Below, you’ll find some companies that… well… fell. Check out these failed content marketing campaigns, the error, and – most importantly – the lesson for you.

Amazon & The Hunger Games

The Campaign: Last August, Amazon debuted a billboard featuring the opening page from the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy. This piece of content marketing was supposed to show off the Kindle’s typeface and help reinforce Amazon’s position as a leader in the pop-lit world.

The Error: The first page has major spoilers for readers who haven’t completed the first two books.

The Lesson: Just because you can do something impressive, it doesn’t mean that you should. Think carefully about how members of your target audience will respond before releasing that new campaign.

Marketo’s eBook

The Campaign: Marketo recently released a brand new eBook, 50 Tried and True Social Insights from Real Marketers. After talking to more than 2,000 customer attendees while on tour last year, Marketo compiled this free eBook, available now for download.

The Error: Matthew Kushin, a social media/content marketing professor, is not impressed. (I haven’t read the book, myself.) Kushin gives six reasons why this eBook is a flop, some of which are quite persuasive:

• It’s not really a “book” with only 10 pages (including the cover).
• Tips #1 and #11 are the same.

The Lesson: Marketo is a great company, and they’re probably not going to forever lose any customer or prospect because of this book. However, make sure you actually deliver on the content marketing promises you make!

Susan Boyle’s #susanalbumparty

The Campaign: You’ve got to hand it to her, Susan Boyle has come a long way. Unfortunately, her marketing team hasn’t seemed to develop quite as rapidly…

The Error: Last November, her social media team created the #susanalbumparty hashtag to generate excitement around the release of her new album. You don’t have to be all that great at English to see the other directions this hashtag could take. Also, it doesn’t appear that this was some attempt at getting extra attention/PR, since the team quickly changed the hashtag to #SusanBoylesAlbumParty.

The Lesson: Proofread. Then have someone else look at it. Then proofread again.

Where have you last seen a bungled content strategy? Share your favorite content marketing errors in the comments!

Check out these 12 brands, each of which have implemented at least one of those values in their content marketing campaigns…

Trustworthy: The Honest Company

It’s practically in their name. The Honest Company focuses on stylish, safe, eco-friendly products for babies. I love how transparent they are on their blog and social media channels. Check out their series on chemicals, “An honest look at…” for a good example of trustworthiness.

Loyal: Amazon.com

When most people say “brand loyalty,” they’re referring to the customer’s relationship to the brand. As this relationship is on the downward slide, many companies like Amazon are increasing their loyalty to customers. As one of the top-ranked companies in customer service, Amazon goes above and beyond to show their dedication by offering tons of Prime membership benefits and the best shipping deals on the web.

Helpful: The Wild Cow

If you’re actively building your brand, then it’s essential to be actively helpful. Check out how one of my favorite local (Nashville) restaurants, The Wild Cow, does this on their Facebook page:

This isn’t an off-the-wall post for the Wild Cow either. The restaurant is always helping out in our community. How can you be helpful?

Friendly: Target

There are so many brands to pick from here, but I’ll just point you over to a recent example: Target on Twitter. Target does a great job on Twitter with their friendly voice. For such a large corporation, they certainly know how to get personal and project a friendly image.

Courteous: Chick-fil-A

Though Chick-fil-A has been on a bumpy ride for the last few months, the company constantly exhibits courtesy in serving its customers. Chick-fil-A has an online Story Archive where they feature tales about courtesy and customer service experiences. Great content marketing from a company that truly understands service!

Kind: Zappos

In researching this post, I came across a touching story about Zappos, the online shoe retailer, and kindness. To sum up the story: someone had a death in the family. While cleaning out the deceased’s home, they found unopened boxes of shoes. They called up Zappos, the company picked up all the shoes– no questions asked – and then followed up with a note and flowers the next day.

Obedient: Whole Foods

Great brands know how to obey their customers. Sure, the basic rules of economics dictate this principle, but companies like Whole Foods, which understood this principle early on, enjoy long-term success. Check out Whole Foods’ Core Values and you’ll see this idea of “obeying the customer” threaded throughout the copy.

Cheerful: Google

Google thrives on being cheerful and whimsical (as well as, you know, crazy high revenues). Google fans are head over heels for Google Doodles. How can your brand bring that same cheerfulness to your customers?

Thrifty: eBay

In the last week of April, eBay sent out an email to 40 million eBay users, asking users to petition their representatives on Capitol Hill to reject the Marketplace Fairness Act. (Read the email here.) Though eBay may have its own political/economic motivations, the email is also a nice gesture that could save some entrepreneurs and small business owners thousands.

Brave: SodaStream

In late 2012, SodaStream released a commercial advertising their product, which allows customers to make their own sodas at home. Clearcast banned the commercial from the UK, claiming, “The majority decided that the ad could be seen to tell people not to go to supermarkets and buy soft drinks, instead help to save the environment by buying a SodaStream. We thought it was denigration of the bottled drinks market.” And this is bad why? SodaStream hasn’t backed down, and continues to fight for advertising space.

(In fairness, I should mention SodaStream does not seem to uphold the other tenets…)

Clean: prAna

prAna is an athletic clothing company with a strong sustainability, eco-friendly bent. From their “Set Hemp Free” Pinterest board to their Sustainability page, prAna does a great job of building their brand with a focus on clean/eco-friendly practices.

Reverent: The One Fund

Shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings, Massachusetts Governor Patrick and (Boston) Mayor Menino set up The One Fund, which has collected nearly $30 million for victims of the April bombing. The campaign is reverent and tasteful with an encouraging live-ticker to draw in more donations. Now officials just have to figure out how to distribute the funds!

What values will you take on as you’re building your brand over the next few months and years?

Blogging is great.

Guest blogging is fantastic.

Guest blogging carries all of the benefits that your standard blog brings to the table: fresh new content, SEO value, “thought leadership,” or whatever you’d prefer to call it, etc.

However, guest blogging takes these principles one step further by exposing you to a new audience on a new site. If you’re new to blogging/guest blogging, this post can help you capitalize on the opportunity.

3 Questions to Ask Before You Agree

Before you can start guest blogging, you need to have some blogs in mind for publication. You probably already know the top blogs in your industry, but getting a post accepted on one of these blogs can prove difficult.

I recommend Google’s special blog search tool for finding blogs related to your industry. Also, Twitter is a great place to find what people are saying about your industry (and where they’re saying it).

Once you know the blog(s) you’d like to publish with, make sure to ask these questions:

Can I syndicate/repurpose content?

You know what’s easier than writing from scratch? Re-writing something you’ve already written before. Most blogs don’t allow you to syndicate or repurpose content, and for good reason. They want original content. However, if the blog is okay with this, then you can get more mileage out of your existing posts.

Do you offer do-follow links?

This isn’t a big deal, but it’s something you should at least be aware of….

There are two types of links: no-follow and do-follow. A no-follow link is a hyperlink like any other back to your site, but Google doesn’t give it any SEO value. A do-follow link is a hyperlink from the blog back to your website that does carry SEO value.

Clearly, you want do-follow links. The reason some blogs give out no-follow links instead is because every do-follow link they give out means their own pages carry less weight with Google.

Again, this should not make or break your decision to publish through a blog, especially since Google’s PageRank is constantly changing its criteria and method of evaluating content, but it is good to be aware.

How do you promote posts?

Some blogs don’t promote their posts. They just publish and call it a day, which makes no sense whatsoever. Will the blogger share your post through social media? Will she link to it from other websites/sources? Will she try to syndicate it elsewhere? These are all good questions to ask before passing your writing over to another publisher.

