With Love, Philly Wordsmith

This new campaign for Philadelphia has me thinking. What would Philadelphia look like as the writer of these notes? Philadelphia is writing promotional and witty letters to these groups of people (gays, historians, art lovers, suburbanites) that it's trying to attract.

What would this quintessential, inviting Philadelphia look like? First, the pen. It would be a quill. Obviously.

Some possibilities for Human Philadelphia:

1) A really, really gay Ben Franklin. He prefers "Benjamin."

2) An old woman from South Philadelphia.

3) A college hipster. Skinny jeans and bright Nike High Tops and all.

Now, you! Who would Human Philly be?

4 Points From "Breaking Boundaries"

Last night, I attended PRSSA's "Breaking Boundaries: The Revolution of Social Media." The event was a success. Thank you to panelists and moderator: @jerseycoach, @gloriabell, @blankbaby, @k8teshields, @podcaststeve, @conversationage, and @gloriabell. Here's what I learned.

1 - The principle of paying it forward. Thanks to Gloria and Moderator, Rick Alcantara, for bringing this up. The way to attract people in the virtual social world is the same as in the real world. Be kind, generous, and pass things along.

2 - Valeria Maltoni and Kate Shields brought up and emphasized the fact that people trust their peers more than they trust marketers. That fact probably explains why Social Networking sites are the most popular and visited sites. It also explains why a user-generated site like http://tripadvisor.com is visited more often than any other travel site.

3 - Panelist Steven Lubetkin reminded us that customers are actively looking for our product online. Social Networking makes it easy for marketers to tap into communities that already want our product.

4 - Right off the bat, Scott McNulty made the point that Social Media is two-way. Don't do just all listening or all talking. Do a bit of both.

Social Media Club Event in Philly: 3 Highlights

First of all, thanks @cecilyk and @gloriabell for putting on such a great event. Super informative and interactive and I love that it was an all-star babe panel. And check out a great recap of the event by @krisis at his website: Crushing Krisis.

Anywho, here's some stuff I learned.

1 - Thanks @BethHarte for this one: It's more than Return on Investment. It's sometimes immeasurable to see Returns on Engagement, Information, and Influence.

2 - Probably the #1 Reason why a client should invest in Social Media: Your competitors are already doing it or are about to. It's like back in the day when a client was perhaps weary of the new-fangled e-mail. 10 years ago, "Why do I need e-mail? Paper mail is just fine, thank you very much." Yikes.

3 - This comes from @oliviarabe: There's 3 things you should be doing when participating in a Social Media Network: Entertaining, Educating, and providing a Utility. It reminded me of the notion of "sharability" (not to be confused with Budweiser's "Drinkability.") I advise any company that is providing Social Content to ask themselves during the content creation process: "Would I want to share this with my friends?"

So, thanks Philly SMC for a great panel. Check out SMC's site here.

Twitter University

Here's to those who made this @PhillyWordsmith what I am today.

Allow me to give a bit of background to my story. I was a bit of a late bloomer in my love for advertising and copywriting. I knew I wanted to be a writer with my English degree, but I wasn't sure how. I resigned myself to having to be broke ass. My last semester at college, on a whim and because it fit in my schedule, found me signing up for an Intro to Advertising course. I graduated and with English degree in hand and one Intro course under my belt, I actually feel further ahead than many of my peers who took four years to hone their craft.

Impossible you say? Nothing is impossible when you're looking to work in Advertising.

Here's the deal. I owe a large part of my knowledge and already found success to Twitter University.

I had to catch up and I had to learn at break neck speed how to be a successful copywriter in Advertising. On top of that, with the economy being where it was and the trend in news reports was encouraging everyone to throw themselves in front of a bus because they would never find work again, I had my work cut out for me.

My good friend and One Fine Philly told me to get on this little thing called Twitter. Almost immediately, Twitter became my Marketing and Advertising crash course. It was like all these professors would throw out head lines and I got to pick what was pertinent for me that day and what wasn't. It was like being in a University filled with a bunch of professors cracked out on Red Bull.

I had fantastic accessibility to those Twitter professors across the country as well. I got to talk with and ask questions to award-winning, successful authors who I would have NEVER met outside of Twitter U.

I continue to learn and grow every single day and I get to pass on what my Twitter teachers have passed on to me. It's a beautiful thing. So thanks Twitter teachers. Especially: @ingridwiese, @steveisphilly, @robbralow, @writingprof, @newtbarrett, @themarketingguy, @sunswept, @armano, @pgillin, @thegrok, @copyblogger, @juntajoe, and @sethgoldstein. I am sure I have forgotten some because there have been so many!

Erase Your Identities...

...to become one identity! I'm thinking of the future here people. Let's not compartmentalize. Integration is the key to success!

Think of it, one personality across all social frontiers: real life, blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, web page. Does this mean the end of a division between work and personal life?

I had the tendency to put connections into segments and not let them meet, mingle, or know each other. Why did I do this? Because I had sort of multiple identities. Like a chameleon. I do not recommend this. Gets confusing and it's hard to keep up. Of course, this requires being an upstanding citizen. Facebook revelations (to other friends and even employers) can ruin a reputation. FB really puts the "Deb" in Debauchery.

This all applies to brands and companies as well. Make sure you're behaving. Or we'll find out about it. Also, make sure your brand isn't a chameleon - audiences can't keep up and it will be exhausting for you.

An Entire Article About Being Nice

This has been my greatest secret weapon in business and it takes very little effort.

The amazing thing about being nice to people is that usually, no matter what, they feel like they have to be nice back. Or, at least cordial. What to do if it's not easy for you to be nice? Well, then fake it for crap's sake.

What happens when people enjoy being around you? They prefer to do business with you. I prefer doing business with people that are nice to me. I mean, that's just basic. Now, this is all not to say, hey, let's make everything free and easy baby. Ya know, eventually, momma's gotta get paid.

But it's way easier to give my money to a nice person than it is to give it to a d-bag.

An Eco-Friendly Copywriter

This Philadelphia Copywriter is excited to attend the Go Green Expo this weekend at the Convention Center.

There are some fantastic speakers lined up. I can't walk around Philadelphia without being deafened by all the construction noise so I am especially excited about the "Building Green" talks. I'd really like to see some trees on top of buildings and such.

Also, the "Why Going Local Matters in the Going Green Movement" talks are particularly of interest to me because in an earlier blog post I emphasize the importance of a local Copywriter. I hadn't even considered the environmentally-friendly aspect of hiring local Freelancers.

Hope to see you there, fellow Earth lovers!

Artists in Philadelphia

Just discovered Philly Art Blog. Great resource for the goingson around town.

Art Blog