Insight

3 Unrealistic Promises Made About Social Media

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

Should This Blog Post Have Been Written in Cursive?

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

3 Steps to Delivering Customer Service Happiness

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

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

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

What Being on the Radio Taught Me About Writing

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

Want Infinite Blog Post Ideas?

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

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

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

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

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

How to Make an Editor Happy

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

Printervention: An Ode to Magazines

printervention, an ode to print magazines

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

Lead and I Will Follow: On Writing Good Leads

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

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

content professionals react to nyt paywall

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

Rebecca Black and the Art of Being Bad

It’s official: Bad is the new good. For the moment, anyway. While music tastes and styles have always been subjective, there’s no disputing that the buzz that built overnight around “Friday,” fledgling teen “singer” Rebecca Black’s ode to the weekend, is a sign that you don’t necessarily need to be good at what you do […]

Tying It All Together: What a Well-Placed Headline Can Do For A Layout

tying it all together, rugs and headlines

There’s a scene from the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski where Jeff Bridges’ character, The Dude, walks into a local bowling alley lamenting the ruination of a living room rug vandalized by intruders. “That rug really tied the room together, did it not?” asks a concerned John Goodman, who plays fellow bowler […]

What the Top 10 Blogs in Content Marketing Are Doing That You Probably Aren’t

what the best content marketing blogs do that you probably don't

If you want to have one of the most-read blogs in all of content marketing, the formula is actually pretty simple. All you have to do? Write 2.4 posts per day with an average word count of 1,278 every day for the next 6.7 years. Think you have the stamina?

How to Avoid Trolls, Landmines, and Time-Sucks in Social Media

The social media landscape can be a Labyrinth for even the most seasoned marketing professionals. Unexpected landmines, spiteful trolls, and productivity black holes are commonly spotted – that is if you’ve got the foresight to see them. And if you don’t? Well, you’re not totally out of luck as long as you have access to […]

That’s Just, Like, Your Opinion, Man

You have written the perfect blog entry on a topic that seems harmless enough: “Five fitness tips for fighting flab.” You publish, and then you wait for the healthy dialogue to begin.

3 Web Design Tools for Non-Web Designers Who Need to Explain Design Ideas

I couldn’t draw you a 6-inch straight line if you gave me a ruler, a pencil, and a 5-inch head start. Seriously, design is not my forte. Just ask anyone who has ever tried to copy off my papers in high school. My doodles are terrible and cast doubt on my ability to perform basic […]

Don’t Worry, Be Content: 10 Rules for Creating Quality Editorial

No rules, just write, right? Not so fast. Though creating quality editorial is an art, there’s absolutely a science behind it, according to Kim Caviness, VP of content at TMG Custom Media (disclosure: the company behind this blog). Here are her 10 rules for quality editorial:

Content Marketing: Forget About the Glamour, Focus on the Grindstone

A kindergartner came home excited after his first day of school. Talking a mile a minute, he began telling his mom about all the fun things he did: finger painting, arts and crafts, alphabet games. The list went on and on as he breathlessly detailed each moment, the story goes. Bright-eyed and encouraged, his mom […]

How to Lose Credibility with One Typoe

It seems like common sense: Look over your work before you share it. But sometimes – especially in the era of “do more with less” – that simply doesn’t happen. In the name of timesaving, we skip the review and let it fly. We hit “send” or “submit” or “publish” without giving work a once-over […]

How Powerful Brands Make Big Deals Out of the Little Things

What was one of the biggest news stories across the globe just a few days ago? A 16 year old boy getting a haircut. Why is this news? Well, because it wasn’t just any teenage boy, it was Grammy-snubbed, chart-topping, Canadian-born teen pop star Justin Bieber. You know, the one that sang for the President […]

Content Curation: If You Can’t Be the Source, Be the Resource

People used to come into my sandwich shop craving pizza. I could see it in their eyes. They wanted melted mozzarella on a bed of tomato sauce with black olives, pepperoni and maybe just a touch of roasted red pepper. They wouldn’t be satisfied with a sandwich – not this time anyway. Their craving knew […]

4 Secrets to Building a Good Website

Eureka moments can happen anywhere. Mark Zuckerberg first tinkered with the code that would spark the social media revolution in his Harvard dorm room. Harry Potter came to J.K. Rowling in a dream. Howard Schultz envisioned a coffee empire while standing in line at a café in Milan. In the case of Schultz, the Brooklyn-bred […]

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