SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a great way to dissect a company and their success model. Take this one for example. This guy dissects Proctor & Gamble according to a SWOT analysis and you can get a good idea of what a SWOT analysis is from this.

SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a great, generally accepted, way of figuring out the success and future success of a company. I have used this many times in my marketing classes to find out why some companies are so successful and why some companies are built to have a lot of success in the future.

I think it's important for marketing students to understand what a SWOT analysis is because they will use it later in life when they are working for companies and need to evaluate the direction the company should go or what they are doing right/wrong.

I moved to everythingbraden.com

If you're here on this blog great! You're just one click away from getting to my REAL blog. This blog has archives of the very first things I ever blogged. I have permanently moved my blogging over to:

everythingbraden.com

Check it out and thanks for visiting!

Utah State: Best dang Twitter users in the state of Utah

I've always thought that Utah State was the most social campus in Utah but I never had significant data to back that up. I finally found proof. Regardless of the fact that we've got things to trend in SLC like #occupythespectrum, and more recently #usugrad2012, I wanted to see the numbers for normal everyday Twitter use. So here you go! #AggieLife is the gold. #UteNation is blue and #WeAreWeber is red. (I didn't include BYU because I couldn't find anything that any of their students used consistently on Twitter.) I know the #BYU has tag is very heavily used but that is in no way a measure of student life. My intention was merely to measure student activity.

Here is the direct link if you want to check it out for yourself.
(All info source: Topsy.com)

There is considerable drop off once summer hits but honestly we're still kicking their trash.
Here's why:

#AggieLife

#utenation

#weareweber

Our past 26 days beats both of their "All Time". Not to mention our all time is pretty dang impressive. Proof that this hash tag is alive and well is in the "Past 1 Hour", "Past 1 Day" and "Past 7 Day" stats.

There is no stopping the #AggieLife

There is no privacy on the Internet

What up world!

As soon as I hit "publish" on this blog post, literally any person in the world will be able to see it, read it, comment on it, share it or copy it. The same thing applies to tweets, Facebook posts, Instagrams, Google+ posts, Foursquare check-ins, forum comments, websites and whatever else you do on the internet.

Creeping present participle of creep (verb)

verb: 1. The act of looking at someone else's voluntarily given info on the internet. Made famous because of Facebook. People routinely get upset if other people are looking through their pictures and reading their personal posts: "Were you creeping on my pictures, creep?!"

I was talking to a new friend on Twitter the other day @jessicadaniels who tweeted me a comment about a blog post I had written. I asked if she had read any of my other posts and she said no, she didn't want to be a creep. I was a little taken back. I try very hard to be 100% aware of what I put online and I know that it can and will be seen by the world. I don't like to think anything on my social media accounts is private. If I didn't want people to read my blog posts, look at all my FB pictures or go through all 4000+ of my tweets just because they can, I wouldn't be on the internet. (Jessica, you're not a creep; read whatever you want!)

Creeping (also see: stalking) is a term that has blown up in the last couple years. For some reason people have the idea that since it is THEIR Facebook page, or THEIR blog that they deserve a certain level of privacy.  I can see where they are coming from. Girls seem to be most upset by creepers. They love to post cute pictures of themselves so their girlfriends can comment and give them hoards of positive attention but the second some guy they don't know "likes" it or comments on it they are a CREEP. Really? I understand that you don't want weird guys looking at your pictures, but thinking that you can keep those things private ANYWHERE on the internet is as stupid as thinking you can jump in a pool without getting wet. If you want to share stuff that you don't want EVERYONE to be able to see do it over text, or better yet, in person.

If, for any reason, you believe that the things you post on the Internet are in any way private, you don't belong on the internet.
It had to be said...

Here's a quick checklist I made for anyone to use. Feel free to pass this onto your friends that need it. This doesn't apply only to girls, but truth be told they are the vast majority users of the word creep. Before you put something on the internet, anywhere, ask yourself these quick questions:

-Am I making a duck face?
-Do I care if a hooker from asia sees this and shares it with her pimp?
-If America got ahold of this in 10 years when I'm running for an office would it kill my chances of winning?
-Will my parents use this as blackmail someday?
-Do I realize my shirt is off and people can totally see I'm taking this picture in the mirror?
-Do I want to be fired from my job?
-Am I OK knowing that the creepy guy from Math knows where I am right now?
-Will a negative comment on this set me into a fit of depression?
-Am I OK knowing that the guy/girl I am not texting or calling back is reading all my Facebook/Twitter updates and is probably pretty upset about being ignored?

