The Not-So-Secret History of Content Marketing (Hint! It’s Older Than You Think!)

It’s always tempting to think that whatever we’re doing in the bright, shiny world of the 21st century is unprecedented, groundbreaking, disruptive. But I have a confession to make: Although my career is firmly-rooted in high tech and I can’t get enough of engaging with the latest and greatest technology and business trends, my first love is history and my academic degree is in that domain. So indulge me for a few minutes as I explore the historical roots of the content marketing that drives customer engagement and brand building today.
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To My Adult Daughters, From a Woman in Tech

By Tina Ornstein, IOD Senior Editor
Several years ago, I had the privilege of hearing the author Amos Oz talk about his book Tale of Love and Darkness. Published in 2002, the book is an intensely personal chronicle of his childhood in Jerusalem on the cusp of Israel’s independence, and his rebellion during his teenage and early adult years against the mores of his Eastern European parents by transforming himself into the quintessential sabra.
He shared that he wrote the book primarily for himself, to help him work through the complexities of his relationship with his parents, and for his children and grandchildren. He was genuinely surprised when the book became a worldwide best seller, translated into close to 30 languages. This led him to the insight that there is nothing more universal than the personal. (more…)

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The Secret Sauce of Tech-related Blog Content

By Tina Ornstein, IOD Editor
Blogging on technical topics for a knowledgeable audience is a little bit like tightrope walking — it requires incredible balancing skills and one false step sends you plummeting into oblivion. In other words, if you don’t find the right balance between technical expertise and audience engagement, then your blog will be ignored (which is the equivalent of oblivion in the content world.)
At IOD, we have developed and perfected our own secret sauce for helping our customers reach their target audiences. Our methodology is based on one simple mantra: “writers are not experts and experts are not writers.” Thus a successful technical blog, (i.e., a blog that gets traction with its target audience) requires the collaboration of an expert and a content person — either a writer or a proactive editor.
Although chefs tend to guard their secret sauces carefully, we at IOD believe in transparency and are happy to share with you the key ingredients of ours.
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Why Marketers are Planning More Content for 2018 Than Ever Before

By Tina Ornstein, IOD Editor
You have to hand it to him—Bill Gates once again positioned himself as a visionary when he postulated in 1996, when the internet was still in its infancy, that content would be king. What kind of content? Here’s what he wrote:
If people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to read a screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date information that they can explore at will. They need to have audio, and possibly video. They need an opportunity for personal involvement that goes far beyond that offered through the letters-to-the-editor pages of print magazines.
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