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Content Marketing for Career Development

You’ve read many books and blogs about content marketing. You’re planning to attend Content Marketing World. You get it. You know that content marketing is a strategically important element to your company and your products or services.

What about your career? What’s your content marketing strategy?

If you’re asking why you need a content strategy in your career, here are two reasons:

  1. It’s good for your career.
  2. It’s good for your employer or your business.

The process of developing a content marketing strategy for your career is exactly the same as the process to develop one for your brand.  Ask yourself these questions:

  1. What do I want to be known for?
  2. Who do I want to reach?
  3. Where can I reach them?
  4. What content can I produce to reach them?

Let’s look at examples of people whose content strategy has benefited their careers and their employers or their business. The first four examples are well known content marketers. The second set of four are not as widely known, but very successful in their own right.

Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan worked in the telecom industry and was just another cube guy until he started blogging around 1998. He had no platform or advantageous position from which he launched his personal brand. His early blogging days taught him that he could build relationships with people online, and he realized that most businesses were doing social media all wrong. So, he simply produced content that provided really practical insights about marketing and social media. Through his content, he positioned himself to be known as a wise guy (as in very smart). He wanted to reach marketers in all flavors from big business to consultants. And, he knew he could reach them through various social media channels starting with a blog and supplemented through Twitter, and other social media tools. Even though it took Brogan eight years to get his first 100 blog subscribers, he has since become a New York Times bestselling author, renowned speaker, blogger and owner of several businesses, all of which benefit from his personal brand. All his success has come about from his content strategy.

Scott Monty

Scott Monty is the head of social media at Ford. Prior to joining Ford, Monty held other corporate marketing and communications positions and spent time with a B2B marketing agency.  Monty is a prolific blogger and podcaster. His visionary insights and content track record landed him one of the most visible corporate marketing executive positions in the world. He is widely recognized for his content contributions to Ford and to the social media industry.

Joe Pulizzi

Known as the father of content marketing and lover of all things orange, Joe Pulizzi previously was an executive at Penton Media. As a blogger, he recognized the need to inform and educate marketers on the importance of producing content that builds a relationship with their customers. He co-authored Get Content Get Customers, and founded Junta42, the Content Marketing Institute and SocialTract (a blogging service for B2B companies). Pulizzi’s own content strategy has branded him one of the top authorities on content marketing. He is a speaker in high demand and leads several businesses around this topic. His personal brand is thriving and so are his business ventures because of  his devotion to content marketing.

Mike Volpe

Mike Volpe is the Chief Marketing Officer at HubSpot, a fast-growing internet marketing software company (they call it inbound marketing). Prior to joining HubSpot, Volpe worked for several software companies where he moved the needle in impressive ways using internet marketing strategies, which involved producing a lot of relevant content. His credentials and content marketing mindset earned him the top marketing spot at HubSpot where he has led its content strategy, including  HubSpot TV’s weekly show, which he co-hosts. Volpe is a frequent speaker on the strategic importance of inbound marketing strategies. His personal brand has propelled him and HubSpot into the limelight.

Let’s look at what these four accomplished marketers have in common:

  1. They were not famous earlier in their careers, but each has achieved a level of fame through their content strategy.
  2. Their employers or their businesses have benefited tremendously because of their content marketing prowess.
  3. They each have a blog website at their name dot com (e.g. chrisbrogan.com).
  4. They each have so much momentum in their careers that the sky is the limit.

Now, let’s look at four other individuals who are not as famous but who are very effective content marketers with successful careers directly attributable to their content strategies.

Chris Griffith

Chris Griffith is a successful real estate agent in southwest Florida. She produces a blog, a newsletter, a column for her local newspaper, the Naples News Daily, and is socially active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr. Her content positions her as “THE” expert in residential real estate in Bonita Springs, Naples and Fort Myers, Florida. While many realtors went out of business during the recent recessionary slide, Griffith not only survived but also thrived. Her content attracts qualified buyers from around the U.S. Her real estate business is thriving because of her content strategy.

Dr. Patrick MacNamara

The only thing Dr. Patrick MacNamara is more passionate about than helping people benefit from quality chiropractic care is helping other chiropractors market themselves, so they can treat more patients. When Dr. MacNamara developed a passion for blogging, SEO and internet marketing, he channeled this passion into a thriving consulting and coaching practice for chiropractors. Through his blog and newsletter, he produces content that has earned him honors such as Top Chiropractic Blog 2010. He is now recognized nationwide as the most popular internet marketing coach for chiropractors.

Joe Pippen

Most attorneys with a local law practice advertise in some combination of Yellow Pages, billboards, local newspapers, cabs and just about anywhere they can buy space to plaster their name in front of the local public. Instead, attorney Joseph Pippen has had three live radio shows since 1984 and has published several legal books. His radio show content often results in speaking engagements. This content strategy has resulted in a growing law practice with twelve attorneys and no advertising expenditure.

Rick Short

How do you make a technical product like solder paste interesting? Rick Short does this as the Marketing Communications Director at solder paste manufacturer, Indium Corp. Seven years ago, he became the first blogger at the company, which now boasts more than 70 bloggers. Most of them are engineers who blog on the technical aspects of solder paste. It’s certainly a stretch to claim that Short has made solder paste sexy, but his content has decidedly humanized the company in an otherwise esoteric market segment. Short has received global recognition for his visionary content marketing leadership at Indium, and several engineer bloggers are now recognized experts in their industry.  What’s more, as a result of its content marketing strategies, the company has significantly improved  its flow of incoming sales leads.

In the latter four examples, you can see how business professionals with a passion for producing relevant content have advanced their careers and achieved impressive outcomes for their business or employers.

If you haven’t thought about your content strategy for your career, I hope these eight examples provide inspiration and insights. It’s never too late to start your career’s content strategy. Your employer will thank you for it.