How Two Mistakes Taught Me Two Valuable Lesson Online
Photo by Lucia Holme
It’s Monday, April 13th and I’m ready to tackle the world! I just published a video on Awesome Revolution with Neil as our guest and I’m very proud of it because it’s going to help young entrepreneurs get one step closer to success. Time to go hit up the gym, get ripped, and be the envy of all men… I kid.
[As I walk to my car, I check my Twitter feed]
Oh, what’s this?
Tweet from my new friend: “… just lost respect for Penelope Trunk and Brazen Careerist…”
Whoa… those are some harsh words. I wonder what’s going on?
My Tweet: Hey bro, what’s going on?
[Looks like it's a serious issue, so my friend sends another friend and me an email about what happened]
Sweet! Penelope’s posts are pretty much always controversial, but to actually make someone Tweet “I have lost respect for Brazen Careerist” is a story waiting to happen!
[I send an email to my two friends telling them that I'm going to capitalize on this and create a video that launches tomorrow morning that will surely generate some buzz]
Mistake: When you have a juicy topic that is ready to be burst open, NEVER let anyone know that you’re writing it and DON’T tell people when the story will be published. Making these mistakes does two things:
1. It makes them realize that the topic is super controversial and has great potential to generate buzz
2. You let them know your time-frame, which means they have plenty of time to publish the story before you
The day is looking spectacular! Ok, time for me to go to the gym. While I drive my car, I’ll send a Tweet to do research for the video:
My Tweet: What did you guys think of Penelope’s post today where she destroys David D? Linktopost
Key Strategy: Doing research on a story is excellent; using Twitter to do your research is even better! If you’ve seen my videos, you’ll notice that I always ask my Twitter community what they think about a topic or if they have any questions to ask the interviewer. This does two things:
1. It immediately gets them to start thinking about the topic and formulating an opinion about it. Since they take the time to formulate an opinion, they feel invested in the topic and will want to comment and ReTweet the post when it comes out
2. You can include their name and response in the video, which means you give them credit and promote them on your site. Tweeples are very grateful when you promote them, so you can be sure that they will comment and ReTweet you
Mistake: Yes, you should do your research, but NEVER give away your exact story or the exact topic. When I created the Twitter Hoarders vs. Twitter Snobs video, I sent out this Tweet:
“Do you follow everyone who follows you or are you picky about who you should follow?”
Notice that I only stimulated the brain and did NOT give away the topic, the video, nor did I mention Perry Belcher in any way. My story was safe for me to research and to formulate an awesome video.
Now lets compare this to my Tweet right now:
“What did you guys think of Penelope’s post today where she destroys David D? Linktopost“
I not only included the exact topic of my post, but I made the mistake of linking to the actual post. This generates great buzz now, but too much buzz can be harmful to your post if your post doesn’t come out immediately. If your post comes out once the buzz wears off, then your topic will have become saturated and no one will comment or Retweet you.
98… 99… and… 100! Phew… I am pumping some serious iron. Time to check my tweets.
Whoa! Looks like A LOT of people are Tweeting back with their opinions. This is perfect! The buzz has been generated, and people will be on the look out for my video tomorrow morning. Awesome Revolution will be the home for all breaking blogger news!
[I finish my work out and arrive at home ready for some work]
Well that was a good work out. It’s 3pm PST, and I have plenty of time to organize the feedback I got, thank my Tweeples for their opinions, and start making some video. Oh… what’s this?!?….
[Turns out that the email I sent about capitalizing on this story and the buzz I generated on the Twittersphere prompted my two friends to write posts of their own]
Dang… they got to the story before me. Well this is lame, now if I publish my video tomorrow morning, the story will have been saturated and will be “old news.” They sure did capitalize on the buzz that was created.
Key Strategy: I know a lot of people that write for search engines. This means that they will scour the internet, perhaps use Google Trends, and write about a topic that will be highly Googled. For example, on the day of the Oscars, my good friend Sean Percival wrote: What Time do the Oscars Start? That post was strategically written to drive search engine traffic on that day to his site. And you know what, it worked for him.
