Social Media and Blogging Lessons From Kevin Smith’s Movies

Don’t worry – despite the title, this post is in fact, safe for work.

The movies of writer/director Kevin Smith may not be everyone’s cup of tea. His crass humor and memorable characters are probably looked at by more as offensive to many, but for his fans, his work is hysterical. I happen to be in that second group. That is why I chose Kevin Smith and his View Askewniverse to write about in my follow up post to “Social Media lessons I used from Star Wars”.  His pop culture references, intelligent stupidity, and love of Star Wars are things I find laugh out loud funny.

That brings me to my first lesson…

Relate to things you love:
This point is actually why I am writing a post about Kevin Smith movies in the first place. I like to looks for ways to incorporate the things I enjoy so I can bring that sense of play into my work.  Looking at social and blogging from another angle helps to keep things fresh, it is also a way to introduce you and your content to a whole new community.

Know your signature:
In the movies of the Askewniverse, you will often come across characters from one movie hopping into the others. A joke or line will run across everything as well. (EggaMooby muffin anyone?)  You need to get to know your signature “characters”. Do you have a particular style of writing? Do you have a theme you post on regularly? Creating that signature will help to build your online brand whether it is your personal brand or your business’s.

Jay and Silent Bob are arguably Kevin Smith’s two most famous characters. They each have a style of their own;

Silence can be golden:
It is not hard to discern how Silent Bob got his name. For almost the entire length of every movie, Silent Bob (played by Smith himself) is just that. Silent. Every movie, he has one thing to say, and it is always highly intelligent and plot pivotal.  When blogging, don’t just write for the sake of writing. Only post when you have something to say, posting content you are not proud of is not better than leaving a little silence. If you are worried about having gaps, write a few back up posts when you have the inspiration and post them out to cover when you don’t have something to say,

Profanity is impactful
I’m not saying it is good or bad, but I am saying it makes an impact. It is my personal rule that I do not use profanity in any of my social media channels or blog postings. It is my opinion that it is the best way to represent my personal brand and that of Thill. (Check out Shelby Sapusek’s  views on this topic here) On the opposite side of the coin, people like Erika Napoletano have no problems using it and that’s fine too.

You’re hero can be flawed:
In all honesty, the main characters of most of the movies are wholly unlovable. They are slackers, drug dealers, criminals – horrible people, but the way they are written, you still root for them anyhow. Your brand does not have to be perfect, allow its cracks to show. Make a typo in a Tweet? Don’t delete it – just send it out again correctly. Did you make a mistake? Admit it. Showing your humanity is an important part of branding.

You are supposed to be here today:
Social Media doesn’t stop on your day off. Whether you are sitting at your computer or not, the social keeps going. You have to monitor and respond to social media and commentary as it happens, you can’t let your channels drop.

Think about what you do in your time spent online  – what kind of lessons can you pull from them into your online world?

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