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I. Introduction Memo:
Date: 04 September 2020
To: English 407B.1001
From: James L’Angelle
Re: Student Introduction; Kelsey Barker
It is my privilege to bring to your attention one of our classmates, the charming and intelligent Kelsey Barker. In her own words she provides a description that I find far more worthy of anything I can give;
“My major is English Writing, I am a senior graduating this Fall, and I am 22 years old. I am very passionate about horticulture and love flowers. I initially became interested in writing because my dad was a journalist in the Army and is still writing for the army as a civilian today. I have traveled to Germany, Denmark, and Spain as well as visiting 15 U.S. states. I am from a small town in Northern California called Browns Valley.”
She adds that her favorite form of writing is “argumentative writing.” When asked a few questions about university life, like her best/worst places, her favorite is Frandsen Humanities because she loves “old architectures” and there’s a great view of Manzanita Lake from the English department building. She takes a dim view of Ansari Business because it’s “cold and dark” and reminds her of a maze.
As for remote learning, Miss Barker is upset that the college has attached a surcharge on tuition and feels it should cost less, not more to attend class. She is very upset also because Fall graduation ceremonies have been cancelled. When asked about her current enrollment in English 407, Kelsey enjoys the class thus far and hopes to use what she learns in the future.
I can certainly add that no one will argue with that!
II. Informal Proposal:
Date: 24 September 2020
To: English 407B.1001
From: James L’Angelle
Subj: Using Facebook Ads to Promote a Blog Post
Social media has become the premier platform for promotion, whether it be brand awareness, marketing a product, or getting a candidate elected to office. The myriad of websites where promotion is possible will confound the layperson as well as the various rules of engagement. For writers wishing to attract an audience, at least one method has proven tried and true, that being the Facebook ad network for blog posting.
The process is twofold. Part one involves creating the post to be promoted; part two, boosting that post on Facebook. For purposes here, the site used for the post is Google’s blogspot, as it is convenient and straightforward. For the sake of brevity, creation of that blog and a blog post is assumed. What’s necessary is having a similar Facebook page, preferably with the same name as the Google blog.
Part two requires linking the blog post to the Facebook page and promoting that post with what’s known as a “Boost Post.” Thus far, it seems like a “no-brainer” but there are hidden technicalities and that’s where a formal proposal is necessary to avoid the minefield and make the rules of engagement work in favor of the author-blogger-advertiser.
This technical document will ultimately reveal the hidden aspects of using the Facebook advertising platform. Far from being a simple process of “copy and paste,” Facebook has been forced into a strict code of compliance for not just its corporation, but also for the advertiser. These rules form the basis of eligibility for the advertiser to promote in the category of what’s known as “credit, employment, housing, or social issues, elections or politics,” or the Special Ad Category.
Because of this unique section in the ad venue, a detailed proposal in the process of promoting an ad on the Facebook platform is in order. Following any other procedure could result in the ad being rejected by the review team from the outset; in the longer term, the account itself could be suspended for violation of the terms of service.
In addition, other components of the Facebook advertising process, the administrative such as account creation and payment settings will be examined, as well as a review of the campaign manager page. All of these components, and others, form the gestalt of the process of driving visitors to the blog page to read the post, which is the ultimate objective.
III. Summary/Abstract:
ENG 407B.1001 University of Nevada, Reno
Dr. J. Detweiler
10 Sept. 2020
How to Fold A Fitted Sheet
A fitted sheet is one that has elastic corners sewn into it to keep it in place on the mattress. Because of that, it requires skill greater than the average folding of a rectangular sheet. The following instructions are, although more difficult than the latter, still require a bit of manual dexterity in order to achieve the desired result. The following is a guideline to the procedure.
1. First of all, it is necessary to place the sheet so that the longest side drapes down to the floor while the shortest side(s) are placed firmly in each hand. There is no left or right
preference, or inside or out; unless the sheet is composed of a material whereby the side to be placed face up on the mattress should not be subject to contact with residual material or debris on a shelf or counter if stored. If that’s the case, then ensure the final fold results in the underside of the sheet is facing outward.
2. Taking into consideration that the span of the sheet might be greater than the extended arms’ length of the person folding the sheet, then it might be necessary to adopt a modified approach to the folding of the sheet.