An even better strategy is to Twitter Trend. Find out what people are Tweeting about, and then write a post about that topic. Not only do you have a buzz worthy topic, but more importantly, you have the names and contact of the people that care about the topic. It’s genius if you think about it! After you write the post, let the Tweeple know about it because they will care enough to comment and ReTweet it.
This is what one of my friends did. He realized that I had created a huge, noteworthy buzz and capitalized on it by writing a post before me.
I sure do have to hand it to my friend. He immediately jumped on the situation and created a solid post in less than 2 hours to capitalize on the buzz that was generated. He definitely taught me a valuable lesson.
[I notice my good friend Derek on Gchat]
Yo Derek. Interesting story. I just had this mondo story that would have put Awesome Revolution on the map tomorrow. But unfortunately, I got beat. Guess I can’t make the video now because I’ll look lame.
Lesson Learned: Derek told me something that I’ll never forget: “Who cares if someone took your story! All you need to do is DO IT BETTER! There are so many people and eyeballs out there on the internet that your story is no where near reaching the point of saturation.”
To be honest, I was going to have some BOMB content. I did my research via Twitter, and even took the time to video interview Jamie Varon, June Lin, and Ryan Paugh for their 30-second reactions on the topic. But I realize there is an overlooked factor when it comes to success that just got the better of me.
Emotional Factor: Though I knew that Derek was right, I was already defeated emotionally. I did not have the energy or enthusiasm to edit and record my news-breaking video. Emotions are so hard to control. Yu-kai Chou is the King of controlling his emotions, but unfortunately, I’m the kind of guy who lets his emotions get the better of him. I was defeated and there was no way out of this spiral.
It’s getting late. I guess I should head to bed and hopefully make tomorrow a productive day. Before I hit the sack, I guess I’ll write Penelope an email about the video that I was going to make that would have blown her mind.
[About 20 minutes after I sent the email]
Whoa… well that was fast! Looks like Penelope wants to set up a time to become a guest on my show! Woohoo! This will be bigger than any video that I could have ever made about her post.
Key Strategy: If you want to meet an influential person online, then one of the best ways to meet her is to generate a buzz about them through Twitter. For example, if I wanted to meet Ramit Sethi, then I would go onto his blog, find his most recent post, and generate a conversation about it through my Twitter community and blog. I could do the same exact thing to meet Tim Ferris. Once I’m on their radar, I would follow up by solving a problem for them or helping them out in some way. The subject title of my email should read: “Hey Ramit, I just did this great research that I thought you would appreciate” or “Hey Tim, I just figured out how to solve this problem that you had.” This is an excellent way to meet the people that are hard to get to.
Lesson Learned: It is absolutely true what people say: When one door closes, three others open. Yea, someone beat me to the story, but who cares! There are so many stories out there just ready to be taken. There is no point in feeling sorry for yourself. When you get beat, keep your head up, because another opportunity is just within your reach. You just have to keep hustling and take it!
—
I’m not upset at my friend in any way. I’m actually glad this happened. I have learned some very, very valuable lessons about journalism that I will take with me wherever I go. I now know the best strategy to create buzz and at the same time, keep my story on the down low so that I can be the first one with the scoop.
Thank you for reading this post and I sincerely hope that you take my strategies, learn from my mistakes, and conquer the world!
This is good advice I suppose - but for the record, the buzz you created didn’t lead me to “stealing” this idea (I’m assuming I’m one of the folks mentioned here). There was a lot of inspiration, from this isolated post and other bloggers responses and actions over the past few weeks. I had read the post earlier in the day, and after hearing a lot of people discuss, it sparked me to write the post. It was a juicy topic - but you have a much bigger reach and use different methods to report news (vlog and so on) - you certainly could have gotten your take in here - I’m sure there were many other posts out there responding on the web than what Rikin and I wrote - but everyone knows and respects your name and perspective - I don’t think it would have been ‘old news’. I took a different approach with my post - I laid out the example and brought up a much broader issue: ‘As bloggers and online writers, are we able to take criticism - do we ACTUALLY welcome in open discussion or do we shut down when faced with adversity?’
