6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012

Posted on 15. May, 2012 by in Blog, BlogWorld, content marketing world, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

me 100 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012badge guest post FLATTER 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012Amy Schmittauer is the Founder & Face of Savvy Sexy Social. She is a “social media frenzy” working in social relations consulting, blogging, and, of course, vlogging about life on her YouTube channel. Connect with her on Twitter.

If there’s anything I’ve learned throughout this crazy ride of working in digital marketing, it’s that reading all the blog posts ever written, staying up-to-date on all the latest news, and watching all the how-to YouTube videos you can find is still not enough. There’s no doubt that all the information you need to learn about the Wild West world of social media is available online. But do you really “get it”? How do you bring all of those tangents of information in to one great feeling of understanding?

Just like with anything else, it’s when the conversation is taken offline that things come full circle. And when it comes to getting educated on how you can grow your business and attract positive (while properly handling negative) attention through social media, there’s nothing quite like the experience of an in-person conference with the brilliant minds of digital unloading all of their tips to attendees. Not to mention the killer networking. Oh the people you’ll meet and the connections you’ll make. It’s unlike any tweet you’ll ever receive.

This list is of some of the best conferences still to come in 2012 that are offering amazing speakers in the business and social media marketing industries. Whether you want to help your own business succeed or contribute to your work at a larger corporation, there is a gathering here that you will find well worth your dime and time.

ogs logo 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012Ohio Growth Summit

May 24, 2012, Columbus, Ohio

Who knew Columbus would be such a hot spot this year for great business and marketing advice? Ohio Growth Summit is held by the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College and I’m really excited not only for this great extension of the great work they do for my hometown, but also because I have the opportunity to work with them for this year’s event. With past speakers including Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Nick Warnock, Carrie Wilkerson, and of course, Jay Baer just last year along with co-author Amber Naslund, this intimate, small business-focused, development and marketing conference is definitely a contender with all the bigger events across the country. This May, Gini Dietrich of Spin Sucks will be the main keynote, along with a morning session with Paul Evans of Impact Living. More information, including what to expect from workshop sessions, are available on the OGS website.

BlogWorld12 NY 250x250 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012BlogWorld Expo East

June 5-7, 2012, New York, NY

BlogWorld Expo quotes itself as “the first and only industry-wide, trade show and media event for all new media”. With all the content and amazing speakers they consistently have to offer every year, it’s so true. As a matter of fact, it was only last year that BWE introduced an Eastern version of the conference. With great demand for the top-notch minds in blogging, social, and multimedia, they decided to double up their yearly conference to serve a larger audience of businesses and content creators. Excited to see Jay’s name listed as a speaker for the event in June, along with more (blogger) household names like Robert Scoble, Scott Stratten, Peter Shankman, Chris Garrett, Jason Falls, and many more. Learn more on the BlogWorld Expo website.

small giants header 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012Small Giants International Summit

June 28-July 1, 2012, San Francisco, CA

Another pretty new but very successful event is the Small Giants International Summit. The first conference kicked off last year in Konstanz, Germany. Started by SmallGiants.org, this Summit brings together the most excited and passionate of the small business world. A great opportunity to network with like-minded professionals and address some of the hard-hitting issues that are presented with running a business. Being able to work out those ideas with others, especially owners who conduct business in different countries is great for improving upon problem-solving skills and network growth. The 2012 event is in the U.S. this year, in San Francisco, and the keynote speaker is Chip Conley. To learn more about Small Giants International Summit, check out the conference page.

Screen Shot 2012 05 14 at 11.15.10 PM 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012Explore Minneapolis

August 16-17, 2012, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Social Media Explorer founder Jason Falls is holding another great Explore event, this time in the Twin Cities. Jay Baer joins the event to help businesses “push the thinking” for a more prominent online presence and goal-driven social marketing plan. Additional speakers include Kipp Bodnar of Hubspot, Jeff Rohrs of ExactTarget, Neil Patel of Kissmetrics, Nichole Kelly of Full Frontal ROI, and more. Stay tuned to the website for the full agenda to come and watch the #GoToExplore Twitter hashtag before, during, and after the events to see what attendees in other cities are saying.

