Content Jam is Coming up Fast

Jeff Livorsi — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:13:19 +0000

I’ve joined forces with some good friends for a workshop on all things content marketing in June. Content Jam: The Secrets of Content Marketing is a workshop in Chicago that will help you craft best practices for telling great stories, understanding content management, helping readers find you, and measuring success. Featuring industry experts sharing stories and ideas in a fun and casual environment, you will walk away from this interactive event with a solid understanding of how to create, manage, promote, share, and measure your content marketing efforts.

Content Jam is all about distilling the theories and strategies of Content Marketing into easy-to-do tasks you can perform right away. During each of the four interactive sessions, you’ll learn how to write compelling content, how to plan what to write, how to make sure readers find it, and how to measure your success.

SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

What If I’m Not a Good Writer (or What If I Am)?

Good content marketing is all about telling compelling stories. In Telling a Good Story Jill Pollack (@jillwritergrrl) will share professional writing tips and techniques to tap into your creative spirit while remaining true to corporate philosophy and marketing goals.

Think of this session as creative writing with a sprinkle of call-to-action and a dose of marketing message. Whether you write blog posts, website articles, or are just finding your writing voice, this session will teach you the secrets of interacting with your reader and beginning a profitable conversation.

You’ll learn:

Finding the right details, hooks, frames, and voice
Mapping out stories to fit your content strategy
Telling a good story that drives engagement in 500 words or less
Questions to ask before you start writing

Jill’s Bio

How do I make a plan? And what do I do with all this content?

Since your content marketing materials will lead people back to your primary digital presence—your website—you need to match what’s “out there” with what’s “in here.” In Devising a Content Marketing Plan content strategist Hilary Marsh (@hilarymarsh) will share how to create a cohesive editorial calendar—prioritizing topics, coordinating all digital efforts, and developing the right mix for your key audience(s)—so that people who are drawn to you through your marketing efforts can learn more and start interacting with you.

You’ll learn:

Creation versus curation: pros and cons
How to create an editorial calendar
How to define content types and allocate resources
How to research search volumes and trending topics

Hillary’s Bio

How will readers find my stuff?

Ah, the secret sauce to using search, social media and email to promote your content. In Creating and Sharing Content, Andy Crestodina (@crestodina) covers some of the most effective tactics for creating and promoting online content.

This session covers the fastest, cheapest and most effective web marketing tactics available. Real world examples and impact on Analytics will be discussed throughout. Andy will share his template for content marketing (and links to all the resources) with attendees.

You’ll learn:

Keyphrase research for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Structure and formatting of the perfect post
Targeted sharing in social media
Link building for SEO through guest blogging, news releases, videos, etc.

Andy’s Bio

How will I know if It was worth it?

To determine success, you have to learn about Measuring What Matters.

Good content marketing efforts are for naught if you can’t measure their effectiveness and plan accordingly. In this session I will share an in-depth look at measuring the metrics that define online success for your business or organization. Learn how to measure website visitor interactions, track how social media and content sharing efforts affect site performance, and make informed decisions regarding where to focus efforts moving forward.

You’ll learn:

Important metrics versus ‘fluff’ metrics for content marketing
How to track social media and content sharing performance
How to connect email campaigns to website performance
How to create actionable insights that drive content marketing efforts over time

If you have any questions about this event, feel free to reach out to me via the Contact page. Otherwise, you should definitely register for Content Jam. It’s going to be a really great day filled with smart ideas, new things to try, and excellent networking opportunities.

Corporate Social Responsibility Presentation

Tim — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:12:05 +0000

Nancy Goldstein of CompassX Strategy and I recently rocked a presentation on corporate social responsibility (CSR) for Columbia College’s Marketing Department and Enbric, a student-run marketing group. The presentation covered CSR examples from big brands to small. Nancy and I discussed what being a socially responsible company means to each of us as well. CompassX Strategy is a fellow B Corp, so we also covered the logistics of being a Benefit Corporation. Here’s a copy of the presentation:

Similarly, a month prior to the presentation at Columbia I was on a cause marketing panel at the University of Illinois at Chicago for non-profit and sustainable organizations. During the panel we discussed the logistics of becoming a Benefit Corporation (B Corp) and reducing Mightybytes’ carbon footprint.

