blog – Page 5 – Bredemarket

The Wildebeest Speaks All Over The Place

(Imagen 3 AI-generated picture)

Bredemarket promotes itself in all sorts of places. My LinkedIn newsletter is an example, but there are other places where Bredemarket speaks, including the Bredemarket blog and a number of social channels.

The channels that Bredemarket uses have varied over time. While wise minds such as Jay Clouse have recommended to not spread yourself thin, I ignored his advice and found myself expanding from LinkedIn to TikTok. (TikTok is a Chinese-owned social media platform. You may have heard of it.)

Then in May 2024 I contracted my online presence, announcing that I was retreating from some social channels “that have no subscribers, exhibit no interest, or yield no responses.” After I had shed some channels, I ended up on a basic list of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Threads.

You can guess what happened next.

Over the months I started posting on some of the paused social channels one by one. Eventually I was posting on all the channels I was using in July 2023—yes, I’ve even restarted the podcast—plus some other platforms such as Bluesky.

Now I may contract again, and I may expand again, but for now I want to touch upon the reasons why a business should post or not post on multiple social channels, and how the business can generate content for all those channels.

Why should you only post on a single social channel?

There is no right or wrong answer for every business, and there are some businesses that should only post on a single social channel.

If all your prospects are using a single social channel and are on NO OTHER channel, then you only need to post on that channel.
If you are NOT in danger of losing your account on that social channel because of some automated detection of a violation (“You violated one of the terms in our TOS. We won’t tell you which one. YOU figure it out.”), then you can continue to post on that channel and no other.
If the social channel is NOT in danger of business liquidation or forced government closure, then you can continue to post on that channel and no other.

Why should you post on multiple social channels?

Not all businesses satisfy all the criteria above. For one, your “hungry people” (target audience) may be dispersed among several social channels. From my personal experience, I know that some people only read Bredemarket content in my blog, some only read my content on LinkedIn, some only read my content on Facebook (yes, it’s true; one of Bredemarket’s long-term champions primarily engages with me on Facebook), some only on Instagram, and so forth.

What would happen if I decided to can most of my social channels and only post TikTok videos? I’d lose a lot of engagement and business.

Even if I concentrated on LinkedIn only, which seems like a logical tactic for a B2B service provider, I would lose out. Do you know how many people on Threads NEVER read LinkedIn? I don’t want to lose those people.

So that’s where I ended up. And if you know my system, the question after the “why” question is the “how” question…

How can you post on multiple social channels?

Repurposing…intelligently.

You don’t have to create completely unique content for every platform. You can adapt content for each platform, when it makes sense.

So now I’m going to eat my own wildebeest food and see where I can repurpose this text, which was originally a LinkedIn article. Yes, even on TikTok. I may not come up with a whopping 31 pieces of content like I did in a 2023 test, but I can certainly get this message out to people who hate LinkedIn. Perhaps maybe even to my mailing list, for people who have subscribed to the Bredemarket mailing list.

I haven’t figured out what I’ll do in this particular instance, but here are some general guidelines on content repurposing:

You can just copy and paste the entire piece of content on another platform. For example, I took all this text and copied it from the original LinkedIn article. But I hope I remembered to edit all the phrases that assume this content is posted on LinkedIn. And I’d have to consider something else…
You can just copy and paste the entire piece of content on another platform and remove the links. To be honest, no social media platform likes outbound links, but some platforms such as Instagram REALLY don’t like outbound links. So before you do this, ask if the content still makes sense if the links aren’t present.
You can provide a summary of the content and link back to the original content for more detail. Isolate the important points in the content, just publish those isolated points, and then link back to the original content if the reader wants more detail. Bear in mind that they probably won’t, because clicking on a link is one extra step that most people won’t want to do.
You can provide a really short summary of the content and link back to the original content for more detail. Bluesky and other Twitter wannabe platforms have character limitations, so often you have to really abridge the content to fit it in the platform. I’ve often written a “really short” version of my content for resharing, then discovered that even that version is too long for Bluesky.
You can address the content topic in an entirely different medium. Because of my preferences, I usually start with text and then develop an image and/or a video and/or audio that addresses the topic. But trust me—if I convert this blog post (yes, I rewrote the preceding three words when I copied this from the original LinkedIn article) into video or audio format, it will NOT include all the words you are reading here. Unless I’m feeling particularly cranky.
Oh, and if you’re using pictures with your content, don’t forget to adjust the pictures as needed. A 1920×1080 LinkedIn article image will NOT work on Instagram.