That was the meat of my discussion. Yes, copious amounts of traffic was created because it included info on one of the most highly discussed topics on the web that day. But I brought up a new topic that sparked great discussion on a much broader level - not ‘was Penelope right or wrong’. I think it’s about finding a unique perspective and putting a spin on a story. I knew you were posting a video as I wrote it, so the whole time I was thinking - ‘how can I spin this in a different way to open up discussion’?
It’s unfortunate that I’m somewhat labled as a ’story stealer’ here - because that wasn’t my intention. I wish you would have still followed through with your video. Bu I do think you bring up an interesting point, and it holds true in any form of journalism, when you have a really juicy topic, you have to own it, and preserve it - I guess to avoid people like me?
- Sheesh, I really wasn’t trying to beat you to the punch my man.
For the record - Awesome Rev is already on the map in my book, you are doing a great thing for our generation. In any regard, I’m looking forward to Penelope coming on your show - didn’t I tell you I already interviewed her last night?
Hey Matt, I see you’re on top of this post.
Fist off, I never mentioned “stealing” anywhere in my post. It is up to the reader to decide the actual term here. I used the term “capitalized” to label how you jumped on the story and created a great post to follow up on the buzz. It was actually very well done, and a post can be written about how to determine buzz-worthy posts.
The subject of your post was, “Is Penelope Right or Wrong?” That was pretty much what my Tweet was trying to instigate. And it did, it really got the community thinking about Penelope’s post and whether it was right or wrong. So your post was a perfect follow up to the buzz that was generated from my Tweet.
The question comes down to this Matt. If I had never told you guys I was creating a video, and I never generated buzz in our community with the Tweet, would you have still written that post? And if so, would your turn around time have been so fast?
No, I don’t think so.
This post is not meant to accuse. I never mention you in the post at all. This post is meant to teach other “journalists” how to create buzz for a story and how to protect the story so that it does not become saturated.
Jun - first of all there’s no hard feelings here, I didn’t take this as a personal attack, not at all.
My post subject was not ‘Is Penelope Right or Wrong’ - that was part of it; rather her situation was used to illustrate a much broader issue on bloggers taking and handling criticism. My post wasn’t in response to your Tweet, I started crafting it after I personally read the post earlier that morning - and if anything, it was inspired by Rikin’s email to you and I. As soon as I read his email, I told him to post it - to get his thoughts out there, to share his opinion, because he made outstanding points. I knew what his post would be centered around, so I ‘capitalized’ and added a different spin to it, a different perspective, and posed unique questions. I wanted my post to be about much more than a response to Penelope’s post, and it was. Over 100 comments later, we have gone through the ringer on what it means to take criticism as a blogger - the goal of my post was a success.
So yes, my turn around time would have been the same - my intent was not at all to beat you to the punch, as much as it may appear that way. I have very ’spontaneous’ inspiration - things come to me and I like to get them out (it’s actually something I need to work on - being able to have an idea and put it away until I have time later to better craft and get my thoughts together). For example, I was listening to Mike and Mike this morning talking about Woods and Mickelson and their reaction to losing - and it inspired a post that I’m getting up in the next couple hours.
And I appreciate your thoughts here - you raise a good point about journalism in general, something can definitely be learned here - but instead of saying ‘I made a mistake and should have kept it a secret’ I think you still should have followed through and offered your perspective - a lot of people out there would have listened, myself included.
Jun:
Awesome post. You know what; THIS is the main reason why I like to visit yr blog and Awesome Rev- to learn from your mistakes. You have highlighted so many ideas so far in your posts that you could easily write a book and name as one of your existing blog title: ‘What I have learned as an Entrepreneur’. Isn’t Ben Casnocha did the same thing with ‘My Start-up Life’, which is an excellent book by all means.