This is a great little checklist to help you realize what could happen from a little false security in the privacy you think you have on the internet. People need to learn that what they post online, isn't private. In protest of people who throw around the "creep" word too much I encourage everyone to not be afraid of being a creep. Get out there and go through people's pages, blogs, tweets EVERYTHING they have online. Learn about them. Who cares if they think you're creepy. They put the dog food in the dish, they have no right to be mad when the dog eats it. They posted it for the world to see; It's their problem if they think you are a creep. Just be aware though, everyone else is going to be doing the same thing to you... Don't feed the dog ALL your food, keep some things private like they should be.

(Image source: freepixels.com)

Tipping your online content: How stuff goes viral

I have to admit, even though I wholeheartedly believe the blatant and hard truths THIS PICTURE portrays (not to mention I've been victim to both also), bringing attention to that point was only half the reason I made it. I made it to prove a point and to test the powers of social media.

I've been reading the book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (all time favorite author, super cool hair too) and in an attempt to apply what I'm reading, I have a few interesting comparisons I wanted to lay out. In the book when things "tip" they blow up with hoards of popularity and success. Being the social media geek that I am, naturally I started drawing comparisons between "tipping" and going "viral". I'll come back to exactly why I made this picture in a minute.

I know "viral" is a hot topic, meaning if you claim you are going to create something viral people will slap you and tell you to go back to myspace... (ouch!) Anyone who understands the world of social media will tell you that you can't just create viral content. It isn't viral until thousands of people make it that way.
If you're setting out to create a "viral video" STOP!! You'll have a lot better chance of getting a viral video just making some movie for fun instead of setting out for months to come up with the perfect viral video idea. Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

A simple class assignment that was shot and edited in no more than 2 hours now has over 5 million views. If this is the case what was the tipping point? What made it go viral?

The answer goes along with what I said above. It's viral because people made it that way, plain and simple. In the book the most intriguing chapter to me is "The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen"

All 3 of these people have their own characteristics that when combined (like when earth, wind, water, fire and spirit combine on captain planet) have huge effects. In some cases they make things tip.

 Connectors are those people that everyone loves. They seem to know everyone. They always care about what you're up to, how you've been and how life is going. Normal people, if they ask those questions at all, ask them to be polite. Connectors are genuinely interested and really want answers. They have connections EVERYWHERE! I believe there are Social Media Connectors. These are the people like the Scott Stratten in of the social world. They believe that social media is there to meet new people and connect with friends. They have thousands of followers and loyal fans because they are genuine and real. They steer clear of constantly asking for things and promoting themselves or their business. They're in it for the friendships, not the attention.

Mavens are the the kind of people that you listen to. People value a maven's opinion so highly that if they were to recommend a pair of shoes to you, you would get them. Mavens make it their life to find the best of everything because they enjoy knowing every little detail about things. The author says that 50% of the world knows a maven. They aren't quite as numerous as connectors but to put these people in perspective; if a maven recommended 5 people to a hotel, he would make his case so well that all 5 would go there. Mavens know their stuff and people understand that. On the other hand if a connector recommended a hotel to 10 people, most likely only 5 of them would go. Mavens, however, are not persuaders. They merely have this swell of knowledge and information that they use to better the lives of themselves or others. If you don't listen, they're not going to make you listen. Do you know any mavens? Online, Social Media Mavens are harder to come by. In the camera industry people like the guys that run the luminous landscape are definitely mavens. Their website looks like it was designed in the early 90's but every single person that visits that site takes what they have to say like it's gold.

Salesmen... we all know who these people are. The author focuses on the fact that salesmen persuade people to do things. Salesmen connect with people and win them to their way of thinking. I compare that to someone like Obama. He sold people on his ideas and won enough people over (definitely with the help of mavens and connectors) that his presidential campaign tipped and he won office. Social Media Salesman are very common. I feel like the invention of social media has turned everyone into one. How? People are CONSTANTLY posting things to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Foursquare and Google+ because they want attention. They want people to RT them or to like their picture or to watch their video etc. They're trying to convince people that what they have to offer is good and they want reassurance. I'm guilty. I love attention.

