And now, on a personal note:
The 3-sentence memoir that I submitted for a Flash NonFiction contest—sponsored by Paper Darts Magazine on Facebook—won by collecting the most ‘likes’. As a result, they posted it on their website and it will be published in their next magazine, along with a short bio of yours truly.
Click the graphic below to reach the page with my memoir… the next time you see me, I may be wearing a t-shirt with this on it:
Posted in Inspiration, Writing
Tagged i will survive, personal
Remember this past September, when I taught a social media session at the AABC Birth Institute in California? It’s been two and a half months since I spent that weekend immersed in the messaging and mission of birth centers, midwives, and amazing people who tirelessly lead the charge for better women’s health care.
That September presentation was developed and produced in conjunction with two other fabulous women —Rosemary Senjem and Cyndi Caughron. Today, we’re working with three different birth centers to hone and implement their marketing strategies – from web sites to social media to public relations. Such an honor, and such a humbling role in each unique case: to be entrusted with their mission, and given the opportunity to work in an area that means so much to so many people.
My first major task is taking existing content and turning it into search-optimized copy that is true to the birth center’s unique position, goals and character.
Now please forgive me for being so trite – but in doing so, I’m reminded just how much writing copy is like giving birth:
• I study the objective for days, weeks, sometimes months. And then I wait for the messaging and tone to tell me when it’s developed enough that it’s ready to come out.
• When it doesn’t happen soon enough — when I think it should be starting — I get impatient. Frustrated. Cranky. Sometimes I try to force it, do things to get myself in just the right mental state. But it doesn’t work.
• The copy doesn’t come until it’s ready. And when the words find their own life, begin stirring and pushing themselves into my brain, I can’t stop it.
• I need to get to a safe place where I can let the words flow and re-arrange themselves, and take their rightful place on the page.
• When I feel supported and empowered and respected, I do my best work. (who doesn’t?!)
• If you interrupt me when things are really moving, or try to bend me to do it your way — I get REALLY angry.
• And when all things come together just they way they should, and when I sit back and look at the final result…. I think it’s beautiful. Because it’s mine, and I know what it took to get it here.
And then we move onto editing… HA!
Ok, no, but seriously. It’s a dream: applying my marketing experience to the issue of maternal health care in the United States. Because it’s time to start paying attention to what’s not working, and it’s way past time we start raising our daughters to know and trust the strength and wisdom they carry in their own bodies. You might even say… the time for that is WAY overdue.
So just watch me. My client is the birth center, my role is marketing expert, and together we have a lot to accomplish. But I’ve been training for this for 18 years, and I’m on a mission, too.
And now … back to work.
Posted in Inspiration, Writing
Tagged creative writing, marketing for birth centers, Rribbitz process, writing web copy
A lot of people ask if I specialize in writing for certain industries — and I tell them no. My expertise — and the competitive edge I offer — is in learning about the client, understanding their marketing objectives, and tailoring their message to their markets. (Okay, that’s a really REALLY simplified description.)
Recently, I had the opportunity to bid on website copy writing for a genetic analysis company in California*. So before the question even came up, “How can you possibly write about oncogene mutation detection in a way regular consumers will understand?!”, I asked another client to provide a recommendation.
Because I constantly crave attention and validation, I wanted to share his AWESOME words with you here:
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September 27, 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this recommendation letter to attest to Kim Opitz’s uncanny ability to translate scientific material and jargon into normal English, easily understood by the “man in the street.”
I am a social psychologist. I was trained in my doctoral program to conduct rigorous research and report it in scientific journals to an audience of other academics. For twenty years I did that successfully while a tenured professor at the University of Florida. I knew that academic rigor and scientific precision requires technical jargon. In fact, that specific jargon is necessary for a common scientific literature to develop and grow.
Then I left the University to open a private consulting firm. My writing goals shifted from an academic audience to the general public. To say I floundered is an understatement. My past habit of thinking in terms of jargon, let alone writing in jargon, made me virtually unintelligible to my new audience.
Then I found Ms. Opitz. She was able to understand my scientific language and intent, and then translate and rewrite it for general public consumption. She made it possible for me to reach my potential clients, and engage and explain to them what I did and how I could help them. She virtually saved me from myself and saved my business in the process.
