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The Australian edition of Chief Content Officer is out today, bigger and better than ever before.

If the cover story and title, don't catch your eye, make sure not to miss these articles:

Marching to a Different Beta by Jonathan Crossfield
Okay, I admit I'm not impartial. I'd probably read the back of an envelope if I knew Jonathan Crossfield had scribbled on it. In this must-read article, Jonathan sizes up Google+. I immediately picked up the phone and called my web developer after reading his story.

Are Generic Photos Killing Your Content? by Paul Pichugin
Content marketers spend a lot of time mulling over words, coming up with titles and trying to figure out the most effective distribution methods. Professional photographer Paul Pichugin suggests we should probably be doing a better job with our images. I'll never feel the same about Flickr again.

Keep on Bloggin': How MYOB built a wildly successful corporate blog by Emma Mulquiney
I've been bugging the mob at MYOB to share their story since the inception of Chief Content Officer magazine. If you're even flirting with the idea of starting a blog, don't do another thing until you read Emma Mulquiney's account of what worked and what didn't. With over 5000 comments in two years, any blogger can learn from Emma and the blogging team at MYOB.

I'm busy chasing stories for the next issue of Chief Content Officer. If you know anyone doing a great job with content marketing or doing something particularly innovative, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas, new contributors and the best content marketing stories in Australia.

It's getting to be that time of the year. Invitations to holiday parties are rolling in. My family are deliberating between Christmas cake and Christmas pudding so I can begin chopping and soaking fruit. I'm trying to remember which of my grandmother's springerle recipes works best in the Australian climate. The content marketing contingent has started the insufferable debate about holiday cards.

Green façade
You know the drill, right? The deliberation about whether it's better for the environment to send eCards at Christmas is getting as old as St. Nick himself. I've written before about business playing the green card in a veiled effort to reduce their own expenditures of time and money. I can't help but feel this is exactly the same situation.

`Tis the season
The holidays are meant to be a time to slow down, enjoy a few extravagances and reflect on what's important in life. Whether you observe a faith-based celebration, follow a cultural tradition or just cash in on the abundance of public holidays, most of us survive the festive season with at least a faint recharging of the batteries. We socialise more, correspond more, eat and drink more than usual. We labour over elaborate food, search for the perfect gift and plan special gatherings. So why, for Pete's sake, would content marketers try to shirk out of a prime opportunity to impress?

The Scrooge Effect
Here's what I think; it's just easier and cheaper to send an eCard. Few people will mention this because they don't want to admit that's the motive. By adopting the Scrooge attitude, you're missing a perfect chance to connect with your best customers. Believe me, no one gets a warm, fuzzy feeling when faced with a mail merge effort. What's the point of spending all year crafting content designed to pull people in then give them a big brush off with an eCard?

You want to pull them in? Then make an effort.
Hire a graphic designer and have custom-designed holiday cards made. Have them press printed on expensive stock. (Remember, print is not dead.) Do it now so you have plenty of time to write a personal note, by hand, in each one. Address the envelope by hand, too. Lick the stamp. (I'm not kidding. Do not use a franking machine at Christmas.) Take them to the post office yourself. I recommend starting a little ritual to celebrate the end of your holiday card project toast your success with a coffee or a drink and reflect on your content marketing prowess.

Swamped for the holidays
Okay, so maybe you're truly too busy or your designer is booked out until the end of the year. Send New Year's cards instead. I did it last year and was surprised at how much traction I got from the exercise. (That's an image of my card at the top of this story.) Holiday cards tend to get binned shortly after Boxing Day. I was delighted to visit a client's office in July this year and see my New Year's card prominently displayed. You can't tell me an eCard could ever have that sort of reach.

