One of the advantages of having exposure to a large e-commerce company and the incredible talent within its walls is that you learn from some of the top minds in the industry. It was just a few months into my tenure at CafePress that I started to dive deep into learning from the team that runs one of the largest Internet retail operations in the world. And boy, have I learned.

A common theme you’ll find in the discussions among the top engineers, technicians and marketers of these types of sites is with their metrics and analytics. Everything revolves around traffic, action rates, conversion rates and the like. Dealing with these numbers on a regular basis inspired me to put some thoughts into a white paper to help any business person or marketer understand how this analytics-first approach can be applied to social marketing.

Yesterday, Social Media Explorer in partnership with Exact Target published The Mathematics of Social Marketing, a free white-paper available over at the ET website. In it, I explain how you can build smart marketing on Facebook, Twitter or any other social network, by working backwards from your financial goals and applying a little mathematics thinking to your marketing. I can assure you, it’s useful and worth the download.

The paper will help you understand the difference between action rate and conversion rate, how to account for each and how to put real financial metrics to your social marketing efforts. Give it a read and drop me some feedback. I’d love to hear how you either have or plan to apply the mathematics advice to your marketing.

Download the white paper here. Then tell me what you think in the comments. Here’s to happy math!

I was absolutely enthralled by a recent article about a band that, since 1988, has been near and dear to many of us here in my home town of Telluride Colorado, Phish. Phish ranks among the greatest live bands in rock and roll history, and a sizable subculture of Phishheads would argue that there’s been none better.

Here’s a couple of summarized takeaways from the article, The Business of Phish:

Over the past 4 years Phish has generated $120 million in ticket sales, yet by more typical measures of a band’s success (album sales – Phish’s are minuscule, Billboard Top 10 rankings – none, radio airplay – limited, hit songs – out of the 883 songs Phish has performed none have been hits, and music videos – they only have one and that was heavily mocked)  the band isn’t popular at all.

“Phish doesn’t make money by selling music. They make money by selling live music, and that, it turns out, is a more durable business model.”

The lessons that Phish’s success offers to business owners, CEOs and Marketing professionals are fundamental, yet brilliant.  Their success as a band and as a profitable enterprise should be discussed in every business school in the country; it’s pure genius.

Here are the 10 business lessons that Phish’s success teaches us:

1. Don’t be afraid to build a business or revenue model that plays to your strengths, even if it’s non-conventional.

2. When opportunities don’t present themselves in a timely manner take calculated risks.

3. Slowly, organically build your audience. Be willing to gain a following slowly, steadily, one fan/customer a time.  Look for a place to start your business where it will be relatively easy to get it going.

4. Bootstrap if you can.  Don’t be in a rush to get third-party investors.  You will have more control over things and can do things your own way when you don’t have to please others.

5. Work harder and create a superior product.  As Malcom Gladwell notes: “Deliberate practice” to achieve virtuoso status explains genius.

6. Take the time and put forth the effort to learn how to work together effectively as a team.

7. Don’t just deliver content, engage your audience with it.  Create opportunities for your fans/customers to get together and have fun.

8. Create unique, not boiler-plate products, services and experiences.  When your fans/customers realize that they could miss out on something unique and special they won’t want to miss it.

9. Encourage and reward fan sharing.

10. You will be more profitable if you maximize the value of your existing fans/customers rather than always having to chase after and depend on new ones for your ongoing success. Cater to your existing fans/customers.

“Phish is wildly eclectic, endlessly resourceful, and ever unpredictable, They were at the forefront of a movement, an organic alternative to the mainstream status quo that caught the imagination of millions.“

Now wouldn’t you like to say the same for your company?

For more on how Phish lived and prospered from these lessons, be sure to check out the complete The Business of Phish article.

My beloved Boston Bruins are currently working their way towards another Stanley Cup, so I thought today would be the perfect time to tell you about my friend Adam’s organization The Hockey Foundation.

A couple of years ago when I first met Adam he was working for an NHL team trying to get them to embrace social media. They never fully understood it, he left and then he started talking about how he wanted to go to remote parts of the world where they had never heard of hockey and teach it to the kids. I vividly remember him first mentioning going to India to do this and my reaction being that I didn’t even know they had ice there to skate on. How wrong I was.

Their vision is to use the sport of hockey to positively change the lives of all that come in contact with the game. By instilling character strengths such as accountability, honesty, teamwork, selflessness, discipline and resiliency into each player they teach, communities around the world will be improved.

