Sonia Simone says, “A few weeks ago, I recorded a podcast episode about Jonah Sachs’s book Winning the Story Wars. He had a particularly useful observation about three story elements that pull in audience attention. He calls them Freaks, Cheats, and Familiars. Sachs explains how these elements can be deployed, like the Hero’s Journey, to make stories much more memorable and engaging. As I was reading Story Wars, it struck me that there’s a well-known figure who illustrates all three of these elements in one person: legendary bodybuilder, action star, two-term California Governor, and... [...]

Matthew Torren says, “For most blog, news, and content website owners, ad revenue is essential. It feeds the budget required to deliver the content that your readers have come to depend on. Unfortunately, in the quest to increase ad revenue, many site publishers have fallen into the trap of adopting aggressive ad placement strategies that wreck the user experience and trigger the tremendous ad blocker adoption rate that now threatens the industry’s survival. Many content companies have responded by trying harder to cultivate relationships with readers, but site owners are also under pressure... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “Last week, we talked about how to really understand who is in your audience. This week, we’re shifting into what kind of message they want and need from you. Brian kicked off on Monday with a piece of classic marketing advice (exemplified by a classic American comic film): It’s not enough to just know your audience. You also need to put their interests and desires ahead of your own. That might sound impossibly idealistic — but in fact, it’s pure pragmatism. On Tuesday, Beth Hayden gave some specific thoughts on how to do it, by creating extraordinarily generous... [...]

Lindsay Colowich says, “Creating content isn’t always a walk in the park. (In fact, it can sometimes feel more like trying to swim against the current.) While other parts of business and marketing are becoming increasingly automated, content creation is still a very manual job. That being said, there are plenty of tools out there to make creating content much easier. Below, you’ll find a list of 36 fantastic tools and resources to help you research, write, edit, and design content more easily. (You’ll notice there are a lot of design tools in here — that’s because... [...]

Steve Lazuka says, “If your content doesn’t provide readers with value, solve a problem, answer a question or entertain, then it doesn’t really serve a purpose. Have you ever had what you thought was a great post idea, but it failed to resonate or, more importantly, get shared? It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be. Writing content that readers will love isn’t only about what you write, but how you write it. Here are four keys to help you unlock your creative juices and increase your chances for writing content that readers — and Google — will love. Be irresistible Great... [...]

Brian Clark says, “It’s been almost two years since I started Further, my curated email newsletter about personal growth. And there’s no mistaking that the project was inspired by Dave Pell’s NextDraft. Content curation is all about becoming a trusted editorial source that finds the best information within a certain topic from amongst the valueless clickbait and mediocre dross that overruns the web. Pell’s NextDraft takes on the daunting task of delivering “the day’s most fascinating news,” plus commentary that’s often better than the links themselves. Even though Further... [...]

Beth Worthy says, “One of the keys to building credibility with search engines is to keep creating fresh content. But not every website owner has time to create the quantity of quality content favored by search engines or like-minded thought leaders. Here are ideas to speed up the content-generating process without sacrificing quality. Avoid fluff Rule No. 1 when trying to produce several 500-1,000 word articles per week is to not fall into the trap of creating fluff that doesn’t benefit anyone. Users certainly won’t keep coming back to your site if all you give them is useless... [...]

Kyle Fiehler says, “Engineers and other technical experts take to the web to educate themselves on their options now more than ever before. When sifting through online content, engineers and other experts in their fields want facts, not a hard sell. They’re conducting serious research. In fact, according to a study by CEB in partnership with Google, 57 percent of the B2B purchasing process has been completed by the time someone contacts a salesperson. So, as content marketers, we need to give them the information they need to make smart purchasing decisions. But engineers have already... [...]

Benjamin Spiegel says, “The rise of content marketing, the push for real-time engagement and constantly growing competition in digital have led to more and more brands trying to become publishers and content creators. So what do you get when thousands of brands try to mass-produce content on a global scale? A million chicken noodle soup recipes and 600,000 identical ways to remove grass stains. Put differently, you get a content junkyard filled with meaningless and duplicate pieces of garbage. Marketers often forget to ask themselves key questions like, “Do our consumers actually care?”... [...]

Leslie Ye says, “It’s no mystery that social media is a crucial part of any marketing strategy — regardless of industry, company size, product, or service. We’ve all been there. Back in the day, I had to make the case for some businesses to even have a social media presence in the first place. But finally — finally! — it seems like folks are catching on. After all, 69% of marketers are using social media to build a following. Now that most marketers really do understand that social media is a strategic must-have, how can we make it more manageable? Like... [...]