Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

LittleTwitter, Big Boost to Job Search, New-Business Development, Networking

Twitter started out as a micro blog.  In 140-characters or less we were supposed to connect.  Now, the social network is so multi-dimensional that it has hired Edelman Public Relations to educate users about its functions.  Also, a cottage industry has emerged to coach about using Twitter as a private network, a search tool, and to break news.

So, if you haven't made Twitter useful to you yet, you are not alone. And if you're discouraged that you don't have a million followers, be aware that doesn't matter.   All that does matter is your ROE, that is, your Return on Engagement.

One bit of ROE you might be missing is in your search for a job, new business, and/or networking. 

How you leverage Twitter is to front-load the keywords such as "General Mills," "David Caruso," or "mobile apps" in your message. This is the same approach you would normally use in search engine optimization [SEO].  Here is my article on SEO which has received more than a million downloads.  And, here is my update on that which has been published on INDIE READER and picked up by Huffington Post.

Just about every organization and most well-known individuals monitor what's being said about them on the web.  At the very least they use Google Alerts.  General Mills, David Caruso, and those needing help with mobile apps are likely to know you're there, read your message, and maybe even begin following you. 

Although the micro-blog limits the message to 140-characters, more and more tweets have become long-form.  That's accomplished through pasting in a link to all that additional text.  Before you paste in, you go to bit.ly which shortens the link.  It's a free service.  Then you copy that shortened message and paste it into your tweet.

Regret: Every generation of writers has 'em

The hangover from the intoxicating Counterculture movement settled in with the recession in the early 1970s.  That was the first time we writers felt that emotion which would become professionally familiar: regret.  On the campus of the University of Michigan we trusty reporters for the alternate newspapers had derided those at the business school.   Now we got it that they were driving off to well-paying secure jobs at Ford, GM, AMC, and Chrysler. 

Then the economy bounced back and we felt smug again about embracing the noble profession of words.  Corporate America, it turned out, needed us to tell its story.  I did wind up at Chrysler, after all.  I was laboring in the vineyards of capitalism as a speechwriter-ghostwriter for Lee Iacocca, Steve Miller, and Chris Steffen.  They all went on to be very wealthy but that isn't what bothered this writer.  What gnawed at me was how lawyers could be such game-changers.  That act wasn't selfless since they acquired fame and fortune as they did good.

This time I caved to professional lust.  I threw in the towel on writing and hightailed it to Harvard Law School.  Regret disappeared in the face of how much detailed analysis legal reasoning required.  I hightailed it back to writing.  So traumatic was that experience that I have invested the past six years in building a regulatory, legislative, litigation blog http://lawandmore.typepad.com.  It has succeeded, whereas my flirtation with a legal career just brought sorrow and shame.  [The blog is housed at the Library of Congress Download LibraryofCongress].

Now, no question, regret has again grabbed many writers by the throat.  We know we should have become engineers.  FAST COMPANY's amazing article in its November issue hammers how the engineers are recreating the world in digital form.  The title of the article by Farhad Manjoo is "The Great Tech War of 2012."  It deconstructs which of the titans - Amazon, Apple, Google, or Facebook - could emerge the leader of high-tech innovation.  We can't console ourselves that Steve Jobs was a design guy with talent for marketing.  Steve Jobs was a genius.  Few of us are.

There will be some writers, weary of the glut which is eating our souls, who hightail it to obtain an engineering degree or teach themselves.  Most of us will immerse ourselves in developments in high-tech and attempt to become a player through our ability to connect the dots as well as get attention through language - and increasingly graphics.

Does it help to recognize that I do run into businesspeople and lawyers who have made career changes? They migrated to teaching, and, yes, writing.  Will engineers also come to long for some kind of other professional journey?  Time will tell.  Meanwhile, I take in the wisdom of my Buddha teacher who tells us that discontent is wired into the human condition and that's a source of supreme suffering.

FAST COMPANY's 4 Covers: Predicted winner of 2012 tech war

Each of the four different covers for the November issue of FAST COMPANY features either Apple, Facebook, Google or Amazon, with the  prediction that that player will win the 2012 tech war.  Inside is a major article presenting the pros and cons about the potential of each of them to become the next Steve Jobs.  Of course, soon winning won't be framed any more in the context of Jobs.  The high tech industry moves too quickly for anyone or any legacy to characterize the game, at least not for too long.  The Jobs Way will fade, just as the Welch Way has in corporate strategy and execution.

One of the important frontiers is television.  So far, none of them has managed to reconfigure this lucrative medium for delivery through  Facebook or Google.  When that happens, it will be a disruptive force across the television business.  The future of companies such as Nielsen, a global information and measurement organization, could be grim.  Facebook, for example, is already a genius at capturing data.  Nielsen would have little reason for continuing to exist.  Also interactivity built right into the programming versus adding it on through tweeting by audiences could transform what was known as "television" into a totally high-tech entertainment experience.

