monthly-marketing-roundup-december

Best Marketing Stories of February 2016

I wanted to share with you the best marketing stories of February 2016. The idea here is to collect the best marketing articles so that you don't have to do the hard work.

Now, I understand, this is a near-impossible–if not completely–impossible undertaking, as I can't read everything. But I've been in this game long enough to know who the respectable parties are and they are the sites I visit first and foremost and the bulk of the content I “roundup” here will come from a handful of trusted players.

And don't worry – I'll keep you from reading the crap in the internet marketing world. God knows there's a lot of it. And there are more than a few shady characters.

Without further adieu, here are the best marketing stories I found in February 2016.

[tweetthis url=”http://goo.gl/zS3X3H”]Get the best marketing stories of February 2016 right here.[/tweetthis]


23-thought-leaders-1

23 Thought Leaders Every Online Marketer Must Know

I love roundups! Can you tell?

I read a lot of them, and I really like ones where they roundup people and not just articles. This one is a good one. Some highlights:

  • Rand Fishkin. Wizard of Moz. Rand's “Whiteboard Friday's” are fun and informative.
  • Eric Enge. Founder and CEO of Stone Temple Consulting. I love Stone Temple – and they put out a lot of quality SEO content. Watch them on Google Plus.
  • Jeremy Shoemaker. President of ShoeMoney Media Group Inc. One of the good guys.
  • John Chow. Founder and CEO of JohnChow.com. Another good guy. Drives around in his car and shoots videos.
  • Gary Vaynerchuk. CEO of Vayner Media. “Crush it” is a term I hate but it works for him (he makes wine).
  • Brian Clark. CEO and Founder of Copyblogger. Nothing to say except go check out his stuff right now. Man is making a name for himself in content marketing.

Follow these folks. You will learn a lot if you just keep up on what they produce.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aj-agrawal/23-thought-leaders-every-_b_9113686.html


how-to-start-online-community

Part of the Herd: Exactly How to Start and Grow an Online Community

This is a nice, but long (very long) read about how to build an online community.

The highlights:

  1. Community adds value for your customers
  2. A community is a giant focus group
  3. A community is where brand ambassadors are born
  4. Community drives retention

Community best practices

  • Focus on a niche to start
  • Have guidelines
  • Create a habit
  • Ask for feedback

Then, the article gets into how to build a community: How to start, build, and grow.

If you want to be a true leader, running a community is the place to focus.

Source: https://sumome.com/stories/online-community-from-scratch


do-not-build-email-list

Everyone Grows an Email List. Here’s Why We Stopped Growing Ours.

The “conventional wisdom” tells everybody that–DUH!–you need to build an email list. I 100% agree. You know this because you've probably heard of, read, or seen my 101 List Building Tips.

However, the folks at Buffer thought different, and this is why:

They were very good at growing their list. But they didn't know what to do with that list. So instead, they changed their focus to adding actual users to their service offering (the Buffer App).

Makes sense, right?

If you had the choice of adding subscribers or customers, which would you choose? If you're a retail “brick and mortar” store, do you want shoppers or buyers?

Buyers. Hands-down.

Now, I will say this: Buffer has one of the most compelling apps there is. I can't think of anybody online who couldn't benefit from using the Buffer App.

And here is the major point: If you can't benefit from the App, why would Buffer want you on their subscriber list?

They don't. And that's why they stopped actively trying for new subscribers. (But if you want to sign up to their list, you can, right here.)

Source: https://blog.bufferapp.com/grow-an-email-list-question-mark


attention-charter

Write an Attention Charter

The internet is one of the past 20 years' most compelling “inventions.” It's awesome. Yet it's so full of distractions. I know people kid about “cat videos” on YouTube, but it's 100% true: People allow themselves to get distracted by the strangest things (and, probably, the stranger, the more effective it is at stripping you of your focus).

But there's also the “other distractions” that can sap your energy and steal your attention: Those things that would actually be good for you.

Cal Newport, the man behind the idea of an “attention charter,” writes:

[su_box title=”Cal Newport says”]Consider, for example… an invitation to speak at a compelling conference, a request to hop on a call with an interesting person, a long email asking a question you know something about, an offer to collaborate on a project that fits your interests, or a new service that might make parts of your working life better.[/su_box]

How do you deal with those types of things? Cal writes:

[su_quote]An attention charter is a document that lists the general reasons that you’ll allow for someone or something to lay claim to your time and attention. For each reason, it then describes under what conditions and for what quantities you’ll permit this commitment.[/su_quote]

This is a fantastic idea! Give it some thought if you find yourself not sticking to the tasks at hand and wander off to explore these attention grabbers.

Source: http://calnewport.com/blog/2016/02/16/write-an-attention-charter/


how-blogging-helps-lead-gen

How Blogging Can Increase Your Lead Generation by 67%

Ana Hoffman of Traffic Generation Cafe is awesome. That's all I have to say about this. Go read the article. It's as good as it gets.

Source: http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/how-blogging-increases-lead-generation/


Best Marketing Stories of February 2016 Speed Roundup

Here are some marketing articles that were really good, too. Listed without editorial comments because this is the Speed Roundup.


That's it for the best marketing stories of February 2016. Look for another Best Marketing Stories Roundup at the beginning of April.

If you have a marketing story you want to share, send it to me on Facebook. Either post the link on my wall or hit me up on Messenger.


Tags


You may also like

Off-Page SEO Checklist: Our Top 8 Tips

Off-Page SEO Checklist: Our Top 8 Tips

Mar-Tech Roundup, August 7, 2023

Mar-Tech Roundup, August 7, 2023
  • The best of this issue for me was:

    The 15 Emails You NEED to Be Sending to Your Email List – SumoMe

    Thanks for the issue Bill – good stuff!

  • {"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

    Want even more Marketing Tools, Courses, News, and Personal Development Info?

    >