One of the audience members was specifically interested in ghostwriting: what it was, why and how it was done, and who took advantage of the service.

The following video includes my answer to those questions.  Enjoy!

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• The Ghostwriter Phenomenon, or How Celebrity Autobiographies are Penned (pamil-visions.net)
• What is a Ghostwriter? (creativeghostwriter.com)
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Transcript:

Thanks very much for joining me again, this is Justin P Lambert from Words That Begin With You, Customer-focused Content Marketing.

Now the questions that we’re going to review today are: how much? How soon? and How often?  The reason being that if you’ve done anything at all with content marketing thus far, you’ve probably already realized this, but it takes a lot of content put out there very often in order to put a dent in the huge amount of information that’s already flowing, especially online these days.

So, it takes a certain level of commitment to succeed at content marketing.  It’s not to say that it’s impossible, especially for an individual who’s working on their own.  It’s possible, and actually many people have succeeded very well with content marketing, but it’s definitely not an overnight success.  It’s something that takes time and commitment.

The Content Marketing Hurricane

This is an analogy that I like to use.  I actually did a blog post about it not too long ago.  I call it a content marketing hurricane.  The reason I call it that is if you think about the way a hurricane develops, it begins way off in the ocean where no one lives.  Nobody notices this happening except maybe those few weathermen who’s job is to keep their eye on this sort of thing, and it’s just basically a thunderstorm.  It’s just a little bit of a storm.  But it’s in the right conditions where it begins to build.

Now, as these conditions coalesce and as the wind and the temperature and the amount of moisture that it’s picking up, it might be upgraded to what’s called a tropical depression.  Then, the meteorologists, the weathermen, are starting to take notice of this, they’re keeping their eye on it, but it doesn’t amount to much just yet.  People on the mainland certainly don’t care about it.

But then, it begins picking up a little more steam.  Some more wind, some more moisture are added, and suddenly it’s a tropical storm with winds somewhere in the 30′s or 40 miles per hour.  Now, at this point, people do start taking notice.

Nobody’s leaving their homes, nobody’s boarding things up, nobody’s considering moving things up out of the way of the storm, but they’re keeping their eye on it.  It’s going to be on the news.  And a lot of times, at that point, weathermen are able to predict, if it continues to progress, where approximately it’s going to hit the land.

Then, things continue to progress from there.  There’s yet more wind, more power.  Momentum is being built in this storm.  The wind speeds pick up, and eventually it’s a hurricane.  Now at this point, people definitely are taking notice.  Wherever it is that that storm is expected to hit land, people are leaving their homes in many cases.  People are putting up boards on their windows, they’re taking action, because they know that this is going to be a powerful event.

And when that hurricane hits land, it has a tremendous effect doesn’t it?

See, it’s very similar with content marketing.  When you start doing it, it’s going to be like you’re out in that ocean by yourself.  You’re going to put a few blog posts out there, and you’re going to work your butt off to make them the best they can be, but you’re not going to get a huge response right up front.  You shouldn’t expect that you would.

But as you continue to add to that content that you’re putting out, and you continue to make sure that it’s constantly building momentum, that it’s constantly of such a high quality that people have to start taking notice of it, it’s just like that storm brewing out in the ocean and starting to move toward land.

The more high-quality content you add to that storm, the more momentum it picks up and the more power it has, the more people are going to take notice.   And when you do finally “hit land” so to speak, when your content marketing starts really bringing in results, it’s going to be a powerful effect because all of the momentum of all of the content that you’ve already created is behind that effect that your marketing plan is going to have.

But, the only way that you can continue to build such a strong momentum in your content marketing program is if you continue to add quality content on a consistent basis, and it has to be done strategically.  Now strategy is something that we’re going to discuss in the next video, but for now, just keep in mind as I said before, there is a level of commitment necessary, it’s going to take time, but by all means it’s possible – even likely, if you’re willing to put in that effort – that you’re going to have that tremendous effect with your content marketing program.

I look forward to witnessing that, and I hope you’re enjoying mine as well.  Thanks very much and have a great day.

Related articles

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Courtesy of cambodi4kidsorg (flickr)

Content marketing, inbound marketing, content creation, content curation, content aggregation…

Wow.  Maybe it should be called “content aggravation”!  It seems like there are a million different terms and philosophies floating around now that content marketing has really started hitting its stride in the minds of the average business person, especially in relation to online marketing.

So, I wanted to spend some time (maybe a few posts) discussing some of this terminology and trying to explore what it actually means to the average business person trying to make a living in 2012 and beyond.

The first term I wanted to hit up is “content curation” since it’s one I am personally confused about sometimes.

