“Talking Funny: What Can Bloggers Learn from Comedians?” plus 1 more

Talking Funny: What Can Bloggers Learn from Comedians?

Posted: 22 Aug 2011 01:04 PM PDT

This guest post is by Dan Meyers of Your Life, Their Life.

I recently watched Ricky Gervais' new show on HBO, Talking Funny, with guest comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Louis C.K. These guys are the top of their field and use the show to discuss their strategies.

If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, you know they didn’t get to where they are by luck. They've practiced and performed for more hours than we can imagine.

I picked up some important concepts that are relevant to a comedian's success as well as a blogger's success.

Comedy is a relationship

Chris Rock says comedy "is like a relationship. Your woman is with you because you assume she loves you. She's there every day but you still have to work on her liking you for this to work as a relationship. You have to put out effort. You can't just come home and say hey, I paid the rent, like me."

The same is obviously true for blogs. You must continually develop the relationship with your readers and put out effort to keep them around. ProBlogger is full of great examples of relationship building, such as showing your readers you care by responding to their comments.

Comedians who don't have good material won't be around for long

Louis CK said comedians that don't have great material get to a place and stay there. They might have one or two hits but they don't continue building and they won't sustain over time.

Chris Rock said, "Anyone can have a hot year but who the hell has sustained a career not being funny"?

Bloggers have the same reality. We must sustainably create good material that will keep users coming back.

Jerry Seinfeld said one thing that bothered him about acting was that a lot of people say they can do it and they actually can. He went back to stand-up comedy because there is no faking it. You're either good or you're not.

It's easy for people to start a new blog as is evident by the total number of blogs doubling every six months.

Blogging is a combination of Seinfeld's assessment of acting and comedy. You can fake blogging for a while, but if you don't step up and produce over time, you won’t last.

Stand-up comedy is a great responsibility

This group of comedians all agreed that stand-up comedy is a great responsibility. There are multiple reasons, but one of the biggest is they recognize people give up a chunk of their lives to see them perform.

They had to get a babysitter, get dressed up, find a parking spot, and spend their hard earned money. They feel responsible for leaving with them something lasting. According to Seinfeld, really good bits go deep into your head and keep coming back.

In an example Seinfeld uses, Letterman talks about how he would spit toothpaste into the sink, let it dry, and serve it as after dinner mints.

It's not the best joke I’ve ever heard, but Seinfeld said there's something in that joke that has made it stick with him ever since. Are your posts going to stick with people?

People also give up their most valuable commodity to view your blog post. They give up their time. You must make it worth their while or they won't be back.

You must also ensure you're not putting bad information out as recommendations. Ricky Gervais said he feels a great responsibility not to hurt an innocent person. The same is true for people dispensing information.

In comedy, talk about what they do, not what they are

Chris Rock said one of his most important principles in comedy is to talk about what people do, not what they are. He said some people do some crazy stuff that you can talk about, but if you think they're actually crazy, you shouldn’t mention that!

To avoid making too many people angry, remember to talk about what they do and not what they are. Don't say, "You're poor because you're an idiot." Try, "You're poor because you wasted your paycheck on hookers and alcohol." Okay, maybe that’s not quote right either!

Take a subject and don't leave it alone until you've totally covered it

The great comedians have a way of going deeper into an everyday situation than you and I could ever imagine possible. Jerry Seinfeld is a genius at doing this.

Chris Rock takes a somewhat different approach because some of his jokes are 'richer ideas' and won't be funny without the full premise of the story. He explains what he's talking about because he knows if he sets up the premise right, the joke will always work.

The most successful bloggers take something, break it down, break it down again, and then break it down even more. Most of this is finding your niche. For example, Darren has more information on AdSense than the rest of the Internet put together!

What if people discover they can do comedy themselves?

Ricky Gervais asks the question, “What happens if people discover they can do comedy themselves?” The other comedians don't view this as a threat because they view themselves as professionals with a level of talent much higher than most people.

Louis CK explains that the guys who make money on the Superbowl aren’t concerned by people who play football in the back yard.

This is even more relevant for bloggers. We live in a world where we aren't cut throat competitors. Sure, we're competing over products and content, but for the most part we all benefit as more people get involved in blogging.

These are examples from four of the elite comedians. One thing I observed was how they all have different styles. There is no one way to succeed as a comedian. It would be even harder to succeed if you tried to be the next Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock (or Darren Rowse).

The points they make during the interview are very relevant for comedians as they are for bloggers. Do you agree with any of the points? I would love to see your thoughts in the comments.

Dan Meyers wants to help you take control of your life so you OWN IT. He started Your Life, Their Life to help you control your money, get out of debt, and find what you really want in life. Interested? Check out YourLifeTheirLife.com and follow him on Twitter (@YLTL).