From the clash of the four titans could come, the article predicts, the wipe-out of industries and specific companies.  For example, handling a promotional campaign right on Facebook could deep-six much of the advertising industry.  "Mad Men" would truly be about an anachronism.  Can Wal-Mart or even design-savvy Target stand up against how Apple et al. will reconfigure shopping?  The Apple Store has already created a fresh model for how people make purchasing decisions.

The dynamics of high tech can become a more compelling story than that of Campaign 2012.  Or that political saga could be primarily framed through how it is being told through digital mediums.

Hardcover, paperback books: Sales down 18% in 2011

The traditional book industry is in disarray.  According to the Association of American Publishers, reports MEDIABISTRO.COM, sales of hardcover and paperback books have been down 18% this year.  On the other hand, sales of books in digital formats continue to increase. 

The question on everyone's mind is if ebooks can fill the gap being created in the traditional market.  Another question is if books go primarily digital, what reason is there for the bookstore to exist.  Will it go the way of hardcovers and paperbacks?

"The Good Wife" - Shades of Shakespearean Comedy

A constant theme in Shakespeare's comedy is that nothing is what it seems.  That dominated tonight's episode of "The Good Wife." 

The client the firm was defending turned out to be guilty.  David's niece, who Alicia was forced to hire, is perceptive about what the dots are and skilled at how to connect them.  Even Alicia has to admit she's not all that bad.  The trouble, though, is that the newbie might have a crush on Will. 

Will, the creep, may not be Will the creep.  He is genuinely warm to Alicia and her son.  By now some of us viewers expected the romance to blow up.  It hasn't. 

Meanwhile Cary who was the one let go by the law firm and Alicia kept is proving to be a winner at Peter's office.  Peter just gave him a massive beautifully decorated office. 

Eli Gold who seemed invulnerable isn't.  When Kalinda uncovers that his former wife had an affair when they were still married he is hurt.

In the next episodes we are eager to find out if David's niece flatters Will enough to catch his interest.  If so, Alicia could be thrown.  Yet she may be powerless to do anything about it. After all, David is an important rainmaker in the firm.  Alicia has to handle his niece with kid gloves.

Writers: Frame concept, text as performance art

When it comes to the craft of writing, we're back to Shakespeare's time.  He framed everything as drama or performance art.  And that's increasingly what those who hire writers demand.

TV NEWSWER reports that CNN has restructured more than 20 writing jobs as Writer/Producer.  Those whose job had been "writer" can apply for the reconfigured positions or take a good-bye package.

This isn't only happening in broadcast.  Magazines are creating teams of writers, programmers, graphic experts, and social media marketing pros.  BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK packaged its interview with me as a slide show.

Branding v Transactional

In all disciplines, in all mediums the issue is emerging: should we focus more on the transaction - that is, getting people to actually purchase, vote, contribute to the cause, fundraise - and less on the brand? 

Brand management has been around since the 1930s when Procter & Gamble invented it.  In this second decade of the 21st century, conversion action is becoming the objective in communications.  And that happens in a very different way than it does via the branding route.  For example, price point counts a lot, so does creating immediate value instead of the perceived value of the brand identity.

Head of the Electric Sheep Company Sibley Verbeck looks at this in an interview in the book "The On-Demand Brand: 10 rules for digital marketing success in any anytime, everywhere world."  The book is by digital marketing expert Rick Mathieson.

In professional services, micro businesses are getting to pitch for accounts toe-to-toe with the establishment brands.  This is happening in management consulting and the legal sector.  Increasingly, ads for services state they don't want an agency but just a player. 

Things change quickly.  In pitching to a software company I mentioned that my legal blog http://lawandmore.typepad.com was housed in the Library of Congress [Download LibraryofCongress]. A sign of the times, the company president asked me what purpose did that service.  I answered: enhance the brand.  I should have said and now do: it brings in business.

LittleBlogging - Multi-purpose tool, even as BigBlogging owns the territory

BigBlogging owns the territory on just about every category.  That ranges from breaking news [Huffington Post] to legal gossip [Abovethelaw.com].  So, some in LittleBlogging are tempted to throw in the towel.  Their daily page views might number 100 or less. Well, not so fast.

The reality is that LittleBlogging is a multi-purpose tool.  For both organizations and individuals it's almost a must-have.  Its absence can signal: we don't care enough about you to try to connect with you.  Here are some of its current functions:

Gets you into the conversation, or even sparks it.  If you have your search engine optimization[SEO] down cold, you can have your say on just about any topic.  Suppose you're supporting Rick Perry.  Front-load the Title and first paragraph of the blog post with keyword "Rick Perry" and the latest development and you will likely be noticed.  That's because more are monitoring everything that is being said about a certain topic.  At the very least they are using Google Analytics.

