William Shakespeare is the shorthand we use when we want to describe a great writer. He stands for the pinnacle of writing ability.

One reason is that he mastered the art of writing for completely different audiences. He appealed to the ultra elite, to regular theater-goers who never missed a performance, and to the illiterate mobs in the cheap seats. And he managed to satisfy each audience magnificently.

I’ve written a blog series around the web about how to write for each of three different audiences: new readers, regular readers, and experts. Now it’s time for us to try the Shakespearean feat of pulling these three audiences together.

Before we move on, I want to be clear that writing for each of your audiences is not the same thing as trying to write for everybody. Writing for your different audiences isn’t the same thing as writing for Wikipedia.

Write different posts for the different groups

Not every post has to work for every reader. Sometimes, instead of trying to write one post that works for everybody, pick one of your audiences and write for them.

If your blog gives marketing tips, you might give tips for new readers on Monday, regular readers on Wednesday, and experts on Friday. To be clear about who each post is for, you could call them Marketing 101, Marketing 201, and Marketing 401.

This approach pleases all three audiences more than you’d think. New readers learn a lot all at once, regular readers get refreshers and expert knowledge, and experts appreciate the reminders and will probably send people your way, too.

Embrace the series

Series are a great way to tackle the Eternal September problem, which is one of the main challenges of blogging.

Because readers come in at different phases of the conversation, we tend to either have to constantly remind people where we are, or write each post so that someone just joining in can grasp what’s going on.

Not only that, but most blog readers are used to reading short posts, and sometimes it’s hard to complete a complex thought in 800 words. Eternal September combined with short attention spans tends to lead to posts that lack substance and offer little more than constant primers.

With a series, though, you can start everyone on the same page. Series also give you enough room to develop your thought in a little more depth.

Writing a series gives you another opportunity to please all three audiences. New readers get the advantage of being caught up all at once, and they get a great introduction to your blog and your voice. Regular readers can appreciate the longer coverage of an idea, especially since you can use the room to give detailed stories and explanations. Experts respect a good series because you can show your knowledge of the field and you have the chance to say and explain something novel.

For some concrete examples of how it’s done, take a look at the Resources section to the left of this post, with series like Copywriting 101, Content Marketing 101, or SEO Copywriting.

Don’t write a series just to write a series, as it’s easy to tell the difference between a post that’s just way too long and an idea that needed several posts to cover well. A series is not a substitute for good, concise writing.

Focus on new and regular readers

Given that they make up at least 95% of your blog readers, your writing should always deliver the maximum value to new and regular readers.

This is where we tend to go wrong, by trying to write too often for experts (for example, other bloggers in our topic). In writing for experts, we run the real risk of losing everybody else.

Think about your blog post in layers. One layer of your writing should help new readers. After you have them covered, the next layer should be for your regular readers. Lastly, if you can work it in, the final layer should be for the experts.

Write as an expert, not like one

Just because you’re an expert doesn’t mean you have to write in a way that’s hard to read and understand.

Good writers know that the real challenge is writing about difficult topics in a simple, clear, and approachable way. As Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

If you’re able to write about difficult topics in a way that non-experts understand, you’ll do what many experts can’t. There’s no better way to establish your authority with all three groups, experts included.

The wheel has come full circle

Blogging is a new medium, sure, but it’s a medium by which we express, educate, entertain, and engage people. And people haven’t changed that much. That’s why we can learn from the past; their challenges are our challenges.

As blogging evolves, what will discriminate the remarkable and memorable from the bland and forgotten?

It’s not how well you can create spikes of traffic, but how much art you bring to the craft of blogging. It’s great to have a killer blog, but even better to have one with a touch of poetry.

There were dozens of playwrights in Shakespeare’s day who knew how to fill seats, but there’s only one Shakespeare. Which do you want to be?

This is the fourth and final part of the How To Blog Like Shakespeare Series from Charlie Gilkey. Check out the other posts in the series:

1. How to Write For New Readers
2. How to Write For Regular Readers
3. How to Write For Expert Readers

About the Author: Charlie Gilkey writes about meaningful action, creativity, and entrepreneurship at Productive Flourishing. Follow him on Twitter to see how he does at the whole brevity thing.

@Kimmoy: I’d like to know if you create a new persona or alias as an affiliate. If so, why?

I often do, yes.

There are a number of reasons you might want to use pen names, or a different persona or personality on your niche affiliate sites…

Wikipedia: Pen Name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author’s name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her writings, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. source

To get a better understanding of the use of pen names, I highly recommend you visit the WikiPedia page linked above and read the section on Western Literature. You can also see a list of notable pen names there.

Some of those same reasons can be applied to affiliate marketing, or to online business in general. For example, Michael Green (well known internet marketing expert) uses a pen name because he is involved in UK politics and also runs an established printing & publishing business offline.

