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#as frustrated i get with his whole tommy is the problem mindset
toastandjamie · 3 years
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I have- so many feelings. I’ve been trying to write an analysis since last night but everything I wrote is incomprehensible so this is an attempt: advanced apologies. Originally I wanted to make a post about C!Quackity and C!Tommy’s relationship but then it got me thinking of talking about what makes Tommy so vulnerable to manipulation even incidentally which brought me to Wilbur and Techno. So I’ve decided to just make a mishmash comparing Tommy’s relationships to these three complicated people.
Starting with Quackity I think we can all agree, Quackity GETS Tommy. In a way others on the server(like Fundy or Foolish) just straight up don’t. Quackity treats Tommy a lot like he treats Slime, with this understanding that Tommy isn’t like everyone else and won’t respond to things like others would. Because Tommy in spite of everything really does act like a kid. He acts out because of boredom or frustration especially when he’s ignored. Often others get frustrated when dealing with Tommy, but Quackity has this odd level of patience different from say Sam, Puffy or even Foolish in that he puts himself at Tommy’s level. At the start I think this was just a genuine attempt at having fun with our chaos raccoon but at the moment it’s almost patronizing(a reoccurring theme). Quackity understands that pushing Tommy will only result in property damage, but he also knows that he can’t let him run around unsupervised(because property damage). When Quackity is unaware that Tommy is listening he sounds more than a little frustrated at his antics, but then Tommy throws on a pair of pants claiming to be called Trousers and insists that he is not in fact Tommyinnit. Quackity plays along, he doesn’t try and force Tommy to stop, he humors him. This is something Quackity does a lot with Tommy, and it’s why Tommy still seems to have positive feelings towards him. Quackity humors him the way adults will humor a child who’s insisting that they are a wizard. Through this lense(which I think Quackity is fully aware of) he’s able to get Tommy into a less aggressive state and get information out him. Like why he’s working with Wilbur, and Tommy’s feelings about it. Which also unfortunately makes him super easy to use. I think in the future as Quackity slowly succumbs to the inevitable power hungry corruption that’ll bury whatever soft spot he has for Tommy, we’ll see Quackity take advantage of Tommy’s blatant abandonment issues using the trust he’s built through these small appeasement based interactions.
Moving on; C!Wilbur Soot! This is a land mine let me tell you. Because Listen, Wilbur is obviously, severely traumatized and mentally ill. I don’t think Wilbur necessarily has any malicious intentions towards Tommy. But unfortunately this bad boy is backing a fuck load of unhealthy coping mechanisms and behaviors. Such as his possessive streak! We saw with L’manburg the whole “if I can’t have you no one can!” Mentality, which has now been transferred to Tommy. It’s a move to assert his control over a situation and unfortunately for Tommy he’s a prime vessel for this behavior because he has absolutely no concept of healthy boundaries! Since his backstory and relationships are a bit blurry we can’t make any definitive explanation for where this came from but for the sake of argument let’s say Tommy has known Wilbur since he was young, and Wilbur was always someone with a possessive personality(albeit less obvious due to the fact that he wasn’t traumatized yet). Being raised by or around someone who never sets boundaries with you can lead to a person growing up not able to do so themselves. And wouldn’t you know it Tommy has clearly never had a stable healthy relationship because all of them have been transactional or codependent. Which is, bad.(shout out to Tubbo and Ranboo though for trying to enforce healthy boundaries sadly though the timing of this separation couldn’t have been worse). Currently I think it’s safe to say Wilbur and Tommy have a codependent relationship. One with a very clear imbalance of power, comparable to a codependent parent-child relationship. In which Tommy excuses Wilbur’s bad behaviors out of a sense of responsibility, this feeling that because they’re “family” he owes it to Wilbur to stay by his side. Not to mention how Tommy obviously craves guidance and leadership from paternal/fraternal figures, which he originally found in Wilbur(later in Dream, Techno and Sam afterwards). Tommy very clearly desires a family structure in which he is loved and protected no matter what, and Wilbur fills that role easily and willingly. Wilbur wants someone who’ll be loyal to him and will never leave or betray him, and Tommy wants someone who’ll protect and care for and, say it with me boys, will never leave or betray him. There isn’t anything wrong with wanting someone to be there for you, but because of their complexes and traumas these feelings of fraternal affection are twisted into a relationship lacking boundaries and for Tommy, complete absence of autonomy. Only doing things because Wilbur wants him to me, because he wants Wilbur to be happy and Wilbur is never wrong. Not a good mindset to have when dealing with someone like Wilbur who is destructive as a means of coping.
