Something occurred to me as I unwrapped my copy of Content Rules, the new book by CC Chapman and Ann Handley, both very good friends. (I got it yesterday, so I haven’t started reading it just yet) Maybe they’ll address it in the book. Maybe not. Content strategy is something of a misnomer. Here’s why:…
Freedom and convenience directly oppose each other. Let’s take two extremes of this in a cup of coffee. If you wanted ultimate, total freedom, you’d grow your own coffee tree, harvest the cherries, dry them, roast them, grind them, brew them with water you sourced from your own aquifer, and have a cup of coffee…
What makes the difference between sporadic success and sustainable, continuous success? Kaizen. Kaizen is a Japanese term for improvement. It specifically refers to continuous, incremental improvement through the reduction of waste and small improvements to efficiency. Kaizen is, in some ways, the opposite of innovation: improvement and focus on what you have rather than trying…
Are you familiar with the Golden Rolodex? It’s a sales expression as well as a human resources expression. The Golden Rolodex is your personal database, your personal set of connections and relationships that you’ve built over your career. When companies are looking to hire top talent in sales and executive functions, very often the Golden…
How many times have you heard something like this? Direct mail is dead. Outbound marketing is dead. Email is dead. Podcasting is dead. MySpace is dead. If someone is shouting loudly that something is dead, that’s a good indicator to take a look at it. The ploy of claiming something is dead is typically shouted…
Over on the Blue Sky Factory blog you’ll find a tutorial about how to set up Google Analytics to tell you when the best time to send an email is. The little note at the end is actually the biggest benefit of all: the method works for every marketing source, medium, and channel you have…
Salty. Sour. Sweet. Bitter. Flavorful. What’s similar about all of these? They’re all powerful tastes we are biologically wired to respond to. We love foods with these different flavors. A seared steak with cracked peppercorns and salt. A warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream on the side. A plate of buttery salmon sushi with…
There’s a very inspiring project created by Dan Savage called It Gets Better, in which people lend their voices to LGBT teens to encourage them in the face of bullying and harassment. I added my own perspective and encourage you to add yours. Hi. My name is Christopher Penn, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation…
