Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing

Most of us won’t make a living making “pure art” that only serves our creative expression. But you won’t make a reasonable living writing cynical garbage, either. Hope your new year is going well! Brian Clark and I have had some great conversations about what we want to write and teach in the new year,... Listen to episode

A lot of us feel a tension between effective copywriting and content that fully respects our audiences. “Conversational Copywriter” Nick Usborne joins us to talk about why that’s a false choice. Nick Usborne is an unusual writer. He has many years of direct response experience, but he talks more like a “content guy.” He’s here... Listen to episode

Does search engine optimization seem depressingly hard to stay on top of? Things do move quickly, but that doesn’t mean you have to let it drive you nuts. Over the past 10 years, Brian Clark has drummed some important things into my head about what we should (and shouldn’t) do to keep Google and the... Listen to episode

Lots of businesses and marketers are scrambling over the new data protection law, GDPR. But Tara Gentile is here to talk about some of the real-world benefits it can bring — not just to consumers, but to business. This week, Tara Gentile swung by to talk about the GDPR (Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation), and... Listen to episode

Tim Paige is that rarest of creatures: A really good salesperson who understands the people who aren’t (yet). This week, I was pleased to be able to interview “webinar gun for hire” Tim Paige, to talk about how “normal people” can learn to be genuinely effective at selling. Important Note: We’ve updated the date on... Listen to episode

Selling is a skill, not an innate talent. But that doesn’t mean it’s always comfortable to learn. Too many content creators have amazing audiences and a wonderful product or service — but they fall apart at the “last mile” of selling to their customers or clients. In this 19-minute episode, I talk about: Why starting... Listen to episode

Legislators, citizens, and advertisers are all concerned about the trends in privacy and permission on social platforms — but they’re concerned for different reasons. Even as Facebook tries to dodge legislation about what it does with user data, marketers have a choice. We can try to do whatever we can get away with, or we... Listen to episode

A conversation about what matters in marketing and business. I was delighted to be able to catch up with our friend and one of my favorite teachers, Seth Godin. In this 19-minute conversation, we talk about: The fundamental shift in how Seth sees marketing differently His thoughts on fake news and the “post-truth” online environment... Listen to episode

Given everyone’s crowded inboxes and fragmented attention spans — what’s the best way to reach people? Content and permission marketing have been a wonderful development. It’s great to be able to connect with audiences instead of just interrupting people. But what happens when attention spans are so fragmented that people have a hard time tracking... Listen to episode

There’s an incredibly useful tool that can actually sabotage your content … if you don’t use it correctly. Note: If you want to know more about the upcoming Creative Content Foundations class, get on over to this page and let us know how to get you by email: Creative Content Foundations interest list There’s a... Listen to episode

What’s the best way to handle overwhelm, especially when it comes with a side of procrastination? Note: If you want to know more about the upcoming Creative Content Foundations class, you can drop your details here: Creative Content Foundations interest list Lots of us (most of us?) have big, challenging projects that we want to... Listen to episode

It’s time for the latest round of “Content Marketing doesn’t work any more” stories. Can you tell these make me a little cranky? It’s official — content marketing has moved from the Gartner Hype Cycle “peak of inflated expectations” to the dreaded “trough of disappointment.” Yes, there’s an awful lot of content out there. And... Listen to episode

Tech and tactics come and go — but storytelling lasts forever. In this episode, Shane Snow and Joe Lazauskas of Contently share their favorite techniques for developing a storytelling edge. (Part 2 of a 2-part episode.) We all know that stories are powerful — but sometimes it’s hard to know how to tell stories that... Listen to episode

Tech and tactics come and go — but storytelling lasts forever. In this episode, Shane Snow and Joe Lazauskas of Contently share their favorite techniques for developing a storytelling edge. (Part 1 of a 2-part episode.) We all know that stories are powerful — but sometimes it’s hard to know how to tell stories that... Listen to episode

What do the search engines mean by a “high quality site”? While technical SEO still exists, a huge chunk of modern search engine optimization consists of “generating high-quality content.” So what does that mean? When a search engine ‘bot looks at your site, what kinds of things is it looking for? In this 23-minute episode,... Listen to episode