Lastly another landmine, in the form of Technoblade! Ah yes, bedrock bros. We love them and miss them. But newsflash guys they ALSO had an unhealthy transactional relationship! But here’s the thing about unhealthy relationships, sometimes people are just not good for eachother. There’s no bad guy or good guy. No ones in the right or wrong. They just, weren’t good for eachother. Now whether this was situational or not can only be answered if they reconnect with healthier mindsets but for now we’ll say it’s situational. Obviously, Tommy was clearly in a bad place. Just barely managing to escape exile after a narrowly thwarted suicide attempt: now packing a whole slew of issues, from paranoia, depression, fear of abandonment, low self worth, and just general debilitating stress. Techno was ALSO in a bad place, he just hides it under a sense of self righteous justice: like guys, his only friend was put under house arrest because of him associating with him, and he was then executed under the threat of death of his faithful horse companion. Techno was angry and blinded by revenge. A bad mix when you toss in a traumatized codependent teenager desperately searching for someone to fill the empty void of fraternal leadership left by Wilbur’s death. Tommy really just wants someone to tell him what to do, like let’s not kid ourselves here. Techno offered Tommy protection from Dream, which yay! But also creates an unbalanced power dynamic(bringing that one back!). I genuinely believe that it wasn’t Techno’s intention, but the thing is, the relationship became transactional: a “I’ll protect you and take care of you if you do what I say and help me.” Type scenario. It was impossible for Tommy to really comfortably say no, at risk of being tossed out of straight up given to Dream to face whatever horrible consequences running away had. BESIDES that, they are just two very different people who had very different priorities. Techno wanted vengeance against L’manburg, Tommy wanted to be protected but always had the intention of returning to L’manburg one day(clearly believing getting the discs would be a catch all problem solver). These two priorities are in direct conflict with eachother; as a result they’re partnership would never have worked in the long term. Here’s the kicker to what makes this relationship so unhealthy though, because those things in isolation don’t make an unhealthy relationship but the fact that Tommy’s poor mental state fueled by Techno’s blood seeking revenge made him act in ways HE deemed wrong, makes it unhealthy. Tommy wasn’t lying, being with Techno made him become a person he didn’t want to be, and it’s NOT Techno’s fault. It was the unfortunate consequence of their opposing view points and unhealthy mental states. Perhaps in a world where the Butcher Army never existed the Bedrock Bro’s team up could have been a moment of healing for both characters; but alas that was not the world we are privy to in canon.
Yeah so that’s it for now I guess
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shaunstoffer · 6 years
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What can I say about this trip? Firstly, I planned next to nothing. I booked a 45-minute plane ticket from Ho Chi Minh City for $75 and made a free reservation at a hostel in the center of the island next to Ong Lang beach. After waking up at 4am to catch my 7am flight there from my home in Ho Chi Minh City I ordered a motorbike taxi to the airport and we shared a laugh as we narrowly avoided the corrupt police looking for a bribe on the way. After going to the wrong domestic terminal to check-in I finally made it to my gate with plenty of time to spare. Within an hour my plane touched down and the first thing I did was rent a motorbike. It was more expensive renting from the airport, 200.000 (around $10) a day in comparison to the regular 150.000 (around $7) and the motorbike had over 600,000 kilometers in it but I knew I could manage and it was only a few dollars more despite the bike being under expectations such as needing the brakes tightened and a serious oil change.
I drove in a straight line for the longest of time, stopped at a gas station, and then found a type of restaurant block but because it was 8am in the morning nearly every place was closed. I browsed around and found a coffee shop and did my best to order passion fruit juice in Vietnamese but instead got the most disgusted, annoyed, and confused facial expression. I also managed to drop my passport when I pulled my cellphone of my pocket as I passed by two fellow tourists but one of them stopped me and handed my passport back to me, I told her she indefinitely had good karma heading her way now.
