Insight

Is Your Content Too Smart for the Web?

the thinker thinks your content should be thoughtful

There’s no such thing as a stupid questions, only stupid answers. And any answer to this question other than a resounding “no” is probably going to be one of them. Faced with pressure to generate pageviews, content managers have gotten into the habit of being a mile wide and an inch deep in their coverage. [...]

6 Lessons from the Aspen Institute Dialogue on The Future of Content 2020

aspen institute future of content

When Walter Isaacson, Marcus Brauchli or Ken Auletta speak, you listen. And when the three of them get together and talk about the future of content, you sit down and take notes. Which is exactly what I did the other day at the Aspen Institute Dialogue on The Future of Content 2020. Here are 6 [...]

Think Like a Startup, Act Like a Blogger

the thinker like a startup

The best startups focus unwaveringly around one thing: solving a real-world problem. The best bloggers focus intensely on another thing: participating and publishing in social media. Combine the two and your organization has a simple framework for success in the digital space.

Resistance is Futile: 10 Statistics to Support Having a Mobile Content Strategy

mobile resistance is futile

Change is coming, and it’s coming fast. Resistance is futile, as the Borg on Star Trek famously said before assimilating another species into its cybernetic life form. For those in your organization who are resisting the mobile trend or who deny the importance of the mobile web on your content marketing strategy, prepare to be [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 Ways to Become a Better Writer in 2012

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

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 [...]

Why the Fate of Your Website Will Be Decided in Less Time Than it Takes You to Read This Sentence

Why the Fate of Your Website Will Be Decided in Less Time Than it Takes You to Read This Sentence

Speed kills on the web. The same people who a decade ago would wait patiently through the screeching greeting of a dial-up modem are now frustrated when the homepage of CNN doesn’t refresh as quickly as a wiper blade across a windshield. Consider the following:

A Magazine is Not a Broken iPad (No Matter What Your Baby Says)

broken ipad, not a magazine

Homer Simpson understands children. Well, his children. All right, maybe just Maggie because she rarely speaks. But he knows enough about the relative predictability of kids to have once uttered, “You couldn’t fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine.” Bravo, Homer. This is why you [...]

3 Unrealistic Promises Made About Social Media

boardroom hot tub

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. [...]

Should This Blog Post Have Been Written in Cursive?

cursive writing

I recently learned that Indiana, my beloved home state, is no longer requiring schools to teach cursive writing, focusing instead on printing and typing. I remember struggling to perfect my cursive writing in Mr. Biltz’s fifth grade class. But I never came close to the beautiful script of my teacher. If there were an Olympics [...]

3 Steps to Delivering Customer Service Happiness

honest construction sign

I recently purchased some sandals from Zappos that didn’t work out. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but they needed to go back. I hate returns, particularly when it comes to an online purchase. “I have to print a label?” “Go to the UPS store?” “Carve out time for this when the whole point of ordering online [...]

What’s Your Evil Twin Saying Between the Lines of Your Content?

content between the lines

I don’t want to freak anyone out, but… your evil twin might have co-opted your message. Don’t have an evil twin? I’ll take your word for it, but that leaves me wondering about the contradictory messages in your content. In fact, subtextual messages have been responsible for some of the most fraught, but enlightening, interactions [...]

What Being on the Radio Taught Me About Writing

writing lessons learned on air

Everything I learned about writing I learned on the radio. All right, that’s not entirely true. But I’ve learned a lot.

Want Infinite Blog Post Ideas?

infinite blog post ideas

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Facebook. OK, so maybe destroyed is a bit dramatic, but they were at least heavily distracted by it. And so it goes. We in the world of content marketing have a lot of things to click on. There are blog posts to read. There are [...]

More Please: Why I Welcome the Technology Overload with Open Arms

technology overload

I had my MacBook open on my older brother’s couch one lazy afternoon, busy browsing the Internet for nothing remotely important. My iPhone happily chirped that I had a message. I found my phone wedged under some couch cushions, and fired back a response within moments. I picked up my Kindle, downloaded a book, and [...]

The Future of Marketing: Cling to Your Core and Your Customers

cling to your customers

Robin Fisher Roffer is a marketing force to be reckoned with. She’s crafted campaigns for brands people use and rely on every day. CNN using their Gulf War moment to launch into the permanent limelight? Her lightbulb. The evolution of the FX brand? Yep, hers, too. Bloomberg Television’s web expansion? Uh huh. And, oh yeah, [...]

How to Make an Editor Happy

how to make an editor happy

Times are tough for freelance writers, so you need every edge to secure work and maintain good relationships with your clients. This is especially important in a custom media environment, where many magazines operate with a small staff. Editors have to know their writers will hit the mark every time. Deadlines are always fast-approaching and [...]

Printervention: An Ode to Magazines

printervention, an ode to print magazines

Call in the A&E folks, it’s time for an intervention. You see, I have a little problem with magazines. My coffee table is stacked with them, my dining room table has a few scattered on it, ditto on my nightstands, and for certain, you can find a few in my purse right now. But the [...]

Lead and I Will Follow: On Writing Good Leads

lead and i will follow

You’re making me nervous. You clicked on this link expecting to learn something or to perhaps be entertained. I could boldly hope that you may even retweet or bookmark this article. But a lot of that depends on my lead. Here’s hoping it worked.

Sign of the Times: Content Professionals Weigh in on the NYT Paywall

content professionals react to nyt paywall

The iron curtain of content is coming. Sort of. Ok, so maybe it’s more like a chain-link fence. Regardless of its structural integrity, one thing is certain: the New York Times will finally erect its long-awaited paywall. Here’s how it works:

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