As if that wasn’t enough, they dream of a global connection of hockey players that will eventually lead to friendly games being played by people of different races, religions, genders, social status and professions, etc. These games will create lifetime bonds between the players no matter which side of the ice they are on.

What I also love is that in addition to teaching the kids the game, The Hockey Foundation is also making sure that they directly help the communities where they run their clinics.

Also, be sure to connect with them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and sign up for their newsletter if you’d like to be kept up to date on their latest efforts. Even if you are not a big fan of hockey, their blog is mainly a travel journal of their trips and makes for fun filled reading.

There’s one phone number that most people can recite, regardless of demographic. And I mean full phone number, not 9-1-1. Think about it for a minute: What’s the one phone number than most everyone you know has in common they can recite without hesitation? 867-5309.

Tommy Tutone’s hit from 1981 emblazoned the number in our minds, and while little more of the song is all that memorable, “867-5309/Jenny” has an incredible marketing lesson buried within it’s one-hit wonderness. The song is the probably drunken announcement of a man who finds the number of a woman written on a bathroom wall. “For a good time, call …” graffiti, while most often a cruel joke, is the ultimate in smart marketing.

Why? Because it hits the relevancy bullseye.

It’s a relevant message, sent to a relevant audience, in a relevant time and in a relevant location.

Drunk guys going to the bathroom in a bar are primed to hear this message, ready to receive it and apt to take action. “For a good time, call 867-5309.”

The magic of marketing, be it social media, digital or even traditional, is to deliver a relevant message to a relevant audience in a relevant location and at the relevant time. This is our challenge.

So what are you doing to make your audience think, “Jenny, I’ve got your number. I’m going to make you mine?” with your product?

The comments, as always, are yours.

There’s never a dull moment in the parent blogging world. This past month has brought new highs and lows to this group, a group I’m firmly enmeshed in both as an agency which works with bloggers and as the founder of a conference bloggers attend. (I also happen to be married to a parenting blogger – my husband blogs on his own dad blog as well as in a number of other outlets.)

Mom 2.0 Summit

The high was most certainly the Mom 2.0 Summit, a fantastic conference for moms (and others) who blog (there were many men in attendance, and many non-moms too – my husband joined me). This was my fourth annual Mom 2.0; 2013 was their fifth anniversary, so I’ve only missed one.

This year’s Mom 2.0 Summit was, as always, stellar. The very best thing about the conference was the quality of people there. Mom 2.0 never fails to bring the cream-of-the-crop of bloggers together to share, learn and grow.  These are bloggers who are amazing storytellers, beautiful writers, and really smart marketers. Quite a few of them make their living through their blogging and writing, and they are all wholly deserving of the success which has come to them.  Learning, schmoozing, dining and networking with this group is always energizing and insightful. And it didn’t hurt that the conference was at the Ritz-Carleton in gorgeous Laguna Beach, CA.

The Wall Street Journal Article

If more sponsors understand that blog conferences are a good way to reach digital influencers, we all win

However, in the lead up to Mom 2.0, the conference (and others) got some interesting press. The Wall Street Journal published an article about “The Mommy Business Trip,” which raised more than a few hackles as it portrayed blogging conferences as kid-free boondoggles for women. Many people, some of my good friends included, objected to the portrayal of moms and women in the piece, and I understand their concern.

But ever the contrarian, I didn’t completely agree with them. I found the WSJ piece, while certainly more than a bit condescending, good for the blogging conference industry overall. If more sponsors understand that blog conferences are a good way to reach digital influencers, we all win – the conference providers as well as the attendees.

It’s only recently that some parenting and lifestyle blog conference attendees are beginning to understand the reason that the cost of attending a blogging conference (as a blogger) is only $200-$450 for three days is because of the sponsors who are willing to pay to meet and talk to them.  Other digital industry conferences, from Affiliate Summit to AdTech to New Media Expo, cost between $800-$2,000, and provide far less for that cost than most blogging conferences provide. For the most part, blogger conferences have higher costs and lower margins than any other industry conferences (a fact which I’m intimately aware of).

There’s one big similarity between them: they’re all business-to-business (B2B) events.  Sponsors (businesses) come to blogging conferences to reach business people (bloggers) who will help them reach their target audience (typically, consumers).  This is the same as any other business-focused conference.

(Some) Bloggers Are Businesses

So ladies: stop acting like the Wall Street Journal says you’re acting. Because guess what? Some of you are.

