Today I’m continuing my chat with Erika Napoletano of Redhead Writing. Now we’re really talking business… Part III covers owning your brand as well as the agency / client relationship. She has some great advice for how to work with agencies and how build a great long-term relationship with clients.
Many thanks to the head Redhead for taking the time to speak with me. Get some context and show some love by checking out Erika’s blog, follower her on Twitter, or connect via Facebook.
I recently had the pleasure of getting to speak with Erika Napoletano - better known online as Redhead Writing. I first started reading her work about a year ago through the re-tweets of some people I followed on Twitter and found her writing style as well as her sense of humor to be both smart and hilarious. It’s also not for those who are afraid of colorful language…. For the uninitiated, Erika is best know for her blunt, unapologetic writing style. Whether she’s blogging about business (the bitch-slap), her obsession with cycling, or why she’s not going to follow you on Twitter, Erika is someone who has done an amazing job of building her own personal brand as well as her own business. She was nice enough to sit down with me to share her story so far and offer up some great tips to the rest of us who aspire to write, run a business, or just do good things for your clients.
I’ve condensed our 45 minute chat and distilled it down to into 3 parts (about 10 minutes each). In part I we’ll talk about Erika’s journey to becoming a full time blogger and writer. Part II will cover the fine art of the Guest Post - how you can use it to build your audience as well as how to make connections with other bloggers to expand your reach.
Part III will be posted tomorrow - we’ll get into owning your brand as well as the agency / client relationship.
Many thanks to the head Redhead for taking the time to speak with me. Get some context and show some love by checking out Erika’s blog, follower her on Twitter, or connect via Facebook.
Did you dig it so far? Would love your thoughts, so fire away in the comments. Part III will be posted tomorrow.
Have you ever seen Shit My Dad Says on Twitter? Check it out. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Really funny stuff. Justin Hepburn, who set up the account as a place to share his father’s snippets of wisdom, currently has 1.4million followers, a TV deal, and a new book which is a collection of stories and essays (also called Sh*t My Dad Says).
I’ve checked out the preview on Amazon for the book and decided that it was something that would make for a quick and fun summer read.
I also picked up an iPad a few weeks ago and have been very impressed by how many things I use it for (full review coming next week). What I haven’t really spent a lot of time with is buying / reading full length books on it from the iBooks store. At the risk of not enjoying the experience, I figured Sh*t My Dad Says would be a good starter book.
However, the iBooks store currently doesn’t stock it. Not that big of a deal, right? I’ve heard that you can just grab a Kindle app and purchase / read any Kindle books on your iPad.
But here’s what I found when I went to Amazon to purchase the Kindle version:
Notice anything strange?
Here’s a quick observation on the difference between bytes and binding…
If you look hard, you’ll see that the new hardcover edition is priced at $8.79 and the Kindle edition (digital download) is $9.99. A brand new, hardcover book should NEVER cost more than an e-edition. Ever. Call me cheap, but the cost associated with moving a couple megabytes of text is infinitely smaller than the cost of printing and shipping a hardcover book. Never mind the antiquated royalty system between publishers and authors, I’m not going to touch that here. The whole purpose of e-readers is to (hopefully) do for reading what iTunes did for music (granted, there are some bad byproducts to this system as well) by making it convenient, instant, scalable, and cost effective.
But as the model stands right now, I think e-books in their current form and pricing structure are majorly flawed, no matter how cool the reading device is. Amazon is asking me to pay more for what is essentially the same experience as a paper book (without being able to share it with someone else when I’m done - another rant altogether).
Publishers need to either charge less because consumers recognize that there is substantially less cost involved with distribution and substantially more restrictions when it comes to sharing an e-book vs. a paper book - OR make the e-book a completely different experience than the paper book- one that is worth a premium price. How? I can think of a few ways:
Ability to share chapters or the whole book with friends after completing it.
The ability to annotate pages, add hyperlinks and share notes with everyone else who has bought that ebook.
Enable book club style features where every reader can interact with other readers in real time through the book, commenting and suggesting other books.
Allow for authors to have Q and As IN the book or allow users to peel back pages to see earlier drafts.
Things like this would differentiate the ebook experience, provide a kick ass way of interacting with other readers and essentially make each book come with its own built-in online community (not to mention sell a lot more Kindles, Nooks and iPads so more people could take part in that experience). Need more? Seth Godin has another awesome idea for a paperback Kindle.
Am I asking for too much here? Do you think the problem is that the tech is in its infancy at the moment, or do you blame the publishers (or authors)? Do you have an e-reader device and has it made you read more - if so, how would you weigh in on the pricing, buying experience? Fire away in the comments, please.
In my last post, I was hoping to get people thinking about what they are doing to help others, as well as get some ideas myself. But most of all I was hoping to start a conversation on the topic. And I was so impressed by the stories that were shared in the comments or on Twitter and Facebook. I wanted to share a few of them in the hopes that they’ll inspire you to get involved.
One commenter (Heather) told me about the work that she’s been doing on her own to provide furniture to refugee families who end up in Utica (where we both are from).