"Good" salesmen are the ones that help make things tip. Anyone can be a good social salesman, some people just do it more often than others. For an example take my tweet from the Wyoming vs USU football game. I tweeted: "Watching a backwards rodeo #bullsridingcowboys". That got a lot of response and a good amount of RTs. It was a great complete tweet. I know it wasn't viral or anything but in a small way I believe that the hash tag helped make it "tip". I'm sure it would have got a lot of attention without the hash tag, but that little extra piece of humor was the icing on the cake. This applies to all levels of online content. Some stuff is good, but the complete stuff that leaves you feeling like there was nothing more they could have added to make it any better, is the stuff that has tipping potential if it gets in the right hands.

Back to the picture at the top. I made this picture because I wanted to see if it would tip. I knew it hit on  basically the same point of discussion as the "why men and women can't be friends" video did. I wanted to see if somehow from the chain of my friends and my friends friends and their friends, if a connector or a maven would pick it up and work his/her magic. I'm the salesman, it already had one piece to the puzzle and I was curious if it would all come together. The response I got from it was great! Almost 150 likes and 11 shares in 20 hours. Now, before I pat myself on the back however, that's just a needle in a haystack of viral possibility.

What I believe ultimately did it for the video was that it got the attention of connectors and mavens. One site in particular, Reddit, is full of them. It made the front page. In case you didn't know, the people of Reddit were some of the main drivers behind the #SOPAblackout. Saying they have the people and persuasion to make things tip is an understatement. Somehow as the video got passed around a maven or some connectors watched it and related to it. They had to share it. They got the word out and people listened because of who they were. Once enough people latched onto it, it tipped. The rest is history.

Haters gonna hate

When I'm on Twitter it's hard not to feel like the bees knees, like I'm on top of the world, like no one can touch me. I can say what I want and hide behind my computer screen and hate on anyone I want.

Lets lay it out real simple. On Twitter you can say anything to anyone you want, plain and simple. With the world the way it is and thousands of prideful ego's and haters out there, you're bound to be hated on by someone. Even if you haven't seen it, I promise it's happened. 

The most common kind of hating is passive aggressive. For instance just last week I was sitting in a class with my bros. I happened to be looking at twitter and noticed that someone from my same class tweeted and was complaining about the person sitting next to them. I looked over and realized that my friend was the one sitting next to her. He saw the tweet a few minutes later and called her out on it. She then pretended like it was just a joke... right. I threw down my BS challenge flag and there was indisputable evidence it was a true passive aggressive hate tweet. Haters gonna hate. (Hey, I'm practicing my own version of bad passive agressive #twetiquette right here by posting about the incident on my blog, a place that anyone could find, including the people involved in this very story :) ) We're all guilty. So.. Is it a bad thing?

I have been thinking about this for quite awhile. I'd say 99% of people have tweeted with the idea that a) They will never meet the person they are talking to or b) The person they are passive aggressively talking about will never read it.  While this may be true, what does that say about you? Who are you really? Take a second and think about how often you do it yourself.

I like to compare Twitter to someone's thoughts inside their head except its written out nice and neat for everyone in the world to see. Most of the things tweeted would usually only have been thought, or just said to close friends. Now the false shield of the computer screen has made people think they can say whatever they want with no repercussion.

Everyone's mom always said: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. People think bad thoughts all the time... but they are supposed to stay that way, thoughts. They aren't supposed to be voiced. If I read through someone's twitter profile I can give you a pretty good idea about what kind of person they are. Think about it.

So next time you go to tweet, I suggest thinking if that is something you would really say out loud if everyone can hear you, because guess what... Everyone CAN hear you. 

In the end, some people still just don't care... All I gotta say to that is: Haters gonna hate. 

Help Google help you: Optimizing your online content

What is SEO?


Sometimes I want to eat an amazing Philly Cheesesteak sandwich (I capitalized it because it deserves all the respect it can get). Even though I want that, There are thousands of other restaurants and vendors out there that distract me or clog up my ability to find a good Philly Cheesesteak. Good SEO is like putting a Philly Cheesesteak street vender outside my front door. It's what I'm looking for and it was easy to find. If people are looking for something on the internet but it's not easy to find, they usually give up. Getting the info people want however, takes good SEO practices.

As funny as it sounds, search engines like Google need you to "optimize" your content so that they can find it and give the people what they want!

Think about it. When you post something to Twitter or Facebook, how long after you post it does it get lost in the mess of hundreds of other posts? If you're lucky you'll get people that retweet or share your content but at very very best links from Twitter and Facebook last about 3 - 4 days (If they're linked to a viral trending video or topic). If you can effectively optimize your content so it's showing up in multiple places when people are searching for content similar to yours you can create a solid flow of traffic.

