The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 47 with Digital Strategist & Author Lucy Leiderman

Lucy Leiderman (@Lucy Leiderman) is the Director of Digital Strategy for Toronto-based agency Pilot PMR. Here, she advises clients on content and social media strategy, oversees promotion and advertising across new media, and writes on a number topics related to internet and technology.

Lucy is also a published author, having written the Seven Wanderers Trilogy, a series of novels in the historical fiction/fantasy genre.

This conversation is split into two parts, where the first discusses her work as a digital strategist, and the second speaks more to her personal habits and her workflow as an author. Catch up with Lucy on her website, LucyLeiderman.com

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Part I:

Part II:

Show Notes & Links

Prescott and Lucy know each other “from the internet”
Directors of Digital Strategy need to have the “widest toolbelt” of digital knowledge, to always offer fresh, innovative, custom solutions - there is no more “cookie cutter” approach
Agile Methodology
“Project Managers have become Scrum Masters”, says Bob Calvano during his episode
Scrum Alliance and their certifications
“The Scrum Master is, above all, a facilitator.” ← Click to Tweet
“At the end of the day, [we]’re all in the business of marketing. We’re trying to get people to do something.” ← Click to Tweet
Traditional can be contemporary — living as if they’re in 2008
Lucy writes numerous articles
Growth Hacking
Internetalia — is that a word?
“We’re all psychologists now.” ← Click to Tweet
“The Free Market is as active online as it is anywhere.” ← Click to Tweet
Instagram gets bought for $1 Billion
Instagram needs to solve its multiple login problem
The Busy Creator on Instagram — completely locked out and can no longer be updated
When Instagram first came out, it didn’t have a web presence
18-year-old Instagram celebrities/millionaires
Patagonia on Instagram
Zildjian on Instagram
“Login Fatigue,” when you have too many damn accounts and log-ins
Coca-Cola’s social media “happy” campaign backfires
Kim Kardashian’s twitter goof during the Aurora, CO shootings

Wrong Aurora
DiGiorno Pizza during The Ray Rice scandal — hashtag #WhyIStayed

You Had Pizza
“With analytics, anything can be good or bad. It’s up to you to frame it.” ← Click to Tweet
The problem with blue light
“I started writing because I ran out of reading material.” ← Click to Tweet
Lucy’s first books were set in the world of Celtic Mythology
Lucy does not take inspiration from Russian Literature, in spite of her heritage
Originally, she wrote for children, but her work ended up a little more mature
Only about 30% of a story plan actually comes to be
Prescott thinks stories are like trees, or spiderwebs. Lucy says they’re more like a tapestry (with threads woven through)
“Writing a book is committing yourself to always feeling guilty.” ← Click to Tweet
NaNoWriMo - National Novel-Writing Month
“I love the finished product, but the process is hard.” ← Click to Tweet
Lucy never took courses in writing or studied the craft
Average sci-fi novels are 100,000+ words
It can take 25 minutes to get back on task following a distraction, according to an article from The NY Times, which cites a study from UC Irvine
Lucy has never had a full cup of coffee, prefers tea
McDonald’s + Shazam ad - did it work?
LucyLeiderman.com, an About.me page
Lucy’s Author Page
Lucy Leiderman on Twitter
Lucy Leiderman on LinkedIn
Lucy Leiderman on Instagram, mostly her dogs

Tools

Google Analytics
Radian6
Buffer
HootSuite
Google Drive/Apps for Work
Workamajig
Basecamp
Balsamiq, for wireframes
InVision, also for wireframes
Slack
Microsoft Word
Facebook, and its ever-changing nature

Techniques

Don’t create content for it’s own sake
Don’t waste a call-to-action and spend money when it doesn’t drive sales
Use data to show how campaigns are effective
Get immersed in the community; go to events/Hackathons, watch TED talks
Use the channel itself for full analytics; don’t trust third-party sites for data collection
Factor “the environment” into your channel-planning
Ask questions in your story plan (e.g. “why does this person think this?”)
Have a publisher or editor kick your butt a little
Use Post-Its to highlight points-to-make
Keep a plan for the next 5000 words, and another document for the actual text
Build a nest of pillows and stay deep for 5-6 hours of work
Allow your daily routine to flex with the day (and the dogs’ breakfast schedule)
Read case studies rather than opinions, especially for continued growth/learning