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Control Mouse Media, LLC

Content Strategy | Michael Boezi, Control Mouse Media, LLC

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Professional Résumé

Owner and Managing Director – Control Mouse Media, LLC

January 2014 – Present (6+ years) Boston, MA

I run my own media & consulting business helping small business owners and non-fiction authors build their audience using a content strategy.

  • I am a longtime publishing veteran who has helped hundreds of authors realize their ideas from concept to completion.
  • I am an entrepreneur who has helped build early-stage startups from the ground up.
  • I am a writer, so I understand the creative’s perspective as well as the business side.
  • I am an educator, teaching content strategy to my audience, my clients, and my students.

In addition to working directly with clients, I produce a weekly podcast called Marketing Without the Marketing to teach the basics of content marketing to my audience each week. For more details, please see: https://controlmousemedia.com.

 

Instructor – Emerson College

January 2016 – Present (4+ years) Boston, MA

I teach a grad-level course at Emerson College called “Fundamentals of Content Strategy,” all about developing content as a business asset and using it to achieve specific business goals. Because I believe that students learn by doing, teaching, collaborating, and experimenting, I designed and created this course as a dynamic live project where students work alone and in groups to get experience in the planning and execution of an effective content strategy to build an audience.

 

Board Member and Volunteer – Boston For All

January 2019 – Present (1+ years) Boston, MA

Boston For All is an activist group that runs a series of community events to raise money for immigration justice. We function as a pass-through organization, and 100% of all donations go straight to the nonprofit organizations we support. I serve on the board, create and manage our digital presence, and volunteer at the live events.

Our events are free and open to all. Donations are never required, but offer the opportunity to help in supporting the important work of some great nonprofit organizations. For more about the organization and upcoming community events: https://bostonforall.org

 

Vice President, Strategy – Libboo (now Prolific Works)

July 2013 – December 2013 (<1 year) Cambridge, MA

Libboo (now called Prolific Works) is an early-stage startup that’s seeking to help talented authors of all types have the careers they choose in the digital age. Libboo is an advocacy marketing platform that empowers authors by providing intelligence about their most engaged fans and readers. Authors get a first-of-its-kind data dashboard with real-time analytics and insight into their book and its advocates, including how, where, and why it is shared online—kind of a “Google Analytics for Authors.” For the first time, authors have useable insight into their audience based on real behavioral data and can “tune” their campaigns accordingly.

I was an early advisor to the company, but joined full time at a pivotal point in its development. My focus:

  • Brand management. Drive Libboo’s strategic direction. Unify, clarify, and reduce the message about the mission.
  • Content strategy. Establish Libboo as thought leaders. Create a movement. Inspire underserved authors to build their own brand.
  • Community growth. Employ inbound marketing and growth hacking techniques to attract author partners and their reader advocates.
  • Business Development. Transform the product into a scalable business. Direct the go-to-market strategy for both B2C and B2B.

 

Vice President, Content and Community – Flat World Knowledge

April 2009 – March 2013 (4 years) Boston, MA

When I joined, Flat World Knowledge was a brand new entrant in the higher education textbook industry. In my four years there, we made a huge impact. With a disruptive business model and platform, we produced a competitive catalog of high quality, peer-reviewed textbooks and offered them at significantly lower costs to students (including a free, “open” version), while transferring control of our content to instructors to provide a more personalized learning experience. My team built the catalog—I was responsible for all aspects of content, from acquiring, developing, and licensing textbook content to inbound marketing and content marketing.

Editorial Director, March 2009 – October 2011
I was a part of the core group that built the company from the ground up. I was hired as Editorial Director at the Series A round, charged with building a brand new catalog of college textbooks from scratch. I made an immediate impact by:

  • Acquiring content rapidly. I signed 82 titles in under three years, all core textbooks for the largest-enrolling college courses. That included 22 of the top 25 enrolling markets. Using industry metrics, that’s $163M in projected revenue ($40M in FWK dollars).
  • Developing quality content. I designed and implemented a book development process from scratch; hired a small but powerful team of 4-5 people who published books in about half the time and at nearly a tenth of the cost of the legacy publishers.
  • Producing and delivering content. FWK published 57 first editions in under 3 years. Of those books, 23 titles were ones that I signed, 11 of which served AAA markets. The catalog contains over 100 titles now.
  • Contributing to real change in the industry. By fall semester 2012, our books were actively in use in over 4,000 classrooms, and had served 725,000+ students. We led the industry in access, affordability, and control of content. The market rewarded us with a doubling growth rate, which led to our first profitable month as a company in January 2013.

