Social Web Thing has served me exceptionally well (prospective employers have always been impressed) and I’d encourage all students to start blogging.

But as I look to the future and where I want my career to go, I feel now is the right time to move away from a blog which has focussed on social media, PR and employability. As my career has progressed, my interests have evolved, and the areas this blog is known for are becoming less central to what I do, day in, day out.

Will I stop writing and sharing my thoughts with the world? Unequivocally, no.

I still plan to continue blogging and have recently started writing at Ben-Cotton.com and Crafty Swine. My personal website and blog will focus on business, growth and marketing – areas that increasingly interest me and in truth, areas where I see my future. I want a fresh start for a new approach. I also think it’s important to start blogging under my name again.

Whereas Crafty Swine is my Dublin food, drink and dining review blog. I create content for a living, but I think it’s important to also do it for fun. Writing is a muscle that needs to be exercised and this blog will be a creative outlet to share my passion for food. You may notice I’ve created both blogs on Squarespace. I love how easy it is to use, the visual, modern design and parallax scrolling.

Although, I’m retiring Social Web Thing, I plan to renew the domain and hosting each year. This means you’ll still have access to everything I’ve written. I’m very proud of many of the posts and still pull in around 2,000 visits each month.

I’d like to thank everyone who has read, commented or shared a post from Social Web Thing. It means a lot to me. If you’d like to keep in touch and receive posts from Ben-Cotton.com straight to your inbox, you can sign-up here.

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve joined HubSpot as a Product Marketing Manager – and today is my first day with the company.

If you’ve followed Social Web Thing over the years, you may have noticed HubSpot has featured often (a quick search reveals numerous mentions), so I’m thrilled to be joining a company that I’ve long admired, albeit from a distance. This admiration is built on my experience of inbound marketing – I passionately believe in it as a concept and achieved great success using the methodology at Edelman, Chill Insurance and Indeed.

HubSpot’s culture is hugely appealing (and in my opinion a competitive advantage), the product is industry leading and the staff are at the top of their game. In short, it’s an exciting moment to join, especially when you consider the company’s growth plans. HubSpot is literally changing how businesses market their products and sell to customers and I’m pleased to now be part of it. It’s the right moment to join.

I’m currently in Boston getting trained up on all things HubSpot. I’m eager to learn as much as I can during this period – then get back to Dublin and begin helping our sales team to crush its goals. There’s not a moment to lose.

Many students will be graduating in the coming weeks and months, and entering the workforce full-time, for the first-time. Some will be fortunate enough to land a permanent position, while many will go down the internship route. We all know the graduate job market is increasingly competitive (and much improved in recent years), but what can you do to land an internship and get your foot in the door at a PR agency?

This is the third and final part of a guest post series from Chloe Parker at Cherish PR which explores this topic in detail. Cherish PR is an independent west-London based agency “at the heart of the digital economy.”

Getting the most from your internship
Most of us here at Cherish PR have got into PR by being an intern themselves (myself included), so we all know what you’re going through. It’s a rite of passage and a stepping stone to a career in PR, so I asked some of the members of the Cherish team for the top tips they would give to interns who want to impress. Here are their words of wisdom…

Khristina Atwal – Consultant

• Don’t be afraid to share your ideas with the team, fresh ideas are always welcomed and they may turn into something bigger which can be a great addition to your portfolio.
• Keep an eye on news, topical stories or social campaigns and share with the team your findings and link to a client which you think it could be of interest to.
• Always be punctual, lots of sickness or being late can reflect badly, especially as you need to impress in such a short space of time.

Samantha Allen – Consultant

• Get involved in team brainstorms.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re unsure about anything
• Take a real interest in the company and research its clients.
• Be confident!
• Be prepared to work hard – it’s worth it as there may be the opportunity for a paid role at the end of your internship.

Claire Adams – Senior Consultant

• Even if there isn’t the promise of a permanent job at the end of the internship act like there is! Your employer may not have had an opening for you at the start but if you become indispensable to the team then that could very well change by the end of your placement.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for more to do, often your manager will be extremely busy and may forget to keep you occupied all day. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs then put your hand up and ask where you can help – that will always go down well!
• Smile! Being positive and happy is essential in PR so start as you mean to go on… Even if it is a Monday morning 

Paula Santos – Senior Consultant

• Remember everything you learned at University and apply it whenever you have the opportunity.
• Creativity is key in PR, so look around you, inspiration and ideas come from everywhere.
• Like in many other jobs, networking is key in PR, so go out and meet people and use these connections to your benefit.

