funny adage, Sarah, but makes so much sense.
I love connecting with readers! My favorites are Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. I also do LIVE video events through my website. You can see some of my recorded ones here:
http://www.vokle.com/series/15388-tricia-goyer-virtual-book-club-chat
One thing I want to mention is that sometimes these interacts are 1-sided, but don’t get discouraged. For example, my blogs may only have four comments but when I check 400 people have read it.
Just continue to share yourself and connect and you’ll see the results little by little.
The one-sided conversation is such a good point, Tricia. The percent of readers you hear from is really low. I used to look at people’s websites and think they didn’t have many readers because of so few comments. But since then I’ve learned to check on readership online. (As anyone can do, so it’s good to be accurate when you state how many readers you; that number is verifiable.)
There’s a lot of good stuff here!
There’s an old adage: Content is King.
In social media, the new king is connection. If you don’t have that, your content doesn’t matter. Sure you need to have some reason for the connection but I see a lot of authors shoveling content because somebody told them they need to be consistent, write good stuff every few days, and make sure you have bigger and bigger numbers.
Yeah. Not so much.
You can push content all day and get no where. Pay attention to the connections and the rest will flow.
The King is dead.
Long live the King.
Nathan, well said. But here’s another equation to think about: connection – content= disconnection. It really does need to be both, doesn’t it?
No. I think that’s a myth.
The channel has to allow for two-way connection and that’s a big responsibility that a lot of people foist off by “providing quality content” instead. It’s like “maybe they won’t know that I really don’t care about them if I just give them a cookie.”
When you talk to your child/sibling/significant other, are you thinking about “content” or are you thinking about connecting with the kid/sib/person?
Sure there has to be something to talk about, but that’s not necessarily “content.” Particularly not the way most people are defining it in social media marketing circles.
Just my opinion. It’s worked well for me but might not be the right answer for everybody.
Right now I use FB and Twitter to stay in touch with writer friends. I guess one thing I should be doing is using them more to reach out as a reader to other readers. That’s something for me to ponder.
I have to add that as a reader, I find myself put off by people using social media to push their products when they clearly have no interest in interacting. It’s usually not hard to figure out who is genuinely interested and who is not.
Mary, you’ve hit on something when you say consider reaching out to readers as a reader yourself. If you ask yourself what you, as a reader, would like to “hear” from an author, I think that’s a good way to inform what you’d like to offer.
And writers can so enjoy connecting with each other (it is a lonely job, this writing thin), they need to break away from that to connect with their readers–some of which are writers, but most of them aren’t.
I hope that people realize I care when I respond to their posts or put something up on my blog. If you care, I think it is easier for the reader to connect. Have a blessed day.