Getting found is difficult in today's world. By producing something that you think will be of use to someone, you've taken the first step. You have a voice, you're at the podium. You're off to a good start. So why aren't people listening to you? Why aren't they paying attention? The problem is that, for […]
How to Create Brand Advocates (Episode 34)
There's a great book called Brand Advocates: Turning Enthusiastic Customers into a Powerful Marketing Force by Rob Fuggetta. I reference it in the episode, and I'm assigning it to my students this term. In it, the author describes how advocacy can't be purchased. In order to be effective, it must be genuine and given willingly. […]
Thank You to My Listeners
I wasn't going to post this week, but I couldn’t stop myself. Lately I've been overwhelmed by gratitude. Thank you to all my listeners. Thank you to all my readers. Thank you to all my Twitter peeps. You all inspire me. Thank you. And thank you to the random folks out there who share your […]
Choosing the Right Channel for Your Social Media Strategy
Social media marketing is all about direct engagement with an audience. It functions best when brands treat it as a bi-directional discussion, making prospects and customers alike feel like they are a part of a conversation. When it’s working, it builds trust little by little until a prospect becomes a customer, or a customer becomes […]
Social Media Marketing: Choosing Your Channel (Episode 27)
In any content strategy, the delivery is almost as important as the content itself. Either it's supporting your core message or it's working against you. That's why channel selection is so important. There's no one right answer you have to find out for yourself. So, continuing the discussion from the last episode about making real connections, […]
Social Media Marketing: Making Real Connections (Episode 26)
The whole point of using a content strategy for social media is to make connections to build an audience and develop trust. Social media is an important part of that strategy, one of the Three Pillars of Online Branding. Social media is easy enough for anyone to use, but getting the nuances down is the […]
How to Get Past Writer’s Block
In a way, writer’s block is just an excuse. I'm kind of mixed about it, though. While I want to be like those writers who forge ahead no matter what, there are definitely times where I get stuck. When the creativity doesn’t flow. The best advice I can give is to keep making forward progress […]
What the World Doesn’t Need (Episode 17)
How often do you hear this? The world doesn’t need another book about X. The world doesn’t need another product that does Y. The world doesn’t need a new app that does Z. Do we really want people to stop innovating? Because that's the sentiment in this toxic phrase. I want people to keep trying […]
You Haven’t Tried Everything
Saying that you’ve tried everything is a form of giving up. Don’t let yourself use that as an excuse or an easy out. The nuances matter, which means that you need to keep making small adjustments. Keep iterating. Find small successes where you can. Embrace the failures too, they are immensely valuable. The “culture of […]
Ideas vs. Execution (Episode 14)
Ideas are a dime a dozen, even the great ones. It’s what you do with those ideas that counts. And of course, the execution is always the difficult part. You start with a good set of assumptions. After all, you know your audience. You do your research to challenge some of those assumptions. You test […]
Who Can Benefit from Content Strategy? (Episode 2)
Every business uses content in some form or another. Think beyond the obvious things such as a blog or a press release. Your slogan or tag line? Content. Your Powerpoint pitch deck? Content. The last e-mail campaign that you sent out to your customers? Content. When you boil it down, every single contact with a […]