What is Content Curation?

In its simplest form, content curation is bringing together relevant content from outside sources and sharing it with your audience.

So, with that definition in mind, you can correctly assume there are thousands of different websites and applications that accomplish this job.  Bookmarking sites like Delicious and Digg, social sharing platforms like Google+, Twitter and Facebook, along with countless other specialized apps all provide some form of content curation ability for their users.

But, here’s where everything starts going haywire:

On most of these platforms, the average user cares little if at all about the audience who will be viewing his or her stream of “curated content”.  For example, my buddy Joe’s Facebook page includes all sorts of links to all sorts of videos, pictures and articles that Joe likes.  He’s theoretically curated this content in the respect that he’s sorted through all the thousands of webpages he’s accessed during the last week, let’s say, and he’s chosen this small sampling to share with me and his 287 other friends.

But the thing is, I don’t care about any of it.  And that’s ok, because Joe really shared them for himself.  I mean, sure, he’s hoping to get a laugh from someone else, maybe an “LOL” reply on one or two of them, but he certainly didn’t curate this content with his audience’s needs or desires in mind.

The same basic tendency plagues most potential content curation available online today: the user’s lack of interest in the audience.

Unfortunately, even those touting content curation as an effective marketing tool and supposedly using it themselves lean far more toward serving their own interests as opposed to truly making an effort to provide information their audience wants or needs.

Is Content Curation Just Organized Theft?

At its worst, online publishers (bloggers, mostly, although others have been involved as well,) have skirted the line of plagiarism and outright stealing of content by “curating” entire blog posts from other sources in order to steal some of the built-in search and link juice from the original source.

This kind of “content curation” is nothing of the sort, and as a writer and blogger, it makes me pretty sick.

I had a limited level of exposure to this kind of activity when I was privileged to have a guest post accepted on Problogger.com, which is one of the largest blogs in the blogging niche.  I set up a Google Alert for a key sentence within the post to let me know when it came out so I could be ready to reply to reader comments, and I was shocked and appalled to find alerts popping up three and four times a day for the next two weeks as all sorts of nothing blogs from all over the web plagiarized the article with no attribution to either me or Darren Rowse.

Looking at their junk sites, I have to assume they “curate content” from all over the web via RSS feed and pour this stuff out all over their unsuspecting readers without even glancing at it.

That is not effective content curation.

Doing Content Curation Right

Let me jump down off my soapbox and finally point out some examples of people and organizations who are really doing content curation right.

The big difference, as you’ve probably already guessed, is that true, effective content curation has to put your audience first.

It involves figuring out what your audience wants and needs to know about and then sifting through the overwhelming amount of information out there to hand-pick specific items that you know they will benefit from.

And it’s not easy.

But some people are definitely doing it right.  Here are twelve examples:

http://www.contentcurationmarketing.com/articles/35461/6-more-content-curation-examples-illustrated/

http://www.contentcurationmarketing.com/articles/24731/6-content-curation-examples-illustrated/

(Interestingly, contentcurationmarketing.com, as their name suggests, is an excellent example in and of themselves, which is why I relied on their curation skills to pull together more examples of great curators than I could have come up with on my own.  There’s a lesson there, methinks.)

I also love the following curation apps for their “set it and forget it” value:

Scoop-It

Paper.Li

Alltop.com

And, Google+ has proven itself to be a valuable content curation tool, if it’s used carefully.  Specifically, if you set up a solid circle of users who are focused primarily on one topic and are consistently supplying quality content, you have an easy source of curated content for your own purposes, as well as the ability to share that circle with others so they can benefit from it as well.

I’m sure there are thousands of other curation sources and apps out there that I haven’t touched on, and probably plenty I don’t even know about.  (That’s where you come in, set me straight in the comments!)

But I just have one more point to make on this subject:

I don’t do a lot of curation myself.  At least, not really solid, skillful and effective curation.

Don’t get me wrong, I share plenty of good stuff on my Twitter stream, and I mix it up quite a bit on my Tumblr as well, but just like almost everyone else, I’m sharing things I liked or benefited from.  I’m interested in my audience, but I can’t honestly say I’m thinking about them when I’m “curating”.

And, percentage-wise, I’m probably sharing far too much of my own content to be considered a good curator.  I am, at heart, a content creator before anything else.  So I share what I make more than I share what I find.

Which is why, at least right now, I’m fairly comfortable saying that content curation is NOT a necessary ingredient in every content marketing strategy.  I think it has its place, and I definitely appreciate it when I run across it.  But it’s not winning any awards in my mind.

But, I could be wrong.  Let me know what you think.

