Please help me write this guide to writing popcorn content.
What’s popcorn content?
It’s simply my branded name for micro-content (think Twitter), and the title of a short book I am writing.
The thing about “popcorn content” is that is easy to digest and a pleasure to share.
And, like a bag of popcorn shared among friends, it moves fast.
That makes it immensely attractive.
You can write it. Your friends and colleagues can write it. Your customers and readers can write it. Even your boss can write it.
And you can all share it.
It also strikes me that while Twitter is THE platform right now for this kind of super-short content, there is no reason why short-form content shouldn’t be just as powerful on other platforms as well.
Do blog entries all have to be long, or can they be short as well?
And does every page on your website have to be a few hundred words in length, or is there a place on your site for popcorn content? Or even on your intranet?
This doesn’t mean shortening your existing blog posts and web pages. It means rethinking the opportunities that are available through these channels.
Like popcorn, short-form content is at its best when it is shared, at speed. And that opens up new ways to work with your website, blogs, email and e-newsletters.
And what about the purpose and function of this new, short-form approach to communication?
Twitter has already shown us how flexible and information one can be with just 140 characters.
But can it be used to sell? Can it be used to educate and inform?
I suspect that the full potential of short-form content has yet to be discovered and understood.
That’s why I’m writing this short book on the subject.
And I would like your help.
I would really appreciate your input.
I don’t want to start writing until I hear and learn from others who have had success with short-form writing and who, like me, suspect that what we are seeing now is just the beginning.
Please leave a comment and share your views, insights, opinions and observations.
Thanks.
Nick Usborne
Follow me on Twitter...
It’s simply my branded name for micro-content (think Twitter), and the title of a short book I am writing.
The thing about “popcorn content” is that is easy to digest and a pleasure to share.
And, like a bag of popcorn shared among friends, it moves fast.
That makes it immensely attractive.
You can write it. Your friends and colleagues can write it. Your customers and readers can write it. Even your boss can write it.
And you can all share it.
It also strikes me that while Twitter is THE platform right now for this kind of super-short content, there is no reason why short-form content shouldn’t be just as powerful on other platforms as well.
Do blog entries all have to be long, or can they be short as well?
And does every page on your website have to be a few hundred words in length, or is there a place on your site for popcorn content? Or even on your intranet?
This doesn’t mean shortening your existing blog posts and web pages. It means rethinking the opportunities that are available through these channels.
Like popcorn, short-form content is at its best when it is shared, at speed. And that opens up new ways to work with your website, blogs, email and e-newsletters.
And what about the purpose and function of this new, short-form approach to communication?
Twitter has already shown us how flexible and information one can be with just 140 characters.
But can it be used to sell? Can it be used to educate and inform?
I suspect that the full potential of short-form content has yet to be discovered and understood.
That’s why I’m writing this short book on the subject.
And I would like your help.
I would really appreciate your input.
I don’t want to start writing until I hear and learn from others who have had success with short-form writing and who, like me, suspect that what we are seeing now is just the beginning.
Please leave a comment and share your views, insights, opinions and observations.
Thanks.
Nick Usborne
Follow me on Twitter...
Posted by Nick Usborne at 2/3/2009 3:06 PM 
Categories: Twitter, Micro-blogging, Micro-content, Tweets
Categories: Twitter, Micro-blogging, Micro-content, Tweets
Quite a few of my blog entries are short - I would say, "peppermint" entries.
I don't like popcorn!
And when I broke free of the long post model pushed by Yaro Starak I felt very free to be myself.
And sometimes I want to be frivolous and at other time scientific.
I think that is the strength of blogging - that it can handle any way you want to communicate
Alex
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I am a freelancer with 25 years of editing experience who now works primarily on trade nonfiction paperbacks. When editing, I usually envision someone on the living room couch on a Thursday night, half asleep, grabbing 20 minutes to read a book before bed. That helps keep the prose crisp and linear.