cmw logo 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012Content Marketing World

September 4-6, 2012, Columbus, Ohio

Content Marketing World kicked off it’s first event last year in Cleveland with more than 600 marketing professionals in attendance, and it’s already set the bar as one of the best events to network with those in content marketing. Jay was a speaker last year, participating in a few different sessions, along with many great names in the industry. Speakers slated for this September (this time in my hometown of Columbus) include Sam Sebastian from Google, Inc., Mitch Joel from Six Pixels of Separation, and Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion. To see the rest of the impressive lineup for September’s event, visit the Content Marketing World website, and for a limited time, use the code CONVINCECONVERT at checkout to save $100 on your ticket! (expires 5/31)

socialfreshwest 6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012Social Fresh Conference

September 27-28, 2012, San Diego, CA

Social Fresh Conference was started by the popular social media for business blog, Social Fresh. Obviously the focus of this event is helping businesses conduct an effective online presence for both brand awareness and customer service. Therefore, a lot of different types attend this event including social media thought leaders, marketers, and business owners. This conference is known to be one that is extremely popular with its attendees, especially in regards to networking. There’s a lot of opportunity to learn from not only their great speaker lineup, but from other talented attendees about what they’re applying to their online marketing that’s been successful for them. Learn more about the next event coming up in San Diego on the Social Fresh website.

Do you have any events to add to the list? Leave a comment below!

About the Amy Schmittauer:

Amy is the Founder & Face of Savvy Sexy Social. She is a “social media frenzy” working in social relations consulting, blogging, and, of course, vlogging about life on her YouTube channel. Connect with her on Twitter.

6 Great Conferences to Attend Before the End of 2012 is a post from: Convince and Convert Blog: Social Media Strategy and Social Media Consulting

Online Marketing News: Content Marketing World!, Google Goes Big Brother, Searcher Personas, Retro SERPs

Posted on 04. May, 2012 by in Blog, Content Marketing Institute, content marketing world, joe pulizzi, Search Industry News, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Content Marketing World, We Found A Home

This recent video from Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi, provides some background into how Content Marketing World came to be.  If you are big or small brand, B2B, B2C, or virtually any organization that creates content this conference is for you.  Scheduled this year for Sept 4-6 in Columbus, Content Marketing World is now the largest content marketing conference in the world. TopRank is proud to be one of 4 exclusive media sponsors along with Copyblogger Media, Social Media Examiner and SmartBusiness Content Marketing.

Forget Big Brother – What About Giant Google?
Last week Google released its full FCC report which contained information about data collection from unsecured Wi-Fi connections.  It appears that Google’s Street View cars were not only taking photos of streets, but were also intercepting email and SMS traffic.  Read more to see what else Google has up their sleeve.  Via Forbes.

Searcher Personas Driving Landing Page Design
Determining what drives your customers to purchase is invaluable information for any online marketer.  Using searcher personas to determine what techniques to use for your landing pages will improve targeting and therefore your results.  What motivates people to click?  Read on to find out more.  Via Search Engine Land.

Google Keeps It Real (Time)
Google News is getting an upgrade.  Google will begin rolling out further integration between Google+ and Google News.  Starting today Google News users will be able to see what their circles are covering and what they have to say about trending topics.  Another new feature is a “realtime coverage page” which will surface Google+ comments and new articles as they become available.  Via TechCrunch.

Enhance SEO with Author Avatars
Launched in June of 2011, Google’s authorship markup allows websites to connect individual authors to their posts across the web by adding a simple rel=author tag to their content.  Google plans to use this information to help connect people with authors and ultimately their content.  Via ClickZ.

5 Key Strategies for Building Your LinkedIn Network
With over 150 million members, LinkedIn is a valuable asset for business professionals.  This article provides some seemingly simple but effective tips on sharing relevant and engaging information with your network. As well as tactics for continuing to grow your network on an ongoing basis.  Via Social Media Examiner.

Tip Top TopRank(ing) Internet Marketing News

Brian Larson – Your Search Results Just Went Retro
Bell bottoms made a comeback, so why can’t a simplified SERP as well? Although Bing originally led the charge in creating a more customized (and busy) SERP, the search engine is simplifying its search results. Don’t expect anyone to copy the Alta Vista UI, but Greg Sterling of Search Engine Land shares what this retro look means for Bing searches.  Via Search Engine Land.

