Joshua Wilner

A Writer Writes

Archives for June 2015

Is Your Business Blinded By Familiarity?

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blogging change
Last summer I was contacted by a business that said they wanted to find a way to improve the effectiveness of their website.

I told them I would be happy to help them and asked them to answer two questions:

1) What did they mean by improving effectiveness?

2) Did their website tell their story?

They told me effectiveness referred to generating leads and told me the second question was silly. I asked them why and they told me it was silly because it was obvious what they did and the services they provided.

I asked them to humor me and suggested that familiarity with their products/services was creating blind spots that they needed to fix.

They assured me again that they had no doubt but said they would be willing to test my theory.

Did Their Website Tell Their Story?

They asked some friends and acquaintances who were not familiar with the business to take a look at the company website and were surprised to find out that these people did not walk away with a clear understanding of what was being offered.

What they learned from this experience was the website was not effective in telling visitors what the company offered.

It didn’t tell their story.

It wasn’t for lack of effort on their part either. It happened because familiarity can cause blind spots. When you know something inside and out it is sometimes easy to forget to include key pieces of information because you think it is obvious.

Yet what is obvious to you isn’t to everyone else.

Change Your Thinking

Sometimes the best thing we can do to help our businesses and ourselves is open our minds and allow for the opportunity to change our thinking about some things.

It doesn’t have to be a radical change either. Sometimes all that is needed is a simple restructuring of how you look at things.

When it comes to websites and encouraging prospective customers to respond to a call-to-action or at least to ask for more information simple is good.

Make it easy for them to understand you story.

What do you do? What do you offer? Why is it valuable.

Share the features, share the functions, share the benefits.

Don’t let familiarity prevent you from being open to recognizing not everyone can see what you see or knows what you know.

What do you think?

Goodbye Cellphone, Hello Soup Cans & String

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technologycell
It’s close to midnight and I am preparing to say goodbye to Thursday and hello to Friday but instead of smiling there is a look on my face that my teenager used to refer to in his toddler years as “the angry face.”

Back then he would say, “daddy, don’t make the angry face, I don’t like it.”

I would always respond with “why is daddy making the angry face” and then we would talk about what happened and ways to prevent it from happening again.

It is too bad this isn’t one of those situations because it would be much easier to explain to a toddler why he shouldn’t try to climb on the stove, throw eggs or try to lock his little sister in a closet.

Instead I am threatening a laptop and a cellphone with death for disobeying me.

All They Need To Do Is Work

All they need to do is work. Make calls, grab my email, surf the net, play nicely with MS Office and the assorted programs I use.

That is not too much to ask nor an unreasonable expectation except lately both seem to want to make me lose the rest of my hair.

The laptop has current antivirus and malware protection. It is defragmented on a regular basis and handled with care.

It is only two years old but it has developed some bad habits where it overheats, drags, lags and protests being used.

And then there is my Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the one that is only six months old that has started to give me all sorts of hiccups and its own set of protestations against working as it should.

What bothers me the most about the gremlins that have attacked my tech is that I am tech savvy. I know how to use my tools more effectively than most because I have taken the time to learn how to use them.

I know many of the keyboard shortcuts and tricks that the experts use to maintain high levels of productivity and keep their equipment running but that hasn’t stopped this crap from creeping up.

Don’t mistake my comments for a claim to be an expert because there are many people who know far more than I do, but I know enough to make them work or at least until recent events it seemed so.

Is It Time To Join The Cult of Mac?

Many of my friends have encouraged me to give up my PC and Android attachment to join the cult of Mac. For years they have said the difference in cost is worth the quality that comes with Apple products.

I have nodded and smiled my way through most of those conversations but I am really beginning to wonder if it is time to agree that Voldemort Jobs and company produced products are worth the extra cost.

But more than anything, I just want my tech to work without any hassle.

It is really not too much to ask for.

And now I bid you adieu, while I make the angry face again.

Goodbye Cellphone, Hello Soup Cans & String.

Three Questions To Ask Parents & People

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questions
My children graduated from their respective schools three weeks ago and as part of my role as proud father I joined the mad scramble to gain the perfect position to take a picture.

Some might say that after almost fifteen years as a father I have gotten pretty good at getting the shot because you rarely see me pushing and shoving the way so many others do to obtain that perfect position.

It is not because I am strong enough to move the men and the women out of my way or tall enough to see over all of them.

