Nick Martin

"Marco, here are some of our competitors." There they are, and how nice it is to see them again. I wrote those words years ago, and in some cases, the entire domain has my footprint. Or hand, you pick! 😂 Invitations were common at the time to work on new domains, expand existing ones, or even get a couple off the bin. The Google bin, if you know what I mean! One of the funny things about being around and busy all the time is that you get to find yourself out there. You then witness how your contributions impact a business and how you can improve from there. Competing with yourself, with the aid of a different team and strategy, you name it: it's a renewed challenge every day in an ever-changing algorithm land and expectations level. Someone once asked me: "What do you do once a site is done with?" "What do you mean, DONE with? It's never done. It's ever-evolving, otherwise, it gets dragged to the bottom." Keep at it - it's only Monday, coffeeholics! 😎 _________________________ I write about #iGaming and #contenmanagement in a #remotework universe. Follow me for a crying shoulder - you're not alone!

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If you're a comms professional looking to improve your teams' pitching and planning practices, would recommend taking a look at our scoping document template below. It's a really useful resource if you want to house all of your ideas in one neat place and helps make sure your content is hitting a mix of strategic pillars! ⬇ ⬇

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Excuse the spam; this guy’s gone phishing! Somewhat ironically, as I compile this, May 3 actually marks the day in 1978 that the first ever “spam” email was sent. Delivered to 393 email addresses, the message, advertising a new computer, was, much like many of my musings, received poorly. Spam (not the food) has evolved since then, of course, with suspicious and malicious money-making mails scamming the susceptible out of many a sheckle. Fortunately, I’m no fool, forming a backup plan for any future dupe, thanks to my second name being the same as that of a dead Nigerian prince who’s most loyal advisor wants to share his $43 million windfall with. Sign me up! May 3 is also World Press Freedom Day, by the way, and has been since 1993, which, for a rambunctious brand-new teen in 'Ninety-Three, meant I was no longer sheltered from the arresting big breaking news of the time; like that of Edilber Guimaraes, who was knicked for attempted theft at a glue factory. When he stole a break to take high-inducing sniffs, he knocked over two large cans, only to be found by police 36 hours later glued to the floor. I was pretty quick to throw out my Pritt Stick after reading of poor gluebag Edilber. You'll never take my freedom!!! In some corners, less dark, more unknown, today is a date to celebrate the mysteries of the unexplainable – Happy Paranormal Day, weirdos! The first ghost story on record is attributed to tiny Pliny, a first century AD Roman author and statesman who reported that the spectre of an old man with a long beard and rattling chains was haunting his house in Athens. The beheaded second wife of King Henry VIII, and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn – accused of witchcraft, treason, incest and adultery – has, too, frequently been sighted in apparition form since the 16th century. Author Mark Twain – who wrote about Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer, not to mention The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County – is another wraith believed to haunt the stairwell of his onetime New York apartment building, while the phantom of poet Dylan Thomas is said to sometimes occupy his usual corner table at his local tavern, where he drank a fatal 18 shots of scotch in one sitting. Lightweight! Seems ghost writers are rather common, with many a tale still to tell after retiring from this life. I’m no stranger to the paranormal myself. Countless times I’ve seen my money and memories disappear without reason, with unexplained appearances of my previous night’s alcohol-fuelled ill behaviour all over social media. Utterly bizarre! #Spam #PressFreedomDay #ParanormalDay #GhostStories

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What to Know Before You Implement Public-Facing APIs A public-facing API is a good way for others to connect to your systems. But don’t start building one until you answer these questions. https://lnkd.in/gD6zUEu5

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Bulletin describes how member apps help improve member engagement by providing centralized communication channels for members. A mobile app is a tangible reminder of membership value. And, unlike social media channels, your association controls the app. https://buff.ly/48XbBrf #associations

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Here's an interesting stat 🤔 In 2023, gallery posts had 𝟮.𝟱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 than the average engagement earned by social posts! For more social statistics you can use for your strategy, check out Oktopost's B2B social media trends report: https://okt.to/JQm54X

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What people say when you mention you're a #writer. "Fiction or non-fiction?" Uh... insurance stuff? I guess that's non-fiction, since it's legally approved. 🤷‍♀️😂 #comtentwriter #contentwriting #uxwriter #copywriter #copywriting #content

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Webinar announcement! Join me in this 30-minute session where I'll talk you through everything that's needed to successfully implement a Content Quality Strategy. Bonus: I'll demo the latest (and greatest) release of HyperSTE 10!

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Take a big step forward in embracing accessibility and inclusion best practices by making your PDFs accessible using this actionable 8-step guide!

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Fast isn't the answer people think it is, when it comes to onboarding. Quality implementations take time. Reminds me of this commercial when I was a kid. DAM implementations, good things come to those who take their time and understand their goals. Read more about why quick, one-size-fits-all deployments don't work well in organization-wide DAM deployments, here: https://lnkd.in/gPzYEWjJ

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Spice up your copy with these sizzling questions! Here’s a hot tip: ask yourself these three questions for killer copy.

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Leverage Rocket Content's high-quality blogs and white papers to gain actionable insights through analytics with marketing automation software like Marketo and SalesForce. Understand what resonates with your audience to refine your content strategy and automation tactics. Learn more at https://ow.ly/hup550Qxfuv. #Analytics #ContentStrategy #DigitalMarketing

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If you run channel incentives, then this is the data you need to benchmark your activities. Get the report NOW!

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AI will soon replace human writers. I hear this a lot lately. But is it true? I had a client who generated AI blogs every week and then sent them to me to "humanize them." I spent plenty of time reworking and rewriting these blog articles so that they were in the client's voice, worked in branding, and actually made sense for the target audience. It's abundantly clear when content is written by AI vs. by a human writer. At least it is to me, and I venture to guess to many of you as well. AI as a tool is a complement, not a replacement, for an experienced and seasoned writer who understands voice, industry, branding, marketing, and plain old conversational language. But if you can prove me wrong, I'm all ears. #AI #content #writer #human

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A great test to see if your copy is too formal is the "comma Mary” test. The test comes from Bruce DeSilva, a thriller author and former journalist. The test: put ", Mary" at the end of a statement. Then read it aloud. If it doesn't sound right—namely, too formal—turn the word-choice dial toward less specialized, more conversational until it feels right. Example: “Undergoing regular cancer screenings is the expert-recommended approach to discovering cancer early enough to optimize treatment options and improve health outcomes, Mary." or "Regular cancer screenings help find cancer early, which is why experts recommend them. Treatment works best then and can help patients live longer, Mary." Which one are you most likely to say to a person? Now, it's no silver bullet; you'll want to go deeper and look at your writing decisions—sentence length along with word choice and order. But the "comma Mary" test is a great tool to judge your copy's readability. And to make changes toward making it more human—if that's what it needs, Mary. Alexandra Howson and I talked shop about voice last year. #writing #storytelling #medicalwriting

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Throwback tip! Pullquote—literally "pulling a quote" from copy. It's usually set off in a layout and has an attribution associated with it. Use them to pique interest with testimonials from users or trusted customers. Callout—to "call out" and direct attention to something. Callouts are typically accompanied by lines or arrows and often point out important information in graphic images or photos.

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