The 5 C’s of Effective Content Marketing
Content marketing is hot right now. But just because everyone’s doing it, doesn’t mean it’s easy. Great content takes a lot of time and careful thinking. The good news? We’ve put together a 5-step guide that can help you remember the most important elements of a great content campaign. We’ve even gone to the trouble […]
3 Strategies to Make Big Content Work for Your Brand
“Big Content”, also known as content that requires significant time and resources, is all the rage today. But how do you turn these ebooks, whitepapers, videos, webinars, Slideshares, etc., from fun, long-term content creations to powerful projects that really drive business? I interviewed 3 marketers who make large content projects work for their companies and […]
7 Content Marketing Poop Scoops
I believe the most common content marketing question I field is: Barry, how do I make exciting content about (insert dull product category here)? On one hand, it’s a good question in that the marketer asking it knows dull content is deadly. But it’s a bad question too. Why? Because it’s the wrong question. The […]
25 Brain Lubricants to Generate Content Ideas
Feeling stuck? The content’s not coming. It happens. I’m often asked where do you find ideas? I’m not sure I have the answers, but the question got me thinking. The tin man followed the yellow brick road. No guarantees, but maybe one of the following brain lubricants ease you on down the road to Oz. […]
PayPal’s Patriotic Pup Shines Over the July 4th Holiday
Ah, Fourth of July. The holiday conjures up visions of American flags, fun in the sun, BBQs and fireworks. While many companies created social media posts around the holiday, PayPal’s patriotic pup stole the show. Shared both on PayPal’s Facebook page and Instagram channel, the words adorable and clever come to mind. How can you […]
How to Outsource Your Way to Better Content
I was going to bed crying and waking up vomiting. I was putting in 80-hour week after 80-hour week and still not getting it all done. I was acting as CEO, CFO, manager, secretary, and janitor. I was everything and more to the company I had started. Things were going 24/7 with no sign of […]
Bloggers Unite! A 10-Point Guide for Blogger Collaboration
Web marketing isn’t a solo endeavor. In fact, the entire goal is connectedness: businesses to prospects, brands to brand advocates, people to people. If you have a blog, you can start connecting from the very beginning. Here’s a blogger collaboration guide to get you started: Note: If you’re already doing some blogger collaboration, check your […]
Is Social Media Creating a Plagiarism Problem (+ Infographic)
Stolen content is an increasing problem, as people quote text that is not their own without attributing it to the original writer. Examples can be found on Twitter where users steal other’s tweets or in blog posts that are plagiarized. Why is it that plagiarism is making its way into social media? 1. Lack of […]
Nice Blogs Finish Last
Content marketing works and brands everywhere are getting on board, writing, editing and posting fresh content. That’s nice. But for most bloggers, ideas for post come along almost randomly. Inspiration strikes and something gets written. But was it what the audience needed? Does it relate to other content? …or is it just another post within […]
Moneyball Principles for Content Marketing
By now you have likely seen, read or heard about the story of the Oakland A’s baseball teams of the early 2000s. Led by General Manager, Billy Beane, the club had limited resources with which to build a winning team, especially when compared to big budget competitors like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, etc. As opposed to relying on old school player evaluation tactics, they hired analysts who used statistical models to identify batters who could score more runs and find pitchers who could get more outs. While the Moneyball story is framed within the game of baseball, it’s really about math. It showed that we can depend on numbers to help predict success. And while it was not perfect, this particular “numbers first” approach proved better than an expert’s best guess.
Don’t Tell Me I’m Wasting My Time
Guest post by Marjorie Clayman, resident blogger at www.margieclayman.com. She works at Clayman Advertising, Inc., her family-owned full-service marketing firm. I know that it is impossible to please everyone in any scenario, but most especially in the online world. Because of that, I most of the time let snide remarks roll off me like water off a […]
To Build Blog Subscribers, Get Narrow-Minded
I had an interesting conversation about blog visitors and blog subscribers with my friend Doug Karr a few weeks ago at the Blog Indiana conference. Doug’s blog covers a wide swath of digital marketing topics, whereas Convince & Convert is of course mostly in the social media lane with occasional dalliances in email, conversion optimization, […]
New Research Finds the Curation vs Creation Sweet Spot
Whether you’re on a first date, meeting new people at a dinner party, or making it rain on Twitter, it’s just not a good idea to go on and on about yourself. It’s just awkward. Conventional social media marketing wisdom suggests that brands should avoid being overly self-promotional. Thus, brands seek to “be a part […]
Calculate Your Blogging ROI in 9 Steps
Blogging isn’t free. Creating and sustaining a good blog for yourself or your company is a highly labor-intensive proposition. The people (maybe you) working on the blog could be doing something else that helps the company make money, save money, or both. Thus, blogging presents a serious opportunity cost to the company. Smart organizations methodically […]
Top 5 Slideshare Marketing Tips
Guest post by Kristina Allen, Online Marketing Manager at ion interactive, the makers of the LiveBall marketing optimization software. One of my favorite social marketing activities right now is creating Slideshare presentations. Slideshare is a directory of presentations. Think of it as YouTube, but for Powerpoint. I really love creating short (read: easily consumable) but […]
Lifting the Fog of the Blog: 8 Strategic Questions Before You Write 1 Word
There are more than 150 million blogs, according to Technorati’s “State of the Blogosphere” report. Given competition of that magnitude, why should people spend time reading yours? As a frequent blog consultant, I find the success impediment isn’t really the effort required, but rather a planning deficit. Most blogs fail not due to quality, but […]