So why do bloggers, at nearly all of the blogging conferences I’ve attended, not act like they’re businesses?  I do realize that if you started your blog as a personal blog or hobby blog, you may not know how to run your business, or even want to run a business, for your blog. But if you’ve spent the money and the time to come to a blogging event, it indicates that you’re looking to learn and grow in some way. (And apologies if you’re at the conference but do not want to grow your business – though given that much of the content at Mom 2.0 and other blogging conferences is related to “monetization” and “sponsorships,” I have to assume you likely do want to.)

So ladies: stop acting like the Wall Street Journal says you’re acting. Because guess what? Some of you are. Start acting like the business people you (mostly) seem to want to become.  Because if you’re not becoming business people by attending these conferences, then you really are doing it just to get out of the house. And then I don’t blame the WSJ for calling a spade a spade.

You need proof? At last summer’s mother of all blog conferences, BlogHer, I saw far too many women drunk off of their you-know-whats, barely able to get back to their hotel rooms. There are now-legendary stories of women pushing and shoving their way to grab sponsor swag at these events. And the social-network-based backchannel conversations before and after these events? Well…if you could see some of the name calling that happens when this person doesn’t get invited to a party but that one does; it’s not pretty.

Yes, of course, men do ridiculous things on the road too, and that’s what many people were reacting to as they read the WSJ article. Why doesn’t a major publication write an expose on the alcohol-filled parties at International CES or the intense city-wide party hopping that is SxSW? I’d love to see that article written, but of course it won’t be any time soon.

Up the Professionalism

If we women want to be taken seriously as business people, we’ve got to start acting like it.

I am certainly not saying that getting away for work to a beautiful location, with amazing content and the very best networking, shouldn’t a pleasurable thing. Whenever I go to any conference – blogging or otherwise – I go to plenty of parties; take time for myself at the beach, spa or touring the city; and often arrange fancy group dinners with friends. I bring swag home just like everyone else. But ultimately, I’m there on business, and I hope that my participation always reflects a high level of professionalism.

If we women want to be taken seriously as business people, we’ve got to start acting like it. Women bloggers need to treat their blog businesses like businesses, not as sometimes or part-time jobs (regardless of how much time they put into them). We must boost each other up, not become the worst versions of ourselves, when we go away to network and learn. And even if we stay home.

Disclosure: My conference, the Digital Family Summit, is loosely affiliated with Mom 2.0 Summit. I receive no direct compensation for my relationship with Mom 2.0 Summit.

As new disciplines emerge – like content marketing in the digital age – new jargon blossoms like wildflowers in a new meadow. Or sometimes like clods of cow shit.

Whichever category you put the term ‘Persona’ into (for me, it’s bovine-centric), you can’t deny that it’s won a permanent place in the B2B content marketing canon. “Don’t even think about doing content marketing without personas.” is Commandment Six last time I checked.

At Velocity, we’ve propagated the cult of the persona ourselves, with round-up blog posts and the occasional tirade about using personas properly. And yes, there’s a Persona section in the content marketing playbooks we create for our clients. But, to be honest, I’ve never felt entirely comfortable with them. For two reasons:

• I hate the term ‘Persona’ – You can’t just make a new, abstract word by adding an ‘a’ to the end of a perfectly good concrete word, especially if that perfectly good word means almost the same thing as the new a-enhanced word. If we allow that, we’ll soon be taking our virtual Dogas for imaginary Walkas.
• If you need Personas, you’re not getting out enough – A tight little set of personas in your content marketing playbook might say you’ve diligently captured all those hours you’ve spent in contact with real customers and prospects. But more likely, it says you never really spent any time at all with customers and prospects. You just grabbed a photo from a stock library, invented a sensible-sounding name, and started riffing on his or her imagined wants and needs.

And that’s my real problem: if you have to invent imaginary prospects, you haven’t met enough real ones.

Part of our input when we start working with a new client is to talk to their customers. It’s an absolutely critical part of our process because it lets us hear how customers talk about the challenges they face and the solutions they seek. And it’s NEVER the same language as the client uses when they package up their story for us.

Once we’ve spoken to a few customers and prospects, these become our internalized personas. When I’m writing, I don’t write to a fictional character, I write to a real person. Having a clear picture of a real person in mind as I write makes my writing much, much better. (Right now, I’m picturing Barry Feldman).

“Objection! Not everyone who works in and around marketing can have personal discussions with customers and prospects. Personas are a great way to capture these interactions for everyone else.”