As Matt said it already, I don’t think that your post would have been ‘late’ or wouldn’t have created any buzz. I seriously don’t so. Just like there are so many blog posts and news on finance industry and what has happened during the credit crisis, I always want to read from guys at Planet Money- NPR, Simon Johnson and Michael Lewis. No matter what others write, these guys have very unique and different perspective than any other economist/news reporters. Just like them, you have your own identity. You have own perspective to look things differently and your views can easily change to look everything differently.
You are doing an awesome work here, just like Rikin and Matt. I read their posts on PT and honestly, I was wondering where you are. If you follow someone for a while, you know what’s going on in their mind when they twitt. Rikin and Matt have given their thoughts on PT and so, I was kinda waiting for a post and more importantly, a different take on to PT’s post from you. And before you do so, you have given good insights on what not do so when you are working on an interesting topic.
At last, I am not sure what we are doing on blogs. I don’t have a blog and I am not sure if blogging is a right thing to do as there are thousands and thousands people are writing on everything. Now, I know that you and other people have already written so much about it and why it’s good to have a blog. But if everyone has something to say on everything, do you think there won’t be any buzz on the topic? Because you have mentioned Ramit Sethi, I would use his name too. There are tons and tons of personal finance blogs on the net. Why do you think people would still like to know Ramit’s views on it? Why did we make Ramit Sethi’s personal finance book to #1 on Amazon and that way NY Time’s best seller, in spite of having thousands of personal finance books ? If you answer my question, I am sure you would also find an answer to your question as well.
Cheers..
Pritesh
http://twitter.com/mehta1p
Hahahha… I’m glad that you’re able to learn from all of my mistakes. I guess I should just keep making them.
It’s true, perhaps I could have offered a different outlook or perspective. At the time, I was fully invested in the topic, “Was Penelope Right or Wrong.” All my research and interviews were based around that topic. So in essence, since Matt wrote about that same exact topic, my perspective would NOT have been different.
I do feel I could have created a different angle, but it would have required another set of research and more time. Since posts like these are very time sensitive, I felt that it would have been too late.
Also, the emotional factor played a huge role. Although I could have created a great video, I was already defeated emotionally.
Why do people still listen to Ramit?
1. Successful founder of PB Wiki
2. Stanford graduate
3. Only 25 years old which means he speaks to our generation directly and understands us
4. Has had an excellent blog for 5 years building his credibility
5. He sincerely cares about his community and will go above and beyond to answer their questions
Jun - I’m inline with Matt here in that my inspiration for the post was drawn from a number of places. Actually, I tweeted about the loss of respect after I read the article from P-T because I subscribe to her feed. Well, I used to subscribe to her feed but don’t anymore. Didn’t intentionally steal a great post idea. In fact, Nisha and Ryan both messaged me asking me the same question as you guys within a few minutes - that was the catalyst of the post - taking something where I saw common interest and putting it live. You’re right I posted the email though to get it out as fast as possible but not to necessarily beat you to the punch.
But here’s another angle to it all. Matt and I both posted about the topic within a similar amount of time but the way we voiced our concerns elicited different response and comments. In fact, Matt’s post became a conversation grabber and drew an insane amount of comments and far more than mine. I think you’re right, it’s not about who gets there first but who does it best and who does it uniquely. Personally, I don’t think Matt’s post was essentially better than mine. The reason behind more comments was the style of his writing and constantly asking questions in the comments as well as the user base he’s generated over the past few months. That’s what I take away as something to learn from all of this.
I still think you had alot to bring to the conversation and wish that we got to see it here.
- Rikin
I think that writing “good” content is half the battle. Marketing the post is SO important, and many people forget this step.
