First rule of content: Be the show

James O'Brien at Mashable writes about the Red Bull content strategy:

The idea central to content marketing is that a brand must give something valuable to get something valuable in return. Instead of the commercial, be the show. Instead of the banner ad, be the feature story. The value returned is often that people associate good things with — and return to engage with — the brand.

4 ways you can succeed with a mobile landing page

Greg Hickman at Copyblogger says:

Landing pages are critical in your marketing funnel. That means they need to work well in a mobile environment. 

If your customers can get to your landing page from an email, your mobile responsive website, or an SMS (as mentioned earlier), you’ll want to take a few steps to make your mobile landing pages a success.

• Create a clear call to action. You thought a clear call to action was critical on a normal landing page? It’s a must on a mobile device. Screen real estate is limited, and people navigate with one eye and one thumb. Make it clear and un-missable.

• Be thumb-friendly. For most devices, the ideal clickable area is 44×44 pixels. You’ll want to add padding to your links, and make sure you have some negative space between those links to avoid mis-clicks. (All the more reason to follow the best practice of having no irrelevant links on landing pages.)

• Use simple forms. Keep your forms to as few fields as possible. Simple is sexy. Long forms equal lower conversion, and that’s even more true on mobile devices.

• Test, test, test. What works on desktop won’t always work on mobile, so be sure to test your landing pages with your end goal always in mind.

12 virtues that can make your content more shareable

Monica Romeri at Social Media Today identifies 12 characteristics of content that folks are likely to share:

1.  It covers real-time, relevant issues or news. 

2.  It includes captivating images. 

3.  Highly shared titles are actionable, concise, clear, descriptive, authoritative and intriguing. 

4.  It includes compelling and illustrative infographics. 

5.  Highly shared content has breadth and depth.  

6.  It shares fresh, original thinking. 

7.  It covers topics blowing up in the news a la newsjacking. 

8.  Highly shared content is not solely focused on pushing products or services. 

9.  It is free of spelling errors, typos and grammatical and editing flaws. 

10.  It is visually interesting and presented in an organized fashion. 

11.  It showcases industry-relevant thought leadership. 

12.  Highly shared content may come from a trusted and credible source.

Simple tip to improve your writing: Use more periods.

Writers love commas.

They allow us to start in one place, meander freely through a series of connected concepts, wrap our prose around a metaphor or two, and arrive safely at a conclusion.

Unfortunately, they also allow us to abuse our readers, stumbling from one unrelated idea to another, ignoring the need for transitions, droning on and on, and utterly losing and confusing our audiences.

There is a simple solution to improve your writing. Use more periods.

Embrace the concise. Next time you are thinking about one more comma, go with a period.

4 ways to create URLs that attract Google to your online content

If you want Google to find your content, it helps to create a URL that is easy for the search engine to recognize and catalogue.

That means you should:

1. Use words in the URL that tell the search engine about the content.
2. Keep your URLs brief and to the point; trim any extraneous information.
3. Avoid including generic information like page numbers or session IDs.
4. Avoid using too much keyword information in the URL; one keyword or phrase is probably enough.

Think of it this way: If you can recite the URL from memory a day after you created it, then it's a cinch for Google to find it. If you can't, then you are making it too hard for Google to find your content.

KitCam: It's a lot of camera for just $1.99

Here's a new camera app I'm playing with. It's called KitCam, and it offers some interesting advantages over Hipstamatic, Instragram, Magic Hour and other such apps. The app comes with a wide range of lens and film choices. It handles video and time-lapse and tilt shift and even multi-exposure. It connects you to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Dropbox, Instagram and more. And almost all of it comes with the basic $1.99 package.

Here's a video introduction:



Give it a try and let me know what you think.

5 ways to use Pinterest to make your content better

Mallory Jean Tenore at Poynter says reporters and editors are using Pinterest to:

1. Highlight feature content by connecting it to topical Pinterest boards.
2. Resurface old but quality content to give it a new life.
3. Respond to news events by posting in-house and crowd-sourced content.
4. Showcase images from local attractions and events.
5. Reach new audiences by creating a visual index of their content.