Get busy
I encourage you to splash out this year. Toss your inner Scrooge to the side and lavish a little attention on every client with a personalised, handwritten greeting card. Consider the staying power of the printed card in comparison to the glut of eCards routinely filling inboxes at the end of every year. Reflect on how easy it is to push the delete button on electronic correspondence. Remember the little thrill you get when you find a `real' card in your post box. You're making an effort everywhere else, make sure you do the same with your seasonal content marketing.

What do you think about holiday cards?

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Image credit: Card design by the talented Adrianne Barba at bird.STUDIOS

How often do you attend conferences? Last week I was in Sydney speaking at the Retailer's Essential Guide to E-Retailing, part of the Online Retailers Conference & E-Commerce Expo. I was invited to speak by John Debrincat, CEO at eCorner, the workshop sponsor. John and I have known each other for years, often meeting when one or both of us is presenting. As we watched people file into the room, I wanted to hand everyone a little instruction card on how to get the most out of John's workshop – one they paid to attend.

I rarely see attendees get the full benefit of a presentation. Often these events have a cost attached so you're making an investment in both time and money to be there. I can tell you from personal experience most speakers labour over their presentation and hope you go away with better information or insight you didn't have before you arrived. While these tips may sound obvious, plenty of attendees I encounter at my speaking events don't take them into consideration.

Six things you can do it improve the return on your investment:

1. Arrive early – Allow plenty of time to battle traffic, find parking and source a cup of coffee before the start of the presentation. Conference organisers put pressure on the speakers to start and end on time. If you slide in right on time or even a few minutes late, you're likely to miss a portion of the first talk.

2. Sit in the front – It's always interesting to me to watch the back of the room full up first. The best experience is front and centre of the room. Remember you're at a live performance, the closer you are the better. I don't know anyone that goes to the theatre and insists on sitting in the back row.

3. Ask questions – Believe me, you will not be viewed as a dolt if you ask a question. The presenter will love you for it. I can guarantee other people in the room are wondering the same thing. There's nothing better than an interactive presentation so don't hesitate to be the first one to raise your hand.

4. Chat with the speaker – Conference and workshop organisers work hard to find people with the right expertise to speak. The speaker has invested a fair amount of time preparing the presentation and getting ready for the event. Once they're away from the podium, take advantage of the opportunity to speak to them directly. People that speak in public generally enjoy being around people and are very happy to chat, in depth, on their topic. It's a chance for you to get some free consulting.

5. Network with the other attendees – At big events, you may only know one or two other people in the room, if anyone at all. Make good use of your breaks and introduce yourself to someone you don't know. It's an excellent way to get new ideas and hear how other people are facing the same challenges you have. It's also a great way to extend your business relationships.

6. Review the material when you get home – I'm guilty of this myself – you attend a big event and come home loaded with information. You also come back to a desk bursting with things to do. It's easy to let your conference material languish. Schedule time to go through everything you've been given. The supporting collateral prepared by the speakers often has extremely valuable nuggets of information you can put to immediate use in your work.

One extra thing you can do to help the speaker
Before you leave the workshop, conference or presentation, make sure you fill out the feedback form. Standing up in front of a crowd is often a one-way street. The feedback forms provide extremely valuable insight to the speakers and organisers on how to improve for the next time. As long as the criticism is constructive, it will be entirely welcome. It's not as important for you to leave your name or contact details as it is to provide an honest review of the day's events.

What's your advice for getting more out of a conference experience?

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Image Credit: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How often do you click on a hyperlink? If you're not familiar with the term, you probably already know what it is. Sometimes called a `live link', hypertext, or a `hot link', a hyperlink is word or phrase in online content that, when clicked, takes you to another web page with related content. They can make a big difference in the effectiveness of your content marketing.

Here are my top 5 reasons for including hyperlinks in your content.

1. Credibility
Think of it as a new age footnote, whenever you're naming a source, citing a reference, or referring to another publication, a hyperlink lets you do it in the body of your content. It takes you out of the `they say' mode and lets you explicitly show you've done your homework.

Example: A tough job market presents challenges to both skilled and unskilled workers.