Jolina Pettice – Segmenting Traffic Based of Value of Device
Search Marketers are used to segmenting traffic based on sources which are known to convert at higher rates. i.e. Search Engines vs Direct vs Referrals.  However, we may need to add an additional layer onto this segment to account for the type of device the visitor is using. For example, are visitors from iPads more valuable in terms of time-on-site and conversion than a visitor from a different type of tablet or desktop.  This may be a data piece to mine further, if your visitors are viewing your site from an array of devices.  Via Search Engine Land.

Shawna Kenyon – How 7 Top Brands Are Using Facebok’s New Ad Tools
In 2012 Facebook previewed a slew of new ad products to people outside the industry, though to some these new initiatives might have appeared to be ‘old hat’, advertisers see them as anything but.  Among the new products were Premium on Facebook, Reach Generator, Offers and Logged Out ads.  These new advertising offers came as a way to showcase new products and services in more than a two dimensional way allowing for ads to reach all of a brands fans and designed to expose them to things they might not otherwise see. The article above showcases 7 big brands and how they are utilizing the new services.  Via Mashable.

Time to Weigh In: What emphasis does your company place on developing customer personas?  Do you consider an article in your Google search more credible if there is an author avatar attached?  Is your company currently segmenting traffic?  If so, based on what data points?

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Content Marketing for In-Person Events: 15 Ways to Extend Your Reach

Posted on 12. Apr, 2012 by in Blog, content marketing, content marketing world, Events, Junta42 Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

B2B Content Marketing for EventsLast month we talked about public speaking and presenting tips for business and professional speakers.  The response to this post was excellent, but I received a number of comments from corporate event producers on how they could effectively extract content from an event to drive pre- and post-content marketing efforts.

According to CMI/MarketingProfs B2B Content Marketing research, 56% of companies hold some kind of education-based customer or prospect event during the year. Events are a treasure trove of content marketing opportunities, but unfortunately, many companies don’t make the most of capturing content throughout the life of the event. Here’s some strategies and tactics (in no particular order) to help extract the most content from your customer or prospect event, giving you the ability to drive your content marketing efforts throughout the year.