Nicola Handley – Consultant

• Get stuck in from the start. It can seem really daunting walking into a PR agency for the first time but by throwing yourself in at the deep end you’ll demonstrate your abilities from the off and show your seniors that you’re a team player. Also, you’ll quickly become an integral part of the team and more likely to be considered for a role in the future.
• Always have your notepad and pen handy. As an agency with a varied client base it’s safe to assume that you’ll end up helping out on all accounts. You’ll need to understand each client and how the team works on each will vary accordingly. It can often be a lot of information to take in, I would always advise writing everything down!
• As Bear Grylls would say… Positivity, positivity, POSTIVITY! A determined attitude will get you far!

Chloe Parker – Junior Consultant

• Time management is key! Learn a system that works for you, whether it’s to do lists, bullet points – just make sure you’re juggling all the balls in the air and not dropping any.
• Be positive and try your hand at everything. Everyone knows you’re learning, so don’t worry about getting it wrong, just have a go and get as much feedback, support and advice from your team mates as possible. They all want you to succeed!
• If there isn’t the opportunity for a full time job after your internship, make sure you stay in touch. Networking if a PR’s best friend. Touch base via email every once in a while, find everyone on LinkedIn…make sure that if an opening occurs they take you into consideration.

This is part two of three of a guest post from Chloe Parker at Cherish PR which explores this topic in detail. Cherish PR is an independent west-London based agency “at the heart of the digital economy.”

Landing a PR internship
So you’ve made it past the first hurdle and have been called to interview…congratulation! The key to any successful interview is preparation. Make sure you research the company, the role, and the possible tasks you might be doing. There are so many different great PR blogs which should be really helpful when doing your homework. Have an idea about the industry and make sure you have an interest in media. If you never read the news, lifestyle websites, or blogs, and hate speaking to people on the phone, then maybe it’s time to ask yourself, is PR really right for you?

Here are a few questions that will always be asked… so be prepared to answer them well.

Q: What do you think PR is?
It is essential that you have something to say here. It’s surprising how often people we have interviewed have failed to give any answer to this. Check out CIPR’s definition here, but be careful not to sound like a dictionary.

Q: Why are you interested in working in PR?
This is a chance for us to get a better idea of your motivations and see if they match the companies. We’re looking for team players who want to get the best results for the clients, not glory seekers who are in it for the top brand names, or someone who’s looking for a glamorous job full of cocktails, parties and lunch dates.

Q: What is it about our company makes you want to intern here?
This is a chance for you to show off your research into the company. Make sure you check out the company’s website, blog, twitter, and have a look at their past clients. If you really want to earn brownie points, research if the company has won any recent awards and check out that particular campaign.

This is part one of three of a guest post from Chloe Parker at Cherish PR which explores this topic in detail. Cherish PR is an independent west-London based agency “at the heart of the digital economy.”

Landing a PR internship
We are always on the look-out for a brilliant intern at Cherish PR; someone who’s hard-working, willing to get stuck-in, and committed to showing us why they’d be a great asset to our team. In exchange, we believe we offer a great environment for interns to thrive, learn about PR from the bottom-up and go on to secure that first role in PR. Almost every employee here has been an intern at one point or another, in fact I started as an intern back in 2012 and am now a Junior PR Consultant for Cherish.

Although we’ve had some fantastic interns, we’ve also had a mountain of generally un-inspiring CVs and covering letters and a few less than impressive interns. So, we thought we’d put together a guide on the best way to land that internship and how to approach your time with the company.

Step 1: getting an interview
Be proactive…in most cases agencies will not advertise for interns, they will choose someone from the pool of prospective CVs they’ve already received. So, even if an agency doesn’t look like it has an intern programme, give them a call, ask who it would be best to send a CV to, and email it over.

Your CV and covering letter are going to be key in getting you invited to interview, so please make sure you do yourself justice.

Neaten and tighten-up your CV. Don’t waffle and keep it relevant to the company you’re applying to. On the flip side, if your CV only consists on a few bullet points and shows none of your personality, that won’t do you much good either.

Make sure you’ve researched the company you would like to intern at, and mention why that company caught your eye – why would you make the perfect intern for this company, and what you looking to gain from the experience. Then follow the first rule of PR…pick up the phone! Speaking to someone in person rather than via email should heighten your chances of making a good impression and being asked to interview.