Hitting your target audience


This is one of the main reasons people use SEO. There are thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of people out there that may be interested in your content but the vastness of the internet blocks them from finding it. Using keywords that people search for is another thing you need to focus on. If you can get optimized with certain keywords your blog or website is going to see traffic that you don't even have to work to get.

There is a huge advantage to gaining more hits on your site because you can turn those people into future clients or moneymakers for your business. Monitor which keywords are driving the traffic to your site and which ones aren't. Change things around and try new keywords to see what your maximum traffic driving keywords are. It is a game. It's not a game that you can just put on pause and come back to where you were when you paused. You have to keep playing, monitoring and improving to make sure your content is being found by those people who want to find it.

So get out there and "optimize" your content, otherwise I don't care to read it.

Skyping Shmyping

As challenging as it is to creativify (yep, real word. Look it up) a topic that is as intriguing to me as memorizing the international scientific dictionary, I'm going to attempt to do it.

All jokes aside Skype is a great resource for people to use, however I've used it and never found a good personal use for it so I can therefore stand behind my opinion that it's a topic low on my interest scale.

I'm going to throw some numbers at you. (I'm going to throw them really hard because I want you to know when they hit you so it gets you thinking "why in the world did he do that?")

1. 170 million
2. 8.5 billion (cash, money, moolah, dough, smackers etc...)
3. 1%
4. 207 billion

Now I have will lightly toss some words at you that you can try and match with the numbers.

a. Skype users who pay for it.
b. Number of minutes of voice and video conversation in 2010
c. Selling price to Microsoft
d. Skype user base.

Answers are on the bottom of the box.
These numbers are quite mind blowing and I don't see Skype going away anytime soon. ( Benefits of Skype )

I used Skype before. It was incredibly awkward (staring at the other person who was probably not dressed from the waist down...) and I didn't have anything to say... Sure being able to see them was cool but where is the fun and mystery in that? I think it's exciting never really knowing where the other person is for sure and vice versa. How many times have you been talking to someone and then heard a random flush 10 minutes into the conversation? As some people say "sh** happens"... in this case the phrase could not be more literal. I think Skype would just make that situation a lot more awkward. Some things are better left unseen.

Seeing people in person as opposed to seeing them on the computer can be compared to the way people act when you ask them a question face to face vs. asking them a question on camera. You're never going to act the same when you're friend says "hold on, let me put a camera in your face and then ask you some questions." 90% of people don't act the same on camera. (just made that stat up but it sounds right) I'm a fan of real genuine human interaction. Skype brings in that slight feeling of awkwardness and I can't say I like it.

Professionally speaking I know Skype can be a valuable tool used for education and business purposes and I respect that. ( 7 things you should know about Skype ) A lot of people are for sure better off because Skype exists. Small and large businesses alike can now expand more easily to other countries because of the ease of communication brought about by Skype. Don't discount its power. If you can get past the awkward toilet flushes and whitey tighty wearin' business professionals that only have to be presentable above the waist, I think you got yourself some fine possibilities in the world of business!

In one really random experience, Ustream (similar to Skype) was used to live stream a wedding to England because the parents of the groom couldn't make it. In those kinds of situations I think the technology is heaven sent and couldn't be more beneficial. Props to the minds that created such things but
as for me and my house, I don't really care to Skype.

Amen.

I just realized you guys don't have the box to check the answers above so here they are. 1-d, 2-c, 3-a, 4-b

Location Location Location: A viewpoint on location based marketing

Where are you?
I am currently sitting HERE.

Do you even care where I am? Although I love that couch and I'm there quite often there is a good chance I'm not there when you read this. What are you going to do with that information?

• Write it in your journal?
• Blog about it?
• Ask me how it was sitting on that amazingly beautiful couch?
• Be jealous and wish that your rear end was experiencing the same comfort mine was? 
• Nothing?
• Wonder why I asked you all these questions?

I don't expect any of you to come visit but if you did I would be flattered. I'd even share some of my muddy buddies and Mountain Dew.

What do I get out of you visiting?

1. Friendship
2. A good conversation
3. Possibly a cuddle buddy for a scary movie
4. A pillow talk companion (My favorite pillow talk topics are usually business ideas or my latest crush... I only have 2 pillows so if you bring friends it's strictly BYOP)

What do you get out of visiting me?