  1. Twitter and Hashtags – Be sure that all speaker presentations display both the speaker’s Twitter sign and the hashtag (i.e., #cmworld) for the event on as many slides as possible. This promotes customer and prospect sharing.
  2. Wi-Fi Access – First, make sure Wi-Fi is free, available and fast.  Second, make sure you post the access code and directions in as many places as possible.  You’d be surprised the number of events that only discuss Wi-Fi access at the beginning of the event and then never mention it again.  You want people to share the event content, right?  If so, give them the tools to do so.
  3. Report on Your Own Conference – Make sure you cover your own conference with your own reporters and journalists.  I’m shocked by the number of events I go to where a content creator from the sponsoring company is not in the room to help tell and shape the speaker’s story. Also, your event is PRIME TIME to get customer quotes, testimonials and feedback.  Have a roving reporter go around and get that on tape (and get their permission sign off in the process).
  4. Scheduling Speaker Interviews at the Event – As part of all speaker deals, make sure they are aware that you wish to interview them immediately after their presentations.  After they finish with conversations following their talk, pull them aside for two conversations: first, have them share their take on the conference (for use as a testimonial) and second, have them share the core concept with a few examples from their presentation that you can use in a conference follow-up post.
  5. Move Away from the Normal Event – Think about mixing up your format to gather better content assets and engagement.  Here are 20 different types of conference formats that may work.
  6. Cater to the Blogger Community – SXSW did a fantastic job catering to the bloggers their with the Samsung Blogger Lounge, a place where bloggers could meet and, most importantly, charge their devices.  If you don’t have a blogger lounge, make sure you know who the bloggers are and give them access to pretty much whatever they need.
  7. Market All Year Long – The biggest mistake I see corporate events make is that they don’t start marketing the event until just a few months before the event.  With Content Marketing World, we start marketing for the next event as soon as (or even before) the next one is complete.  If you can convince your staff that event marketing actually never starts or stops, but is in continual motion, you’ll be MUCH better off.
  8. Develop a Content Platform – In the same spirit as #7, if your goal is truly to be a leading thought leader in your space, then you should be developing THE content platform for your event.  That means creating content EVERY day, just like we do at CMI or they do at SXSW (note that even though the event just finished, SXSW continues to create fresh, relevant content that is in line with their event EVERY day. They also send copies of SXSW – The Magazine to core attendees throughout the year.)
  9. Record the Presentations – Make a decision whether you are going to live stream the content, or record and post after the event…but regardless, record them (all of them).  It saddens me that the majority (yes, majority) of conferences I attend still do not videotape their sessions.  Unbelievable.  Have a plan ahead of time for how you are going to use the assets.
  10. Engage Your Speakers in Content Creation – Many of your speakers love to share with their audiences that they are speaking at your event, but they may need some prodding.  Make sure you continually reach out to them with exciting event news that will give them ammunition to blog or tweet.
  11. Q&A with Speakers – For the most part, speakers will be happy to complete email Q&A’s or even podcast interviews with you for promotion on your site.  Prepare this in advance and make it a part of your editorial calendar for the event.
  12. Slideshare Mashups – Why not take the content from the event and put a visual spin on it leveraging Slideshare.  One very successful piece of content (50,000+ downloads) came from this social media predictions package (many of the contributors were Content Marketing World speakers).
  13. Create Conversations Online - Give people the tools to chat and schedule meetups before the event begins.  Leverage your Facebook and LinkedIn event pages, as well as post listings on Plancast and Lanyrd.
  14. Leverage Live Event Tweeting - Rachel Foster details multiple ways to leverage twitter with live tweeting and wrap ups distributed via Twitter post-event.
  15. Event Videos that People Want to Share – For Content Marketing World, our goal was to create a video that people would want to view and share beyond the event (see our 2011 event video below).  Exact Target also does a great job of this with conference videos that are humorous and beyond shareable (this video of Joel Book is priceless).

What additional ways have you used that work?

The original post is titled Content Marketing for In-Person Events: 15 Ways to Extend Your Reach , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

10 Things You Need to Know about Content Marketing World 2012

Posted on 28. Mar, 2012 by in Blog, content marketing, content marketing world, Junta42 Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Content Marketing WorldSo, I haven’t talked about Content Marketing World 2012 at all since we announced the dates back in November. It’s been a struggle. ;)

Since we have just a few days left until our early bird rate (saving $300) is gone (expires 3/31), I felt that now was the time to shoot everyone update and try to persuade you to come to Content Marketing World (if you are not already persuaded) – September 4-6 at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio USA.

I’m excited that we already have some amazing marketing executives signed up from companies like  Level 3, SAS, IBM, Majestic Steel, Deloite, UBM, Caterpillar, Cisco Systems, CME Group, University of Phoenix and more.

In no particular order, here are 10 things I’m excited about when it comes to #cmworld 2012:

