Have you ever heard of the The Furrow?

It is a customer magazine that has been published by the John Deere corporation since 1895. It is now available in more than 40 countries and in 12 different languages, and is widely considered one of the earliest examples of content marketing. The truth is, though, that that magazine was not alone when it came to content marketing.

One of the earliest examples of content marketing is The Furrow. Here is an issue from 1959.

Continue reading…

It’s spring. The weather is warming up, people are out and about, and that can only mean one thing for homeowners in a quiet neighborhood – door-to-door salesmen.

This weekend, I was approached by the second salesman making a quick pitch for a home security system. As an entrepreneur I can respect the hustle of door to door sales, but in reality, it feels like the worst version of the cold call. It appears to miss the boat on so many levels, so why is it that it can actually work?

Continue reading…

Most of the information you find online regarding negative publicity is how you should respond to it if it is directed towards you. What do you do, however, if it is directed towards a competitor?

Everything is a response, now, even a non-response.

What do you do when a competitor has a stumble in the public eye?

Continue reading…

Claude C. Hopkins is not a household name, even though he helped popularize many household items like coupons, toothpaste, and even advertising.

Claude C. Hopkins, an original ad man.

Hopkins, an advertising pioneer of the early 1900s, is probably best known for his book Scientific Advertising (published in 1923). Through his book and his lifetime of work, he became a pioneer of the modern advertising industry. I suspect, though, that he would be appalled with what he saw now. In many ways, Claude wasn’t nearly as much of an advertiser as he was an expert on human psychology. He understood how we think, and that is what made a message from 1923 completely relevant today.

How we think hasn’t really changed, even though we might think we’re more “modern.”

There are dozens of useful nuggets on marketing and sales in his autobiography, a book that I would recommend for just about anyone. While the methods of advertising have changed, the principles of how we market and sell our products to consumers hasn’t changed at all. In fact, in this “new” era of content marketing, I believe that they resonate more than ever.

Ditching The Pitch

In our day, most advertising is just a new take on screaming ”buy me” to the customer. Sure, we use humor, celebrities, and loud music on occasion, but at the end of the day, isn’t most advertising just begging for a sale? Hopkins says that this method doesn’t work. “[We] have to consider the woman at the front door.”

In other words, we have to ditch the pitch, and put our customer first.

One must know what buyers are thinking about and what they are coming to want. One must know the trends to be a leader in a winning trend. - HopkinsClick To Tweet

Here are ten rules of advertising that I learned from Claude C. Hopkins.

Continue reading…

I was in a meeting with a potential client describing adaptive content.

“Basically adaptive content means that your content is stored in a centralized location, in usable chunks, that allows you to easily share it with a variety of devices,” I said.

After understanding that this was harder than it sounded the client asked, “Is there anyone that is doing this well?”

“Sure,” I said. “National Public Radio.”

But they don’t have to be the only ones.

Publish Once, Distribute Everywhere

The Sad Story Of Content Marketing

Creating content is one of the most valuable activities that any business can undertake. Blog posts, videos, podcasts, or even Facebook messages can hold tremendous power for those willing to create and utilize them properly. We all know this, and it is why content creation can be so hard in the first place. Things worth doing are often harder than they appear.

Continue reading…

Traditional marketing has desensitized our audience and made them tune out our message. What now?

Traditional marketing isn’t working anymore. Your audience learned to ignore you. They don’t care what you have to say.

Then you heard there was an alternative.

Everyone is talking about it. It’s going to change marketing. It’s going to bring traffic. It’s going to connect you to your customers like never before. They’re going to listen — not accidentally listen, but want to listen. This amazing technique? Content marketing. And, despite those lofty promises…everyone is right.

Continue reading…

Think content marketing is the hot, new thing?

The gist of content marketing isn’t new. It goes like this: you create stuff that people want, and they come looking for it. It serves a purpose for them. They need it. They form community around it based on others who need or want it. A new format or delivery system doesn’t mean the idea is new.

It’s been around for 17,000 years. What took you so long to join in?

Continue reading…

Go get your completely free eBooks and be better at marketing.

Interested in making your website a traffic and sales powerhouse? Growing your fans and followers on social media?

Sure you are. We’ve set up a brand new Marketing Guides section on this site where you can grab free copies of ebooks (in several different formats) that will help you do exactly that.

The Facebook Timeline Marketing Guide

Learn everything you need to know about using the Facebook Timeline for increasing your fans and your brand’s presence in the network. Create genuine conversation and buzz around your brand.

The Complete Guide To Marketing With Twitter

Twitter is deceptively simple, but using it successfully for marketing is less so. We share the tips and tricks for Twitter success, and help you grow your brand and your followers.

The Secrets Of Websites That Sell

Is your website selling or is it stalling? We’ll share our secrets to online success, and tell you what you absolutely must avoid doing if you want a website that sells.

How To Ditch The Pitch And Be Human Again

It’s easy to let our marketing become pushy and robotic. Learn to change your approach and get your audience to actually want you to talk to them.

How To Encourage Creativity In The Workplace

Creativity is the foundation for your next big idea and your next successful launch. Unfortunately, creativity is sometimes stifled in the culture of a workplace. Find out how to encourage it with practical actions you can start doing today.

Do you remember what happened inside your brain the first time you used your smartphone to do something amazing? Maybe you used it to find a new recipe while standing in the middle of your kitchen, or to do a price comparison at a big-box store. Whatever it was, there is a moment like this for all of us. Suddenly, we understand that mobile computing connects us to the content that we need at the very moment we need it.

Content has gone mobile, but where is it going next?

That is why mobile should change the way you think about content marketing, but why stop there?

Continue reading…

If marketing boiled down to only one thing, it would be this – say what you’re really selling.

A lot of the time we think that we are selling a product or service. We aren’t. Marketing is really about selling something far more complex and exciting – human potential. This is the marketing strategy that has been working for Apple for decades.

Apple didn’t sell the original iPod by telling us that it was a 5GB MP3 player, even though it was. Rather, they told us that it was 1,000 songs in our pocket. They sold us a possibility, not a series of facts and figures.

Apple marketing told us that this is what it looks like to have 1,000 songs in our pocket. We listened.

Continue reading…