Last week I wrote about the 4 (and only 4) possible rationales for agencies to get deep into content marketing. Clearly understanding these rationales is important because content marketing isn’t free. The opportunity costs are significant, which is what we’ll explore in this post. Can agencies truly benefit from a commitment to content (which often carries with it the bonus of getting sharper about their positioning)? Absolutely. But it didn’t come easy, and it didn’t come cheap. The Six Lifelong Laws of Successful Content Marketing for Agencies. Same with MLT Creative. MORE >>

While this headline may not appear as groundbreaking news to you, it really should because it may affect the way you consume books, again. Back in April 2011, the company announced that for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. book sales continue to increase and to contribute to Amazon’s ever-growing sales. However, Jeff Bezos and his team believe that the book publishing industry can still make money, but not by running business as usual. Getting Serious About Book Publishing. Laurence J. Kirshbaum. In May 2011, Amazon recruited Laurence J. Takeaway. MORE >>

Casey Hopkins asked people to fund his new project to make a better dock for the iPhone. He wanted $75,000 he got $1.5 million. Kickstarter kicks ass. But how does one do that? How does one build a community that will give money to a project? Do you just stick it up on Kickstarter and hope for the best? Here are some steps to look at. Understand the opportunities. Kickstarter is an online community where you put up your project that you need funding, in this case to make a new dock for the iPhone. The community then decides to put money in, if the project is worth it. Monitor them. Amazing. MORE >>

Everything between the moment you establish the objectives and the moment you begin doing outreach to your members is the conceptualization phase. This is when you decide who you're targeting, what the community will be about, what type of community it will be, and how you get it going.    If you get the community concept wrong , nothing else you do matters. community can't overcome a terrible concept. community about something that isn't a really strong interest can't possibly succeed.   The Conceptualization Phase. Conceptualization is a phase, a process.it MORE >>

“T here’s no money in poetry, but then there’s no poetry in money, either,” said poet, Robert Graves. As an English major with a concentration in (you guessed it) writing poetry–I wrote, analyzed, and interpreted–all while wondering where my liberal arts degree would take me. Inundated with similes, allegories, symbols, and allusion, I learned how to prove themes and refute theses (bring on the riches!). Despite all that, I’d like to refute Mr. Graves’ famous saying. To create content, you must be a poet. Headlines drive traffic. Slogans increase sales. You are a poet. MORE >>