Key Guest Blogging Strategies

Once you’ve found a blog that’s a match, consider these guest blogging strategies before you start writing or repurposing content:

• Read the guidelines. It’s frustrating for blog-owners to receive submissions that were created with no adherence to their guidelines. Most blogs will share specific submission guidelines, covering everything from word count and link-policies to how the post should be submitted. (Check out this example.) If you can’t find any guidelines, ask the blog!
• Don’t self-promote. If you write a really great blog, then the post will do the work of self-promotion for you. Obvious – and even what you think to be “subtle” – self-promotion is a turn-off. In fact, most blogs won’t even accept a post if it has the faintest scent of self-promotion.
• Pay attention to voice. When you’re writing a guest blog post, you face a two-fold voice challenge. On the one hand, you should sound like yourself. On the other hand, your writing style should mesh with – not necessarily imitate – the blog’s voice.
• Provide value. As Kate Meyers, one of our favorite guest bloggers, told us, “Our primary goal for guest posts is to provide the site we are publishing on with quality content to share with their readers.” Right on the money. While guest blogging is great for you and your company, content should always be about the reader.
• Write a bio that impacts readers. As I said, most blogs don’t allow self-promotional content. However, I’ve never heard of a blog that doesn’t allow a self-promotional author bio. If you’ve pulled a reader through 400-700 words of content, you deserve a bio that encourages them to connect with you and/or view your website. Make sure your bio includes a link to your website, your email address, Twitter handle, etc.

Still hungry for information about guest blogging? Check out our guidebook, Everything You Should Know About Guest Posting.

This is a blog post about creation. Creating content that actually matters.

If you’re writing to increase conversion rates, then, yes, SEO matters. Proper grammar matters. Page layout matters. Verbal flourish might matter.

But those are all details – aspects of content writing that come only after you’ve answered the more fundamental questions. Whether you’re developing a content strategy for the first time or you’ve been writing to increase those conversion rates for years, it’s time to touch on some fundamentals.

Before whipping up that next blog post, ask yourself these seven questions, and start creating content that actually impacts your audience!

#1 Who are your target audiences?

Before creating anything that has the end goal of monetization/sales, it’s key that you know who your target audience is. You can’t sell if you don’t know the buyer. The nice thing about content writing, however, is that you can affordably custom-tailor it for multiple target audiences.

Content, in the grand scheme of things, is cheap. The cost of a great blog post is nowhere near the cost of a billboard, newspaper advertisement, or even a long-running PPC advertising campaign.

Determine your target audience (these questions can help), and then segment your leads. Next question…

#2 What is your target audience interested in? … aside from your product?

Your target audience has interests that go beyond what you sell. That’s a no-brainer, right? However, many marketing agencies and small business bloggers write to increase conversion rates as if readers only care about their product.

Not so. For high competition keywords, it’s especially important that you build out your content to grab the other interests your customers may have. Being self-focused 100% of the time is a major turn-off.

#3 How can you meet those interests?

Once you’ve created a list or audience profile of your customers’ interests, it’s time to find a way to meet those interests. Obviously, blog/content writing is not the only avenue available to you. Content marketing affords a host of reasonably priced options; even mobile apps are within reach for many small businesses and agencies.

#4 Why will they choose to listen to you?

Don’t just assume that because you’re able to meet your audience’s interests that they will choose to listen to you. The internet is no build-it-and-they-will-come merry-go-round. The first of Sonia Simone’s “10 Content Marketing Goals Worth Pursuing” is to build trust and rapport with your audience.

Use your content, as Simone advises, to bring down walls and give your audience a glimpse of what it would be like to work with you. When you’re authentic, your target audience will listen. Then, they’ll consciously decide to listen to you in the future.

#5 Where do you want the content to go?

Here we are on the fifth question, and you know your audience, you’re meeting their interests, and you’ve earned their trust. But where do you want things to go from here? Besides the obvious (sales), your content needs to be easy to share. If you want your content to actually matter, it has to get past the first layer of audience and before the eyes of a greater readership.

#6 What does your content ask the audience to do?

Lastly, your content should have a call to action. Not every call to action should be, “Buy my product!” Far from it. Your CTA may be a simple request that the reader engage in the comments section, or it might be that they take your advice and make changes in their life/business. The CTA is up to you; just make sure that you don’t publish a piece of content without one. Which brings us to…

#7 How will you incentivize that action?

If you’re going to ask someone to do something, you better provide some incentive. The strength and/or presence of the incentive can waver depending on how demanding the CTA is. A simple question at the end of a blog post doesn’t necessarily require incentivizing, while a share-this-with-three-friends-on-Facebook CTA should probably have some kind of incentive attached (e.g. giveaway prize, blog recognition, etc.).

Not sure what all this will actually look like on your blog? Check out seven approaches to blog/content writing for your next steps! What do you believe is an essential question to ask for creating content that matters?

“They’re the model for everyone today,” he says in the first few minutes of our conversation. “They’ve created something so cool, something so different, that their supporters do all of the marketing for them.”

No, we aren’t talking about Apple, but charity: water, the most innovative, forward-thinking non-profit of the 21^st century.

If you haven’t heard of charity: water, their mission is a simple one (which, by the way, is part of their marketing success):

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

It’s an important mission, but not necessarily the most exciting thing in the world, right? Yet the organization has received support from President Obama, Richard Branson, Tyler Perry, and charitable “tycoons” like TOMS’ Blake Mycoskie. (Similar to Code.org in this regard.)

So, how do they do it? And how can other non-profits tap into the magic?

charity: water Markets a Product

How many non-profit websites have you seen that try to sell you on how great they are as a non-profit? They’ve got testimonials from donors about transparency, quotes from recipients, and they definitely make sure you know what credentials they have.

charity: water doesn’t play that game.

Instead, charity: water is marketing a product, and the product is the solution of clean drinking water. But there’s one other product here: you. charity: water wants to have the hippest of the hip to stand behind its “product.” The non-profit knows that when you have support from people with a following, everyone else will file into line.

This “people with a following” category can be sectioned into two types:

• Celebrities/Leaders
• Social media savvy Gen-Yers.

GenY Targeting & Social Media

Founder Scott Harrison understands one of the basic principles of content marketing: create something valuable that people will want to share, and they’ll do the bulk of your marketing for you.

When asked bout his social media policy, Harrison smartly replies, “It doesn’t start with an ask, it starts with a give. We don’t use our social media to ever ask for money.” Rather, the social media raises awareness and gets people excited. Then they give.

Total Transparency

Secondly, charity: water makes a big deal out of transparency – as they should. The group operates under a 100% Model, in which every single penny donated goes directly to fund water projects. Other operating expenses like salaries, office supplies, and even the credit card transaction fee associated with your donation is covered by private donors, foundations, and sponsors.

The website also has a neat feature that shows the location of the specific well your dollars funded on Google Maps. You can then read information about that specific well and the village it serves.

Design & Copy: Clear & Concentrated

Poke around the site a bit and you’ll see that charity: water uses clear, bite-sized copy and very little of it. Simplicity is everything when trying to get people interested and passionate about your cause.

charity: water has figured out what most non-profits are just now realizing: people aren’t really that interested in knowing about every facet of your organization. Rather, your average donor wants to see what you’re doing and know that all the money goes to the cause. Long-form copy is out in this game!

What’s your take on charity: water’s business branding? Where do you see the future of non-profit branding headed?

Let’s row down the ol’ Twitter stream with @ChuckGrassley, U.S. Senator from Iowa and one of the finest Tweeters west of the Mississippi River. (TIME Magazine agrees.) Be careful not to let Senator Grassley’s Twitter prowess intimidate you. After all, this man has 2,580 tweets and counting; he’s no newcomer to the game.

Twitter Is No Place for Grammar or Vocabulary

Look, Twitter’s not the place to show off the fact that you understand subject-verb agreement or even that you know the difference between there/their/they’re. If you want to have a successful Twitter account, your grammar should be atrocious. In this tweet, for example, Grassley completely eschews the very notion of the sentence:

Senator Grassley’s linguistic finesse demonstrates an understanding that’s beyond the average layman’s grasp. For average Joe’s like us, it’s best to start with plain-old-bad grammar before moving into the murkier post-structuralist waters of freeform anti-sentence structure.

Chuck Grassleys aren’t built in a day, after all.

