It's exciting times for those used to living in the backwater of educational topics. I'm speaking of those experts on subjects such as copyright, accessibility, web security and development. Topics everyone generally acknowledges are important but nobody really pays any attention to. Or, at best, gives tacit attention to, enough of a wink-and-a-nod to say we do with a good conscience. But the growing interest in personal publishing has changed all that.
Personal publishing is the ability for an individual to create and distribute content on a mass level for little cost. If you have a blog, or any other type of public web presence for that matter, congratulations, consider yourself in the personal publishing business. This means that issues that never really mattered to the average Joe and Jane out there now matter, a lot. Copyright, accessibility, and security are relevant because they now hit us where we live. It's no longer just the techies problem; we all have to be concerned.
But how do you, the expert in the field, reach this new-found audience (of which I count myself a member)? My recommendation is to demystify the topic, whichever one it happens to be. To often a presentation on the subject begins and ends in the arcane. My advice is to treat these discussions as lifestyle discussions instead of a treatise on procedural issues. I want to know about copyright, for example, because of how it impacts me as a publisher. Why is it important? How does it make me feel? What does compliance with copyright say about me to the rest of the world? Notice that I'm beginning the discussion in the affective domain. That's critical. It has to mean something to me for me to want to pursue it further.
Think of yourself as a marketer or a salesperson. You have a product, like bottled water, that people want. Are you selling hydration? The "you need water to stay alive" approach. Or are you selling a lifestyle choice? "I drink this particular water because..." I would argue it's the latter.
Congratulations, you now have a product that's in demand. How are you going to sell them on yours?
Personal publishing is the ability for an individual to create and distribute content on a mass level for little cost. If you have a blog, or any other type of public web presence for that matter, congratulations, consider yourself in the personal publishing business. This means that issues that never really mattered to the average Joe and Jane out there now matter, a lot. Copyright, accessibility, and security are relevant because they now hit us where we live. It's no longer just the techies problem; we all have to be concerned.
But how do you, the expert in the field, reach this new-found audience (of which I count myself a member)? My recommendation is to demystify the topic, whichever one it happens to be. To often a presentation on the subject begins and ends in the arcane. My advice is to treat these discussions as lifestyle discussions instead of a treatise on procedural issues. I want to know about copyright, for example, because of how it impacts me as a publisher. Why is it important? How does it make me feel? What does compliance with copyright say about me to the rest of the world? Notice that I'm beginning the discussion in the affective domain. That's critical. It has to mean something to me for me to want to pursue it further.
Think of yourself as a marketer or a salesperson. You have a product, like bottled water, that people want. Are you selling hydration? The "you need water to stay alive" approach. Or are you selling a lifestyle choice? "I drink this particular water because..." I would argue it's the latter.
Congratulations, you now have a product that's in demand. How are you going to sell them on yours?
Your advice here sounds right in line with something I tweeted yesterday from Common Craft. Common Craft does a great job of explaining new technologies in a way that simplifies and demystifies them. Their blog post where they make recommendations for and give examples of good explanations is here: Stop Talking About Technology
One of the things that Daniel Pink talks about in A Whole New Mind is the power of storytelling. Telling stories in the context of what you're trying to convey appeals to your audience's right brains and gives them a "touchy-feely" connection to the technology. Anyone can read a manual or a set of technical instructions; rather than regurgitate this material, we can add real human value through stories and metaphors.
Thanks for the link to the blog post. After I posted this entry I came across this post from copyblogger titled, "How to Motivate People to Buy". It takes the next step from the emotional to motivational.