Nor is it because I prefer to make snarky comments about the people who think the best shots come from using their tablets and not a real camera or even the  camera on their phones.

No, it is because I know that I don’t need 1,983,832 photos of every event my children participate in.

Question #1

Will you ever look at those pictures or watch the 98 minutes of graduation/soccer/recital you just recorded?

I understand the desire to record the lives of our children and the hope to capture the really important stuff because I think about it and want to do it too.

But sometimes the need to see it live overrides the need to watch it live through a tiny view hole.

It also makes me wonder how many people still develop their shots.

In the old days we’d shoot a role of 24 or 26 on our cool 35 mm cameras and hope that we didn’t blow too many shots.

Heck, the first camera I had was a hand me down that used 126 cartridges, I was really excited when I got my first 35 because I felt like I had cutting edge technology, not like the 110 I sometimes had to use.

*****

Sometimes my kids ask me why there isn’t more footage of me when I was younger or why we don’t have more photos/movies of grandparents and great-grandparents.

That always leads to a conversation about how advanced technology is now compared to what it was once upon a time.

But it always leads me back to the my own questions about what do we do with all the footage we have now and whether we take it because we intend to use it or because we think we should.

Question #2

There is an on going discussion about the importance of asking readers to follow and or subscribe to our blogs and the various social media platforms we are on.

A while back I asked Why Do We Ask People To Subscribe To Our Blogs?

It led to a good discussion here and elsewhere online and I realized that while I am a very good marketer for the companies and clients I have worked for I am not as good about doing it here.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I really started to focus on it and tried to build the subscriber base. I could insert forms into posts and actively ask you to sign up.

Enter your email address:

Is that better than a popup, flashing lights, bells and or whistles?

Am I going to discover that by creating a bigger base I have more blogging cachet than I do now. Will that lead to requests for speaking engagements, more reviews, brand ambassadorships, book deals and a starring role in a major  motion picture.

Confession: Some of the trappings associated with fame might be fun but I don’t want to turn my life into tabloid fodder and not be able to go out in public like a normal person.

Second confession: I have significant doubt that any one has any desire to make me the hero in a movie. In fact the real reason I like the idea is in my fantasy world it would mean someone would pay for me to have a personal chef and trainer.

Getting paid to get back and stay in shape might be kind of cool.

Question #3

If you were to give someone advice on what sort of career they should enter would you tell them to find something they love to do or push them to go after something practical?

For example, if your son/daughter wanted to be an actor and you knew it was their passion would you tell them to chase it for the one in the a million chance they could make a real go of it or would you push them towards a career that you knew was likely to help them pay their bills.

I think about this often and sometimes wonder if my children would be better served to be pushed towards getting jobs in tech or becoming physical therapists.

People are living longer so there is a definite need for healthcare specialists. There is a need for people to help take care of the wounded vets who have returned home and as mentioned before there are opportunities in tech.

Not to mention you can’t outsource plumbers, mechanics and electricians.

****

Ok, that is more than three questions but plenty of fodder for thought and conversation. Let’s talk in the comments.

It is Better To Be Offended

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ugly
I spent part of Father’s Day at the movie theater with my son where I was reminded again about how intolerant people have become of things they don’t want to hear/see/smell/experience.

While waiting for the guy behind the counter to bring over our ridiculously overpriced popcorn I got to listen to the guy next to me complain about reality television and rail on about how many bad episodes he had been forced to watch.

I was very curious to find out who forced him to watch these bad episodes because everyone knows that being forewarned is forearmed.

But since I wasn’t certain he was being honest I didn’t ask him for details so I suppose I ought to apologize to my family and friends in advance.

If the bad people come and force you to watch Duck Dynasty, The Kardashians or any other bad reality television I am sorry. I should have asked this guy to tell me about it so that I could have done a better job of protecting you.

The Second Incident

While we were were waiting for the trailers to begin some people in the row behind us started to talk about Game of Thrones.

They were interrupted by the guy sitting next to my son who told them they couldn’t talk about it because he was three episodes behind.

It never would occur to me to go out in public and ask, let alone tell people they couldn’t talk about a particular topic because it would wreck the show for them.

When I heard his request I couldn’t help myself, I told him everyone dies.

It is Better To Be Offended

What these moments made me think of is how we seem to have reached a point in time where people think they they are entitled to never be upset or offended by anything.

