Content

Back in the old days when "integrated marketing" execution was decidedly weighted with more print, outdoor, TV, and direct than web portals or online advertisements, the full service agency I worked for had its own information group bundled under the IT department. It was the mid-90's, and we still had budgets for employee training, annual raises, and early-out Fridays. The information group consisted of two staff librarians and one support person. In retrospect, their roles may have seen a little...

Last week I was in Minneapolis rubbing hashtags (#Confab) with other word geeks who build and publish stuff online. About 500 of us glommed around the Hyatt for three days to talk about how to plan for content, how to sell it internally and to clients, how to test for good content, and how to work through a content development process. Good stuff, and more thoughts from sessions I attended will be shared here in the coming days. And yeah, there were a few tweets flying around. But first I thought...

You can send an email from a plane and cull the most meaningful links from your Twitter stream without any heavy lifting.  You may even check your RSS feed during the agonizingly long school choir concert (raises eyebrow).  Does what you read and experience in these micro-moments and other, less fractured, times/ways add up to anything meaningful? Asked another way, do those bytes count and help move your needle somewhere? I picked up on a tweet stream from Scott Abel around midday today...

One definition of storytelling is as follows "storytelling...relating a tale to one or more listeners through voice and gestures." Sounds like content distribution, doesn't it?  In today's terms, that might include blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, the list goes on.  It's about sharing what you know and think.  About opening doors in the imagination and sparking creativity.  Or for that matter, sparking debate. The art of storytelling has a rich and complex history. ...

I've read some posts lately that have given me pause.  Those posts, and the ensuing thoughts niggling around in my head, prompted some site trolling I might not otherwise have done.  I visited a few--as a first-timer-- and was struck surprised by what I encountered. I'm Yours To Lose (30 Seconds or Less) Wearing my Consumer hat (it fits the best), I'll unequivocally state that my online expectation is that any site I visit will enable me to do what it is I need to do.  Whatever that need may be. ...

Preparation:  A little ingenuity, a penchant for considering and trying what may be unknown.  Must gather all of the ingredients listed below and take heed of the Cook Time.  If using Google Analytics, then establish campaign goals within the system in advance of going live with your AdWord campaign. Cook Time: Varies according to your brand's prior sustained presence in online search; interest in being competitive for placement in search engine results pages (SERPs) via bid commitment; strength...