3. The normal procedure is to tuck one hand under the corner of each end of the sheet and bring them toward the center, while tucking at least one of the stretched elastic corners under the other. This may not be possible in the first effort as the sheet width might be greater than the arm span. An adjustment must therefore be made requiring two steps in order to achieve the first. In order to do that, it is not suggested to make the two elastic ends match in the initial fold, bringing them together first into one hand,while the other takes up some of the overlap due to the width of the sheet in relation to arm span.
4. Once the two sides of the sheet have been properly aligned, then one can be tucked under the other. It is then necessary to achieve the same results on the other end of the sheet, the one draped down to the floor.
5. Having done the same to both sides and ends of the sheet, bring all four corners of the sheet together, tucking yet again two of the adjacent corners from one side of the elongated sheet into the other in the same way as was done to the sides.
6. From here it is desirable to gradually fold the sheet into a final configuration where the elastic corners, all neatly tucked and folded together, are completely inside the folded item. Note that the actual dimensions of the folded sheet should be in reference to the storage space allotted for the sheet.
7. It is also recommended to consider the ideal shape and size of the sheet beforehand not just relating to the storage space, but handling large numbers of folded, fitted sheets with regard to purpose, as in a hotel environment where housekeepers might have to exchange and carry large numbers of the sheets in a given amount of time.
Instruction Team 4:
Meghan Kelley, James L’Angelle, Randy Schacherl, Tucker Scozzafava
IV. Formal Proposal:
ENG407B.1001
James L’Angelle
University of Nevada, Reno
Dr. J. Detweiler
08 October 2020
Formal Proposal: Blog Posting and the Facebook Advertising Platform
The following suggestions were made in the Informal Proposal feedback; “Like: how does a writer potentially use this particular kind of social media
publishing/advertising to raise his/her profile and improve subscriptions/sales? Or: What would be some cost-effective ways for a writer to use this approach to increase the reach of given modes of publication? Imagine a relatively more specific audience/publisher who will be looking for more of a presentation of research, persuasively presented, that supports taking a particular course of action.” Response:
You have a great idea, many of us do. It’s a story, a novel, a screenplay. How and where do you get it published, sold? Nowadays on the internet, there are any number of options one can choose to get the project completed and into the public domain, whether hardcopy or epub. Sifting through the myriad of choices, it becomes clear that many are just out to make money and have no real qualitative method for the author to rise from obscurity to fame. They promise overnight solutions, quantum leaps that do not exist. Adjustments need to be made in order to counter these oversimplified methods and find one that works for you.
A more practical method would be to establish a procedure enabling your content to be viewed on the internet with the intention of not just selling the product, but selling yourself, it is called “brand awareness.” After all, the writer, the author, is just as much of the product as the content itself. Starting from the ground, with no agent, manager, publisher or producer to recognize your product, a system can be utilized where that brand becomes available to the public at least until a foothold in the niche has been established. It is twofold, first requiring a site where the content can be published; second, where that content can be promoted. With
regards to the first, a blog is a great location to post material, preferably at one such as Google, or Blogspot. The second part requires an advertising venue that is simple, convenient, cost effective and even with a number of hurdles, still a straightforward enough system for the novice, that being Facebook Ads.
Google blogs have a very basic process that allows for the author to post articles of any length with several editing features that include additional components such as HTML and analytics so that tracking of visitors can be recorded. The former allows for more complicated additions to the post such as embedding and adding images and videos. The latter allows examination of the traffic to the blog, broken down by demographics, location, gender, age and other variables. This may be indicative of how well the blog post is performing but doesn’t necessarily give the whole picture. That’s where the second part, Facebook advertising, comes into play. Having a Facebook page with the same name as the blog allows for seamless transfer of the post over to the page, where it can be promoted using the “Boost Post” option below the entry. In order to get the post to display, it requires nothing more than a copy-paste procedure of the blog link and the post will appear on the Facebook page. Using an image is very helpful as it will appear on the Facebook page as well when the link is added. Upon engaging the boost button, a popup will appear that indicates the number of options, the first of which is setting up the ad account if that hasn’t been done already. Once completed, the number of variables in the boost range from location to duration, with others requesting the total amount to spend on the project and the age of the audience. The most important feature, however, is the one related to the Special Ad Category.
