This Isn't the End!

Two posts.

Wow.

I managed to only write a whopping two posts in 2017. Now that the dawn of 2018 has already passed, if I were to make some claim about doing better this year, I feel like you would see right through it.

I wouldn’t blame you.

So let’s not even go there. I haven’t accomplished enough to bow out as graciously as the Birmingham Blogging Academy but I’m here to tell you that life certainly gets in the way, man.

This won’t be my last entry but you and I should temper those expectations of an increased frequency of posts. Working, trying to be a helpful spouse, parenting, yard work and other to-dos really eats up the hours.

I feel good about getting this off my chest. I don’t want to stop blogging but blogging can’t be a priority for me these days. Being in this situation makes for a good opportunity to revisit the reasons why I began this blog.

First, I felt (and still feel) that posting regularly keeps one’s writing muscles nimble. I believe that well-written content is extremely valuable, even though video seems to be the go-to for quick, self-education. If you are a marathoner, you need to stay in shape for the next race, right? Writers need to have that same mindset, in my opinion.

Secondly, I wanted this blog to share my observations about communications with employers and colleagues – sort of a way to say I know what’s useful and what’s pointless. More often than not, I found it easier to critique than compliment (what does that say about me as a person?!). In fact, if I could dive into some research, I’d love to answer:

• Why are radio station websites are so poorly designed? 
• Is that Addiction Network cable TV commercial tacky or pure genius? 
• Who are the consumers that sustain the need for robo-dialers and telemarketers? 

I have so many other weird questions on my mind, too.

The award for Most Random Star Wars Promotional Item goes to #Dole. Can you imagine next month's sales meeting? "Great news! Sales of shredded lettuce are up 62% since we began featuring R2-D2 on our packaging!"

A post shared by Nick Baggett (@nick_baggett) on Dec 13, 2017 at 7:30pm PST

Remember when using Twitter was referred to as a micro blogging? I’ve always tried to mask my late timing and lack of cleverness with scheduled tweets about digital advertising. If I can no longer blog regularly, maybe I can be a more spontaneous tweeter? I’ll give that a shot. I’ll try to give my followers a true look at me and scale back on the boring work-related stuff. Hold me to this claim – look for the changes at @Nick_Baggett.

Thank you very much for reading and please do drop me a line sometime. I’ll be back!

Condensed Content for Quick Consumption

Have you noticed that the technology we use to coordinate our days, hours and minutes is largely responsible for our lives being so chaotic? Sure, it helps us manage time more efficiently but any free time that is created is often filled in with more activities, not leisure. Weirdly, we like it that way.

Marketers have adjusted their delivery methods to our desire to be occupied at all times. Paid advertisements in social media feeds are great examples of this tactic. So are video screens at gas pumps. Twitter, which causes a lot of the competition for my attention, has seen its turf become so crowded that it recently unveiled Twitter Highlights, a feature Twitter says is, "an instant summary of the best Tweets from your timeline." It's like Twitter is surrendering to the fact that we users are so busy that we only have time for the cream of its crop.

Despite being so busy, we still like to call the shots when it comes to staying informed. But the rub is that we're too busy to call said shots. That's why we have an increasing appreciation for content, news and other information to be delivered to us in concentrated doses. I've noticed three big-time examples that help us achieve an acceptable information delivery flow that is considerate of our available consumption time.

INBOX

Google's attempt to make managing all of your email was introduced in late 2014. Not only can you access messages from various accounts with Inbox, it also prioritizes your emails so that you see what's important sooner.


THIS.

This. is a budding, invitation-only social media platform that allows users to share just one link per day with other users. That limitation really makes you think before sharing (and really cuts down on the cat pics!). Each day, the editors at This. send an email to subscribers that features the most shared links of the day.

THE DAILY RALLY

Sports fans that are crunched for time will appreciate the roundup of headlines that arrive each morning via email. Each delivery features a broad but short collection of links to articles and videos that recap sporting events from the previous day (and night). This is a very new venture staffed only by a pair of capable sisters. I’m already a fan and I hope they can maintain what has to be an exhausting pace.

WE HAVE LAUNCHED. Head over to thedailyrally.com to sign up! What a great day.
Posted by The Daily Rally on Monday, September 7, 2015

I expect to see more new content sources that conform to our information overload threshold. It will be interesting to see if and how existing sources adjust. Thanks for reading and please let me know your observations in the comment section!

Three Easy Proofreading Tips

In today’s world, consumers want to make educated purchases. But the way consumers obtain that education is very different than in the past. Gone are the days when humans questioned each other in person about goods and services. These days, it’s all about putting your information online where it can influence buys – a practice commonly known as content marketing.

There are countless ways of getting information about your products and services out to the masses but it all starts with text. It’s more important than ever to have copy that is informative, helpful and error-free. That last one is a biggie as many job postings now stress proofing skills. It can be tedious but here are three tips I use to simplify proofreading.

Simply Wait

Whatever you’re writing - - blog posts, brochure copy, press releases, etc. - - you’ll easily miss typos and other mistakes if you proof your work immediately after finishing. If time is not a crucial issue, wait up to an hour to read your work again and you’ll find that it’s much easier to spot errors.

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It may be surprising to realize that reading your copy word-for-word backwards really helps with your proofreading efforts. But, this method is especially handy when trying to spot issues with grammatical tense and punctuation.

Avoid Distractions 

This goes against our natural urges but blocking out all distractions while composing your copy can have a significant impact on your proofreading steps. You’ll take serious strides to cutting down on proofing time by closing your email, putting your phone away and dedicating a measured block of time to working. A great tactic for bloggers is putting the Distraction Free Writing Mode to use when composing a WordPress entry.

I hope these three proofreading tips will be helpful in your work. What are some of the tricks of the trade that you use? Please let me know by leaving a comment below. Thanks for visiting!