In the last two weeks, I’ve camped at the mouth of the Columbia River and stayed in a cabin on the edge of Mt. Rainier National Park. It felt good to be out of the house and to see some of the awesome landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.
Oh, and I also kicked off the newest season of my movies/comedy podcast, launched a new YouTube channel, and started working with a new client to get their business off the ground.
I’m bad at relaxing.
In this newsletter:
- No more excuses, dive into accessibility.
- The best captions for Instagram are HOW LONG!?
- The perfect essay on why personal branding matters.
Always start with accessibility
I hope when you think of this newsletter, you think of two things.
- First, it’s from that guy that is nonstop hype for Twitter.
- Making accessible content is job #1 for marketing.
First and foremost, you should be making your website, content, emails, and business accessible to more people every day for your customers and your employees. This will make your business better and your employees happier.
But aside from the human impact of accessibility improvements, there is a tremendous marketing advantage. Every major platform is taking accessibility more seriously and elevating the importance of these tools for ranking. Captions, alt tags, contrast settings, and structured data for screen readers all will get your message to more people.
There are so many reasons to take accessibility seriously. Now is the time to get started.
An Introduction to Accessibility and SEO [Series Part 1]
Twitter interlude
Longer. LONGER!
This infographic caught my attention due to this one data point:
“The caption length that saw the most engagement in between 1,000 and 2,000 characters”
Wait, what?
That length is longer than what most people submit as blogs. Well, to be honest, most company blogs are 350-word trash. But this stuck with me because I always put all my emphasis on the image on Instagram. Based on this data, the image only exists to get people to read the caption, and if that caption is an entire blog post, they will read it.
Looking at the other data in this study, the best Instagram posts go like this:
- Make a carousel with the first image to get people to stop and read.
- Write a very long caption that tells a story.
- Add the max number of images to the carousel that supports the story.
- Watch the engagement roll in.
Don’t buy into the video hype. Images with good copywriting are still the best content.
New Report Looks at Instagram Engagement Trends, Based on 100 Million Posts
Hot links
- How to Crash-Proof Your Personal Brand in a Tight Job Market
- Apple is Holding Back the Creator Economy
- The Great Talent Reshuffling of 2021 Has Begun
Take this seriously, regardless of your industry. The pandemic showed employees the real soul of their employer, and they are ready to quit. So which are you going to be? The company that has massive turnover because it turns out you are a super shitty place to work? Or are you going on a hiring spree because there’s tons of great talent looking for a great place to work?
You knew a Twitter story was gonna be in here.
The meta-game and your personal brand | Get better every day
Okay, so when you read this newsletter or you follow me I want you to think of three things, not two.
- Accessibility
- Personal brand
If you take no other action after reading this newsletter other than reading the link below I will be happy.
The Great Online Game – How to Win the Internet
For years I have been persuading people to take control of their personal brand and develop a way they will use social media to engage with co-workers, bosses, customers, employees, and industry peers. It is critical to your future success that you play the internet game and that is exactly what the above essay is about.
The internet gives you unlimited opportunities in both the digital and physical world. I can’t sum it up any better than this quote from the Not Boring article,
“The Great Online Game is an infinite video game that plays out constantly across the internet. It uses many of the mechanics of a video game, but removes the boundaries. You’re no longer playing as an avatar in Fortnite or Roblox; you’re playing as yourself across Twitter, YouTube, Discords, work, projects, and investments. People who play the Great Online Game rack up points, skills, and attributes that they can apply across their digital and physical lives. Some people even start pseudonymous and parlay their faceless brilliance into jobs and money.
The Game rewards community and cooperation over individualism and competition. You get points for being curious, sharing, and helping with no expectation of reciprocation. By increasing your surface area, you’re opening yourself up to serendipity. For good actors, the Game has nearly unlimited upside, and practically no downside.”
This is hands-down the best piece I’ve read in a long time, especially about personal branding. Read it and figure out how you are going to play the game.