Mar 2, 2015
Lucy Leiderman (@Lucy Leiderman) is the Director of Digital Strategy for Toronto-based agency Pilot PMR. Here, she advises clients on content and social media strategy, oversees promotion and advertising across new media, and writes on a number topics related to internet and technology.
Lucy is also a published author, having written the Seven Wanderers Trilogy, a series of novels in the historical fiction/fantasy genre.
This conversation is split into two parts, where the first discusses her work as a digital strategist, and the second speaks more to her personal habits and her workflow as an author. Catch up with Lucy on her website, LucyLeiderman.com
Show Notes & Links
- Prescott and Lucy know each other “from the internet”
- Directors of Digital Strategy need to have the “widest toolbelt” of digital knowledge, to always offer fresh, innovative, custom solutions – there is no more “cookie cutter” approach
- Agile Methodology
- “Project Managers have become Scrum Masters”, says Bob Calvano during his episode
- Scrum Alliance and their certifications
- “The Scrum Master is, above all, a facilitator.” ← Click to Tweet
- “At the end of the day, [we]’re all in the business of marketing. We’re trying to get people to do something.” ← Click to Tweet
- Traditional can be contemporary — living as if they’re in 2008
- Lucy writes numerous articles
- Growth Hacking
- Internetalia — is that a word?
- “We’re all psychologists now.” ← Click to Tweet
- “The Free Market is as active online as it is anywhere.” ← Click to Tweet
- Instagram gets bought for $1 Billion
- Instagram needs to solve its multiple login problem
- The Busy Creator on Instagram — completely locked out and can no longer be updated
- When Instagram first came out, it didn’t have a web presence
- 18-year-old Instagram celebrities/millionaires
- Patagonia on Instagram
- Zildjian on Instagram
- “Login Fatigue,” when you have too many damn accounts and log-ins
- Coca-Cola’s social media “happy” campaign backfires
-
Kim Kardashian’s twitter goof during the Aurora, CO
shootings
Wrong Aurora
-
DiGiorno Pizza during The Ray Rice scandal — hashtag
#WhyIStayed
You Had Pizza
- “With analytics, anything can be good or bad. It’s up to you to frame it.” ← Click to Tweet
- The problem with blue light
- “I started writing because I ran out of reading material.” ← Click to Tweet
- Lucy’s first books were set in the world of Celtic Mythology
- Lucy does not take inspiration from Russian Literature, in spite of her heritage
- Originally, she wrote for children, but her work ended up a little more mature
- Only about 30% of a story plan actually comes to be
- Prescott thinks stories are like trees, or spiderwebs. Lucy says they’re more like a tapestry (with threads woven through)
- “Writing a book is committing yourself to always feeling guilty.” ← Click to Tweet
- NaNoWriMo – National Novel-Writing Month
- “I love the finished product, but the process is hard.” ← Click to Tweet
- Lucy never took courses in writing or studied the craft
- Average sci-fi novels are 100,000+ words
- It can take 25 minutes to get back on task following a distraction, according to an article from The NY Times, which cites a study from UC Irvine
- Lucy has never had a full cup of coffee, prefers tea
- McDonald’s + Shazam ad – did it work?
- LucyLeiderman.com, an About.me page
- Lucy’s Author Page
- Lucy Leiderman on Twitter
- Lucy Leiderman on LinkedIn
- Lucy Leiderman on Instagram, mostly her dogs
Tools
- Google Analytics
- Radian6
- Buffer
- HootSuite
- Google Drive/Apps for Work
- Workamajig
- Basecamp
- Balsamiq, for wireframes
- InVision, also for wireframes
- Slack
- Microsoft Word
- Facebook, and its ever-changing nature
Techniques
- Don’t create content for it’s own sake
- Don’t waste a call-to-action and spend money when it doesn’t drive sales
- Use data to show how campaigns are effective
- Get immersed in the community; go to events/Hackathons, watch TED talks
- Use the channel itself for full analytics; don’t trust third-party sites for data collection
- Factor “the environment” into your channel-planning
- Ask questions in your story plan (e.g. “why does this person think this?”)
- Have a publisher or editor kick your butt a little
- Use Post-Its to highlight points-to-make
- Keep a plan for the next 5000 words, and another document for the actual text
- Build a nest of pillows and stay deep for 5-6 hours of work
- Allow your daily routine to flex with the day (and the dogs’ breakfast schedule)
- Read case studies rather than opinions, especially for continued growth/learning
Habits
- Editorialise and examine your data; never show raw numbers to a client
- Don’t email when voice communication is faster and more direct
- Acknowledge your inner emotions when writing a book
- Build a comfortable setup and work in spurts
- Take breaks and go for walks (with the dogs)
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