If that’s true, then go ahead, use personas. But ask yourself: “Why can’t everyone in and around marketing speak to real customers and prospects?” Isn’t it essential? At the very least, it’s critical for your writers and planners and strategists — the same people you write your persona documents for (and the people who tend to ignore them because they’re hollow).

The personas I’ve read often prove that very few people on the marketing team have actually met a customer – least of all the person who wrote the personas. If everyone meets customers as part of their jobs, they’re unlikely to refer to the personas. They won’t need to. If no one does, the best persona document in the world will only take them half way to the authentic understanding that leads to great content marketing.

So here’s a simple approach to the important work that personas are designed to simulate (or shortcut):

• Meet real customers and prospects – Do it regularly. Take them for coffee. Pick up the phone. In the words of the immortal Kool & the Gang, “How you gonna boogie if you really don’t want to dance?” (Ignore the ‘by standing on the wall’ part — that always confused me).
• Use their LinkedIn profile as your persona document– You’ll see how they think about themselves, where they went to school (if that matters), who they hang out with, what they share, what groups they belong to, who gave them a rousing recommendation, who they gave recommendations to… All great stuff (and self-updating).
  For a while, I played around with creating fake people on LinkedIn to make our personas more realistic. It was fun. But then it occurred to me: why create fictional prospects when LinkedIn is packed with real ones?
• Supplement the profile with an email Q&A – Their LinkedIn profile won’t cover your own solution area in depth (which in itself is an important point: your top concerns aren’t their top concerns) So send them a list of questions about the issues and challenges that your solutions address. When new stuff comes up, shoot them a new question. Or pick up the phone.

This approach has two benefits: it forces you out from behind your strategy and out into the world your prospects live in; and it prevents the persona exercise from becoming a one-off, box-ticking exercise (“Personas? Done them. Next!”). Your personas will be living things not static templates.

I guess that brings me full circle: go ahead and create personas. It can never be a bad idea to start your content marketing by thinking about the people you’re addressing.  But if your nice, neat persona templates are acting as a substitute for real contact with real people, you’re doing yourself a disservice and your content will suffer for it.

Get your back up off the wall. I dare you.

How does this apply to me?

That should be the question we ask when encountering learning about the digital marketing world. Whether you’re reading a blog, a book, attending a webinar or conference, the one thing you won’t likely get is advice and examples that are directly applicable to your specific business.

Conference speakers are generalists. People who write books are, too. Their job is to be informative and helpful but appeal to as broad an audience as possible. If I were to speak at an event about how to leverage Twitter in medium-sized floral shops, I would only help a few audience members. If the talk is how to leverage Twitter for any business — a general approach — there’s more appeal.

The challenge then becomes taking that broad knowledge and applying it to your business. Unfortunately, there is no Easy Button in digital marketing. You’ll have to do the work. Or you could hire one of these speakers or authors to come in and apply their general knowledge to your specific business. But that can be cost-prohibitive for some.

This is the concept that spurred us to collaborate with Exact Target on the Social Media Domination Road Tour this summer. We wanted to get more specific with people. We wanted them to leave the event with a roadmap more specific to their business. If you come, you will do most of the work, but with guidance from us. We’ll help you work through the lack of the Easy Button and send you home with a framework and head start on your 2014 strategy.

So if you can join us June 13 in Philadelphia; June 26 in Atlanta; July 18 in Washington, D.C.; July 30 in Dallas or August 21 in Minneapolis, expect less “conference” and more “workshop.” It’ll be fun.

Register now for the city nearest you.

How does this apply to me?

In the meantime, though, put yourself through the exercise. Go read a blog post from someone helpful or look through a book you’ve read recently with some good digital marketing pointers. Then think it through: How does this apply to my business?  

Some things will. Others won’t. Distinguishing those will help you move from wishing you could figure it all out to actually figuring it all out, one idea at a time.

While doing some fundraising training in Philadelphia last week, I was introduced to an incredibly cool program called Spark.

Spark was founded by a 7th grade science teacher who wanted his students to see why school mattered. The premise is really simple: place 7th and 8th grade students in apprenticeships with people in their community. They’ve placed students in apprenticeships with all sorts of professionals: fire fighters, chefs, pilots, artists, and tech folks.

The results speak for themselves

Spark has grown to serve in students in at-risk neighborhoods in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. And the results have been phenomenal. Despite very high high-school drop out rates with their peers, 98% of Spark alumni stay in school.

All it takes is a caring adult and the experience of a real job to help students see why school matters.

