We are honored to lead the current required reading list on the respected technology industry site, Sandhill.com.  Site readers  can download a free book excerpt that gives them the basics of why high tech organizations must learn to ride the content marketing tsunami.

SandHill.com is published by the Sand Hill Group, which provides investment and management advice to emerging leaders in the $600 billion enterprise software, services and solutions market. SandHill.com provides two main content areas – “Required Reading” and “In-depth Analysis” – with a broad spectrum of editorial and decision support broken out for management, finance, engineering and marketing executives.

As company founder and software industry vet, M.R. Rangaswami, explains it, the site is a place "where enterprise software experts can go for their daily fix of strategic business information – be it news, insight, analysis or community." He adds that "SandHill.com will give you the pertinent news, opinions from leaders and visionaries, informative and actionable research and industry metrics. But most of all, we want to add a personality to the industry."

Sandhill.com is clearly doing the job because it merits of strong 5/10 Google page ranking.  According to the company, it currently reaches 10,000 CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CTOs, CMOs, VPs of Engineering, R&D, Services & Support, Venture Capitalists and members of the software industry eco-system.

Sand Hill Group produces the Software and the Enterprise series of conferences for industry executives, and authors research reports on cutting-edge technology topics. Click here to find out more about the company.

Click here for a link to Sandhill.com’s excerpt from Get Content Get Customers.

We are featured in a round up of 3 hot new business books. As they comment on Get Content Get Customers:

Search engines such as Google have democratised content, and so you have the opportunity to replace formerly vital media choices with your own high-quality content, advise Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett in Get Content Get Customers: Turn prospects into buyers with content marketing ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com). “You can be timely, considered, and reasoned. Your company can become the new thought leader among your many prospects who are completely open to great content from new sources,” the authors encourage.

To read the entire story click here.

In mid June, 2009, Get Content Get Customers launched a Kindle version and transcended the limitations of print. 

We’re pleased to note that as of June 30, 2009, Get Content Get Customers is #5 among direct marketing books in the Kindle store.  That is particularly gratifying because this edition of our book has only been available on the Kindle for about two weeks.

For those lucky enough to own both a Kindle and an iPhone, you can read our book on either device and synchronize your reading page location between the two devices seamlessly.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Kindle, it is a handy e-book reader from Amazon.com that features easy wireless connectivity.  This means that, wherever you are, you can download books from Amazon.com and have them sent free to your Kindle.  The Kindle features an easy on the eyes screen with non-backlit gray text.  That makes for a pleasant reading experience and is almost as nice as sitting with a traditional print version.

iPhone users have automatic access to every book that they have purchased for the Kindle at no extra charge.  In spite of the smaller iPhone screen, most devotees find book reading better than acceptable. The iPhone also offers live hyperlinks to the many references to websites and resources in the book.  This makes for a very rich information experience.

Although the selection of Kindle books is not as large as that of Amazon.com you still have access to most nonfiction and fiction books with hundreds of thousands of titles available. 

If you would like to order the Kindle version of Get Content get customers, just click here.

Here’s a sneak peak:

When you boil it down, publishing is simple to explain:

• First, define a critical group of buyers (your customers/prospects).
• Second, determine what information they really need and how they want to receive it (not your sales and marketing content…valuable, compelling content…that solves their pain points).
• Third, deliver that critical info to that core group of buyers in the way they want it.
• Fourth, continually measure how well you’re doing and adjust as you go.

Read the full article here.

Joe and Susan discussed:

Part one of the broadcast [12 minutes]

• What exactly is content marketing?
• What types of content can be effective as part of a content marketing strategy?
• Why delivering valuable information to your customers is a key to driving your business?
• What happens if you are not a writer?  Can you still be a content marketer?
• Why has marketing changed so much in the past few years?
• What does it mean to put on a publisher’s hat?
• Why strategy rules?
• What does it mean to set up listening posts?

Part two of the broadcast [10 minutes]

• Why consistent communication is the key?
• Start simple.
• How often should you update your website?
• How to package your information that will position you as an industry expert?
• Setting up the content calendar.
• Biggest mistakes small businesses make with content.
• Resisting the urge to “sell” too much in your content.
• Don’t wait for perfection.  It will never come.

Design Product News underscored the importance of content marketing even in the most technical of business to business evironments.  Their May 2009 eLetter devoted its cover story to our book and to one of the best content marketers in the business.

Here’s some of what they had to say:

The book by content marketing strategists Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett shows readers how to leverage the power of online content to drive their businesses. The authors devote a full chapter to ThomasNet (www.thomasnet.com) and its use of “targeted, relevant, and valuable content” to help industrial suppliers succeed.
“The Internet has become the best channel for companies that want to recession-proof their businesses by expanding into new markets,” said Pulizzi. “ThomasNet is an example of a company that uses innovative content to help industrial companies capitalize on hidden market opportunities.”
The book highlights ThomasNet’s V.S.E.T. formula to guide the creation of websites so that prospects can find and navigate them, and eventually become buyers.