My first good stop was by chance as I found Dinh Cau which is essentially a temple, a lighthouse, a pier, and a set of small cliffs perfect for some easy bouldering.
Dinh Cau
After leaving I decided to find dirt roads. Why? Because for me these are the beaten paths that most people tend to avoid out of simple fear and comfort. The roads were full of potholes and the lanes were tight even for a motorbike but then I saw a wooden sign that read “Tommy’s Beach Bar 200km” out of the blue. I thought for a moment, grinned, and followed the sign. I mistakenly took a left turn too soon and stumbled upon Bai Dan beach. Gorgeous white sand, clear, blue ocean, and dozens of fishing boats anchored several yards out. There was not a soul on the beach – the kind of paradise everyone imagines finding away from the crowds and noise, all I could hear was the ocean waves breaking against the sand. So I got out and walked, not in a rush or having a goal, I simply strolled. Not too long after I ran into three young Vietnamese boys who were building a circular boat to paddle out to the fishing boats. We unsuccessfully tried to have a Vienglish conversation but failed as we couldn’t get past basic questions and answers. I also ran into several other younger kids who looked at me in confusion and maybe a little intimidation but after giving them a simple wave and smile and they laughed and giggled with glee as they waved back to me.
After some time I returned to my bike and drove, that’s when I stumbled upon another sign that read “Tommy’s Beach Bar <-” and I didn’t hesitate to follow. When I walked up to the beach bar it was nearly empty, only three people were sitting in plastic chairs next to a short speed bar surrounded by tree stumps turned bar stools. I asked the group if they were open and if I could have a beer, one of them who was I believe either Dutch simply replied, “yeah, you can grab one from the fridge behind the bar.” A little surprised, I simply said thanks and grabbed my go-to Tiger beer in a can. I sat on the beach deck for some time just watching the ocean before the craziness started.
Bai Dai Beach
Maybe ten more people showed up who were staying at Tommy’s Hostel which was the combination of all the small surrounding houses and dorms. I figured what the hell and started making conversation with guests and met a Belgian guy and the Dutch manager. Within a few minutes the manager made the executive decision that we should start drinking a combination of rum, cola, and Thai red bull. The best and worse idea. As this went on an older but very small Vietnamese lady who was something like the assistant manager arrived.
I heard the manager and assistant manager having a soft argument that turned into a big scene. The manager suddenly quit on the spot and decided to pack his things but stay at the bar drinking and telling everybody who would hear how the Vietnamese do not understand the concept of hospitality. He complained they were preparing meals behind the bar and putting their dishware on the floor, blocking the path of bartenders and putting a terrible impression on new guests. A young girl and old women were the only staff visible. I couldn’t believe my eyes but soon learned the bar had not even been open two weeks and that the Dutch manager was so frustrated by the language barrier and blatant errors in hospitality that he simple said fuck it, I’m done. The assistant manager seemed like a very nice lady and could speak a reasonable amount of English, she even offered the guests free drinks if they helped out some of the construction workers on the beach building houses which several of us happily obliged.
Being me, that’s when I decided to hop behind the bar and started making drinks and taking food orders. I could speak just enough Vietnamese to communicate with the staff and was adequate enough to make drinks despite glaring problems like no ice, no check system, and a lack of back-stock to refill menu items like the beers in the fridge. I leveled with customers, making jokes that I was a customer who decided to help out and that we were newly opened. Most people will level with you, especially if you can tell them a good story they can look past a lot of shortcomings of an establishment. In essence, if you can make them feel like they are at home, they will stay and be happy. So, for the next eight hours I literally divided my time between drinking rum-coke-Thai Red Bulls, swimming in the ocean, being a stand-in bartender/translator, and playing with Tommy, the owner’s grandson, who was running around naked for the entire duration to everyone’s amusement. The manager and assistant manager constantly bickered back and forth at each other, I felt for both of them because I understood the frustration they were enduring from each other but thought the solutions were so simple and obvious that the conflict was stemming mainly from ego and stubbornness.