For detailed examples, read her post.

3 ways to pique interest with a great title

Roger C. Parker at the Content Marketing Institute says:

• Metaphors make titles easier to understand and remember by giving readers a mental picture or point of comparison for the subject you’re talking about. Jay Conrad Levinson’s “Guerrilla Marketing” communicates its promise of describing unconventional ways to achieve success, by likening the marketing tactics to tactics used in guerrilla warfare. Another metaphor-based series is the “Chicken Soup for the…” series, which communicates a warm, nurturing feeling by referencing the meal that mothers and grandmothers have traditionally served to their family members who need some TLC when they’re under the weather.
• Alliteration, or rhymed consonants, also makes titles easier to remember. Examples include Cliff Atkinson’s “Beyond Bullet Points,” Dr. Frank Luntz’s “Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear,” and Lynne Felder’s “Writing for the Web: Creating Compelling Web Content Using Words, Pictures, and Sound.”
• Curiosity can be aroused by unexpected words or contradictory terms, which can help set your content apart from “duller” treatments of the same topic. An example is David Chilton’s “The Wealthy Barber.” The contradiction between “wealth” and “barber” compels readers to find out “how” and “why” barbers can become wealthy.

Visit CMI to download Parker's 10-point checklist for creating titles that will sell your content to your audiences.

5 ways to use social media to improve your content journalism

From Alice Brennan at Forbes:

1. Develop a voice. You don’t mess around with your logo, so be focused in creating a pitch-perfect social media presence.
2. Embrace the nuances. Consumers are smart, so branded content should be subtle.
3. Be seen at all the right parties. Where your content is published matters. Be sure to research the sites and outlets your customers frequent and respect.
4. Get it out there. This is where social media is your best friend. Get a real distribution plan for your branded content and execute it well— in some cases, you may even want to consider using a content distribution platform.
5. Tailor content to the social media platform. For example, post photos on Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram; promote text on Facebook and news on Twitter.

How to tell a story with one photo and 60 seconds of audio

Jeff Domansky at ThePRCoach.com says Fotobabble may be the Twitter of storytelling:

Fotobabble is a storytelling tool that lets you do just that using your computer or iPhone. It’s got great potential from quick and easy storytelling to curation and content marketing. I can see all kinds of creative possibilities. 

It’s easy to use. Upload a photo and add your story by recording a simple audio track on Fotobabble’s website. It’s free and with a studio quality microphone, the only limit is your imagination.

There is more than one way to be a journalist these days

That's a central theme in this brief video from PBS Off Book:

How to create content by staging a stunt -- and covering it as news

What is Red Bull? Really, nothing more than a can of extremely caffeinated soda. How do you create content about that?

Red Bull brilliantly solves the problem by staging stunts and then covering them as if they were news. This stunt-driven content works for the Red Bull audience because it reflects the brand's soul: extreme, cool, irreverent, and sometimes just fall-down funny.

For example, here is a video based upon a simple idea: What happens if you build a massive Rube Goldberg machine (that is, a very complex contraption designed to accomplish a very simple task), and populate it with athletes from the world of extreme sports?

You get this:




OK, so not every brand has the budget to create something this grand. But stunt-driven content can work on the small scale as well. For example, this video in the "Will It Blend?" series from Blendtec:



Again, this works because it fits into the Blendtec ethos: Our blender can blend just about anything, and here's proof. This is a throwback to the old Timex commercials from the 1960s:



How much could it have cost to make that one?

The point is: You can create entertaining content with a can of soda, a blender or a wristwatch. All you need is to dream up an imaginative stunt that includes a touch of humor.

4 good reasons to buy a pancake lens

From Andrew Gibson at Picture Correct:

1. Simplicity: Pancakes are prime lenses. From an optical design point of view they are pretty simple, much like a 50mm prime lens. The Canon 40mm pancake lens has six elements, whereas zooms usually have ten to twenty elements. This translates to high image quality and lower manufacturing costs.
2. Price. Pancake lenses tend to be inexpensive. You get a lot of bang for your buck in terms of image quality.
3. Aperture. The maximum aperture of my 40mm pancake lens is f2.8. This is not especially impressive for a prime lens, but better than most zooms. If your main lens is a kit lens you will certainly appreciate the improvement.
4. Short minimum focusing distance. The 40mm pancake lens can focus on a subject within 28 centimetres of the camera. This is quite close, and you can get even closer by using extension tubes.