Meaning Should Never Be Clear & Direct

In studying Senator Grassley’s tweets, I couldn’t help but notice that his meaning is never clear. Senator Grassley understands that obfuscation is the most essential part of any tweet. He has so finely mastered the art of obfuscation that sometimes even he doesn’t seem to know what his tweets mean:

If you’re new to Twitter, never – I cannot emphasize this enough – never write anything that’s meaningful or direct. Your followers will take great pleasure in picking apart your enigmatic messages. Take this oracular Grassley tweet (and the response it elicits) as a prime example:

Use All 140 Characters – Every Time

Now, I know that conventional Twitter wisdom says the ideal Tweet is 103 characters or less. Well, that’s just fine if you want to be mediocre. But if you want to enjoy the social media marketing success that rocks Senator Grassley to sleep every night, then you need to use every single one of those 140 characters in your tweets. Why would Twitter allow 140 characters if they didn’t intend for you to use them?! This is common sense, people.

Great work, Senator Grassley! In the above tweet, Grassley effectively utilizes all 140 characters that Twitter allows. Note how he’s willing to join proper nouns (‘MargaretThatcher’ and ‘GreatBritain’) and forgo spaces entirely as he approaches the end of the Tweet (‘&gaveMORALleadership’).

(As a side note, this is as good a time as ever to point out the fact that you should never edit a tweet. Edits are only acceptable if your initial stream of consciousness flows past 140 characters.)

Perhaps the only thing that could have made this tweet better would have been eliminating one of the L’s in “MORALleadership.” After all, when a word both ends and begins with an ‘L’, using it twice strikes me as a bit redundant. Then again, I don’t have 67k Twitter followers, so who am I to say?

What impresses you about Senator Grassley’s Twitter account? Any social media marketing lessons that jump out at you?

“Content marketing is any marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers.”

- Wikipedia

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

and

“Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing.”

- Content Marketing Institute

“Storytelling for Sales.”

- Push Social

“Content marketing is a pull, rather than a push, strategy. Content doesn’t interrupt, it attracts.”

Rebecca Lieb, Advertising Age

“Content marketing is a strategic technique and set of tactics to fulfill business goals by using content across the buyer’s journey. Content marketing is an integrated part of an overall marketing strategy, whereby the focus is on the needs, behavior, tasks, signals, benefits, interactions, touchpoints and customer experiences of target audiences and buyer personas.”

- Content Marketing Experience

“Content Marketing means creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers. The type of content you share is closely related to what you sell; in other words, you’re educating people so that they know, like, and trust you enough to do business with you.”

- Copyblogger

“Content Marketing: creating and distributing digital assets for the purpose of achieving business results.”

- Eloqua

“Content marketing is publicly and freely sharing information about your business and industry. It can include text (blogs, ebooks, press releases and tweets), video, audio and online events.”

- Bryan Haines

“Custom publishing marries the marketing ambitions of a company with the information needs of its target audience. This occurs through the delivery of editorial content – via print, Internet, and other media – so intrinsically valuable that it moves the recipient’s behavior in a desired direction.”

- Custom Content Council

“Content is information put to use.”

- Bob Boiko, Content Management Bible

“Content Marketing is creating or curating non-product content—be it informational, educational, entertaining, etc.—and publishing it to contact points with customers to get their attention, to focus on the topic around your solution, and pull them closer to learning more about you.”

- Sam Decker, Mass Relevance

What’s your definition of content marketing? How does your definition inform your content strategy? Share your opinion in the comments below!

If you’re a flower-buyer, then good for you. You’re set.

But, if you plan on keeping your distance from the florist this allergy season, then you might have noticed some of the Mother’s Day marketing floating around this May.

I’ve curated a few of my favorite pieces of Mother’s Day marketing (despite my flora-inclinations):

#1 Google: Here’s to the Moms

AdWeek shares Google’s new Mother’s Day spot, produced by Whirled. Without drawing too much attention to themselves, Google is able to slip in several products, showing how they connect mothers with their children. Nothing that’s going to make a big splash, but solid brand reinforcement from Google through this little piece of content marketing.

#2 ONE: Mother’s Day Every Day Campaign

“ONE is a hard-headed movement of people around the world fighting the absurdity of extreme poverty,” says the group’s mission statement. ONE has a noticeably young, hip voice and a surprisingly powerful social media presence.

It’s great to see this organization take a turn focusing on mothers and their stories in the Mother’s Day Every Day campaign, which features dozens of blog posts about moms who are fighting poverty and changing the world.

#3 Fair Trade USA: Mother’s Day 2013

Speaking of non-profit marketing, be sure to check out Fair Trade USA’s Mother’s Day 2013 campaign, which encourages shoppers to pick up a Fair Trade-certified gift for mom this year. The campaign’s website links to recipes, coupons for a variety of Fair Trade retailers, and shares stories of moms from around the world who have benefited from Fair Trade practices.

#4 Momtract: America’s Premier Legally Binding Gift

“Nothing says love like mutuality of obligation,” ends the two-minute Momtract spot. Momtract is a gag gift with an ingenious satirical video, produced in somber black and white with a sonorous theatrical voiceover. The Momtract is a custom faux-legal document, in which you promise to finally start doing that one thing (whatever it may be) that your mom always nags you about. The company will draft the document, you sign it online, and it’s emailed along to mom!

More Mother’s Day Social Media Marketing

Check out how these companies are capitalizing on Mother’s Day on Twitter:

For someone who only goes into the store about twice a year, I really enjoy Target’s Twitter account.

Hey, why limit yourself to just one day?

Everyone likes free stuff, and – in case it’s been a while for you – flowers ain’t cheap.

Any of your own favorite Mother’s Day pieces of content marketing? Share them below!

The answer: David Ogilvy, known throughout the copywriting and advertising industries as “The Father of Advertising.” For a quick snack-break-sized read, scan through these nine tips on copywriting, content writing, and general advertising, straight from the master:

Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.”

There are a number of phrases – seven, in fact – that really make me grind my teeth. I’m sure you, Ogilvy, and myself could come up with plenty more. Why use big words when what you want to say is fairly simple?

I don’t know the rules of grammar… If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.”

Meet your customers where they are. When a reader has to work to translate your message, you can assume you’ve lost them.

A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.”

On the surface, a lot of content writing today draws attention to itself. This demand for attention is what makes it worth sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else. At the same time, this attention-demanding content usually isn’t trying to make the sale; it’s just trying to gain attention. When sale time comes, make sure your content is clear, direct, and to the point.

If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”

Ogilvy was such a clever writer that he could put a creative (and profitable) spin on any product. If your product isn’t selling, it might not be the product’s fault.

Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.”

Ogilvy wasn’t much for the notion of Big Evil Advertising. It’s the advertiser’s job to sell, and the consumer’s job to know whether or not he really needs/wants the product.

On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

In our current age of SEO copywriting, you could just as easily trade out ‘headline’ for ‘meta tag’ or ‘page title’. Similarly, Copyblogger claims that 80% of people read headlines, but only 20% read the body.

Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.”

Common sense, but commonly forgotten. If your advertisement isn’t reinforcing your brand, then what’s your brilliant reason for bypassing Olgivy’s wisdom?

Good copy can’t be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. You’ve got to believe in the product.”

I can say from personal experience that this is a fairly accurate statement about content writing. I don’t have to be head over heels about a product to write great copy, but it sure helps. Writers, make sure you can connect with a client. Business owners and marketing agencies, make sure your writers appreciate your product/service.

If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This is irritating, but don’t let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising.“

Perhaps the most valuable piece of advertising advice on this list. Great work will always be imitated, but it will never be replicated.

If you have an appetite for more Ogilvy Wisdom, check out his 1982 internal memo, titled “How to Write.” All quotes found on BrainyQuote.

Company XYZ uses state-of-the-art technology to bring integrated solutions to clients in the [fill-in-the-blank area]. We bring a combined 80 years of experience to the table, offering the very best [service] in the industry through our proprietary [industry] model. Clients choose Company XYZ again and again for our unparalleled commitment to quality and cutting edge methodologies.

Yuck. If you’re searching for any type of business service, then you could easily have run across this generic-styled paragraph a dozen times today already. Do you actually trust a company with this kind of website content?