More info on the presentation can be found on the Mightybytes site: Corporate Social Responsibility

At the Content Marketing Retreat

Tim — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:27:33 +0000

I’m in Seattle getting ready to speak about some fun Google Analytics topics at the 2nd annual Content Marketing Retreat.

The Content Marketing Retreat is being held at the Langley Center for New Media. I’m looking forward to the conference, meeting other content marketers and checking out the impressive speaker lineup. Check out Langley’s measurement blog post to find out more about the topic I’m covering.

For those attending, I look forward to meeting you there.

Swapley is in Beta!

Tim — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:20:59 +0000

Mightybytes’ first product just went into beta. We’re very excited to introduce Swapley, an integration tool for syncing Emma and 37 Signals’ Highrise. I was in Portland earlier this week and discussed Swapley with our friends at Emma. It’s great to work with the Emma team. True professionals. And they know some awesome Portland restaurants too!

If you use Emma and Highrise, we would love to know what you think. Please considers signing up on the Swapley site to be one of our beta testers.

Thanks!

Sync Emma and Highrise with Swapley

Tim — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:06:54 +0000

Mightybytes has been hard at work getting our first product ready for beta. It’s called Swapley and you can use it to sync contacts and groups between MyEmma and 37 Signals’ flagship CRM product, Highrise.

Want to find out more about syncing Emma and Highrise? Sign up to find out more info on the Swapley beta.

Spin Sucks Post on Cross-Domain Tracking in Google Analytics

Tim — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:57:33 +0000

The fine folks at Spin Sucks have just published a guest post by yours truly on tracking data across multiple domains using Google Analytics. This can be helpful if your website uses a hosted third party system for tickets, donations, and so on. Check it out!

Read Cross Domain Tracking in Google Analytics on Spin Sucks now.

A Long Overdue Overhaul

Tim — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:28:08 +0000

An update to this site has been a long time coming and I’m glad it’s finally here. I look forward to sharing more relevant content more often on topics such as digital marketing, strategy, technology, design, media, and all the other fun web stuff that has made my career path the wild ride that it is. There will no doubt be personal ruminations on sustainability, beer brewing, cycling, and the endless struggle with work/life balance as well.

While the original site—launched in just a few hours as a response to missing materials in my first book—served as a blog in the more traditional sense of the word, this new site is also meant to showcase my work as a writer, educator, and consultant. These projects are often independent of my company Mightybytes, but not always.

With that in mind, I have added many links to and samples from past workshops, presentations, articles I’ve written, and so on. I’ve been working on a sample demo reel from past speaking engagements and will continue to post slide decks from conferences I speak at and workshops I give.

I worked with Jehan Abon to bring the new site to life. She is a talented designer and so easy to work with. If you’re looking for a WordPress site, Jehan is a great resource.

New Site is Almost Done!

Tim — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:39:28 +0000

I’ve been working with the wonderful and talented Jehan Abon to bring a new version of this site to life. It’s long overdue. The original version (the one you’re looking at now) was built in four hours (give or take) with Whit Nelson and a theme we did a bit of customization on.

All I’ve got left to do is good time content fun. Tweaks, edits, proofreading, etc. Then we flip the switch.

Here’s a sneak peak:

Worms in the Kitchen!

Tim — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:55:45 +0000

urban_worm_girl_13 a photo by TimFrick on Flickr.

Urban Worm Girl came to the office this week and set us up with a thousand new colleagues. And I thought the office was crowded before.

We blogged about it on the Mightybytes site and embedded a sweet slideshow of the Flickr pics:

http://bit.ly/urban_worm_girl

These new roommates will eat up to a half pound of organic waste per day and offer a fantastic fertilizer in return. Why not consider adding some worms to your own kitchen?

Headed to Drupalcon

Tim — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:26:45 +0000

Am heading off to Drupalcon this morning for the first of three days chock full of all things Drupal. Interesting tracks in the conference this year: Coder, Implementation and Config, Drupal Community, Business and Strategy, Theming, and Design and UX. Today starts off with a keynote by Drupal founder Dries Buytaert followed by sessions on accessibility, wireframing, UX strategy, and designing for mobile. And that’s just the first day! Other sessions include jQuery Mobile, Avoiding a Frankenstein Website: How to Collaborate with Clients, Interface Patterns, Internet Marketing, Semantic Web, and a whole lot more.

Most of the Mightybytes crew are going. Anyone else headed there?