Related articles

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Transcript:

Hey, thanks for joining me again.  This is Justin P Lambert from Words That Begin With You, Customer-focused Content Marketing.

Now, this video’s talking about a pretty broad question and I’m not going to try to cover it completely.  You wouldn’t want to sit here that long, and I wouldn’t either.  But the question is, how do you go about marketing with content?

Probably, you’ve already experienced all manner of content marketing.  You may not realize that that’s what it’s called.  But basically, any time that a company or an individual has a message to share and they do so in an entertaining and engaging way, it’s a form of content marketing.  Especially if it’s done in a strategic way where they’re really focusing on finding their target audience and giving that target audience information that they’re really looking for.

So, you’ve probably experienced it a lot.  And if you’re trying to do it yourself, probably the best and easiest method you can come across is using a blog.  Now why is that one of the best methods of content marketing available to business owners and individuals today?

Well, there are a few reasons:

Cheap

First of all, it’s cheap.

And by cheap I mean that it’s possible to get started in content marketing, with a blog that is respectable, for free.  And it only takes a few minutes.

I’m not going to go into all the details now, but if you’re not familiar with WordPress, look it up on Google.  You can go to WordPress.com, just pick one of their many templates, and you can start blogging in ten minutes.  And it’s free.

It’s a little more complicated to download wordpress.org software, because you need to have it on your own hosted site, but a lot of bloggers who are putting a lot of effort into content marketing prefer that platform because it gives them a lot more leeway and a lot more opportunity to do things the way that they’d like, to set things up in a customized way.

But again, it’s free.  And if you know what you’re doing, or if you can follow instructions pretty easily, you can be started in an hour or less.

Fast

Also, it’s fast.

As I just mentioned, you can get started very quickly.  But even maintaining a blog can be fairly quick. Generally, blog posts are anywhere from 300 to, let’s say, 1000 words.  It’s not long as far as articles go, because most people who go to look at blogs are not expecting to be sitting there reading for a long time.

So as long as you have a grasp of the English language (or whatever language you’re looking to write in,) and you’re able to formulate your thoughts in a logical way and put them out on the screen in a way that people can understand, you should be able to get a blog post done in a very short time.  And publishing it is a click of a button.  And then it’s available for the entire world to see.

Flexible

A third reason that blogging is so effective for content marketing is that it’s flexible.

Blog software, such as WordPress, can accept regular text articles, or can include videos like the one you’re watching now, it can include podcasts, which is basically audio recordings as if you were listening to someone on the radio, and any number of other combinations of these.

So one blog, which, as I just mentioned, can be quickly put together for free, can include many different types of content.  And all of these different types of content can appeal to different audiences as I discussed in a previous video.

Powerful

Finally, blogging is powerful.  And by that I mean it provides many of the aspects that content marketing needs to be successful.

For one thing, as I just brought out, it’s very flexible and able to include many different types of content.  Which is important when you’re trying to appeal to your target audience.  Not everybody likes to sit there and read text.  Some people prefer the visual element, such as videos.  Some people prefer to be able to download a podcast to their iPods and listen away from their computer.  And other people do enjoy searching through text itself.

But when you’re writing a blog, or you’re including a video or a podcast, it also has the benefit of being searchable by Google.  As I mentioned in a previous video, Google is the main source for seeking out information these days.  So, if you’re trying to market with content, and you’re doing so in a way that Google isn’t going to find and register on their search engine, you may as well not be doing it because nobody’s going to find it and nobody’s going to care.

But with a blog, it’s actually set up in such a way that Google really likes.  Because it’s constantly updated.  So Google is going to be sending out their robots to your website on a regular basis and if it finds that your site is stagnant, it’s not going to continue to bring it up in search results as quickly.  But with a blog, if you continue to keep it updated on a regular basis, you’re going to find that Google raises its priority in the search results.  Which means, without much more effort on your part than just getting your message out there, you have a better chance of it being seen than someone who is not actively updating their site.  So a blog makes that possible.

Now, I’ve been focusing primarily on blogging because it’s one of the easiest, fastest, and most powerful means of getting into content marketing today.  But of course, there are literally hundreds of other opportunities available to you.  It really takes creativity, and a special effort to think about and identify your target audience and what type of content they’re going to be looking for.

For example, even offline, you’re going to find many opportunities to get involved in content marketing.  Perhaps through writing articles for newspapers, magazines, trade magazines and the like.  You can write a regular column for your local paper if your target audience is reading that paper.

There are other means of audio and video distribution offline you can get involved with as well.  But content marketing today is primarily focused online because, again, that’s where people go first for their information.  So, in that respect, a blog still remains the easiest, fastest, and probably most powerful means of getting your message out there effectively.