So there you have it. Posting on multiple social channels helps you reach people you may not otherwise reach, as long as you don’t spread yourself too thin or get discouraged. And you can repurpose content to fit within the expectations of each of these social channels, allowing you to re-use your content multiple times.

If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do. (Plus the usual Bredemarket services: I onboarded a new client yesterday and hope to onboard another one this week.)

Which reminds me. If you need help generating content for your company’s blog and social channels, follow this link to learn about Bredemarket’s “CPA” (content-proposal-analysis) offerings.

Feeding My Niche

(AI image Imagen 3/Google Gemini)

My interests are admittedly niche (I created a YouTube video about it that most people won’t watch), but I’m still devoted to feeding the few who are also interested in this niche.

So if you’re interested in identity and technology content, ensure you’re following the Bredemarket blog and current social channels. They’ve changed since my original list and the May 2024 contraction, but…

in addition to the Bredemarket website, you can currently search for Bredemarket on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, the aforementioned YouTube, a well-known site that may or may not disappear in the next three weeks, and other places.

Subject to change.

Why Do Enterprises Become Dust?

Hardly anything is permanent. And this applies to boxing AND to B2B sales.

Mike Tyson and legacy

By Super Festivals – https://www.flickr.com/photos/superfestivals/53161465181, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=136938246.

Perhaps you heard what Mike Tyson said a few days ago.

I don’t know, I don’t believe in the word “legacy.” I just think that’s another word for ego. Legacy doesn’t mean nothing. It’s just some word everybody grabbed onto.

It means absolutely nothing to me. I’m just passing through. I’m going to die and it’s going to be over. Who cares about legacy after that?

We’re nothing. We’re just dead. We’re dust. We’re absolutely nothing. Our legacy is nothing.

With the life that Tyson has lived, it’s understandable why he’s echoing Ecclesiastes in this interview.

But you don’t have to have had Tyson’s experiences to realize that legacy does not last.

Neither wanted nor needed

In business (and in life), there are companies (and people) who don’t need you or want you.

This may be temporary. The company that doesn’t need you today may urgently (and importantly) need you tomorrow.

By White House – Eisenhower Presidential Library, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3025709.

Or it may NOT be temporary. There are companies that will NEVER need you or want you.

I recently ran across three such companies that will never need Bredemarket.

Six weeks (now less than six weeks)

Perhaps you noticed Bredemarket’s “six weeks” promotion over the weekend. It was addressed to companies that may have a final project that they want to complete before the year ends in six weeks. (Now 5 1/2 weeks.) I emphasized that Bredemarket can help companies complete those content, proposal, and analysis projects.

The promotion included a blog post, a LinkedIn post, a Facebook reel, an Instagram reel, a YouTube short, and appearances in other online locations. Which is probably overkill, since the promotion is already outdated and can’t be used again until possibly November 2025.

I also included email in this campaign, targeting prospects whom I haven’t worked with recently, or whom I’ve never worked with at all. I didn’t go overboard in my emails; although I have over 400 contacts in Bredemarket’s customer relationship management system, I sent the email to less than 40 of them.

As of this morning, none of the recipients has booked a meeting with me to discuss their end of year needs.

Some explicitly told me that they were fine now and did not need or want Bredemarket’s services for end of year projects.
Some didn’t respond, which probably indicates that they did not need or want Bredemarket’s services either.

And I discovered that three companies (four contacts) will NEVER need or want Bredemarket’s services.

Delivery incomplete

How did I discover that?

Via four “delivery status notification” messages.

So I visited the web pages in question, and they no longer existed.