VP, Content and Community, October 2011 – March 2013
After building the foundation of a strong product catalog, I expanded my role to shape the company’s future by:

  • Building out my concept of Community Around Content, cultivating invested curators who improve current content and create new content.
  • Transforming the company’s marketing philosophy of customer acquisition from purely outbound strategies to more inbound marketing and content marketing.
  • Opening more channels for direct user feedback, and rebuilding the review process so that it is ongoing rather than episodic.
  • Redesigning the platform to transfer more control of our content to our users, and atomizing our content to enable more remixing and reuse.
  • Licensing our content to innovative third party distributors and course providers, and establishing a consistent “born digital” content architecture that makes such deals easy and efficient.
  • Executing a shift in business model in fall 2012 from “Free to Fair,” including designing and writing a new user license.

 

Executive Editor – Pearson Education

November 2004 – March 2009 (4 years 5 months) New York, NY

  • Managed all aspects of Pearson’s list for U.S. History, one of the largest enrolling college courses in the country. Under my direction, this list grew 11% to $24.5M in FY07.
  • Signed top author talent to write and develop new and innovative materials. I acquired 33 titles, totaling $22.2M in total projected revenue. I published 13 first editions in that time.
  • Planned revised editions of existing titles to increase market share. I arranged and signed a total of $37.2M in projected first year revenue.
  • Established and coordinated publication cycles that optimized market opportunity and fostered steady growth.
  • Led all facets of each project from start to finish—from the development of the initial concept to publication of the finished product.
  • Introduced new products such as video podcasts, interactive maps, and MP3 study guides.
  • Supervised and mentored one project manager, one editorial assistant, and one acquisitions editor.

 

Acquisitions Editor – John Wiley & Sons

July 2002 – October 2004 (2 years 4 months) Hoboken, NJ

  • Managed all aspects of an $8M list in Calculus and Finite Mathematics/Applied Calculus.
  • Analyzed market dynamics, identified potential for new products, and targeted top educators to write, review, or contribute to texts and ancillaries. I signed 6 titles, totaling $3.28M in projected first year revenue.
  • Assessed profitability of existing titles, and developed and proposed business plans for potential revisions. I strategized with marketing to devise and implement alternate product versions to reduce attrition.
  • Worked with my product team, authors, and contributors to prepare and deliver manuscript, media, and supplements to the market.

 

Marketing Manager – Addison-Wesley

September 1997 – June 2002 (4 years 10 months) Boston, MA

  • Responsible for the marketing and promotion of Addison-Wesley’s Calculus and Statistics list ($21M in annual revenue). I drove sales activities through direct contact with customers, and by educating and empowering sales representatives.
  • Led the marketing and promotion of the largest conference dedicated to technology in collegiate mathematics, the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics (ICTCM). I served as a member of the Executive Steering Committee, and extended the brand to include Professional Development Short Courses dedicated to using the Web in mathematics.
  • Initiated, promoted, and executed the Addison-Wesley Experience Mathematics and Statistics Workshop Series. I developed a template to efficiently execute future workshops. I was responsible for a 50% increase in attendance in 2000, setting a new standard for enrollment at the time.

 

Education

  • Colgate University BA, Psychology, 1986 – 1990
  • East Greenwich High School HS, Gen Ed, 1982 – 1986
Marketing Without the Marketing offers respectful, soft-touch marketing strategies that are more in line with today’s consumers. This podcast is for small business owners of all types, including writers, musicians, and other creatives.

Most Recent Episodes

I’m Leaving

Duration: 8:15

A Discount Is Not a Gift

Duration: 8:09

2 Ways to Get 3 Points

Duration: 6:29

Right to a Response

Duration: 9:20

I Love Your Blog Post

Duration: 6:28

The Digital Representation of You (Episode 200)

