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X, Social Media and Professionalism

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 8, 2026

What is the Connection Between X, Social Media and Professionalism?

Professionalism? This post riffs on Be careful who you hire to manage your business’ Twitter account, a post on Social Media Today. Since the original post is from 2011, it’s not 100% relevant anymore. But I still think the ideas are of value.

And yes, we all know it was once called Twitter so that explains my URL and their title and URL as well.

In addition, in the original article, the author talks about, essentially, how to tell whether a particular feed is being handled professionally, or not. Hence following are their “5 Points to consider before hiring a service to manage your Twitter account.”

Professionalism: Check Their X Stream

1. First of all, before you even look at the different tools for measuring an X user’s level of influence (which can be misleading and in some cases manipulated) you firstly need to check the individual’s own X stream.

† What type of language do they use? – agreed. Because branding involves, among other things, speaking the language of your customers.

Are you a hip hop record label? A travel agency catering to retirees? A diamond jeweler? All of these businesses have different customer demographics.

Hence there is no “one size fits all” here. However, this does not mean people cannot adapt to communicate properly with everyone they do business with. After all, you need not hire a child to market to children.

But any Social Media Specialist needs to get the message across so that the target readership is receptive.

Lazy Messaging

• Do they spam their own followers by sending lazy messages? For example: #FF @Xuser1 @Xuser2 etc. Still, I am not so sure I call this spamming. I think, at times, it can useful to do this. At least, a little bit?

But overdoing it (and you will instantly know it is overkill if tweets (I still call them tweets. Don’t you?) like this, or quickie retweets, dominate the stream) is definitely not a good way to do business.

† How do they use their own account? Is it professional or sloppy? Do they send messages late into the night and have no professional boundaries? Do they over mix professional with personal messages? – agreed.

And with useful tools such as HootSuite, you can schedule messaging. A manager never needs to be up late and working in that manner.

There is no excuse for late night messaging, and no need for it. But if a stream is meant to engage internationally, it might be a good idea to split it up into more than one account, so that one stream is for North America and another for Asia.

Messaging

• Are their own messages all over the place so you are not able to pick up a clear message? – this is a good point, and not just when it comes to X. A clear message is key – for a robotics company where I worked, the message centered around sales.

Messages promoted education and/or robots. NASA, for example, was only mentioned in the context of robotics, not in the context of space launches. There is a lot of information out there.

Consider it to be a bit like a garden. Usually it needs weeding and thinning, as opposed to fertilizing.

† Furthermore, do they acknowledge where they take their material from or just duplicate what they see their competitors do? – ah, this is big. It is why I still list the original source for this article. And it is a big part of how the internet works, or at least is supposed to.

You post a blog entry. A competitor sees it. If they riff on it and post it and give you a link back, then that is good for you. And you thank them and do the same in reverse and yeah, they are still a competitor. But you have common ground and in some areas you can cooperate.

This is still true in the age of AI, I might add.

Or they don’t acknowledge you. And everybody digs their heels in and the world becomes a slightly more miserable place. Hey, you make the call, but I prefer cooperation pretty much every time, myself.

Too Much Self-Promotion?

• Do their messages make any sense to you or are they just full of self promotion? Do they hold no real value other than grooming their own ego? – true, but I think sometimes this can come from social media marketing folk not being properly trained.

If the marketing manager is unsure of how much promotion should be mixed in with information, the marketer might be similarly confused.

† How much negativity comes across in their stream? – not everything is or should be positive, but I do get this. The idea is, well, are you promoting to people who want to buy your company’s organic brownie mix? Or do you just sound petulant and whiny?

However, you can sometimes be too perky. But I think if there are errors in this area, they should probably fall on the side of more, rather than less, perk.

Professionalism: Which Business Accounts Do They Manage?

2. Ask for the name of one of the business accounts they manage, and go through this with a fine tooth comb. Keep an active eye on the account and monitor how they manage the business’ online profile.

• How many messages are there and what type do they send? – it is a quantity and a quality game on X. You need to get across some seven or more views before people start to consider buying.

And consider X’s international, 24/7 appeal – people may be checking your messaging out at 4 AM your time.

This, by the way, goes against an earlier statement about the marketer not adding content into the wee hours. No, they should no – but unfortunately, sometimes, that is when the readers are online.

After all, if you are making content for people playing World of Warcraft, they may be on at 4 AM. As for quality, that goes along with the above statements as well – are the messages worthwhile, or are they dull self-promotion?

Engagement

† How do they engage with the client’s audience? – some of this is in the form of retweeting. Retweeting and replying have a place, as it is a give and take type of engagement. Is there professionalism behind the engagement?

• And how is the call-to-action placed and worded? – this is fairly self-explanatory. There is a difference between what looks like a hard sell, and what has more of a friendly “Hey, check this out” vibe.

Does the marketer know the difference? And is the difference readily apparent in messaging?

† In addition, do the articles relate to the client’s industry and audience? – this harkens back to my NASA example above. Content is necessary, of course, but irrelevant content is worse than no content at all.

Because it is better that the marketer pump out less content if it is not relevant, yes?

Any SEO or AI SEO will tell most companies that they have too much content, rather than not enough. So, cut out the fluff, already!

• Do they add any value? – the $64,000 question! Can you tell without having access to measurement tools?

Professionalism: References

3. Ask for a number of references and call them. This, of course, is excellent advice any time you are hiring.

† How has the business level of influence grown? For sure if they cannot achieve this for themselves, then they cannot do it for the client. – try objective measurements if you can get them, like Google rankings, bounce rate, etc.

