The Science Of Blogging: Dan Zarrella

Dan Zarrella is an award-winning social, search, and viral marketing scientist and author of the O’Reilly Media book “The Social Media Marketing Book“. He has a background in web development and combines his programming capabilities with a passion for social marketing to study social media behavior from a data-backed position and teach marketers scientifically grounded best practices.

The Science of Blogging

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Key takeaways for me:

• LIWC - linguistics content
• Sex & Positivity sell
• Self referential content is not retweeted
• People like your "insight & opinions"

DO NOT blog about yourself

• People link to video; people do not tend link to photos
• Comments more on photos, less on video
• Words like: "Recent, insight, soon, answers" - people like to link to your personal opinion
• Ask for comments to your blog posts - incentivize comments

Words:

• Most retweetable words - YOU (how can I help you)
• Sharable words - Why, how and most
• Least viewed words – franchise, episode (people don't like episodic)
• Least linked to – boring words
• Stay way from overly technical jargon
• Least retweetable words – game, going, LOL, watching (stop talking about yourselves)
• Facebook is for "Jersey Shore" not for people that understand social media; stay away from dork terms

Grammar matters

• Facebook content shouldn't be written over a 6th grade level
• Write simply and plainly; short
• Like and recommends: The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
• "Sheeple" - Social Proof reduces fear of content

Timing:

• When should I publish?
• Publish early in the morning
• Linking to your content early morning
• 4PM is more retweetable time
• Post on Monday for views and links
• Weekend post get more comments

How often should I post?

• People want timely content
• More than one post a day for will overtime increased views and percieved expertise

Part Two: Community Farmer - Attending To The Flock

Starting a community, however, is not as simple as [some] of the below software applications will make it seem. Much like teaching a room full of three year olds, all groups require rules, moderation, goals, expectations, communication, and swift respectful discipline should these aforementioned items not be observed. Most of all, be honest, transparent and inclusive to the group. No one likes a bully, least of all the person in charge. It also helps that you embrace the most active participants that align themselves with the group, its rules and communicate in what you deem as the best way be put put in administrative or moderation roles, easing the burden on you and justifying that your group is not and autocracy.

Here's a quick list:

• Start question threads
• Elicit feedback (remember, you don't have to act on every comment or criticism)
• Grow a spine (you'll need it)
• Respond to criticism rapidly (doesn't mean you have to do anything about it right away, but you do need to respond)
• Acknowledge good communication
• Do not judge; simply be a part of the community and intervene only if absolutely necessary
• Don't censor or edit discussion unless harmful or it falls outside the rules
• Follow the rules; optimize the rules
• Cater to the egos of the group within reason
• Destroy your bullies publicly
• Create themes and programs for discussion
• Listen, listen, listen. The group is not a platform for you to do all the communication
• Make the site visually appealing by advocating user-generated content
• Progressively survey your community (using free tools like http://www.surveymonkey.com/) to insure that your heading in the right direction
• Evolve! Make sure that your content isn't stuck at a dead end
• Hold live events where everyone can meet one another in real time
• Create Podcasts/Stream/Video for the group
• Bring in outside authors, bloggers and spotlights
• Keep a steady stream of like-minded links from google alerts and RSS streams injected in your community
• If you go on vacation, switch servers or do anything to disrupt communication let everyone know prepatorily
• Do your best to respond to all comments
• Be authentic, honest and charismatic
• Be topical
• Have fun

Part One: Community Farmer - Seeds

Jacquellyn McNeill Hamalian, a dear friend of mine, asked me today:  "You know, one of the things I've tried finding is any kind of community or group for anything having to do with paralysis/spinal cord injury or anything related to it. I haven't been able to find other people aside from a few pages that have posts that are really old and not really an "active" community. Any ideas for me?"