1. 1-4 above
2. Free muddy buddies and Mountain Dew
3. The ultimate rear end comfort experience
4. etc...

So as you can tell it's a win-win situation! What's stopping you from coming over? I'll even check you in while you're here and MORE friends can find out about it and enjoy the same perks you will! This is the best idea I've ever heard of!

Location based marketing can be a VERY valuable tool. I will share with you an experience from a recent trip to Seattle. 

                                                                     Here's a picture for visual stimulation :)

I was with a few friends in a part of town I'd never been to. It was late and we just flew in so we were pretty hungry. We looked on Foursquare (A location based social media app on my phone) and saw a ton of great recommendations from a bar open 24/7 just a couple blocks away. Looking through the suggestions and tips that people had left I could tell it was a very popular place because there were hundreds of people that had posted. I used that to help me decide what to order and even followed a tip to go "pee in the hole in the wall in the men's restroom" I HAD to go check that out! Needless to say there was a hole and I may or may not have peed in it. 

What can I gather from that? With the help of literally hundreds of people I have never met I got great information when I needed it exactly where I needed it. The food was actually really good and it made for a great experience. If you were the "mayor" of that place you got a free draft beer every time you came in too. Not a bad way to market your bar and get people to check-in and talk about it. 

In situations like that I think LBS like Foursquare are incredibly useful. As a student I am not traveling very much nor do I eat at a lot of restaurants that I haven't heard anything about. Therefore any opinion I have is strictly bias by the aforementioned terms. However, I do see a really good use for these apps in bustling cities. 

Mashable has a great article about how to use these services to your advantage and I think they outline a lot of really relevant points for companies looking to market in different ways. 

SEE HERE----> 9 Killer tips for location based marketing

On the other hand I can't stand people who use these applications to check into every little place they go and plaster it all over their Facebook and twitter to brag about what they do or for whatever other reasons they come up with for doing it. This is the very reason these services leave a bad taste in people's mouths. I believe this guy sums it up quite well.

If you use these for a good purpose DO IT! Take full advantage of it!! Make money for your business or just find great places to go!

If you're just using it because you think you're cool and want to use every social application you can and show all your friends how cool you are (did I mention proving to your friends that you are cool?) Please stop. You're most definitely killing your social media cred and I don't think that is what you are trying to do... Just a little friendly advice :)

BST

Smooshing traditional media and putting it on the web.

When I was a small boy the cool thing to do was sag your pants. (And FYI I was pretty darn cool) If I wasn't showing my undies I might as well have slit my wrists because I would be the biggest loser that ever lived.

                                  (That's me on the left.. Cool huh!)

Sagging your pants was just one of those things that came and went with the 90's along with:
-Walkmans
-VCR's
-Sega's
-Light up shoes
-Corded phones
-dial-up internet
-etc

I no longer sag my pants. Why? It's not cool anymore. That time period has phased out. Times have changed. My originally formed concept that sagging my pants is cool, is no longer true. If someone tried to sell me a VCR or a Walkman I'd slap them in their face for being stupid. (Don't worry they deserved it). There is no way I would spend money on those because they are useless. There are better substitutes available now. I can do it all with my iPhone. I can play movies and music, search the web, call people and play games. Those old things have become obsolete.

(Now in their defense, light up shoes are still cool and I have no idea why they went away. If you tried to sell me some, I would buy them. Light up shoes are TIMELESS) #Fact

One of my favorite brands is Volcom. Their slogan: "The only constant is change" could not be more true.

Every time I go to a business and they don't take credit cards I fall to the floor in disbelief. How long have credit cards been around? The only people I can think of that carry cash are drug dealers and strippers. Is that really the kind of people you want coming to your business? Get a freakin credit card machine!!

If I started a business and told you that as payment I only accept bartered goods I would expect to be out of business and filing for bankruptcy before I even opened my doors...  "But think of all those hunter gatherers and fur traders that were very successful with their lives!" you might say. Yes, I'm sure they did fine with their lives, but that was like a MILLION years ago. Times change. I don't want your corn meal and spoiled meat.

In a round about way this relates directly to social media. People that think traditional media is going to live forever are crazy. Any marketing professional will tell you that if you don't keep innovating and changing the way you do things, even if you have a good base service, you're going to go out of business fast. 

The world is changing rapidly and if people hold on to their traditional views they are going to get left behind.

ADAPT!

Keep up with what's going on!

