In the world of social media you can’t automate engagement.

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social engagement conversationIf you want to understand how social media works, have a look at how you use it in your personal life.

You use it to keep in touch, let people know what’s happening in your life, and keep up with what’s happening in their lives.

It’s like an always-on, totally connected, interactive, multimedia round-robin letter. Best of all, the totality of content created by individuals on social media is comprised not of the original updates, tweets and posts created, but of the feedback and interaction that follows. Write 5 lines of family news and within a few hours you’ll have 20 lines of comments and feedback.

Now look at how companies and organizations use it.

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Monday Spark: Fake it until you become it [VIDEO]

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powerful postureI often tell the story of a freelancer I know who, before making any kind of cold call – from his freelance work area at home – dresses up in a suit, makes sure his shoes are polished, and strides confidently around the room for a few minutes until he feels ready to make the call.

By making himself look and feel powerful, he finds he had far greatest success with his calls. His prospect can’t see he is wearing a suit, and standing while making the call, but he can.

I also advise my coaching clients, when starting out on their freelance careers, to imagine how successful they could be three years from now. I ask them to imagine their workspace, think of how much money they are making, think about the kinds of clients they have and the projects they are working on, and envision what their websites will look like. And I then tell them to start behaving like that right now, three years in advance of achieving that goal.

In other words, behave as if you are already as successful as you plan to become.

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The geeks have done their part for social media. Now it’s time for the writers.

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social media writing toolboxWhat do I mean by this?

Let me explain with a story from 1998.That was the year I began to work full-time as an online writer and copywriter.

By that time hundreds of thousands of companies had already launched websites. Generally, they looked reasonably good and worked reasonably well. But the writing was not so good. What many of them did was simply cut and paste text from their old print materials.

They didn’t understand that writing for the web was different. And that was the message I shared with my audience and my clients.

The developers and designers had done their part. But to make websites achieve their potential, these companies needed good writers who understood the medium.

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Monday Spark: Have some distraction-free time each day.

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distracting road works noiseYou’re in a room with a fan blowing. It isn’t too noisy. Certainly not noisy enough to prevent you from working.

Or maybe there is some work been done in the street, and you hear the background noise of vehicles, generators and power tools from time to time.

But then, at some point, you turn off the fan, or the street noise stops.

What a difference. It’s only when the noise stops that you realize how it has been filling your head and distracting you. Turn off that background noise, and you feel relief.

The same kind of things happens when you spend your day with a background of constant emails and social media. It’s just a different kind of noise.

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When to use your copywriting skills, and when not to.

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copywriter as magicianI receive a lot of email from all kinds of people, including freelance copywriters.

Some are saying hi, some are asking questions, and some want me to do something.

I have no problem receiving the emails. I like to keep in touch with other writers. But I do have a tip for anyone writing to me by email.

When you send me an email, don’t “copywrite” at me.

In other words, don’t use your copywriting skills to try to persuade me to read something or do something.

Strange as it might seem, I can recognize when I’m being “copywritten” at from 50 paces. And I can hit that delete button in about 50 microseconds.

Why is it wrong to use your copywriting skills when writing to an individual by email? Because the context is wrong.

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Monday Sparks: Play is a good thing.

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improv-play-for-freelancersIf you watch the video below you’ll hear Charlie Todd say, right near the end, “Play is a good thing.”

I couldn’t agree more.

And the harder you work, the more you need to play a little. Or a lot.

The more stressed you feel, the more you need to play.

The longer you have been sitting on your butt in front of your monitor, the more important it becomes to go out and play.

Sometimes play comes to you. This is certainly true when you have very young children in the house.

But at other times in your life, you have to remind yourself to play a little. It’s a perfectly natural and healthy thing to do.

Play can be something ordinary and routine, like playing catch with the kids in the back yard.

But, as you will see from the Improv Everywhere video below, play can be a little more than that. It can be both fun and generous.

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