If you haven’t tried it yet, definitely do.  And if you want, you can stop by Words That Begin With You at justinplambert.net for an example of what a blog can do because, for the most part, that’s how I market with content: by means of my blog as well as you’ll find some downloadable free reports there as well.

I encourage you to browse around the site, see what there is to see and leave some comments or get in touch with me at the contact page so you can ask any questions you may have.

Thanks again for your time in watching this video, and have a great day.

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• 7 Content Marketing Articles Worth Reading (copyblogger.com)
• 8 Reasons You’ll Get Buried Alive Without Quality Content (hubspot.com)
• 3 Reasons Why Podcasts Should Be Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy (contentmarketinginstitute.com)

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Transcript:

Hi everyone, it’s Justin P Lambert again from Words That Begin With You, customer-focused content marketing.

If you watched my first video, it was on the question of “what is content marketing”?  This time I’m going to talk about a slightly different question: “why is content marketing so important”?

You’ve probably noticed in the last several months, if you’ve been doing any sort of research at all about marketing, that content marketing has really grown in popularity.

In some cases, it’s just the terminology that’s become more popular because people have been doing content marketing for years.  But the entire concept of content marketing has become a lot more popular and there are a few good reasons for that.

First of all, as we know, the economy has changed and marketing has to change with it.  So content marketing, back say 10, 15, 20 years ago, was a fairly expensive way to market your business because producing content, which was generally in printed form, was very expensive.  Then you would need to print it, have it shipped, then mailed out if you weren’t going to distribute it personally.  All of this contributed to the cost of content marketing as it existed 20 years ago.

These days, of course, content marketing is nearly free, at least to those who do it on a small scale, because if you can set up a blog online, at a free site such as wordpress.com, or get the free wordpress software to put on your own site, for a couple of dollars a year for a domain name, you’ve got a content marketing vehicle that’s highly effective at next to no cost.

You can, of course, expand from there.  But that’s one of the major reasons that it’s so popular now, and of course one of the reasons why it’s so important as well.

Now, there’s a few things, specifically three things I’m going to touch on as very important aspects of why content marketing is so effective, and therefore so important, especially for smaller businesses looking to compete in today’s economy.

First of all, an effective content marketing campaign is going to give you excellent search engine rankings.  Now we all know that these days the phone book is hardly ever used.  If somebody wants to look up goods, services or products, they’re probably going to turn to Google.

Now, if you have a website out there, and you’re putting plenty of good quality information that your target audience is going to be looking for, and that’s written in such a way that the terms that they use in Google are highlighted in your text, or your videos, or whatever content you’re using, then there’s a very good chance that they’re going to find your site when they’re looking for something.

And when they find your site, especially if it’s in the top 10 list of Google, there’s a very good possibility they’re going to choose you over your competitors

Secondly, a quality content marketing campaign is going to make you look like an expert to those that are looking for the information you’re providing.  As I just mentioned, if you have high search engine rankings, that’s equivalent to walking from backstage on Oprah to the studio audience while she says, “here’s the guy who wrote the book on…” whatever subject she’s discussing.

That’s a huge boon.  Because if you look like the expert, and people are valuing the information you’re providing, especially since you’re providing it on a consistent basis, which a good content marketing campaign requires, then you become the goto person for that information.

So if you happen to be a consultant, or someone who makes a living providing information, a content marketing campaign is going to make you the goto person for exactly what you sell.  Similarly, if you provide some sort of service or product that is in direct relation to the content you’re providing, then of course you’re going to be top-of-mind when someone decides to go forward and purchase whatever you’re selling.

Your competitors are going to be behind you in your customers’ minds.  And that’s exactly what you want to do as far as positioning goes.  So again, content marketing is very important because it puts you in that expert position.

Finally, the third reason that it’s so important, especially these days, is that content marketing is an excellent component of an inbound marketing campaign.

Now, those terms are not exactly synonymous but inbound marketing requires that content marketing be included.  Basically, inbound marketing means the opposite of what for decades has been the standard for marketing, which is basically interruptive, or outbound, marketing: advertisements, such as commercials during a TV show, or those little ads that are on the side of a website.

Now generally, these days, we’re bombarded with so much of that, and have been all our lives, that we pretty much ignore them all.  Inbound marketing, on the other hand, draws people to a company, and generally they’ll do so by providing some sort of valuable content, whether it be actual information such as “how-to” articles and so forth, or in some cases companies have used interactive games and things like that that bring their audience to them.

And then, once the audience is warmed up, and they know, like and trust the people providing that information, then selling to that audience is a much easier transition.