Let’s ignore how shallow and sad that is for a moment and move over to this, it is better to be offended.

Why?

socratesI like asking hard questions and thinking about why we do what we do and how we do it.

I like challenging beliefs because it is how we grow as people. That doesn’t mean we have to offend people to do so because that is not true, but there is something to be said about growth coming through discomfort too.

Progress comes because people see opportunity to improve a situation/circumstances or because it is too uncomfortable or painful to continue doing things a certain way.

If you want to fight inertia it is better to be offended than to live in a world that is sterile and sanitized.

What do you think?

Your Comfort Zone Is Killing You

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I can’t take credit for saying you need to get busy living or accept the fact that you are busy dying but I can say I agree with the sentiment.

Ask me what I mean by it and we might have a long conversation about how short our lives are and how long it takes for some of us to figure out what we really want to do with our lives.

It might even turn into the sort of conversation where we both choose to take it beyond the surface and really engage or maybe not.


Monsters

Lately it feels like 89.5% of the people I speak with tell me how busy they are in a way that makes it clear no one else could possibly be because they just aren’t as important.

I don’t think they intend to be rude but I don’t think they recognize how they always try to one up you with their tales of what has them running from place to place.

Sometimes when they poke my inner curmudgeon hard enough I’ll point out how much of their busy lives exist because of the choices they make and not because that is just how life is.

What Are You Doing With Your Time?

Every time I walk away from one of these conversations I wonder what would happen if you asked these people to account for their time.

I don’t mean in the sense of logging where they were and how long they were there for but questioning what they are getting out of racing from place to place.

Are they ever present where they are or are they always focused on figuring out how to make it to the next very important stop.

It is the kind of question you have to phrase carefully because it is the kind of thing that makes people respond from a defensive and not thoughtful position.

When I have had the odd discussion about this people have told me they like being busy and that it makes them feel productive.

That may be true but sometimes what I hear is “don’t take me out of my comfort zone.”

I understand that because I am by nature a creature of habit and for years I did my best not to leave my comfort zone unless I had to.

Some years ago circumstances forced me to take a harder look at how I liked to do things and I realized I had to change.

Had to change because my comfort zone was killing me.

Life Is About Experiences

I don’t mean I was dying in a literal sense of the word because unless I am the victim of very bad luck I have no reason to believe I don’t have another 50, 60 or maybe even 80 years.

What I recognized then was that the best part of life was framed around experiences and creating moments in time that I would always remember.

And while I was lucky to have already collected an enormous amount I looked around and felt like my opportunity to continue had at best stagnated and that was intolerable.

So I climbed out of the comfort zone, looked around and decided I could figure out how to make things work for me outside of it.

It was hard at first but the longer I stayed outside of the bubble the more comfortable I became with being out there and the less comfortable I became with putting myself in a position again where I only stayed within it.

Now I look back sometimes and shake my head at opportunities I passed upon because I let fear of stepping outside of that warm place prevent me from seeing what could happen.

For Me & For The Kids

Now when I look at where life is going and think about the future I am far more conscious of adopting a perspective that includes myself as well as the children.

That is not to say they don’t maintain a position of prominence within the decisions that are made but we have finally reached a place where I can begin to see the outlines of a time when they won’t be living at home any more.

It is a surreal place to be, go back ten years in time and I couldn’t begin to really believe that one day the house would be child free.

But that was then and this is now.

Look ten years into the future and I am just a guy in his fifties who in theory has become an empty nester.

So the plan is to do what I can to maintain and or improve my health and provide a financial foundation that allows me to take advantage of the opportunities that come when you don’t have to think about where the best schools and neighborhoods are for families.

Or maybe it is better expressed as for now the plan is to work on doing things that improve our ability to have more experiences together as a family and to help them reach a place where they don’t let their comfort zone keep them from going after opportunities to have experiences they might not otherwise have.

The real trick is figuring out the best way to make it all happen. I am not particularly worried about it, I have some ideas and am already working on turning them into reality.

How You Can Kill Your Traffic In One Easy Step

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thinkingMany people like to think running a blog is a free venture but they neglect to think about the value of their time and or ignore the costs for hosting and other services bloggers use to make their cyber sandboxes into something more than pixels on a page.

I control costs by conducting a periodic audit of the services I use and if I determine a service has become superfluous I stop using it.

