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If Jack White can Produce an Album in One Day, You can Get Your Blog Moving Too

Fans of Grammy award-winning artist Jack White certainly know the man is prolific. White, who burst onto the music scene as the guitarist for the White Stripes back in 1999, is also known for his work with the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather. Now, White is launching a solo music career as well—and he is out to prove something else in the process: his creative speed.

Jack_White_OttawaOn April 19, White will attempt to set the world record for the fastest recorded album ever. Sources indicate that White plans to record and release the title track of his album all in one day. In order to accomplish this, the song will be performed and transferred directly to acetate right in his Nashville, Tenn. studio, Third Man Records. Then, the tapes will be immediately sent down the road to United Record Pressing where they will be turned into 45s. The records will then be rushed back and will go on sale later in the day at Third Man.

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Give Your Content Marketing Strategy its ‘One Shining Moment’

Tonight’s the night—the NCAA championship game where either a No. 7 or 8 seed will walk away with the national title. This past Saturday night we watched a riveting game between UConn and Florida and witnessed Kentucky win yet another thriller, this time besting Wisconsin by a point. Now it all comes to a head tonight when UConn and Kentucky will go head to head for the title.

After the winner is declared, however, another March Madness tradition will take place: “One Shining Moment.” The song is annually played as the winning team’s players cut down the nets to a Montage of highlights and best plays from the tournament (watch last year’s “One Shining Moment” video below). There are some interesting gems that can be extracted from this video. Ready to take some post-March Madness inspiration and apply it to your company’s content marketing strategy?

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What We Can Take Away from Facebook’s Oculus Rift Purchase

Right now, all the focus in the marketing world is on mobility, as the number of smartphones in use topped 1.4 billion in 2014. But everyone wants to know: What will come after mobile? This week, Facebook gave a strong indication of what’s coming down the pike next when it announced it acquired the Irvine, Calif.-based company Oculus Rift for $2 billion.

Oculus Rift, which makes an advanced virtual reality headset, is being hailed as the next major solution in the tech industry for its ability to literally transport users directly into a three-dimensionally rendered environment. Instead of staring at a screen, in other words, a user can be completely surrounded by it.

13013107993_9f0de59bcb_oRight now, Oculus Rift is primarily a video game platform. But according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the platform has the potential to do a lot more than entertain. As Zuckerberg explained recently, Oculus Rift will transform the way that people learn, experience entertainment and communicate in the future.

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Is Content Marketing Fashionable?

fashIt’s not every day that you see the words “content marketing” and “fashion” together— but as we all know, stranger things have happened (Lady Gaga’s SXSW performance anyone?). The fashion industry has embraced content marketing with open arms. After all, designers are natural storytellers. From Burberry to ShopBop to Anthropologie, familiar names in the fashion world are using this avant-garde marketing strategy to engage with readers and boost brand loyalty. So is content marketing fashionable? The answer: Yes!

Don’t believe me? Below are three famously fashionable brands that have perfected the art of content marketing. (Take notes!)

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Content Marketing Got Us to the Moon. What Can It Do for Your Brand?

If someone were to ask you how the U.S. first landed on the moon, your first response would probably be “in a rocket ship.” But did you know that it was actually content marketing that drummed up enough support from the American public to actually drive the initial lunar mission in the first place?

As “Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program” co-author David Meerman Scott explained in a recent Forbes interview, when President Kennedy first challenged the U.S. to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade in 1961, he faced an awesome task.

8252445373_73e38a057d_z“Imagine convincing the American public to spend as much as four percent of the national budget in some years, to send twelve people to the surface of the moon,” Scott said. “It was a crazy thing to do and marketing got us there.”

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The Day in the Life of a Content Marketer

shutterstock_110537546Congratulations! You have officially entered the world of content marketing—a world rife with editorial calendars, social media platforms, inbound/outbound marketing campaigns, SEO metrics, demand generation… or have you? For starters, do you even know how to define “demand generation?” Do you even have a documented content strategy in place?

The reality is that while many top-level marketers claim to “walk the walk and talk the talk” when it comes to content marketing, a vast majority are merely only wading in the content marketing pool—rather than diving in head first. Need proof? While 93 percent of B2B marketers and 90 percent of B2C marketers are leveraging content marketing tactics, only 42 percent and 34 percent, respectively, feel their strategies are effective.

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March Madness is Here: Give Your Business a Competitive Edge with Content Marketing

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles LakersThe madness has officially begun. In less than a week, college basketball teams across the U.S. will compete in what has become one of the biggest annual sporting events in the country besides the Superbowl (which was a total bust). For months, coaches have been preparing their players for the “Big Dance” doing everything they can to gain a competitive advantage.

So what does this all have to do with content marketing? Simply put: Content marketing gives businesses the edge they need to thrive in today’s highly competitive market. Below are three ways content marketing can make you a champion. Continue reading “March Madness is Here: Give Your Business a Competitive Edge with Content Marketing”

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Three Considerations Accelerating the Content Marketing Movement

shutterstock_124219390Historically, there are those junctures in time in which we simply start accepting that a new fate is on the horizon: it happened back in the 19th century with the invention of the typewriter, again in the late 90’s with the dot-com bubble, and more recently with the innovation of the smartphone. And it seems once again we are at the crossroads of a massive shift rocking the business environment—that of content marketing.

Simply put, we are at that familiar place we have been centuries before where early adopters are embracing this avant-garde approach to marketing, full of gumption, while others remain on the sidelines wondering if this trend will really stay. But all one has to do is take a look at history to know that content marketing is only at its dawn. Let’s take a look at three major forces that are forever changing the way in which we go-to-market: Continue reading “Three Considerations Accelerating the Content Marketing Movement”

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Ready to do Some Content Marketing Spring Cleaning This Year?

If you’re anything like me, then you’ve been counting down the hours—not days, but hours—until spring comes rolling along. And now that it’s just around the corner (only 10 days away!) it’s time to start thinking about everything spring: birds chirping once again; buggies buzzing around; the soon-to-be beach weather; and the 2014 MLB and NCAA seasons if you’re a sports lover.

spring cleaning

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