Astronaut Mike Mullane

Astronaut Mike Mullane & Nichelle Nichols

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It’s been almost twenty years since I had the pleasure of producing a TV show with three-times Space Shuttle Astronaut Mike Mullane, featured here this short clip being interview on the set of “Inside Space” by host Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from the original “Star Trek” series). View the video clip. Mike is one of my favorite “professional celebrities” – brilliant, kind, and quite funny. I once asked him, “Mike, I know that 75% of what astronauts do in space is military related and very hush-hush. Could you tell me about some of it?” Mike (a former Marine) smiled at me and said, “Sure Larry, but then I’d have to kill you (to keep it secret).” Read more →

Top-7 Ways to Create Scannable Web Copy

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People scan copy on the web – they don’t read! Studies show they read headlines, sub-headlines, and highlighted links. If they find something interesting, then they may read a paragraph or two, or sometimes the whole article. But you really only have less than 5 seconds (or less) to attract their attention or they are gone. In view of these facts, here is Doctor Of Content’s suggestions for writing (scannable) web copy for maximum business performance.

1. Write Headlines that Draw Attention
* Make it SHORT (5 words or less)
* Be Informative – offering a summary of the article at a glance
* Incorporate the main keyword of the article
* Make it Easy To Understand (using cool hi-tech phrases doesn’t help)

2. Incorporate Subheadings
* Include subheading that offer meaning and a progression of the content

3. Use Bulleted Lists
* People like lists (especially Top-10’s) Read more →

hand ear

Best Practices Are Dangerous!

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I believe that best practices are dangerous.

Could you say that again?

Yes. Best practices, followed religiously, and applied indiscriminately  to every case can often spell DISASTER. Every business is different, and therefore every website (designed for every business) should also be different. I believe that there is a unique solution to every problem – the tool should fit the job at hand, not the other way around.

Too many web developers, theme developers, and marketing copywriters suggest ‘their’ solution, built on ‘their’ best practices, will solve  ‘your’ problem. The problem with ‘their’ solution is that each business is different, each market is different, and each business owner is different. If you add up the small differences the total equals UNIQUE.

While best practices can serve as a good guide, they should never be followed as a cookie-cutter blueprint solution to your particular business problem. Effective solutions require unique questions. It’s how Einstein theorized relativity, how the Wright Brothers developed their airplane, and how great businesses get built offline and online.

Don’t be a follower. Look for unique solutions to your unique problems. Doctor of Content can help.

Content Strategy is About Communicating

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Have you ever tried to convince clients or corporate management that they should invest in content? Most companies are well aware of the benefits of having a web developer, but few are willing to invest in a dedicated web content developer. After all, anyone can write – or can they?

Most believe that writing is the domain of marketing. So why not assign them to write a blog, create a video, or develop an eBook? But writing engaging, informative, and useful content is often beyond the scope of marketing and many marketers.

Consider this for a moment:

Would you come back to a website or a blog filled with “Here’s why are products are great”?

Writing engaging web content that focuses on the needs and interests of your audience is less like writing well-crafted marketing copy and more like writing a compelling article for a magazine. Successful business websites are beginning to look more like a “Popular Science” or “The Huffington Post”.

Today, we are ll in the publishing business:

The success of your content strategy (and your business) is dependent on your ability to produce engaging and useful communications across all digital mediums – the web, a blog, mobile, an App –  and your ability to tap the huge potential of social media and client-focused social networks (such as Linkedin). Today, we are all in the publishing business – communicating ideas, answering questions, and telling stories. That takes commitment (time & money), but it’s worth the investment.

YouTube Invests in Original Content and Production Talent

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YouTube, that amazing video site owned by  Google, said it was going to give $500,000 to help the video-makers “produce even higher quality videos and ultimately drive bigger audiences to their work.” Now why would YouTube be so kind? Because they are do gooders, do no evil, or are actually in the business of making money? You got it – its the later. YouTube wants to attract bigger audiences – and that means more advertising revenue (big surprise).

The cash is going to be  distributed through credits at B&H Photo, which is the Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s favorite camera equipment store. The credits for equipment will go to approximately 500 ‘partners’ “who primarily create and distribute their content online, to purchase new video production equipment.

Check out more in YouTube’s blog post.

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