COM0014 Blog #7: Let Your Audience Guide You!

I’ve learned a lot in this course about story-telling; in fact everything from the Inverted Triangle Approach to researching target audiences has taught me something about writing online. But the most interesting lesson has been discovering that story-telling does have a place when creating good digital content; if used effectively and concisely.

To do this means not starting from the beginning and working to the end leaving the most important message for last, expecting your audience to hold their interest up to that point but taking into consideration that they will have limit attention spans so say what you want first and foremost weaving your message into a story-telling approach.

You may be asking “Why” this is important?

Well with everything you must consider your target audience. In fact taking them into consideration first can help you as the writer determine the best way to tell your story so that it is well received. After all, these are the people we write for and so in order to capture their interest it makes perfect sense to appeal to them.

Twitter screenshot, where I’m working to tuning into what’s being said and find what’s most relevant!

Learning this it has helped me evaluate my own writing and zero in on my own approach to blogging. I’ve started thinking about what I really want them to know and how best to communicate that so the message reaches them clearly. Through using social media I am also listening in to help me select blog topics more carefully. Considering not just what interests me but tuning into what my audience is talking about and getting ideas from there has helped guide my writing and given me some good insight into what’s most relevant and therefore could be most helpful to them.

Which overall this course has made me a better blogger and careful listener.

 

COM0014 Blog #6: There’s no such things as regrets just lessons learned!

I’ve started to believe that seeing something as a regret is the only thing to regret, and that sometimes what we call “mistakes” are simply lessons learned the hard way and a new awareness, formed into understanding the self. At least this has been my experience, and why growing up these lessons have helped me better understand.

This process started when I was young and has helped me throughout life make sense of many situations outside my own understanding. It’s also given me a yearning to try, learn and yes sometimes fail but never give up. One thing making mistakes and constantly learned has instilled in me is a sense of resiliency and that has been a tremendous part of what has helped me carry on, along with the help of my family. In fact the harder the lessons the more resilient I’ve become, determined as ever to prove myself against my own setbacks. It is these experiences that helped to shape who I am today with no regrets.

Everyday I’ve learned something new and have discovered something new about myself or the situation to understand better. It’s also helped make my own story interesting contributed to my growth and given me insights that dwelling on these experiences might not have allowed me to do. All those speed bumps and detours may have temporarily been regrets but now as I look back they’ve become lessons, interesting stories, wisdom and proof that I’ve tried many times, all contributing to my story and the message I want to share.

Kylie

COM0014 Blog #5: Life is About the Journey, Not the Destination!

I came across my personal brand through thinking about what I didn’t want it to be. Which was another blog that takes my diagnosis Asperger’s Syndrome and make it all about being a cause or how it’s challenged me. I wanted to focus more on what has helped me cope better; and use my experiences as a way to share what I’ve learned from them to help others.

Transitioning to this place from my original blog which was general and used a pseudo-name has been a big step and leap of faith but one I’m glad to take.  Doing so helped bring a greater focus to my writing and specify my niche, that has allowed me to bring forth my own personal awareness and how I’ve gained insights from those experiences that have added to what my blog may have been lacking before. It also has given me the courage to share and be more open with what I share.

 

I strive for it to be as authentic and honest as possible, writing from a place of compassion towards myself and others, understanding and learning with perhaps a little educating. If it doesn’t feel right then I don’t write on it and work to change it because this is the only way I know how to write and be- authentically and honestly- me. Sharing what “Life on the Spectrum” is like for me has been a wonderful learning experience  and journey into embracing what makes me unique, how that’s growing into my personal brand and allowed me to share that with others, that’s just begun but I’m eager to see where everything goes from here.

Learning, sharing and growing as Kylie, blogger of  Life on the Spectrum- embracing Aspergers!

COM0014-Blog #4: Reading Closer into Chapters, Indigo and Cole’s Social Media Strategy and Online Interaction

Chapters is every book lovers favourite store, mine included, and that’s why I’ve decided to put their approach on social media and online interaction to the test and see if they use it effectively.

To begin, if you look on their website: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/ you’ll see that they are on all five of the major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Youtube. For the purpose of this post we’re only going to be looking at the first four- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

 Facebook and Twitter:

When it comes to Facebook and Twitter their interaction seems to mainly revolve around customers concerns, orders, returns and customer service queries. Which as we know both Facebook and Twitter can be used for greater conversations to be had and interaction to take place, so there they could improve and up their interaction.

Instagram and Pinterest:

Instagram and Pinterest on the other they seem to do well in using effectively and from what I’ve found it’s the most appealing to look through. This is because they’ve used Instagram’s story telling ability to not just sell books but the experience of reading by posting photos of people reading, cozy scenes of blankets, teas, soups and lots of books to promote that experience to readers.