• What have been the benefits? – only your industry will have the specifics for this. Increased sales may or may not be the actual benefit.

After all, sometimes social media is used for damage control. If that can happen more efficiently and inexpensively – that might be the benefit.

† What difference has it made to your online brand? – again, this is a specific question.

• How good is the level of communication? – hard to say what this means without context. After all, the car dealer and the online cancer support group will have different needs in this area.

† What results has the business seen? – again, objective measurements are best, whatever you can get.

Professionalism: Metrics

4. Ask what X measuring tools they use to provide their clients with monthly reports. Do they use anything else to measure how things are working (or not)?

• While there are some good free tools around, they do not come close to paid analytical tools for managing X and other social media accounts. – agreed, but sometimes that is how things go, particularly if the person you are considering has worked for startups or nonprofits.

†Ask what recommendations they have made to the client that have enabled the business to grow based on the findings. – these should be in whatever reports the person under consideration provides.

Professionalism: Time

5. Finally, ask how much time they intend to spend on your account over the week.

• How will this time be managed with all their other projects? – this is a good question for any sort of a freelance or offsite working relationship.

† What elements of account management does this breakdown in to? – again, this is not confined to social media. Rather, it is a good question for any potential employee who will be working remotely, or not exclusively with you.

• How will they keep you informed and up to date with relevant messages and conversations? – reports? Emails? Something on Slack or Teams? What is manageable and relevant?

Professionalism: My Own Ideas

And now a few of my own when it comes to professionalism.

† What do the messages look like? Are they interesting? Relevant? Grammatically correct within the character limit? Or are they just slight variations on a theme?

• Do all provided links work, or do they go to dead ends? And do the links have any sort of measurement behind them, even simple click metrics? Do they lead to generic pages, or to any custom landing pages for X users? Can you get metrics and attribution from them?

† What is the follow/follower ratio? Does the person follow everyone, or are they, at least seemingly, a bit choosy in this area? We all know that junk follower accounts exist – does the prospective hiree even follow those or seem to use auto-follow?

More Ideas on Professionalism and X

• So how often does the person send a message? Daily? Monthly? A monthly X stream is barely this side of useful. Messages need not come every five seconds. But it is a fluid, evolving medium and needs more attention than that.

† How do they handle the controversial things that Musk gets up to? Even a community solely devoted to politics might want to sit out at least some of those shenanigans.

And finally, and this is a question for the person (and you may not get an accurate answer, by the way), does the person under consideration actually like what he or she is doing?

Do they have a passion for it? Or is it, like, Time to make the doughnuts?

I am not saying that we can (or should) always love what we do. But plenty of people love doing this. Why not hire someone who does?

Finally, you can get a passionate Social Media person, to handle your Twitter stream, do your blogging, manage your online community, promote your Facebook page and more. And they will do it with professionalism and aplomb.

We really do exist.

Want More About Twitter AKA X?

If my experiences with X resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about this still misunderstood microblogging platform.

While it has a newish name, and has changed considerably, a lot of these tips will still work. And they will often work with other social media platforms as well.

Almost Everything But the Tweet

• Starting a Twitter Stream
† Demystifying Twitter/X
• Verbal Elements on X
† Visual Elements on X
• Optimizing Twitter/x
† Metrics and Timing on X
• Offsite Connections from X

And, if you’re a fellow writer, you may want to check out:
† PitMad on Twitter/X

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500 Sources of Writing Inspiration

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500 Sources of Writing Inspiration

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 3, 2026

Do you need some new sources of writing inspiration? When I first started to write this blog post, I sure as hell did.

But did I really need 500 of them? Well, maybe we can just say that things got a little out of hand.

Okay, a lot out of hand. So be it.

My Sources of Writing Inspiration May Not be the Same as Yours

And that is… okay.

In fact, it is a lot more than okay. It is downright necessary. For, you see, there is a difference between you and me, gentle reader. And the dissimilarities between us that translate into different stories should also translate into new and different forms of inspiration.

Do You Have to Have Actual Writer’s Block to Use These?

Of course not! And now, on with the list.

1 – 100 Inspirational Nuggets

So, let us start with something that may sound a little bit off-beat.

The English alphabet has, of course, 26 letters. But let’s nix X for the moment. Er, sorry, not sorry, Elon Musk.

Find four words for each of the remaining 25 letters.

But not just any four words. Oh, no. I want you to find four words which have multiple meanings. The weirder and more out-there the different meanings are, the better.

Behold, an Example!

Here is a totally free example for the letter G. The word is, ta da!

Grind.

Er, what?

This word has tons of meanings. When it is a verb used with an object, one such meaning is to crush. When it is a noun, one such meaning is the rat race.

And when used as a verb without an object, it can mean a kind of burlesque or dirty dancing.

Keep in mind, too, these are not the only definitions. And, there are even more variants when you look at variations of this word, such as ground or grinder.

How to Use these Sources of Inspiration

Use any of your hundred words (or their variations) as part or all of the title of a short story. And then just write whatever you feel. And if you do not like grind, then pick sit, or apply, or bit, or any other word you come across which fits the criteria.

101 – 200 Inspirational Bits

Now, what happens if and when you run out of your hundred words?

Time for a remix or hundred!

Here, you can use your hundred words or use a short story or novel or universe you have already created or are in the process of creating.

And, much like rap in the 1990s, sample one within the other.

Another Example

When it comes to universes, probably my best-realized one is the one for the Obolonks. So, we can grab, say, Peri and Charlie and toss the word grind into the mix.

For a pair of near-future cops who are on-again, off-again, as is his marriage, the dirty dancing definition will fill our requirements nicely.

