LinkedIn

I Should Hate This LinkedIn Post, but It’s Actually the Greatest

As an exacting writer and a proponent of a slow and strategic marketing, I should be having an aneurysm (Ann-eurysm?) over how a single, sweary, typo-infested LinkedIn post slopped together in 20 minutes sparked a flurry of online engagement and $90K in sales. But I’m not. Because from a marketing and writing point of view, there’s a lot to love about the post-I-should-hate. Why is it the greatest? And what we can learn from it? Before I get into it, a caveat: If you are offended by profanity, you might want to skip this post. Read this one instead. It’s about food. (And not at all offensive.) The Story My friend Cara Mackay runs a family business that makes and sells “the best sheds in the world,” in Perth, Scotland. Those “sheds” aren’t just your typical squirrel-infested toolsheds: Gillies and Mackay customers use them as summer houses, beach shacks, playhouses,

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This New Book Will Make You a Content Marketing Rock Star

Too many business books feel like cover bands. They might be entertaining enough, but ultimately what they deliver feels a little lacking—a substitute for the real deal. Which is why I love this new digital book launching this week from my friend Jason Miller, Welcome to the Funnel – or, WTTF, as I affectionately call it. Jason self-published it, and he asked me to write the foreword. I’m allergic to books that deliver the why but not the how. So I love the practical, specific, how-to of WTTF. This isn’t a book of inexplicit generalities, amorphous marketing platitudes, and vague “best practices.” Instead, this book delivers the playlist you need to create content that will deliver results for your organization. It’s a detailed guide that will, as the subtitle says… Turn Your Social and Content Marketing Up to an 11. Why am I confident of that? Because Jason Miller is

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What’s NOT In Your LinkedIn Profile?

What’s one thing that’s NOT in your LinkedIn profile? One thing that’s NOT in my profile is this truth: I can’t tolerate watching myself on video. But in this case I made an exception. Because, well, this video is exceptional (for a few simple reasons). Check it out: Because I can’t help but dissect a good content idea, I’m compelled to say why Jason Miller outdid himself with this short, fun video and its execution: coaxing great and light-hearted responses from me as well as well-known content marketers like Joe Chernov, Michael Brenner, Jay Baer, Aaron Kahlow, Joe Pulizzi, Jeffrey Cohen, Carmen Hill and (my personal favorite) Michael Stelzner. When it comes to animal sounds, I thought I was talented — I can do a seagull screech so authentic that beachgoers protect their fries and scan the sky — but Michael’s creature repertoire steals the show here. What makes this

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LinkedIn Influencer Posts: Content Catnip

This week, I published my first post on the LinkedIn Influencer blog series. It was a huge honor for me, since the influencers contributing original essays there are a select collection of some 400 entrepreneurs, authors, CEOs, mayors and at least one president sharing ideas, insights, prescriptions and philosophies on the business of work and, sometimes, simply life. (It was also an angsty honor: When elation at the invitation gives way to self-doubt, anxiety and a general What do I possibly have to add to that group? Then I slapped myself and snapped out of it.) LinkedIn launched the program this past fall as content catnip to attract more regular readership and interaction; an antidote to the occasional visits by those looking for new work or new clients. It thrills me to be a newbie to its series. But it also thrills me to see LinkedIn gaining ground as an interesting place to hang out. I’ve long held that

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