Similarly, they used Pinterest to put together boards under specific categories like the Foodie that pairs pictures of some of the completed dishes along with their matching cookbooks working well to entice any intimidated cooks to come check out the book and give those recipes a try. Demonstrating how it’s board features can be used to prompt people’s interests and get them to exploring Chapter’s site.

Conclusion:

Overall they seem to use most platforms well, in using social media but could do better with direct customer interaction.

 

Links: https://twitter.com/chaptersindigo/with_replies

https://www.facebook.com/ChaptersIndigo/

https://www.pinterest.ca/chaptersindigo/

https://www.instagram.com/chaptersindigo/

 

 

 

COM0014- Blog #3: Knitters Unite or Unwind (Whichever Suits)

Upon initially looking at my target audience, Instagram had seemed like it was a good place to start. After all, this is where I’ve found inspiration and a few other knitters but with some more in depth digging and careful unravelling I found that Instagram wasn’t even listed as a popular place to find other knitters. According to the Craft and Yarn Council website, many prefer other social media sites like Facebook and Ravelry to look up inspiration for projects, find patterns and purchase yarn over it. This is not to say that there’s not a social media community on Instagram but perhaps that most knitters are drawn to other social media sharing sites like Facebook in connecting with others and Ravelry for inspiration.

A original knitted project of mine: set to be a cellphone purse

The reason for this interesting rav-elation is because there’s a good percentage of young people ,between the ages of 18-34, that enjoy knitting as a creative outlet and not only that but do it because they enjoy making things for others; along with the sense of accomplishment it provides. Having experienced the pride of carefully picking the right yarn and needles for each hand knit project myself, it makes sense that my fellow knitters (target audience) would be more inclined to share their successful projects online with family and friends or perhaps even seek advice on how to improve the less successful ones.

So in the era of sharing updates, accomplishments and one of creative endeavours galore perhaps it is time to get even more creative and social with how I post by reaching out onto Facebook and becoming familiar with Ravelry in order to find my knitting peeps.

Happy Knitting,

Kylie

Source: The Craft and Yarn Council website

https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/know.html

COM0014-Blog #2: Coming to Terms with The Inverted Triangle Approach

It makes sense that The Inverted Triangle Approach is the best way to organize and write your content, act as a method to ensure that future readers can easily find what they are looking for online and us as creators don’t ramble on halfway through forgetting what we wanted to say messing up the intended message. It also makes a lot of sense in the online world where every content creator is in a rush to get their latest post or video out in order to keep up with everyone else and sometimes where content quality is over-ruled by the quantity put out there.

As a blogger I have experienced this myself and am aware that there will always be that pressure to generate content or alternatively keeping up with others shortened attentions spans. As a writer I believe that writing clearly and concisely is equally important because even with the fanciest vernacular and messages we believe to be clear and concise for us; they can easily get lost, misunderstood, or forgotten amongst the content’s clutter. Which that isn’t the point of writing in the first place. To me, the point is in sharing our experiences, messages, connecting with others, communicating ideas clearly and sharing them so that others can understand or learn from what we write. With that being said, maybe The Inverted Triangle Approach isn’t so bad after all. In fact, it’s a pretty neat way to be mindful  of how we write and not that far off from my own version of it which is: Keep It Simple Kylie.

-Kylie

COM0014- Blog #1: The Mountains Called and I Answered

My vacation and real adventure began travelling out West with my parents at the beginning of August on a conquest to visit family; explore more of Alberta; hike; stay in quaint towns and of course check out the mountains. Determined to do it all we conquered our travels by exploring the mountains through land and sea; taking plenty of pictures with a phone full of proof; and being amongst the trees it was our mission to step foot on new land and take paths less travelled in a valiant effort to make the most of it and become satisfied to make the most of our short but long enough stay.

My favourite part was the time we spent hiking, being amongst the towering ever-greens and surrounded by the mountains on either side was  awe-inspiring and best experienced only in person,

A picture of me in the mountains!, August 2017 

and thusly my pictures barely did the scenery justice in capturing the splendour of nature and true ability to reconnect with it because nothing can replicate that experience. Each day we attempted to check out new trails, see new scenes and take in the experience I marvelled even more at the beauty around me and did my best to appreciate it. Which over time I did grow to love our time out there doing my best to savour the experience realizing full well that I’d later come to miss the gorgeous views once home.

This indeed was a special kind of trip, one in which the timing and opportunity seemed just right, and as we travelled the synchronicity of that really sunk in because out there, away from everything, I was able to calm my nerves, be reminded what truly was important, be brought back to my truest self, and made glad that when the mountains coincidentally called my name, I answered.