Affsum Session: Content That Kills

By writers that kill!  But it’s important to remember, as noted in my notes below, that content isn’t just the written word.  It’s pictures, videos, widgets, everything. The panel consisted of:

• Lisa Picarille, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Revenue Magazine (Moderator)
• Angel Djambazov, OPM, Custom Tailored Marketing
• Kim Rowley, Founder, Key Internet Internet Marketing, Inc.

Overall it was a great panel, and Lisa did really well as a moderator despite unfortunately loosing her voice between last night & this morning.

Bullet Point Review!

• People want to write but they’re generally intimidated when they don’t have the “education” to do so.
• Passion & a unique voice are key.
• Ask yourself: how am I going to constantly update the readers & provide something new?
• Know your audience and craft your message.
• Ask your users for submissions.
• Contests are great – sometimes merchants will give you freebies to give away for the exposure & talking them up.
• Readers can tell the difference between reviews that are genuine and reviews that are written just to make a buck (hint: usually they’re overly talkin’ them up).
• Content isn’t just the written word, it’s also pictures, UGC, videos.
• Engage your audience & it will create content & ideas.
• Ask questions to engage readers.
• Be sure your ads contribute to your overall message – example given was a site for memorials for loved ones who’ve passed on with a banner ad for a popular dating service.  Message FAIL.
• Design does contribute to the content, and can make it “seem” better.
• The design sets the tone for the content – a good example is TheDailyCandy.com – the design is fun & so is the content.
• Have some content that’s controversial…sometimes it gets more hits.
• Ping.fm is a great aggregate that lets you post across MANY social networks at once.
• Create an affinity with your audience.
• How do you get help?  Ask knowledgeable family members, friends, users, and a professional outsource if necessary.
• What makes content the most compelling?  Angel says be organic & open, be yourself, have some humor, & give a takeaway.  Overall, be consistent!  His example was Chrisbrogan.com.

Points brought up during the Q&A

• Keep video to 2-3 minutes max to keep attention – unless you’re damn compelling.
• Stories are better than iteration of tech knowledge.
• You need to get specific with your niche.
• Promote new blogs to the readers of your current blog.
• Passion resonates.
• Archives need to be accessible and easy – if I just found you & really like your blog, I’ll want to see what you’ve written about before.
• Effective to use analytics to understand how your audience interacts with you.  It helps narrow down the sweet spot of your topic.
• Use WordPress plugins to your advantage to highlight the most popular posts.
• ShareThis is a great tool.

It was totally great!