Weekly Alert: Finding That Little Bit of Crazy

Improve your bottom line with these key performance indicators [View Message](2e5a5/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) in Browser / [Add Us](2e5a5/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) to Safe Sender List [] 2e5a5/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q [] [Forward to a Friend](2e5a5/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) This Week in Content Marketing 6.30.17 Connect with CMI 2e5a5/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q 2e5a5/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q 2e5a5/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q 2e5a5/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q 2e5a5/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q [] 101+ KPI Options – Why You Need to Pick the Best Ones [] 2e5a5/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q If you’re not actively measuring your KPI, you’re missing opportunities to improve your business’s bottom line. Carefully selected KPIs also can be a useful reporting metric for marketers wanting to strengthen support for their work. [Read more](2e5a5/ct9_1/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q)by Mike Murray Some more of this week's best stuff: - [How Technology Content Marketers Can Earn Trust [Tips and Examples]](2e5a5/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) by Jodi Harris - [17 No-Cost Ways Writers Can Extend Reach of Their Editorial](2e5a5/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) by Michele Linn - [Bingeable Content: How to Move Buyers Through Your Sales Cycle Faster](2e5a5/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) by Marcia Riefer Johnston - [Read These Books: Summer Recommendations From Content Marketers](2e5a5/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) by Clare McDermott - [How to Write Email Newsletters People Want to Open and Act On](2e5a5/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) by Sujan Patel [] [] A Note From Joe Pulizzi Finding That Little Bit of Crazy Last week was an amazing experience for me. First, my family and I were on vacation, so there’s that. Second, it was the first time I’ve gone 100% offline (meaning no email or social media) since I started my career. (BTW: I highly recommend doing this if you can.) And third, it was the first time I’ve been to Italy and Spain, each of which is completely different and perfectly beautiful in its own way. On our trip, we had the opportunity to see breathtaking paintings, sculptures, and architecture. We visited Picasso’s Museum, saw Michelangelo’s David, viewed Botticelli’s Venus, and topped it off with Gaudi’s amazing Sagrada Familia. As we went from city to city, museum to museum, my wife would comment on how “crazy” these artists must have been. Picasso, for example, spent months painting the same image over and over, making minor variations along the way. Looking at the paintings as a group, I wondered how obsessive-compulsive he really was. Michelangelo basically locked himself in a room for two years while designing David, spending six months just on polishing it. It's said he was so focused, he often went to bed with his boots on and rarely, if ever, showered during that time. Gaudi’s early designs for Sagrada Familia were almost laughable. Nothing like it had ever been undertaken. The idea of it was once almost too big to fathom; now it is on schedule to be finalized in 2026 – 100 years after the architect's death. Maybe the greatest creators are a little bit crazy... but maybe it’s something more. During my holiday, it came to me that the world’s greatest creators are incredibly focused on one thing at a time. They also think big, setting lofty goals and visions of what can be accomplished. They focus on new areas, and do things that haven’t been done before. It is also fairly obvious they deny conventional thinking or, as Robert Frost would say, they take the path less traveled. We have a lot to learn from these creators. If you are going to create content, choose a content niche where you can actually be the leading expert in the world, setting that as an actual goal. Focus on doing something consistently over a long period of time (a hallmark of all the great media companies). And don’t tell the same story –tell a truly differentiated one. Sure, it can be based on what’s happened in the past, but something about it must be different. Might all this seem a little bit crazy? It will absolutely look that way to those who don’t stand out. So ask yourself this: Who do you want to be? What do you want your company to be? And do you want your marketing to actually make a difference? I hope your answer is yes. Yours in content, Joe Pulizzi Founder Content Marketing Institute This article from Joe is available only in this newsletter for you, the newsletter subscriber. If you have friends that would see value in Joe's weekly updates, please have them [subscribe](2e5a5/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q). [] [] Content Marketing Job Listings Currently on a job search? Thinking about switching gears with your career? Please check out our job listings below. Available Positions: - Digital Marketing and Communications Manager, American Nutrition Association, La Grange, IL - [Learn More](2e5a5/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) - Content Marketer II, Hilti, Plano, TX - [Learn More](2e5a5/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) Interested in posting a job here? Please see our [CMI Careers page](2e5a5/ct18_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) for more info. [] A Word from One of Our Benefactors 9 Must-Read Interactive Content Case Studies Learn how FedEx, Centermark, BASF, KeyBank, Arcserve, UBM, Purchasing Power, VSP and Dell use interactive experiences to drive engagement, conversion and revenue. Don't miss out on the strategies and tactics delivering business results for the world's top brands and agencies. [Get the PDF.](2e5a5/ct19_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) [] [] More from CMI 2e5a5/ct20_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q Content marketing success is incrementally better with team buy-in and collaboration. Learn about Content Marketing World group rates! Are you bringing a group of four or more to CMWorld? We have a discount for you! And our best rates are available to teams of 9 or more. Email us (cmi_registration@ubm.com) to receive your personalized group discount code. Make that investment today. [See you in September!](2e5a5/ct20_1/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q) [] CMI Video of the Week 2e5a5/ct21_0/1?sid=TV2%3Aii6rJmy9Q 2018 planning season is right around the corner, right after Content Marketing World. We hope our annual research helps guide your 2nd half of the year as well as 2018. In this video, some CMWorld speakers discuss our B2B Content Marketing 2017: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America. 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