Most of the time this serves me well but every now and then I discover I have made a mistake.

How You Can Kill Your Traffic In One Easy Step

A month or so ago I canceled a service I had been using for email and RSS. I didn’t do it because it is a bad product but because it wasn’t meeting my needs.

Here is where I made a mistake.

I forgot to deactivate and delete the plugin.

It is not the sort of mistake I make often but life was exceedingly busy and I was pulled in a million different directions so the personal blog had to take a back seat.

Because I was so busy I also forgot to run a quick check of the blog to make sure it was functioning as it is supposed to be.

The net result was the readers who used that service to stay informed about new posts didn’t receive the electronic notification to come visit and my traffic took a hit.

Initially I didn’t think much of it because the drop coincided with summer break and there is a natural drop that comes with this time of year, every year.

But then I received a couple of emails from people asking if everything was ok because they hadn’t seen new posts and that made me take a harder look at what was going on.

When Dad Bloggers Don’t Heed Their Own Advice

I tell my children that a good project doesn’t happen by luck.

It is based upon effort, good content and a willingness to double check your work. If I had followed my own advice and double checked the blog I would have avoided this problem and you would be reading a different post.

Except this time I didn’t follow my own advice and I got burned.

Mind you if this is the biggest challenge I face this month or for the rest of the year I will be quite happy because as challenges go it is minor.

It is unlikely to be the reason why I am not discovered by a big Hollywood agent who is anxiously searching for a blogger he/she can present to the world as the greatest writer ever.

Nor will it likely be the reason why some patron of the arts does not choose to pay me $100 million to do nothing but write stories.

But just in case you are that person who move either of those unlikely scenarios from fantasy into reality please know I am still happy to speak with you about how I can help you help me. 🙂

And with that my friends it is time to end this post so I can go watch the season finale of Game of Thrones where winter is no longer coming because it is already here, er there.

Who Is Your Blog For?

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Tools
One of the challenges that comes with trying to write a post in 5 minutes or less is trying to come up with a suitable headline.

You might ask yourself if I am serious about only having five minutes to write this post and I’ll see there is some flexibility there but not enough to double the time allocated for writing.

Others might present an argument for automation and apps and suggest we have so many resources available it is not as difficult as it sounds to write a five minute post.

I would nod my head and say yes, but have you ever considered who you are writing your blog for?

It is a question we often bat around but I sometimes wonder how much time we really spend thinking about it.

Who are our readers and are we focused on writing content that will be of interest to them?

Apps and Automation Become Useless

The skill of the user always impacts the usefulness of a tool but if you don’t figure out who your readers are and whether your content is useful to them you might find that apps and automation become useless.

I try to balance that against my effort to make sure I am interested in the content I am producing. It is a two way street.

It reminds me of the conversations I sometimes have with my children about the school projects they work on and the times they tell me it is boring.

Sometimes I nod my head and agree that it is a boring topic and then remind them it is their job to make it interesting.

That is how you get a better grade and how you keep your readers coming back.

What do you think?

The Best Advice For Writers

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I didn’t get as big a response as I thought I would to How Do You Define Your Best Writing?

Can’t say if it was because it wasn’t read, had a weak call to action or if there was some other reason.

What I do know is that it generated some conversation and several people sent me links to material they thought would be of interest, including an email saying the infographic below contains the best writing advice anyone has ever come up with.

I like the infographic and think it is useful but I hesitate to call it the best advice ever written for writers.

Why?

Because writing isn’t like math, it is not filled with absolutes and rules that cannot be broken because they’ll lead to failure.

The Best Advice For Writers

Those of you who have spent any significant time reading or talking about writing with me have heard me talk about how the written word is filled with all sorts of biting criticism famous authors have shared about other famous authors.

Mark Twain hated Jane Austen and Faulkner and Hemingway had loving words for each other.

It doesn’t take much effort to Google the specific comments or find other writers criticizing others.

The point here is to recognize how subjectivity influences the definition of good/great/awful writing.

Does that mean you can’t identify a piece or pieces of advice as being the best because you can but I would qualify it as being the best for an individual and not collective.

But then again in an age of instant gratification, gnat like attention spans and SEO there are benefits to linkbait like headlines that promise the best anything.

Incidentally I think the advice in the infographic is awesome and highly recommend people use it, I just wouldn’t get caught up in labels.

 

Ann Handley

by taniacreative.