Three ways you can help

There are three easy ways you can help a Spark program in your community:

1. Make a donation

   Spark says $1,000 makes an apprenticeship possible. You can give any amount toward that at: https://www.sparkprogram.org/index.php/get_involved/donate

2. Become a mentor

   Your work can inspire a kid to stay in school. Spark lets you apply to be a mentor at http://www.sparkprogram.org/index.php/get_involved/volunteer

3. Become a corporate partner

   There are lots of ways your company can support Spark including hosting students, matching employee gifts, and more. See them all at: http://www.sparkprogram.org/index.php/get_involved/corporate_partnership

   Learn more

   To learn more about how the Spark Program is helping students go to their website www.sparkprogram.orgor watch their brief video on the Spark: Creating Real-World Opportunities for Youth with Apprenticeships:
   

   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

   Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

   Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

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<div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/givingtuesday/spark-givingtuesday/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/givingtuesday/spark-givingtuesday/comment-page-1/#comment-60233">I am visited many other blog site and read attentively your ...</a> <i>by gutter covers</i></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/givingtuesday/cradles-to-crayons/">Cradles to Crayons &#8211; #GivingTuesday</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/givingtuesday/the-hockey-foundation/">The Hockey Foundation</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/givingtuesday/wediko/">Wediko &#8211; #GivingTuesday</a></li></ul>&#160;</div> http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41155225/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~SPARK-GivingTuesday/feed/ 1 http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/ http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41135892/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~Recharging-Your-Digital-Marketing-Batteries/ http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41135892/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~Recharging-Your-Digital-Marketing-Batteries/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:28 +0000 Nichole Kelly http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/?p=20982 <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer,http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialmediaexplorer.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2013%2f05%2fTeamWorkationView-300x225.jpg"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/feed/"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60232">I really think you will do much better in the future I ...</a> <i>by gutter covers</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60227">Hi Nichole, its really nice to learn that one can actually draw ...</a> <i>by Sunday</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60221">By: May 15 – Top News on Digital Strategy &#124; Digital Strategy News</a> <i>by May 15 – Top News on Digital Strategy | Digital Strategy News</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60218">Thanks for sharing this amazing post Nichole. I thoroughly ...</a> <i>by emarketing .</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60211">My pleasure!</a> <i>by Patrick McFadden</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/#comments">Plus 6 more...</a></li></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/best-productivity-tools-for-people-on-the-go/">Best Productivity Tools for People On The Go</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/is-agreeing-to-disagree-killing-innovation/">Is Agreeing to Disagree Killing Innovation?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/philosophy/learn-to-play/">Productivity Tip Of The Day: Play</a></li></ul>&#160;</div>

   As I write this, I’m listening to the waves crash along the beach during my own recharge. The Social Media Explorer team trekked its way down to Oak Island, North Carolina for a workation designed to evaluate and refresh our perspectives on every part of the business. It got me thinking about the importance of recharging our digital presence. I’ll give you a look at what we’ve been reviewing over the last 10 days in an effort to help others step back and recharge their perspective.

   Get Out of the Office

   It may not be feasible to take your team on a company retreat to a beach, however, you can take a few days to get the team out of the office. Try to find a place that will allow you to bring the outdoors into your creative space. The key is to get out of a conference room and break the monotony that comes with holding another meeting in the office. You need to find a space that will inspire creativity and get your team out of their comfort zone and start thinking outside of the box.

   Here are some keys to selecting your space.

   1)      It must have access to high speed internet OR you need to bring a mi-fi with you

   2)      It must have access to a beautiful view

   3)      It must have access to outdoor and indoor meeting areas

   And to be clear, a single day won’t cut it. You’ll need to take a few days with a solid agenda for creativity and fun if you really want a full recharge for the team. Recharging to 50% isn’t going to deliver the kind of results you want, so don’t cut yourself and your team short.

   Review Your Reason for Existence

   Let’s be honest, when you get into the minutia of the day to day it’s easy to forget why you are there to begin with. We took a look at why Social Media Explorer is here by evaluating who our target audience is (more importantly who ISN’T) and what services we want to offer to them. We talked about the vision for the company in the short-term and the long-term. Then we aligned all of that by talking about how we could better structure our teams to achieve those objectives. We also held a pretty intense brand review from the comfort of the deck looking out on the waves. It’s amazing how a few crashing waves can get the creative juices flowing!

   Review Your Digital Properties for Alignment to Objective and Opportunity

   Once we had everyone on the same page about what our mission in the world is, it provided the framework we needed for the rest of the agenda to review our digital presence for alignment to our objectives and opportunity.