Eventually, I decided that I didn’t want to spend my whole trip in just one spot and said a quick goodbye before I made my way to Island Life Hostel, walking distance from Bai Ong Lang Beach, where I had made a reservation. Upon arriving I was a little concerned. The hostel was relatively small, having only two showers and toilets for over a dozen beds and the lobby was simply a bar with a table and several chairs. This turned out to be an amazing experience as the hostel staff were all friendly and personable as well as most of my roommates who were from all over the globe such as Russia and UK. They were easygoing people like myself who shared the same goals as mine, eat seafood, drink beer, and enjoy nature. In other words the, “don’t worry, be happy,” mindset. When they asked me to join them for a group dinner nearby I didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation.
Bai Ong Lang Beach during sunset
After eating we decided to stuff ourselves into a taxi, with me luckily getting the passenger’s seat, to head to a popular beach bar in the city center which ended up being a somewhat bad idea as it got to the point where the driver had to pull over and stop for a minute to clearly understand the GPS and the directions I was giving him. Everyone began shouting at him because the meter was moving so slightly but they misread it reading 1.500.000 dong (over $60 and counting) when it was actually 150.000 dong (a little over $6). The taxi driver got upset and started telling them to shut up but his English was so bad it sounded like he was saying “sit up”. Once, I corrected everyone on the price and directions they felt a little guilty but weren’t apologetic. The taxi driver began talking poorly about them in Vietnamese, essentially calling them stupid tourists which in this case he was in the right as he didn’t do anything wrong.
Rory’s Beach Bar: This bar was a letdown to me. The music was dry and unoriginal house music, the beer was triple the price of other local bars, and nobody was dancing but just sitting and drinking. This and the combination that I had woken up at 3am that morning to fly in, I was simply turning into a tired grouch and opted to take a taxi home after an hour.
Something that I had never seen before was herds of cattle passing through the open roads with motorbikes and cars. Initially I thought it was a rare occurrence but in fact it was just a normal, everyday thing in Phu Quoc.
Rock Bar: Rock bar was this relatively small but quaint bar that I visited twice during my stay. The first was with five of my hostel mates and we kept the bar open until nearly 3 in the morning dancing, drinking, and just having a good time. The second time I went with just my Welsh hostel mate and we simply conversed and made friends with fellow patrons. The memory that sticks out in my mind is seeing an emaciated dog walking in and out of the bar. No one claimed ownership but one patron was trying to feed her some meat and another said it was a stray who had babies recently and would only eat meat. Without a second thought I strolled to a nearby barbecue and bought three chicken wings. I explained in Vietnamese that it was for my dog who I loved and that we were at the bar a few feet away. The cook and his son smiled and met me fifteen minutes later at the bar and gave me the chicken in a Styrofoam box. I opened it and placed it in front of the dog who began eating after a few seconds of hesitation. The other bar patrons began applauding and as much as it made me feel good for doing good I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that I couldn’t do more to help this dog.
Local Phu Quoc bia at Rock Bar
Typhoon: A typhoon was set to hit Phu Quoc and was supposed to be so bad that people near the Mekong Delta were being evacuated, ferries were being canceled, and last-minute flights were being booked to get off the island and away from the storm. About half of our hostel dorm-mates flew out within hours while I sat back, laughed, and while drinking a beer exclaimed I am from Florida where hurricane season is a regular yearly thing. It simply didn’t phase me and I spent the day at the beach. Some people will call this ignorance but when you’ve endured dozens of hurricanes and tornadoes in your lifetime you understand more than people who only know what they’ve read in a textbook or on the internet. In the end, the storm never hit and all we received was a day long drizzle and cold weather and cruising around dirt roads looking for adventure.
A random bamboo forest near the resorts
Phu Quoc Airport: My flight was set to depart at 2:30pm on Wednesday, so I left my hostel at twelve and arrived at the airport with two hours to return my rented motorbike, check-in, go through security and passport control, and find my gate. Unfortunately, upon arrival I learned my flight had been delayed by ninety minutes, then another thirty minutes after that, and another thirty minutes after that. So I spent nearly five hours at the airport latching onto the free WiFi and drinking Vietnamese iced coffee as well as had to call out of my afternoon class in Ho Chi Minh City. Not the best ending to my holiday but I loved my trip, would highly recommend it, and would return in a heartbeat.
Phu Quoc Island: Off the Beaten Path What can I say about this trip? Firstly, I planned next to nothing. I booked a 45-minute plane ticket from Ho Chi Minh City for $75 and made a free reservation at a hostel in the center of the island next to Ong Lang beach.
