In 2007, the mention of content marketing brought as many blank stares from small business owners as the mention of a website did 10 years before. In fact, in 1997 when we started our small business magazine in Southwest Florida, few owners had websites, let alone an online marketing strategy. In 2009, most small businesses do have websites and the term, ‘content marketing,’ has gone from obscure to How to go from clueless to compelling to transform prospects into buyers When I say fashionable, I mean that the usage of the phrase has skyrocketed

It’s been a very good year for content marketing. In fact, visitors searching our site for the phrase “content marketing” increased by 85% in 2009 over 2008. Social media certainly loomed larger in the past 12 months but interest in content marketing strategy accounted for the majority of the most popular posts. How Here is the Cliff’s Notes bullet point version with more detail and links to the full articles following: 5 Reasons an eBook Should be a Core Component of Your Content Marketing Strategy

It’s all about creating relevant and compelling content that transforms you into a thought leader who can become a trusted provider That is ultimately how you convert visitors into buyers Of course, this is gospel for me and many content marketers. But, it is still poorly understood by many marketers and SEO practitioners who swear that cramming a ton of “search engine friendly” words That’s the key word from veteran SEO expert Heather Lloyd-Martin SEO is not about creating a website sausage overstuffed with key words and phrases.

Moreover, it should follow the content marketing mandate of customer centricity. That is, your website must reflect an understanding of what’s most important to your customers in the way that you present content about who you are, what you sell, and why your visitors should care. An effective website is necessary but not sufficient as an online marketing strategy. Of course you need a website. But, you need a lot more to succeed.

Stand Out from the Marketing Crowd Thanks to Lou Bortone , video marketing guru for this guest post In an over-crowded and hyper-competitive marketplace, video marketing can help you break through the clutter and deliver your message in a powerful and memorable way. Thanks to YouTube, and inexpensive, easy-to-use camera options like webcams, Flip Video cameras and iPhones, online video is now well within the grasp of just about anyone. However, just because creating video is more accessible than ever, that doesn’t mean we all know how or where to use it.

SW Florida online marketing maven and real estate professional, Chris Griffith , clued me into this cool and compelling video which does a terrific job of dispelling doubts about the power and impact of social media. was impressed enough with what she was doing that I wrote an article about the effectiveness of her online content marketing approach: Chris Griffith Proves a Blog with Personality Makes for Great Content Marketing How I Discovered This Video Offers Another Proof of the Power of Social Media So, it’s only natural

Their website is full of unintended ironies as they offer online marketing advice which the website appears to ignore. It’s also a good example of a website with a pretty good layout that is undercut by a lack of focus and a serious shortage of relevant and compelling content. found it hard to understand exactly what Metwell does or how they could help me after a quick–and then a more in depth–visit to their website You must be clear on what you do and how your customers will benefit I

Dean Piccirillo Makes a One-Person Blog-powered Website Look like a Major Corporate Presence Online Spend a significant amount of time monitoring and listening online to successful bloggers – I spent months reading other blogs, considering style, word count, etc. I don’t think I’ve really found my “blog voice” yet, however, this research was extremely useful to me when I actually began to create content for my site. Building a solid business blog-powered website is challenging for all of us. But it’s even more difficult for anyone who lives in the financial services

Content Marketing Pioneer, Tim Berry of Palo Alto Software Tells You How to Build Your Business Before He Charges You a Nickel In 1994, I read the first edition of Tim Berry’s wonderful book, Hurdle: The Book on Business Planning without realizing that it was a perfect example of content marketing. Of course, back then, nobody was calling what he did content marketing. Essentially, Tim’s book gave away all of the information you needed to build your own successful business plan. This might seem odd since his real business then and now is selling

Even if you decide that you do not need their services, you will certainly learn something about effective online marketing from your visit. ...Tags: Tags: Content Marketing Knowledge Center News Online Success Stories website Adventure Training Concepts(ATC) shows us quickly and precisely what they do and why should we should care I