Had the pleasure of giving this presentation for Virtual MENG (Marketing Executives Networking Group) yesterday on social media and content marketing. Some key takeaways from the presentation: The key to social media is understanding that no one cares about you.  They care about themselves. If...

Just finished this last post on content strategy before content marketing, then saw this perfect post from Seth Godin. It really puts what we are trying to accomplish with content marketing in perspective. Seth maps out six specific steps when it comes to success. Let’s take these steps and relate...

Core point: Don’t start executing on your content marketing until you have a sound content strategy. Yes, easier said than done, but so many of us get infatuated with a tactic before really planning out what should happen and why. You wouldn’t build a car without a step-by-step plan, but...

Following in the footsteps of their previous white paper on marketing trends (The End of Advertising as We Know It), IBM Global Business Services has developed another dandy for your reading pleasure called The Changing Face of Communication (download the PDF here). The report was designed specifically...

What if? (questions posed to a marketing professional) What if your customers saw your company as the industry thought leader? What if they signed up for your enewsletters and white papers because they were interested in what you had to say, and thought it could positively impact their businesses? What...

Wanted to pass on an outstanding eBook from Jonathan Kranz on the what, how and why for developing an eBook.  First off, this is a great example of how to do an eBook: inviting design, easy-to-follow organization, great examples, and a readable, natural voice. Second, if you are considering an...

Just read through a very interesting post from Brian Solis on Forrester’s Five-Year Media Spending Forecast. From the results, this quote from Forrester’s Shar VanBoskirk is worth some discussion: “The most interesting takeaway from the research is that overall advertising budgets will...

I love branded content tools and applications. If you aren’t thinking about creating one, you need to be…now! What is a branded content tool? Simply put, it’s an online application that comes from a brand (i.e., Kraft) that solves a very simple problem or is incredibly helpful.  Most...

Had the pleasure of presenting “Please Stop Talking about Yourself” at the Web Content Conference 2009 in Chicago this week.  As usual, I was discussing the importance of brands creating their own media channels, and putting their publishing hats on in place of traditional marketing practices. ...

I was invited by the great teams at Advancement and DATAForge to  talk about personal branding success and wanted to share the presentation. There are some excellent personal branding specialists that I follow (thanks Dan Schawbel), but the presentation below was based mostly on what I feel has made...

I gave this presentation last week at the Esource Utility Marketing Conference in Phoenix, AZ. Three Things NOW! – Content Marketing, Listening and Social Media View more presentations from Joe Pulizzi. Here are a couple key takeaways from the presentation above. We Have Come Full CircleCenturies...

Over the past month, I've had a large amount of flying time to Europe and back. That means it's been the perfect time to catch up on my reading. Below are books that I've read and taken something significant away.  I believe they can help you too (these are in no particular order). #1...