I recommend her enthusiastically and without reservation.
Sincerely,
Jerald W. Young, Ph.D.
Founder, Smooth Divorce Recovery
205 6th St. East, #609
Saint Paul, MN 55101
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Keep an eye on Jerry’s website, because this is the ‘before‘. By Thanksgiving, the new content will be up. But we’re already moving ahead with his blog and social media.
Oh – and if you need someone to save you from yourself, don’t hesitate to call me.
* Did I get it? Nope. My qualifications were just what they needed, but they preferred to work with a local writer. Given that this was a relatively new company and they needed a lot of help developing web processes, I agreed that a local consultant would be better for them in the long run! But boy, that would have been fun!
Posted in Introductions
Tagged gratitude, portfolio, rribbitz clients, social media, web copywriting
Today I am 41.
When I was 13, I couldn’t imagine being alive at 15. I couldn’t imagine being alive at 18. Or 20. Or even 41. It’s not that it seemed so far away, or so OLD, but it just seemed impossible.
Oh sure, it seems a little silly now. But I honestly thought that the agony of the teenage years would kill me. I’m talking about that gut-wrenching, soul-twisting self-hatred and doubt that tears us to pieces when we’re too young and inexperienced to know that life is more than the things that happen to us. When we’re young, we exist in the moment, because it’s all we really know – and for me, I started to believe that there was no existence beyond the hell of teenage years – I would simply drop dead from the agony of it all. Probably in homeroom. Or better yet, in front of a really cute guy who didn’t even know I existed anyway. Or maybe he did, but he also knew enough to tease and embarrass me at every chance.
Things changed when I went away for college — I was handed that proverbial blank canvas on which to create a new life. So I decorated it with everything I wanted. And long story short, that is largely why I have the life I do today. And I am grateful for every minute of it.
I am still learning to be patient, and the greatest lesson of all happened when I had my first child. It’s not what you think, either.
When I was 2 years old, I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The next 16 years were filled with a lot of pain: medications, hospital visits, special doctors, braces and splints, more medications. Sitting on the sidelines during gym class – and hundreds of other activities my peers enjoyed without me. The pain that filled my joints, twisted my hands and feet, and throbbed throughout my body was accompanied by the relentless emotional turmoil of feeling different, KNOWING I was different, being laughed at or teased, and utterly hating myself for it. And always, ALWAYS wondering, as children do- “Why ME?”
The question was unanswered, and eventually I stopped asking it. I even stopped caring, when the arthritis had calmed down enough in my 20s to be declared in remission.
My first daughter was born when I was 36 years old. And along with her entry came the greatest clarity of my life – a double gift. Because you see, my daughter has a physical difference. It’s nothing that threatens her health or mental capacities in any way, but she will have it for her entire life. Regardless of what my husband and I hope, it will always be the first thing people notice about her. When we’re long gone, and she is an old woman, it will still be the feature that others use to define her.
In the first hour I held her, I realized the answer to my long-forgotten question, the one that still whispered deep inside me.
The pain of my own childhood had been for her. My childhood had been spent with medical treatments and specialists — as hers will. I knew what it was like to look different, to always be different, to be questioned about it — as she will. I will never claim to know exactly what she is going through — but if she ever feels alone, or ashamed, or hurt — if she ever asks, “Why ME?” I can sit beside her and help her carry those feelings.
41 years ago, I arrived. But 5 years ago, I figured out why I was given that twisted and painful path to walk as a child.
Today is another happy birthday, and they do keep getting better, because I keep painting that canvas. I am strong for both of my daughters, I am strong because of my husband, and I am strong because life is NOT what happens to me. It is exactly what I make of it.
What have you made of your life? And what have you made it for someone else? I would love to know.
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged gratitude, Inspiration
Now, I know from analytics that people don’t hang on my every tweet, or flock to my site in droves. And I’ve never caused a Google outage. At least not since I took down those pictures.
But ANYWAY. Last week, @grandciel came up to me at@jmu612 and said, “I always enjoy reading your blog! When you write, you have something specific to say, and you get straight to the point. I appreciate that – and it’s always useful!”
