[video] How-To Articles: How To Use Them Best


When All You Want Is To Be Told What To Do and How To Do It

talking out loud: how to use how-to articles

This is a cautionary tale. A tale that I’ve participated in from each side of the story.

Whenever I land upon what I perceive to be a Golden How-To Article, I imagine that now I’ve found it, everything will fall into place nice and neat just the way I want it to. I’ll learn what I need to, I’ll fix what’s broken, I’ll put together what’s still not assembled. So I dive in with the purest and happiest of optimistic intentions.

That has happened more times than I can count (and continues to happen).

And something else happened too. I started noticing a drooping sense of disappointment and that I was only getting so far with the guidance I sought so keenly after because a critical part of the story wasn’t ever there. No matter how comprehensive, how perfect and meticulous… and how much what was there was filled my needs of the moment, there was always a limit to how far it could take me. I usually ended up feeling that something was missing. The thing that was missing was me.

To make matters more complicated, I have also written How-To articles. I’m the producer and the receiver. It’s with all that in mind, that I made this short video.

I am wary of formulas at best, ……but if there’s going to be one or a semblance of a formula, at least it can be our own.

This is Episode #2 in the series of videos titled “Talking Out Loud”. It’s an interesting shift from hiding behind my keyboard and embarking on video content marketing. If you’d like to learn about my process in getting to this, you can read about it here on the blog post.


If you’d like to view directly on YouTube: http://goo.gl/y5ox4B

And if you’re interested in a How-To article that will serve you well, try this.


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Image: Gina Fiedel

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    By: Gina Fiedel

    Gina Fiedel is the co-founder/owner of Fat Eyes Web Development. After a successful career as an artist and transitioning into electronic media in the early 90’s, she then founded Fat Eyes in 1998 to bring those skills to the web with her husband, Doug Anderson. Being engaged in business has created gratifying opportunities for communication and new inroads towards making a contribution that counts. You can learn more about Gina on the Fat Eyes Who Are We? page and Gina Fiedel Story.

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3 replies
  1. Frank Gainsford
    Frank Gainsford says:

    Hi Gina thanx for a great article, but do tell why in your social media sharing you have neglected to add the option of Google Plus in the icons as you have TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and STUBLE UPON…….. ?

    Reply
    • Gina Fiedel
      Gina Fiedel says:

      Hi Frank, The G+ icon is there with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and StumbleUpon. In fact, it’s showing the plus 1 count. We do not have Instagram, however. Perhaps your page didn’t load properly?

      Reply
  2. Calla Gold
    Calla Gold says:

    HI Gina,
    I agree that it is important to know that one tutorial or article or blog or system isn’t going to solve all your problems.
    Sometimes years ago I’d cry in frustration as I thought, “I’m never going to understand this social media stuff. There’s just too much.”
    But I kept reading blogs, articles and using Facebook, G+, LI and Twitter. It got easier and I tried different things and my strategy evolved.
    I’m more comfortable with it. I am happiest when I’m not hanging all my hopes on someone’s pie in the sky be all end all strategy for social media planning and execution.
    Calla

    Reply

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