Content Marketing Today

How to Put Your Blog into Your Customer’s eMail In Box

Regular readers know that I’m a big fan of mind mapping. I’ve written frequently about the concept, but applications and about Mindjet, the company that sells MindManager software. Both the product and the concept are growing in a viral way over the Internet.

Chuck Frey has a lot to do with spreading the mind mapping  virus through his mind mapping blog and his Innovation Tools website.  Not only is Chuck a great thinker he’s also a great marketer.  His mind mapping software update eNewsletter is a superb example of content marketing.

Basically, he manages to compress a huge chunk of his blog content into an eNewsletter.  For those of us who subscribe and who are mind mapping fanatics, this ‘ blog in your inbox’ eNewsletter is welcome whenever it arrives.

Here’s what makes it so powerful:

• Chuck is a subject matter expert and a good writer.  He does the hard work of keeping his readers up-to-date on the latest trends, techniques, and technologies within the mind mapping universe.
• He focuses on practical information that enables you to be more productive through the use of mind mapping tools and how to use those tools more efficiently.
• He leads off with a big chunk of a feature article that is followed by very descriptive headlines that lead you to more articles on his blog. He engages us from the very beginning.
• He does promote his products and services, including a new e-book, The Mind Mapping Manifesto, but this isn’t bothersome because he knows his audience wants to increase their expertise in the use of mind mapping and mind mapping technologies. Therefore we are likely to be eager recipients even of a commercial message that targets our well understood interests.
• Although he is clearly a fan of MindManager, he writes about and provides links to a broad range of mind mapping tools. Since I’m always looking for the next big thing, this is perfect for me–and I expect for most of his readers.  Perusing his newsletter and his blog is like visiting a virtual hardware store for mind mappers. 
• His eNewsletter design is very simple and is designed with the need for speed.  He presents a lot of stuff in a format that enables you to get through it quickly and head off to complete articles or product links right away.

Chuck clearly understands his readers and what they want to know.  His blog– and this eNewsletter–are valuable and powerful because he really knows what he’s talking about. We trust what he says and we’re likely to accept his recommendations about products and services–even when they are his own. That is, because we trust what he says, we are inclined to trust what he sells. That is very powerful content marketing.