Maybe they go on a stakeout and get in some recreational dancing on the side. Or maybe they embarrass everyone at the holiday party with their antics. Bonus points if his wife is there. And maybe more bonus points if his kids are there, too, or her boyfriend is.

Would this short story ever see the light of day? Not necessarily. It could, though, become a scene to slip into a larger storyline. Or a memory. Or it could be a one-off.

It is the sort of thing that could potentially become a giveaway for subscribers.

201 — 300 Inspo Morsels

Now, we are not going to use those hundred words again. But this time, we will be doing…

wait for it..

Crossover Mania!

Okay, okay, I will provide another example.

Crossover Mania Example

Here is where having a number of characters universes, and situations can come in very handy. But in a moment, I will explain how to get around that if you, personally, do not.

The Obolonks are in a strong, well-developed universe. But Ceilidh O’Malley, from the Real Hub Universe, is a beloved character. And the plot of Mettle, where everything goes to hell in a handcart when the elements of the periodic table start to disappear?

It is a pretty nifty plot, if I do say so myself. But what happens if I combine them?

Since Ceilidh is from the 1880s, I could go to town on the fish out of water aspect as I throw her into more like the 2080s. Or I could ignore that and make her a regular part of that time frame but without losing her personality.

Another idea would be to pull the Obolonk universe into Ceilidh’s time period, where we would have a tripartite (humans, robots, and aliens) society but during the time of Queen Victoria and President Garfield.

Either way, how would people like her cope as the world starts to become less and less familiar?

But What if I Do Not Have That Many Variables to Choose From?

That is totally cool. Just pull from real life. Or from well-known stories.

I am not suggesting committing plagiarism or copyright theft. Rather, I am saying to lift up an aspect of a story and teleport it somewhere else.

Maybe your next-door neighbor and her cat, Freckles, go to El Salvador and end up having to follow the Yellow Brick Road to get home again.

Change a few names and identifying characteristics, and you might just have something there. Can you come up with 100 of these? How many books, films, people, and situations are there?

In short, if you apply yourself to it, you sure as hell will.

301 — 400 Sources of Writing Inspiration (Scintillas of Spark)

Now we will go back to our hundred words.

This time, I want you to remix somewhere between three and seven of them into sentences.

These do not have to be terribly believable sentences. But they need to follow a standard format for a declarative sentence or a question. That is, they need a subject and a predicate (which contains a verb).

Above, I came up with four words: grind, bit, apply, and sit.

Here are a few sentences:

While applying for a job to return to the daily grind, Suzie bit into a peach as she sat in the waiting room.

The miniature horses were so small I could have ground them into dust, so I sat on a stool as I applied my concentration on trying to get a tiny snaffle bit into Flying Cloud’s mouth.

Working as a sitter was so dull that Harry took apart the Wilson family’s coffee grinder, but when it shocked him, it was as if the appliance had bit him.

Weird? Yes. But any of these could potentially turn into a story. Or try to put them together, if you like. Mix and remix them as much as any club DJ does.

401 — 500 Smidgens of Vision

Here is a twist on Crossover Mania. This time, rip it from the headlines for your plot, characters, and location/universe.

Start with using real names, political parties, companies, or whatever but change those if you ever decide to publish anything you come up with. Just in case.

Because you want to cross over, you will need to put people, places, etc. into odd situations. Perhaps your neighbor with a cat ends up in the local paper because she grew the biggest Hubbard squash ever in your county.

Now throw her in a foreign war. And for your plot, grab something from the sports section, where she comes back from an injury or just misses out on a no-hitter, or is traded for a neighbor to be named later.

If you do not like mixing local, international, and sports news, try the consumer affairs column or the TV section, or the weather, or political news, or real estate, or arts, or…

Or whatever you like. The point is to mix things up.

Do you want to add in any of your hundred words? Sure, you can. Or don’t. Surprise me.

More Sources of Writing Inspiration for You and Me, too

I did say 500, now, yes?

Well, there is more out there than what I know and can think of. But there are also plenty of sources right here in this blog.

Here are a few you can check out:

† Inspiration Videos
• The Physical World
† Getting Story Ideas
• The News
† Myths and Legends
• Religion

I also have inspirational posts on everything from TV shows to eavesdropping or using an ideas jar or bank. So far as I am concerned, all sources of writing inspiration are good ones. And, as always, you do you.

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Social Networking/Social Media Tips

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Social Networking/Social Media Tips

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 1, 2026

Social Networking/Social Media Tips

Social media tips? Yes, please! A while back, Grassroots Giving Group published some great social networking tips. I agreed with their ideas but would like to expand upon them a bit.

And they were essentially exploring when Facebook and Twitter (X) are useful. Here are some of their ideas.

Social Media Ideas

Here are a few quickie ideas.

Announcements

Never just announce upcoming or new things but also add links in order to drive traffic. Agreed! However, I would add a targeted landing page. Below is an example:

If you have people coming in from Facebook, why not create a new landing page to personally welcome them (e. g. Welcome to our Facebook Friends!). The best part about that is that, since it is a separate page, Google Analytics will track the clicks separately.

You have a fighting chance of getting good metrics, so you will know whether your announcement of the opening of a new branch of the Widget Factory played better on Facebook or on X.

Sending shortened website addresses on X – use an URL shortener. Of course! But why not use one (such as from HootSuite) where you can get some click metrics?

Using both a personalized landing page and a URL with click metrics can give you an even clearer idea of how traffic flows.

Oh, and they do not tell you why you should shorten an URL on X (even if the URL fits). But I will. It is to make it easier for people to retweet.

Social Media Tips on Planning

Here are some tips for better planning.

