Close your eyes … and think about the best. vacation. ever. 

It may have been decades ago when you were a kid and didn’t have to plan a thing. It may have been something you did as a grownup -- when you got to choose the destination, the thread count of the sheets and the color of the drink.

Whatever it was, I’m here to say, (with bell-laden, magical-infused music in the background, a la when door number 3 opens on The Price is Right) “Let’s imagine a vacation to the Content Marketing Resort.” (Yes, I made it up - stay with me here!).

I’ve asked some “travel” experts to help us get there.

Real talk? I’m a huge Project Runway fan. I just spent the last several months blowing through every season Hulu has to offer. In case you don’t know about Project Runway, it’s a punchy reality TV series where up-and-coming designers compete for recognition (and stardom) in the fashion industry. What I love about it is the boot camp-like experience that forces designers to test their mettle. They work up to 20 hours a day and are given nearly impossible challenges. At the end of the day, the fashionable look they created is worn by a model on the catwalk and they sink or swim.

You are the marketing professional. It’s November, and you have a meeting scheduled with the CMO (it’s about time --getting on their calendar is impossible). This is the meeting where you get to explain why your plan is exactly what your organization needs for next year. ​

​Here’s the challenge: Your CMO is hangry (you know, hungry and angry)…for solutions.

One hundred milliseconds equals 0.00166667 of a minute. That’s not very long, is it?

It takes a little longer (300 milliseconds) to blink. It’s so fast it barely registers that you’re doing it. But in that nearly imperceptible sliver of time, humans have the ability to take in a surprising amount of information—almost all of it at a subtle, instinctive level. ​

#ContentChat is a weekly Twitter chat focused on all things content marketing. Last week, Erika Heald, Maureen Jann, and a host of other content-minded professionals gathered to discuss attribution and the challenge of measuring how content marketing contributes to reaching business goals.

Attribution. Can you think of another term that evokes such stammering discomfort from so many marketing professionals—all in four short syllables? The ambiguity involved in deciding on an attribution model and measuring its results can feel totally overwhelming—so much so that many organizations end up haphazardly choosing an approach and hoping for the best.

Early in May, I was the expert on Erika Heald’s tweetchat #ContentChat. The topic was a deep dive on personas: why they’re important, what (and who) who you need to create them, and how to put them into a format that’s usable and helpful. The conversation was so rich I felt compelled to share some of the highlights — and there were a lot! In Part 1 of the blog series, I covered what you need to know before you start the process of persona development. Now, in Part 2, we’ll dig in and focus on getting to know your customers!  And if you're interested in skipping ahead, read Part 3 . 

​Early in May, I was the expert on Erika Heald’s tweetchat #ContentChat. The topic was a deep dive on personas: why they’re important, what (and who) who you need to create them, and how to put them into a format that’s usable and helpful. The conversation was so rich I felt compelled to share some of the highlights — and there were a lot! Following is Part 1 of the chat highlights, where we focus on what you need to know before you ever start thinking about your customers: defining some commonly-used terminology, then working to understand yourself and your competitors.  We have tons more about personas in part 2 and part 3, so keep reading!

Last week I was delighted to be featured on the Content Marketing World tweetchat #CMWorld. If you see me around, you probably know I’m on da twitterverse as @SuperDeluxeMo (look me up! Let’s be friends!) The focus echoed what I’ll be talking about at Content Marketing World during my solo session: turning employees into thought leaders.

Although the whole “what is a thought leader” question might seem like a boring old “state of the union” question, I think it’s actually an interesting opportunity to dig a little deeper.

This week I had an opportunity to be a moderator and presenter at Startup Week Seattle, Techstars. Today’s talk, Big Marketing, Little Budget was a sexy little title that didn’t really bely the meaty nature of the topic. What it all boiled down to, is that marketing for startups is about in helping your market understand why they should trust your business.  And that’s no easy project.