image by 0merta for Shutterstock
I am vexed, perturbed, and generally superfuckingannoyed by this.
In a Medium article, Tom Kuegler writes about a LinkedIn post that tells a guy, Sandeep’s story, starting with:
“I got 58% marks in my engineering. All good firms rejected me. All my batchmates got good jobs.”
Another guy, Ritesh’s story starts with:
I got 50% marks in my Bcom. All good MBA schools rejected me. My friends got good jobs…(you get the idea)
Either these guys are living the same life, or one, desperate for content to put out as an influencer, stole the other guy’s story.
Why? To get more views.
Just last week I listened to a great discussion about the difference between ethical influencing vs. fakefluencers with the Godfather of Influence, Robert Cialdini, on an episode of Get Yourself Optimized which you can listen to here.
My favorite influencers are smart, funny, have a unique perspective. They teach me stuff. And most importantly, they are real people!
Not only are they verified people, but they keep it real, by saying stuff like Laura Belgray, who is used to hearing “aren't you hot in those?" in ref to her fleece sweatpants, AKA GivenUps™—which she is known to wear while blogging because her husband keeps it so damn cold in the house.
As a Medium writer, I am on the lookout for those sheisters who steal other people’s articles and publish them as their own. So NOT ok.
Followers are real people, not sheeple, and we will catch on if you seem to be full of shit.
“To be a successful long-term source of influence, you have to be ethical in every step along the way. You get the buy-in from people by building your credibility.”
Dr. Robert Cialdini
Like Tom, I just have to say, I’m so freaking sick of fake influencers — can we stop this?
Ok, so that was my rant! On to SEO tip, deep thought, and Medium tip of the week (fortnight):
SEO tip
Tangential content
If you’re challenged by creating content for your brand, consider tangential content.
This is stuff that provides value for your customers, even if it’s not directly related to your brand. For example, a travel agency might publish a post highlighting the best restaurants to eat in Los Angeles.
This gets the reader to see the connection between the content and the brand. In this case, the post showcased where the customer can go if they use your travel agency. Tangential content does three things:
1. Helps your brand build its reputation
2. Improve link building, reach more people
3. Increase audience engagement
Medium tip:
This week’s Medium tip is many tips in one, as I just published 7 Lessons Learned from my Longtail Article on Medium: #3 It’s Okay to piss people off.
These are tips to achieving longevity on Medium and just generally cool advice about how to hone your voice as a writer and make an impact.
Deep thought:
Are pill bugs (aka roly polies) named after pills that collect up on sweaters, cranky people (“pills”), things that are hard to handle, (jagged little pills), or straight up tylenol type pills? Write in with your guesses (as they are as good as mine).
I promise not to be late with the newsletter next time. I guess I was having too much fun sipping on freedom juice this Fourth of July, running around maskless and hugging old friends I have not hugged in 15 months. Happy summer and I will be back July 20th.
P.S. If you’re interested in coaching with me for screenwriting or Medium writing, email me here anytime.