Bloggers Get Two Free Copies of The NOW Revolution
We can’t believe The NOW Revolution is almost here. Less than a month until it debuts, and we couldn’t be more excited. The hardest part is wondering whether all of you will like it as much as we liked it when we wrote it. So, let’s find out. If you have a blog (and not […]
The 10 Social Media Thoughts You Liked Best
Looking back on an exhilarating 2010, I wanted to take a second to just say thank you. No frills, no flourishes. Just thanks. There’s a LOT of places you could go to get you social media and digital marketing fix, and I’m incredibly honored that you choose to spend time here. As part of my […]
Blogging Success Summit – 23 Tips From Blogging Top Dogs
If you want to take your personal or corporate blogging to new heights in 2011, here’s an opportunity to get a leg up. The Blogging Success Summit kicks off in February, with 23 presentations from a murderer’s row of blogging luminaries (+ me). And for a short time, you can save 50% on registration at […]
The Dirty Secrets of Time, Priorities, and Honesty
I hate excuses. And the one I despise most of all is “I don’t have time.” Bullshit. You can find the time. It exists. You choose not to devote the time, and there’s a big difference. I don’t work out. (people that have met me in person are LOLing about the understated nature of that […]
Content Lessons Learned From 25 Popular Blog Posts
I’ve been writing Convince & Convert for more than two years, and have produced more than 300 posts. Mostly from me, with some terrific assistance from talented guest authors. Last week, I was on a content marketing discussion panel (moderated by Jeff Rohrs) at the ExactTarget Connections conference. I was joined by Joe Pulizzi from […]
The 3 Amigos: Email, Blogging, Social Sharing
For a while now, there’s been too much talk about social media vs. email vs. search. All of these tactics can work together seamlessly to create a robust, optimized content marketing engine that pays real dividends in increased website traffic, and conversions. A collaboration between RESMARK Systems (a provider of hospitality software), Western River Expeditions […]
Are You Growing Enough Voices
I’m back from my family vacation in Canada. While I was away, Convince & Convert featured 11 guest blog posts from friends, clients, and colleagues. Some of the guest writers blog on occasion at their own sites. None of them blog routinely. You might expect that this blog that has been written almost entirely by […]
Does Your Blog Have a Long Tail
Most smart bloggers try to focus on a few, key search terms in their blog content. But the reality is, your blog is probably a lot more broad than you think. Last week, I co-published a white paper with Chris Baggott, the CEO of Compendium Blogware (I’m on their advisory board). The free “Blogging’s Long […]
5 Ways to Make Friends with Strangers on Your Blog
Remember in high school, when someone would throw a party when their parents were out of town? At first, you knew everyone at the party. They were all friends of the host, nervously alternating between drinking Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers, and trying not to break anything. But then, it all changed. The party got […]
How to Match 10 Key Success Metrics to Your Blogging Strategy
If you’re blogging for business, rather than blogging about your cat, baby, fashion addiction, or crush on Taylor Swift, you need to set some success metrics. Without a statistical measure of your blogging progress, adding content to your blog on a regular basis can be an incredibly lonely proposition. Is anyone out there? Does anyone […]
The 39 Social Media Tools I’ll Use Today
Subscribe to our new Definitive newsletter: High grade digital marketing guidance, topically sorted, and curated to the max. You pick the categories, we deliver the content. The best content from around the web, on topics you care about and need to be an expert in. Amazingly, it seems like there’s more social media tools than […]
Please Help Me Pick a New Look For My Blog
I’ve been making a few tweaks to Convince & Convert recently, with the help of my friend (and WordPress/SEO ninja) Chuck Reynolds. We’ve added Disqus as the commenting system. Changed the sharing tools to incorporate Sexy Bookmarks plug-in (Michael Stelzner at Social Media Examiner turned me on to it). We’re working on tweaking the subscription […]
Should a Blog be Your Social Media Hub?
The divine corporate blogging expert Debbie Weil recently asked this question on her blog, as part of a Kindle version refresh of her excellent book “The Corporate Blogging Book.” Debbie asked me to think about whether a blog should be the social media hub – your epicenter, the place where you’re trying to bring your […]
4 Ways Bloggers Differ From Reporters
You have to pitch bloggers differently than reporters. The marvelous Dave Fleet writes a lot about this topic, and Chris Brogan produced a terrific, straightforward post about blogger pitching recently. Here’s my thoughts on some advanced blogger pitching ideas and the key differences between bloggers and reporters. Influence is Made Not Born Guess how many […]
Get More Bait in the Water
How can you catch more fish? By using more poles. If you’re going to create social media content to establish or perpetuate thought leadership for you, your company, or your clients, you can’t silo your ideas. The old method of thought leadership was to create a white paper. A carefully crafted, highly edited, incredibly boring, […]
Does Your Corporate Blog Measure Up
There’s a fair amount of agreement on principles on an effective blog, and even widespread head nodding regarding what success metrics are important. However, there’s very little available with regard to blog metrics benchmarking, and how your blog compares to others. I’m hoping to change that. And you can help by taking this short survey. […]