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How Shopify Plus Drives Growth with a Unique Content Marketing Ethos (An Interview)
Like many of us in the field, I fell into content marketing coincidentally.
It wasn't a recommended career path when I went through university because it didn't exist when I went through university - not in the formalized way it does now. So I went for a junior marketing role and found myself creating content instead.
But I fell head over heels in love with it. Truly, madly in love with the whole idea of how it works. I loved the idea of merit-based marketing. I loved creating something and having people love it back (anyone who says ego isn't a factor in content marketing is lying to you).
I loved that something I made could be the reason someone found or chose this company I'm so proud to have helped build.
And then that love faded. Slowly, inexorably, it faded - a bit at a time over the past couple years.
The focus on SEO, perhaps, or the false-feeling flattery and fake smiles which make up so much of this industry. The never-ending output, feeling like you're clogging up the internet's pipes. Or simply the fact that passion can be a difficult thing to maintain day-in, day-out for five years.
Before I fell farther, though, I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Tommy Walker and Aaron Orendorff - both of the Shopify Plus content team. My content saviors.
I'd been content-stalking Aaron for a while, but this was my first opportunity to speak with Tommy, Editor in Chief for the Shopify Plus blog.
We talked for over an hour, and they reaffirmed my faith in content marketing as a practice and brought new energy to my time at the keyboard.
Anyone who's tired of writing, or tired of feeling like you throw your hours into an internet black hole, stick around.
Aaron Orendorff is a Forbes top 25 marketing influencer of his own accord. Before getting snapped up by Tommy, he was for years one of the most desired content freelancers out there. He's published on Mashable, LifeHacker, Entrepreneur, FastCompany, Business Insider and many more.
Aaron can be contacted on Twitter @IconiContent.
Tommy Walker is a former actor who dove into the marketing world with ConversionXL, where he was editor, before taking over the Enterprise blog at Shopify Plus.
Tommy can be contacted on Twitter @TommyIsMyName.
I had prepared a couple sheets of standard questions. You know the ones - the ones asked in every typical marketing Q&A.
We got started, and I jumped in by asking about the Shopify Plus blog's role within the Shopify umbrella, and Tommy answered my question. Essentially he has a weekly meeting with the other editors and they ensure they're not stepping on each other's toes and work together where they can. Great.
With that question asked, though, we loosened up, and just started to talk. All three of us have been in the content marketing world for a while and we spoke the same language. We knew a lot of the same people and publications, and had experienced the same kind of frustrations I was.
"Where is the person reading this at in their life?"
Very quickly we got on to talking about the writing mindset. We were discussing an article that Aaron had written, "Why the Three Worst Lies in Business Are the Ones We Tell Ourselves." It was part of a series they'd put together to promote Shopify Plus over a competitor.
Tommy framed it this way...
One of the things that's really easy to do when you're doing a campaign like this is to go 'here are all the reasons and features why we're better.' But one of the big things we're talking about is a second level, namely 'Where is the person reading this at in their life?
So they're starting to think of content marketing less as a 'Here's a problem. Here's the solution,' and instead thinking about "how does this problem affect this person? I can address the immediate technological pain-point, sure, but can I address the emotional effect as well? Tommy went on:
There's this whole other element that we try to dig into, which is that personal side. That very emotional response to how people respond to frustrating technology. So what we really want to dig into with that piece is "what does that emotional life of the person reading this article look like?"
"What does the emotional life of the reader look like and how can we address it?"
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Takeaway:
When creating your content, try to take a deep-dive into the real emotions of the people who are reading your article. Even if it's '10 top tips to drive success on Instagram,' try to consider why someone might be reading that article, and what they might be feeling. Then put that understanding into words, particularly in your introduction.
"We can't publish this"
Aaron chipped in at this point. And remember, Aaron is a Mashable-published, Top 25 Forbes-level influencer and writer. He's not used to the sentence "we can't publish this."
I gave Tommy [the article mentioned above] and it was supposed to go up on Monday.
But Tommy came as an editor and said 'We can't publish this as it stands. But here's what you need to do.' And then he walked me through that process. So I sat with it and struggled with it. The idea was, 'Good points, good ideas, no details. Make this real. Make them feel it by feeling it yourself.'
