No. 9: What feels like PR but isn’t really PR?

What you can learn from a viral tweet

Hey folks, 

After my 3-week trip to Abidjan, I felt better than I had in a long time. I was optimistic about the future - a feat in this dumpster fire of a year.  

I told my friend Pieter that I had a whole new lease on life. 

Not one to miss a beat, he quipped, “I’m glad you had your Eat Pray Love experience.”

Alas, I didn’t find my Javier Bardem look alike soulmate in Babi. 

But, I did seriously commit to a daily practice that is part creative coach, part therapist.

Every morning, I write 3 pages by hand. Most of what I put down on the page is boring drivel: my worries, complaints, or things to do that day. But, that’s the point. I get the distractions and psychic noise on paper. 

It helps clear the fog so when I’m ready to work, I get it done.

And if I’m lucky, after one page of scribbling, I’m hit by a flash of inspiration - for a newsletter post, business idea, or creative pursuit. 

The practice is called Morning Pages. It’s one of the core principles of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, the hippie mentor of many writers, filmmakers, and other creatives. [Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, is a Cameron stan too.]

I highly recommend it. With that, on to the newsletter! 

Trending tweet lessons

If you’re an avid Twitter user, you might have noticed that the title of this AK/NF issue is a hat tip to a trending Tweet. 

One week ago, in the US, this tweet went viral: 

It spawned a host of copycats. Some hit it. Others didn’t. I loved this one.

There’s zero risk if you bandwagon on a viral tweet. You might look derivative if you riff on a tweet too late since Twitter moves lightning fast. But, honestly no one really cares.

The real takeaway is that you should look to popular tweets as inspiration for your own social. 

They work because they’re authentic, creative, and humorous. They ask people to answer. They invite a discussion. [Another great example is the #heartbreak stories that dominated Nigerian Twitter for days.]

Often, on social, startups focus too much on selling instead of engaging their audience. Instead of tweeting “we do xyz” or “interested in buying our product? Call us!”, have fun with your Twitter.

Share thought provoking data points, anecdotes, and ask your audience questions that make them laugh and get them to respond. 

Matt Kobach, co-founder of Fast and a digital marketing wunderkind, used to run the NYSE’s account. He said this about his approach:

Capture the cool stuff, folks.

Speaking of a trending tweet that I just *had* to copy:

Are you hungry for more PR & comms content? Join this free PR masterclass that I’m doing with VC4A next Wednesday at 1pm WAT. You can sign up here.

Until next time, 

Victoria

Victoria Crandall | African Startups | Communications & PR Strategist | Lagos 🇳🇬