The Wall Street Journal and other news agencies have started integrating with facebook. They tweet. They get their news out through more ways than just the paper. Why? Because that is where people are getting their news today.

Twitter in particular has changed the news world completely. People know news on twitter faster than any paper or website can post an article about it. Usually by the time something is posted people already know the story. The crazy thing? It's all legit news. With minimum searching you know what news is legit on twitter and surprisingly most of it is now.

In my professional opinion I would say if you don't change your traditional views, you're going to get smooshed like a bug. (This isn't cartoon land. You can't just get someone to scrape you up and fix you. Getting smooshed hurts!)

Reference articles:

Traditional media is not all we should be looking at

Is social media a legitimate news source?

Blogging: A blog post about what to post on your blog

With a somewhat unusual topic today I will attempt to blog about how to blog by citing articles from other blogs that also attempt to tell you how to blog. I said blog a lot in that last sentence but it was absolutely necessary, I assure you.

Everyone has seen examples of good blogs and examples of bad blogs. Actually, I take that back. The people that live in those little villages in the amazon that have no idea what goes on in the outside world probably haven't even seen a computer, let alone got on it and read a blog. So I guess I lied when I said "everyone" but I'm going to assume you weren't completely outraged enough to stop reading at my audacity to say such a false statement... 

So, I guess "a good majority" of people have seen good and bad blogs (is that better? more politically correct? yes? no?) Instead of writing about all the techniques I learned I am going to help you out by applying my knowledge and creating the best, most perfect blog post there ever was. I give you full permission to copy what I do and turn your own ordinary blogs into an amazing blog!

To have a good blog you need to separate ideas and thoughts into easy to read paragraphs and have pictures for visual stimulation. I've already been separating my paragraphs (see above) so now I will give you an example of putting a picture on your blog. (Take note of this and make sure to do it on your blog too so that lots of really cool people will like your blog and want to read it all the time)

                                         Picture for visual stimulation (feeling engaged yet??)

I'm going to share with you an interesting fact that isn't found in either of the cited articles. Sex sells... However, on the internet, cute also sells. With some of the most watched YouTube videos being either cat, kitten or puppy related, you would be an idiot not to take advantage of that. I predict that if I put this as my thumbnail when I share this blog I will get at least 3 times as many people to read this than I would if it was just some boring picture of something boring. Look how cute these little guys are! Don't you just want to pet them?!

In addition to pictures and paragraphs content is a very important part of your blog. Think about it. If you didn't have content nobody would read your blog.... They couldn't, because there is no content. Get it? :) Sometimes I just make myself laugh so hard that I have to quit typing for like 30 seconds to regain my composure. That was just one of those times.

Content. You need to really talk about something you know about or have at least done some reading about. People can smell BS (Bull Sh**) a mile away. 

Ex. 1) I know what is up with my gangsters in the hood brother. I am the most gangster person you will ever get to know on a personal basis. I have killed people. Lots of people. I even stole a car once. So when all the other gangsters are talking about stuff in the street about me I won't have it. This gangster stuff is really crazy. If you ever need to know some information on gangster feel free to ask me because I know everything.

Ex. 2) (original wording edited for sensitive content) Yo n**** I know ya'll ain't talkin no s*** on my n**** Mad Dog! This ish about to get real! I'm finna put a green light on yo a** if you come around my streets again you goin get twisted n****! aint no one be talkin s*** on my n**** o you be finna get f***** by the baddest m****f**** around. I be reppin the streets an OG from Detroit. If ya'll need some deets on what the G life is like i'll hook a brotha up. but i aint promisin you aint goin get messed up. 

As you can clearly tell. One person knows what they are talking about and the other is some wannabe punk that thinks he knows what the streets are like. I don't know about you but I'm getting my info from the 2nd guy, and at all costs staying away from him and whatever he's involved with... cuz i aint finna get twisted n****! 

Finally I think humor is one of the most important things you need to have on your blog. I've tried to make this as humorous as possible to get the point across that people enjoy reading things that are different, that aren't your normal everyday phrases you learned in english 1010 (sorry educators..). I'm talking about really bringing a personality to your blog. If you can't do that, you aren't going to get as much attention or loyal fans. Don't be afraid to try out a new style of writing. If it bombs you have an unlimited amount of blog posts to try something new until you find something that works. 

Peace love and stitches my n*****!

Here are my reference articles

Techniques for a better blog

Blogging tips you should not ignore