This is just an example of how you can use free tools to help stand YOU apart from the competition (and how it helped me get my internship here at Cherish):

Much has changed in Ireland too. The Emerald Isle exited the recession, confidence has returned and many industries are recording growth.

Ahead of this fabulous four year milestone I’ve been thinking about and reflecting on the knowledge I’ve gained during this period. I’ve come up with a mix of personal lessons, and things I’ve observed about doing business in Ireland, so without further ado, here’s four lessons I’ve learnt from four years in Dublin:

1. The original social network is alive and well
Despite the continual rise of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn et al, the oldest social network around, namely people’s families, friends, neighbours, colleagues and associates is alive and well in Ireland. Many of the industries over here are that bit smaller than the UK — meaning everyone seems to know everyone, or at least they are more closely connected and intertwined. This can be both good and bad depending on the context, but it’s taught me to work just as hard maintaining offline relationships as digital ones. There really is no substitute for grabbing a coffee and getting to chat with someone in person. Although this may not scale like adding connections on LinkedIn, it’s often the route to a more meaningful, deeper relationship.

2. A new agency model is needed
Now is a tough time for many advertising, public relations and digital agencies in Ireland. Clients increasingly want specialists, not generalists and many of the big agency networks are struggling to offer both breadth and depth. Instead of growth, we’re seeing restructures and mergers from full services agencies. Most have very hierarchical structures which used to serve both the needs of the agency and the client, but this is no longer the case — in fact this set-up is often expensive and fails to offer the level of seniority and specialism that clients increasingly desire. We’re seeing smaller, leaner agencies or collectives spring up which are challenging the bigger agencies and their hourly rates.

3. Importance of return on investment (ROI)
I moved to Ireland in 2011 at the height of the financial crisis (here’s why I made the move). Redundancies were being made, client budgets were being slashed and there was a sense of gloom sweeping the nation. However, this environment made my team fight for every marketing, public relations or digital euro available to us. It instilled in me the importance of results — both being able to provide an accurate ROI and articulate how activity relates to marketing and business goals. This experience and continual focus on results and communication has served me well at both Edelman and Chill Insurance, and continues to do so at Indeed.

4. Ireland is a hotbed of innovation
There’s a perception outside of Ireland that many of the technology companies are located here solely for tax purposes. While Ireland’s corporation tax will always attract headlines, it’s important to point out that Ireland boasts a well educated workforce, progressive immigration laws and high quality infrastructure. Companies may initially be attracted by tax rates and favourable conditions, but it’s the results they achieve once they’re here that makes them stay. Ireland is a good place to do business — that’s why its capital is home to a fantastic combination of technology juggernauts, industry leaders and homegrown starts-up. There’s amazing things happening down at Silicon Docks, the Digital Hub and beyond — and we’ve already seen how industries can be re-imagined thanks to Irish success stories like Stripe, Storyful and Intercom.

And to conclude, rather than look back, I want to spend a moment thinking about the future. Things are on the up in Ireland. There’s a newfound sense of optimism, positivity and excitement around the place. The quality of life is high (better than London, apparently) and good things are happening. It’s a fun place to be, live and work. I know I won’t be in Ireland forever, but I’ve had a great time so far, and am grateful for what the last four years has taught me — and more importantly, I look forward to what else I can learn from this city, its people and its businesses.

Over the Christmas period I was musing long and hard about what 2015 could look like for me, and as is tradition, I have set myself the following goals and KPIs:

Learn more about business
Last year I signed up for ‘Entrepreneurship 101: Who is your customer?’ – a massive open online course (MOOC) run by edX. I really enjoyed the course and it piqued my interest, and now I want to put what I learnt into action. So this year, in my own time, I plan to start a small business and invest €1k of my own money. I’m not looking to leave my current job or set-up on my own – far from it.

Instead I want to start a small business that won’t take up huge amounts of time, but will give me the opportunity to develop my business knowledge, become more commercially aware and deepen my understanding of sales, customers and finance. I firmly believe what I learn from this will benefit me in my current and future roles. I look forward to writing about this in more detail on SWT.

KPI: start a business and manage to sell a product or service

Obtain my driving licence
I’ve listed this as a goal for the last couple of years, but sadly failed to make any progress at all. However, I’ve started 2015 full of energy and with the best of intentions, and have booked my driving theory test in late February. Ireland is different to the UK, in that you must pass your theory test before having driving lessons. I’m pleased to be taking the first step towards obtaining my driving licence, and hope 2015 will finally be the year I get behind the wheel.