There are a number of privacy issues to consider. For example, if your telephone is billed and listed under your name then anyone can pull up the address and Google map by doing a simple search on your name and state.

Remember when I had someone show up at my back door one night?

Using your real name could also affect your current or future job. Employers often search online during the hiring process. Let’s not forget that Heather Armstrong (aka “Dooce”) was outed and fired back in 2002 over her personal blog.

You may also choose a pen name that is more suited to your niche. Most men don’t want to buy auto accessories from a woman, and most women don’t want to buy lingerie from a man. The alias or pen name you choose for a certain niche should be part of your mission to properly serve that market.

There’s also the case of different personalities for different topics. Some niches require an impersonal approach (focus on the product, not the person selling it), others require a very professional character, and some may require a more fun and personal interaction.

In the case of my own niche affiliate sites, each represent a very real side of me. There’s very little “faking it” necessary as I choose niches that I have personal interest or experience in. I might be very competitive-natured on my sports site, the maternal side of me shows through on my parenting blog or site selling products for kids, and my personal blog might give you the wild crazy side of me.

But they are each true sides of the real me.

I have other reasons for using pen names as well. On some of my niche affiliate sites I outsource a lot of the writing and marketing. That one pen name is actually managed by multiple people, including myself – but without the collective work reflecting on any of my other reputations in any other markets. I don’t personally catch heat for the opinions or writings of my ghost writers, for example.

Do you use pen names yourself, and if so – why?

I’d love to hear your experiences and examples…

Best,

If you’ve seen the Authority Rules report, you know about the benefits of developing yourself as a credible authority online. Respect, trust, business success, traffic, links. All the good stuff we want.

But there’s a downside.

Whether your blog is large or small, you’ve dealt with these unpleasant creatures. The ones who, for whatever reason, get their enjoyment out of what they can knock down, rather than what they can build.

They’re the plague of anyone who creates something good online, and today we’ll talk about how to manage that unlovely creature: the troll.

How to spot a troll

We’re not talking about the scary voice in your customer’s ear that keeps him from buying — that’s a different flavor of troll.

I’m talking about the more classic Internet definition. Our friend Wikipedia says:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional or disciplinary response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

The most harmless are essentially annoying kids, making poop jokes to get attention. The uglier kind are those who make themselves feel less puny by taking a bite out of your ankle. Tall poppy syndrome is alive and well on the web.

It’s human nature to admire authority, but it’s also human nature to resent it. If you stand out and speak with confidence, you become a target.

Just realize it’s the nature of the Web. Move decisively, consider the source, and try not to let it bother you. Trust me, I know that’s easier said than done.

Set boundaries

Whether you have a blog, a forum, or a membership site, don’t let others trash it. It’s not fair to what you’ve built, but much more important, it’s not fair to other users.

Who gets to decide what’s over the line? You do. You can create a formal code of conduct or comment policy (always a good idea) or go with your gut, but don’t be afraid to step in and put an end to bad behavior.

No matter what policies you put in place, you’ll have those who try to obey the letter of the law while violating the spirit. Trolls love loopholes. Stay firm and listen to your gut. If your instincts tell you this is a troll trying to yank your chain, you’re probably right.

You may choose to allow a few potshots directed at you. Depending on the situation, that can show strength and confidence on your part.

But it’s never a good idea to let a user attack another community member. The argument will escalate at sickening speed, with users dividing into armed camps and going to war. The experience sours pretty quickly for everyone.

DNFTT

This is an old Usenet acronym, standing for “Do not feed the troll.”

A troll loves attention more than anything else. That’s her payoff for coming onto your site and stinking the place up.

Never reward a troll. Delete her comments as soon as you see them. If you think the person is going to be a persistent problem, block her from posting.

Do not give her any attention whatsoever. The game is no fun if the troll can’t get you to rise to the bait.

It can be really hard to avoid the temptation to defend yourself. Trolls are fantastic at pushing buttons and getting a reaction. They hone their skills over months and sometimes, in truly pathetic cases, years. It’s tempting to think that you can make a reasonable argument to convince the troll of the error of her ways, but trolls don’t work that way.

How about constructive criticism?

Does this mean that you should delete anything negative that shows up in your comments or forum?

Not at all. Truly constructive criticism is usually easy to spot. It’s respectful. It allows for the other person’s opinion, even if strongly disagreeing with it. It assumes good faith on the part of everyone in the discussion.

Every community seems to have its devil’s advocate, who makes a point of criticizing everything and everyone “for the sake of discussion.” Whether or not this person contributes value to your community is your decision to make. Your gut will tell you if the person is adding value or just poking sticks in beehives.

When the troll’s not on your site

Sometimes the troll doesn’t have the guts to kick you on your own site (or has been tossed off for bad behavior), and will either post garbage on their own blog or, more often, spread the slime in comments on other sites.