Create a web site in seconds from your smartphone

Here's an idea: How about an app that let's you quickly and easily create a website from your smartphone? In this video, Robert Scoble interviews the founder of a company that has created just that.  It's call Zapd.



The potential applications for the mobile publicist are enormous. Using Zapd, you could create mobile, social web sites that:

• Let you cover an event in real time, curating all the coverage onto a unique site while also pushing the coverage to Facebook.
• Allow your client's employees to collaborate on a public project from their smartphones while still allowing you to manage the results.
• Let your customers crowd-cover an event or collaborate on a specific subject.
• Host a real-time employee blog that allows contributors to post from anywhere in real time.
• Allow your CEO to communicate with stakeholders in real time.
• Establish an instant base of important information for stakeholders and media during a company crisis.

That's just off the top of my head. Going to play with this over the next few weeks and let you know how it performs. If you have any interesting thoughts on this, let me know.

Short on time and need content? Create a round-up story

Allison King at Ragan's explains:

Do you have 10 stories on the same topic? Pull them together in a list or primer that allows readers to access all the resources in a single location.

Write a short introduction, and include brief descriptions of each item with links to the original pieces. You'll drive traffic to a new piece of content and give a second life to older articles readers might have missed. 

Here are four other ways to create content quickly.

Panel discussion: Best practices for creating online video

From Troy Dreier at OnlineVideo.net:

Today’s video workflows are moving to the cloud, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solutions that works best for all companies. Cloud video workflows vary widely in both cost and features.

At a Streaming Media East panel discussion on cloud video workflows, three experts helped attendees understand the different solutions available and choose the right one for their needs.

The panelists also gave out plenty of practical advice on related topics such as attracting an audience to online video.

5 basics to shooting great video

From Allison King at Ragan's

When planning and shooting your video, these production basics will help you look like a pro and prevent potential disaster.

• Use the "rules of thirds." Divide the shot into thirds horizontally and thirds vertically (so you have 9 imaginary equal sections). The points of interest should occur at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up or across the frame.
• Pay attention to lighting; it can make or break your video. Don't, for example, shoot video of someone indoors who is backlit by a window.
• Bad audio is worse than bad video. More people will tolerate a poor quality image in a video. But bad audio, says Wolcott, makes the video unviewable.
• Get a lot of close-ups. Use the 80:20 rule: 80 percent close-ups and 20 percent wide shots. Close-ups is how you are able to convey action and emotion.
• Test across devices, including mobile devices.

Stuck on a story? Make a list

Lydia Howard at Ragan's explains why the list format is so popular and durable:

Resources at print publications are continuing to dwindle, which means that editors today often turn to industry thought leaders to develop content. They're much more likely to accept something brief and to the point, like a numbered tip article, than a lengthy essay about a topic—and readers are much more likely to read it.

The master of the "list as story" format is Guy Kawasaki.  You can learn a lot just by studying his posts.

3 simple steps to buying (and using) your first DSLR camera

For many folks, the hardest step in learning to shoot photos is deciding on a camera. Here's some
great advice from Chaz Curry at PhotographyBlogger:

1. Buy the cheapest Canon or Nikon DSLR (body only).
2. Buy a 50mm 1.8 lens.
3. Start shooting immediately.

For details, follow the link.

A pocket-sized tripod for iPhoneography

From blogger Glyn Evans:

The portable and flexible tripod makers Joby, have just released their latest creation, the GripTight Micro Stand. Designed for any smartphone with or without a case, the GripTight Micro Stand grips your smartphone safely and securely via a spring loaded mount/grip, allows multi positioning via a machined aluminium mini ball head, that lets you tilt your smartphone 36 degrees in any direction, and can be quickly unfolded when you need it and folds up compactly to about the size of a car key when you don't.