When I was 25 years old, I hadn’t yet learned to drive, I ate Cap’n Crunch three meals a day, and my friends and I would sit in Greenwich Village cafes for hours at a time writing zombie film scripts that would never get made.
Shama Kabani, right now, is 25 years old. She, though, is leading a slightly different life than I did at that age.
Shama owns her own Dallas-based, nine-person online marketing company, The Marketing Zen Group.
BusinessWeek named her one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 Years Old.
Fast Company calls her a “master millennial of the universe.”
And, she recently released her first book, “The Zen of Social Media Marketing.”
I guess you could say she’s . . . accomplished.
I was excited, then, that Shama sent me this video for my series, “Best Blogging Tips (Told in Under a Minute)”:
I fully admit. Using bullet point is a better way of writing as most readers nowadays don’t have that much time (and of course their memory is also getting down). Most of them are smart enough, so all they need from any good thinker are just bullet point summary…I think they are smart enough to paint the complete story.
It’s a great tip. Not only will the author of the post benefit from practicing “elementary writing” but I find it much easier to read a post that contains bullets when the author utilizes them. You can call it information architecture. Instead of writing paragraph after paragraph why not make it easier for your reader to go back to the article and quickly scan for their favorite topic or statement?
Hi Carrie.
Shama is indeed generous, and I was impressed by Snoopy’s composure. My dogs would only sit like that on my lap if I gave them sedatives.
You left Hoboken? The only other person I know of who left Hoboken was Frank Sinatra.
Excellent tip from Shama, and she was great about sending me a copy of her book to review, and another to giveaway…so I am! It’s my July book giveaway over at my FAN page, I’m inviting folks to comment why they want it and they’re automatically entered. Love Snoopy, by the way. Mark, you site looks cool, and I see you are in NJ. I used to live in Hoboken!
Hi, Janet. Looking forward to seeing you at the party, too. Your rep proceeds you (“Janet Goldstein will be there!”). I’m excited to speak with you.
Shama, I think I’m going to have to write a new script. I can’t let this wave of zombie-mania pass me by.
Thanks guys!
Mark – I ‘d like to read the zombie scripts as well! = )-
Great tip Shama. Your how-to posts, and even your thought-leader-y writings, are so clear and “consumable.” You remind us (me) that accessible, ease-y, and easy can be so, so helpful for readers.
As a side note, Mark I think all my favorite people know you (Lolly, Helen Kim, Larina Kase, now Shama). See you at the NYC event tomorrow.
Thanks for the comments.
Armaghan, I appreciate your thoughts about writing by bullet point. Using bullet points can be easier than other forms of writing, because they often eliminate the need for transitions, and they keep the energy of the writing high.
Brian, had I known then how exalted zombies would become in pop culture, I would have saved my scripts. Oh well.
Good tips from Shama as usual.
Maybe Shama’s success stems from writing thesis papers in elementary school? 🙂
Also Mark, I’d love to read those zombie film scripts if you’d care to send them over.
This is a really good tip. I do this on regular basis. I think the magic with bullet points is each point can be independent of other points. A post without bullet points is more difficult, you need to connect all ideas in a smooth flow. People love stories but I think the story posts are the most difficult ones (and I rarely do these :))