Articles by John Hargrave
How Content Creators Can Make Real Money
My kids and I recently went to a TED Talk youth event, and while we were waiting for the show to start, they played a bunch of videos from a fast-talking YouTube celebrity named Hank Green. Hank is the host of SciShow, a YouTube science show where he investigates topics like “The Truth About Gingers”... Read More...
Can Your Business Satisfy the A-Holes?
In business school, I took a class called “Leadership and Influence.” In this class, we watched a video of Arthur Blank, one of the founders of Home Depot, briefing his employees. Blank was on the floor of a Home Depot store, giving a pep talk to his employees in their orange aprons. It was an... Read More...
It’s Time for a Gender-Neutral Pronoun
Ladies, you need to get behind me on this one. Among the many shortcomings of the English language is the old-fashioned practice of relying on “man” to refer to “the entire human race,” because it’s a man’s world. For example:
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What Part of My Marketing Budget is Working?
I’m talking with a client. We’ll call him Mr. Q, because that makes him sound like a spy. “I just want to know what part of my marketing is working,” Mr. Q tells me. “Well, how’s business?” I ask him. “Business is strong,” he responds. “Sales are great. Leads are up, site traffic is up,... Read More...
Your Willpower Battery: What it Is and How to Use It
I was scheduled on an early morning BOS-LAX flight, and arrived at the airport at the ungodly hour of 5:00 am. Even though the sun had not yet risen, the Delta counter looked like the streets of Calcutta: a sea of humanity, children screaming, the occasional live animal.
What No One Tells You About Trade Shows
Here’s how trade shows really work: you pay thousands of dollars to buy a “booth,” which is a 10×10 square of carpet on the show floor. For everything else, the trade show organizers charge you thousands of dollars extra: tables, chairs, displays, even the freaking electricity. (They literally charge you hundreds of dollars to run... Read More...
What’s the Best Day to Publish Blog Posts? The Definitive Answer
What’s the best day to publish blog posts? At Media Shower, we get this question all the time. I will give the short answer for those with attention deficit disorder, and a slightly longer answer for those who want to understand.
Forget the Long Tail. Go for the Body.
I am on the phone with a potential client. We’ll call him Mr. L. “What we’re using,” Mr. L tells me, “is a long-tail content strategy.” “How’s it working?” I ask. “It’s okay,” he admits. “But we need help creating 1,000 content pieces a month.” “Our price for a great blog post is $49, so... Read More...
Your First Sentence is the Most Important. Here’s Why.
It is not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw. This is the first sentence of Michael Crichton’s excellent autobiography Travels, and those words have stuck with me since I read the book twenty years ago. Crichton was trained as a doctor, and he starts with a story of working on a... Read More...
You Need 3 Blog Posts. Here’s Why.
I’m talking with a prospective client. We’ll call her Ms. X, because that makes her seem more mysterious. Ms. X is the marketing manager of a large company. She wants to get more traffic to the company website, and is thinking of starting a content marketing program. “What I want to know,” Ms. X asks... Read More...