I’ve been building up my CRM for over four years, so it’s not shocking that some companies have disappeared.

But one of the companies (“Company X”) DID exist a mere eight months ago.

I know this because I prepared a presentation on differentiation (see version 2 of the presentation here), and two representatives from Company X received the presentation in advance of a conference.

After the conference organizer distributed the presentation, I offered to meet with the companies individually (no charge) to discuss their content and differentiation needs, or anything else they wanted to discuss.

While some conference attendees took advantage of my April offer, the representatives from Company X did not.

And now in November, Company X no longer exists.

Could Bredemarket have created the necessary content to keep Company X afloat? Who knows?

But EVERY company needs content to differentiate it from its competitors. Otherwise the competitors will attack you. And your competitors may not be as merciful with you as Jake Paul was with Mike Tyson.

If you need Bredemarket’s help with content, proposal, or analysis services, book a meeting with me.

Bredemarket’s CPA: Content – Proposal – Analysis.

725

While updating my resume today, I discovered that I have now written over 700 blog posts on the Bredemarket site alone. This is number 725, in case you’re keeping score.

And that doesn’t count the myriad of blog posts I’ve written for consulting clients or employers, plus the posts I’ve written for other blogs over the years dating back to 2003.

So in case you’re wondering: yes, I’ve written blog posts before.

And I can augment your company’s resources by writing blog posts (for example, via the Bredemarket 400 Short Writing Service) that drive awareness, consideration, and/or conversion.

Talk to me about your needs.

(Town crier image Public Domain)

Identity/Biometric Professionals, Does Your Company Need the Right Words?

Identity/biometric professionals require the right words to raise product awareness, influence consideration, or drive conversions.

Bredemarket helps you create the words your prospects and customers must hear now:

Short-length text such as blog posts.
Medium-length text such as white papers.
Longer text such as analyses and proposals.
Retainer arrangements.

With over 29 years of identity/biometric experience, John Bredehoft of Bredemarket is the biometric product marketing expert that can move your company forward.

If I can help you, book a free 30 minute meeting with me on Calendly.

If you’re not sure about using Bredemarket, here is more information.

Identity professionals…

For Your Reading Pleasure: Rewrite, Shorten, and Simplify

This week has been a busy week in Bredemarket-land, including work on some of the following client projects:

Creating the first deliverable as part of a three-part series of deliverables.
Reworking that first deliverable for more precision.
Preparing to start work on the second deliverable.
Drafting a blog post for a client.
Gathering information for an email newsletter for a client.
Following up on a couple of consulting opportunities that take advantage of my identity/biometric expertise.
Creating a promotional reel based upon the grapes in my backyard. (Yet another reel. I plan to reveal it next week.)
Engaging in other promotional activities on Bredemarket’s key social media channels.

Plus I’ve been working on some non-Bredemarket deliverables and meetings with a significant time commitment.

But there’s one more Bredemarket deliverable that I haven’t mentioned—because I’m about to discuss it now.

The task

Without going into detail, a client required me to repurpose a piece of third-party government-authored (i.e. non-copyrighted) text, originally written for a particular market.

Rewrite the content for a different market.
Shorten the text so it would be more attractive to the new market.
Simplify the presentation of the text to make it even more attractive to the new market.

The request was clear, and I’ve already completed the first draft of the text and am working on the second draft.

But I wanted to dive into the three steps above—not regarding this particular client writing project, but in a more general way.

Step 1: Rewrite

When you’ve worked in a lot of different industries, you learn that each industry has its own language, including things you say—and things you don’t say.

I’ll give you an example that doesn’t reflect the particular project I was working on, but does reflect why rewriting is often necessary.

When I started in biometrics, the first two industries that I wrote about were law enforcement and benefits administration.

By Love Makes A Way – https://www.flickr.com/photos/lovemakesaway/15802177909/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101171928.