Planning in Advance

There is nothing new here. You should keep up with things and plan in advance. Absolutely. And that means, when you are hot and creative, write, write, write!

Keep drafts and ideas going, and also think about how you can expand on your own blog entries or those by others (such as this blog entry).

Get yourself a stable of other blogs and blog writers, news sources, etc. Who inspires you? Who interests you? But never repeat or steal, of course. Rather, expand and comment. These are perfectly legitimate ways to update your blog.

This Day in History

Commemorate occasions in your company! There must be something you have done that is good blog fodder. Of course, not every day is memorable, but it is another way to keep the pipeline going.

If July 12th is an important day in your organization, make sure that the July 12th blog post and Tweets are ready to rock and roll, and they are updated to the correct year.

Heck, in HootSuite (for example), you can schedule messaging. Why not schedule your content for July 12th (or whatever your special day just so happens to be) and be done with them?

Quotes

They said, “Quotes!”

Quote Collection

I like this idea, and I think it can be used for a lot of purposes. This is not only quotes about your specific organization or its work, but even more generalized quotations.

Surely there is something from Shakespeare (“My kingdom for a horse!”) or the Bible that could work for you in some capacity or another. It can be another jumping off point for creativity.

Ask Your Audience Questions

I think this is more useful if you have a somewhat large and actively commenting readership. While a rhetorical question is lovely, I think it is just better if you can get at least a little feedback. Otherwise, it feels like you are just shouting out to the wilderness.

Staff Introductions

This is another great idea. While your site might already have staff biographies, that is another way to get the readership acquainted with who is making the product.

Notes From Your Day

I do not know about this one. Your day, maybe. Mine? I guess this is, in part, centered around the event reviews I used to do back in the day. But otherwise, my days in the past were spent, well, here, blogging. And now I spend them at work. All of which may or may not be thrilling to others.

But I can see where my peers could have some very interesting days.

Social Media Tips: Takeaways

So there you have it. Some pretty amazing social media tips for getting and keeping things going. And, while the post was not, specifically, about blogging, it rings very true for that very specific – and sometimes challenging and elusive – task.

Oh, and you may also want to learn what the best lengths are for social media posts.

Finally, many, many thanks to the Grassroots Giving Group.

For more information, see the December 16, 2010 edition of Grassroots Giving Group.com blog.

Want More About Social Media and Tips on How to Best Use It?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

The Numerati by Stephen Baker, a Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 27, 2026

Time to Look at The Numerati by Stephen Baker

Who are the Numerati?

This book, The Numerati by Stephen Baker, remains a fascinating work about sensors, technology, data mining and where it’s all going when it comes to our privacy.

And it ends up all about data, about collecting, refining and interpreting it. People are, well, a bunch of fish in a bowl. Or, if you prefer, hamsters on a wheel. We are lab rats, we are subjects, we are collections of bit streams. We are … information.

And the kicker is that, put together enough things about us, and people and computers (and AI) can suddenly draw conclusions.

Conclusions from The Numerati

Let’s say I go to the same grocery store every week (not a stretch. I really do). And I buy fish every single week. What if I buy, say, tuna steaks 70% of the time, and swordfish the other 30%? Am I automatically a tuna lover? Or am I simply scared to try something new?

Or am I getting to the fishmonger when everything else is sold out?

And what happens if a coupon is introduced into the mix? Does my tuna consumption go up to 80% if you give me $1 off per pound? However, that is not too much of a victory, seeing as I normally buy it anyway. Will a $1 off coupon entice me to buy the more pricey salmon instead?

Ideas But Not Gospel

The data gives its interpreters (Baker refers to them as the Numerati, which sounds a tad like Illuminati and perhaps he means that) ideas. However, it is not really a slam dunk. Or, at least, not yet. Hence essentially the Numerati bucket you.

So I am a tuna buyer. And I am a sometime swordfish buyer. And I am also a Caucasian woman, in her (ahem) sixties, married, no children, living in Boston.

So far, so good. And when we herd all the data together, when we aggregate the bits and bytes of our lives, this may very well have a lot to say about us. Because it might be a predictor of how I will vote in the next election.

Or perhaps it will show how I would use a dating site if I should ever need one in the future. Or it may even tell whether I am likely to become a terrorist.

Border Collies and Data Goats

The data matters, but, to my mind (and to Baker’s as well, it seems), there are not only herds of data but there are also nagging outliers. And these constitute the Border Collies amidst all the data goats.

Perhaps I am buying tuna to feed to a cat. Or maybe I buy it with the intention of eating it to improve my health but, alas, I never get to it and it goes to waste every single week.

So consider this case: a health professional places a sensor into a senior citizen’s bed, to determine whether that person is getting up in the morning. And, let’s say we also collect weight data.

Because a sudden dramatic rise in weight would indicate the possible onset of congestive heart failure. And let’s say the senior in question is a woman who weighs 150 pounds. Your own mother, maybe.

Day one: 150 pounds. Day two: 158 pounds. And then day three: 346 pounds. Day four: 410 pounds. Golly, is Mom really that sick?

Maybe Mom’s dog is 8 pounds. Okay, that explains day two. But what about days three and four? Maybe Mom has a boyfriend.

Or maybe she’s got two.

Messy Feelings

When I had the occasion to meet Stephen Baker at the 2010 Enzee Conference, we had the opportunity to talk a bit about these squishy, messy feelings.

Sure, our hearts are in the right place. And we want Mom to be safe and healthy, and we cannot be there. She might live in a warmer climate, and we cannot (or will not) leave our cooler climes.