You have two options. The wisest is often to remember DNFTT. Usually, one of your true fans will show up to defend your honor.

Another option that can be satisfying is to show up and make a mild, pleasant comment. This shows the troll that yes, you’ve seen the behavior, but it’s not bothering you. This is unlikely to affect the troll much one way or the other, but I’ve seen it spark a tiny sense of decency in the crowd of gawkers gathered around.

It’s very important to never link to a troll, whether the person is trashing you or someone else. Links are attention, and attention is troll food. DNFTT.

Red velvet rope

The openness of the Internet can be an amazing strength. But all you have to do is read a few comments on YouTube or FAIL Blog to realize that at a certain point, “openness” can become an open sewer.

Sometimes the answer is to get in off the street. It’s healthy and good to have public spaces, but you may well find that real connection, conversation and community are better fostered by providing a private, members-only spot for more serious discussions. It’s amazing what even a small monthly fee will do to keep the conversation civilized.

If you’re going to create online authority, you’ll need to accept the responsibilities and not just the privileges. Cleaning out the messes made by trolls is an unpleasant maintenance task, but an important one.

Remember the troll-wrangler’s mantra: Don’t talk to the trash, just take it out.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication.

When I say “Vanity URL” you automatically associate that with Facebook’s recent land grab where they allowed users to display their preferred username in the profile URL.

Example: www.facebook.com/lynnterry

But what I’m actually referring to is a true Vanity URL, which is a domain name that you register and then point to your social media profile. Example: LynnTerryonFacebook.com

A vanity URL is a domain name, created to point to something to which it is related and indicated in the name of the URL. In many cases this is done by a company to point to a specific product or advertising campaign microsite. In theory, vanity URLs are creatively linked to something making them easier to remember than a more random link. source: wikipedia

I understand the reasoning, or I believe I do. I use domain redirects for affiliate promotions all the time. The perk is “owning the property” so you are at liberty to redirect that link elsewhere at any time…

My question is: why put so much stock and energy into a social media profile? If that particular social media site disappears in the future, what’s the big deal?

I recommend you put your time & energy into your own properties. Use the social media sites as they are meant to be used for sure – but for the most part you should focus on building your content and your brand on your own web pages.

I see a lot of people creating URLs like this, such as lynnonfacebook.com or lynnontwitter.com – meaning you buy domain names and redirect them to your profile pages – but honestly… it seems pretty much pointless.

I use “lynnterry” consistently as my username, so you’ll easily find me at:

http://www.facebook.com/lynnterry
http://www.youtube.com/lynnterry
http://www.myspace.com/lynnterry
http://www.twitter.com/lynnterry

Not only is my username consistent, so I can easily say “I’m /lynnterry on any of the major social sites – let’s connect!” but it also keeps the continuity with the social URLs as well. People that use twitter or facebook know the typical URL to find a user, so a domain name is just another point of potential confusion – or an unnecessary thing for them to remember.

Agree or disagree?

If you create vanity URLs for your social media profiles, I’d love to hear your reasoning on it.

Best,

I’ve noticed a strange trend lately.

For some reason, people seem to be equating social media with social networking.

At the same time, they seem to be treating blogging as something other than social media.

I find this very strange indeed.

For example, here the author proclaims that he’s quitting social media and gives his reasons why. But he also states he’ll continue to blog, by god.

Then there’s this other post, which did a nice job of rounding up the discussion about the latest blogs are dead red herring. Problem is, the title Blogs vs Social Media seems to expressly state that the two are different and distinct things.

Did I not get the memo on this?

Blogs are Social (and Alternative) Media

First, let’s look at a definition. In the case of social media, I think even Wikipedia can be trusted:

At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few.

In fact, it’s a fairly easy case that blogs were the first modern form of social media. I say “modern” because many would argue that social media started pre-web with Internet Relay Chat and BBS systems. Heck, the most popular part of lame ol’ America Online was the cyber-sex social aspect.

So in the “modern” social media sense, blogs came way before social networking exploded with MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Blogs pioneered social media well before Friendster came and went (remember Friendster?).

One thing you’ll notice in the definition above is the emphasis on content. Not just user-generated conversational content, but the production of content that is an alternative to traditional media AND that benefits from interlinked conversation and comments.

Maybe the fact that “old media” has co-opted those aspects of blogs is the reason that some people no longer see blogging as social media. I think that’s a bit silly.

Media Producer Versus Social Networker

Maybe I’ve got it wrong, but the fascinating part of social media to me is not just the social networking. It’s the fact that anyone willing to put in the work can become a media producer/personality without speaking a word to anyone in the existing media power centers of Los Angeles, New York, et al.

Blogs are simply the best way to publish new media content. And social media news and networking sites are the ways that content gets exposure. It’s not money and geography that determines if your content spreads… it just has to be deemed good enough to be shared by regular people.