KPI: pass my driving test

Get healthier
I got married in 2014, and managed to get somewhat in shape for the big day, but this year I’m keen to get and stay healthy – which means doing more exercise, eating less and eating better. To help me achieve this goal I’ve invested in a Jawbone. I’m very impressed with my first wearable purchase so far, it’s helping me to keep track of workouts, how I sleep and what I eat.

KPI: weigh 14 stone

See more of the world
Over the last couple of years I’ve set this (and I’m pleased to say, achieved it) as a goal, and once again I’m keen to see more of the world, learn about other cultures and explore different ways of doing things. I love visiting new places, meeting new people and trying new food. I’m also lucky that I get to travel occasionally for work to Austin, Texas which is a place I never grow tired of visiting. I’m excited to see what 2015 brings.

KPI: visit two new places e.g. a new country, state or city

I can’t wait to see how I get on with these goals throughout 2015, and will be publishing a round-up at the halfway point and at the end of the year.

To begin with, I must say this year was hugely significant on a personal note – I got married to my wonderful wife in October. We had an amazing day and the memories will be something we cherish forever.

At work I celebrated my one year anniversary with Indeed, I also clocked up some air miles along the way, and this blog had its fifth birthday. Here’s what I wanted to achieve at the start of the year, so let’s see how things played out:

Gain a deeper understanding of Google AdWords
KPI: pass the Google AdWords Fundamentals exam
At the beginning of January I thought gaining this qualification would be useful for my role at Indeed. But as the year progressed it became clear that I already had lots of excellent, and more relevant materials available at my fingertips at work (Indeed’s PPC model is the same as Google’s). So in the best tradition of many start-ups I pivoted, and turned my attention towards something that would provide more value. In this case, studying for HubSpot’s inbound marketing certificate — which I’m pleased to say I passed.
100%

Obtain my driving licence
KPI: pass my driving test
I’m slightly ashamed to say I’m still no closer to getting behind the wheel of a car. 2014 has been incredibly busy and Dublin is a very walkable city. But that’s no excuse. The truth is I live a short 12 minute walk from work and the vast majority of my friends are within walking distance or a short cab journey away. While learning to drive is not urgent, I know that it is an important life skill that I need to have — and I think 2015 will be the year I pass my test (sounds familiar, I know).
0%

Get healthier
KPI: lose one stone
I wanted to lose a bit of weight for my wedding. One stone in fact. And while I managed to lose that amount in time for the big day, I’ve since put about 3.5 lb back on! I’m still 10.5 lb lighter (75% of my goal) than I was at the beginning of the year, but in truth I’ve been less active since the wedding — and this needs to change. I plan to bring my running shoes to Seattle for the Christmas period as I look to begin 2015 on a health kick.
75%

See more of the world
KPI: visit two new countries
This year I had the pleasure of visiting three new countries: the Netherlands, Hungary and Mexico. Amsterdam was an insightful work trip, Budapest was a friend’s raucous stag party, and Tulum was my fantastic honeymoon. All in all, I feel very lucky to have seen more of the world and experienced three new cultures. I also made five trips to the US — Boston and Seattle twice, and Austin just the once. I never grow tired of visiting these places and would recommend them for a trip.
100%

Based on my calculation, I achieved 69% of what I had set out to accomplish in 2014 – which I’m pretty pleased with. I’d like to thank everyone who made it such a great year and hope that I continue to have such good fortune in 2015 and beyond. I’ll be sharing what I hope to achieve next year in the coming weeks.

Throughout the 2000s as technology developed, and with it spam techniques, this number began to dip, as we became accustomed to receiving email — much of it unsolicited.

Many consumers were rightly scarred by this experience and began to equate email marketing with spam. They perceived email marketing as the online equivalent of receiving junk mail through the post. Unsurprisingly, open rates continued to plummet throughout this period to below 20%.

Some predicted the death of email and many continue to so do, but recent numbers tell a different story — in fact, over the last two years email open rates have crept back up to a much healthier 33%. From my time at Chill Insurance, I know just how successful email marketing can be. Our lead generation strategy was built on TV advertising, AdWords, email marketing and SEO. And this 2014 study from McKinsey highlights the success of email (and organic search) versus social media for customer acquisition growth.