Yesterday i helped drive 2 loads of furniture to two separate refugee families that have NOTHING. It was so sweet and they were so grateful. It would be great if you could spread the word on how bad I need mattresses, tables, and other furnishings for these people. Until it’s donated to them, they are literally sleeping and eating on wood floors right here in our city of Utica. How can a child pay attention and get educated in school if she sleeps on a hard wood floor uncomfortably all night? Same goes for a working father, how can he work with a beat up back? I’m sure you get the point. East Utica is looking great in the areas where the refugees that have been here for a while have worked their way up the social ladder.
So if you’re in central New York and have furniture that you would like to repurpose, leave a comment and I’ll be in touch to help coordinate. I’ve already been in contact with Heather offline and am trying to get some furniture together.
Likewise, @Johnmatthews sent me a tweet about an organization that he is involved with called Operation Photo Rescue - where a volunteer network of digital photographers, photo journalists and designers repair photographs damaged by natural disasters and house fires - free of charge. I never would have thought an organization like this existed and they’re doing amazing work at the moment with the flood victims in Nashville, TN. You can get more info on the official site - or talk to John on Twitter.
Virgina Reuter hit me up on Twitter to tell me about how she is building an e-newsletter pro bono for Village Hope Core International which is a non profit that deals with micro lending to family-based enterprises in the village of Chogoria, Kenya.
I should also mention an organization that I’ve been involved with for a few years now called Hope House which works to feed people within the city of Utica. They do amazing work and I’m hopefully going to be doing much more with them in the coming months. You can hit up their website for more info about their mission and their needs.
I was also reminded of the everyday things that are done to help family and friends that often times get overlooked. So there are tons of amazing people doing amazing things online and offline and I’m really grateful that peeps have been sharing their stories. If you’ve got one you’d like to share, drop a comment below.
I want to forget about business blogging for a moment here and move the focus to something that is really more important entirely. What did you do today to help someone else? I’m not talking about in terms of your job either. What did you do TODAY to help someone outside of your comfort zone?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Most of what I’ve been focusing my energy on in terms of off the clock time has been personal projects, creating things and generally enjoying myself. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t have ‘me’ time but if someone came up to me today and asked what I’ve done TODAY to help someone else, I wouldn’t have an answer. That bothers me.
I do a lot of reading, writing, tweeting about business, tech, and social media. In fact I’d venture to guess that one of the top subjects on social media channels on any given day is…..social media. We’ve got these amazing sets of tools to connect with others and we seem to put in a lot of time talking about the tools themselves as well as talking to each other about how profit from them - instead of really thinking about how to leverage them for the greater good.
That’s not to say that this isn’t happening. I’ve loved Beth Kanter’s posts on how she helps non-profits through the use of social media. Mark Horvath’s Invisible People project is using the web to highlight the plight of the homeless in America. There is amazing work being done - but we need more of it, online and offline. Let’s face it, your local shelter might not necessarily need a Facebook page - they need funds and volunteers. While I think we should use our talents to help others, (which might include helping a non-profit with their social media outreach) sometimes we forget that we need to get out from behind the computers, listen to the needs of the community, and put boots on the ground. It has an impact - and let’s face it - it’s good for business.
I don’t have an answer here. Just a question. What can I (we) do that will have a measurable impact on someone else’s life (whom I know or don’t know) on a regular basis? I’ve getting some ideas together on how I can use some of my time to give back to organizations I care about, so I’m not paralyzed by indecision….just hoping to get you thinking too. What are YOU doing? I’d love your suggestions and stories, so fire away in the comments. Thanks.
Usually I DETEST mass mailings, whether they’re digital or via snail mail. I especially hate when I don’t opt-in but for some reason the company feels like I would just love to have their information in my inbox since I created an account or bought something from them back in 2002. But I don’t want their info.
Over The Rhine is one of my favorite bands and I’ve happily received their ‘Letters from Linford’ for the better part of a decade. They are written in the most beautiful prose and full of personal anecdotes and stories from the farm. Those stories take precedence over tour and album info - and we as fans love them for it. Karin and Linford give you a glimpse into their lives not just as artists but as a midwestern couple in Ohio. Not only do I read their newsletters each time - I save them and forward them to friends.
Chris Brogan’s newsletter gives recipients content that isn’t available anywhere else on his site and behind the scenes info on projects he’s working on. His new newsletter will focus more on education and his new projects (read: courses and products). But I’ll continue to subcribe because of the value I get form it as a reader - and most likely as a future customer. His content is actionable, makes you think and creates a dialogue that has made Chris one of the most sought after speakers and valuable personal brands in social media world.
Shopify pitches new services & products at the top of their newsletter, but below that they also give me some great interviews and articles from the likes of Seth Godin, Gary V, and more. It’s part of their Pro Tips series. Granted, some of this content I’m sure is repurposed and has some degree of celebrity tied to it - but it’s targeted and gives the recipient (me) content that has value - even if it’s not related to Shopify’s core products.
It’s a fair trade really, and one that more businesses need to understand. You (the brand, the band, the business) should provide me with content that is useful, relevant and timely, and I, the user will give you permission to send me your messages which also have a pitch or a product. Content for eyeballs.
So before you send that e-newsletter. Would YOU want to be on the receiving end of it? Is there useful content in it - or the digital equivalent of junk mail? Are you marketing to your current customers (fine) or current AND potential customers (better, so long as they opt-in) by giving them great content which will also keep you top of mind?
What newsletters do YOU subscribe to? Do you still read them and if so, what makes them good? Fire away in the comments…