Well… she said something like that. And Kristin… I really appreciate hearing that.
Anyway, that makes me #1 on my own personal list of #1 influencers. One person at a time, baby…. one person at a time. That’s what I love.
That’s all.
Posted in General Duckweed, Writing
Tagged live freelance
How long has it been since you got a hand-written note from a friend? (Birthday cards from your Mom don’t count.) I’m talking about a real note where someone took the time to say thank you or “just thinking of you today.”
That’s right… it’s probably been forever and a day. But if you’re like me, you get a thrill when you see a hand-addressed envelope in the mail box. And if it’s not another cleverly disguised funding solicitation, then baby, you’re blessed.
So I’ve got just a real simple offer for you:
Find a cool postcard, note, or any paper* that can be mailed, and write down the following:
1. Your name.
2. A fascinating fact about you.
3. “Private” if you want to keep the correspondence just between us — or “Post!” if I can share your note on my web site (blocking out your return address), and also a copy of the reply.
4. Your return address.
Then, mail it to:
Rribbitz Goes Postal
4601 Excelsior Blvd., Ste 313
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
Within two days of getting your note, I’ll send a speedy but thoughtful reply to the amazing facts you just provided me. I promise, it’ll be fun.
Who wants to play?? Wait, let me ask again…. who wants to get some mail?!
* Bonus points for anything with a frog or toad motif. As if I even HAD to say it…
Tagged communications, Introductions, postal
Strength doesn’t lie in numbers.
Strength doesn’t lie in wealth.
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers…. when you wake up, WAKE UP!
It’s healthy!
— “I have confidence,” by Rodgers and Hammerstein for The Sound of Music
There’s a lot of talk and rumbling and praise for Twitter rankings and influence lately. And you know, I’ll be the first one to admit that being in Joel Carlson’s Top 10 list makes me giggle and clap my hands with glee. (See how I added that link? Even I’m not immune. Shameless, you could say.)
Also? We’d be nothing without lists and rankings! Where would we be without Nielsen? Where would we be without baseline numbers to measure our progress? So in other words… most recently, we have to give kudos to @Jenkaneco and @Karyd and recognize the value of work like this.
However…. I’d like to offer another view on what matters in social media.
Let’s take a lesson from Maria, er… I mean, Rodgers and Hammerstein. In one of the glorious songs from Sound of Music, Maria gives herself a pep talk as she leaves the abbey and heads out into the world. The tempo and choreography escalate as she describes her longing for:
The courage to serve them with reliance
Face my mistakes without defiance
Show them I’m worthy
And while I show them
I’ll show me! So!
We must serve our audiences with reliance – show up! Face mistakes without defiance…. and show them that we’re here to listen and respond.
Strength doesn’t lie in numbers.
Strength doesn’t lie in wealth.
Strength lies in nights of peaceful slumbers.
Yes – you can gobble up followers and pat yourself on the back for big numbers and rankings. But how does “peaceful slumbers” translate to strength? It reminds us to stay calm, define our goals, and approach social media tactics with a plan rather than frantic and desperate cries for attention and instant results.
When you wake up, WAKE UP! It’s healthy!
If you’re going to bring social media into your marketing mix, WAKE UP! Pay attention to what you’re doing, the conversations around you, the way you’re engaging with customers and communities — be alert, awake, and enjoy it!
In yet another classic, Maria tells us:
When you know the notes to sing,
you can sing most anything.
By looking at our work, setting goals, and tracking numbers, we learn the notes. And by sharing them with each other, we share the tools to accomplish even more. Thank you, Rodgers and Hammerstein, for these timeless lessons.
For your own inspiration – watch this, sing along if you must, and tell me what it imparts to you.
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged Inspiration, show tunes, social media
Work hard. Believe harder.
Believe harder than you ever have in your life, believe in yourself and your work.
Don’t believe blindly, or you’ll reach your goal without knowing how you got there.
Don’t believe without questioning, or you’ll reach your goal without learning anything along the way.
