Close the Loop

At least one of us here at LoopLogic is a HUGE Gaping Void fan. This guy has bought prints, shirts and subscribes to Hugh MacLeod's newsletter.

Email Marketer

This newsletter, published at least every weekday, features a daily drawing with a short write up. Using MailChimp, the Gaping Void staff is able to add sharing and buy now links, but I can't help but think there's a lot more than could be done to give subscribers something more to look forward to.

But we all know that creating content isn't easy. Images, video and audio must be constructed, copy must be written and then it all must be integrated into whatever email program you choose.

We think content marketing should be easier than writing a blog post.

People like Hugh have tons of content that just needs a fresh coat of paint to make it interesting, and we bet you have plenty, too.

Experimentation

I fired up the LoopLogic dashboard and created an embeddable, integrateable and shareable piece of content using images that I (literally) have hanging up around the house. My process looked like this:

1. Find and capture content I'd like to use.
2. Get content on computer.
3. Make Powerpoint deck of said content.
4. Upload and convert ppt file.
5. Record voiceover.
6. Publish.

From start to finish, the process took 25 minutes. Because you likely won't be walking from room to room taking pictures of your walls and then collecting those into Powerpoint, let's assume you'll be starting from step 4.

Starting from step 4, the entire process took me just over 11 minutes. 

Let me say that again.

11 MINUTES.

Can most people write a blog post in 11 minutes? Likely not.

Can they record, edit, upload, convert, integrate and publish existing content in even three times that? Likely not again.

So why are people still spending so much time on stuff like this? Unfortunately, most of them aren't because they can't justify doing so, but we think anyone can find 15 minutes or so to make something worth sharing.

How cool would it be to hear and watch artists talk about what their work means to them?

Check back Monday for the screencast showing exactly how I made this.

Content marketing really should be easier than writing a blog post. 

While there are die-hard writers (yours truly included) that will always prefer text over video or audio pieces, there's no question that making content available in as many mediums as possible is a key element in establishing market presence.

But enough business speak. Let's talk about the steps necessary for someone running a successful email newsletter.

We're assuming you have an established base of readers, whether it's a company softball team or a list of 10,000, double opt-in potential clients.

Next, we're also going to assume that you have a product or service worth buying. While we can certainly help you look and sound good, no tech tool can make a product/service better.

Third, you'd better have SOME content already or at least a plan on how to create such. 

Good? Good.

Starting tomorrow, we'll highlight each of the tools available on our Workbench and show how people with emails lists from companies like Constant Contact and MailChimp can integrate content they're ALREADY CREATED into process they ALREADY KNOW how to do.

Really, who wants to learn ANOTHER complicated tech tool?

(There's a screencast by Stephane on how to record audio or video over slides. Now, while that how-to video sorely needs to be updated (yours truly has it on the to-do list), the basic information he talks about hasn't changed much.)

If you've been anywhere near the internet for the past decade, you know of Gary Vaynerchuk. This wine salesman turned wine expert turned digital marketing guy isn't one to cut corners, hold his tongue or pass up a chance to give someone a compliment.

And boy, can the man command a room.

While our staff has met him during various trips through AZ (most recently during InfusionCon, before that at Changing Hands on his Thank You Economy tour), there's not much we can say about the man besides he's fantastic at getting people motivated.

Our staff especially liked his comments during this Q&A session. Enjoy!

What's your favorite GaryVee presentation?

The idea that a book requires pages (virtual or analog), some sort of wrapper (cover or image) and a collection of ideas will never change. For us, a book will forever remain as a collection of ideas wrapped in a delivery method.

Bookstore Shelf BlogPic from WinePress of Words.

For most of our lives, this has meant a physical book, or a digital representation of one. There's still a cover, still a bunch of pages, and still an idea or two that's talked about.

But as the cost to deliver digital content drops, and the cost to produce more than one is near zero, the idea of what a book is or could be will evolve. We see a bevy of new ideas that would be well-suited presented in book form. For instance:

• What about top slides from presentations? Could those be made into a book and given to new employees?
• What about mixing blog posts, video and interactive elements using iBooks Author? That counts as a book, right?
• What about a collection of last year's blog posts, edited for brevity and relevance, as a way to show colleagues what the organization has been doing (like a yearbook!)?
• What about a curated collection of speaker videos designed to look less like a bland portfolio and more like a gift of learning?

We don't know where this is going. We don't know what effect online publishing will have on the nature of what we consider books or ideas, and we won't know until more people start trying stuff that's never been done before.

