• How to Write Blog Posts Like General Motors Makes Cars

    General Motors pushes a new car off of their assembly line once every minute, but it takes 2 months in total to make a car. How is that possible and how does that apply to writing blog posts? To use another example, the online retailer, The Grommet, launches a new product every day, but it takes…

  • How to Get Started as a Freelance Marketer

    Recently I got asked how to start freelancing doing marketing with a focus on social media, email marketing, and blogger outreach: Hey Erich! So I’m trying to venture out on my own with freelance marketing specially focusing on social media, email marketing and blogger outreach. Joy mentioned you might be able to give me some…

  • 5 Ways to Get Your Staff to Blog

    You’re not the only one with a blogging problem. Here’s how I’m overcoming the problem in the organizations I serve: 1. Separation of duties: keep the writing, editing, picture creation or capture, posting, and promotion processes separate. Even if they are all done by the same person, you’ll get better results if they are all…

  • Beginner Business Blogging

    What is Content Marketing? Content marketing is about educating potential customers over time, gaining trust, and establishing credibility. It does this by creating knowledgeable, interesting, and shareable content of value to the reader. Content marketing is the act of creating stories to promote your business. Every blog post, tweet, or email you send out is…

  • Where do I go to Learn to be a Blogger?

    I was recently asked, “Where do I go to learn to be a blogger?” Here’s my response: Blogging in it’s simplest form is just “writing” on a blog, but since you mentioned getting paid, what you’re really asking is “how can I make money by blogging?” There are several ways to do this and even…

  • Facebook: The Journal of Our Times

    Before Facebook, unless you kept a diary or wrote a blog, there was little recording of day-to-day events in most people’s lives. Some people made baby books for their children, but mostly just for their first or second child. But now, the combination of smartphone cameras and mobile apps, documenting our lives has never been…

  • No More Stock Photography

    Recently I’ve noticed from social media experts like Jason Cobb and from Pinterest boards like No More Boring Stock Photos, there is a growing revolt against the use of stock photography. Now, I’ve used my share of stock photography in the past from sites like iStockPhoto, but now I’ve got a [quiet] goal of not…

  • 20 Serial Entrepreneurs: An Analysis

    Serial entrepreneurs want to change the world and “make meaning” but successful ones also make money, and lots of it. Here is a list of 20 serial entrepreneurs and the companies they helped create: Andy Bechtolsheim: Sun Microsystems, Granite Systems, Arista Networks Biz Stone: Twitter, Xanga, Blogger David Duffield: PeopleSoft, Workday Dennis Crowley: Dodgeball, Foursquare…

  • How to Identify a Micro-Niche

    How to find a profitable niche to start blogging about on your new mini-site In a previous post I wrote about how to monetize your blog, but I didn’t mention how to find a niche market to promote. There are many ‘rules’ about this, but while I may point out some, not all are going…