This week marks the fifteenth anniversary of my blog. Crazy, right? I realize that nobody cares about an anniversary like this … I don’t even care, honestly … but I thought I would use the milestone as a teachable moment because blogging changed my life. And here is the main lesson of the milestone: To stand out in this world, you have to be known. To be known, you have to show up consistently. Consistency is more important than genius. Unfortunately, this is where most people fail. They stop and start, or perhaps they never start at all. In my Personal Branding Master Class, I show a slide ..read more

  I was recently talking with a young influencer and I offered to send her one of my books. “I don’t read books,” she said. “OK, how about an audiobook?” “I don’t listen to books either. The only content I consume is YouTube. I have the ad-free version and that is all I watch all day long.” This story is not unusual. Younger people are moving away from traditional media, burrowing themselves in private communities, and moving out of reach of marketers. So if you’re a brand … how do you reach her? How do you market to young people who seem unreachable? I posed this question to the smart m ..read more

SXSW 2024 was a gathering of thought leadership, providing a glimpse of “what’s next” in media, technology, and marketing, among other topics. I’ve been attending SXSW since 2010. It’s expensive, crowded, and — with 500 sessions a day — overwhelming — but I regard it as an essential part of my professional growth. Each year has its own personality. My first conference in 2010 represented the dawn of social media — unbridled excitement! SXSW 2024 seemed more somber as attendees pondered deep fakes, the existential nature of AI, humanoid robotics, quantum computing, inclusivity, and mental heal ..read more

One of my clients built his business entirely on influencer marketing. His revenue has grown explosively through a combination of both paid and organic relationships with powerful influencers who specialize in “un-boxing” and product reviews. “We’re in trouble,” he told me. “Influencer marketing is hitting a dead end. It’s crashing everywhere.” He explained a consistent pattern he’s seeing among the most successful influencers: They start as passionate creators, enthusiastically publishing content about products and people they love and believe in. The creators build a loyal audience due to ..read more

Annual social media prediction posts deserve their own category of boring. They usually name the same obvious trends over and over! This is the year of video! (yawn) And yet, we are in the midst of unprecedented, cataclysmic change. Let’s consider some non-obvious social media trends that are insightful, bold, and important! And you will be happy to know that I barely AI at all (too obvious!). This post covers 10 non-obvious social media trends: Marketing speed Why social media will upend search The big new platform on the horizon Why influence is everything Social listening platforms in tro ..read more

I just went through a bizarre experience in a big brand Discord community where I received death threats and encouragement to commit suicide. When I go through something troubling and new in the marketing world, I usually write about it. So here we go. Attacking the problem I decided that I would write up this case study but NOT name the brand involved. I am here to attack problems, not people and believe me, somebody would surely lose their job over this incident (and probably did). However, to appreciate the gravity of this situation, you need to know the context. I was threatened and haras ..read more

Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in projects and research that have reinforced the idea that creators and community are driving huge changes in commercial strategies. These new dynamics are re-inventing what we used to think of as media and media buying. It’s already happening. Consider that a YouTube star like Mr. Beast has a bigger following than all the prime-time American news channels combined. One of his videos might get 100 million views. If you’re advertising on Fox News, you’ll be lucky to reach 2 million viewers. Many creators are branching off to create their own brand ..read more

I was perusing The Wall Street Journal and saw a headline that grabbed my attention: “Forget Retirement. Become a Social Media Star Instead.” The article recounts how “granfluencer” Linda Davis earned a six-figure income through cooking videos that attracted sponsors like Chobani and Disney Cruises. It seems like everybody and anybody is jumping on the creator economy bandwagon! But how many people are actually making money as an online creator? New research sponsored by word-of-mouth marketing legend Ed Keller shows it’s bigger than anybody thought. Much bigger. This is important research, a ..read more

What’s the difference between your brand story versus your business narrative? Turns out, everything. And it has vast implications for your marketing strategy, personal brand, and even your effectiveness as a leader. Lucky for us, my friend Keith Jennings has been studying the art of the business narrative for many years and provides his wisdom on the latest episode of The Marketing Companion podcast. The “story” is important … but it’s about the past. Your business narrative is about where you’re heading and where you want people to go with you. Much of our careers as marketers depend on an ..read more

My speaking career was a journey with nerves! In the new episode of The Marketing Companion podcast, I made a public confession for the first time. In my early days as a public speaker, I would routinely lie to the audience. You see, I would become so nervous when I stood on a stage that my voice would shake. It was humiliating. Here I was, getting the chance (finally) to speak on a big stage and I was trembling. I would explain my shaky voice away by telling the audience that I had a cold or allergies. I was ashamed to be so nervous that I had to lie about it. Once I got past the first two ..read more