Buyers Drive Content Marketing and SEO: Smart Links February 5

Sunday Brunch Reads With Social Media ReInvention

buyers drive content marketing and seo

Our Buyers Drive Content Marketing and SEO Decisions

The Theme Pulsing Through This Week’s Article Links. These expert pearls show why the problems keeping our buyers awake at night fuel content marketing and SEO (search engine optimization). Their wisdom touches on:

  • The devices consumers use to find our businesses and articles online. (Hint: Rhymes with smartphone).
  • The signals Google looks for and takes into account for ranking our websites and content.
  • The importance of keyword density. (Hint: Not as much as we thought).
  • Buyer personas rich with details on the buyer’s pre-buy research behaviors are a strategic advantage.

Check out these article summaries which I know will make us better marketers, writers, and search engine optimization professionals.

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Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook Gun For Twitter’s and Google’s Hearts and Souls

Latest strategic choice: Personalize competitors' strengths into Facebook's closed ecosystem

Mark Zuckerberg Facebook Conference Pic

Photo Credit: TechCrunch via flickr

The Wall Street Journal’s Deepa Seetharaman published this great article: Facebook Takes Aim at Search Again. Take time to read Deepa’s article because she delivers important insight on Mark Zuckerberg’s unrelenting competitiveness and strategic genius.

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37 Reasons Twitter Should Keep 140 Characters (Each In 140 Or Less)

Why I Love Twitter's 140 Character Count Constraints

140 Characters Twitter PumpkinsPhoto Credit: via flickr by Average Jane

 

Here are 37 reasons I believe Twitter should keep the 140-character count constraint. Please help me get this list to 140.

Please abide by one (1) rule. Your reason(s) must be 140 characters or less (including the number). For example, Reason #1 equals 11 characters. Here’s the link to The Twitter Character Counter Tool I used to help me write this post.

Please share your ideas in the comments with your Twitter handle (mine is @tonyfaustino).

I’ll do my part to share your ideas with my following as we collectively work to reach 140 reasons.

Go. (more…)

Five Reasons Why Self-Publishing Exclusively on LinkedIn Is Bad Business

Invest in Yourself. Protect Your Personal Brand. Publish a Self-Hosted Blog.

Runner with LinkedIn Logos

Bolota Asmeron, a member of the Linkedin Elite Centipede outs on a temporary Linkedin tattoo before the start of the 2010 Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco.

Photo Credit: A Name Like Shields Can Make You Defensive

 

Important Note: An intelligent and thought-provoking discussion from The Writing on LinkedIn Group inspired this latest post. Matt Sekol initiated the discussion thread, Where’s The Traditional Blog. It’s people like Matt Sekol (and many others) who reaffirm my belief and commitment to why The Writing on LinkedIn Group is one of the most important, intelligent, and enjoyable communities for engaging with and learning from like-minded individuals within LinkedIn.

Last week, I read Alexandra Samuel’s thoughtful post on Harvard Business ReviewHave LinkedIn and Medium Killed the Old-Fashioned Blog? Almost three years ago and 1 million Linkedin writers later, LinkedIn launched its self-described definitive publishing platform.

I submitted a comment stating why limiting our self-publishing investments to third-party platforms like LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform and Medium without investing in a self-hosted, personal website or personal blog is a career and business mistake.

Here are more detailed thoughts expanding on my comment in Alexandra’s post.  (more…)

Part 2: Seth Godin’s Professional Freelancer Course

What Do You Provide?

Teacher with Students

Photo Credit: usembassykyiv

 

I’m publicly taking and publishing the required exercises in Seth Godin’s Professional Freelancer Course on Udemy. The required exercises force you to ask: “Am I Taking This Path for The Right Reasons.”

I completed the Lectures Six through Thirteen this morning. It’s great stuff taught by The Godfather Himself: Mr. Seth Godin.

Seth asked his course participants to go all-in and publish their assignments. As I perform the course exercises, I will continue publishing the results. It’s Seth teaching his students to write down, commit to, and deliver on our personal manifestos.

Here’s my continuing public contribution and commitment to Seth’s class:
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Part 1: Seth Godin’s Professional Freelancer Course

Public Thoughts from Exercise 1: Parts 1 to 3

Tony Faustino Business Card May 2015 Front Back

 

Yes. It’s a shitty picture. But, perfection isn’t my top priority.

Doing work and art that matters is a higher one.

I’m publicly taking and publishing the required exercises in Seth Godin’s Professional Freelancer Course on Udemy. The required exercises force you to ask: “Am I Taking This Path for The Right Reasons.”

I completed the first five (5) lectures and first exercise this past Saturday morning. It’s great stuff taught by The Godfather Himself: Mr. Seth Godin.

Seth asked his course participants to go all-in and publish their assignments. As I perform the course exercises, I will publish the results. It’s Seth teaching his students to write down, commit to, and deliver on our personal manifestos.

Here’s my public contribution and commitment to Seth’s class:  (more…)

#Irony: Selerity’s Four Tweets Cost Twitter $4 Billion in Market Cap

Dick Costolo Hands in Air

Photo Credit: iabuk


April 28th was not Dick Costolo’s (Twitter CEO) and Twitter’s Investor Relations Team best day.

The Wall Street Journal’s Yoree Koh published this article, Twitter Shares Tumble After Nasdaq Leaks Results Early, after Twitter’s 2015 Q1 Earnings Conference Call. Her story describes important challenges Twitter is confronting the company:

  • Missed revenue targets
  • Investor skepticism about the company’s value as an advertising platform (relative to Facebook and Google).


Real-Time Havoc Breaks Loose on April 28th Around 3:07 PM Eastern Time. 
Addressing these difficult issues was the least of Twitter’s problems. Selerity, a self-described real-time analytics and media company, stole the show by live tweeting Twitter’s 2015 Q1 unreleased financials BEFORE the Twitter’s earnings call
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When Did Larry Page Become Steve Ballmer?

Photo Credit: clydeorama

Farhad Manjoo of The New York Times published this thought-provoking article: Google’s Time At The Top May Be Nearing Its End. Manjoo discusses how Google’s current and past domination in desktop search advertising is leading to the source of its undoing as a technology leader.  (more…)

17 Research Sources Validating 11 Twitter Best Practices to Grow Followers

Photo Credit: Matt From London

Earning Twitter followers for new users can be challenging. Are there best practices for organically increasing Twitter followers? Yes! (more…)