Law enforcement’s primary purpose is to catch bad people, although sometimes it can exonerate good people. So when you’re talking about law enforcement applications, you frequently use a lot of terms that are negative in nature, such as “surveillance,” “suspect,” and “mugshot.”
Benefits administration’s primary purpose is to help good people, although sometimes it can catch bad people who steal benefits from good people. So when you’re talking about benefits administration applications, you tend toward more positive terms such as “beneficiary.” And if you take a picture of a beneficiary’s face, for heaven’s sake DON’T REFER TO THE FACIAL IMAGE AS A “MUGSHOT.”

By U.S. Department of Agriculture – https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/6764058985/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=125179710.

These two examples illustrate why something originally written for “market 1” must often be rewritten for “market 2.”

But sometimes a simple rewrite isn’t enough.

Step 2: Shorten

Now I don’t play in the B2C market in which crisp text is extremely necessary. But it’s needed in the various B2G and B2B markets also—some more than others.

If you are writing for more scientific markets, your readers are more accustomed to reading long, academic, “Sage”-like blocks of text.

But if you are writing for other markets, such as hospitality, your readers not only don’t want to read long blocks of text, but actively despise it.

You need to “get to the point.”

Tim Conway (Sr.), as repeatedly played during Jim Healy’s old radio show. Sourced from the Jim Healy Tribute Site.

In my particular project, “market 1” was one of those markets that valued long-windedness, while “market 2” clearly didn’t. So I had to cut the text down significantly, using the same techniques that I use when rewriting my “draft 0.5” (which a client NEVER sees) to my “draft 1” (which I turn over to the client).

But sometimes a simple shorten isn’t enough.

Step 3: Simplify

If you know me, you know I’m not graphically inclined.

Someday I will reach this level of graphic creativity. Originally created by Jleedev using Inkscape and GIMP. Redrawn as SVG by Ben Liblit using Inkscape. – Own work, Public Domain, link.

But I still pay attention to the presentation of my words.

Remember those long blocks of text that I mentioned earlier? One way to break them up is to use bullets.

Bullets break up long blocks of text into manageable chunks.
Bullets are easier to read.

So your reader will be very happy.

But as I was editing this particular piece of content, sometimes I ran into long lists of bullets, which weren’t really conducive to the reading experience.

Question	Answer	What does this mean?
Why are long lists of bullets bad?	Because with enough repetition, they’re just as bad as long blocks of text.	Your readers will tune you out.
How can you format long lists of bullets into something easier to read?	One way is to convert the bullets into a table with separate entries.	Your readers will enjoy a more attractive presentation.
What do tables do for your reader?	They arrange the content in two dimensions rather than one.	The readers’ eyes move in two directions, rather than just one.
Hey, wait a minute…	Yeah, I just plugged my seven questions again by intentionally using the first three: *why, how, and what*.	You can go here to download the e-book “Seven Questions Your Content Creator Should Ask You.”

I don’t have the skill to make WordPress tables look as attractive as Microsoft Word tables. But even this table breaks up the monotony of paragraphs and lists, don’t you think?

So what happened?

After I had moved through the three steps of rewriting, shortening, and simplifying the original content, I had a repurposed piece of content that was much more attractive to the “hungry people” (target audience) who were going to read it.

These people wouldn’t fall asleep while reading the content, and they wouldn’t be offended by some word that didn’t apply to them (such as “mugshot”).

So don’t be afraid to repurpose—even for a completely different market.

I do it all the time.

Look at two of my recent reels. Note the differences. But note the similarities.

The identity/biometrics version of the reel.

The Inland Empire version of the same reel.

So which of Bredemarket’s markets do you think will receive the “grapes” reel?

Stay tuned.

Little 15…Second Reels

Last week I created two promotional reels. You probably saw the reels for my identity/biometric services and Inland Empire services.

I wanted to share the latter on NextDoor, but that service wouldn’t accept the video.

Thinking the 45 second length was the issue, I decided to create a 15 second version of the Inland Empire video…and a 15 second version of the (50 second) identity/biometrics video while I was at it.

For those of you who would like to”a nice surprise…every once in a while.”

Identity/biometric.

Inland Empire.

By the way, I’m considering creating a new Inland Empire video…with an agricultural theme. (Fruits, not cows.)