A Letter to UI Developers

Dear UI Developers,

It doesn't matter how great, cool and kick-ass your invention is; if people don't immediately get how they can use it in their daily lives to solve the problems they didn't even know they had, your baby will get left behind in the cyber-app race.

So I'd say, invest in some solid communications, pr, marketing, advertising, a key message, catch phrase, image, case study, anything...something that tells us in 140 characters or less what the tool is all about, what it can do and how it is different from the others. It makes little to no sense to come out with a powerfully new and improved creation that you and your team have mastered but the masses can't figure it out or see the relevance. Cough...Google +....Cough.

It's not good enough to communicate it excellently to start-up investors and leave the masses hanging. That's your brand and reputation on the line right there. Create some user friendly communications to go along with the tools too...persuasive writing not your thing? Get some help.

You know, sometimes you really just have to dumb it down and tell us straight up all the ways in which these inventions can improve our life and time.

Well that's all folks...as a society labelled early adopter, I eagerly anticipate the next best beta.

Peace and love.

Dear Future Me

Dear Me at 40,
Just thought I'd write this letter to let you know some things about yourself.  First off, by all definitions you are no longer a young chicken. You are now a seasoned (err old) successful communicator and you have been in the business for a while now.  You have traveled the world almost to the point of being jaded; been to Paris, Italy, Britain and all the states in the U.S. You've met and collaborated with the biggest and the best in the industry. You have handled tough projects, big clients and had to overcome various communications and business challenges (and ego trips) and you're still going strong. You've won various Communications awards. You have figured out the delicate balance between work life, home life with children, pets, husband (maybe...if he behaves) and me time. As a matter of fact, you even think you have it down to a science. Whatever you do please remember these next few words...Do not get comfortable! You have not arrived at your destination. Success is a journey. Don't fall into the trap of stagnation.

"Do not get comfortable, You have not arrived!" 

There is so much more to learn, so many new communication theories, so many advances continually being made in social media and innovation; younger smarter people coming up in the field and they're changing the way people 'get it done' in the field of Communications. You may feel overwhelmed trying to swim against the current but...It's okay, don't panic. You have two options (or maybe both) :

 

1. Ensure that you attend at least three industry conferences a year. While you're at it, enroll in short courses so that you can up your qualifications and keep up with all the latest trends in Communications.

2. Collaborate with the brightest and the best communicators coming up in the industry. Value them and let them know that you have not arrived and that you are open to learning (genuinely learning) the new tools and strategies they are using to 'get it done' in the field of Communications.

If you put this advice into practice. I guarantee you that you will continue to experience the newness and excitement you felt when you first got started in the industry. You will also experience breakthroughs in the projects you work on. I guarantee that you will soar to the front of the line as a thought leader because you are experienced yet you understand that the most important building blocks of communication ,throughout the age, remain; authenticity, currency and relevance.

All the best, from the younger, hopeful and excitedly fabulous you. Get it done! For more inspiration on  career tips and getting ahead catch up on some of the latest articles on Brazen Careerist.

Tweeting Isn't For Everybody

Let's just face it, some people just don't have that much to say. Plus so much is already said...scratch that...being said about that cliche topic you just thought of tweeting...oops! Let's just admit it and embrace it. The proof is in the pudding. In much the same way that there are categories of Facebookers that grate on our nerves. There are also categories of Tweeters who just don't get it:

Regurgitaters

Yes good content is hard to come up with but these tweeps make borrowing tweets a first-resort. Regurgitaters (a.k.a Recyclers) think they are so slick with it...but they're so busy patting themselves on the shoulder from their daily re-tweets and  re-quotes that they don't realize how sick they're making the rest of us. Hello regurgitaters we are your followers sick of waiting for you to tweet content that you thought about or interesting content that you found. Lest you forget, that's why we followed you in the first place!

Trivialists

Okay so we're jumping from extreme to extreme here. Follow me...These are the ones who tweet out their every move, every plan and if they're lonely enough, every thought. Trivialists I hate to break it to you but that's what Facebook is for....let's be more strategic in the way we communicate. Let us make a plan. Let's decide that a 'good' Twitter account is public and a 'good' Facebook account is private...something... anything. Why would you want to spam co-workers and strangers with the not-so-interesting details of your life anyway? To be quite honest, if you were having as much fun at that event, like you tweeted, you wouldn't have time to tweet about it! Next time you feel the urge to spam with the boring tid-bits remember that the unfollow button is only a click away and we all know that the 'number of followers' matter most to you tweeps.

"Let's be more strategic in the way we communicate. Let us make a plan. "

  the Silent Ones

Okay so let's just be clear. There are TWO kinds of silent ones. The first kind are those who have been on Twitter since the days of the first tweets but barely have 10 followers let alone 10 tweets. This is actually a Twitter problem. Why have people occupying dormant user names when there are people out there who could make better use of them? Then there are those who believe that quality is better than quantity in tweet terms. If they have nothing meaningful to tweet they will not tweet. They also do not believe in making 10,000 tweets in one day (which btw is not natural) just to have an online presence. Every once in a while if they find something worthwhile tweeting, they will. They are also likely to have a constant but small number of followers. 

What do you think? Is it better for a brand/individual to tweet a constant mix of relevant and not so relevant content or to just tweet meaningful content when necessary?