So there’s three main reasons why a quality content marketing campaign can really be important to your business.  It provides search engine rankings, it provides expert status that’s so valuable, and it’s part of a valuable inbound marketing campaign.

That’s it for this video, thanks very much for watching, and tune in for more.  Have a great day.

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Courtesy of Andrea Balzano (flickr)

I’m a member of a LinkedIn group called The Association of Independent Business Consultants and had the opportunity to participate in an interesting discussion recently that got me thinking.

I remember back several years ago when I was first considering opening my doors as a freelance copywriter, long before I ever made my first cold call or snagged my first portfolio sample, I felt the need to design, write and print several copies of my company brochure.

Don’t laugh too hard.  You probably did the same thing.

So Carolyn‘s question was:

Do you use a brochure to market your business? If so, how? What are the most important topics to include?

Here’s the link to the full discussion, so you can benefit from everyone else’s insight also.  Basically, some gave some great suggestions about focusing the brochure on the customer, some suggested not even using one, but going in favor of the online alternatives now available, and another recommended creating ultra-specific brochures for each potential client.

Here’s my take:

I agree with the majority of responses. Here’s my take as a content marketing specialist:

The value of a traditional brochure is severely limited by the far more effective and less expensive online alternatives available. At the same time, as Jerry mentioned, the personal touch is extremely powerful, and I see plenty of consultants (myself included, at times,) hiding behind an electronic smoke screen and wondering why they’re not getting results.

That being said, I do recommend at least giving a traditional brochure a try if 1) you’re just starting out and your target audience is fairly local, or 2) you find your website and social media presence aren’t accomplishing what you need.
Just, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t spend thousands on a huge print run of ultra-spiffy brochures unless and until you have solid proof that it’s consistently bringing in paying customers. A perfectly acceptable brochure can be designed on Microsoft Publisher and printed on your home printer in a pinch.

As to content,
1) Make sure the brochure speaks TO your target customer, not at them or about them.
2) Don’t brag about your accomplishments or your degrees. Instead, let your satisfied customers brag about you via testimonials.
3) Make sure you include an obvious, concrete call to action: “Call me for a free 30-minute phone consultation today!” or “Download my free report right now!”
4) Don’t make the mistake of trying to fit every possible option your customer has into one brochure: “Call me here, or go to my website, or e-mail me here, download my free report, or let me mail it to you, or I can drop by with a copy…”
5) Give them a taste of who you are, what you do, why they should care, and then one thing they need to do to move things forward.

See, the bottom line of this question really rings true when considering any marketing tactic:

What’s going to get your unique twist on solving your customer’s problems out in front of your customers?

If you analyze all the possible answers to that question, and a spiffy company brochure floats to the top of the list, then go for it!  As a matter of fact, here’s an article I wrote about writing it a little better.

But if you really look hard at your options, and you realize (like I eventually did,) that your brochure kind of sucks and/or it’s more likely to sit in a drawer looking pretty rather than making you money… well, you know what to do with it.

What’s your opinion?  Let me know in the comments.

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Let me know what you think!  There’s a comments section below, you know?

Transcript:

Hey, how you doing?  This is Justin P Lambert from Words That Begin With You, customer-focused content marketing.

I wanted to put a series of videos together, just to give you a real quick insight into how I view some basic content marketing concepts.  And this first one, the one you’re viewing now, has to do with how I define content marketing.

The reason I think that’s important is because it’s defined in different ways all around the net.  Some people think it’s synonymous with copywriting, but really it’s not.  Other people think that it’s synonymous with pretty much any type of marketing, assuming that as long as you’re marketing your business, you’re creating content.  But that’s not really true either.

So, here’s my definition of content marketing, at least the way I see it:

Content Marketing is the consistent, strategic production of valuable information, through media your current or potential customers enjoy consuming, in order to help them know, like and trust you, viewing you as a valued source of help at the right time.

First of all, one of the main points is that it’s valuable.

Now what do I mean by valuable?

Well, if you’re doing content marketing right, you’re creating content that you could sell if you wanted to.  It’s worth that much to the people that you’re speaking to, your target audience.  But you’re going to be giving it away for free for the most part.  So it’s valuable information.

Secondly, it’s going to be enjoyable to your target audience.  That means it’s going to be done in such a way that it can be entertaining, it can be something that they truly enjoy getting involved in.

For instance, right now, I’m making a video.  For the most part, I haven’t been doing much in the way of videos, this is my first one.  But obviously, many people who go online searching for information search for videos because YouTube is the #2 search engine on the web.

So, all of my text information back at my site is good for those who enjoy consuming text.  But if you’re one of those people who enjoys searching via video, you’re going to find this video about content marketing. I’ve made it for people who enjoy consuming video.