Or the job opportunities may be no good there for us. For whatever reason, we are here and she is there. So we want to be aware, and caring and all, but in our desire to gather information and protect her, what else are we learning?

If Mom is competent, and single, and protecting herself from STDs, we truly have no business knowing who she spends her evening hours with. Yet this technology makes this possible.

And if we have any sense of the future at all, we have to think of ourselves: what happens when I become the same age? Will my bedroom and toileting habits potentially become a part of this huge bit/byte hamster wheel lab rat canary in a coal mine data stream?

Oh, you better believe it.

Are the Numerati Worrisome?

So, it is often said that only people who have something to worry about in their private lives are the ones who have worries. Everyone else should be fine, blithely giving up their warts and preferences, their virtues and secrets, to all who ask.

I say bull. I like my secrets. And I like my hidden life. And I’ll be damned if I give it up, even in the name of health, diet, voting, national security or even love.

A terrific read. I highly recommend this book.

Rating

Review: 5/5 stars.

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Want More Book Reviews?

If my experiences with book reviews for social media resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other book review blog posts.

Check Out Book Reviews on Social Media, SEO, Analytics, Design, and Strategy

† The Cluetrain Manifesto: 10th Anniversary Edition, a Book Review
• Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson, a Book Review
† Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, An Updated Book Review

• Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
† Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, A Book Review
† Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
• Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, a Book Review

† White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen, a Book Review
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

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Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, a Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 25, 2026

Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Trust Agents, a book by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith seems to be one of those books that everyone tells you to read when you want to go into social media marketing. And it is that sort of a wholesale recommendation that sometimes, frankly, makes me nervous.

After all, how many people have read it? Are they happy with what they had learned? Or is the work somehow coasting on its reputation?

Usefulness

But it does not seem to be. Instead, I think there is useful information in there. And it is information that does not seem to be found in the other social media books I had been reading at the time, in particularly Cluetrain Manifesto and Groundswell.

There are more practical nuggets in here, more like in The Zen of Social Media Marketing. No great shock there – Chris Brogan is the coauthor there as well.

How so?

Too Many Delays

One of the issues with books (you know, pulp and paper books, not electronic ones) is that they take so long to be produced, and then they can become obsolete or at least out of date rather quickly.

It can almost seem like buying a new car. To clarify, once you get it out of the dealership, it has already depreciated a good thousand dollars. And, once many books are published, they are suddenly obsolete. This is only becoming worse over time.

But Trust Agents does not care. Instead, it forges ahead with practical, specific tips. If they go out of fashion or become obsolete, head to the website for an update. Or, if you prefer pulp and paper, there is always a later edition.

Basic Principles

The gist of the book consists of six basic principles:

1. Make Your Own Game – that is, break the mold and experiment with new methods. This means you are going to occasionally – gasp! – fail. So you do. Get over it. Pick yourself up and try something else. Safety and sameness are never really going to get you anywhere. At least, nowhere good.

2. One of Us – be one of the people. Be humble and be accessible. This means blogging. It means letting your hair down every now and then when you tweet. Of course it does not mean foolish oversharing or putting out things that are going to really harm you (“Had fun at the Crack House last night!” – uh, no)

3. The Archimedes Effect – use leverage. That is, got something that is working? Then use it to push and promote the next thing. Think of it like the spinoff to a sitcom. Laverne and Shirley was originally a spinoff of Happy Days. The first success was, absolutely, used to generate the second.

More Ideas from Trust Agents

4. Agent Zero – be the person in the center of the connections. This does not necessarily mean that you have to be the center of every conversation. It is more that everyone seems to know someone (or know of someone) who is like this. Oh, talk to Gwen. She knows everyone.

5.Human Artist – be polite and gracious to people. This may seem to be like a no-brainer to most, but, sadly, it is not. Thank people. Tell them how much you enjoyed meeting them. Follow up. If this means creating a tickler file to remind you to contact people, then do that.

True story – the first time I heard the term “tickler file” was in 1984 when I was working on Joe Biden’s Senate Campaign. And it made sense –you followed up with voters (in those days, it was via phone call or postcard or letter, and sometimes via an in-person visit) because you knew that, even if their support was unwavering, that they had busy lives pulling them in a million different directions. This continues to be true if not far truer these days.

6. Build an Army – e. g., as you become the person in the middle of all of the connections, and the one who does the followups, your time will start to fill up. You are going to need help, so link up with other people who can be social hubs and follow-uppers. This does not relieve you from thanking people, but it does help you to continue to keep in touch.

Details

There are, of course, a thousand little details that go along with these. The specifics include things like using Google Alerts to check on how often your name shows up online and looking at AllTop and Technorati for blogs to follow.

Grab an RSS feed so that you can get through more blogs with more speed.

But be patient. For alas, Rome was not built in a day, and neither were trust agents. You cannot take a shortcut and metaphorically substitute canned vegetables for fresh ones here.

Cultivate this and pay attention to it. Much like a garden, your hard groundwork will pay off beyond your wildest expectations.

And you can even leave your extra lettuce on my front porch.

Rating for Trust Agents

Review: 5/5 stars.

Want More Book Reviews?

If my experiences with book reviews for social media resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other book review blog posts.

Check Out Book Reviews on Social Media, SEO, Analytics, Design, and Strategy

† Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, A Book Review
† The Numerati by Stephen Baker, a Book Review

• Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
† White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen, a Book Review
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

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A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 3 (Exceptions)

Legal, Creative Commons, fanfiction, crash course, copyright law, exceptions, Practice Law, Avoiding Common Legal Mistakes, Transitioning, cyber infidelity,

A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 3 (Exceptions)

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 20, 2026

And Finally: A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 3 (Exceptions)

What are some exceptions to copyright infringement cases?

