Content Marketing Today

You may not be a fan of Bob Barr or of the Libertarian political persuasion.  Nonetheless, there is a lot to like about his WordPress driven website,BobBarr2008.com.  There is also a lot to learn about his effective use of an online content marketing strategy to spread the word and to raise money.

Barr's site illustrates how flexible WordPress can be as a tool for building out a full-fledged website. It also illustrates how an effective online content marketing strategy might be able to take a candidate from relative obscurity and little funding to someone who might be taken seriously on the national stage.

Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, recently announced that he is running for president of the United States as a libertarian.  In pre-Internet days, such a candidacy would have gained no traction whatsoever.  Raising campaign funds would have been a prohibitively expensive proposition. Moreover, telling his story to a nationwide audience would have been virtually impossible.

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Stephanie Diamond lays bare mysteries of online marketing for small business executives.

Hyperbole?  Maybe.  But, this is a terrific book.

Marketing is probably the biggest challenge for small business owners and executives.  We typically spend so much time running the business day to day that establishing and maintaining a marketing focus just doesn't happen.  The accelerating pace of Internet marketing change makes it all that much more challenging. 

Happily, Stephanie Diamond has written that rare book which both forces us to think in new and different ways about marketing issues--and simultaneously provides a detailed roadmap so that we can put those thoughts into action. Once you have finished the book, you will be ready to develop and deploy a successful Web marketing strategy. 

Her new book, Web Marketing for Small Businesses, is a much-needed addition to the literature of online marketing.  This book enables us first to grasp complex concepts and then to put them into practice with easy to follow steps.  Even solopreneurs will find significant value in Stephanie's book.  I know that I have already begun to implement several of the strategies about which she writes so knowledgeably.

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We were delighted to learn that we had achieved the number four spot in Junta42's second top 42 content marketing blog list. 

Even better, we have moved up two places from our number six ranking in the first research study.  This is particularly gratifying because we've only been blogging since October 2007. 

Even more surprising, perhaps, is that I was not even using the term "content marketing" until about this time in 2007.

Best of all, we are honored to be in such great company with so many well-known and highly respected bloggers.

Junta42 made the announcement on May 6, 2008 noting that they had selected from more than 100 blogs specialize in the field of content marketing.  The list was reviewed by their team of custom-content experts who made their choice from some of the best-known marketing blogs as well as many lesser-known blogs that are just beginning to stake a claim to marketing authority.

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Whether you have already developed and deployed a content marketing strategy or whether you are still in the planning stage, you should seriously consider how to extend the reach of your core content product.

For example, let's suppose you have decided to create a quarterly print magazine that targets an important audience segment.  You will need to spend a significant amount of time and effort in generating the content that will make this magazine relevant and valuable to its readers.  That is obviously critical.  But you can do even more.

After all, the print magazine has a finite reach.  Think beyond print.  Think beyond the magazine.  You can dramatically increase the impact of your content marketing by thoughtful repurposing of the information and resources you developed in order to create the magazine itself.

Here are 15 great ways to extend the reach of your content far beyond the circulation of that print publication.  Many of these involve little or no incremental expense while offering dramatically improved incremental impact.

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The 5 Most Important Lessons He Learned about Blogging Success

My pal, content marketing mentor, and book-writing partner, Joe Pulizzi is celebrating his 1st year in the blogging business with his Junta42.com blog.  I would wish him many happy returns, but that might be superfluous since he is already getting plenty of happy returns from his devotion to quality content that he delivers with regular frequency.

In fact, I can thank Joe for introducing me to the world of blogging--and to the joys of book authorship as well. I can also attest that my blog has been a source of new colleagues, new friends, and new business.  It doesn't happen overnight, that's for sure. But, if you are consistent, quality-focused, and patient, you will achieve tangible benefits from your blog.

How can you replicate Joe's success? 

Here are quick takes on the top 5 lessons he learned after 100 posts--and has relearned and expanded upon in subsequent months that led up to the 1st Blogiversary:

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In another post today, we focused on the importance of words versus pictures.  Not just any words will do.  You need to be certain that the words, sentences, and paragraphs connect with your customers. (Click here to read that related post)

The folks who do this for a living are copywriters.  In the age of the Internet, believe it or not, these writing pros are more important than ever.

Political pundit Peggy Noonan, has written recently about the new Pope's visit to the United States.  She suggests that he is the perfect Pope for the Internet because he is all about words.  His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was much more about visual imagery and the meaning that it can convey, according to Peggy.

Whether or not she's right about the Pope, she is absolutely correct about the importance of words on the web.  Ideally, we would all employ high-powered copywriters with web specific skills so that our content marketing strategies play out perfectly on the Internet.

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When it comes to the power of WordPress, you don't have to take my word for it. The Performancing.com blog provided four dozen ways in which websites and blogs can use this powerful and flexible tool to create unique content solutions. This Twist 'n' Shout gallery application is just one example. Blog author, Raj Dash, is a CMS (content management system) expert who, as he puts it, "has both written a small, custom CMSes from scratch as well is evaluated million-dollar professionals see in masses for large corporations, Word press' robustness and never ceases to amaze me." Much of its power derives from the huge open source community of developers who keep adding more and more value and capability to the Word press platform. WordPress is still free, but offers the power of the CMS solutions that might cost upwards of $50,000, even in today's competitive market. Here are my five favorite of those 48 really cool applications of WordPress: Read More

Cathe Olson, a young California mother, figured out how to stay home with her kids and still make an excellent living by becoming a self published author.  The power of the Internet combined with a persistent content marketing campaign has enabled her to sell more than 35,000 books over the past seven years.

That might not sound like she's entered the ranks of bestsellers.  However it probably puts her in the top five to 10% of all published authors in the United States.  And, because she self publishes, 35,000 books translates into a very nice annual income.  Between her two books, she is still selling about 8000 copies per year.

If you have ever thought about writing a book, you can learn a lot from Cathe about how to do so profitably over many years.  Clearly, writing the book is just the beginning.  Conducting an effective content marketing campaign is essential to actually selling a lot of copies.  Here are some of the key lessons she has to teach about turning a book into a long-lasting income stream:

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Just when you think you've run out of ideas--here's a blog to the rescue.

Just in time, I stumbled upon a great post from Philip Liu at ihelpyoublog.com. Philip is a most interesting writer who forces you to think when he offers up sometimes offbeat ways about improving your blog.  This post actually goes back to March of 2007 but has kept all of its value.

One of the best things about his 101 ways is that he includes more links to articles that give you details on how to execute on his ideas.

Here are five of my favorite block busters:

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Learn what some of the smartest people in the business had to say about 21st-century marketing.

When you invite leading edge content, marketing, and technology pros to address 150 professionals who spend all their time thinking about content, you are at risk of sensory overload. Particularly when it takes place in New Orleans. So, we will cover the highlights today. In the days to come we will add detailed articles to provide in-depth coverage of individual presentations. If you're not familiar with custom publishing, what's important to know is that it provides targeted and relevant content to carefully selected customers. Content marketing flows directly from custom publishing roots.

Here are the essential 11 content marketing insights to guide your thinking, strategy, and tactics in the months and years to come:

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