Duration: 9:22

Three Marketing Quiz Types and Their Applications

Duration: 7:52

No One Cares About Us

Duration: 7:38

Designing the Perfect Quiz for Lead Generation

Duration: 7:17

LinkedIn Is a Tough Scroll

Duration: 6:25

How to Ruin a Good Customer Relationship

Duration: 5:15

Four Principles of an Effective Marketing Quiz

Duration: 5:49

Why Quizzes Are Good for Content Marketing

Duration: 8:05

The Ambient Awareness Test

Duration: 6:48

Stop Mimicking What Marketers Do

Duration: 5:35

Finding Your Media Fit

Duration: 9:28

How to Change My Mind

Duration: 0:41

Consider the Source: Extending the Scope of this Show

Duration: 9:04

Using a Podcast to Create an Audiobook

Duration: 9:38

Turning the Page

Duration: 8:39

Promoting and Syndicating Your Podcast

Duration: 8:41

Setting Up and Launching Your Podcast

Duration: 9:30

Scripting and Recording Your Podcast

Duration: 8:00

Podcasting as a Strategy for Writers

Duration: 8:19

Why Black Lives Matter Is Such a Powerful Slogan

Duration: 8:39

Now We Know

Duration: 9:34

What Happens Tomorrow?

Duration: 6:45

Don’t Take My Advice

Duration: 5:30

Empathy, Energy, and Ethics

Duration: 8:55

We Need Marketing More Than Ever

Duration: 6:29

Refocusing When Focusing Is Difficult

Duration: 7:09

Closing Up Shop

Duration: 11:00

Creating Urgency: Online Store Strategy 201

Duration: 10:48

Employing Scarcity: Online Store Strategy 201

Duration: 11:04

Making the Sale: Online Store Strategy 201

Duration: 17:06

When to Use Facebook Ads: Social Strategy 201

Duration: 14:52

How to Support Small Businesses During the Coronavirus Crisis

Duration: 9:02

How Small Businesses Can Survive the Coronavirus Crisis

Duration: 11:11

Small Groups vs. Large Followings: Social Strategy 201

Duration: 12:22

Domain Renewal Scams: How to Avoid Them

Duration: 10:52

Measurement and Iteration: Social Strategy 201

Duration: 17:13

Rethinking Our Social Media Interactions: Social Strategy 201

Duration: 15:29

Social Is Not What It Used to Be: Social Strategy 201

Duration: 13:23

No One Wants to Read an Email Newsletter

Duration: 12:59

Your Facebook Page Has Been Hacked

Duration: 12:56

List Hygiene and Maintenance: Email Marketing 201

Duration: 19:55

Intermediate Automation: Email Marketing 201

Duration: 12:48

Basic Automation: Email Marketing 201

Duration: 13:03

List Segmentation Strategies: Email Marketing 201

Duration: 18:12

Be a Part of the Community You Serve

Duration: 13:48

Content Marketing Has Changed

Duration: 12:11

Repurposing Content: Blog Strategy 201

Duration: 15:48

Are You Famous?

Duration: 8:31

Building Anticipation: Blog Strategy 201

Duration: 14:32

A Simple Example of Ethical Business Practices

Duration: 8:25

Optimizing for Search: Blog Strategy 201

Duration: 16:14

Ethical Marketing Is Not an Oxymoron

Duration: 11:43

Using Instagram for Blogging

Duration: 13:43

Creating a Pathway to Purchase: Web Strategy 201

Duration: 12:22

Google Plus Is Shutting Down: What You Need to Know

Duration: 11:06

Beyond Getting Traffic: Web Strategy 201

Duration: 9:01

More Than Just a Showroom: Web Strategy 201

Duration: 8:34

Content Marketing 201: Beyond the Basics

Duration: 6:54

The Internet Is One Big Rickroll Now

Duration: 8:51

The One Word That Diminishes Your Work

Duration: 10:55

Build, Connect, Optimize: The Three Stages of Good Marketing

Duration: 12:24

SEO and the User Pathway

Duration: 11:25

SEO Is More Than Keywords

Duration: 12:08

SEO: Write for Humans First, Robots Second

Duration: 12:55

SEO: Understanding the Google Algorithm

Duration: 11:53

SEO Is About Serving People (not Google)

Duration: 10:00

SEO Is a Key Part of Any Marketing Strategy

Duration: 11:17

What Is SEO and How to Unlock Its Power

Duration: 9:18

SEO: A Different Approach

Duration: 8:53

The Power of Zero

Duration: 14:19

Charting Your Own Path

Duration: 10:08

Productizing Your Knowledge

Duration: 15:38

Building Your Email List

Duration: 13:39

Producing a Podcast: Pros and Cons

Duration: 17:56

Creating Effective Cornerstone Content

Duration: 17:02

GDPR and Email Marketing: A Simple Set-Up Guide

Duration: 18:51

Making the Fear Disappear

Duration: 13:17

Surviving the First Few Months of a New Business

Duration: 12:39

Why Pinterest Is on the Rise

Duration: 12:05

Finding Mentors and Models

Duration: 13:39

Day 1 of Your New Business

Duration: 9:31

So You Want to Start a Business?