Because Facebook recently came under scrutiny by federal regulatory agencies regarding sharing private information, the Special Ad Category requires the blog post to meet strict criteria. That includes identity, proof of residence, notarized forms and other legal documents uploaded to the social media site. The process is anything but trivial and for those who wish to advertise their material in categories such as employment, housing, credit or politics and elections, will be required to meet these strict standards.
Now that you have met all the rules and followed up on the blog posting procedure, Facebook places the post under review which, depending on the content, can take as little as an hour to as long as a day, to being rejected completely. For that matter, the content of the post could also be flagged as “inappropriate” because it offended someone in the audience where the ad was posted. That ad, in fact, runs on a variety of social media venues that includes not just Facebook’s platform, on desktop and mobile systems, but on others such as Instagram, pending an account there linked to the user’s page. Here is where the audience comes in. Normally, following approval, the ad is featured across the standard Facebook platform, which is considerably more unpredictable as to who will see it, no matter what was entered in the post boost popup. The
“View Results” link at the boosted post will give a breakdown of those very results. Notice, however, when the ad is featured exclusively on Instagram, the audience shifts dramatically to that in the 18 to 24 year age range. This is but one indicator of how to target an audience.
Unfortunately, the process requires a great deal of trial and error to eventually reach the intended audience but that should not deter one from perfecting the system. In fact, experimentation will show that some posts do not perform well at all while others exceed those expectations. It’s known as “trending” and any good writer will know how to get the audience “in the palm of your hand.”
A formal proposal, designed to give a more precise description of the process, is not complete because the actual procedure isn’t. What can and should be gathered from it is a clear understanding of what it can do, and what it cannot do. It can offer a professional guideline based on experience, which in the modern world of social media, may well boil down to trial and error. The audience can be fickle, comments to the blog post at Facebook are open and can serve as a platform for disgruntled persons who never agree with anything. The cost per click can range from a few pennies to well over a dollar each, causing the daily budget to be gobbled up in a few short runs of the ad. These variables, and others, need to be taken into consideration even with a bona fide recipe to rise from the rubble to the top of the heap. The nature of the internet and social media both guarantee nothing short of the impossible, but those odds are well worth it considering the reward.
V. Resume
James C. L’Angelle
Hollywood Redline Agency
6600 Sunset Blvd. Suite 1224
Hollywood, CA 90028 USA
1-323-555-1212
Objective: Position as literary representative.
Experience:
1992-1998: Cyberstorm, signatory to Writers Guild of America West (WGAw). Literary agent for talent agency in relation to screenwriting and motion picture development.
2000-present: Recon Presse USA. general editor, weekly online publication related to show business, box office reports, and gender-diversity-inclusion analytics for the film industry.
2012-present: Self-employed, sole proprietorship, literary and talent agency, California based with emphasis on show business and motion picture industry clients.
As a talent representative, it is necessary to find qualified candidates and represent the individual through contract agreements and solicitation of production company representatives for possible sale of screenplays and client employment for film and television, in accordance with necessary
guild requirements. Representation also requires the management of online presence through entertainment databases such as IMDB and LinkedIn where the client showcases industry skills, ensuring the listings are accurate and current.
Employment Status: Self-employed with select clients through WGAw signatory status. Agency Website: https://hollywood-redline.com
Education:
2014-2018 University of Nevada, Reno. B.A. in English-Communications with a minor in Journalism. Internship at KCBS News, Los Angeles, 2016. USAC studies, London 2017. Languages: English, French
Passport: Current, # 123456.999, USA, Expiration; 12/31/2026.
References: On request
VI. Cover Letter:
Céleste Cointreau
Directeur du Personnel
Ringo Starr Agence, S.A.
1992 Rue Princesse Caroline
Monte Carlo, MCO
Bonjour!
As suggested by the mutual acquaintance, Mssr. Jean-Paul Bergeron, I am submitting my qualifications for the unsolicited position of literary representative with your agency. I am currently sole proprietor of Hollywood Redline Agency in California, USA with clients in the television and motion picture industry.