And third, this information’s going to be timely.  And by timely, what I mean is, if you’re doing content marketing right, it’s going to be a consistent flow of information that your target audience is going to want to look into.  It’s not something where you can just put out a site that’s just going to lay stagnant there and forever you’re going to reap the benefits of it.

That rarely happens.

Instead, something like an online blog is a perfect example because one of the main reasons a blog is so effective is because you’re consistently putting out new information so that people can consistently come back and learn new things from you.

And that’s why an effective content marketing program could take some time.  But it’s very rewarding as well.

So basically, just to review the definition that use for content marketing is that it is valuable, enjoyable and timely information that is made specifically for your target audience to consume.

That’s it for this video.  Tune in for some more coming up.  Thanks and have a great day!

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Via Sean Hackbarth (flickr)

I happen to be a huge Rush fan.

There.  I said it.  Razz me if you will.

But the fact is, these guys have continued to inspire and impress me as a musician and music fan for over twenty years now.

And what’s even more impressive is that they had already been doing that for other fans for almost twenty years before THAT!

But now, I’m looking at this awesome band in a different way: as a content marketer.  And, wouldn’t you know it?

I’m still impressed.

Here are three vital content marketing lessons I’ve learned from the premier Canadian power trio, Rush:

Don’t settle.

Regardless of whether their music is your cup of tea, if you have any sort of musical ear, you have to admit that the three musicians who make up Rush are absolutely top-notch at what they do.

Geddy, Alex and Neil are each virtuosic players on the bass, guitar and drums respectively.  If you look back through the last, oh, I don’t know… 40 YEARS WORTH of magazines like Modern Drummer, Guitar World and Bass Player, you’ll find people singing their praises over and over again.

And they also gel together as a band extremely well.  It’s not a Yngwie Malmsteen situation where talent and ego are both in the stratosphere.

How did they get that way?

Practice.  Focused, progressive practice.  And this goes on even now, 40 years into their professional careers, long after Rush has “nothing left to prove.”

So what’s the lesson for content marketers?

Spectacular content doesn’t just happen.

When you come across that really special blog post, or that incredible infographic that just puts all the pieces in place for you, you can be sure that hours, weeks, even years of focused, progressive practice went into it.  Whether all that time went into that piece itself, or into the stunning talent that made it possible for that post to be pounded out in twenty minutes, it’s still there.

So don’t settle for good enough content.  Practice.  Make it spectacular.

Well, you can stake that claim
Good work is the key to good fortune
Winners take that praise
Losers seldom take that blame

~ By Neil Peart.  From “Roll the Bones”, Roll the Bones, 1991.

Find your audience and take them with you.

Some Rush fans that started loving the band in 1975 were a little put out by the time 1987 rolled around.

These folks loved the epic fantasy progressive meanderings of Fountains of Lamneth and 2112, but couldn’t stand the pop-synth clarity of Time Stand Still.

Other folks who discovered Rush in the early 90′s (like me) might like the newest music, but can’t stand all that artsy fartsy progressive glam rock from the 70′s.

Some people can’t stand Geddy Lee’s voice.  Others can’t imagine what the trouble is.

The point, however, is this:  Rush has made their music, their way.  It’s not for everyone.  Matter of fact, it’s not for many.  Rush has never been as big as some of the super-star acts out there who have made billions and saturate the airways.

But Rush’s fan base – their audience – their tribe -  is absolutely and totally loyal.

And here, boys and girls, is the key for content marketers: You need to build that tribe, but you’re not going to be successful by going the pop route.  There’s no one-size-fits-all instant hit in content marketing.

Instead, it’s going to take some experimentation.  It’s going to require being yourself and putting your own unique voice and view into every single item you create.  It’s going to require making some adjustments in order to stay true to yourself while at the same time reaching people with different learning styles and preferences.

And, it’s going to require changing with the times without changing who you are.

If you do that, although you may not sell billions, you’ll be talking to the right people: the small but powerful tribe of fanatically loyal people who want to hear what you have to say.

All the world’s indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another’s audience
Outside the gilded cage

~ By Neil Peart.  From “Limelight”, Moving Pictures, 1981

Stick with it.

In the realm of rock music, it’s a rare band that survives five years, much less 40!  And it’s even rarer to find a band with that kind of longevity that hasn’t rested on their laurels by going out there every few months and playing the same handful of tired hits over and over again and nothing else.

Rush, on the other hand, has consistently created fresh music every 1-2 years while interspersing the time between studio albums with critically-acclaimed live shows, live albums, DVD’s and other connected projects.  They’re not resting on anything, despite the fact that these guys are creeping up on the big 6-0 really soon!

