Category Archives for Marketing & Publishing
Measuring the Content Metrics that Matter: Do They Like Me? Do They Really Like Me?
Somewhere during the height of my adolescent angst, I received a great piece of advice: “Stop caring so much about what other people think.”
It is, in fact, a tremendous life strategy.
Especially when you’re facing a school full of fellow teenagers riddled with hormones and penchants for drama. Yet, as many discover while winding their way through life, this guidance becomes ever harder to follow.
There is always someone to try to impress. Or at least, to avoid being judged by.
Mindfulness for Content Marketing
“Mindfulness” is a term you might expect to hear from your hot yoga instructor during a lecture on the benefits of mixing ancient algaes into your coconut water, before he wishes you “Namaste” and peacefully glides away on his fixed-gear.
It’s fair to be sceptical when new, vaguely spiritualist buzzwords are increasingly bandied about by journalists and policymakers as possible solutions to the social crises and intellectual stagnation of Western society.
Very often, these terms are an attempt to repackage an older idea that everyone is familiar with. The repackaging is not without its benefits, however, as it tends to highlight elements of the original idea that are more relevant to contemporary circumstances.Continue reading
How Psychoanalysis Can Fix Your Content Marketing
How often do marketers talk about appealing to someone’s subconscious desires, or suggest that a person’s impulse buy is the result of an unexpressed, or repressed, emotion?
Or, how often do we — when noticing that someone is making assumptions about the unarticulated desires of others — explain someone’s claims as an instance of the speaker projecting their interests or aims onto someone else?Continue reading
A Bookstore Perspective: Six Obvious Mistakes That Self-Published Writers Make
One of the most valuable assets for small published authors is the independent bookstore.
I have heard so many authors utter those exact words. Unlike other businesses, like Barnes and Noble or (the dreaded) Amazon, booksellers at indie bookstores actually read the books they’re recommending. They add that touch of humanity that is so vital to the book industry. They listen to the customer’s needs and know the perfect book for every situation.
Booksellers are passionate people, and they want to talk about books with everyone who comes within earshot.
Now, as a former bookseller, I may seem biased by my professional association. However, I want to talk about a book with you, dear reader. But not just any book: I want to talk about your book.