   First stop, socialmediaexplorer.com. We talked about what we needed to do in order to more closely align the objectives of the company with the objectives of our audience. This resulted in creating a list of changes for the site that we think will help take our business to the next level while continuing to give you what you’ve come to expect from us.  We focused on how to optimize our path to conversion from the blog with the framework of building a stronger email list and provide value to that audience, how to have a stronger conversion path for agency leads, and how to align the site with what the company does. While Social Media Explorer started as a thought leadership blog, it is now a full-service digital marketing agency. We will always push the thinking in the blog, but you will see the other areas of the site transition into positioning the expertise of the agency and driving qualified leads. Our goal is to make it stupid easy for someone who is looking for help from our digital marketing agency to raise their hand and ask for help without disrupting the experience of those who don’t. We will be using Marketo, a robust marketing automation platform, to assist with these efforts and we are super excited about the opportunity to become more strategic in our efforts to generate more agency leads.

   Second stop, Twitter. We had a discussion about the opportunity to make sure the followers of both Nichole Kelly and Jason Falls know we launched the SMXplorer account this year to assist with our goal of growing the corporate following. We also talked about doing targeted campaigns to select followers who might be viable prospects for the agency and a separate campaign for those who might be interested in attending the Social Media Domination Tour this summer. Our goal is to use the campaigns to inform those who already follow us about some of the opportunities they have to connect with us in new and exciting ways. At the end of the day, we want to provide more value to our followers through targeted segmentation. We will be using the Twitter targeting tool Insight Pool to assist with these efforts.

   Third stop, Facebook. We talked about how we can provide more value to our followers on Facebook, as well. We decided we want our corporate Facebook account to mimic what our personal Facebook accounts do, provide a view into the human part of our story. We will continue to share content from around the web that we think our audience will find valuable, but you’ll also see more content designed to humanize the team behind Social Media Explorer. We want to take the opportunity to share more content like the post in the photo (minus the humid beach hair, heh!) We also will have more content that shows our quirky sense of humor. You may not realize we have three comedians on our team. You probably already know and enjoy the comedic side of Jason Falls. Internally, we also enjoy the comedic riffs from Jason Spooner, our lead strategic account manager and Jay Kelly, our VP of Operations (and my husband) who actually met doing improv comedy in Baltimore. They are all ridiculously funny guys. I’m seriously hoping that the gut busting laughter we experienced at the beach will result in 6-pack abs, but I’m not holding my breath! We want to share the laughter with our Facebook audience, so you can expect to see more content in that area.

   Fourth stop, content. Finally, we talked through the content strategy for Social Media Explorer and all of our digital properties. I’ve already shared a few of the results of that conversation, but we also reviewed the SEO and keyword audit WebMechanix created for us and discussed how we could  take advantage of their recommendations to drive more organic traffic to the site. We talked about what type of content we need to be producing to serve the goals of the agency and how often we need to be producing content. The one area we found a weakness in is e-books and guides. We know we need to leverage our internal expertise to deliver more actionable and in-depth content for our target audience. We came up with a draft list of topics these e-books should focus on and will step up our game in this area. We talked about how we can make sure our content passes our Holy Smokes, That’s _______ (fill in the blank with the value you want to deliver) test.

   Ultimately, this exercise was about practicing what we preach, for lack of a better term. We want to take the recommendations we provide to our digital marketing agency clients on a daily basis and put them to work for our company. The creative brainstorming provided the team with a renewed sense of purpose and energy for the work we do at Social Media Explorer. Over the final 2 days of our retreat, we’ll be focusing on reviewing all of our clients to do the same for them.

   Your retreat may look very different, but the purpose should be the same. Use the opportunity to get out of the office to rejuvenate the creative energy of your team by auditing your digital presence and making sure your efforts are aligned to the objectives your management team wants you to achieve. Be prepared for the added benefit of closer relationships between team members, a renewed sense of purpose, and a strategic focus that simply isn’t feasible to achieve in a dingy conference room. The results are likely to improve the bottom line in more ways than you could have ever imagined. Now that’s an investment worth making, don’t you think?

   Have you ever done a corporate retreat with your team? If so, what results did you experience? Do you do a regular audit of how your digital properties are aligned to corporate objectives and opportunity? How does your team recharge its batteries? Leave a comment and share your story. 