Of course not. And why not? Because it doesn’t really tell you anything. You might ask:

• What state-of-the-art technology?
• How are you calculating combined experience? 40 employees with two years experience each?
• What proprietary [industry] model?
• Who chooses you again and again?
• Who says your commitment is “unparalleled?”

If your website content could stir up these kinds of questions in other readers, then it might be time for a new round of content writing. Today I want to show you how your website content can pull back the veil and build trust with your audience.

Give Away Your Secrets

Yes, really. You can give away your secrets. I covered this topic in greater depth last fall, but let’s hit the highlights:

Reason #1

Just because you give readers the recipe, it doesn’t follow that they’ll cook it up themselves. This applies more to business services like ours (writing services, marketing agencies, etc.). If you’re a financial advisor, for example, you could design an entire content library with information about planning for retirement, getting a good mortgage, etc. But just because you tell people how to do these things, it doesn’t follow that they will do these things for themselves. Many will end up coming in to your “storefront” anyways.

Reason #2

Secondly, let’s be honest. You’re probably not reinventing the wheel. You might be pretty darn good at making a wheel, but you probably aren’t reinventing it. That being the case, don’t let fear of potential competitors prevent you from sharing your “secrets.”

Reason #3

When you share your secrets, people will naturally be drawn to you. Pulling down the veil – showing how you do what you do – is attractive to people. We hear about “humanizing your business” all the time these days. What’s more human than letting down your guard at the *gasp* risk of connecting with someone?

Building Trust With Website Content

So, you’re willing to pull back the veil, but how do you actually build trust? Becoming open is just half the battle. In my limited-but-ever-optimistically-growing experience, here’s what you do to build trust:

• First, create original, well-planned content that shows you actually put in some time/thought/research. Again, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. But you should bring something new to the table; otherwise you’re basically insulting your readers, which is rather detrimental to developing the whole trust-building objective.
• Secondly, respond and engage with those who take the time to share, comment, or even challenge your writing. Remember, creating content is creating dialogue and dialogue channels. If someone “in the real world” listened to you talk non-stop for eight minutes and then asked a simple question, you would show them the common courtesy of response and engagement. Why not on your blog?
• For my third tip, I’m going to borrow Sonia Simone’s third tip on building authority: “Authorities give a damn.” As Sonia notes, it’s so important to genuinely care. When you don’t, your audience will be able to tell, and it’s “So long, trust!” for you.

Lastly, you must do all of these things consistently. We must constantly prove ourselves… demonstrate our worth… reaffirm our value. You can’t build trust, put it on the shelf, and then come back to where you left it five days earlier.

How does your website content pull back the veil and build trust? What do you need to change?

The 4 Essentials of Business Branding on Kickstarter

If you want to hit it big on Kickstarter, your page has to be able to achieve the following four goals.

#1 Tell Stories: Brands that tell stories establish a sense of connectedness between the product, the creator, and the backers. People don’t just back projects on Kickstarter because they think the idea is cool or interesting. They also back projects because they want to support the story. Clue: you are the story.

#2 Build Trust: Some Kickstarter projects face major trust issues. No matter how exciting your project is, if you can’t gain people’s trust, you’ll never get your feet off the ground. Keep reading for tips on overcoming this hurdle.

#3 Answer Questions: Think about every possible question someone could ask about your product. Now condense that information as much as possible and get it out there!

#4 Invest in Quality Video: Video is arguably the most important medium for Kickstarter marketing. See the end of this post for how Zach Braff conquered video on the platform.

4 Amazing Kickstarter Pages & Why They Work

Ready to see how these four Kickstarter branding techniques come to life in real projects? Each of the four following projects corresponds to the four essentials of business branding on Kickstarter. Enjoy!

OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console

OUYA is a self-professed totally new type of game console. The console is built on the Android, which allows anyone to develop a game. This is the first truly open gaming platform for television.

What Happened: OUYA was able to raise $2 million on day one. Currently, they’re nearing the $8.6 million mark.

Why It Worked: OUYA does a beautiful job of presenting a problem and offering a solution. The Kickstarter video uses developers to explain why closed gaming platforms is a problem, and then offers the solution: OUYA, of course. The video tells a wonderful story about how the founder, Julie Uhrman, had a vision, worked hard, and is seeing that vision come to life.

The 10-Year Hoodie: Built for Life, Backed for a Decade!

The 10-Year Hoodie by Jake Bronstein is the response to cheap, poorly made foreign goods that many people have been craving. Fed up with clothes that fall apart, Bronstein created a hoodie so durable that if at any time in the next ten years it comes apart at the seams, his company (Flint and Tinder) will mend it free of charge.

What Happened: The 10-Year Hoodie went well past its original goal of $50k, collecting over $1 million.

Why It Worked: The 10-Year Hoodie was successful because Bronstein was able to build trust with his backers. He offers a quality product that aligns itself with a crowd that wants durable, American-made items. He reinforces that trust by responding to his supporter’s desires. When customers wanted an inner pocket, he made one. When people expressed a preference about the zipper pull, he was accommodating. Bronstein knows how to build trust.

Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android

In May of Last year, Pebble Technology soared up the Kickstarter charts with its brilliant smartwatch. The watch features a small e-paper display that can show text messages, emails, caller ID information, and run basic apps, all connected to the user’s iPhone or Android via Bluetooth.

What Happened: The company culled over $10.2 million from nearly 69k backers, far surpassing its initial $100k goal.

Why It Worked: First and foremost, Pebble has a great product that meets a growing niche market. Also, Pebble was the first smartwatch to feature iPhone compatibility. From a Kickstarter perspective, you could say the Pebble team may have enjoyed some of their success because of their willingness to answer questions. At the bottom of the Pebble Kickstarter page you’ll find a wealth of FAQs, answering questions on everything from tech specs to metal allergies. Check it out to get inspiration for your own product/idea.

Wish I Was Here by Zach Braff

When Zach Braff, famous for Garden State and Scrubs, wanted to make a new movie, he went to Kickstarter. Braff is one in a long line of celebrities and people of influence who have found Kickstarter to be the most effective way they can build their brand, increase hype, and, of course, get that cash!

What Happened: The page was launched on April 24. Eight days later (at the time of writing this article), Braff has $2.3 million.

Why It Worked: Braff created a fantastic Kickstarter video. Sure, some people are going to donate just because they’re fans. However, you don’t have to be a fan to appreciate his clever video and personality. Spend a little extra on production, and you’re likely to see it come back to you.

Looking for more Kickstarter and business branding tips? Check out the interesting Kickstarter strategies we saw from Soma this spring!

Whether you’re an old veteran or a newcomer, check out these six Twitter problems (and solutions) that should be a part of your spring-cleaning routine…

Problem: Unbalanced Following/Followers Ratio

There’s definitely a negative stigma on Twitter that says if you follow more users than you have followers, then you’re not “valuable.” Some Twitter users claim they couldn’t care less about this ratio, while others obviously have an obsessive-compulsive relationship with the figure (e.g., when you see someone has 779 followers and follows 778 Twitter accounts).

Solution: Flush the Non-Followers

If this is an issue that bothers you, there are a number of programs that can help you get rid of Twitter users that don’t follow you back. I recently used ManageFlitter, a free service that neatly displays users who aren’t following you back, as well as a ton of other cool data like ‘Talkative’, ‘Quiet’, ‘Non-English’, etc.

Problem: Following Inactive Users

… which brings us to Twitter Spring Cleaning Issue #2: those inactive users. Inactive users are drains on your Twitter profile. If you’re following someone who doesn’t engage, it’s time to drop the user.

Solution: Seek & Destroy

Again, I recommend ManageFlitter, but there are other popular programs out there like iUnfollow that can help you with this.

Problem: Haphazard, Irregular Tweeting

So, enough about everyone else. What about you? Are you one of those haphazard, irregular tweeters that releases a deluge of 140 character messages one week and is dead silent the next? As you might imagine, that kind of irregularity doesn’t work in your marketing strategy’s favor.

