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As a follow up to the audio chat with Joe Pulizzi , my partner-in-crime, Joe Basques and I did a price Hangout on Air about the state of social media marketing.  We’ve found that the new paradigm of communication is not as widespread as reported.  Those that hope for a return to the “good old days” of mass media are going to be disappointed, however, because that stuff isn’t working either. It comes down to one thing:  The content being distributed, either through social channels or traditional channels, is really, really bad. Some people are starting to realize it, but they are few in number, possibly fewer than those who have figured it out.  Listen to our conversations, then send us questions or comments.  Let’s figure this out together.       Related articles Why some people don't want to tell their story Content Marketing All-Stars: Q&A with Joe Pulizzi Is content driving your media strategy or dragging it down? Interview: Joe...

Had a chat with Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute today about how well content marketing is doing in US business Had a chat with Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute today about how well content marketing is doing in US business.  Of course we've all heard the glowing reports, but it turns out that the success is still very limited to only those that are doing it right.  And there aren't many of them at that.  Gee, who knew?  Here's the discussion.   Related articles Why some people don't want to tell their story Content Marketing All-Stars: Q&A with Joe Pulizzi Epic Content Marketing - Joe Pulizzi Think twice before discounting print as part of your marketing mix.

They are creating 20th century content, stuffing it into web 2.0 sites and putting links to social platforms so lots of people can see how god-awful their stuff is. When I was a young journalist, I worked for the managing editor from Hell.  I'd write a story, turn it in, he'd cuss under his breath, crumple it up and say, "Do it again."   He'd never tell me what was wrong with it, because he said he really didn't know, so he gave me no good direction.  I went through that for 18 months and was on the verge of being fired every month.  Talk about a gaunlet.  But after those 18 months I started to see what he saw and my copy started getting better.  Much better.  And I could explain what made a story good or bad, which came in handy for new reporters who started to go through the gauntlet.  Because I could help them, they became better faster, which made the paper better overall.  I went from becoming a crappy...

Lots of journalists have a hard time distinguishing what is good content (in other words, stuff that people will read and watch) and what they actually produce. Facebook recently announced it would be "punishing" users with bad content b y driving it out of friends and followers news feeds. Reports are coming in that most marketers have no idea if their content is actually effective.   More experts are saying there is an extreme disconnect between "best practice" SEO and good content. And it goes beyond marketing.  Lots of journalists have a hard time distinguishing what is good content (in other words, stuff that people will read and watch) and what they actually produce.  A couple of weeks ago the president of a large media company told me in frustation that his advertisers what to tell one story and his journalists want to tell another.  But the readers are asking for something altogether different and he can't get his team or sponsor...

51st Design Automation Conference (DAC) in San Francisco have come out and, if they are anything like past reports, the numbers are, in the least, moderately steamed if not entirely cooked. The latest numbers on the 51st Design Automation Conference (DAC) in San Francisco have come out and, if they are anything like past reports, the numbers are, in the least, moderately steamed if not entirely cooked.  I found a site that does independent audits of trade show attendance and found that the numbers reported by the Electronic Design Automation Consortium ( EDAC ) are between 50 and 1000 participants higher than the independent audit numbers. In reality, the EDA “official” total attendance of 6,701 attendees — if accurate — is slightly under the 6 year average of 6,795.  DAC is not growing.  It’s flat.  There is one definite trend that’s showing a decrease, and that is exhibitor support which has come down steadily from 3400 exhibitor support staff down to 2500 th...

At the #51DAC in San Francisco this week, I was approached by three separate companies in the Exhibition Hall at Moscone South who wanted me to do a story on them.  I looked the representtive in the eye and say, "OK, Why?"  That I didn't ask "What do you do?" or "What is your product?" completely flummoxed them.  All I was asking was their reason for existence.  They had no idea. We've been talking about how the events are getting worse every year and we think our experience this year identified the problem.  We will be talking about it at a special Hangout tomorrow at 9:30 Pacific.   Here's the link , and the Youtube page . Come with questions and comments.   Related articles DAC 2012: Still flat