If you have a spare 25 minutes, check out this recent interview with the band before a 2011 show.  I think it sums up their philosophy really well:

As a content marketer, time is both your enemy and your ally.

Every piece of content you create runs the risk of disappearing in the constant, inevitable stream of information assailing everyone.  With each second that goes by, each word you write begins to fade into oblivion.

But, at the same time, your body of content builds on itself over time, gaining strength and momentum as more people discover it and put it to use.

So, by all means, keep creating spectacular content.  Keep it fresh and brilliant, and keep seeking out that tribe who feels you deserve their full attention.  But, whatever you do, stick with it.

To succeed, you need to be in it for the long haul.

You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don’t burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance
First you’ve got to last…

~ By Neil Peart.  From “Marathon”, Power Windows, 1985

Tell me: any lessons you’ve learned from Rush?  Any lessons you’ve learned from other celebs who do it right?  Let me know in the comments.  I’d love to discuss it.

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Via Wikipedia

Did you get a chance to watch the Green Bay Packers obliterate the Oakland Raiders this afternoon?

I did, and I have to say, Oakland didn’t do that bad.

They just didn’t do anywhere near what they needed to to compete with Aaron Rodgers and the ridiculously talented Green Bay Packers.

So, of course, I’m sitting and watching this game thinking about content marketing.

Aaron Rodgers: Content Marketer Extraordinaire

What am I talking about?

Simply this:

Content marketing has to do with building up a solid platform of stellar content over the long term, getting your chosen audience to know, like and trust you, and moving them to take action.

By that definition, Aaron Rodgers has done an undeniably awesome job.

Take a look:

Stellar Content

Just so far this season, he’s thrown for 4125 yards, 39 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions.  As a result of this stellar performance in combination with the rest of the offensive weapons he has at his disposal, the Packers have already exceeded their franchise single season scoring record and are now 13-0.

The Packers only have three games left, but it’s possible that Rodgers will break the single-season record for passing yards (5,084 by Dan Marino in 1984), touchdown passes (50 by Tom Brady in 2007), completion percentage (70.6 percent by Drew Brees in 2009) and QB rating (121.1 by Peyton Manning in 2004). — Via Zachary D. Rymer at BleacherReport.com

Yeah.  Wow.

Over the Long Term

Rodgers’ fantastic play goes back further than this season, too.  As does the Packers’ winning streak.

In 2008, he ranked 6th in the NFL passing ranking.  In 2009, 4th.  In 2010, he was 3rd. (And, oh yeah.  He won the Super Bowl.)

And this year?  1st.  By a long shot, too.

He’s been building this legend for years now, and he’s now cemented his place as a Hall of Fame – MVP – Super Bowl – highlight film – caliber superstar in a league that doesn’t give that kind of accolade away easily.

Under the circumstances, praise for Rodgers seems somewhat faint: calling this season M.V.P.-caliber is a little like calling a “Mona Lisa” exhibition worthy. – Via Mike Tanier at the NY Times.

In content marketing terms, I call that a Hurricane.

Getting Your Chosen Audience to Know, Like and Trust You

Have you ever seen the Lambeau Leap?

Green Bay fans are absolutely, well, fanatical about their team.

To say they know, like and trust their quarterback would be just a bit of an understatement.

Aaron Rodgers is God. – Via Packers80 on PackerForum.com

Moving Them to Take Action

There’s no question that Rodgers and the Packers have succeeded at every content marketer’s main goal.

As just one quantifiable example of the loyalty the Packers have engendered, tonight’s game was the 299th straight home game played to a sold-out crowd in Lambeau Field.

Over 18 years.

That’s over 73,000 screaming fans, in the frigid Green Bay temperatures, going absolutely nuts as Aaron Rodgers and the Pack head into week 15.

Or, at the current going rate of between $175 and $546 per seat, we’re talking about over $26 million dollars just in ticket sales next Sunday.

So, Are You an Aaron Rodgers Caliber Content Marketer?

The NFL is a multi-multi-billion dollar business, but when you get right down to it, it’s the superstars who come out there every Sunday and put their all into building their legend that really keeps all of us coming back and feeding that machine.

So, if you’re working on building your own legend, or maybe hoping to create your own multi-billion dollar enterprise, take some lessons from Aaron Rodgers and the other incredible players that make the NFL what it is.

If you’re working on building that stellar platform of exceptional content, keeping the quality high over the long term, focusing on your audience and getting them to know, like and trust you, and moving them to action, you’re getting there.

So don’t give up now!  We haven’t even hit the post season!