So, in other words, when is it all right?

Purdue University offers a terrific and very readable summary of the main known exceptions to copyright infringement claims.

Note: the law changes in every area. This blog is no substitute for talking directly with an experienced copyright attorney!

Fair Use

For the fair use defense, Purdue outlines four basic factors:

Purpose and character

Some specifics favor fair use. These include nonprofit, educational, and personal usages. Plus there are those which represent a potential tipping point.

These include teaching, research, scholarship, criticism, commentary, and news reporting. And there are those which favor needing permission. These include commercial, entertainment, and for-profit uses.

Hence, a nonprofit’s research is more likely to be fair use than a for-profit enterprise’s commercial use. Hence the for-profit business should seek the copyright holder’s permission.

Nature of work

To favor fair use, it should be a fact and/or published. But to favor needing permission, it should be a fiction and/or unpublished. E. g. It is more likely to be fair use if you repeat a published fact about dinosaurs.

Whereas you more likely need permission for an unpublished novel about vampires.

Amount

Small and insignificant bits of copying are more likely to be fair use than large ones representing the heart of a work. As a result, those are more likely to require permission.
Hence, if I copy the character of Millicent Bulstrode, then the character is minor and small. But this does not necessarily mean JK Rowling would never sue me. Still, copying Hermione Granger is another matter entirely.

Market Effect

You are more likely to be in the fair use realm if:

† Licensing/permissions are unavailable or there is no major impact,
• There is limited/restricted access to the work, or
† The user or institution owns a legal copy.

But it is different if there is a major impact, or licensing/permissions are readily available. Or the work has worldwide availability, or there is repeated or long-term use. Then the scale slides to requiring permission.

Profit and sales are not an element to this cause of action. Although selling the copied article, particularly multiple instances of it, can place the act into the ‘requires permission’ camp.

Exceptions for Face to Face Instruction

According to Purdue,

The traditional classroom or face-to-face instruction is when the instructor and the students of a nonprofit educational institution are in a place devoted to instruction and the teaching and learning take place at the same time. In this setting all performances and displays of a work are allowed.

Requirements:

† All materials must be legally acquired.
† Teaching activities must take place in a classroom or a similar place devoted to instruction.

Exceptions: Virtual Instruction

Like face-to-face instruction allowance, virtual instruction generally gets a pass, per Purdue University. However, there are some specifics. For example, the class must be a regular offering in the curriculum.

What about Parody Exceptions?

The American Bar Association notes the United States Supreme Court treats parody and satire separately. But the ABA feels it is a distinction without much of a difference. Both are mockery. But satire is often more like commentary than outright mimicry.

For the ABA, and particularly when a work has both elements, the difference matters less. Although copyright holders might be more inclined to license satire rather than parody. This is because parody is pretty much a knockoff by definition.

Commentary generally falls under fair use. That commentary can be amusing or not, satirical or not. Copying generally is not fair use. But amusement and exaggeration blurs that line.

The best advice I can give you is: do not make your work into a copyright test case!

In other words: be original!

And please be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2!

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A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 2

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 18, 2026

Check Out A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 2

Want to learn more about copyright law?

How about infringement?

We are artists and that means we are copyright holders, even if we never assert our rights and never file with the copyright office. According to American copyright law, you own it if you made it. You never have to mail it yourself.

But to defend a case, in the US, you will need to register your work.

Infringement

So, keep in mind that I will only talk about American law. If you assert copyright in another country, the law will most likely differ. Furthermore, if you have any questions, ask me in the comments section. I will try to research and answer you in a timely fashion.

Or ask a copyright attorney. This area, like many areas of the law, has nuances and there can be changes. This blog is no substitute for good advice from an experienced lawyer. If you think you need to protect your rights, then do so properly. And that means hiring an attorney.

The United States Code for Copyright Law

According to Title 17 of the United States Code:

§ 501. Infringement of copyright
(a) Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by sections 106 through 122 or of the author as provided in section 106A(a), or who imports copies or phonorecords into the United States in violation of section 602, is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author, as the case may be. For purposes of this chapter (other than section 506), any reference to copyright shall be deemed to include the rights conferred by section 106A(a).
As used in this subsection, the term “anyone” includes any State, any instrumentality of a State, and any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity. Any State, and any such instrumentality, officer, or employee, shall be subject to the provisions of this title in the same manner and to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity.

But What the Heck Does that all This Copyright Law Mean?

The American Bar Association explains it better. It publishes a Young Lawyers series intended to help newly minted lawyers understand the nuances of complicated sections of practice. So the ABA explains:

An action for copyright infringement may arise where a third party violates one or more of the exclusive rights granted to copyright owners. To establish infringement, the plaintiff must prove: “(1) ownership of a valid copyright, and (2) copying of constituent elements of the work that are original.”
Ownership of a valid copyright consists of: “(1) originality in the author; (2) copyrightability of the subject matter; (3) a national point of attachment of the work, such as to permit a claim of copyright; (4) compliance with applicable statutory formalities; and (5) (if the plaintiff is not the author) a transfer of rights or other relationship between the author and the plaintiff so as to constitute the plaintiff as the valid copyright claimant.” A copyright registration certificate from the Copyright Office serves as prima facie evidence of elements (1) through (4). If the defendant rebuts the plaintiff’s prima facie evidence, then the above elements of valid copyright ownership become essential to the plaintiff’s case.

So what is the ABA is saying? Registration with the US Copyright office is absolutely necessary to successfully bring an infringement claim. It is helpful for proving ownership and for getting an award for damages.

