Transparency

7 Ways for Your Company to Break the Ice with the Blogosphere

Does your organization have a blog? Though it seems the evidence that blogging pays off is everywhere, some companies are still struggling to get a blog up and running. (Consider this 2011 HubSpot study where 69% of businesses surveyed attributed their success with lead generation directly to blogging. Business is built on consumer interest, and […]

Just Another SEO Manifesto

If I had only one thing to say about search engine optimization, it’d be this: don’t chase the search engines, instead chase what the search engines are chasing. Search engines are in the business of getting people what they want. In an ideal world, people ask search engines an honest question and receive an honest […]

4 Tips for Developing a Blog Comment Policy

If you’ve spent much in social media, you’ve probably been warned not to “feed the trolls.” Trolls, as Wikipedia will tell you, are defined as “someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into […]

4 Ways to Get More Mileage Out of Old Content

nickelodeon old content all that, picture of a girl getting slimed

I’m a ’90s baby. I grew up during, at least what I believe to be, the peak of Nickelodeon’s programming. These classic Nick shows represented an iconic part of tv’s pop culture and had everything from talking babies (Rugrats), a dog and cat conjoined (Catdog), action shows (Legends of the Hidden Temple) and pretty much […]

You’re a Human, Act Like It. Unless You’re OK with Being a Digital Marketing Failure

human digital marketing superior to robot digital marketing

Audiences are made of people, they aren’t made of logos. And when building an audience, you must connect with other people as a person, not as a logo. There are very few that can succeed while ignoring this basic mantra. According to the law of averages, you are not one of them.

5 Things a Troll Taught Me About Content Marketing

When I wrote my first blog post, I was proud and excited. I posted it and anxiously awaited the comments that might follow. (What would the Internet have to say?) Then, I got a notification for that long awaited response from a thoughtful reader. It was not quite what I had anticipated. Instead of oohs […]

How to Think About SEO Like a Human

Gaming search engines is like lying on your profile on a dating website. You might get away with it for a while, but eventually, you’ll be exposed for what you really are. Posting a picture of a gorgeous model instead of your own? Falsely representing your wealth or your humanitarianism? The temptation may be strong, […]

The Boy Scout Handbook of Social Media

The lessons the Boy Scouts taught me about being a good citizen are the same lessons that can be directly applied to your organization’s social media strategy.

Are You a Real Expert or Do You Just Play One on the Internet?

There’s a lot of advice being given out these days. People are publishing pointers, tips, and suggestions on every topic under the sun. But how valid are the viewpoints expressed therein? Is the everyman author as credible as we seem to be giving him credit for? Data suggests that what our “friends” are saying online […]

How to Starve Ideas to Death

We’ve all had these meetings: Big ideas are being discussed. The future of the company is being diagrammed on a whiteboard. The word “should” is being used a lot. The greatest thing since sliced bread is being articulated with passion. Everyone is smiling. People are enthusiastic and everyone pats each other (and themselves) on the […]

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 […]

4 Lessons from Matt Drudge on Serving Your Audience

Quick: what’s black and white, ignores SEO, scoffs at design best practices and is one of the most wildly successful websites in history? If you guessed Craigslist.org you earn partial credit (only because their SEO is formidable). If you guessed DrudgeReport.com, congratulations, you go the lightning round. A recent article by David Carr on NYTimes.com […]

Gurus, Ninjas, Experts, and Labels

Labels are a great way to identify things. They save us a lot of time when we’re trying to identify who made a shirt, what is contained in a bottle, or what street we should turn on next. But when it comes to people, it gets a lot more complicated.

The Influential Power of Uncertainty

Nobody can possibly know everything. And we tend to look through a thick lens of skepticism to anyone who claims they do (here’s looking at you, gurus, ninjas, and self-proclaimed experts). It may be that we’re cynical toward braggarts and wary of for-profit prophets with an agenda hidden behind their proclamation of knowledge, but it […]

Social Media Disaster Recovery: It’s All About the Response

“With great power comes great responsibility.” The owner of the sandwich shop I managed in college said this to me prior to my first time flying solo as the shift supervisor for his store. He was only kidding, or so I told myself, so I rolled my eyes and shrugged it off. Really, it wasn’t […]

Lessons In Social Capitalism

By now you may have heard about Kickstarter.com, the web site where entrepreneurs with compelling ideas but empty pockets can go to crowdsource the financing they need to make their crazy dreams a reality. The site calls itself “a new way to fund and follow creativity,” and it functions as a platform for “patrons,” or […]

Are Customer Reviews Good For My Website?

Rolling the dice by letting your customers post reviews on your site is a gamble many brands are inclined to pass on. They figure the risk is not worth the potential reward. The juice is not worth the squeeze. “What if they say something bad?” “I don’t like the idea of losing control.” “I have […]