Thursday Press #159: he made me cry on frat row
[21 NOV 2024]
What's the most competitive sport in college athletics?
As a Tarheel grad, you might expect me to say basketball, because of Michael Jordan.
You might even expect me to say women's soccer, because of Mia Hamm and our legacy of USWNT players.
But the most competitive sport of all is actually something far less flashy and much more important…
Class registration.
Registering for classes was a cutthroat frenzy of trying to craft the perfect schedule out of letter scrambles like MEJO 418 and COMP 110 using ancient online infrastructure that was slow at best and unavailable at worst.
We would fill our shopping carts with potential courses, refreshing juuuuust before our scheduled, lottery-based time to pick our future.
It was like some academic version of the classic break-down-the-doors Black Friday and the Eras Tour Ticketmaster queue.
I mean, entire businesses were literally built and bought on the foundation of helping us plan our course schedule. RIP Coursicle.
As a senior balancing two majors and a hastily added advertising minor, I had pages of contingency plans ranging from best case scenario to FML 8 a.m. lectures on Mondays and Fridays.
I had put in my time, and I was damned if I was going to accept anything less than ideal.
Which is why I showed up to a class on the first day of the semester despite only being on the waitlist.
“People always end up dropping, you'll get in.”
“He always lets a few extra people in, just come to class!"
“I'll save you a seat!”
And you know what? People did not end up dropping, my friend did not save me a seat, and that professor definitely wasn't letting anyone else into the class.
In fact, at the beginning of the class, he had all of us hopeful waitlisted students self-identify, move to the back of the classroom, and then told us to just go home because “if you're not officially enrolled now, you won't be.”
OUCH.
That's how I ended up biking home in the muggy late August North Carolina heat, holding back tears of embarrassment and frustration when it happened.
I was pedaling quickly, racing to get back to the privacy of my off-campus room when the chain of my bike fell off.
And despite my best efforts, it was not going back on.
To add insult to injury, this breakdown was occurring right across the street from Frat Row — 2 minutes off campus and another 10 to get back home.
So I walked my nonfunctional bike back home, took a teary selfie to send to Caroline for sympathy, and resigned myself to whatever backup plan I had concocted.
At this moment, I couldn't tell you what the original class I was trying to get into was nor what I ended up taking instead.
But I definitely remember how it felt to pin all my hopes on one thing and have it let me down.
It was actually the first time I'd tried to weasel my way into a class. Although unfortunately — and unbeknownst to me at the time — it was not the last.
Typically, I preferred the sure thing, avoiding overly competitive courses and the stress that accompanied them.
And y'know what? I stick by that.
A little competition is fine, but you can't let your entire future ride on just one class. Or keyword…
A MANIFESTO AGAINST GENERIC KEYWORDS
I don't care how valuable your blog post is or how good your pin graphic looks… if you're starting brand new on Pinterest and trying to rank for “Brand Design” right out the gates, you're going to be disappointed.
That's like a college freshman trying to register for a senior-level anatomy lab with the only professor who doesn't actively try to fail their students…
It's too competitive.
“But that's what my content is about!”
I hear you! And I'm not telling you to ditch the brand design [or Showit website or Instagram tips or whatever else is relevant] keyword altogether.
I just want you to get more specific.
Sure, “brand design” is the overarching keyword that fits your content, but it's not the only one that fits.
What style of designs are you creating?
What industries are you designing for?
Is it a logo or a color palette?
There are lots of different ways to turn that broad keyword into a more specific, long-tail keyword.
Those long-tail keywords are going to be less competitive.
Even though there might not be as many searches for a specific keyword as for a general one, you'll actually have a chance to cut through the crowd and start ranking in searches more quickly.
Annnnd, because Pinterest SEO is more comprehensive, you're not forgoing “brand design” by using “modern brand design for realtors.”
You're still including that root keyword and as you start getting more traction in the less competitive searches, your content will hold more weight and trust when it comes to those general searches.
Want proof? Here's the case study of one client that I got to 1,000 monthly outbound clicks using that exact strategy. Oh, and we're at over 2,000 clicks/month now.
01. EDITOR'S PICK
The Benefits of Specificity: Pinterest Case Study
After auditing dozens of Pinterest accounts in the past few years, I found myself consistently repeating a lot of the same advice.
9 times out of 10, it had to do with keywords.
Quite frankly, I don't think you need to book an audit to learn how to use Pinterest SEO to your own benefit.
That's why I'm sharing everything I've learned in the Pinterest SEO workshop next month!
We'll be going over strategies just like the one in this issue, along with actionable steps to work through your keyword conundrums together.
Presale is open now and you can save $50 with the code PRESALE, making the workshop just $47!
And before you ask, no, it won't be going further on sale for Black Friday / Cyber Monday.
I knowwww we're all in the “I'm going to wait and see what the sale is like” time, so here's your official heads up!!
The workshop will be on sale for $47 until Nov 28th
ALL products and workshops will be 20% off from Nov 29th to Dec 5th
The workshop goes up to regular price ($97) from Dec 6th to Dec 11th
Got Qs? Wondering if the workshop is right for you? Need a lo-fi / instrumental playlist rec to keep you focused during the busiest time of the year?
I've gotcha covered. Hit “reply” or slide into my DMs on Insta!
Later alligator!!
Sarah
P.S. It feels of ultimate importance to let you know that the song “That's Amore” has been playing on loop inside my brain while writing this. I'm passing it on in hopes to get some peace, sorry if you get the earworm too!!