That's what made me fall in love with Shopify Plus: that kind of editorial insight. Because if you're a writer worth your salt you want to get better and sometimes the worst thing you can do is have an editor say 'This is great. Excellent. Run with it. Feed the beast.'
"If you're a writer worth your salt you want to get better. Sometimes the worst thing an editor can say is 'This is great.'"
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For me, hearing that was like a lightning bolt. For the past few years I've been the editor and also a key writer for the Wishpond blog. There's no one here saying anything to me except "feed the beast."
Someone has to care enough to say to you, 'We can't publish this. We gotta put this off. Go sit with it for two hours. Don't touch a keyboard. Then start fixing.'
Essentially, go be better. I know you can be and I'm going to care enough to push you to do it.
Takeaway:
Everyone, no matter their seniority or past successes, needs someone to keep them from stagnating. We all need someone to push us and keep us on our toes. If you don't have this, find it. If you're in a senior role, be this person for the writers on your team.
"Okay, but what does it mean?"
"I want to stay away from being another marketing blog." We were back on a talking point I understood - one I expected to hear. Every editor wants to create something unique with their blog. We all want to offer something a bit different so we stand out from the content crowd.
But you could tell that Tommy means it.
They all seem to have the same voice, tone, cadence. A lot of marketing blogs follow the same sort of pattern, and if you were to take away the design and the by-line?
I've definitely found this. I'll never forget when Groove (helpdesk software) blog came out with their "Journey to 100k" series and a month later there were three or four other "Journey to…" blogs doing the same thing. Originality has never been a big thing in some corners of the content world…
Tommy broke down how he wants to differentiate the Shopify Plus blog:
The main thing for me is this: stats and data - while they're factual, they're neutral. 'Facts' are neutral, the data is neutral. What makes something relevant is how and whether it impacts your business or not.
"Stats and data, while true, are neutral. What makes something relevant is how it impacts your business."
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There's an emotional quality to a lot of this stuff that I really try to encourage in my team. To go, Okay, but what does that mean? Dig deeper. How does that affect the business and what's the truth behind that number?
Takeaway:
Being different is hard. You're discussing the same topics with the same people, after all. And that's not considering that optimizing your content for search (if you're into that) drives a very specific kind of article.
Tommy and Aaron, however, are saying that you need to dig deeper. Make the numbers and content relevant to your reader so they understand why they should care.
"Have I written the best possible version of this story?"
Aaron jumped in again here, to give a specific example of digging deeper into a story. He'd been writing an article for the past couple days exploring Instagram Stories - how amazing they are for influence marketing, getting exposure, building brand - that kind of stuff.
And most of the data that has come out is saying 'engagement rates are off the charts.' What they don't say is that conversion rates, once somebody engages, are abysmal.
And this is a key moment for Aaron, and for all content writers who, upon reading in-depth into an article, find that there might be more there than they first thought.
So my first response to that is to go through a bunch of brand Stories and what I see is a lot of low-hanging fruit. Say somebody's promoting outfits, and [their Story] just links to their homepage. The ad or the Story promises you that you're going to get this outfit if you swipe up, and you don't.
Awesome, here's his article. He can talk about how great Story engagement is but how you need to be linking to a campaign-specific landing page to get results. But wait...
But then I talk to my friends who are already doing this and they come back with 'we're doing that and it still sucks.'
What do I say about this? Normally, it'd be enough. I could write that low-hanging fruit with best practices sort of thing and 90-95% of the people who read it would nod their heads and go 'Hm, yeah that's cool. Great!'
It would pass. It would pass almost all editorial muster and it'll sound like I'm smart.
The thing with Tommy pushing or having those high editorial standards is this: 'Don't lie to your audience.' It sounds really basic. But yeah. Don't lie to your audience.
So it's a matter of going back and saying 'What is this then? Is it a retargeting play? Is it trying to come up with a lower barrier to conversion than simply 'buy now?'
It's incredibly fun for me cause it's a creative challenge but it's also solving problems for the reader.
"I could write that low-hanging fruit. But I'd be lying to the reader. Don't ever lie to your reader."
