I hear what you are seeing

 

My wife came home from shopping yesterday and handed me this little flyer. It was an "Oh, by the way, I donated to them today, bought them some things on their list..." Turns out a small team had a little table set up outside our local grocery store. They catch you on your way in - hand you this little flyer - and they let it unfold. Brilliant. Why? 

Handing over $5 or $10 would have worked too, right? The classic 'please give some money' to a worthy cause. And, I am sure that the good folks from Loaves & Fishes would happily WELCOME such a cash donation. Ah, but the magic is in the movement - not the money. 

As you are winding your way serpentine up and down the aisles of the grocery store - you are now a part of the solution. You, with your shopping list of most urgently needed items - you are now a part of THE STORY. 

As you place the shampoo or deodorant into your basket, you are now on staff at Loaves & Fishes. There is a REASON why certain items are in high demand. There are also things that are donated every month that are really not very helpful. Such as things that expire. Can you 'feel' the placing of healthy snacks for kids into your basket - especially if you have no kids of your own? 

Handing over $5 would have taken around four seconds, and you would be done. Ah, but now, as you are shopping for healthy snacks for kids - you ARE PART OF THE STORY. You are involved. You have now become an active volunteer for an amazing cause, the Loaves & Fishes. You are now a cast member in the show.

From the "timing in life is everything" section of life, into my inbox this morning, I saw the story about how in 1991, improv teacher Kenn Adams creates the Story Spine. The structure goes like this:

Once upon a time…Every day…But one day…Because of that…Because of that…Until finally…And, ever since then…(Optional) The moral of the story is…

At first, Adams teaches it to his students but nobody else. Then, in 1997, Pixar employee Rebecca Stockley walks into one of his classes. She loves the idea. So much so that she brings the Story Spine to Pixar, where she teaches it in the company’s improv classes. Writers and directors love it. It was definitely a lightbulb moment for the everyone in the room. 

Before long, the Story Spine is ingrained in Pixar’s writing culture. Over the next seven years, Pixar releases some of the most beloved films ever:

Toy Story 2 (1999) Monsters Inc (2001) Finding Nemo (2003) The Incredibles (2004)

Yes, Pixar developed amazing advanced animation tech and a deep understanding of IP, but many believe the Story Spine helped create the incredible consistency in their storytelling. The Story Spine technique pulls you into the journey. You are now not simply being entertained via amazing animation and graphics. You now feel like you are part of the story. You are involved. 

Lastly, when speaking to my wife about our partnership with Kajabi, she turned me onto Kaleb Wyse. He started documenting his daily life on his farm in Iowa, he didn’t think many people would take notice or even care. After all, his way of life is simple, guided by the seasons—he spends his days gardening, preserving, baking, and cooking, a rhythm not all that different from that of his parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents who worked the land before him. 

But it turns out that people from all over the country (and even the world) connected with Kaleb’s simple, back-to-basics way of living, and fell in love with his hearty, homestyle cooking. From casseroles to biscuits, his recipes hit the sweet spot of nostalgia for some—and are a breath of fresh air for others. 

In his debut cookbook, Kaleb shares his midwestern family recipes, updated for the way we eat today. And with 1M+ ENGAGED followers, he is going to sell some books. Lots of books. The money shot here is ENGAGED followers. Read on...

From Kaleb's website: "Common knowledge shows that there is a mass exodus from rural areas into urban ones. I completely understand why. Cities offer every amenity one could want: restaurants, shops, parks, culture, diversity – just to name a few of the reasons. This really begs the question: why – upon graduating from college – would I move back to the area where I was born and raised and live on a farm, smack dab in the middle of corn fields. I could go on to explain all the different small reasons, but really, none of those matter. What really matters and what I think we all strive to find in life is a sense of home."

Ah so. Kaleb used the Story Spine. Once upon a time…Every day…But one day…Because of that…Because of that…Until finally…And, ever since then…(Optional) The moral of the story is…

As I write my Sunday Blog, I think back to my first experience with The Story Spine. I was born in 1960, you can feel free to sing it with me...

Here's the story of a lovely lady.... Who was bringing up three very lovely girls... All of them had hair of gold like their mother...The youngest one in curls...

I bet you know the rest, right? I bet you 'feel' like you know that family. All of them. Ah yes, the magic of the Story Spine. They made you part of the family. You became part of the story. 