Solution: Editorial Calendar

An editorial calendar will become a near and dear friend for your social media marketing plan. Though I personally don’t leverage a full-blown editorial calendar, I do use HootSuite to schedule my posts. With the free version of HootSuite, I can set up my tweets for the day first thing in the morning, and then get to work.

Problem: No One Reads Your Tweets

Just because you are tweeting regularly now, it doesn’t follow that people are going to read them. In fact, if you’re not careful, your little genius editorial calendar will make you sound like a Twitter Bot (which might be the case if you truly never do spend any time on the site itself).

Solution: Know the Right Time to Post

The solution is knowing the right time to tweet. Programs like Timely can help you schedule tweets for “maximum impact.” Or, you can follow these best practices from Fusework Studios. A few surprising facts:

• Tweets on Saturday and Sunday see 17% more engagement compared to weekday tweets.
• Wednesday and Thursday are the days with the lowest rates of engagement.

Problem: Lack of Voice & Goals

Now the problems get a little more abstract. Many companies aren’t really sure why they’re on Twitter, as Darren Rowse (@problogger) points out. If you don’t have specific goals, your Twitter account isn’t going to grow or help you much at all outside of Twitter.

Solution: Designing Brand Voice & Goals

You wouldn’t schedule a meeting with a potential client without having goals. You wouldn’t send company representatives out into the field without giving them some talking points. So, why should Twitter be any different? Grab a cup of coffee, think, and actually write down some voice guidelines and goals. How do you want to be seen and what do you want to accomplish on Twitter? Seriously, go write this stuff down!

Problem: Your Fans Aren’t United

By this point, you should have a pretty clean and lean account with an editorial calendar, regular posting habits, and a distinct brand voice. But how do you get all of your followers and fans on board with you?

Solution: Create & Promote Hashtags

The answer is hashtags. By creating and actively promoting hashtags you can create buzz about your brand. However, be aware that you need to give fans an actual incentive to use your hashtag. For inspiration, allow me to point you over to Vitamin Water’s current #MakeBoringBrilliant campaign.

What are some of the core principles of your social media marketing strategy? Have any Twitter spring cleaning tips of your own?

Hubspot: Correlation Between Inbound Marketing & Lead Generation

This past February, Hubspot released its latest ROI report and presented the inbound marketing world with some powerful statisticsthat reinforced what we all (hoped we) knew to be true. Let’s hit the highlights:

• 93% of companies use inbound marketing to increase their traffic and lead generation.
• 40% of those companies saw at least a 75% increase in traffic.
• 56% of those companies saw their lead generation increase by at least 50%.
• 85% of companies that use inbound marketing see that bump in traffic within the first 7 months.
• Blogging for business is the #1 method for increasing traffic.

Tresnic Media: Blogging for Business Sends Lead Generation Through the Roof

If you’re looking for more recent figures, this case study from Tresnic Mediawas released just a couple of weeks ago. It examines how blogging for business increased lead generation for Log My Calls, a Utah-based call-tracking company. Blogging for business 3x per day for 50 days resulted in:

• 210% increase in overall traffic.
• 514% increase in organic search traffic.
• 901% increase in referral traffic.

But how did that translate into leads?

• Log My Calls generated more new customers in that 3-month period than any other 3-month period in company history.
• Inbound leads increased 400% from one quarter to the next.

Marketing Sherpa: Targeted Blogging Increases Sales Leads

The Marketing Sherpa foundthat carefully written, audience-tailored blog posts led to a 124% increase in sales leads for Skytap, a self-service provider of cloud automation solutions. The other results?

• 210% increase in North American site traffic
• 55% increase in organic search traffic
• 97% increase in leads from online marketing
• 124% increase in leads from all channels (online as well as offline events and programs)
• 73% increase in opportunities from online marketing

Traffic Generation Café: Blogging for Business? Just Get to 20 Posts!

Our last example comes from Traffic Generation Cafe, who cracked open a HubSpot survey to discover that monthly lead generation is pretty stagnant until you get past 23 or so blog posts. The study found that once blogs index 52+ posts, they enjoy 77% higher lead generation than blogs with 0-23 posts. If you’re feeling discouraged about your lack of content-based conversions, the problem might be that you lack enough content. Let’s look at five essentials of blogging for business that can help you get back on track…

The 5 Essentials of Blogging for Business

The number one, absolute-most-important thing you can do is create content that is truly valuable. This can be accomplished by cross-checking your work with the five “value factors” I’ve shared in the past. Ask yourself these questions before posting:

1. Does this blog post reveal true insider knowledge of my industry? If you want content-based conversions, your content should demonstrate that you actually know something your customers don’t.
2. Am I regurgitating/adding to the noise? Your blog post should say something original, or it should condense and direct other content into a new, meaningful format. Don’t waste readers’ time by adding to the noise.
3. Do I have valid and varied resources? Unless you’re one of the top leaders in your industry, you should make a special effort to include plenty of quality resources in your blog posts.
4. Am I targeting a specific audience profile? Use common sense when creating blog posts, and try to imagine exactly who is reading the post you’re writing. Are you writing for a brand new lead or is your ideal reader late in the sales cycle?
5. Do I have a clear call-to-action? Every blog post should end with practical steps. Your reader should have no doubt about what you want him/her to do.

Isn’t it time you got to blogging? What other blogging-for-business essentials would you add to this list?

And, really, isn’t this how all of the branding giants operate?

Walt Disney World® doesn’t sell Mickey Mouse shirts. Disney sells childhood bliss (for all ages).

Apple® doesn’t sell cell phones and computers. Apple sells acceptance.

Mercedes-Benz® doesn’t sell personal transportation. Mercedes sells status.

And Pampers®? They sell the American adult dream of being pampered (to borrow from a David Foster Wallace theory)

Branding Without Products

The secret behind all of these brand giants – here focusing on IBM – is that, as leaders, they can’t wrap up their definitions of self in consumer goods – especially when those consumer goods are technology.

What if we had come to known IBM as “the typewriter,”

“The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.”

You might be surprised to learn that P.T. Barnum was actually quite the philanthropist. However, Barnum wasn’t just shelling out cash for whatever “good cause” hit him up. Instead, he was very interested in giving philanthropically when it also benefited him. He was quoted on the matter: “[…] if […] I can do so at a profit, the incentive to ‘good works’ will be twice as strong as if it were otherwise.”

Barnum was a major contributor to museums and other spectator ventures (obviously connected to his line of work). The takeaway for you? Barnum has just outlined some of the basic principles of content marketing: Give freely now so that you earn sales later.

“The noblest art is that of making others happy!”

Speaking of giving, Barnum was a big believer in giving his customers what they wanted. If you were to make presumptions about Barnum, you might think he was something of a swindler. However, the marketing mastermind understood that for his brand to enjoy longevity, he had to keep customers happy, which he himself was more than happy to do!

“Advertise your objective, don’t keep it in the dark.”

Your entire content strategy should point toward specific objectives. While purely entertaining blog posts and off-topic Tweets have their place, your content strategy needs to be moving in a defined direction. Once you’ve created your content strategy, set it into action with these six steps.

“Small doses of advertising result in nothing, obviously. It’s like giving a sick person half the medicine he needs. It just causes more suffering. Give the whole dose, and the cure will be certain and decisive.”

Substitute the word ‘blogging’ for ‘advertising’ and you’ll learn a very valuable content marketing lesson. Any kind of inbound (content) marketing requires consistency in order to be effective. “How often should I blog?” is a seemingly perennial question that might be best sorted out through this post on ProBlogger. Just keep the Barnum quote in mind as you develop your blogging strategy – no small doses!

“I don’t care what you say about me, just spell my name right.”

Clearly P.T. Barnum is talking about SEO value, right? Okay, maybe not, but he did understand one age-old adage: any press is good press. Learn how to control your online reputation and how to recover it when things do go wrong (because at some point or another, they will). When you possess control of your internet reputation, then your only worry is increasing its online value!

Have any favorite P.T. Barnum quotes or lessons of your own?

Check out how these brands are talking to their fans on Twitter – and why it works.

