Blogging frequency: How often should I publish a blog post?

July 21, 2017

Content creation, Content distribution, Creativity, Workflow

I was reminded of this topic during a summer 2017 blogchat on Twitter. Really, if you ask 10 people on what the right frequency is you likely will get 10 different answers. Related: Mack Collier’s blogchat prep post on the frequency of blogging Some people will tell you that if your posts are high-quality it’s […]

Trying to be perfect can kill storytelling

Christoph Trappe

July 6, 2017

Content distribution, Creativity, Strategies

July 2017 update ⬇️⬇️⬇️ You’ve heard me talk about how perfectionism can kill content marketing and organizational storytelling-including in the post below, which I first published in July 2014. I was reminded of this when I was starting to read Jon Acuff’s new book “Finish: Give yourself the gift of done.” ⬅️⬅️ Affiliate links, meaning I […]

Lead generation: How I created more leads by handing out fewer business cards at events and conferences

Christoph Trappe

February 7, 2017

Creativity, Sales

I used to hand out business cards at events and conferences. I used to have like five different kinds, and you’d get the “right” one based on our conversation. Talk about making things unnecessarily complicated. But handing out business cards doesn’t lead to that many business conversions, social media connections or even blog subscribers. So […]

Content marketing is more about hitting singles than home runs

Christoph Trappe

November 2, 2016

Creativity, Measuring results, Strategies

Home runs are certainly fun to watch. Did that make it into the water outside the San Francisco Giants park? Did that make it onto the street outside the Baltimore Orioles diamond? You get the picture. Things can happen with home runs and they can be entertaining and look powerful. And of course they count […]

5 Years Worth of Halloween Costume Ideas for Marketers (with pictures)

Christoph Trappe

October 30, 2016

Creativity, Stories

A look at Halloween costumes worn by me from 2012 through 2016. Photos included.

How to be more like an eight-year-old when sharing our authentic stories

Christoph Trappe

October 28, 2016

Content distribution, Creativity, Strategies

At the end of an October 2016 family trip, my eight-year-old daughter found a “writing lamp” in the hotel room and started writing as we were packing up on the last day. She was basically writing down the most important things from the trip and was telling a story. How they went to the zoo, […]

Why “being busy” shouldn’t be a content marketing success metric

Christoph Trappe

October 23, 2016

Change Leadership, Creativity, Journalism and Content Marketing, Measuring results, Strategies

This brochure, blog post, whatever piece of content I just finished took me a while to produce. Hours that added up to days and maybe even weeks, but I don’t even want to consider the actual amount of time it took, because, well, that’s a lot! Wow, it took that long to produce this thing? […]

How long does it take to write a blog post?

Christoph Trappe

October 17, 2016

Creativity, Strategies, Technology

However long you’ll allow it to take. There’s always one more edit we can do. One more hour of research or reflection that’s “needed.” It can go on forever if we let it. And then we are are disappointed that the post that took us 30 hours to produce didn’t go viral. Don’t get me […]

What’s crap content?

Christoph Trappe

October 15, 2016

Content distribution, Creativity, Strategies

I throw the term crap content around quite a bit on social media, during keynotes and workshops. The context usually revolves around this: We have to stop creating crap content. There’s too much crap out there Etc. Related reading: The No. 1 reason why there’s crap on the internet At one point I wrote it […]

Who should get credit for our stories anyway?

Christoph Trappe

October 12, 2016

Change Leadership, Creativity

Credit is an interesting thing. When we give people credit when it’s deserved and wanted it builds relationships. But when we give it – especially publicly – and it’s not wanted it can make the next shared chapter worse. And then there’s the case of not giving credit when it’s due. Sounds complicated. When credit […]

What equipment do I need to do a successful Facebook Live or Periscope broadcast?

Christoph Trappe

October 10, 2016

Content distribution, Creativity, Social media, Strategies, Technology

A camera (aka your phone) and maybe an external mic will do for most broadcasts. There are always technology tools that can help us make our stories better. Some make a huge difference – especially when they make the process more efficient – and some have incremental impact. Most tools in addition to the camera […]

[MARKETING] Why we shouldn’t make up quotes for people in our marketing stories

Christoph Trappe

October 4, 2016

Change Leadership, Content distribution, Content gathering, Creativity, Health, Training

It can seem easier for writers and content creators to write the quotes from “actual people” marketing materials. It’s one way to make sure they stay on message, I suppose. Marketing materials, of course, can include printed pieces, other offline items and all kinds of digital components, including ads, blogs and eNewsletters. And many marketers […]

Why news media and content marketers can’t just publish what everyone else is publishing

Christoph Trappe

August 26, 2016

Content distribution, Creativity, Health, Journalism and Content Marketing, Strategies

News publishing and content marketing publishing have a lot in common and here’s another one to add to the list: Publishing what everyone else is publishing won’t set you apart. Let’s start with content marketing in health care. February is Heart Month and many healthcare organizations publish healthy heart tips or how to spot a […]