Solutions vs. Transformations: Deliver the Content Your Audience Wants
There’s a painful truth all professional content creators must reckon with. It’s not about you. It’s not about any of us. If you want to create content that digs deep into your psyche and bares your soul, write poetry. Paint. Make art films. If you want to create content that markets a business, turn away
continue readingCompounding Interest (In Marketing Content)
A few weeks ago, my son happened to be running errands with me when I had to stop by my financial advisor’s office. As I signed documents and they chatted, my son mentioned he’d just graduated from high school. My advisor’s eyes lit up. He saw a chance to tell a fresh, young audience about
continue readingAn Important Storytelling Lesson
Great marketers are storytellers. It doesn’t matter if their medium is a 2,000-word blog post or a 20-word ad. When they can, they tell a story. Stories resonate. We feel them. We remember them. We relate to them, for good or bad. And so, as marketers, we try to write them. Now, let me save
continue readingRepurposing Content? Try Repurposing Concepts
“Repurpose your content.” Like “follow your dreams” and “invest in the stock market,” it’s one of those things that lots of people tell you to do. But hardly anyone tells you how to do it. And some of the advice you have gotten on “how” is probably not great. “Break up your video into short
continue readingDevelop Your Campaign Message With This Quick-Start Framework
My 12-year-old is a world builder. When he was 3, he made up a Transformers character. Within a few years, this character had a backstory, a villain, and a handful of adventures. A year or two after that and there was deep lore. That was his most detailed world, but it was far from his
continue readingHow Long Should Marketing Content Be (Really)?
Once upon a time, back in my newspapering days, a guy who worked in the press room approached my desk in the newsroom. He held up a copy of the previous weekend’s paper. “Did you write this story about the flood?” he asked. I replied that I had. The flood story was a long one.
continue readingYour Content is Flopping. Now What?
It’s heartbreaking. You’ve poured time and money into your content and your copy, and in return, you’re getting crickets. Disappointing. Disheartening. Discouraging. Possibly fixable — but there’s an order of operations to these things. Because fixing the wrong thing won’t get the right results. To fix your content, here’s what to evaluate — in order.
continue readingHow to Write a Great Elevator Pitch
It was a pretty standard networking event, and I was giving my standard elevator pitch. “I build businesses quick-start content plans — a sort of minimum viable plan so they can do content marketing within their resources.” Usually this elicits nods. This time, it elicited a question. “So what exactly does that look like?” You’ve
continue readingMind the Gap: Aim for a Market Position No One Has Claimed
It’s hard to get into a seat that’s already filled. I mean, sure, you could grab the person sitting there by the collar, wrestle them to their feet, throw their coat on the floor and take their place. But, you know, they might put up a fight. And then you might end up on the floor. It’s
continue readingRepurpose Concepts, Not Content [VIDEO]
View the largely extemporaneous talk I presented to the On Purpose Woman Global Community on how to repurpose content so you get more value out of each idea.
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