  1. Amazing brands telling their stories – Last year, our attendees loved the fact that actual brand marketers spoke about how they were creating and distributing content to attract and retain customers.  So, how did we one-up 2011? This year’s event includes marketing executives from Google, Sears Holdings, Kraft, SAP, Intel, Dell, Kelly Services, SAS, Sybase, Openview Venture Partners, MasterControl, IBM and many, many more (we’re still working on a few more very exciting brands).
  2. A literal “who’s who” of content marketing experts – You simply cannot make this stuff up.  Every one of these speakers have keynoted some of the largest events around the world…speakers like Jay Baer, Ann Handley, Mike Stelzner, Brian Clark, C.C. Chapman, Jason Falls, Andrew Davis, Ardath Albee, Robert Rose, Scott Abel, Lee Odden and more.  I am humbled by the fact that these amazing people have so willingly devoted their time to sharing their knowledge at Content Marketing World.
  3. Amazing Keynotes – including an unforgettable presentation from Mitch Joel (often called Canada’s Seth Godin), Google’s Sam Sebastian, and our #1 rated speaker from last year, Marcus Sheridan.  If you’ve never seen Marcus in person, here is your chance.  (PS – We have a couple more keynote surprises on the way.)
  4. Five unbelievable workshops – Last year, we sold out of our only workshop and had attendees asking for more.  This year, we’ve added an additional four workshops including Content Marketing 101, Content Marketing for Non-Profits/Associations, Growing Your Content Marketing Agency, Building Your Buyer Personas, and Managing the Webinar Lifecycle.
  5. Rick Springfield – enough said.
  6. CBUS – Columbus is a truly amazing city, now the 15th largest in the US (most people don’t know that). And considering that we are in The Ohio State University’s backyard (Final Four Finalist), that has to be good karma.
  7. The Agenda – Over 40 sessions, 70 speakers and literally every content marketing challenge answered, from B2B, B2C, small business, social media, content discovery, content distribution, content marketing strategy, process and more.
  8. Orange – If you thought you saw a lot of orange last year, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  We can’t get enough of the color orange (and to our wonderful surprise, orange is 2012′s color of the year).
  9. The Sale – The last three marketing conferences I attended, the event hotel rate was an average of $315 USD per night.  Our rate is $129 USD per night.  Yes, you are seeing that right.  Take that to your approving manager (hey, if you need to justify your trip, here’s a helpful form).
  10. 99%+ – In our exit surveys, there was only one person who attended CMW 2011 that said they would not return in 2012 (they just didn’t appreciate That Kevin Smith).  We were simply amazed by the awesome testimonials from last year’s conference.

For 2012, the CMW team is shooting for 100%.  I sincerely hope to see you there.  Register today!

The original post is titled 10 Things You Need to Know about Content Marketing World 2012 , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

10 Things You Need to Know about Content Marketing World 2012

Posted on 28. Mar, 2012 by in Blog, content marketing, content marketing world, Junta42 Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Content Marketing WorldSo, I haven’t talked about Content Marketing World 2012 at all since we announced the dates back in November. It’s been a struggle. ;)

Since we have just a few days left until our early bird rate (saving $300) is gone (expires 3/31), I felt that now was the time to shoot everyone update and try to persuade you to come to Content Marketing World (if you are not already persuaded) – September 4-6 at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio USA.

I’m excited that we already have some amazing marketing executives signed up from companies like  Level 3, SAS, IBM, Majestic Steel, Deloite, UBM, Caterpillar, Cisco Systems, CME Group, University of Phoenix and more.

In no particular order, here are 10 things I’m excited about when it comes to #cmworld 2012:

  1. Amazing brands telling their stories – Last year, our attendees loved the fact that actual brand marketers spoke about how they were creating and distributing content to attract and retain customers.  So, how did we one-up 2011? This year’s event includes marketing executives from Google, Sears Holdings, Kraft, SAP, Intel, Dell, Kelly Services, SAS, Sybase, Openview Venture Partners, MasterControl, IBM and many, many more (we’re still working on a few more very exciting brands).
  2. A literal “who’s who” of content marketing experts – You simply cannot make this stuff up.  Every one of these speakers have keynoted some of the largest events around the world…speakers like Jay Baer, Ann Handley, Mike Stelzner, Brian Clark, C.C. Chapman, Jason Falls, Andrew Davis, Ardath Albee, Robert Rose, Scott Abel, Lee Odden and more.  I am humbled by the fact that these amazing people have so willingly devoted their time to sharing their knowledge at Content Marketing World.
  3. Amazing Keynotes – including an unforgettable presentation from Mitch Joel (often called Canada’s Seth Godin), Google’s Sam Sebastian, and our #1 rated speaker from last year, Marcus Sheridan.  If you’ve never seen Marcus in person, here is your chance.  (PS – We have a couple more keynote surprises on the way.)
  4. Five unbelievable workshops – Last year, we sold out of our only workshop and had attendees asking for more.  This year, we’ve added an additional four workshops including Content Marketing 101, Content Marketing for Non-Profits/Associations, Growing Your Content Marketing Agency, Building Your Buyer Personas, and Managing the Webinar Lifecycle.
  5. Rick Springfield – enough said.
  6. CBUS – Columbus is a truly amazing city, now the 15th largest in the US (most people don’t know that). And considering that we are in The Ohio State University’s backyard (Final Four Finalist), that has to be good karma.
  7. The Agenda – Over 40 sessions, 70 speakers and literally every content marketing challenge answered, from B2B, B2C, small business, social media, content discovery, content distribution, content marketing strategy, process and more.
  8. Orange – If you thought you saw a lot of orange last year, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  We can’t get enough of the color orange (and to our wonderful surprise, orange is 2012′s color of the year).
  9. The Sale – The last three marketing conferences I attended, the event hotel rate was an average of $315 USD per night.  Our rate is $129 USD per night.  Yes, you are seeing that right.  Take that to your approving manager (hey, if you need to justify your trip, here’s a helpful form).
  10. 99%+ – In our exit surveys, there was only one person who attended CMW 2011 that said they would not return in 2012 (they just didn’t appreciate That Kevin Smith).  We were simply amazed by the awesome testimonials from last year’s conference.

