We began talking about the possible ramifications of hiring a full- or part-time writer or freelancer to assist the business. At first, Michael resisted the idea but as the discussion progressed. Michael saw that his hesitance to expand his company’s capacity damaged his growth. In addition, he began to see […]

To Michael, it felt like a side-step or even a step backward in business progress. Let me try to visually portray the conflict that Michael found. (This thinking process – the evaporating cloud – was developed by Eli Goldratt). Evaporating-cloud-thinking-process Here is Michael’s conflict statement: To have a successful business, […]

The direct result of doubling the approval flow and 14 more from. The indirect result of gaining seven clients that could approve two pieces per week. That’s an almost 500% increase in approval capacity. The new weekly capacity after a month was the following: new-content-flow Admittedly, the progress was astounding. […]

For instance, if Michael were to improve the volume of content. At the ideation or drafting stages. The production flow still would be. Stuck at the client approval stage. But the effects would be worsened. If Michael’s client approval capacity is five articles each week. Any pending-approval content after that […]

First and Second Meetings Steps 1-3: Explore and analyze production process The first two meetings were exploratory. My goal was simply to document the Go Left Marketing content production process (Step 1). I was able to confirm with Michael that his content flow followed most standard content. Creation cycles: step […]

Earlier this year, based on my work at Adobe and my career, I wrote Is Time Really the Problem? Break the Bottlenecks in Content Production to challenge readers to discover and address the real hurdle in their content production cycle. One particular reader’s comment ended up challenging me. It came […]

The answer was deeply rooted in how Michael and Susan had approached business for a long time. They believed if they needed it done right, they had to do it themselves. It’s a common belief that hinders a lot of small businesses from growing. This belief had brought the company’s […]

There was no one else in the company capable of writing, Michael had to stop spending time selling to new clients and spend more of his time creating content for existing clients. This decision frustrated Michael whose first passion was to grow the company’s client base to their dream capacity. […]

The change did enable the business to better respond. When those new clients were serviced by his company. New content flow After all of Michael’s hard work during this month. He increased his client approval rate from five pieces. To 24 pieces of content approved per week – 10 as […]

If Michael’s client approval capacity is five articles each week. Any pending-approval content after that five would have to sit until the following week. And, if production continues like this week after week. The pending-approval content might be so delayed that the content is outdated before the client ever has […]

Earlier this year, based on my work at Adobe and my career, I wrote Is Time Really the Problem? Break the Bottlenecks in Content Production to challenge readers to discover and address the real hurdle in their content production cycle. One particular reader’s comment ended up challenging me. It came […]

That’s the whole idea behind marketing – you want people to do something based on the information they just received. Start asking for action on your blog posts and other content forms. The call to action does not need to entail a million-dollar deal. It can be a mailing list […]

Consider shaking things up by experimenting with new formats, such as videos, podcasts, e-books, or webinars. Paint a visual picture for your readers: Using visual imagery in your content is an instant eye-catcher. But don’t stop at adding a few charts or photos to your usual blog posts. To increase […]

If you don’t market your content, it will never get the chance to spread its wings and bring in new fans and followers. Let alone new prospects and customers. If you haven’t been giving your content the promotional support it needs. Consider adding one or two of these tactics into […]

Not quality Why is quality important? There are many reasons: It builds trust, increases your engagement, and drives thought leadership. But paramount among all those reasons is this: Content quality is important because Google thinks it’s important. And since Google likely sends your site more traffic than any other source, […]

Content marketing – like any marketing discipline – can fall short of expectations for a number of reasons. For starters, it’s not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants initiative. It takes time, dedication, and a strategic plan to position your business as a helpful resource for the kinds of information your audience needs and […]

As an example, let’s say that a user is looking for a way to share her videos with friends. She types in “online video sharing.” What does she see? This meta description. It entices her to click because it tells her how the link will help solve her need and […]

If you use your keyword or some semantic variant, then you’ve “done SEO.” How does this play into relevance? Simple. Remember, the users are looking for some thing; they have an intent when they search. They type a query that matches that intent. If your website is successful at targeting […]

You’ll have to do a little SEO – not anything advanced or voodooish, but the basic idea of using the right words in the right places. Here’s how Search Engine Land explains it: Just use common sense. Think about the words you want a page to be found for, the […]

If you’re lucky, you already have a persona somewhere buried deep within your marketing materials. If you don’t have a persona, create one. It will be well worth your time. RECOMMENDED FOR YOU: More Than Personas: How to Know What Your Audience Really Wants 2. Understand user intent Yes, I […]

It’s absolutely critical that brands achieve relevance. One of the primary methods for accomplishing relevance is to create relevant content. Unfortunately, an aura of mystery surrounds the concept of relevance. It’s misunderstood as a stylistic thing, flair, or something that some writers “just have.” In reality, relevance is more scientific […]

How do you find the right content strategist for your project? First, let me say that you might not need one. Content strategy isn’t necessarily a job. It’s an approach – a thought process. Melissa Breker of Content Strategy Inc. put together a handy list of content strategy skill sets. […]

That means people need strategic and day-to-day authority to say no to things that don’t make sense for the strategy. But You need a framework for stakeholders to evaluate proposed content projects and ideas, and to make strategy-based decisions. Then To put a governance model in place. It’s important to […]

Besides collecting the names and titles of people who have a stake in the project, this matrix helps me understand the roles they play, for example, whether they’re influencers or decision-makers, and whether they set strategy or implement it. This matrix helps me understand what each stakeholder cares about most. […]

While I love working as a content strategist. I recognize that many content marketers might not fully appreciate. The role that content strategy can play – the power it can have – in your content marketing. After participating in the CMI Content Strategy 101 Twitter chat, I welcomed the opportunity […]

How to better communicate success If you are a marketing leader who is setting the strategy for your content marketing program, you must: Get buy-in from management on what they need to see to quantify your content marketing program as a success. Understand what metrics support success as viewed by […]

Which Joe Pulizzi recently discussed in his post No Subscription Goal for Your Content Marketing? Prepare to Be Ignored. Not all subscribers are created equal, either. In the subscription hierarchy below, you can see that email subscribers offer the most benefit. Because you own the data associated with your subscribers. […]