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Talking Funny: What Can Bloggers Learn from Comedians?

8 Tips for Using Quotes and Dialogue in Your Blog Posts

Posted: 22 Aug 2011 07:03 AM PDT

This guest post is by Aman Basanti of Ageofmarketing.com.

Quotes and dialogue are one of the most powerful tools in the writer's toolbox. They bring your writing to life. They give your piece voice and make the words jump off the page. As the famous writer Stephen King once said, “What people say often conveys their character to others in ways of which they—the speakers—are completely unaware.”

While most bloggers understand the power of quotes, they do not know how to format them properly. This post is a crash course in how to use and punctuate quotes in your writing.

Please note that there are exceptions to some of these rules (depending on whether you use the American standard or the UK standard). But for most part if you follow these rules you will be fine.

How to capitalize a quote

All quotes should be capitalized, except for fragments. If your quotes are not capitalised, your readers may think it is a partial quote with the ellipsis omitted.

Even when you quote someone mid-sentence, you should capitalise the quote.

As George Santayana famously said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

How to extend a quote over multiple paragraphs

Say you want to break up the following quote into two paragraphs:

"I always say to people," said Archer in an interview, "don't write about goblins; don't write about wizards just because they're in. Write what you feel at ease with. Always remember Jane Austen. [She] lived in a small village, and wrote about her mother being unable to get rid of four daughters. Then she wrote about her mother being unable to get rid of three daughters. Then she wrote about her mother being unable to get rid of two daughters."

Most people open and close the quote in each paragraph:

"I always say to people," said Archer in an interview, "don't write about goblins; don't write about wizards just because they're in. Write what you feel at ease with."

"Always remember Jane Austen. [She] lived in a small village, and wrote about her mother being unable to get rid of four daughters. Then she wrote about her mother being unable to get rid of three daughters. Then she wrote about her mother being unable to get rid of two daughters."

The correct way of doing this is not to close the quote at the end of each paragraph, only the last one:

"I always say to people," said Archer in an interview, "don't write about goblins; don't write about wizards just because they're in. Write what you feel at ease with.

How to edit a quote

It is amazing how many mistakes we make when speaking. It is only when you transcribe the speech to paper that you see these mistakes. As a writer then, you are allowed to clean up quotes.

For example, consider the following quote:

"There's a 1000 people in the hall and they all love what I do."

Clean it up so the verb agrees with the plural “people.”

"There are 1000 people in the hall and they all love what I do."

The only exception is that if you want to make the author sound uneducated that you leave the quote in its original form.

How to add to a quote

If you need to add to a quote, do not simply include the extra words in the quote. Use the “[ ]” marker to show your additions.

As he said in an interview, "[The prosecution's case] was weaker than Columbus's claim that China was 10,000 miles closer than was the accepted wisdom at the time."

How to include original errors without making yourself look silly

Say you want to insert a quote that is written incorrectly in its original form (whether by design or by mistake) but you do not want your readers to think that you are the source of the mistake.

The poster read, "Old skool remixes are the koolest."

“Skool” and “koolest” are written incorrectly. To fix this, simply include [sic] after each of the words.

The poster read, "Old skool [sic] remixes are the koolest [sic]."

This lets the reader know that you are not the source of the error.

How to handle a quote within a quote

If you want to insert a quote that has a quote inside of it, use a pair of single quotation marks (' ') to enclose the sub-quote.

"The driver said to me, 'Where would you like to go today?'"

How to handle commas and periods in your quotes

Do you place commas and periods (full stops) outside or inside of the quotation marks? Answer: It depends. The American standard is that commas and periods go inside the quotation marks, regardless of logic:

As my grandfather used to say, "Better out than an angry tenant."

The English standard is that commas and periods follow logic:

As my grandfather used to say, "Better out than an angry tenant".

If you are unsure which standard to follow, include the commas and periods inside the quotation marks.

How to handle question marks and exclamation marks in your quotes

When it comes question marks (?) and exclamation marks (!) both American and English standards follow logic. So if the question is in the quote itself, place it inside of the quotation marks. Otherwise place it outside the quotation marks.

At that point he asked himself, "Is this worth the effort?"
Do you agree with the adage, "Familiarity breeds contempt"?

Conclusion

Follow these rules and your writing will look more professional, helping you establish authority in the mind of your blog readers.

If you know of other mistakes that I have not covered here (I know there are a few more) please share them with us in the comments section.

Aman Basanti writes about the psychology of buying and teaches you how you can use the principles of consumer psychology to boost your sales. Visit www.Ageofmarketing.com/free-ebook to get his new ebook—Marketing to the Pre-Historic Mind: How the Hot New Science of Behavioural Economics Can Help You Boost Your Sales—for FREE.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

8 Tips for Using Quotes and Dialogue in Your Blog Posts

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