For 2012, the CMW team is shooting for 100%.  I sincerely hope to see you there.  Register today!

The original post is titled 10 Things You Need to Know about Content Marketing World 2012 , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

The History of Content Marketing [Infographic] – Corporate Storytelling is Not New

Posted on 21. Feb, 2012 by in Blog, content marketing, content marketing world, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Content marketing is not new.

Brands have been telling stories to attract and retain customers for hundreds of years.  The difference today is that the barriers to entry (content acceptance, talent and technology) no longer exist for brands to get into the publishing arena.

From John Deere to Coca-Cola, the power of story has never been stronger, or more important for brands and its customers.

This History of Content Marketing infographic is based on the Content Marketing World Timeline Video from the Content Marketing Institute. Special thanks to CMI’s creative director Joseph Kalinowski for making this happen.

Sharing information is below.  Feel free to take this infographic and share it at will.

History of Content Marketing [Medium]

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The original post is titled The History of Content Marketing [Infographic] – Corporate Storytelling is Not New , and it came from The Content Marketing Revolution .

Content Marketing World 2012 Dates, Location Announced

Posted on 02. Nov, 2011 by in Blog, content marketing, content marketing world, content strategy, Fun Stuff, Junta42 Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

After looking at a number of destinations for Content Marketing World 2012 (including last year’s site Cleveland, Ohio), I’m very excited to announce that Columbus, Ohio will be the host city for Content Marketing World 2012. Save the Dates: September 4-6, 2012.

To be honest, I had a two-day mourning period about NOT being able to have this event in Cleveland, Ohio again.  If you are a regular reader of the Junta42 blog or the Content Marketing Institute, you know that I believe that Cleveland is the center of the content marketing industry.  I started using the term content marketing in the year 2001 in and around the offices of Penton Media, then headquartered in Cleveland.  Since then, content marketing services have taken hold in the region, becoming one of Cleveland’s key growth areas.

Here’s a bit of history on content marketing – and the video we showed to kick off last year’s conference.

So why not Cleveland?  Simply put, we’ve grown out of Cleveland from a space standpoint.  I’m hoping that with the addition of a new convention center in 2013, Cleveland might be back in the fray.

That said, CBUS is an amazing city.

Columbus was named for Christopher Columbus and is often called the “city of discovery”. So, it seems fitting that our theme for CMWorld 2012 is Discover Your Story (more to come on that).

Some facts about Columbus, Ohio that you may not know about:

  • Was founded in 1812. 2012 will be a 200th year celebration (so we’ll have a content marketing party to celebrate).
  • Is the third-largest city in the US Midwest, 16th largest city in the United States.
  • Home to the Ohio State University, the Nation’s largest campus.
  • Where Silence of the Lambs was filmed.
  • Our VP and Publisher, Peter Loibl, went to school at OSU (so needless to say, he’s very happy with this decision).

Looking forward to seeing you there. If you missed CMWorld 2011, check out these amazing testimonials. Or, you can see all the 2011 sessions now with Content Marketing World On Demand.

If you are interested in speaking, see the submission form here.

And on with the Content Marketing Revolution!