Click here to read the entire eLetter article form Design Product News.

Here’s what Bernie has to say:

Joe and Newt have written a classic in contemporary marketing. Their book supports the principle that “content is your marketing.” The book is both a how-to guide for marketing executives and a tool for marketing execs to sell their bosses who need convincing that content marketing is the new definition of marketing. This is a must-read book for all contemporary marketers (which is all marketers).

Bernie is a complete content marketing convert who will be introducing readers to the importance of a new way of looking at marketing that integrates the effective use of social media.  As he explains the idea of marketing 2.0:

Marketing 2.0 shifts all the power to the consumer (the buyer). It’s a paradigm shift. I argue it’s even a mindset shift. The power is no longer in the hands of the marketer. The buyer has the ability to engage in conversations on the web with others who share common interests to learn, research and hear from others about products and services of interest. The buyer can learn about a company whose product is being considered, the industry trends, employees, the people of influence, etc. Before a buyer makes a purchase decision he/she has an unparalleled ability to hear from others who have made a similar purchase decision.

Be sure to check out Bernie’s blog: FindandConvert.com/blog to learn more on his views of marketing as a 2-way communications practice.

Here’s a link to the article: How to Get a Book Deal from Social Networking.

Thanks, Ron.

Sales Streak Past 1000 Copies. Online Marketing Guru Recommends Our Book.

One thousand copies pales in comparison to any of the Harry Potter books.

But, put into context, it suggests solid acceptance of Get Content. Get Customers. among business book buyers.  Here’s what our book and every new book is up against in attempting to penetrate a very tough, competitive market(numbers from bookstatistics.com):

• In 1947, there were 357 publishers; in 2004 85,000 publishers
• 2.8 million books in print in 2006
• 291,920 books published in the U.S. in 2006
• average book sells 500 copies in U.S.
• 30% of books had print runs of less than 100
• only 20% of books sold more than 100 copies
• only 10% of books sold more than 1000

Thanks to so many of you and to the support of marketing experts like Shama Hyder, we have been able to beat the odds by exceeding the sales of 90% of all books published in the U.S.

Online Marketing Guru–and Content Marketing Aficionado–Shama Hyder Give Us a Major Plug

Frankly, I’m not sure this endorsement of GCGC could have been any better if we had written it ourselves.  It is especially meaningful because Shama is so good at what she does with After The Launch as we have written in our article: When You Are the Brand, Content Marketing is Crucial.

Here’s what Shama had to say:

Get Content, Get Customers! by Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barrett. You know how I am a big fan of VALUABLE content rather than loud marketing? Yea, these guys get it. Not only do they get it, but they show you how to do it. They show how any business (large or small) can use the concept of content marketing to attract qualified clients. This isn’t a book of theory. It’s jam packed with case studies and statistics. Content sells! They show you how. The best marketing education 20 bucks ever bought anyone!

Be sure to read her entire article, 10k Worth of Knowledge for Roughly 40 Bucks in which she recommends another superb book, Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans.  I know I just bought it on her recommendation.

Join the Content Marketing Crusade!

Content marketing works.  We teach you how to put it to work for your organization in ways that will pay off on the bottom-line in these tough times.

You can follow Shama’s very sound advice simply by

clicking here to buy Get Content Get Customers or if you’d like to download a FREE excerpt, go to www.GetContentGetCustomers.com.

Thanks to everyone for helping us get this far.

To be honest, when Newt and I sat down to write this book, our prospective reader was a marketing professional in any size organization.  Surprisingly, the majority of positive feedback we have received has been from owners, operators and from other functions throughout businesses that are really looking into how they are running their businesses and their business models.

In my discussions with these decision-makers, many were aware that significant changes needed to happen in their business communications and marketing approach, but they weren’t quite sure how to deal with them. We are humbled to be able to help these individuals take a new content marketing mindset into their organizations that will pay dividends.

Here is one worthwhile quote from a small-business owner in California: “We’ve been talking about these issues in our organization for quite a while, but have never found the necessary direction to make actionable change. Your book is helping us do that.”

Here’s a comment from Bob Leonard on the Amazon.com site: “Barrett and Pulizzi went well beyond an academic treatise of what “content marketing” is. They took the Harvard Business School approach and told the stories of 15 different companies and how they leveraged content marketing for business success. You get all the hows and whys. The stories are fun to read and, like every well told story, they’re memorable.

This book should be required reading in every business school in the country. It explains a fundamental shift in the way products and services are sold, and every person in business needs to understand it.”

Also, check out this review from Greg Verdino (Greg was an early reviewer of the book).

Blatant Sales Pitch:  Get this book! If you don’t get something out of it, I’ll buy it back from you.