Joe Pulizzi is the Amazon bestselling author of Killing Marketing, Content Inc. and Epic Content Marketing, which was named a “Must-Read Business Book” by Fortune Magazine. His latest book is The Will to Die, his debut novel. He has founded three companies, including the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), and has launched dozens of events, including Content Marketing World. In 2014, he received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Content Council. His podcast series, This Old Marketing with CMI's Robert Rose, has generated millions of downloads from over 150 countries. He is also the author of The Random Newsletter, delivered to thousands every two weeks. His Foundation, The Orange Effect, delivers speech therapy and technology services to children in over 30 states. Follow him on Twitter @JoePulizzi
This article is based on Joe’s keynote presentation at Content Marketing World 2019. You can see the presentation slides here.
First, I’d like to apologize.
Back in 2008, when Newt Barrett and I wrote the book Get Content Get Customers (please, do not buy this book), I wrote some things that simply aren’t true. At least not anymore.
Editor’s note: While Joe wrote this piece a couple years ago, we’re bringing it back in case you missed it (or in case you want a refresher) about what makes a great content marketer.
One of the most influential authors of my personal and career journey is Napoleon Hill.
Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich was first published in 1937. Now, in the book’s 82nd year, Mr. Hill’s lessons are still extremely relevant and valuable.
This text and the accompanying 30-minute video comes from my Content Marketing World 2018 keynote presentation. On Dec. 31, 2017, I “retired” from marketing and took a sabbatical for 2018 (which, as of this publishing, I’m still happily on).
I’ve given over 400 keynote speeches in 18 countries, but this one was the most personal. The team at CMI is nice enough to publish this so the entire CMI audience can watch and read it. I hope there is something here that will help you in your life or your marketing (hopefully both).
Yours in Content,
Joe
PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher.
In our grand finale episode, Robert kicks things off by pondering the decision to end something, so that something else can begin. We answer listener-submitted queries, and ask a few of our own; then we sign off with a final farewell inspired by a few of the greats.
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.
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 10th annual e-book of content marketing predictions.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