If you think your work might be infringed upon, if you feel it is a danger and you are concerned about it, then get some peace of mind and register it with the US Copyright Office.

Next up? Exceptions in the wonderful world of copyright law!

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A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 1

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 13, 2026

A Crash Course in Copyright

It is time for a crash course in copyright law. But never worry; no one is going to make you practice law. Least of all, me.

Seriously, you’re good.

Me, on the other hand? I am a retired lawyer, admitted to the New York state bar, 1986. I never worked in the copyright field. However, I have read plenty about it, and of course I have my own legal training and experiences to fall back on.

If you have questions, I will try to answer them. Or contact a copyright attorney if you know one, and ask! Your questions will never offend me.

Disclaimer

Do not infer or imply representation. If you have a copyright issue, and you are defending, or you think you should bring a lawsuit, I urge you to get legal representation as soon as possible.

American Copyright Law

For the purposes of these blog posts, I will only look at American law. The law differs outside the United States, it will be different. Copyright law is Federal, so jurisdiction rests with the Federal courts. It is a civil matter; no one goes to jail for copyright infringement.

Copyright Search

The United States Copyright Office exists as a part of the Library of Congress, founded in 1870. Want to find out if something has a copyright? Click the search page for the copyright office and be sure to select Other Search Options.

If you think your search will pull up a lot of records, select 100 records per page from the pull-down menu to the left.

Make sure to be as specific as possible, but you might need to go less specific in order to be truly diligent.

For example, a search for Sally Field’s character, Sister Bertrille, might not bring up anything. A search for Bertrille might give you something, but a better search would be for the television program the character comes from, The Flying Nun.

Here is the copyright for the theme song to that series.

But most people could guess that Field’s role or at least the series has or had some form of copyright. But what, exactly, is copyright?

The Heart of the Crash Course: the Elements of Copyright

According to the US Copyright Office,

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S.Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

Per Section 106 of the Copyright Act of 1967, a copyright holder can:

• reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords
† prepare derivative works based upon the work
• distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending
† perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
† perform the work publicly (in the case of sound recordings) by means of a digital audio transmission

Hence copyright holders have any number of rights in their own works. Can they allow others to use them? Absolutely! We call that a license.

When do Copyrights Expire?

Not surprisingly, the US Copyright Office has something to say about that.

Works Created on or after January 1, 1978 The law automatically protects a work that is created and fixed in a tangible medium of expression on or after January 1, 1978, from the moment of its creation and gives it a term lasting for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years.

and …

Works in Existence but Not Published or Copyrighted on January 1, 1978 The law automatically gives federal copyright protection to works that were created but neither published nor registered before January 1, 1978. The duration of copyright in these works is generally computed the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978: life plus 70 years or 95 or 120 years, depending on the nature of authorship. However, all works in this category are guaranteed at least 25 years of statutory protection. The law specifies that in no case would copyright in a work in this category have expired before December 31, 2002. In addition, if a work in this category was published before that date, the term extends another 45 years, through the end of 2047.

What does this mean? Well, the short answer is that you generally do better to publish your work! After all, you can never expect anyone to guard against copying it if they do not know it exists.

The other important takeaway: you do not need to assert copyright or mail it yourself or anything like that. Does it help to register your work? Absolutely! And you will need it to defend a lawsuit. It is an absolute requirement for that.

If you ever doubt have concerns, do the legwork (or have your lawyer do so), and register your work.

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And finally yes, of course I have the copyright in my own material!

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The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 11, 2026

A Look at The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani

The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani is a fascinating little work on how to get ahead with online social media marketing.

Shama Hyder Kabani’s prose style is engaging and direct. Furthermore, if you go to her own website, the way she writes represents an obvious reflection of the way she really speaks. Major points for authenticity.

Three Main Sites

Shama says that the three main social media areas/sites you should focus on are LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Forget most others.

However, this part has changed and is out of date, for I would argue to swap out Instagram or even Snapchat (depends on demographics) for LinkedIn. That is, unless your audience is mainly business people.

Or maybe TikTok.

In addition, your should present your company (and, by extension, yourself) on all three with a kind of what I like to call professional intimacy.

That might sound like an oxymoron. However, the idea is, be genuine and sincere but also hang back in terms of too much sharing and togetherness.

Your customers want to know about your company and your product, to be sure, but a little personalization works (and, in fact, can help to build trust). But too much personalization does not work.

Your prospects and customers really do not wish to hear that you are going in to have a root canal.

ACT

So Shama’s three points come under the ACT acronym:

• Attract – bring the prospects and customers in with good, lively (and up to date) content
† Convert – turn your prospects into customers (and this may take several visits by them before this happens) and
• Transform – turn successes into magnetic forces of attraction

Attraction is your brand, your outcomes, your differentiators. And Social Media marketing is extremely good for this. Clarity of communications is key.

However, Social Media remains a less optimal tool for converting strangers (prospects) into clients (paying customers).

However, it is good for converting strangers into information consumers, which can often be a major step in moving them along the path from prospect to client.

Transformation

Transformation involves social proof. That is, we are more inclined to do something if we see others doing it.

Therefore, you have to do a good job, and use your success in order to attract more successes. That is, ask your clients if you can retell their success stories.

Make it easy to buy and pick your tactics (means of marketing) last – you need to get the essentials (such as theory) in place first.

Strategy is the big picture. Tactics are the when, the where and the how.

Blogging is also key. The idea behind blogging is three things:

† Educate – use your blog to add value by giving away good information.
• Market – make it attractive to buy and
† Sell – make it possible to buy.