Taco Bell: Conversation Connoisseurs

Taco Bell is, hands down, the master of dialogue in the big brand arena. The company’s clever tweeting and playful banter has been covered a number of times around the internet. In addition to responding directly to their fans, Taco Bell is a big retweeter.

Takeaway: If you lack the wit, time, or energy to engage in dialogue, you can at least retweet your brand’s fans that have one or more of the aforementioned qualities!

Target: Be a Human

Target does a terrific job at sounding like an actual human – a lesson many companies on Twitter could stand to learn. Take this tweet, for example:

I don’t care who you are, that’s a statement you can identify with. What does it have to do with retail? Well, nothing much at all. It’s a great tweet because it resonates with fans and humanizes the Target brand.

Takeaway: Make sure your brand’s Twitter handle actually sounds like its operated by a human – not a robot.

Whole Foods: Addressing Issues

The Whole Foods Twitter account can’t build stores at their fans’ every request, but they can at least let those fans know that their requests are being heard.

Takeaway: One of the cheapest, easiest, and most effective forms of social media marketing is to simply address an issue. Let your fans know that you are listening and that you do care – even if you can’t address the issue immediately on the spot.

Jason’s Deli: Engage With Contests

Every Tuesday Jason’s Deli hosts a #TuesdayTrivia contest for its fans. The winner receives a gift card for a correct and timely answer. For a company the size of Jason’s Deli, that’s a small price to pay for so much exposure. Plus, this form of social media marketing necessitates engagement with fans.

Takeaway: Encourage your followers to participate in contests. It’s a great way to spread the word about your company, and a small price to pay!

Whatever you do, just don’t be Hershey’s. #WastedOpportunity

What Twitter account does your company admire?

Usually, when offering tips for building your brand, we stick to the written word. After all, SEO, blogging, and everything verbal is what we do best. But, some aspects of your website are simply too important not to mention…

Staying Above the Fold

Long before the internet, back when people purchased newspapers, there was a phrase the newspaper business used (and it was not a reference to impending bankruptcy): above the fold. The “above the fold” region of the paper referred to the top half of the front page – the area anyone can look at and scan without actually picking up the paper and deciding to buy it. The most important – or at least, the most “grabby” – content went above the fold in order to sell papers.

These days, the term has been commandeered by the website building industry to describe everything that’s visible when a website is first opened in a browser. (Content creators now have to think increasingly more about what’s above the fold for tablets and mobile devices.)

To learn more about what the average visitor to your site can see above the fold, open up your Google Analytics account, click over to ‘Content’ > ‘In-Page Analytics’ > ‘Browser Size’, as explained here.

Content Optimization From the Writer’s Standpoint

Since the typical web user spends 80% of their time above the fold, it’s critical that your content is optimized for maximum impact. Your landing pages should have, at a minimum, the following information above the fold (in more or less words):

• Who you are
• What you do
• Links to your most engaging pages (blog, forum, social media profile, etc.)
• Clear call(s) to action

How the Masthead Is Changing

The very notion of the masthead is changing. As web designer Salman Siddiqui writes, “Gone are the days when a rectangular header image design will be good enough.” The masthead is taking on new, more fluid shapes that are integrated with the rest of the page’s content. Check out these examples for inspiration as you build your brand:

Marchand de Trucs

… and the footer…

Greensboro Tattoo

Helmy Bern

How do you consider a masthead critical to building your brand?

Then, the business branding/social media marketing blogger in me had the sense to take a deeper look into this campaign. Here’s what I found…

#MakeBoringBrilliant: Personal Connection

Vitamin Water is forging strong personal connections with fans through the #MakeBoringBrilliant campaign. Billboards, subway ads, and online advertising encourages people to tweet what’s boring, with the promise that Vitamin Water will “make it brilliant.” (Check out some pictures from the campaign.)

You can head on over to Twitter to see what people have been tweeting @vitaminwater. Click to view the conversations, and you’ll see the company’s individualized responses to fans. One Twitter user posts, for example, “Team meetings at work are way boring,” which elicits this response and image from Vitamin Water:

A bit juvenile and over the top? Well, yeah, but when was the last time you received such a personalized message from a major social media marketing campaign?

Brand Voice via Social Media Marketing

Of course, this brings us to the brand’s voice. If you scroll through the #MakeBoringBrilliant Twitter stream, you’ll notice that the average Twitter user that engages with this campaign is junior high/high school age. What bores them? Math class, the cafeteria, exams, etc.

Vitamin Water isn’t trying to be anything that they’re not. They fully embrace their demographic and have no qualms about the fact that a younger, less mature crowd is their target audience. (Quite similar to K-Mart’s #ShipMyPants campaign.)

A Full Multimedia Experience

Lastly, the Vitamin Water campaign is more than just a social media marketing campaign. Earlier this month, Vitamin Water put on a concert in Boring, Oregon, featuring top performers B.o.B, Matt & Kim, and Santigold. The entire event was broadcast live by Fuse TV.

In addition to the live event, Vitamin Water has produced a series of commercials that show the boring-to-brilliant transformation. These commercials, which show people in a waiting room and a plane full of delayed passengers, allegedly feature “real people” in real situations. Real or not, the commercials are certainly memorable and deliver the brand’s message!

What’s your take on the #MakeBoringBrilliant campaign? Solid branding? Or does the campaign leave something to be desired? Weigh in below!

If you’re already blogging for business, then you’re in good shape. Your content strategy could turn out to be what saves you when Murphy does come knocking. Here are the five steps you need to know to leverage your blog as a crisis-aversion tool…

Step 1: Be the First to Admit Your Wrongs

“Your sin will find you out.” Why not make it a little easier on yourself and go ahead and admit your wrongs before they are unearthed in media scandal? As CNN Money points out, this is exactly what Toyota failed to do in its ‘unintended acceleration’ scandal: “Rather than make a forthright statement about the problem, its history, and its proposed solution, the automaker responded with obfuscation, delay, blame-shifting, and denial.”

Keep one step ahead of the arrows that the media or your social media circles might sling your way. Use your company blog to admit your wrongs before someone else tells your story. When you control the conversation, you improve the odds that the truth, rather than misinformation, is shared.

Step 2: Announce Your Plan of Action

Secondly, make your plan of action public knowledge. Something’s gone wrong, and now you’re going to do something about it. Those who have been hurt by whatever crisis surrounds your company will appreciate being let in when it comes to what you’re going to do in correcting the situation.

When customers became upset about the way Netflix announced its price changes, CEO Reed Hastings wrote the perfect post on the Netflix blog. In the blog post, he admits to the wrong, and then includes this magic line: “So here is what we are doing and why.” I recommend checking out the post for an example of how an apology, crisis-recovery blog post should be written!

Step 3: Listen to the Response

Once you’ve put your plan of action out there, you will get a response. Some responders will be positive, some negative. Listen to the responses and let people know that you actually do care. Strong business bloggers aren’t just good writers; they’re also good listeners.

Step 4: Respond, Engage, Respond, Engage!

Once your audience has spoken, it’s time to genuinely respond and engage. As Social Fresh blogger Brandon Uttley points out, this is one way Dole royally screwed up last April with their bagged salad/salmonella crisis. There was simply no response for several days to the crisis. (Also, Dole didn’t have a blog at the time.)

When your audience expresses frustrations, make sure you take the time to hear them out and genuinely respond. Hopefully this is already a hallmark of your content strategy. If not, create a respond-and-engage habit now so that it won’t be awkward and forced when crisis does strike.

Step 5: Don’t Stop Publishing

Even if there’s no new information or the situation seems to be “under control,” don’t stop publishing. During this crisis period, your clients and brand advocates need to know that you’re still there.

It is better to write a blog post that says there’s no new information and that nothing has changed than to remain silent and assume that others will believe you have things under control.

In blogging for business, have you had to deal with a crisis situation for yourself or a client? How did you handle the situation?

