What I Learned About Content Marketing From My Dog

May 15th, 2013

Sawyer     I was reading a classic post the other day by Sonia Simone, Co-founder and CMO of Copyblogger Media, about “How to Create Better Content: Treat Your Readers Like Dogs.”  The post is a delight, especially for a positive reinforcement “dog trainer” like me.  My reactive dog, Sawyer, demands nothing less.

Sonia’s post made me think about all the things that this training and content marketing have in common.  As she so insightfully points out, excellent writing is like a cookie.  When the content is good and the writing excellent, it, in itself, is the reader’s reward for their time and attention.

Hello?  Is anybody home in there?

The key with training Sawyer is in getting his attention.  We’ve been spending a lot of time in Tahoe lately and we’re both learning a lot about distractions.  The woods behind the house is full of them in the form of people, dogs, coyotes, bears, and bobcats. Sawyer is a lab with a great nose and can smell them all, so good luck getting his attention out there.

We were walking deep in the woods last week and Sawyer was off leash when he smelled/saw/heard something. And then he was gone. He’d taken off in a dead run and I could neither see nor hear him. It was suddenly as though he’d never been there with me.  I had no idea which trail he’d chosen, and even if I did I wasn’t fast enough to catch up with him. He has a perfect “come” in the house, in the woods calling him was like spitting in the wind. Read more »

Stories Help Nonprofits Sell

November 15th, 2012

Most nonprofits tend to rely on facts and data to illustrate the extent of the problems they’re trying to solve.   While numbers support the need for action, information communicated in the context of a story can be dramatically more compelling than straight facts.

Recently I wrote the content for a community family healthcare center’s funding appeal package.   We incorporated four stories into a two-page appeal letter, and  I witnessed first hand how an individual’s story or experience will always “trump the facts.”

The stories of two patients and two staff literally “put a face” to the problem, and the solution.  The perspectives they offered created an emotional depth to the appeal that could never have been achieved by mere facts. They humanized the work of the center, and shed light on those taking action.

Stories work by initially engaging the audience emotionally, and then they get them ready to act.  I completed the project feeling honored and humbled by the opportunity to tell the stories of people who are having such an impact.  And, then,  found myself wanting to do more.

Stories can be used by non-profits not only in direct mail fundraising, but also for employee/volunteer orientations, grant proposals, newsletters, annual reports, PSA’s, press releases, speeches, videos, and the organization’s website.

It’s All About the Content

September 5th, 2012

It’s the 2nd Annual  Content Marketing World Event in Columbus, Ohio today.  And I wish I were there!  Why?  Well, for starters, check out what’s on the event website:

 Every marketer believes they are doing “content marketing”,

but are they driving or retaining business with their content?

We’ve invited elite B2B, B2C and Small Business/Non-Profit marketers,

thought leaders and storytellers to help guide you through

the wilderness that is content marketing.

They list an impressive lineup of over 70 content marketing experts, including marketing professionals from SAP, Intel, Dell, Google, IBM, MasterControl, Kelly Services, University of Phoenix, Kraft, Ohio State University, Sybase, and Ricoh.

Then there’s a video where Arnie Kuenn, president of Vertical Measures, tells us that this might be the year that content marketing finally explodes.  And that Google has shown us that “it’s all about content. Not gimmicks, just great content.”

Content marketers get more good news when Kuenn interviews Joe Pulizzi, known as the “Godfather of Content Marketing”.  Pulizzi talks about the reasons why content marketing is exploding right now.  Businesses are beginning to get that if they want to be found, have their content shared, and earn attention rather than interrupting prospects, clients and customers; they need to create really valuable, compelling, and relevant information on a consistent basis. Read more »