WyseGuide.com

I see what you did there

If you are on a smartphone, hold phone in landscape mode

I love Audible. I'm a big fan. Especially when it is a book read by the author. It feels like a private Master Class. When the author takes the time to create an audible book from their written book, it feels different. It feels better. It feels like we have a connection. It feels like they are talking directly to ME. 

The one thing that became very evident this month is that the data - the analytics of the audio book experience has not been lost on the marketing world. The good folks at Amazon (Audible) can tell what books I purchase, of course. But they can also see my level of interest in any/all of the books that I purchase. They can see how much time I invest in a certain book. The can tell if I went back and replayed a certain chapter. They can can tell if I downloaded the PDF that comes with the book. 

If I am reading a book on 'Marketing' then I might be someone that is very valuable to Hubspot or Mailchimp or Dotdigital. 

If I am reading a book on 'Telemedicine' then I might be someone who is very valuable to Teladoc or Zoom for Healthcare. 

As of today's Sunday Blog there are 174K+ online schools across North America. The NYDLA.org ( and now the NADLA.org ) services all of them. And, the (now) GlobalDLA.org also services their alumni. Are you someone who is thinking of taking an online course about AI? How about getting a Certificate on Cybersecurity? Or, are you going to get your 4-year college degree from such an online school like Purdue University Online or Penn State World Campus? Master's Degree? How about Law School? 

I have noticed that I am now getting emails/ads from schools for online courses, based on my reading habits (listening habits) from Audible. It makes sense. It's all about the data. After all, AI does not work without the data. And it is not just about online courses. Based on the reading (listening) habits you might get emails or see online ads that match the topic. 

I guess that all of this feels like I am a member of the world's largest 'Book Club' where folks like me (with my interests, my likes, my curiosity) can meet up. You know, we are all living, learning, working, playing, teaching, training, coaching, mentoring in the (now) Global Cloud COMMUNITY. 

TomCapone.com goes to my LinkedIn and TommyCapone.com goes to my Bluesky. Let's meet there. We can talk about your favorite books. Or podcasts. Or blogs. I'll let you decide. 

Boosting the Boosted

LinkedIn has been offering the "boosting" feature for company page posts for several years, with the option becoming widely available around mid-2021 when they rolled out updates to help companies expand their reach with less time and cost investment; essentially allowing users to pay to promote their organic LinkedIn posts to a wider audience beyond their followers. 

Key points about LinkedIn boosting:

Function: Users can "boost" a post from their company page to reach more people on LinkedIn beyond their existing followers. 

Introduction timeframe: The boosting feature was introduced gradually, with significant updates and wider availability around mid-2021. 

Purpose: To help businesses gain more visibility for their content and potentially reach new potential customers or clients. 

I think I might have cracked the code on LinkedIn Boosting. 

How much does it cost to boost a post on LinkedIn? LinkedIn boost post cost a minimum daily budget of $15 USD. One of the best things about a boosted post is that the budget is highly flexible. A LinkedIn post can be boosted for as little as $15, or you can spend $100K if you want your story to reach a wide audience. 

When I do a video podcast interview (CoffeeInTheClouds.us | ZoomTalks.us | NYDLAcast.com) with someone famous they will tell THEIR networks. And in some cases, these folks have a tremendous following on social media - aka LinkedIn. 

THAT is the post to boost! THEIR posts already have a tremendous following of engaged fans. After all, there is a reason why they have (I've seen 1M+) followers on LinkedIn. So, when you boost THAT post, it becomes like a force multiplier. You are boosting the boost! Their following becomes the ideal client persona - the ideal target audience for the topic at hand. LinkedIn calculates engagement rate by adding the number of interactions, clicks, and new followers acquired, divided by the number of impressions the post receives.

Say a LinkedIn post gets 1000 views and 100 engagements — then it has a 10% engagement rate. This is because: (10 engagements / 100 views) x 100 = 10%. A good engagement rate for LinkedIn is about 2%. However, this can climb all the way up to 5-6% at times. Other metrics you can use to measure your LinkedIn success include: Engagement rate, Content reach, Click-through rate (CTR), and Profile views. 

There are 1B+ professionals on LinkedIn and millions on LinkedIn Learning. The ROI on boosting is strong. What is the ROI of boosting a post of a famous person who is highly motivated to have (millions?) of people see THAT post? 

How does that TV commercial go again? 

"Priceless"