All 40+ Content Marketing World Videos Now Available

Posted on 27. Oct, 2011 by in Blog, case studies, content marketing, content marketing world, Fun Stuff, Junta42 Events, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media

Sample of David Meerman Scott's Presentation for On Demand

Very excited about the launch of Content Marketing World On Demand, which was just released this week.

For those of you who were not able to attend, Content Marketing World 2011 gathered over 50 of the leading content marketing experts from around the world. All in all, we had more than 600 attendees from 18 different countries.  Needless, to say, I was overwhelmed.

There was so much good content (and so little time). So, we partnered with our friends at King Fish Media to create CMW On Demand. What I love about it is the picture-in-picture with the video synced next to the slides (see image with David Meerman Scott).  I’ve had a chance to see all of them (at least in parts) and I can honestly say that it is one of the best resources available anywhere on content marketing.

We are offering CMW On-Demand for a limited time before we start promoting Content Marketing World 2012 (which we will announce details on next week). For total access to all the videos, the investment is $199, which comes to about $5 per video.  Well worth it (of course I would say that, but I really mean it).

Here is a list of some of the speakers you can see at Content Marketing World On Demand.

  • Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate
  • David Meerman Scott (who needs no introduction)
  • Brian Clark (Copyblogger.com)
  • Michael Stelzner (SocialMediaExaminer.com)
  • Ardath Albee, author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale
  • Jay Baer, author of The Now Revolution
  • Alison Bolen, SAS
  • Regina Brett, Award-Winning Journalist (this is a must see presentation on emotional storytelling)
  • Jonathan Byerly, Dell
  • Tad Carper, Cleveland Cavaliers
  • C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley, authors of Content Rules
  • Curtis Danburg, Cleveland Indians
  • Pam Didner, Intel
  • Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer
  • Katie Herbst, Westfield Insurance
  • AJ Huisman, Kennedy Van der Laan Law Firm
  • Amy Laskin, Ogilvy
  • Scott Linabarger, Cleveland Clinic
  • Ellen Moreau, Sherwin Williams
  • Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing
  • Rob Pasquinucci, Luxottica
  • Michael Procopio – HP
  • Brett Reynolds, Cleveland Browns
  • Josh Richman, WGN America
  • Nate Riggs, Bob Evans
  • Robert Rose, Content Marketing Institute
  • Shaku Selvahumar – IBM
  • Marcus Sheridan – River Pools and Spas (a MUST see)
  • Gary Spangler – DuPont
  • Todd Wheatland – Kelly Services

And many, many more (including yours truly).  I’m interested to know what you think.  Let me know.

Get full access now.

The Missing Ingredient in Your Blog Strategy: Commenting

Posted on 15. Sep, 2011 by in Blog, business blogging, content marketing, content marketing world, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Social Media

Coming off the very successful Content Marketing World, I thought about all the relationship building it took that helped make CMW the largest event in the industry.  Frankly, it was a combination of a number of things that made it happen (I’ll share the story on that in an upcoming post). BUT, what really amazed me was the first step to the majority of our relationships with the leading content thinkers around the world.

Commenting on Blogs

Yes, I said it. What opened the door to, dare I say it, the majority of my relationships and friendships with the speakers at CMW was commenting on their blogs.

How did I first make contact with David Meerman Scott?  I commented on his blog.  Mike Stelzner…same thing…as well as Brian Clark, Jay Baer, Bernie Borges and Drew Davis.

The Forgotten Skill of Blog Commenting

LEGO JesusI was recently at a large marketing conference where I asked the audience how many of them had corporate blogs.  About 50% of the room had a blog.  Then I asked how many of them had a blog commenting strategy.  Only about 10% of those bloggers had a commenting strategy.  What a shame.

Great content alone is not enough.  You have to work it.

In many of my presentations, I show this picture of LEGO Jesus and ask the audience what Jesus was doing before he really started “spreading the Word” at age 30.  I ask them to envision this:

Jesus is 29 years old and distraught. He has this amazing news to share with the world, but no one is following him.  It’s just him and his mom Mary.  Just before his 30th birthday, Jesus asks Mary what he’s doing wrong and why no one is following him.  Mary says simply, “Look Jesus, I love you, and I love your teachings and parables…but if you want people to follow you and truly understand the stories you are telling, you have to leave the house”.