2. Increases page views
By referencing other articles on your website or blog, a hyperlink has the ability to keep readers on your site for longer. Make no mistake, those "Related articles" notes at the bottom of every article are hyperlinked to another page on the same site. With Google taking note of page views, routing readers to another page is a smart idea.

Example: Read my post, Do-it-Yourself SEO, for more ideas on how to improve SEO.

3. Improves SEO
We hear a lot of talk about the importance of the coveted back link, when another site links to your website. Don't discount the power of a forward link. When you link out to credible sources, Google takes note and rewards you for it.

Example: A recent article from the Content Marketing Institute contains more information on this topic.

4. Assists the Call to Action
When you add a hyperlink into your `call to action' mix, the chances of a conversion improve. People are lazy creatures. Hyperlinking to your contact page, your subscription form or a landing page on your website nudges those prospects along the path of conversion.

Example: Subscribe here to have new posts from the Global Copywriting Blog delivered by email.

5. Usability
If you want something done, do it yourself, right? Apply that to hyperlinks. It's so much easier for the reader to verify your reference material, find related content or answer a call to action when you've given them something to click on.

Example: Contact me if you have any questions.

The Take-Away
People like to `do' things when they get to a site. Give them a hyperlink to click on and reap the benefits at the same time. It's simple to add them with modern CMS editors. Regular use of hyperlinks will improve your SEO and make life easier for your readers.

When do you include hyperlinks in your content?

Image credit: Hyperlink by DAE-SoftChalk is Fun, on Flickr

You may have heard I've been busy. I put a `sold out' sign on my Contact page several months ago. My clients have been spun off to other freelancers. Family evenings and weekends are conducted while I'm beavering away in my home office. Lately, my working day starts between 3:30 and 4:00 in the morning and often finishes around 11:00 pm. I've been caught in the grip of an XXX project.

Exciting, Exhilarating, and Exhausting
That's right in this case XXX stands for exciting, exhilarating and exhausting. (Sorry folks; I can't wait to see if that title generates more traffic than normal. Consider yourself part of a test market.) On 5 September 2011, the AMMA miningoilandgasjobs.com website went live. An industry owned and operated employment centre for the resource sector of Australia, the mammoth Careers and Industry Guide is my baby.

Content Marketing `Best Practice'
I had been working with Jobs in Industry Group (JIIG) for about a year when they suggested I join forces with them. I resisted at first but then they offered the opportunity to implement a `best practice' content marketing strategy on a new business. When I suggested that meant developing hundreds of articles using professional writers, they didn't bat an eye. When I laid out a long-term strategy using multiple content types, they got excited. When I said it would require a commitment to social media – both in time and money – they asked what I needed to get started. When I said they would have to hire professional designers to make the content look fantastic, they were in complete agreement.

The next time they asked me to join their company as part owner; I jumped at the chance.

What does it mean for Global Copywriting?
Global Copywriting still exists as a brand. I'll still be blogging and speaking about content marketing and social media. I still edit the Australian edition of Chief Content Officer. I wouldn't consider giving up my aged care work. I just won't be accepting anymore freelance assignments through Global Copywriting as I have more than a full-time job at JIIG. There will be no shortage of lessons learned and practical advice to share in this new role and I'm going to continue to spill my guts here.

Special Shout-Out to Alyka
It's easy to get excited about your own projects and push yourself to exhaustion. (Read this terrific article about how to tell if you're doing your life's work.) It's not often you find service providers prepared to dedicate the same energy. Bernie Chia and the gang at Alyka proved to be exceptionally adept at working in a GREAT BIG HURRY and producing fantastic quality at the same time. They managed to do it with incredibly good nature and professionalism. I can't say enough good things about them.

Finally . . .
In the midst of this huge project, I missed an article in Smart Company listing this blog as one of the top 25 business blogs in Australia. I'm excited and exhilarated all over again.

Have you ever had an XXX project?

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