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Today’s post comes from Nick Wangler, a recent addition to DeveloperTown. Every two weeks, Nick will be sharing stories of DeveloperTown startups and the lessons we can learn from them. Today, he’s introducing us to the overlooked pitch – our online presence.
You know those videos where celebrities read angry tweets about themselves? If you haven’t seen them, imagine Will Ferrell sitting on a toilet reading tweets where he is heckled mercilessly and you’ve got the idea.
There’s something surreal about the moment when words clearly intended for the internet are heard in a different context. Read aloud and considered, what’s written online often takes on a new perspective.
For instance, imagine reading your LinkedIn profile from the stage of the next Verge event. Are you totally satisfied with how that would go? Would there even be anything to read? Would it be compelling? And if not, why? I know I’ve got work to do and I’m sure others do too.
Everything we write online is a pitch to the unseen yet seemingly ever present potential investor, partner, employee, and customer. A pitch for who you are, what you’re about, and how well you can communicate big ideas in constrained spaces.
What’s more, taking the time to write original thoughts with the constraints of a summary on LinkedIn or 140 characters on Twitter forces you to understand exactly what you want to convey and do it concisely. As author John Piper once said, “The effort to say is the path to seeing.”
While I’ve always paid attention to the way I communicate online, I hadn’t given this area as much thought as I should until a recent discussion with Jason Seiden made me reconsider. He said, “If you aren’t at least as compelling online as you are in person, you’re doing it wrong.”
When is the last time you read your LinkedIn profile from the perspective of a potential client? Or took the time to think through how to communicate an original thought in 140 characters rather than just sharing yet another blog post about your industry to appear knowledgable? (I’m guilty.)
Frequent writing and refining of original thoughts through online platforms doesn’t just broaden your reach, it strengthens your core ability to communicate. While design and development is (righfully) experiencing a huge boom, the need for good writing is as important as ever and will multiply the effectiveness of whatever position you find yourself in.
So go watch Will Ferrell read tweets on a toilet (somewhat nsfw, obv), check out one of my favorite resources for learning to write well, and then go write something.
To learn more about improving your online presence, make sure you check out our September event with Connections!
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