Check out these four facts (whose truth I won’t necessarily vouch for) about the Patron Saint of Advertising…

1. Franklin knew how to control the public’s perception of him.

This little article from PBS tells two anecdotes about Franklin:

• Franklin made a point of being at his print shop early in the morning and late at night with the belief that people would notice his hard work and equate it with “good work.”
• While serving as America’s first Minister to France, Franklin would wear a fur cap, which the Parisians perceived as simple and backwoods. Though he was one of the most cunning and sophisticated diplomats, Franklin wore the cap to keep the simple, down-to-earth image (which helped him get his way).

Ben Franklin knew how to get people to like him. He also knew exactly how he was perceived, and was a master at controlling that perception. How is your brand perceived? What are you doing to control that perception?

2. Franklin was always printing.

Franklin got into the printing industry at the age of 12 when he became an apprentice to his brother James. Three years later, Ben Franklin founded The New-England Courant. From that time on, up until his death at 84, he was never without a printing press.

Franklin was constantly producing and distributing work, for himself and for others. You could say that he’s the closest thing the 18^th century ever had to a blogger. If it could be done over 200 years ago, why isn’t your brand implementing a content strategy?

3. Franklin created terminology as the need arose.

According to my trusty bank of Ben Franklin facts, Franklin created at least 25 terms/definitions related to electricity as he went through the scientific process of discovering it. Those early terms, which are still used in discussing electricity today, include battery, charged, positively, and negatively.

Your brand could be doing things that no one has ever done before. Why limit yourself to the pre-existing terminology? If new terms are needed to tell your brand’s story, create them. If you want to build a brand, you might have to create the building blocks first.

4. Franklin was a chronic inventor and “value-adder.”

If you read a lot about branding and content marketing (which I assume you do), then you, no doubt, come across this phrase a lot: add value to your brand by ______. “Adding value” is something we all talk about, but the conversation usually lacks clear terms. Well, look at it through the lens of Franklin…

Franklin invented a number of devices that are still in use today, including the rocking chair and a mechanical arm for reaching books on high shelves (which many grocery stores use). Plus, and perhaps even more importantly, Franklin constantly added value to his community with his inventions and ideas.

For example: he organized the first fire insurance company and the first volunteer fire company. He also founded the first hospital in America; its unique design emphasized the importance of ventilation, thereby reducing the risk of disease spreading.

What does your brand do to add value to the community? Are you producing content just for the sake of content, or do you produce content that results in real change?

I’m proud of my state’s Tennessee Vacation website for a number of reasons. The website features a robust multimedia hub, extremely detailed tourism information, a strong brand identity, and interesting, personal stories.

Quality Content & Information

If you need to know anything about planning a trip to Tennessee – whether you’re a local looking for daytrip ideas or an out-of-state tourist – tnvacation.com has you covered. From food and wine recommendations to nature and outdoors, they’ve got what any visitor would need to know. TripAdvisor integration and themed itineraries of adjustable length make the website a top go-to resource for tourists.

When it comes to content marketing, the State of Tennessee went all out, developing a hearty, well-designed platform that reaches out to every single demographic. Obviously, not every small business or marketing agency is going to have this kind of content marketing budget. However, our team at CEM strongly believes in the idea that content marketing is effective with any budget. See how high-caliber content marketing can be done on any budget.

Strong Branding That Tells Stories

Your business-branding budget might not have room for creating customized maps and performing high-level, statewide research. But I’d wager that your brand could tell stories (or hire someone to tell your stories).

The Trip Tales section of the website employs five Tennessee writers who share personal stories about everything from baseball to hiking and – you guessed it – country music. I’m especially impressed that these people are clearly writers – not college student PR interns with an assignment on the desk.

The Trip Tales section strikes me as one of the strongest core elements of the Tennessee Vacations brand. Magazine quality, feature-style writing is a great way to reinforce your brand and develop your image.

Robust Social & Multimedia Hub

Lastly, Tennessee Vacations doesn’t rely solely on written content. A diverse YouTube video library, informative region-specific e-guides, and fun interactive content are just a few of the essential elements of the site’s multimedia section.

While your company may not have the budget to create this kind of content, you do have the time and budget to share other people’s content and recycle your own material. TN Vacations does a great job of regularly sharing their content on Facebook and Twitter. Also, you’ll notice on Facebook especially that content is delivered with strong and intentional CTA’s.

What’s your take on Tennessee Vacations? Strong content marketing and brand-reinforcing content, or just another advertising campaign?

But The Ritz? Well, that’s a different story. Since the early 20^th century, the Ritz-Carlton has set the benchmark for quality and luxury in accommodations. Looking at 100+ years of the Ritz-Carlton brand is an overwhelming task, so let’s hone in on the company’s most recent moves, picking out some lessons along the way that can help you build your brand…

#1 The Ritz Tells Stories About Its Brand

The Ritz-Carlton does a great job telling short stories about its brand. Check out their Stories That Stay With You page, where you can read little anecdotes about how the company’s ladies and gentlemen (term for staff) go over-and-above the call of duty to meet guests’ needs.

Speaking of over-and-above the call of duty, check this out…

It’s not every day you see a major company reach out to a small time blogger. The video the Ritz-Carlton shared with me does include a wonderful story, and the fact that it’s not some off-the-wall, one-of-a-kind example is a testament to the Ritz-Carlton’s values (more on that below).

In addition to the above examples, the Ritz-Carlton tells and lives company stories through its Twitter handle. Just browse through their tweets and you’ll see a brand that interacts with its fans in a genuine and sincere way. You definitely don’t find that same sense of authenticity on the competition’s Twitter handle.

Takeaway: If you’re doing great things with your brand, let others know about them! (See what you need to know about brand storytelling from the masters at Pixar.) Also, you are living a story on your social media profiles. Live the story that you want to tell! Do you want to be authentic and connected or distant and self-promotional?

#2 The Ritz Has Values

Not just abstract “values”… actual written values that have been committed to memory by everyone on payroll. These 12 Service Values are a part of the Ritz-Carlton’s Gold Standards. Also a part of the Gold Standards: a Credo, Motto, Three Steps of Service, the 6^th Diamond, and the Employee Promise.

The Ritz-Carlton knows what it stands for, and is eager to put it out there in the public with the full faith that their employees will back those values. I would encourage you to go read through the Gold Standards to get a grasp for yourself on what the Ritz-Carlton is like.

Takeaway: Whether you are just now building your brand or have an established brand, consider drafting a set of values and/or a credo. You may already know what these values are, but they’re key in getting your team on the same page.

#3 The Ritz Empowers Employees

At the Ritz-Carlton, every single employee has the ability to spend up to $2,000 on each guest per incident without any permission, according to Simon F. Cooper, the former COO and President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC. That money doesn’t have to be used just to “recover” an incident. Oftentimes it can simply be spent to improve a guest’s experience.

Cooper said in a separate interview, “At The Ritz-Carlton, ninety percent of the brand image is emotional: It’s in how the ladies and gentlemen bring it to life.” The $2,000 allowance is rarely utilized because it doesn’t have to be. The Ritz-Carlton brand isn’t built around the “stuff” but the presentation. As Cooper says, “Ten percent is the platform, but the rest is people.”

Takeaway: Give your employees the power to resolve issues on their own. This power could be granted in monetary form (

Fortunately, being always “on” doesn’t have to mean always working. I’ve picked out 9 of the best mobile and iPad apps that can help you produce better content for your clients – anytime and anywhere.

Marketing Apps

These apps will help you organize ideas and lead your team:

#1 Statigram

Your client’s asking how their Instagram campaign’s going. “Well,” you say, “Instagram doesn’t really have analytics per se, so things seem to be…” Stop. Yes it does. It’s called Statigram. Use it.

#2 Dropbox

We’re big Dropbox fans here at Content Equals Money. We use Dropbox to store files on all of our clients so that if we do have to switch around workloads, the new writer can see what a client’s all about. Dropbox is great for marketing agencies that need to share documents and files in a cloud system – especially if those files aren’t compatible with Google Docs.

#3 GoDocs

Speaking of, we also use Google Docs a good bit for sharing documents and editing on the fly. But what if a computer isn’t to be found? GoDocs is the answer. GoDocs (not a Google-licensed product) lets you work in Google Documents from your phone.