I have only been on Twitter a short time, but when I feel I have a nugget to toss out there it's a great exercise to try to communicate it succinctly. I have done a fair amount of copywriting in the past and would love to do more of it. Certainly your popcorn idea is appropriate for the times, and it will be interesting to see how you frame it. Let me know if you need any help...
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Hey Nick,
First, like every other medium you need to be present. So on Twitter be there on a consistent basis with consistent content. If blogging 3 times a week is the magic number in that medium then you need to be tweeting at least 3 times a day. Case in point, when I don't tweet, I lose followers, when I do, I gain. Doh. I think the formula for tweeting is similar to that of email newsletters - something like 70% value - 30% self promotion and personal. It may not be exactly this but, unless people are just open network autofollowers, people follow you for a reason; because you're the acknowledged expert on copywriting or you're a comedian @paulapoundstone. I vet everyone who follows and I don't follow if there's not an interest or complement. I'll unfollow if I find no value or feel mislead. Sure, I like the personal stuff too but just a bit now and then and if it's of interest. Saw good movie, read good book, ate at good restaurant, inspired by inauguration... And, continous promotion and particularly those who welcome my follow with a DM to buy their $99 ecourse, goodbye. Not to say I don't follow sites purely set up to sell stuff but I know that about them going in ... @steepandcheap.
Worst tweets are the all-about-me-all-the-time tweets. Best either give me value - a link to a blog post that's interesting - or entertain me - a funny youtube video or a relevant cartoon to something humorous, see http://tinyurl.com/5jy2sh - or provide inspiration for my own content - a tweet by @eric_chester led me to Pew Internet Project led me to a mashable post led me to write my own post: http://tinyurl.com/bhewqw which gave me about an hour of being top ranked on google for that topic. Thanks Eric, Pew, Mashable!
Not to say I don't want original content thoughts but those should have value too to inform, inspire or entertain.
Thanks, hope this is useful...
Follow me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/tomjgray)
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Tom, hi
You have a ton of valuable insights here.
- Frequency and regularity. If you’re writing micro-content, you’d better write frequently.
- Variety in content. Links, observations, comments and so on.
- Serendipity. Chance connections that spread from person to person and get you up there on Google!
Many thanks,
Nick
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Dear Nick:
I look forward to buying your book when it appears. It's a great concept.
To me, the big challenge is to create a unified topic hierarchy--a synergistic "content inventory" of ideas and information that can be repurposed and reused at different lengths in different formats.
An idea about newsletters, for example, should be expandable into e-books, articles of different length, frequent blog postings, and--finally, 140-character microblasts (i.e. Tweets).
Done properly, this approach can avoid the paralysis of "What should I write now?"
Roger
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Roger,
I think you're right. A hierarchy of connected content.
That said, because of the spread and velocity of Twitter, for example, micro-content can take you unplanned and unexpected directions.
I like that.
Nick
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Hi Nick,
I've been strategically tweeting for business since mid-November. I'd like to expand on what Tom and Roger mentioned.
My Tweet Plan creates a skeleton for my main topic - Get International Clients With Cross-Cultural Marketing. This Tweet Plan is pre-scheduled 4-6 weeks at a time - I'm a small biz owner, this keeps my tweets focused.
5 daily tweets = 5 core categories or keywords
7 days a week means 7 different types of tweets for variety and for each of the 5 core categories or keywords.
4-6 weeks = 4-6 tweets x 7 x 5 to schedule into TweetLater - very easy to write when you are focused on your subject.
I was told that this skeleton of 5 daily tweets was a good place to start. I also interact live in 5-10 minute spurts throughout the day when my schedule allows it.
People notice the focused tweets. This engages them, conversations start and I get to learn more about what interests them. This works for me.
Results have been fantastic: http://www.copyblogger.com/grow-business-twitter/
I must say that before starting my Tweet Plan I had spent 2 months learning social media etiquette with social media pros like Chris Garrett, and I had been working intensely on my blogging content strategies for almost a year. This also plays a big part in my Tweet success.