Let’s get some cool discussion going on this one: who’s your favorite sports “content marketer”?  What action did they move YOU to take?

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Courtesy of Muffet (flickr)

Very few people are comfortable being thought of as greedy.

Probably some Wall Street power brokers are OK with it.  Maybe the occasional rapper or jewel thief.

But most people, even the ultra-rich, don’t like the idea of being considered greedy.

But they are.  You are.  I am.

We’re all greedy to some extent, and copywriters the world over capitalize on that fact in innumerable ways through their advertising and content.

Basically, greed is the desire for more money or power than you’ve technically earned or deserve.

So, if you’re currently working for $8.25 per hour flipping burgers at Meat Shack and you’re grumbling to yourself that the girl at the fry-o-later is making $8.50 and you think you should too, you’re being greedy.

It’s really a fine line, because in some ways, it’s tied together with ambition and smart thinking: if you didn’t look ahead, set a goal for something better, reach for that goal and work hard to attain it, you’d never get anywhere.

But, in many cases, the kid at the grill just sits there grumbling, then does nothing else about it.

And that’s the greedy attitude that can lead to stupid, unethical and unfortunate results down the road.

Now, I’m not advocating this attitude, I’m just reporting it like I see it.  The fact is, all of us, at one time or another, have looked at what someone else has and we’ve wanted it, although we’ve given no thought at all to what it took to get it.

The difference is in what we do immediately after that thought comes up.  Do we take the high road or not?

How to Use Greed

Copywriters can effectively use both aspects of the human being’s natural greed, whether they take the high road or the low road.

You’ve no doubt seen the headlines, the infomercials, the landing pages, the books…

“You Can Make $123,422 in 30 Days, While You Sleep!”

“Live Like a King on $2 a Day!”

Usually, they’re advertising business opportunities, MLM schemes, investment advice, or some other means of (supposedly) making big money fast.

The key to these kinds of headlines and the copy that follows them is that the copywriter is focusing on the obvious human desire to obtain huge rewards without investing huge amounts of effort in exchange.

Common sense tells us that it’s not really possible to make over $100,000 in the next month.  Or, at least, it’s highly unlikely, especially starting from zero, as the target audience for this type of ad is.

But that doesn’t make the ad any less effective.  You see, we’d all like to think we could do something insanely unlikely, if we could just figure out the step-by-step process for doing so.

And inevitably, that’s exactly what the ad ends up selling you.  Headlines like that are never used to sell you an actual physical product because it would just make no sense that a particular brand of dishwasher or a luxury car could bring you unearned riches.

But a method of which you’ve been unaware up until now?  A step-by-step process for building a business or investing your retirement fund that can supposedly earn incredible dividends?

Now THAT makes more sense!

So the copywriter goes on to tell a sad story about YOU, the reader, and the horribly depressing mediocre life you live, and about how much better your existence would be if you could just stop worrying about money and spend every day goofing off with family and friends.

Of course, by the end of the skillfully crafted sales letter or landing page, you’re absolutely sure that the only way you can ever drag yourself out of the morass of soul-killing monotony that is your life is to purchase this method for instant and easy wealth, and then your new life will begin.

Taking the High Road

OK, so I’m being a touch melodramatic, sarcastic, and probably a bit too hard on the get-rich-quick industry.

Here’s my disclaimer: we see so much of it, because it works.  Plain and simple.  The copywriters who write this stuff make tons of money doing it, and in all honesty, given the opportunity I would probably do the same.  What we’re selling is a dream, a hope, a wish.  And for a lot of people, that’s all they’re really interested in.

But that doesn’t mean if feels good.

Personally, I believe there’s a better way to capitalize on the human tendency to be greedy, and I think it’s well exemplified in this excerpt from an interview with Chris Garret regarding ProBlogger (the book) by Chris Garret and Darren Rowse. (This is an affiliate link. I trust these guys, they know what they’re talking about.)

“The book actually says the same thing. Me and Darren (Rowse) emphasize a couple of times that this is not a get rich quick scheme and although there’s money, don’t think ‘pack in the day job and I’ll make a bigger income (from blogging)’. There is money to make but it’s hard work and you have to choose the right battle.”

If you want to capitalize on human greed, write your copy in such a way that you acknowledge the fact that all of us would like to have a more comfortable, less stressful life.  But then, acknowledge that a life like that needs to be earned.

And earning a full life through dedicated, sometimes really really hard, work can be so much more fulfilling than reaching for the million-dollar pipe dream.

Your turn:  Do those pie-in-the-sky ads work on you?  Have you ever purchased an e-book or membership because a skilled copywriter fed your greed?  Let me know in the comments.

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