Duration: 11:15

Fixing Facebook: Why the Current Plan Will Fail

Duration: 16:21

Facebook Zero: What It Means for Small Businesses

Duration: 15:35

Creativity Is a Business Imperative

Duration: 9:31

Advertising Offset Credits: Calculating the Cost of Ad Pollution

Duration: 9:31

More Speculation About Facebook’s Future

Duration: 14:21

Facebook Is Headed for Trouble: The Coming Storm

Duration: 19:01

From Adversity to Acceleration: Business Growth Strategies from Kelly Roach

Duration: 29:45

How to Make Sure You Actually Own the Rights to Your Content

Duration: 10:35

The Customer Is Always Free to Go

Duration: 17:57

Contracts Are Not a Trap

Duration: 16:21

Hourly Rate vs. Project Rate: Which Is Most Fair for Both Sides?

Duration: 18:12

When to Ask for the Sale: Not Early and Often

Duration: 16:07

Non-Disclosure Agreements: Mistrust Is Not a Good Starting Point

Duration: 14:46

Execution Is Everything In Business

Duration: 15:10

Creating Content as a Business Asset

Duration: 10:02

Tweeting Is Believing, Tweeting Out Is Not

Duration: 11:06

Social Media Cannot Exist in a Vacuum

Duration: 14:56

Marketing and the Experimental Mindset

Duration: 18:15

Soft-Touch Marketing Is More Respectful – and More Effective

Duration: 14:13

Stop Looking for Shortcuts

Duration: 18:33

Marketing Is an Investment, Not a Cost

Duration: 13:39

Episode 100: I Am Not Special

Duration: 16:12

I Am Tired of Seeing Creatives Fail

Duration: 17:47

Marketing Automation: A Case Example

Duration: 21:17

Consistency in Content Strategy

Duration: 14:13

Be In It for the Long Game

Duration: 11:00

How Do You Measure Trust?

Duration: 17:07

The Service Disposition

Duration: 15:47

Business Isn’t “Just Business”

Duration: 14:06

What Content Strategy Teaches You About Business

Duration: 17:59

Podcast Sponsorships: Your Opinion

Duration: 10:54

How a Mini-Series Can Help Your Content Strategy

Duration: 14:15

Repurposing Content to Create an Online Course

Duration: 19:13

Repurposing Content: The Downstream Method

Duration: 17:32

Repurposing Content: The Upstream Method

Duration: 18:58

Repurposing Content Across Different Contexts

Duration: 14:55

Repurposing Content Across Different Formats

Duration: 13:14

Repurposing Content Is a Part of Any Content Strategy

Duration: 10:41

Picking Better Models for Your Business

Duration: 14:29

How to Make Your Content More Shareable

Duration: 12:48

How to Syndicate Content Safely on Medium

Duration: 12:05

Content Syndication: Safe SEO Practices for Your Blog

Duration: 15:32

The Four Principles of Teaching Your Customers

Duration: 11:49

Producing Content to Educate Your Customers

Duration: 11:21

A New Direction for Medium: Can Ev Williams Save the Web?

Duration: 12:11

The Social Media Strategy Series: Wrap-Up

Duration: 21:05

Know Your Customer: Using Data-Driven Marketing

Duration: 22:43

Challenging Conventional Wisdom in Content Marketing: Interview with Louie La Vella

Duration: 35:58

On the Horizon: A Preview

Duration: 11:52

LinkedIn Pulse for Business: Baseline Strategies for Personal Branding

Duration: 14:59

You Only Have to Tell Me One Lie

Duration: 13:20

Periscope for Business: Using Live Video as a Marketing Strategy

Duration: 15:44

Twitter and Its Persistent Superpower

Duration: 15:44

Facebook Groups for Business: A New Approach to Marketing

Duration: 16:31

Twitter Ads for Business: An Underrated Marketing Strategy

Duration: 22:00

Hope Is Not a Marketing Plan

Duration: 6:19

Medium for Business: The Benefits of Social Blogging

Duration: 19:31

Facebook Ads for Business: Taking Your Social Strategy to the Next Level

Duration: 24:34

Pinterest for Business: Are You Missing an Opportunity?

