By now, I shouldn’t have to convince you about how powerful content marketing is, as well as how significant of a difference it can make in terms of your website’s performance.

But just in case you aren’t fully on board with this new promotional paradigm yet, consider this…  Of the brands surveyed by the Content Marketing Institute in 2013, 86% of business-to-consumer (B2C) companies are planning to maintain or increase their current content marketing spend, while 54% of business-to-business (B2B) companies report the same commitment to this marketing strategy.

Pretty compelling stuff, right?
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Yeah, so I know that Apple kind of blew it on the iPhone 5 launch.  It’s not that sales numbers weren’t good (as usual, they were very, very good!).  Instead, Apple screwed up by releasing products that weren’t yet fully-formed (I’m looking at you, Maps!) – something that never would have occurred in Steve Jobs’ Apple.

However, if we look past these small missteps, there are still plenty of important lessons that can be taken from the way Apple has grown to dominate different elements of both the mobile device and personal computer marketplaces.  These lessons can be applied to just about any business – no matter what your budget is or what industry you’re in.  I hope you find them interesting! Continue reading

Traditional social media marketing activities – including reaching out to new followers, posting engaging content to your company’s profile and using the service to build relationships with industry experts – all have their place in a good website promotion campaign.

But what happens when you’ve reached the limit of what’s possible using these tactics alone?  What if you’ve seen a leveling-out of the number of new Twitter followers you’re able to reach, or you’ve scheduled as many future tweets as you’re comfortably able to do?

If you’ve explored all of Twitter’s standard offerings, it may be time to take things to the next level with Twitter Advertising! Continue reading

Look inside the heads of great marketers like Seth Godin and Steve Jobs and you’ll be surprised by the number of skills that these guys and gals have that might not necessarily be tied to marketing. You’ll see things like interviewing skills, giving good feedback, and even kissing butt. But you’ll also see things you’d expect like storytelling, a drive for result, and a focus on the sales funnel.

And after nearly a decade working in the SEO industry in various capacities, I’ve absolutely found this to be true.  Whether as the founder of Single Grain or in my full-time positions with companies like Oversee.net, I’ve seen first-hand that when I focus on meeting my customers’ needs, I ultimately wind up more successful than when I put my own personal gain first. Continue reading