I told her yes, I had an idea -- create one! You'd be surprised how many people will gather within a particular subject matter once there's a place to go. More often than not, many people think others don't believe that "Rock, Paper, Scissors should settle everything." Well, you'd be wrong as almost a thousand people do. The point is that just because you can't find a predetermined group out there doesn't mean that there will not be members should this group become an entity. It starts simply enough with one person that's willing to push the snowball down the hill.

This post will be a bore to some that know of social community applications. To others, it might be just the thing you've been looking for to start that one group that you haven't been able to find. Or perhaps you want to start a local group based around a common interests (such as a Church, charity or outreach program) or even an event.

I'll get into the fine art of creating and guiding conversation in some upcoming posts but for now, let's just get you started on getting a group up and running.

Here's a list of group and social community applications:

• Facebook
• Ning
• Going On - more education and 'social learning' in nature
• Grouply
• Group Site - networking and community development
• Igloo - oriented social community software
• Mixxt
• Webs
• Mzinga
• Groups
• Connect Platform
• Spurz
• Social Go
• Buddy Press
• Wall.FM
• Yuku
• Qlubb
• Pling
• Thats Today
• Blast Groups
• Big Tent
• Community Engine
• Zerista - mobile community applications
• Flickr Groups - photography groups
• Posterous

Comparison chart of many of the above mentioned products.

Brand Affinity: Hyatt Place

First off, I'm a total brand junkie. Though loyal, I love to kick the tires on new brands. Now, while Hyatt Place hotels are not totally new, I was only recently introduced to them a couple of years ago. Now, as I've come to understand it (from staying at various properties and speaking with their staff), Hyatt wanted a brand concept that they could come into a town and seek out distressed hotels that no longer fulfilled the needs of the consumer, purchase and reintroduce them in the Hyatt Place brand. This is usually done by tossing the ashtrays, hitting it with some paint and a couple of new lobby accoutrements. Nothing could be further from the truth with Hyatt Place.

"Designed for the busy lifestyle of today's multi-tasking business traveler, Hyatt Place features a selected range of services aimed at providing casual hospitality in a well-designed, high-tech and contemporary environment. Property sizes range from 125 to 200 rooms and are located in urban, airport and suburban areas. Signature features of Hyatt Place include The Gallery, which offers a coffee and wine bar, a 24 hours a day, seven days a week guest kitchen with freshly prepared snacks and entrees, and daily complimentary continental breakfast. Hyatt Place guests are business travelers as well as families. Hyatt Place properties are also well suited to serve small corporate meetings."

If it's not brand new and it is a refurb, but they do their very best to include all the design standards that make the Hyatt place a contemporary experience. If there's a fault at all here, it's that they are all so close to brand standard that they all feel the same! But let me tell you, when you're driving from state to state with your family and you arrive at a hotel that even your three year old daughter knows where things are and what to expect, I'd say they're doing something right. And while it is more fashioned for the business traveler, I will tell you that my daughter's always been treated with the same amount of attention given to the big kids.

Each room has a large wraparound couch that also services as a pull-out bed, should you need it, along with a half divider wall and a large 42" flat screen television on a swivel post that can be positioned for either the bedroom area or the sitting area. Very nice. I wish I could see it better from the shower, but I also want the Denver Broncos to have a winning record. Alas, we cannot have everything. There's a fridge, a desk, free wi-fi, an ottoman and a decent office chair.

The free breakfast is decent and they offer a few meals, both breakfast and dinner that are reasonably priced and quite good. There are small, but efficient, sitting areas for relaxing in the lobby and around the food areas. I recommend the pesto chicken ciabatta sandwich. They have express check-in stations with touchscreen -- not a time-machine, but a pleasant necessity when you're not feeling chatty. Most of them have a pool, a weight room all of the stuff you would expect‚ and even laundry service!

A couple of flimsy cons are that the shampoo and the soap smell like bubblegum -- it's the weirdest thing. Tell me I'm wrong! Oh, and Hyatt, if you're listening -- you also might want to vary the artwork from room to room, I'm kind of over the tribal branches. And please buy your maintenance staff a laser level, I swear, all the artwork in the potties are not level!