And every now and then – for just a minute or two – it’s ok to stop believing (apologies to Steve Perry and Journey) and be freaked out and terrified of the unknown. Because if you never do that, you might lose the momentum to keep going.
Work hard. Believe harder. It’s a simple formula, but it’ll get you there.
Even more, look at these guys. They look pretty goofy now but hey – what an anthem.
Posted in Inspiration
Tagged Inspiration, live freelance, rribbitz rules
Next Friday I’m teaching social media content strategy in California – the event is the 4th Annual AABC Birth Institute for midwives, physicians, nurses, doulas, chiropractors, childbirth educators, birth center and hospital administrators, and advocates for change.
It’s a privilege to attend the conference next week, especially in light of the changes taking place right here in Minnesota. Earlier this year, Minnesota joined 30 other states that allow for free-standing birth centers ["Birthing a new option, Star Tribune, May 24, 2010"] like the new Morning Star Women’s Health and Birth Center in St. Louis Park.
It’ll be interesting to see how a group that advocates for change responds to and engages with the unlimited possibilities of social media — especially for those who take the lessons back to Minnesota, where winds of change have just picked up.
Look out, Rribbitz is heading to California! We’re going to have some fun!
Posted in Inspiration, Taking a Leap
Tagged birth centers, Rribbitz presentations, social media, speaking, twin cities creative
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m addicted to the real-time web site analytics of Clicky. So crazy addicted I use it to monitor traffic on my own site as well as the sites of eight clients. And honestly? I’m just not that into GA.
Why I love Clicky as a business tool
A lot of the time, clients hire me to write new copy or optimize the existing copy on their web sites. After that, we add PR and social media into the mix so they can better engage with their customers and start getting their stories out in the market.
#1: Clicky keeps me accountable. With Clicky analytics, I monitor the effectiveness of the search optimized copy and meta data: are the selected keyword phrases pulling in the traffic we wanted? Have we reduced the bounce rate of the site, are we increasing traffic and extending the average time of a site visit? I let my clients know that we have to watch the results for a good 3-6 months before we can confidently analyze the trends we see.
#2: Clicky tells me what social media is accomplishing for us – on a day-to-day basis. By then, my work for the client has expanded to social media and pr. My goal is to help my clients build robust, relevant and interesting content into their websites – so when we integrate Facebook and Twitter, we have a reason to direct people back to the client’s web site. Of course, at the same time, I’m teaching my clients how to have meaningful conversations on social media — how to talk like a real human being instead of a robot, and how to create connections with people, not just “target markets”.
#3: Clicky satisfies my pathological need for information NOW. Which is where Clicky analytics get really interesting. Because I don’t like to wait for results. And when I use social media on behalf of a client, I can watch the dots light up the screen – using the Spy App (image from appstorm.com):
The Spyy App tells me how many visitors are on a site, how they got there, what page they’re on (right now), what pages they’ve already been on, and a LOT of other behind-the-scenes details – like IP address and geographic location. The tab in my browser always displays the # of visitors on my site – so I can keep my eye on it while working in other windows.
And now, why I love Clicky – the full confession.
I’m watching. I mean, really watching. When you visit my clients’ sites – and when you’re on mine. Last week I took it a little further.
First confession: I took advantage of the GAP Groupon frenzy to post a two-part series about my own Groupon experience. [guilty]
Second confession: As I was watching the traffic to my site, I noticed an IP address from “State of Minnesota”. I’d seen “State of Minnesota” on my site before, and I’m not a shy girl. And I like new business as much as the next person…. so I tried something.
My Twitter widget is viewable from any page on my web site, so I posted:
“State of Minnesota” turned out to be the director of media and pr for a client that I did work for….. way back in the agency days. And she took me up on my offer:
I won’t tell you the rest of our conversation – a girl has to have some boundaries. And ok, I’m not always sitting here watching my site traffic — a girl’s got to eat and write marketing strategies, too. But like I said earlier, I’m pathologically driven to justify myself (kinda like Madonna and her love). This makes it easy – and fun.
Don’t forget: If you want a lesson in being a Clicky Creepster, or how you can use it to monitor real-time social media results, let’s connect. Or tell me your own confessions about analytics: I love to hear ‘em.