If you want to become a music journalist, no one in LA or NYC can tell you no. If you want a shot at becoming an actress or celebrity without enduring casting couch sexual harassment, you can absolutely go for it and succeed.

From a more practical standpoint, using social media in terms of “media production” is what content marketing is all about. Producing content and having something related to sell is one way where free content pays for itself big time.

• It’s how producing your own video show about wine boosts the bottom line of your bricks-and-mortar wine store to the tune of millions, all while making you a celebrity along the way.
• It’s how you write a book and create buzz for it without waiting for Oprah to call.
• It’s how you create a lucrative business with high margins and hefty happiness.

When you think like a media producer in this brave new social media world, it’s your content that social networkers are sharing and promoting, and that translates into your cash. If you’re only social networking, you’re only someone’s user-generated content, and even your digital overlord struggles to make money.

What’s the Point?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I just see so much unnecessary confusion out there.

What do you think?

• Is it because people with vested interests in confusion portray social media as something radically new when it’s mostly an evolution of the old?
• Should I simply quit worrying about it and stick with those of you who get it?
• What do you think about tofu? Tasty or nasty?

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and co-founder of DIY Themes, creator of the innovative Thesis Theme for WordPress. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of relationship marketing. Now keep it up if you know what it means.

Lots of hands still up, huh? OK. Fine. You, there. You with the iPhone and the I’m Kind of a Big Deal on Twitter t-shirt. What does relationship marketing mean?

Mmm hmm?

Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. I tuned out at “creating authentic connections” and “establishing many-to-many connections that foster meaningful dialogue.” DING DING DING. You are WRONG, my tweep, my Facebook friend, my FriendFeed flunkie.

Let’s talk about what “relationship marketing” really is, shall we?

According to Wikipedia, and Len Barry who coined the term, “relationship marketing is a form of marketing which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on point-of-sale transactions.”

1. Relationship marketing is not about relationships. It’s about marketing.

As a relationship marketer, I focus on making sure you not only buy my stuff today, but you keep buying it over and over and over. “Relationship” refers to the customer’s purchase history, not some deep interpersonal connection.

We do not take moonlit walks on the beach. We are not friends. We are not acquaintances. As a matter of fact, we couldn’t pick each other out of a police lineup.

As a business, I’ve simply agreed to listen to you — or, more likely, people demographically similar to you — for long enough to know what you might buy. Then I make it and sell it to you.

If this is our relationship, we both need therapy.

2. Relationship marketing is not about authenticity.

I could tell you I’m just an ordinary person who happens to be exactly like you. I could tell you I’m the reincarnation of Cleopatra’s pool boy. I could tell you I’m a one-eared lumberjack.

It doesn’t matter a whit. If I get you signed up for my advance discount list and give you a good enough deal, we both win.

3. Relationship marketing is not about transparency.

Transparency is nice, and sometimes necessary, but it’s not what this is about.

It’s fascinating when Rand Fishkin tells me how much money he made last year, but it doesn’t affect whether or not I keep my SEOMoz membership.

4. Relationship marketing is not about connection.

Just because Steve Jobs doesn’t know your kid’s name doesn’t mean you’re going to buy a Dell next time.

5. Relationship marketing is not about being social.

Social is Sunday morning brunch with your buddies. It’s not Twitter.

And frankly, you’ll have a tough time selling anything in either place.

6. Relationship marketing is not about equality.

The only thing that’s equal about you being my “fan” and me begging you for money is that we’re equally codependent.

7. Relationship marketing is not even about communication.

I buy apples every week and the things don’t even have a label, let alone a communication strategy.

You joining my Facebook fan page is not a relationship.

You following me on Twitter is not a relationship.

You commenting on my blog is not a relationship.

Let’s face it, if your boyfriend treated you as badly as I do, your mother would tell you to break up with him.

Relationship marketing is about marketing.

The touchy feely, Summer of Love, gosh-aren’t-we-great-friends stuff is nice. Sometimes it’s even necessary. But it’s not what relationship marketing is actually about.

Relationship marketing is about getting the customer to stick around long enough to keep shopping. And it’s about making sure that customer comes back next time to buy more stuff.

Don’t fall so in love with the relationship that you forget about the marketing. Like talking about benefits and not just features. Like having a halfway decent market position. Like a real call to action. Like, you know, selling stuff.

All the authentically transparent connections in the world won’t fix those if they’re broken. But stick a Wheaties coupon on the back of every box of Wheaties and you’ve got it nailed.

About the Author: Naomi Dunford is the woman Brian Clark lovingly refers to as a marketing genius and Tourette’s survivor. She is the author of IttyBiz and co-author of How To Launch The **** Out Of Your Ebook. Her alleged potty-mouth is prominent in the former and virtually non-existent in the latter.