All this for typically under $100 a night. Be sure to ask every time you go if they're offering any double points or one-night stay free, their reward's program is great. Oh, and if you stay there enough, be sure to hit the manager up with a business card and they will establish you a corporate rate. I think that's about it kids, sleep tight.

What Happened To The "Ecstasy Of Gold?"

"The Ecstasy of Gold" is a song written by Ennio Morricone from the Spaghetti Western, 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly,' and its popularity had a resurgence in the 90's as the heavy metal band, Metallica, would use it as the opening music to their concerts. This tune would start to fill the air and the crowd would practically eat itself knowing that the band was about to hit the stage. I was born of this metal militia almost thirty years ago and I can still remember seeing them walk out on stage each and every time.

That being said, I saw Apple tease a couple of weeks ago the release of something on iTunes tomorrow! "Cool," I said and then subsequently tweeted that they're "such a tease." That's in jest, really, as I love that some people are still taking the time to build anticipation. There's less and less of it anymore as we've made way for the expectation that one's social network is of such that whatever the trend in my interest will simply 'find me.' I guess I cannot blame the technology companies these days -- there's this hurricane of technology releases coming from every direction and none of them seem to be any bigger than the other. Facebook, today, released messaging surrounding their messaging services but it didn't feel special. It didn't make me talk, chatter or speculate what it could be.

Maybe Al Capone's vault or the lack of inspiration that was provided by the Segway just cast a shroud of apathy of building pre-buzz. What's going on? I mean, even DVD and game releases are having less and less pre-seeded expectation applied to them. Are we just to the point that we don't require anticipation anymore? Maybe I'm just so past my trending prime that I'm oblivious to these campaigns, but I don't think so. I [think] that we're just swimming in deliverables. There's a poster that I saw behind some technology executive (Facebook, as I recall) that said "Better Now Than Prefect", and while I'm coming to understand more and more that sometimes being first is better than being the best in the application/mobile market, it has a tendency to be a wash of technology, versioning and vague discussion that swirls into muddy noise.

I started this by saying that apple's doing it, but just for a day. Facebook seems to have a feature release a month and that's about as special as a new item on Cracker Barrel's menu. Maybe I'm just old, or maybe I want to be so excited about something that when I finally hold it I feel special to have acquired it. Christmas day, camping our for tickets to that one band you must see before you die or simply waiting to see a good friend. The art of anticipation seems to be a dying art. We're so connected to everything and news travels at blinding speeds that even word-of-mouth is too slow. I have dozens of friends and we all send each other sites, video and technologies to get our thoughts. And I find it amazing that I send the same file to two people on across the continent and I get "oh, I saw that an hour ago." It's something that is bitter sweet about technology, we get everything faster and faster but we seem to forget that sometimes it's just good to wait.

Advertising Without A Flotation Device

No real suprise for me that Campfire NYC is generating great campaign after great campaign. Having worked hand-in-hand with them for Audi's Art of the Heist and other campaigns they have never ceased to amaze me. So I jumped when I saw a recent case study for Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" surface on a Mashable post.

It's easy to point at campaigns like this and say "see that's the future of advertising!" Because in truth it's reward is the level of risk that a brand/client/agency is willing to take. Brands as we know them are victims to years and years of shitty advertising. Therefore the default reaction to working with your agency is to bird-dog them and make sure they don't step a pica left or right of a concrete creative brief. So many clients feel that success comes directly from "predetermined" structure. More often than not a cigarette stained 'Mad Men' approach at that; filled with television, radio, calendar inserts and table tents in airport bars.

Clients watching work like this most be prepared to 'jump in the deep end' and tread the water in the pure belief that company's like Campfire NYC, GMD Studios and 42 Entertainment will create some magnificant. You simply need to let go and let these storytellers/social scientists do what they do best – a fragile dance of audience engagement, persuasion with a dash of influence. What you get is nothing short of brilliance.