Duration: 17:37

Pausing to Say Thank You

Duration: 2:03

Instagram Stories vs. Snapchat for Business

Duration: 16:36

Snapchat for Business: How to Nurture Your Audience

Duration: 22:13

Instagram for Business: Brand Storytelling with Images

Duration: 20:14

Respect Your Audience

Duration: 10:18

YouTube for Business: Where the World Goes to Learn

Duration: 20:20

Google Plus for Business: Why It Still Matters to Your Content Strategy

Duration: 16:15

Facebook for Business: Optimizing for Organic Reach

Duration: 23:33

LinkedIn for Business: Taking It to the Next Level

Duration: 21:12

Twitter for Business: Is It Right For You?

Duration: 25:57

Social Media Marketing: Choosing the Right Content

Duration: 14:15

Social Media Marketing: 4 Strategies for Channel Selection

Duration: 13:08

It’s Not Content Strategy Without Planning

Duration: 13:33

Episode 50: How to Get to 50 Episodes

Duration: 22:01

How to Find Your Superpower and Focus on the Right Stuff: Interview with Katy Tynan

Duration: 33:16

Taking Your Social Media Strategy Seriously

Duration: 15:08

Me as a Customer

Duration: 12:38

You as a Customer

Duration: 12:31

Converting Your Customers Into Advocates

Duration: 12:07

Getting Your Customers Involved

Duration: 11:09

Picking the Right Customers

Duration: 10:30

Finding Your First Customer

Duration: 12:42

How Content Strategy Makes You More Efficient

Duration: 13:05

Social Media Strategy for Brick and Mortar Businesses: Interview with Laura Nunemaker

Duration: 33:16

New Opportunities in a Post-Gatekeeper World

Duration: 10:00

Timing and Frequency in Content Strategy

Duration: 10:42

How to Get Publicity and Other Media Coverage: Interview with Chris Well

Duration: 26:07

Building Your Online Authority

Duration: 12:01

Optimizing Your Content for Searchability and Discoverability

Duration: 14:12

How to Create Brand Advocates

Duration: 9:08

Teaching and Learning

Duration: 12:11

Thank You, Internet

Duration: 7:54

Running Your Business the Right Way

Duration: 13:09

Content Strategy Planning for Small Business Owners

Duration: 11:53

Differentiating Yourself as a Small Business

Duration: 11:28

Why Do Small Businesses Need a Content Strategy?

Duration: 10:33

Social Media Marketing: Choosing Your Channel

Duration: 14:18

Social Media Marketing: Making Real Connections

Duration: 12:35

Improving Your Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Duration: 11:48

Finding the Influencers in Your Audience

Duration: 12:44

Unlocking the Power of Content Marketing

Duration: 11:36

An Audience Is Your Greatest Asset

Duration: 11:47

How to Get Past Writer’s Block

Duration: 11:46

Getting Started on Your Book Project

Duration: 10:30

Things to Consider Before Starting Your Book Project

Duration: 10:11

Should Writing a Book Be a Part of Your Content Strategy?

Duration: 11:49

What the World Doesn’t Need

Duration: 7:32

You Haven’t Tried Everything

Duration: 8:59

How to Run a Successful Kickstarter Campaign: Interview with Bruce Myren

Duration: 35:49

Ideas vs. Execution

Duration: 11:47

The ROI of Content Marketing

Duration: 8:12

Content Marketing: Content as a Promise

Duration: 7:53

Getting Started with Marketing Optimization: Interview with Todd Meisler

Duration: 31:11

Content Strategy: Content as an Asset

Duration: 8:58

Separating Strategy and Tactics in Content Marketing

Duration: 12:45

The 3 Types of Content Every Small Business Needs

Duration: 10:13

Is Content Marketing Right for Your Business?

Duration: 8:16

How Your Audience Creates More Audience

Duration: 7:44

The Three Core Elements of Content Marketing

Duration: 8:37

Building the Foundation of Your Content Strategy

Duration: 9:23

Why Content Marketing is Your Only Choice

Duration: 8:38

Who Can Benefit from Content Strategy?

Duration: 9:50

Introduction to Content Strategy

Duration: 5:25

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Online Courses from Michael Boezi

Online courses on content strategy from Michael Boezi, Owner and Managing Director of Control Mouse Media, LLC.See the full list of current and future courses, including SEO Basics, Social Media Strategy, Email Marketing, and Content Marketing for Writers. View all courses>>

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