   ]]> <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer,http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialmediaexplorer.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2013%2f05%2fTeamWorkationView-300x225.jpg"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/41135892/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/feed/"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60232">I really think you will do much better in the future I ...</a> <i>by gutter covers</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60227">Hi Nichole, its really nice to learn that one can actually draw ...</a> <i>by Sunday</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60221">By: May 15 – Top News on Digital Strategy &#124; Digital Strategy News</a> <i>by May 15 – Top News on Digital Strategy | Digital Strategy News</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60218">Thanks for sharing this amazing post Nichole. I thoroughly ...</a> <i>by emarketing .</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/comment-page-1/#comment-60211">My pleasure!</a> <i>by Patrick McFadden</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/recharging-your-digital-marketing-batteries/#comments">Plus 6 more...</a></li></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/best-productivity-tools-for-people-on-the-go/">Best Productivity Tools for People On The Go</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/business-innovation-2/is-agreeing-to-disagree-killing-innovation/">Is Agreeing to Disagree Killing Innovation?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/philosophy/learn-to-play/">Productivity Tip Of The Day: Play</a></li></ul>&#160;</div> http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41135892/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~Recharging-Your-Digital-Marketing-Batteries/feed/ 11 http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/ http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41099385/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~Will-Thinking-Beyond-Social-Ruin-Social/ http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41099385/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~Will-Thinking-Beyond-Social-Ruin-Social/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:50 +0000 Jason Falls http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/?p=20963 <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer,"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/feed/"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60205">Yep … small business brings the challenges of scalability and ...</a> <i>by JasonFalls</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60203">I would love to hear your take on the impact of social ...</a> <i>by JaynaLocke</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60200">I have found i am a metaphor/analogy junkie. And I need help!!!</a> <i>by Jillian. Not Jill.</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60198">[[[[metaphor alert]]]] I suppose, as a person, I am aware and ...</a> <i>by Jillian. Not Jill.</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60177">You don't sound like a hippie. It all goes to to the business ...</a> <i>by Patrick McFadden</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/#comments">Plus 6 more...</a></li></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing-training/applying-general-knowledge-to-specific-needs/">The Trick Is Applying General Knowledge To Specific Needs</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/blog-monetization-without-advertising/">Blog Monetization Without Advertising</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/community-is-about-your-behavior-not-your-brand/">Community Is About Your Behavior, Not Your Brand</a></li></ul>&#160;</div>

   The thematic meme running through the social marketing world of late is that we’re about to move beyond social media marketing as a primary practice to thinking more broadly about our marketing and our business. Social is part of a greater whole and social-only thinking won’t get you very far for much longer.

   Part of this is driven by the social consultants threatened by those of lesser breadth of experience. Part of it is the reality that the industry is maturing. Social is now part of marketing. Marketing is almost impossible today without social.

   But will this assumption that social is just part of what we do turn social into something we forget about?

   I can attest that immersing yourself in a vertical or business like, say, online retail, means you start thinking about driving sales, moving the needles on the top- or bottom-line and looking for partnerships and revenue streams and cost savings. You start looking at the resources you’re pouring into social and expecting an immediate financial return for those. Sometimes social is about more than (or other than) direct revenue.

   You’ll start expecting an immediate financial return for social

   For many businesses, that means they’ll either go through the motions of social without really, genuinely investing the time and energy or they’ll forego social altogether and take the safe, proven routes of search engine marketing, ad spend and other acquisition and sales strategies.

   It is true that social needs to be a part of greater thinking about business and marketing if you want to have a mature, optimal approach to contributing to your business’s success. But in doing so, I worry that the “More, Now!” mentality of today’s business will dictate we just forget about being social in lieu of selling more stuff.

   What do you think?