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Takeaway:
There were three possible articles that Aaron could have written here. He could have written "How to Use Instagram Stories to Skyrocket your Engagement." He could have written "Why Instagram Stories Aren't Working for You, and How to Optimize for Conversion." And both would have flown. Both would have been read and appreciated. But neither is the full story. And neither is the full truth.
Instead, Aaron is writing the whole story. He didn't stop reading or researching until he had all of it.
"Don't paint idyllic pictures"
In the very beginning before I even hired a single person or wrote a single line of text on the blog or hired a single designer or anything like that I wrote a publishing code.
It has ten master guidelines. The tenets of the blog. The core of what we produce. But rule #2 is don't paint idyllic pictures.
The reason for that is because so many different publications out there try to sell you on a tactic.
Aaron can very easily try to take this approach like he was saying and sell engagement rate [in his forthcoming Instagram article]. But what does that do for my reader?
Of course Tommy isn't only thinking about the benefits to the reader of telling the whole story. He's an editor after all. He wants to sell Shopify Plus. He wants to build something in his blog which is lasting, meaningful, and creates trust between the reader and the company he represents.
What does the long-term effect of that trust look like in the publication that we have? If Aaron goes to our reader with 'your engagement rates will be great.' Yes, and? So what? It's not going to tell me how to make more sales, which is ultimately what we're about.
"Don't paint idyllic pictures"
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If [readers are] going to trust us with something as invaluable as running their business, I want to be able to give them the credit of saying 'most people are going to say the engagement rates are great. But guess what, the conversion sucks, and also here's something else you can do.'
That's going to bring up their expectations and keep people engaged.
Takeaway:
Many successful blogs have grown fat on the low-hanging fruit. The problem, of course, is that it doesn't last. The real successful bloggers - the ones who are considered thought-leaders, the ones who we respect and who are invited to speak at conferences - they follow this path of diving into a story and getting to the bottom of it.
Content marketers are storytellers, sure. But we're also detectives. The last thing we ever want to do is tell half the story, because not only does that give people half the information, what they have might be worse than nothing at all.
What are you most proud of?
I got to write about Jones Soda.
Aaron and I then had a moment of early-2000s nostalgia over Jones Soda which I won't bother recording here. Jones Soda is that hipster soda company which was popular long before the word hipster existed. The one with the cool bottle labels? Ever wonder where it went between 2006 and 2016?
I got handed a case study with them and I got to connect with their ecommerce manager, a young lady named Cassie, and their CEO, Jennifer Cue. And, my gosh, the story they had on the rise of Jones Soda and then this 10 year period where they didn't have a single profitable quarter was staggering. They went through five CEOs in as many years.
After Jennifer stepped in 2012, the turnaround they've experienced is like the manufacturing version of Apple. To come back from the precipice. And I had no idea of the story I was walking into.
Of course it's awesome to have a post on Shopify Plus that's like, 'Kaboom.' But it had nothing to do with me, it was just like 'Aaron, get out of the way of the story.'
"Sometimes the best articles require you to get out of the way of the story."
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Takeaway:
Some of the best articles I've read or written are where the writer can identify a story worth telling. That's why case study articles are often so well-respected and do so well. People love hearing stories far more than they do "10 tips to grow on Facebook" (and yes, I've written that article as well. SEO has a substantial place in our content marketing strategy).
Aaron found a story worth telling, and one that not a lot of people were familiar with. So long as you tell it well, that's the recipe for huge success.
"Your readers are going to do awesome things. Let's make doing those things easier."
We once had this guy. He was head of our studio department, and he did this AMA within the company. And there was one thing he said that I'll always remember: 'Shopify is like a skateboard.'
A skateboard, when you think of it, is kinda boring. It's a piece of wood and a couple wheels and some grip tape. But, when you say the word skateboard it evokes all these different images of culture and lifestyle and things that people do. It's because of what people do with that skateboard that makes 'skateboard' cool.
This is standard marketing speak - the idea that branding is 90% of value. Creating positive connotation for your brand is a big part of what we do in content and elsewhere. But Tommy wasn't actually talking about branding. He was talking about your brand's and content's role as a tool that people could use to do awesome things...
The truth is, people are going to do what they're going to do with or without us. Like the skateboard, we are just a tool. We are just a tool and if they are hungry enough they're going to do it without us.