If You Create Great Content, But No One Reads It, Did You Create Great Content?

Gilad de Vries from Outbrain made a fantastic statement at Content Marketing World:

If you write a blog, but no one reads the blog, did you really blog?

You could be the greatest content creator on the planet, but if you don’t work the channels, no one will know about it AND your business won’t be positively impacted.  Number one on your list of distribution techniques should be commenting on the right blogs.

Not sure how?  Here’s a handy list:

  1. Find out where your customers and prospects are hanging out?  Use tools like Google Alerts and Twitter (or a reputation management system) to find out what blogs are making impact on your customers.
  2. Develop a list of at least 10 – 15 key blogs that you are going to be engaged in.  We cover ours with the Junta42 Top Content Marketing Blogs list.
  3. Make an informative comment on each of those blogs at least once per week.

Realistically, this should only take an hour or two per week, but the payoff will be tremendous.  Each of those influential industry leaders will know you.  After a while, some will start sharing your content.  At some point, you may even become friends with them.  And, over the long-term, it will positively affect your blogging and online marketing goals.

So, if you have a blog but don’t have a commenting strategy complete yet, do it today.  It’s that important.

For a more formal plan, check out this post from Brody Dorland on the 12 Things to Do After You Post a Blog.

Content Marketing Is Not New, But the Opportunities Are [Video]

Posted on 14. Sep, 2011 by in American Express, Blog, case studies, content marketing, content marketing world, Fun Stuff, Get Content Get Customers, Junta 42, Junta42 Events, LEGO, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, video

One of our goals for my opening keynote at Content Marketing World was to make sure the marketing professionals in the audience understood that content marketing is NOT new.  This two minute video tells the tale (this video opened the conference):

Most people think that content marketing is a new thing, but it’s been going on since the time of the cave paintings.  John Deere, and their customer magazine The Furrow, is given credit for the first content marketing initiative.  At that time, farmers needed to be educated on the latest in technology so they could be more successful. Instead of buying attention, they created a print magazine in 1895, teaching farmers all about the latest in technology and trends for farmers.  Over 100 years later and 1.5 million in distribution to 40 countries, The Furrow could be the most successful content marketing initiative in history.

Some other timeline facts you may not be aware of:

  • 1900 – Michelin develops the “Michelin Guides” to help drivers maintain their cars and find decent lodging.
  • 1904 – Jell-O distributes free recipe book that leads to $1 million in sales by 1906.
  • 1930s – P&G creates and sponsors radio “soap” operas.
  • 1982 – Hasbro partners with Marvel to create G.I. Joe series of comic books, which leads to a revolution in the toy industry.
  • 1987 – LEGO launches Brick Kicks magazine (now LEGO Club magazine)
  • 2004 – Microsoft launches Channel 9, one of the first corporate blogs from a major brand.
  • 2007 – BlendTec develops Will It Blend? video series.
  • 2008 – American Express launches Open Forum.
  • 2008 – P&G creates BeingGirl.com for adolescent teen girls.

And on and on…

Brands have been telling stories for centuries. Content marketing is not new.  Even so, there are more opportunities than ever before.

If content marketing was a baseball game, then we are just getting out of the dugout for the first inning.

Today, there are literally no barriers to entry when it comes to content marketing.

As Newt Barrett and I discussed in our first book, Get Content Get Customers, the following reasons have left the door wide open for brand marketers to become THE publishers in their industry.

  • Buyers accept content from corporate sources more than ever.
  • Shrinking media budgets are leaving an opportunity for YOU.  You can invest in the research and content that the traditional media in your niche aren’t willing to do.
  • Technology is accessible to companies of every size.
  • Journalists, editors and content agencies like we have at Junta42 are willing and able to help you tell your story more effectively.

So, although creating valuable, compelling and relevant content (storytelling) for your customers and prospects has been going on forever, there is still time to make your mark as the leading informational expert in your industry.

For more on developing a content marketing strategy that works, Managing Content Marketing (my new book with Robert Rose) will help.

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