But we do agree with Seth Godin, in that the traditional book (not necessarily an analog version, but also its digital representation) will be best as a solo endeavor. Great art doesn't usually come via committee, and for these new ideas to work, they need to be great.

Read anything good lately?

Seth Godin knows his why.

Peter Shankman does, too.

Simon Sinek? Dude wrote a book on it.

But do you know your why? Do you know why your business does what it does?

No, the answer isn't to make a lot of money. That's a happy result, not a main one. As Sinek will tell you, Apple's why is to help people think different. InfusionSoft's why is to help small businesses succeed. Our why is to allow presenters to look good without a ton of technical skill and effort.

For this to work, businesses cannot be solely focused on the bottom line. While profit is what keeps all of us in business, chasing dollars without worrying about how you're getting them isn't going to help long term. 

Remember the Dust Bowl in the midwest that helped make the Great Depression? Farmers became too focused on cash crop, instead of thinking about everything that went in to the process. They started farm to feed their families and communities, but because of poor long-term planning, they became focused on making money and ended up losing everything.

Start with why. It works.

In a world where we're constantly using content to solve problems, shape ideas and tell stories, the way we build content becomes as important as the end result. While some professions, like journalism, are well prepared, most are not. As a result, we see far too many articles that either only glean the surface of an issue or the answers we get look the same from website to website.

But this can be solved, and the solution doesn't work just for content. Whether you're looking to research a client, adapt an idea to a particular situation or inform customers to the proper usage of your product or service, better answers, and better content, can be found by asking better questions.

John Sawatsky knows this well. Hired to train ESPN employees how to interview, Sawatsky has made a living out of teaching people to ask better questions. While his approach is ideal for anyone that needs to tell stories that require researching people in person, other industries can learn from his method.

His top tips:

• Never ask a yes or no question.
• Sounds conversational, but don't have a conversation.
• Make no statements.
• Be bland; you're the framework helping set the story, not the driving force.
• Giving in to the power struggle between interviewer and interviewee gets better answers.

Sawatsky likens the ideal approach to more of a therapist, rather than a storyteller or even a solution provider. If you're in sales, this means getting the client to tell you why the product will help them. In the startup tech world, this means building with what you have rather than what you think it should be. In customer service, it means finding the REAL problem, which may not be with your company at all.

While the Sawatsky methodology may be sound the world over, there's certainly more work to be done. 

'I'm always upgrading the methodology, and every time I try to put new stuff into it." - John Sawatsky

Are you getting helpful answers? Perhaps it's time to finally ask the right questions.

There is no magic formula for successful content marketing. No way to just repurpose or create content and hope it meets goals.

Why? First, most people don't have a purpose. They throw content haphazardly around and hope it gets picked up by Google or shared on social networks. They write about issues that don't make sense to their organization and they have no plan to measure, test and modify their approach.

Maturity models can help with that. While maturity models are traditionally used for planning business strategy, this process can help a content marketing plan tremendously. Here are the five steps we use and recommend:

Stage 1: Chaos or Ad Hoc

At this stage, writers are writing, editors are editing and content is published. 

And that's it. No theme, no tracking...no plan at all. While this may work if your blog is just for you, businesses can't afford to allocate resources on projects with no end in sight. If you're here, congrats! You've started and that's good, but it's time to step it up.

Stage 2: Defined

Yay! Now you have a plan. You have keywords. You have theme. You have a schedule. No longer is content created on the fly, you and your team have an editorial approach that has a goal. Good work.

Stage 3: Measurement

Analytics are key here. Google is set up to track clickthroughs, views and external links. Your own software is hopefully tracking shares. You know have graphs that can be shown to the higher ups to demonstrate progress. Most companies can stop here.

Stage 4: Deep Analytics and Integration

Now we're in it. By this stage you know who clicked on a link what if they were converted into a lead, you know how long your videos were viewed and when and you know where your stuff is being shared (and how) across the web.

Stage 5: Master

At this point you should probably consider opening your own content marketing business, as you're likely publishing daily, have a loyal audience that comments a ton and you know how today's piece ties in with last and next month's. Congrats! Now can you show others how to do it?

Godspeed, content marketer. The internet is counting on you.

We have a secret for you. It's not tawdry or gossipy, nor does it guarantee that you will make a lot of money. It's not about a celebrity, nor an athlete. It's about business and how to get more sales. It's about connecting with people, sharing stories, and using what you already have to get what you want.

It's about content marketing.

Any guesses? No? Okay.

Here it is.

Content marketing works.