From a publisher's standpoint, why don't we just make stuff that makes it so they can do the stuff they're going to do with or without us, better with us?
Shopify's mission is to 'make commerce better for everyone,' and every single person at this company takes that very seriously.
We were built on the foundation of doing that for the average merchant, but at Shopify Plus, we found that "everyone" also included successful, high-growth, high-volume merchants.
For the Shopify Plus blog, I want us to be creating content that makes complex challenges easier to understand and wrap your head around and solve them in a truthful way, and that sentiment is reflected in every single person I work with at the company, from product teams, to the merchant success managers and the interns.
We all honor that entreprenur's spirit, because they'll do incredible things with spreadsheets and pieces of paper if they have to.
"Your readers are going to do it with or without you. Honor that fact and create stuff that supports the entrepreneurial spirit."
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What Tommy was saying is 'they're going to do awesome things. Let's make doing those things easier.'
I used to teach at the local college and there’s always certain students who’re driven and motivated. They're smart, and it almost doesn't matter that I was their teacher. They're going to go do great stuff.
That's the relationship, especially because of the clientele that Shopify Plus attracts. Basically everybody we're marketing to as far as the audience goes is in the category of 'they're going to be alright.'
So it's about 'how do we make it less painful?'
Since I came to Shopify I've noticed that this place is about making stuff - whether it's a product like wholesale or a blog post about Instagram - that makes those really complex and traditionally time consuming things easier. Stuff that enables people to focus less on tedious stuff, and more on selling cool things and building cool brands, and doing all those things that make the word "entrepreneur" something to be proud of.
Takeaway:
Remember that your goal, no matter if it's in the tool you sell or the article you write, is to make their life more pleasurable, more successful, or easier. Understand your target market's pain points, understand the emotion behind them, and then "make it less painful." And yes, that sounds far simpler than it actually is.
"It's about revealing what the other side of the screen is really capable of"
Do you know what the root of 'technology' comes from? The root word for technology is Greek. It's tékhnē, and tékhnē means 'to reveal.'
And what is interesting about technology, not just our software or whatever, but technology as a whole? It means to reveal something else, or something else's true nature. And to make that possible.
I looked this up, and loved Aristotle's definition of tékhnē in his Nicomachean Ethics: 'To bring something into existence which has its efficient cause in the maker and not in itself.'
In that sense of the word, a saw is a piece of technology that will allow you to reveal a rolling pin from a tree. In some way, shape or form, that rolling pin was always possible from that tree, but the technology needed to exist for it to reveal that and to show that form.
What's fascinating for me about what we do and the process I try to put in as a manager, all of it. It's all about revealing more about our true nature and in the content we create. But most importantly it's about revealing what the other side of the screen is really capable of.
Through the relationships we build and the conversations we have we're trying to reveal that people are more capable than they thought they were. Both from a content standpoint and from the reader's perspective
You might have an incredible capacity to overcome adversity not because of the technology but because it was always there and the technology makes it a little easier.
Y'know, Shopify's goal is to make ecommerce easier for everyone, and we're just doing our tiny part in that whole process. But we take it very, very seriously.
Final Thoughts
This conversation was a big one for me, and I think I've finally figured out why.
Every day, we come into the office. We sit at the same desk and see the same people. We do the same work, by and large, as we did yesterday.
I don't think that the malaise I was feeling was because I stopped loving content marketing. I think it was because I was tired - tired of the day to day. Tired of the sameness.
And then I talked to these guys, and they had something I'd lost - they had the passion.
Aaron and Tommy genuinely see content marketing as an avenue to make people's lives easier. It's not just about selling a product or "marketing." It's about providing a tool for people to achieve their potential.
So how about, every time we write an article, we think about it in the same way they do?
Where is the person at, emotionally, when reading? Does this article address that emotion?
How does this strategy, number or finding impact my reader's bottom line?
Have I written the best possible version of this story? Have I captured it in its entirety or am I leaving something out for the sake of ease or speed?
Does this article challenge me, as the writer?
Is there a story here worth telling?
Does every word I write address my reader's desire to create and grow? Or does it stand in their way? Am I just writing this to publish something on a Thursday?
I'm determined to remember this conversation. I hope you do as well, and take from it what I have - a little more fire.
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