This is my last article for a while, so I really wanted this one to make an impact and stay with you. Even though the amazing CMI editorial team wanted me to write about marketing, I wrote this instead (ha).

Occasionally, I’ll do an interview where someone will ask: “What’s the one thing you did that made the greatest impact to where you are at now?”

It’s my favorite question, both because it’s the easiest to answer and something that almost no one does. The answer is about setting goals. I’ll get to the specific formula below, but first, let’s take a step back.

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It’s hard to believe that, after 10 years, this will be the last time I share my annual list of content marketing predictions for CMI. Not to get all sentimental or anything, but looking into the future of our industry and anticipating the content and media trends most likely to impact our businesses has always been a favorite part of the job … and it will be one of CMI’s content experiences I’ll miss the most as I retire from CMI this month. 

But, as change is the only constant, it’s time to put the past aside and focus on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. And, if anyone can help lead the content marketing industry forward and prepare you for what’s to come, it’s the group of experts who contributed to our 10^th annual e-book of content marketing predictions.

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Robert Rose and I just completed four years and over 200 episodes of our podcast, This Old Marketing. While far from the most successful marketing podcast on the planet, our one hour of weekly shenanigans has done fairly well.Continue Reading

PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

In this final regular episode, Robert ponders the nature of doing nothing (and doing it well). We discuss which company we feel is most likely to buy Fox, and whether Apple will ever really buy Disney. We also examine an increasingly disturbing web content trend, and media companies’ rush into the agency services business. Our rants and raves include net neutrality and audio content; then we sign off with an example of the week that takes us back to our own humble roots.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders the nature of “violent agreement.” We unpack the latest content marketing spending research – and debate whether or not we can actually believe it. Marketing predictions are back again, and we also discuss why Casper is putting Van Winkle’s to sleep. Our rants and raves include building an audience, Snapchat, and the art of questioning; then we close the show with an example of the week on the Maxwell House Haggadah.

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In 1998, I became the investment club guide for About.com. My responsibilities included the creation of at least one original article per week on the topic of investing or investment clubs, as well as development of the e-newsletter for the subscribers of that channel.

I absolutely loved it. Every piece of content I created scored more traffic. The formula seemed so easy … just create article after article answering questions about investment clubs and the audience grew and grew.

About.com had hundreds of guides like me covering almost every topic imaginable. By the early 2000s, About.com was one of the largest websites (by audience traffic) in the world. At that time, it was all about scale … creating content for everybody. Yahoo did it. Microsoft did it. Excite.com did it (I owned stock in that little disaster).

It was about scale until it wasn’t about scale.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders how we handle filling big shoes. We discuss recent reader revenue moves from CNN and the Guardian, and why Facebook may have nothing to fear from ad blockers. In other news, we debate whether content marketing is in crisis or on the verge of its biggest opportunity yet. Our rants and raves cover audience building and how the flight to video could hurt publishers; then we close with an example of the week on the Electric Boat Company.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders the nature of beginnings. I make a big announcement about my future – and the future of the podcast – while the future of advertising itself is still up in the air. We discuss how LinkedIn is botching its big original content opportunity, and explore new blogging research that says longer posts are better. Our rants and raves cover the power of audience and a frustrating post from Mumbrella; then we wrap up with a This Old Marketing example on Lloyd’s List.

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