Shama Hyder Kabadi is Walking the Walk

The book is a brisk read. Of particular interest are the testimonials in the back. As you go along, you realize that Shama practices what she preaches on every page of the book. And, it worked, am I right?

Because if she got you to buy her book and check out her website, then she has already converted you to a client. And all she needs to do is sell you her services and she hits 100% of her target.

Finally, the most amazing thing is, even after you realize how much you are being marketed to, you just do not seem to mind so much any more.

Speaking of which…

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Rating

5/5

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Book Review – Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 6, 2026

Let’s Review Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen

Dave Kerpen has a rather interesting book here. This book is thoroughly likeable, if you will.

Likeable Social Media

This book was required reading, as a part of my Community Management class at Quinnipiac University.

And it made for an excellent read.

For Kerpen, a lot of social media success comes from listening to, and then surprising and delighting customers and potential customers. Are your posts what they are interested in? If you received this post, would you bother clicking on it?

Case in point for surprise and delight

In May of 2015, my husband, parents, and I went to a Mexican restaurant in my parents’ town. We had eaten there before, but not so much that they knew our names or our usual orders or the like.

My husband and I did not visit my parents too often. And he visited them even less than I did. To the restaurant, even if my parents were repeat customers, my husband and I surely did not look like repeats.

There was a short wait until we got our food. Without prompting, we received a little appetizer, which mainly consisted of little breaded and fried mashed potatoes, configured a bit like sticks. There were three bits of sauce in different colors.

The potatoes and sauce, most likely, were leftover odds and ends. It may have taken the chef all of ten minutes to make the dish. I did not see anyone else getting the appetizer. We thanked the server. The appetizer tasted good.

They served us our food, and you would think that would be the end of it. But it was not. We did not order dessert. Yet we received a plate of flan and four spoons anyway. No one asked us. We just got the flan (it tasted really good). We were not charged for either little extra.

These twin activities impressed us, so much so that I have even linked back to the restaurant. Win-win!

Surprise and delight your customers. Or, as I would like to say, where’s the flan?

Being Likeable

By no coincidence, Kerpen named his company Likeable Media. From its positive name to its obvious association with Facebook, the book and the company are all about creating positive and meaningful experiences for customers and potential customers.

Kerpen begins with listening and with careful, accurate, and specific targeting. For example, not all women in their 50s or 60s and beyond have the same interests. He strongly urges marketers to dig deeper.

He also encourages them to have empathy for their customers. Is a post interesting? Would it be welcome to the customer base?

The first fans should be preexisting customers, with perks for the really rabid fans. Another skill to master: engaging in a true dialog.

This means not just accepting praise, but also effectively and expeditiously responding to complaints. It also means owning up to your mistakes when you make them.

Honesty

Kerpen advocates authenticity, honesty and transparency in dealings, and promoting an exchange by asking questions, which goes right back to listening. From listening, comes the surprise and delight.

Did the restaurant hear us complaining about slower than normal service? Possibly. The appetizer and the flan certainly helped to quell those complaints and win us over.

Because he is talking about social media (and not restaurant service), Kerpen’s flan moment does not just cover coupons and offers. It is also the sharing of stories as social capital.

Some of this includes stories of the company (e. g. how a product was invented that spawned an industry). But it also encompasses the stories of the customers themselves.

Imagine being a soft drink company and asking customers who drank your soft drink during their first date to share their love stories? Attach this promotion to Valentines’ Day and maybe even ask a couple about their future plans…

Finally, rather than hard selling, Kerpen exhorts marketers to simply make it easy to buy. Good products and services will always have customers. Generally, you do not need to massage demand. But you do need to make it easier for customers to open their wallets.

A terrific, breezy read, well worth your time.

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Rating for the Book and for Dave Kerpen Himself

5/5 stars

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Adventures in Career Changing Posts

What is the Connection Between X, Social Media and Professionalism?

Professionalism: Check Their X Stream

Lazy Messaging

Messaging

Too Much Self-Promotion?

Professionalism: Which Business Accounts Do They Manage?

Engagement

Professionalism: References

Professionalism: Metrics

Professionalism: Time

Professionalism: My Own Ideas

More Ideas on Professionalism and X

Want More About Twitter AKA X?

Almost Everything But the Tweet

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My Sources of Writing Inspiration May Not be the Same as Yours

Do You Have to Have Actual Writer’s Block to Use These?

1 – 100 Inspirational Nuggets

Behold, an Example!

How to Use these Sources of Inspiration

101 – 200 Inspirational Bits

Another Example

201 — 300 Inspo Morsels

Crossover Mania Example

But What if I Do Not Have That Many Variables to Choose From?

301 — 400 Sources of Writing Inspiration (Scintillas of Spark)

401 — 500 Smidgens of Vision

More Sources of Writing Inspiration for You and Me, too

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Social Networking/Social Media Tips

Social Media Ideas

Announcements

Social Media Tips on Planning

Planning in Advance

This Day in History

Quotes

Quote Collection

Ask Your Audience Questions

Staff Introductions

Notes From Your Day

Social Media Tips: Takeaways

Want More About Social Media and Tips on How to Best Use It?

Social Media in Our Society

Working with Social Media

Social Media for Writers

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Time to Look at The Numerati by Stephen Baker

Conclusions from The Numerati

Ideas But Not Gospel

Border Collies and Data Goats

Messy Feelings

Are the Numerati Worrisome?

Rating

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Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

Usefulness

Too Many Delays

Basic Principles

More Ideas from Trust Agents

Details

Rating for Trust Agents

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And Finally: A Crash Course in Copyright Law, Part 3 (Exceptions)

Fair Use

Purpose and character

Nature of work

Amount

Market Effect