When I sent out my Tweets for the research, I was basically marketing for Matt’s post. When his post came out, he Tweeted the people who answered my question so that they would check out his site. It was an awesome strategy. These people had already invested their time to giving their opinion, so a post dedicated to the topic would definitely catch their attention.
Another thing you’ll notice is that Matt continuously instigates conversation on his blog throughout the day with his Tweets. Another very, very good strategy. I have seen Jonathan Mead utilize this method effectively as well. They will Tweet: “Insightful conversation going on in this topic on this post.”
You guys definitely had different reasons for your posts:
You wanted to voice your opinion. You didn’t really capitalize on the buzz I generated because you didn’t really market it out on Twitter (you did somewhat, but not hardcore). I think for you, it was just a way for you to tell the world what you thought.
For Matt, the post was perfectly created to generate buzz, ReTweets, and conversation. You’ll notice that the wording on his post motivates people to comment. You’ll notice that he takes a strong stance, so that people have to agree or disagree. And most importantly, he was on Twitter hardcore marketing the post.
Like I said, awesome strategy that really worked.
Again, I don’t think I was capitalizing on the buzz you generated Jun - it wasn’t like I was sitting back and using you as a pawn for my own personal gain. We are friends with many of the same folks on Twitter - we swing in the same circle, so there is going to be some crossover. There was definitely some overall buzz, but it wasn’t solely generated by the question you posed on Twitter.
Two things I think you could have and should have done differently. One, you should have moved forward and executed your plan to post a video on this - We didn’t have the same perspective and again, my post was not directed for people to simply answer ‘was it right or wrong’ - it was an OVERALL observation on handling criticism - I just used a high profile relevant example, and my timing was good. Two - I wish you would have commented on my post, Rikin’s post, or both - it’s obvious you have opinions on it, but rather than posting your thoughts on either of our posts, you chose to not only NOT post your own video, but write a post about us ‘capitalizing’ on your ideas. Share the love man, we’re all in this together. I know that I (and I can probably speak for Rikin) would have commented and shared our thoughts on you video post.
Lastly, I appreciate your kind words on my marketing techniques and writing style. I like to end most posts with questions for the reader - I really want each post to be a two-way street, and I avoid situations where I come across as ‘preachy’ or talking down to my readers. I of course post my opinion, but my priority is engagement and the promotion of discussion.
Spot on, two very different styles of writing but I think two that are very complimentary. I had no hard feelings towards Matt for sharing the same topic as I did - and it encouraged us to work on a few other topics together. To be honest my lack of “marketing” isn’t because I don’t understand how the game works or just don’t have time to play it. I like to drop a few bombs and then watch the ripples. The ripples often spread much further than the initial impact, meaning more traffic and potentially more revenue, but I enjoy that role and I strive to be that type of blogger. My moderation of comments was also different than Matt’s and although we all can learn alot from each other I don’t think one way is right and the other is wrong. Matt is great at getting a reaction.
But I do disagree with your statement, “You didn’t really capitalize on the buzz I generated…”. I’m sorry but I don’t think you were the only person who caught this topic and felt this way. I put out a tweet and got 5 responses and emailed you and Matt an honest and sincere answer. I think that’s enough buzz generation on all of our parts.
No hard feelings I hope - but just wanted to clear the air.
Ha, the responses to this post are hilarious. Everyone wants to be “original,” and “first.”
The truth is - and I think you pointed this out really well in your post Jun - is that everyone capitalizes on everyone in the blogosphere and builds on each other’s ideas. My latest post on Gen Y and community was a direct inspiration from two recent posts - one by Ruby Ku and one by Grace Boyle.
That’s what’s so fun about it and I love that you have detailed the process here - it’s so smart marketing-wise.
I’ll be honest with you Rebecca, every time I get a comment from you, I get super excited. I think you have developed this aura around your online presence that I aspire to have.
I’m glad you see the purpose of my post. It’s to point out that one must capitalize on posts, and more importantly, how to capitalize on buzz-worthy topics.