   ]]> <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer,"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/41099385/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/feed/"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60205">Yep … small business brings the challenges of scalability and ...</a> <i>by JasonFalls</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60203">I would love to hear your take on the impact of social ...</a> <i>by JaynaLocke</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60200">I have found i am a metaphor/analogy junkie. And I need help!!!</a> <i>by Jillian. Not Jill.</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60198">[[[[metaphor alert]]]] I suppose, as a person, I am aware and ...</a> <i>by Jillian. Not Jill.</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/comment-page-1/#comment-60177">You don't sound like a hippie. It all goes to to the business ...</a> <i>by Patrick McFadden</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/will-thinking-beyond-social-ruin-social/#comments">Plus 6 more...</a></li></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing-training/applying-general-knowledge-to-specific-needs/">The Trick Is Applying General Knowledge To Specific Needs</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/blog-monetization-without-advertising/">Blog Monetization Without Advertising</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/community-is-about-your-behavior-not-your-brand/">Community Is About Your Behavior, Not Your Brand</a></li></ul>&#160;</div> http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/41099385/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~Will-Thinking-Beyond-Social-Ruin-Social/feed/ 24 http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/ http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/40999255/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~When-Less-is-More-in-Your-Content-Strategy/ http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/40999255/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~When-Less-is-More-in-Your-Content-Strategy/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:29 +0000 Kat French http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/?p=20905 <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer,http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialmediaexplorer.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2013%2f05%2fTLDR-300x300.jpg"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/feed/"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60230">Hallelujah!</a> <i>by KatFrench</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60229">It's a serial, Barry. We're doing a throwback to the Glory Days ...</a> <i>by KatFrench</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60081">Hey, where's the rest of this article? Too short</a> <i>by Barry Feldman</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60067">Not a problem! To me, keeping things brief has always seemed to ...</a> <i>by BSStoltz</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60063">Two hundred words isn't that long, really. Unless of course I'm ...</a> <i>by KatFrench</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/#comments">Plus 6 more...</a></li></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/highs-and-lows-in-the-parent-blogging-world/">Highs and Lows in the Parent Blogging World</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/forget-about-personas-meet-some-real-people/">Forget about Personas. Meet some real people.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/technology-is-a-canvas-not-a-tool/">Technology Is A Canvas, Not A Platform</a></li></ul>&#160;</div>

   Recently, a friend and fellow marketer asked what aspect of their favorite podcasts did people enjoy the most. I admit, I didn’t give my most honest answer.

   My favorite thing about my favorite podcast is that it’s only 15 minutes long. I’ve been listening to the very excellent Writing Excuses podcast for over a year now. While the writing and publishing advice is solid, I love their tagline.

   “Fifteen minutes long, because you’re busy, and we’re not that smart.”

   Most marketing and business podcasts run at about 45 minutes to an hour. If you asked most business professionals if they could spare an hour a week to listen to a presentation, they’d wince.

   So why are most podcasts longer than a weekly drama?

   Why do so many blog posts approach the word count of a burgeoning novella?

   Why are so many infographics 15 screens long?

   Because most marketers are long-winded and terrible at self-editing, that’s why. And we think we’ll sound smarter if we just use more words.

   There’s a lot of emphasis on “more content, more frequency, more platforms” in all the talk about content strategy. But editing is an important strategy, too. Cutting out the fat, and going for quality is a strategy. Condensing, distilling, and simplifying are all strategies.

   Otherwise, your audience response might just be “tl;dr.”

    

   ]]> <div style="clear:both;padding-top:0.2em;"><a title="Like on Facebook" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/28/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/fblike20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Share on Google+" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/30/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/googleplus20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Pin it!" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/29/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer,http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialmediaexplorer.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2013%2f05%2fTLDR-300x300.jpg"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/pinterest20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Tweet This" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/24/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/twitter20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by email" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/19/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/email20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="Subscribe by RSS" href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/_/20/40999255/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer"><img height="20" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/rss20.png" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;"></a>&#160;<a title="View Comments" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/#comments"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/comments20.png"></a>&#160;<a title="Follow Comments via RSS" href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/feed/"><img height="20" style="border:0;margin:0;padding:0;" src="http://assets.feedblitz.com/i/commentsrss20.png"></a>&nbsp; <div style="clear:left;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/#comments"><h3>Comments</h3></a><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60230">Hallelujah!</a> <i>by KatFrench</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60229">It's a serial, Barry. We're doing a throwback to the Glory Days ...</a> <i>by KatFrench</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60081">Hey, where's the rest of this article? Too short</a> <i>by Barry Feldman</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60067">Not a problem! To me, keeping things brief has always seemed to ...</a> <i>by BSStoltz</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-60063">Two hundred words isn't that long, really. Unless of course I'm ...</a> <i>by KatFrench</i><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/when-less-is-more-in-your-content-strategy/#comments">Plus 6 more...</a></li></ul></div><h3 style="clear:left;padding-top:10px">Related Stories</h3><ul><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/highs-and-lows-in-the-parent-blogging-world/">Highs and Lows in the Parent Blogging World</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/forget-about-personas-meet-some-real-people/">Forget about Personas. Meet some real people.</a></li><li><a href="http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/content-marketing-2/technology-is-a-canvas-not-a-tool/">Technology Is A Canvas, Not A Platform</a></li></ul>&#160;</div> http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/40999255/0/feedburner/socialmediaexplorer~When-Less-is-More-in-Your-Content-Strategy/feed/ 14