#4 HootSuite

Personally, I’m a big fan of HootSuite. I use the free version to manage my little Twitter account, but it’s a much more powerful tool – great for managing all of your social media accounts.

SEO Apps

Okay, so you probably know about some of those marketing apps, but did you know that there’s app help available for your SEO writers, too?

#5 Google Analytics (iPad)

I absolutely love Google Analytics. I’ve been learning it on my own for the last few months, and am continually impressed. While you can easily access it on your desktop and iPhone, there are dozens of Google Analytics extension apps, which take the platform one step further. If you’ve had issues with how GA displays its SEO data in the past, then you might find something you like in here!

#6 Website SEO Analyser

When you need the basic nuts and bolts information about a website, Website SEO Analyser, available for the iPhone and iPad, is the way to get it. No frills; just the facts.

Writing Apps

Content writing requires a lot of creativity, but having a few tools at your disposal can also help a lot:

#7 Evernote

No list of apps is ever complete without Evernote. This is one I personally use and love. I use Evernote to store pictures, record notes in the car, jot down recommendations from friends, and keep .pdf maps of hiking destinations. You can store just about anything in Evernote and enjoy the security of having your files instantly backed up in the Evernote cloud. Every SEO writer should use this tool.

#8 iThoughts

Have a lot of ideas? Not sure how to organize them? If a standard Roman numeral outline isn’t your thing, you might want to try iThoughts on your iPhone or iPad. This app helps you map out your ideas and connect them in clear, easy-to-view ways.

#9 iA Writer

If you find spell-check and formatting to be distracting in your first drafts, you might want to check out iA Writer, which provides just the bare necessities, allowing you to enjoy complete distraction-free writing. I suppose SEO writers are usually more concerned with word count than the time it takes the reader to read. Nevertheless, it’s worth pointing out that iA Writer does have a pretty cool feature that provides you with the “read time” of your text. Dropbox sync also available.

What apps/tools do you find useful as a content writer or marketer?

I’ve recently been intrigued by some of the world’s ugliest websites – which turn out to be incredibly successful websites! Check out these five websites, and what makes them tick…

#1 Craigslist

I’ve already written about Craigslist here on the CEM blog, but not necessarily because of how ugly it is. It should come as no surprise that Craigslist’s “ugliness” is totally intentional. The simple, bare bones website content is focused solely on delivering what users want with no frills, and definitely no advertisements.

Craigslist understands its audience profiles, and has resisted any kind of change that might jeopardize the service’s integrity, something that seems to be at the core of what the company is all about.

#2 Plenty of Fish (POF)

POF.com touts itself as having “more dates, more relationships, [and] more visits than any other online dating site.” Yet you won’t see them advertising alongside Match.com or eHarmony. While other websites sell themselves by turning away applicants, POF wants anyone and everyone to sign up.

Apparently, it’s been working. In an Inc. Magazine article, founder Markus Frind discusses how he works roughly one hour per day, and takes in $10 million in revenue. Not bad. How does he do it? POF eliminates barriers to entry and has impressive biggest-and-best-bragging-rights.

#3 The Drudge Report

If you want to talk audience profiles, Matt Drudge, can talk some audience profiles with you. He feeds the conservative/GOP news junkies exactly what they want through The Drudge Report. Business Insider estimates that The Drudge Report probably generates between $15 and $20 million in annual revenues, and would trade somewhere between $150 and $375 million if it were to hit the market.

Matt Drudge’s website content is heavily updated and has really click-tempting one-liners (for example: “Expert: Cicada Season Could See 1 Billion Per Square Mile”). Any writer or business owner could learn a thing or two about writing CTA’s from Matt Drudge!

#4 Vacations to Go: 90-Day Ticker

While pretty much all of VacationsToGo.com is ugly, I think their 90-Day Ticker page deserves a special shout out. Garish. Ghastly. Lurid. Don’t you wish we were still talking about the Drudge Report? Nevertheless, it’s hard to badmouth a company that reportedly enjoys $29 million in annual revenues with a site design this poor.

Vacations to Go has the last-minute cruise deal market virtually cornered. The company was one of the first to get in the online cruise ticket business, and clearly hasn’t felt pressured to make any design changes since they started. Like Craigslist and other examples, this website delivers the content that the audience wants with no extra frills or distractions (besides those colors).

#5 wiseGEEK

wiseGEEK offers “clear answers for common questions,” and knows exactly what it’s doing when it comes to SEO. With a vast library covering everything from ancient mythology to modern fitness equipment, wiseGEEK has already asked just about every reasonable (and unreasonable) question someone might type into a search engine. Plus, page titles are formatted as questions (“What is…?”), which grabs great search traffic.

The website essentially functions like Wikipedia, but with lots and lots of ads, which don’t seem to be negatively affecting its business model. Not only do they have extensive website content, but their content is thorough and valuable, two adjectives any business should strive for in its web copy!

What ugly – yet profitable – websites would you add to this list?

But if you have a mental picture of Ebert as a stodgy old man, breathing his own stale art-film/academic air, then you’d be wrong. Ebert embraced new technologies; he shifted with the changing tides of the publishing industry; and he worked overtime – despite enormous success – to constantly become a better critic than the one he was the year before.

Check out these three lessons marketers can learn from Roger Ebert about content generation…

#1 Publish Like a Leader

I said Ebert typically publishes more than 200 reviews per year. Well, 2012 was an exception. Last year, Ebert says he wrote “306 movie reviews, a blog post or two a week, and assorted other articles.”

Wow.

Roger Ebert wasn’t just a leader because he knew his stuff. He was also a leader in terms of sheer volume. Very few one-man blogs can keep up with that kind of volume – much less famous writers who have speaking engagements, television appearances, ceremonies to attend, and other obligations that no doubt filled Ebert’s schedule.

Though I haven’t come across any commentary from Ebert on how he stuck to such a rigorous schedule, I’d wager he had developed some kind of editorial calendar that worked for him. (Take some advice form Lisa Barone about setting up an editorial calendar for your blog.)

#2 Create a Media Hub

Ebert was a content generation powerhouse, his work appearing all over the web and the world in hundreds of print newspapers. However, he was especially good at harnessing this wide shot spread into his own media hub, RogerEbert.com.

As Phil Rosenthal points out in the Chicago Tribune, “Ebert made the Sun-Times his partner, retaining the rights to what he produced. Not only did he realize greater financial benefits, this arrangement enabled him to control its use.”

The clean design of RogerEbert.com…

• Clearly organizes movie reviews
• Features Ebert’s own blog, “Roger’s Journal”
• Has an annotated list of associated blogs
• Includes reviews and essays from “Far-Flung” correspondents around the world
• And contains links to social media pages, info on events, and more…

Ebert knew how to make the most of his brand, and he worked hard to ensure that everything his fans might want to know could be located in a single place. Ebert understood that this blog/hub strategy is a great way to create a personal connection with an audience.

#3 Master ONE Social Media Channel

I said earlier that Ebert embraced new technologies. Well, that’s partially true. In the summer of 2010, Ebert wrote, “I vowed I would never become a Twit. Now I have Tweeted nearly 10,000 Tweets. I said Twitter represented the end of civilization. It now represents a part of the civilization I live in.”

Ebert didn’t just use Twitter; he used it exceptionally well. Good content writing isn’t just a skill to implement on your blog and in your press materials. You should leverage your content writing abilities on your social media channels, as well.

Ebert’s Twitter account provided a constant stream of witty, lively commentary on politics, science, and – of course – film. (To see Ebert’s eight rules for using Twitter, check out this piece from Shea Bennett.)

The “Ebert takeaway” here isn’t that you need to use Twitter, but that you should choose one social media channel and master it totally. No matter what channel you use, be sure to check out 7 Things Your Social Media Should Do Every Day. And, if you’re looking for inspiration, just go peruse some of the tweets Ebert collected.

What lessons can you pick out from Roger Ebert’s career? How has his prolific writing and commentary touched you?