Jessica Valenti changed my mind about cancel culture. How? By speaking with clarity and empathy. This serves as a great example of what I’ve been exploring lately in my new project, Consider the Source. This episode is available exclusively as part of this new project: Listen to it here. Wait, why? Marketing is about experimenting, […]
How to Attract an Agent, Publisher, or Label
An agent, producer, or publisher has to make decisions based on money. If they invest in you, will they get that investment back? Will they make a profit? If the answer to these questions is, “I’m not sure,” then you are not going to get picked. It’s as simple as that. Let’s remedy that.
Growing Your Audience: Taking Your Talent to the Next Level
The best way to showcase your talent is by activating word-of-mouth marketing. Your message will travel further and faster in the hands of others. Growing your audience is not a passive process though. It requires a strategy, one that can seem counterintuitive at first glance.
Creativity in Business and the Business of Creativity
There’s a myth that creativity and business don’t mix. In fact, the opposite is true: It’s never been more important to bring creativity into business, and there’s never been a better time to turn your creativity into a business. Here are 4 strategies to break down the myths that limit our potential.
Why Do Creatives Still Struggle?
It’s a shame when you see great art go unnoticed. I got sick of seeing creatives fail, so I wanted to do something about it. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how and why I created a comprehensive online course to help writers, musicians, and visual artists.
Career Challenges for Creatives – Survey Results
Creatives have unique challenges when trying to market and sell their art. In the interest of learning more, we conducted a survey of 200+ creative people. Here is a summary of our results.
What Authors Can Learn From the Music Business
Authors can learn a lot from the changes in the music business. Dave Kusek, founder of Berklee Online, is interviewed by Joanna Penn about the music industry and how it directly applies to the shift in digital publishing.
Live Training – Content Marketing for Creative Entrepreneurs
Content Marketing for Creatives This week we are holding live training on how to build and connect with an audience around your creative work. If you want recognition for your work, or to attract industry partners or create income from your creative passions and pursuits, then this LIVE Master Class is for you. We’re going to break down […]
Instagram Stories vs. Snapchat for Business (Episode 62)
Part 8 of The Social Media Strategy Series A couple weeks ago, Instagram launched a new feature called Instagram Stories. It's a direct copy of Snapchat Stories. The differences in feature set are incredibly minute, but the differences in context are potentially very meaningful. There's been a lot written about this move by Zuckerberg & […]
Snapchat for Business: How to Nurture Your Audience (Episode 61)
Part 7 of The Social Media Strategy Series Should I be on Snapchat? It's one of the most frequent questions I get from small business owners. There's a lot of excitement about this new and unique platform with good reason. But a lot of it is just hype, too. So how can you make a […]
Instagram for Business: Brand Storytelling with Images (Episode 60)
Part 6 of The Social Media Strategy Series It's fun to create and share images. So it's easy to see why Instagram is one of the Web's most popular platforms. But under Facebook's ownership, Instagram is evolving quickly. What we're seeing is a series of strategic moves to make the platform much more brand-friendly. Perhaps […]
Respect Your Audience (Episode 59)
Your audience will come to you. Give them time. It’s not going to happen all at once, so be patient. Social media & blogging can be done in a pull fashion rather than aggressive, self-serving push tactics. Treat your audience with respect and let them make the decision when to buy from you. Given the opportunity […]
YouTube for Business: Where the World Goes to Learn (Episode 58)
Part 5 of The Social Media Strategy Series If you want to learn anything at all, you can almost certainly find a YouTube video showing you how to do it. Thousands of people have shared their particular expertise in the form of short instructional videos. People teach, and people learn. This simple exchange provides a […]
Google Plus for Business: Why It Still Matters (Episode 57)
Part 4 of The Social Media Strategy Series People think that Google Plus is dead. Another failed social network. But while it may not have turned out the way Google wanted it to, Google Plus is still an incredibly important part of any content strategy. And if you're not using it, you're missing out on an […]
Facebook for Business: Optimizing for Organic Reach (Episode 56)
Part 3 of The Social Media Strategy Series People think of Facebook as a social media platform. With 1.6 billion users, you could make a case that it's the social media platform. But in reality, Facebook is the natural evolution of network television it exists for the privilege of delivering targeted ads to us in between […]
LinkedIn for Business: What the Microsoft Acquisition Means for You (Episode 55)
Part 2 of The Social Media Strategy Series This is the second episode of The Social Media Strategy Series, where I devote an episode to each of the major social platforms to help you decide whether or not they will be a good strategy for you and your business. In each episode, I cover the […]
Twitter for Business: Is It Right For You? (Episode 54)
Part 1 of The Social Media Strategy Series Welcome to the first episode of The Social Media Strategy Series, where I devote an episode to each of the major platforms to help you decide whether or not they will be good for you and your particular business. Your business is unique, as is the audience […]
Social Media Marketing: Choosing the Right Content (Episode 53)
Social media is an important part of any content strategy, so I'm devoting the next set of episodes to helping you strategize about how to get the most out of it. I always see it as an optimization problem. You want to focus on the right activities, in the right channels, to maximize your impact. […]
Social Media Marketing: 4 Strategies for Channel Selection (Episode 52)
Building an audience is difficult work, and you don't want to create any extra friction. So what can you do to not have it be a huge burden on the organization? If the outcomes outweigh the time spent, then you'll feel like it's worth it. But if you feel like the process is heavy, then […]
It’s Not Content Strategy Without Planning (Episode 51)
Many people focus on the marketing side of content strategy, which makes sense. It's a means to an outcome. The goal is usually to enhance, or even replace, traditional marketing efforts. But with a good content strategy, you are doing much more than just driving awareness. It's about creating a reusable business asset. It's about […]