Like you, I am fascinated in learning more about the intersection between copywriting and social media communication skills.
Looking forward to what your ebook. Btw, I have had so many requests for more details on my Tweet Plan that I also have an ebook coming out next week with all the details.
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I was just doing up a blog post on writing in the brief format, and came across your post. I like the concept of popcorn writing (or peppermint for those who dislike corn).
I've been tweeting for a long time now, and blogging even longer, but use Twitter more for it's social aspects than marketing at this point.
In my research for twitter fictional writing challenges, I came across a person who attempted to use Twitter for one week to educate about an emerging science and technology subject. He's posted his thoughts here - http://2020science.org/2008/12/13/emerging-science-and-technology-at-700-characters-per-day-%E2%80%93-how-was-it-for-you/
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I've worked in marketing where we used Twitter to broadcast what's happening with mortgage rates; very news-related and obvious. Key word: broadcast. Yes, we included links to respond, and that made it "marketing."
But, I'm also working in a school library where I'm seeing how breaking concepts down into smaller chunks helps students understand a process better.
"Stop. What do you know about the book you're looking for?"
(wait for response)
"So, you know the author's name. Do you know in what section to find the book?"
(wait for response)
And so on. This kind of "micro-communication" helps me steer the student to the next logical step, rather than giving one, long spiel on how to find books in the library. I can then jump in at the point where s/he is stuck and explain only that piece. From there it usually makes much more sense, and they walk out of the library knowing how to navigate on their own.
In writing, I'm constantly breaking down content into discrete chunks. 10 years ago, web pages were written with hypertext links that allowed visitors to jump off at their point of interest to take a new direction (still happening with Wikis). But, since the content has grown, it's just not as easy to shape your own learning or discovery.
My thoughts...
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Christy,
Thanks for the contribution. I find that fascinating about the idea of teaching with very short sentences containing a single question or concept. One nibble at a time. I think both children and adults write and comprehend more clearly when they are keep it short and simple.
Nick
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Hey Nick,
This is a great idea.
Also, I do believe that these short posts are the way to go.
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Direct marketing is about relationship and conversation as much as, or more than, about offer and pitch. Particularly for nonprofit orgs, which is who I write for.
I think short posts can more nearly approximate the dynamics of a conversation -- especially in a medium like Twitter, where the other person in the conversation can respond directly.
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Hi Nick -
I've only just seen the power of short posts in the last few days -- but of course, many email marketers have used short blurbs to drive people to longer articles if they're interested. Love that because I'm a scanner and a very busy person. I like to know at a glance whether or not I'm interested in something. I often open an email and decide within 2-5 seconds whether or not I want to read the full article. (Even with yours!) Anyhow - I believe there's a huge market for this book regarding the best format for short posts and also include case studies and stats if possible. Do the long sessions of following people on Twitter really justify that time that could be spent on other marketing tools? Sounds like they might be winners. Would love evidence. Many thanks-
Pam
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It's a challenge to us all to cut out the extraneous words and cut to the chase. We all might get more done in a day. No more marketing and sales fluff.
If we wrote more effectively, talked less, listened more, we could have a 4 day work week and spend more time at home with families, biking or doing other fun stuff.
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Nick,
I have transitioned the publishing program for my somewhat academically inclined consulting firm from a print-only newsletter released bimonthly to an online newsletter released biweekly. Much of the content in the newsletter gets chunked into smaller pieces and released on our blog, and also now in tweets. Twitter has worked very well for us to link to our own thought leadership as well as link to others in our field. Being inclusive and part of the "conversation" is the only way to credibly establish yourself or your company as a thought leader these days, and Twitter is well-suited to that. The poetic nature of thoughtful tweets helps me remember that more words are not always better.
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Hi Nick,
The average breath is less than one second long.
The eye blinks at about 300 milliseconds.
The heart beats a little faster than once per second.
Life happens in short burst that combine to make us who we are.
Why shouldn't copy do the same?
-- Joshua T
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