With an extensive background in North American screenwriting and representation contracts, your agency might benefit from having an agent with inside connections to the guilds and production companies on the West Coast. I have been informed by Mssr. Bergeron that Ringo Starr Agence is currently in need of that very contact.
Not only do I meet the necessary conditions to be considered a prime candidate for the position, I have experienced extensive travel in Europe and attended several film festivals, including the prestigious event at Cannes. At least two successful indie film directors at Cannes had the opportunity of starting their careers at Hollywood Redline.
With respect to travel, I have been extremely careful to follow all rules regarding current pandemic restrictions including mask, testing and quarantine mandates.
I am proficient in French and have a current United States of America passport. Contact Information: 1-323-555-1212, jcl@hollywood-redline.com.
Merci!
James L’Angelle
01 January 2021
VII. Analytical Report: Advertising on Facebook
Introduction: Social media has become the premier platform for promotion, whether it be brand awareness, marketing a product, or getting a candidate elected to office. The myriad of websites where promotion is possible, as well as the various rules of engagement, will confound the layperson. For writers wishing to attract an audience, at least one method has proven tried and true, that being the Facebook ad network for blog posting. The process is straightforward enough but a step by step method is usually employed for best results.
Procedure:
1. Create the Post: The first part of the process requires having a blog. The ideal address for that blog is Google’s Blogspot as it is easy to use and requires little or no knowledge of code or tools that other blogs use in order to add not just text, but images and videos as well. The new format at Blogspot has an option dropdown on the Create New Post page that allows for direct entry of text that can also be switched to HTML for adding embedded objects such as YouTube videos, Soundcloud audio and similar iframes. Once the post is written and published, the link in the address bar needs to be copied and pasted at the desired Facebook page location. Note that a personal Facebook site is not adequate for promoting a blog post; an actual Facebook page is necessary. Also note that whatever image is included in the blog post will be carried over onto the Facebook page. For this reason, it is suggested to be careful and use an attention getting image that includes neither individuals nor excessive text, as they will cause time consuming delays and possible rejection of the ad entirely during the approval process.
2. Copy and Paste: The link from the blog post is then pasted into the Create Post frame at the Facebook page. It is necessary to have an Ad account with Facebook with the usual relevant information that is somewhat similar to what one might find at any other site that sells merchandise, such as Amazon or EBay. When the post is pasted into the create frame at the page, there is an option button to boost the post. Engaging that button and posting will bring up the Boost Post dialogue box with a set of options in order to tailor for a number of specifics.
3. Boost Post Options: The variables related to the post that has been added to the Facebook page are many; ranging from the goal, the ad category, the audience to the actual budget. Depending on what the intent of the advertiser is, the Goal option can range from automatic (let Facebook decide), website visitors, get more visitors, engagement and leads. Obviously, the best choice is to route traffic to the website where the blog post is located. The Call Out button allows for certain interactive options such as “book now,” “learn more,” “shop now” and other categories usually related to merchandise marketing and not brand awareness of the writer.
4. The Special Ad Category: Due to certain in-house problems Facebook experienced in past political elections, such as the selling of private information to campaign analysts, the Special Ad Category is designed to make it difficult to place false and misleading information on the page. In order to qualify to place ads in the categories of Housing, Social Issues, Credit, Employment, Elections and Politics, the advertiser has to qualify through a series of difficult steps. These include strict rules of citizenship, identification, notarized proof of address, and restrictions on where the ads can be placed (by country) to name just a few. Because of these rules, it is advised to avoid the special ad button altogether and opt for tailoring the blog title, post and image so that it appears none of the category rules are violated. Otherwise the ad will be rejected. Whether the approval process is done artificially or by the human eye is not known; but it does happen, and frequently.
5. Creating the Audience Profile: The next section of the boost post dialogue box allows for the campaign to be directed to a specific location. If it isn’t related to the special ad category, a post can be sent worldwide and a map allows for the name of the country to be entered and added to a group for distribution. Included in the audience profile is adjustments that can be made for gender and age. It is wise to only use a range that will not include those under the age of consent as it will also add to the delay of approval. If the ad targets the younger set, between the ages of 18-24, there is a high likelihood that an additional linked Instagram account will benefit the return on the post. The Facebook ad account allows for Instagram to be linked.