Aids in job/new-business development search.  Often help-wanted ads for both full-time and contract work indicated those hiring want to know about your blog.  After all, that's how you showcase your expertise and communicate your personal branding.  In addition, if you do your SEO right your posts might get on the radar of those searching for talent.  "Social recruiting" is the term for that. 

A useful article on that [not online] is in the September 2011 issue of THE SOCIAL MEDIA MONTHLY.  The title is "Looking for a job? Get on board with social media recruiting or get left behind."  It's by Robin D. Richards who heads CareerArc Group.

Helps with networking.  Blogs connect with fresh contacts in a field.  One way of making this happen is to invite those you want to establish a relationship with to be interviewed on your blog or for them to post a byblined piece.

Links to your other digital sites.  Influence comes from a series of impressions, just as in advertising.  Blogs can be linked to a Facebook page [either or both individual and brand], twitter account, YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn.  This also helps your Klout score, which is thought of as the standard for measuring social media impact.

Provides insight.  Traffic patterns, comments, and links from other sites act as a free reasearch mechanism.  For example, if pages views jump in number and that activity is sustained, you know a certain topic or your angle on it is hot.

Platform for pitch to media et al.  Copying, pasting, and emailing a post to the media can increase the probability of success.  It can also be the content for an email blast or newsletter.  WordPress provides that capability.

Blogging becomes a numbers game only if you intend to sell advertising.  Otherwise, you can forget the amount of traffic.  Say your post on public speaking in a digital era  attracts 10 visitors. One of them is a Fortune 500 company which wants you to create scripts for its executives for both in-person talks and video presentations.  You found gold.  

Emoticon: Counterproductive tactic for ROE [return on engagement]

The proliferation of the Emoticon or graphic signal for emotion such as sad or glad or some mood in between is a sign of the generational divide.

Communications pros who were members of the Silent and Baby Boomer generations recognized that supposed rational man was really a mess of emotions, many of them conflicting.  To get Emotional Man to take a certain action such as voting for candidate X, supporting abortion, or buying fabric softeners, they appealed to emotion indirectly.  There were none of those Smiley Faces.   Those pros are still in business today, despite the challenging economy.

On the other hand, digital natives in communications tend to approach emotion more ham-handedly.  As Judith Newman discusses in THE NEW YORK TIMES, they pepper social media with emoticons.  Like many of us on the receiving end, she raises questions about all this.  The title of her article is "If You're Happy and You Know It, Must I Know, Too?  The reality seems to be this: the emoticon is downright counterproductive in creating a high return on engagement [ROE] in social media.  It can establish resistance in connecting.

Take this example.  A colleague who plays in the midtown Manhattan as well as northern New Jersey PR sandbox told me she had referred me.  If I had been a Gen Y rather than a Baby Boomer I might have signalled appreciation with a Smiley Face.  I knew better.  My response was behind a moat of caution.  I didn't assume a bird in the hand.  In fact, the outcome was not new business.  In about two sentences I indicated that it was an honor that she was thinking of me and should the transaction take place I wanted to know what I could for her business.   From what I pick up, that seemed to strengthen the bond.

Since emotion dominates us, we have to be strategic how we capture it in communications.  It requires energy to frame a emotion in a sophisticated way that can generate the expected ROE.

Good News: Hard-times etiquette for not sharing it

The etiquette for not sharing bad news had become quite clear as hard times hung on.  Tell your mother or therapist that you lost your house but not me on line in Wal-Mart.  On the edge, most of us in society can't take one more bit of bad news.

However, what about good news?  That, I realized today, can also be fraught with new etiquette in an economy which is still lousy for some.  There I was busy as a bee typing out an email [of a certain age, I don't text] sharing with a college friend that X media outlet had just hired me as a freelance blogger for a site it was launching soon. 

Then I thought: her husband's business might have taken a nose dive.  Who knows if her son's job is uncertain.  I killed the email.  My next plan was to announce at my 12-step meeting that my financial fortunes had taken a turn for the better.  The speaker for the evening recounted in her story that she had been out of work for a year.  Nope, no telling my good news.

Of course I won't tell others in my field about this development.  I agree with Gore Vidal's dark assessment of our colleagues.  It's not enough for them to succeed.  Everyone else must fail.

When I call my psychic for my beginning of the month tarot card reading I might mention this opportunity.  On the other hand, maybe I won't.  The beauty salon in which her daughter works is moving to another location.  Oh, the owners are taking her with them.  However, whether the old clients will follow and new ones come - all that's up in the air.

Good news can be as much of a depressant as bad news.