Why Literature Matters (Despite What Those Last 50 Million Tweets Told You)

by Hailey Reissman on February 2, 2012

Why Literature Matters

If you’ve ever been inside an elementary school library from the year 1966 onward, you’ve probably laid eyes on the phrase “Reading is FUNdamental” at one point in your life.

And it is. Especially if you want to create good content.

In order to do that—to engage, entertain, and inform—one has to know how it’s done, and it helps to see it done by people who are better at it than us, or at least, have notched a few hits.

If you want to pump out good content, you have to READ good content. And nothing is better than a good book. Literature is full of people who are better than the average Joe at content (arguable, but you’d have to be a pretty great debater).

Remember Hemingway? Borges, Twain, Tolstoy, and Oates? Shelley? To read them is to immerse yourself in their talent, and who doesn’t want or need a little more talent in their life? [click to continue…]

{ 9 comments }

Serving Up Social Media (When You’ve Already Got a Full Plate)

by Rebecca Loveridge on February 1, 2012

social media food

Lucky me! Last week I was invited to host a Social Media Club of D.C. event and let my true nerd flag fly.

My task? Moderate a panel discussion that combined two of my favorite things: food and social media. [click to continue…]

{ 2 comments }

4 Myths About Video Content

by Michael McCarthy on January 31, 2012

4 Myths of About Video Content

Moving pictures can be dangerous. Witness video of me, circa 1988, clad in acid-washed jeans with a shock of hair resembling a dump truck in full tilt.

Same thing applies to a new generation of video and the media machine it feeds every second of the day. When it comes to branded video content—or even content used to supplement a story online or on your slick new app—if you have the wrong mission or focus, things can go south faster than a bender in Tijuana. [click to continue…]

{ 2 comments }

How to Become a ‘Rockstar’ Web Developer (Without the Risk of Fatal Bus Accidents)

scales for web developers

Musicians do some crazy stuff.   For example, they sit in a room, alone, and play scales: long sequences of notes — up and down, for hours.  And they never enjoy it.  Anyone who has lived with (or next door to) a musician can attest that these dreaded scales are not songs.  They aren’t melodic, [...]

Linking: It Does a Website Good

Thumbnail image for Linking: It Does a Website Good

When it comes to digital media, competition can sometimes make writers turn into digital grinches. While it’s healthy to stoke friendly competition and take pride in your work, stonewalling and shoulder checking isn’t really necessary. The web was built on the notion of sharing ideas and exchanging news. Links, the glue that holds the Internet [...]

The Rise Of The Profersonal In Social Media

The Rise Of The Profersonal In Social Media

In the past year, social media was the vehicle that drove several high-profile careers off a cliff. Pro athlete Larry Johnson tweeted a homophobic slur that resulted in a fan petition calling for his removal from the Kansas City Chiefs. He was later suspended. Gilbert Gottfried lost his gig as the voice of the Aflac [...]

How Writers Can Stop Being Scared of Their Own Voices

Tips on How Writers Can Stop Being Scared of Their Own Voices

The biggest roadblock for writers trying to perfect their voice isn’t using the correct grammar, proper spelling, or consistent syntax. It’s fear. One of my college professors once called me out for being too tentative in a story. I was writing a review of the movie “High Noon” and after a decent lead, I just [...]

Web Gems: The Art of Being a Web Editor

web gem art of being a web editor

Guess what? It’s not all about you. Anyone who has ever played on a team knows that. And shortstops know it best. This idea is the fabric of his or her nature. While pitchers, outfielders, and catchers have received the lion’s share of the glory in baseball, they would be nowhere without a good shortstop. [...]

10 Better Ideas Than Looking at a Top 10 List For Advice

top ten list advice

Top 10 lists are like new year’s resolutions. They seem great at first, but they quickly make you feel bored, hopeless, and like you’ve wasted your time. And that’s usually because they are filled with things you know you should do but can’t commit to doing. They’re too aspirational. Too shoot-for-the-moon-y. Which is why I’ve [...]

How Betty Crocker is Baking Content Marketing Success

betty crocker content marketing success

Betty Crocker found a great recipe for content marketing success. (I know, that pun was hard to swallow.) When food brand giant and cultural icon Betty Crocker, a brand owned by General Mills, wasn’t having success online they developed a digital video series centered around solving common problems for at-home chefs. Since launching in 2008, [...]

We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Namely, Interviews.

interview tips, we have ways of making you talk

To the presidential candidate seated across the table, I must have seemed like tender meat ready to be shredded by wit sharpened on the pundit circuit. The year was 2000, and Pat Buchanan was running a half-hearted campaign. Interest was low enough that I, student reporter that I was, managed to get an interview at [...]

Why the Best Social Media Begins Offline

the art of social content creation

When I was notified last year that the content marketing firm where I work was moving offices—giving up its spacious, albeit outdated, digs for a new state-of-the-art studio three blocks up the road—I couldn’t help but be a little skeptical, uneasy even, of the changes in the offing.

7 Tips for Content Marketing Webinar Success

7 Tips for Content Marketing Webinar Success

According to CMI’s newly released 2012 B2B content marketing study, marketers give webinars the second highest effectiveness rating as a content marketing tactic. Why, then, do only 46 percent of marketers use them? They are, after all, another great way to showcase your quality content and position yourself as a thought leader in your marketplace. [...]

How Crowdsourcing Can Revolutionize Your Approach to Content

Should This Post Be Crowdsourced?

A few months ago an international team of gamers solved a complex problem that had scientists baffled for years. For a decade industry experts from around the globe had been unable to figure out how a protein-cutting enzyme from an AIDS-like virus found in rhesus monkeys folds. In a final attempt to solve the riddle, [...]

5 Tips for a Successful Website Launch

launching successful websites

The launch date is tomorrow. Your software developers are running on fumes. The days are a blur of email, trouble tickets, status updates, and everyone asking you how it’s going. The stakeholders are getting anxious, which is making you anxious. What do you do?

While Your Audience Checks In, Are You Checking Out?

are you checking out while your audience checks in?

I have a strange relationship with Foursquare; I use it compulsively, though the reasons why I do that are unclear. I check in at restaurants, movie theatres, shopping malls, and even at the veterinarian. I hadn’t realized how obsessed with the social check-in service I had become, until the day that I pulled out my [...]

The Best Year-End Lessons Don’t Come From Top-10 Lists (An Office Meditation)

The Best Year-End Lessons Don't Come From Top-10 Lists (An Office Meditation)

Don’t resist. Relax and let it happen. It shouldn’t hurt, though you might feel a tugging sensation. It’s okay to stop—just for a little while—the striving, planning, strategizing, evaluating that make your work so successful, that you hope makes you notable and valuable. It’s fine to step away from the carefully wrought echo chamber of [...]

5 Content Marketing Resolutions (That You Might Actually Keep)

content marketing resolutions

The resolution bandwagon is full of false hope and empty promises at the beginning of every year. You’ve got the classic “I will lose X number of pounds before bathing suit season” and “I will save more money this year (and stop buying so many video games.)” Sure, those resolutions are good hearted but many [...]

The Do’s, Don’ts, and I-Can’t-Believe-They-Did-Thats of QR Codes

QR codes in funny places

Maybe it’s just me, but putting QR codes on rooftops could be the silliest idea ever. Apparently, the point is to get free advertising through Google Maps. In other words, if someone is viewing your building on Google Maps using the Earth View, they’ll see your QR code and scan it. The logic behind it [...]

← Previous Entries