6. The Budget: Again, a number of options are available to adjust how much the ad will cost and how many days it can run. Depending on the content of the post, it makes sense if it is a “time is of the essence” article to spend more money in a shorter amount of time.
Another factor that isn’t always made available to the advertiser, only after the fact, is the cost per click of the ad. A general interest article can be sent out anywhere, all the way to China if desirable. Due to demand, ads running in the United States are costly, as are those in other industrialized nations. Asia, Africa and other developing nations are ideal targets for ad distribution if numbers alone are the objective, in other words, website visitors. US ads can cost as much as $1.00 per click as opposed to one penny in foreign nations. The account is billed according to cost per click, not how many times it is displayed on the viewers’ pages. The resultant ratio is usually around one percent no matter where it is shown, that is the clicks divided by the reach. It makes sense with that kind of low return to ensure the article is worth distributing in the right market to the right audience. That can only be determined in a trial and error process.
7. Approval: Having done all the right things, the ad is then sent out for distribution following a review. Whether that process is artificial or under a human eye is uncertain. It is noteworthy that non special category, generic image ads are approved immediately. Others get hung up somewhere in the chain. Another delay is related to Blogspot itself. When the ad is sent for approval, the review process involves scanning the actual content at the page to determine if it conforms to the numerous Facebook ad policies. The scanning at Blogspot can delay approval for as much as a day or longer. A link to a different site, such as one that promotes music as Soundcloud, returns near immediate approval. A link to YouTube content also returns near immediate content approval. Depending on the brand, the advertiser needs to take the approval time into consideration when posting to the Facebook page. Embedding a Soundcloud recording or YouTube video at Blogspot will not increase or decrease approval rate of the post, but will be useful in visitor analysis.
8. Analyzing the Results: Once the ad is approved and running, the ad center provides statistics on returns including visitor metrics, cost per click and total cost. From the View Results page, the audience can be viewed and is broken down into age groups and divided by gender. Locations are also given as well as the device, whether mobile or desktop. Different ad styles are run on different devices. If the ad is only displayed in the United States, the location is given by state. Usually the leading states are the largest; California, Texas, New York and Florida. Again, there appears to be some computer guided system for the distribution process itself depending on content and previous metrics. None of that is available to the consumer so the variables for targeting the audience can be limiting. It is suggested to have a linked Google analytics account and some other method to track locations and visitors, such as a Statcounter, to get better metrics on the audience. A visit to the ad center yields the basic parameters of cost and visitor statistics as well as buttons to pause the ad entirely if unsatisfied with the results.
Conclusion: No guarantee exists that advertising on a Facebook page will increase traffic to the blog. Facebook provides a comment box at the post for visitors that can give insight where simple statistics fall short. Comments are often not constructive and many only serve to undermine others who have posted their remarks. However, it is valuable interaction with the content that can be taken into consideration when the topic is revised for publication. In addition, a blog post isn’t meant to replace an in depth research paper or proposal for a novel. It is meant to get an idea of how the public might respond to the topic without doing all the work in vain. At the same time, the like and share buttons allow for yet other indications of just how well the content is received. Social media has many of these options that do not exist through mainstream offerings to promote the writer’s style, content and brand.
Recommendations: Be prepared to start at the ground floor and experiment with blog content that will be suitable for posting on the Facebook page. Keep the title of the blog post informative and brief, as most of the audience views the content on a mobile device. Make the associated image interesting but avoid individuals and text. If the post does not display properly, it will be necessary to rewrite and publish it again until the desired blog address copy and paste results are achieved.
Begin with the simplest ad variables regarding Goal, Options, Audience and Budget. Avoid the Special Ad Category. Consider the location, age and gender of the audience. Be considerate of the comments, delete those that are personal attacks or use profanity. Note the non-verbal responses of likes, emojis and shares. Above all, pause the ad if the response falls short of expectations.
Showcase Portfolio
Fundamentals of Technical Writing
James L’Angelle ENG407B.1001
University of Nevada, Reno
Dr. J. Detweiler, Professor
30 November 2020
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