I believe an email marketing renaissance is upon us, and there are three factors driving this:

Falling organic reach of social media

Many organisations spent years amassing online communities on social media, only to be told that their posts would now reach a much smaller audience. From reaching 10-15% of fans in late 2013, Facebook page owners can now expect their content to be seen by a measly 1-5% of their community per post — unless they ‘pay to play.’ Social@Ogilvy believe it’s only a matter of time before Facebook organic reach hits zero.

Unsurprisingly, companies have begun to rethink their approach after Facebook changed the rules. Many are now moving towards owned media, such as their blog and email marketing, where as its name implies they have much more control and can gain more information about their communities. Only last week I noticed the BBC promoting its daily email newsletter (my tweet generated some great discussion too). This is a change that affects organisations big and small.

Demise of Google Reader

When Google Reader was closed down in 2013, it forced people to set up new RSS readers or find other ways to stay in touch with their favourite news sites and blogs. Savvy media companies and bloggers, not wanting to lose a significant portion of their traffic, began installing email subscription plugins, such as MailChimp or Jetpack so their readership could be notified as soon as a new post was published.

When you use a RSS reader, once again you’re at the mercy of a third party that could move the goal posts on a whim or be shut down as we saw in the case of Google. But when you subscribe via email to a blog, you’ve created a direct relationship with the publisher. This has contributed massively to what I believe will be another golden age of email marketing.

(Email) marketing has become smarter

While consumers have become a lot smarter about email marketing over the past 20 years — so too have marketers. We now have email automation, segmentation and personalisation at our fingertips. Some of the tools available are incredible and enable companies to communicate seamlessly with prospects and customers via email, as they are nurtured along the marketing funnel.

Good marketers know that sending an email to someone who’s not interested is a waste of time for everyone involved (and can harm their Sender Score). But they also know that if you target the right person at precisely the right time with the right content you’re going to create a win-win situation.

While my spam folder is filled to the brim with the usual mix of emails from shady companies selling dubious body enhancement pills, my inbox paints a different picture. The emails which make it there are highly personalised, timely and relevant to my interests – they are a delight to receive. Quora, Amazon, HubSpot, Lovin’ Dublin and Shane O’Leary (an excellent blogger from Ireland) are just a handful of examples, and deserve credit for their email marketing efforts.

I’m excited that email marketing has the chance to right the wrongs of the noughties and realise its massive, if unfulfilled potential. If you don’t currently use email marketing, make 2015 the year to change that. Do you think we’ll see an email marketing renaissance in the next 12 months?

I often write about content goals, strategy and measurement, but today I’m going to look at something much more fundamental, and focus on quality.

As a content marketer I keep a handy Google Doc where I jot down examples of organisations, brands and media which are transforming the world of content and redefining what content might mean in the future.

I refer back to this list when I’m in need of inspiration — especially when considering new ways of developing content that can help tell the Indeed story in a more interesting and compelling way.

Although, the media industry has been greatly disrupted by technology over the last 15 years, this disruption has led to unprecedented levels of innovation. And while there are examples of brands, such as Red Bull, GE and HubSpot becoming something akin to media companies, the truth is media companies are still much better at creating content than brands.

I believe the future of content marketing must become more visual, immersive and engaging. In my mind business caught up with where the media was in terms of content, but the leading media companies have once again stolen a march.

Take a look at these three sensational examples of storytelling from world renowned media outlets. They show just where brand content can, should and in my mind, must go:

• BBC – The Reykjavik Confessions
• The Guardian – Firestorm: The story of the bushfire at Dunalley
• NY Times – Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

You cannot help but be blown away by these stories and view them to the end. They are captivating, and are in themselves newsworthy and highlight what’s next for content marketing.

Interestingly, this new type of high quality, rich and expansive content, although being driven by media outlets, lends itself more to the business world. All good brand content marketers will know the topics they will be covering for the next 12 months, whereas media are increasingly ruled by speed. Creating this sort of content can only be done long after events have happened with lots of time and resource — two things brands increasingly have more of than news outlets.

If you’re a content marketing team looking to lead an industry, you must be thinking along these lines. In the future, successful content marketing teams will have studios creating long form content like this all year round, which is then supplement by the daily creation of short form and responsive content, such as social media posts, blogs, infographics and videos.

There’s lots of room for fresh thinking in content marketing and it is my belief that it can and should be re-imagined along these lines.