Best Practices

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

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, [...]

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 [...]

10 Better Ideas Than Looking at a Top 10 List For 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 Crowdsourcing Can Revolutionize Your Approach to Content

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 Ways to Become a Better Writer in 2012

I wrote my face off in 2011. Both professionally and personally, I wrote more words this past year than any other in my life. I can now honestly tell people at parties that I’m a writer and not have it be some part I’m playing in my mind. I’ve worked my entire life to get [...]

5 Lessons From my Biggest Blog Fails of 2011

I failed a lot this year. My gut reaction was to quietly sweep my failures under the rug, whistle, and walk away. But instead, I figured I’d scrape the bottom of the barrel to see if there was any gold. Sue me. I’m an optimist. Instead of a collection of successful case studies, this post [...]

Quality Down to the Last Crumb

Having grown up in a household in which we ate simply and fairly close to the land, I’m pretty sure I didn’t consume my first Cheeto until college. I don’t remember the exact occasion—I like to imagine it as a coming-of-age moment, along with my first taste of Twinkie and ferreting out the existence of [...]

5 Future-proof Ideas For Your Website

Predicting the future of the web is nearly impossible. Ever-changing technology provides fodder for our imagination to run wild. And it typically does. Imagination outpaces invention. And invention outpaces convention. Which is why we should focus less on technology, and more on human nature when we’re future-proofing our websites. If we bet on technology, we [...]

Why Distractions Mean Failure in Football and Marketing

Once, after a loss, former Tennessee Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher made this statement to the media about his team’s effort: “I think you have to be able to deal with distractions, put them in perspective and move on. Distractions are the primary reason for losing football games. ” He didn’t chalk up the loss to [...]

Just Another SEO Manifesto

If I had only one thing to say about search engine optimization, it’d be this: don’t chase the search engines, instead chase what the search engines are chasing. Search engines are in the business of getting people what they want. In an ideal world, people ask search engines an honest question and receive an honest [...]

3 Unrealistic Promises Made About Social Media

It’s easy to get overly ambitious when making the case for social media. When the board room is finally ready to listen, we breathlessly explain the social media sea change and how our organization can ride the wave. And in our excitement, we sometimes make the case too well. We make it seem too easy. [...]

An Unglamorous Website Maintenance Checklist

web maintenance checklist, maintenance workers pictured

Many of us were drawn to the world of digital media because of the promise of creativity. We liked the sound of coming up with catchy headlines that resulted in clicks. We liked the idea of thinking up ideas for infographics that would garner links. We were drawn in by the challenge to create content [...]

The Anatomy of a Web Redesign Failure

web redesign failure, image of a construction site

All of the best practice documents in the world can’t prepare you for a thud that was supposed to be a splash when your big website redesign hits the market. Or should we say, misses the market. Designing a website is a difficult endeavor. Sure, everybody and their 11-year-old-nephew seems to be capable of launching their own [...]

7 Things Good Marketers Have in Common

It takes more than a snarky attitude and knowledge of hashtags to be successful in social media. Being likable, retweetable, and ultimately generating leads and developing new partnerships is more art than it is science. But which personality traits separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to social media marketers? The same traits [...]

5 Reasons You Won’t Read This Blog Post

Whether I’m writing for print, online, or in cuneiform, my job as a content producer is to serve you, the reader. You are investing precious time with me, and I better not disappoint you. There are, after all, at least a few other sources you could visit instead. So why do I ignore this?

Free Your Content, and the Rest Will Follow

A social media presence is a good start, but a presence alone is a lot like having a storefront on a quiet street and waiting for people to come in your door. Sure, they may find out about you eventually – if you’ve invested in advertising, have great word of mouth, dominate search engine rankings, [...]

Getting Tested: What to Test in Email Marketing

Every day, people from all over the world participate in risky behavior. We all know the dangers, we’re aware of what can happen, but we still don’t put an emphasis on getting tested before we engage in what is a daily activity for many. Of course, I’m talking about sending emails.

What to Do with Twitter When You Aren’t on Twitter

Let’s face it: Twitter is a bit addicting. Even as a former Twitter-hater, I’ve gotten somewhat swept up in the RTs, the #FF and that special feeling of being listed. Every article you see has the “How to Act on Twitter” and “What You’re REALLY saying in 140 characters.” But the truth is this, my [...]

The Best Practice is Practice

We spend a lot of time reading how-to articles, case studies, and best practices. We want to make sure we’ve got the best advice and the surest path to success. We want to see how others have conquered problems in the hopes of replicating their success. And who can blame us? We don’t want to [...]

Conquer the Writing Process (Or Let it Conquer You)

The interesting part about writing is that much of the “writing” process involves staring at a blank document on the computer screen. I rock back in my chair, I play with my hair, I stretch out my back. But all the while, the ideas are churning in my head (and that’s not just what I [...]

4 Things My Mom Taught Me About Social Media

Mothers are the conduit of all wisdom. They know how to mend a scraped knee, a broken heart, and a fractured ego. And of course – and you knew this was coming – they incidentally have taught us a lot about social media. In honor of Mother’s Day here are 4 things my mom taught [...]

Solve Problems for Your Customers with Content, Don’t Create New Ones

We in marketing love us some big ideas. Attention-getting, jaw-dropping, breathtaking ideas that captivate our audience and sway them into taking action. It’s how we get noticed. It’s how we win awards. It’s how we achieve ROI. Or so we think. On paper, the ideas we come up with are brilliant. The storyboard is compelling. [...]

Why I’m Deleting Your Press Release

Get a group of people from Match.com together and ask them: Ever gone on a bad date? Now get a group of editors together and ask them: Ever cringed at a press release? Chances are, (un)scientifically speaking, every single person answered with a resounding “YES” followed by their painful stories. That’s because mismatches and awkward [...]

6 Content Marketing Lessons from Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett would have made an excellent blogger. Unfortunately, he’s too busy finding places to stack his piles of money to give it a shot but he really could have been something special. He’s been through highs and lows in the stock market, and has always managed to come out on top. Along the way [...]

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