That's right, it works. It works not because it's easily monetized, not because it's simple to do, and certainly not because all content is the same, but it works because people like to read stories about themselves or people like them.

It's true. Ever wonder why People magazine is do darn popular? We get to see the the celebs looking JUST LIKE US and that makes us feel a little better. Or it makes us feel a little worse, but at least we know everyone like us reading People feels the same way.

Content connects people using stories.

Stories allow us to share ideas, forge relationships, and create even better stories that lead to fame, fortune, and a whole lot of success.

Today, our co-founder Scott Mitchell will be on a panel talking about best practices for content marketing. He, along with Craig Rosenberg, LeadMD and kwanzoo will share their best tips, tricks, and stories on how they make content marketing work for them.

The fun begins at 1pm, and it's completely free. Check out Cutting Edge Content Marketing Strategies, a roundtable from Focus.com, before you dive in to your content creation. You'll be glad you did.

Creating great video is hard. Creating great video that transcends the 2D experience and transfers emotion from the speaker to the audience is harder. And being happy while you do it? That seems the hardest, but according to Shawn Achor, it's worth it.

As we wrote about in a previous post about Ze Frank, the world will soon belong to those that can present into the camera so well that the audience may mistake their screen for a window. But the key issue in teaching people—you know, to make sure people remember what you're telling them—isn't as simple as speaking clearly with zany facial expressions and cool graphs.

The key issue is helping people find their happiness, as Achor's research shows it is integral in the learning process. Happiness literally opens our mind to new opportunities, new connections and new ways of thinking that neutral or negative feelings close off.

Yes, that's right: happy people learn better. Happy people tend to like other people more. Happy people are more likely to agree with the person that made them happy. Sounds simple, right? If that's true, why do we trust Jon Stewart more than we trust salespeople? 

We trust comedians like Stewart because they make us laugh, which releases chemicals that make us happy. This idea, which isn't new to anyone used to giving presentations, is often executed poorly. For bad examples, think any performer that steps on stage and yells:

"HOW ARE YOU DOING TONIGHT?"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN!"

"HOW ARE YOU DOING TOOOOONNNNNNNNIIIIIIGHT?!"

Steve Ballmer's DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS speech is a good example of this. So is every bad comic and far too many middle-aged speakers at schools growing up. Each of them lacked a fundamental ability that every good speaker should work on, even at the expense of their content: connecting with the audience.

Next time you're on stage, filming a company learning session or at the bar with your friends, remember this: happy people learn better, and they'll like you more. 

So tell a joke.

And don't be afraid to laugh along with them.

The future belongs to those who can look you in the eye through the internet. It belongs to the people that can convey analog feeling through digital channels. It belongs to guys like Ze Frank.

Widely known as a web funnyman, Frank's greatest strength isn't in his delivery and it's not in his writing. It's not hair, nor is it his clothes. Frank's greatest strength is his ability to transcend a flat, emotionless screen and connect with his audience. He's asked people to send in audio recordings of their dreams, allowed his fans to write his show and even encouraged his viewers to make an Earth Sandwich.

The witty, fast-talking considers himself a nerdcore comedian, but his passion is far greater than that: helping people create and interact using simple, addictive web tools.

While not everyone will get his jokes, there's much to learn from Frank. 

Emotive Quality

While Frank's witticisms can be tough to keep up with, his rapidly changing facial expressions are not. Every tic, ever raised eyebrow and every time his eyes bug out just a bit offers more information than words are able to express. He's not making faces at a camera, he's expressing his emotions thought it.

Visual Aids

Frank interacts with nearly every piece of on-screen graphics or on-set props he uses. From the cubby hole to his cardboard dials, they all seem somehow...real. While viewers understand that these are just part of his presentation, there's a sense that each object is a character, rather than something to point at. Remember that next time you think about using 60 slides to tell a story.

Self Assuredness

Not to be confused with arrogance, Frank's self assuredness is refreshing when compared to most self-deprecating internet comedians. He's frank (yeah, I punned that one), open and completely confident about whatever he's doing until he isn't.

Audience Participation

Despite Frank's poise, his comedic timing, the fancy editing, the cool props and his ever-changing facial expressions, his greatest resource is his audience. From reading letters to asking them to participate in his schemes, his requests are not requests at all; they're calls to action. He wants people to interact, so he tells them how to do it. Don't you wish most presenters were this clear?

Could you be the next Ze Frank? Maybe. But what you can do is accept that the web isn't JUST online, that cameras aren't JUST recording devices and that an audience is JUST there to listen to you speak.

And you could show off pictures from your boss's kids.