I did also mention how to protect a new-worthy topic, and that’s to help people who are trying to become journalists and report breaking news. For example, I now know what Mashable and Techcrunch feel like. They must constantly be in competition against one another to get the exclusive or the news out first.
Really interesting back and forths
Lets view it from a gaming standpoint:
Jun, Matt and Rikin are essentially on the same team but Jun feels like he got “kill-stealed”. He has been lowering the target’s health and then suddenly someone snipered off the target. Jun feels that someone took his kill but Matt argues that he was eyeing the target with his sniper rifle for a long time now. Rikin then threw a grenade on the dead enemy’s body. Jun then praises the sniper and teaches others how to do a cleaner kill in the future.
It’s all just the dynamics of a game. Keep the fun conversations flowing though
Rock on man - I love the analogy! It’s spot on. Reminds me of my old Counter-Strike days (do people still play that? I wish they did). For the record, I was bad-ass with as a sniper, not to be confused with ‘camper’ - there’s a fine line there, and nobody likes a camper.
I’m more of a Halo 3 kinda guy and could kick anyone’s ass on this comment thread. I was great with all weapons but love the sound of the shotgun going off. But right before I die I do tend to throw a grenade or two.
@yukai_chou haha awesome game reference. good way to put things in a comfortable perspective =P. Maybe view it as a “gank”. The target is the subject, not going for the kill, but having the target get killed. It’s a team effort.
you don’t always have to be first. ( college humor: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=55436493 )
I think that more buzz can have these three build buzz for each other. Make references to each post, link build, and comment between. More buzz would just justify each others’ post and definitely give more perspective for readers.
Thanks for the share @jun.
Not what I expected from the headline and from the first paragraph or so. Left me a little bit confused.
I get the your second point about research. Just like a good movie, you don’t want to know the ending before hand. Or like a good joke. It’s all about the total delivery of it that makes it funny. Giving too much away dilutes its potency.
Its your first point that left me scratching my head. Your point is technically valid in every way, but is bit of a foreign concept to a newbie like me. For me blogging is about putting my own spin on whats out there. The stories aren’t unique, so the only variable in the equation is the blogger. Show me a story you think has been talked about too much and I can show you a blogger that can write a new post and get 100’s of comments. I really believe that. (Example, whose to stop some musician from putting together a funny song using words from PT’s post? Didn’t think of that right?)
So in my head either 1 of 2 things happened. You either felt “betrayed” (for lack of a better word), or for you, this is all business. Keeping ideas secret so someone else doesn’t “capitalize” on it is such a business approach. And thats fine, its actually great, but its just not the vibe I got over the last month or so getting to know you, your company, your blog. Hopefully its not all business for you. (I doubt it, but a new reader my not think that way.)
We are all “friends” but in a way we are also competing with each other. Its kind of a weird relationship if you think about it. You give me advice that I may use it to trump one of your posts. I’d feel pretty crappy if that happened, but only for a little bit since for me my blogging isn’t about making a name for myself, or personal branding, or page views. But I could see how someone would get upset if their hard work of building a potent post, was all of a sudden diluted. I get that.
Alright man. Keep em comin’ and don’t underestimate yourself so much. Just a new supporter’s opinion here.
ps: Anytime a blogger asks any open ended question I immediately “know” they are getting feedback for an upcoming blog. With those 2 tweets you mentioned I knew cool blog posts were coming. Funny how well you can get to know someone without having met them.
Hmm preaching to a small choir here.
anyhow - you all sound like newsroom staff, ( coddle the story till it breaks your way stuff ) … thats not new., and unless you are a documentary journalist, its your perspective instigta nd spin that engages as much as the topic does.
DO it Better.
prove t to yourself by taking some under-reported something ( maybe even old news ) and put a spotlight on it and see how your marketing chops deliver in getting it recognized.
Often awareness made timely to something connected is all it takes, and a smart creative can be the trend rather than case it and chase it.