A corner has been turned.
I for one am pleased.
Content creators have begun to recognize their art is as old as Methuselah; that it's less about hoodwinking Google and automating posts, and more about intriguing readers.
The rules for generating good content are, in fact, the very same ones Associated Press reporters used in 1846, when the organization was founded.
I'm soon to reach my 10th anniversary as a blogger. The blogosphere 10 years ago was a trash heap of get-rich-quick schemers bent on selling stuff.
A few pioneers—Chris Brogan was one—proclaimed at the time content marketing was a permutation of PR; that it was all about educating customers, connecting with them, and earning their trust.
But that was the view of outliers.
The herd chased fads and went in for cheap and tawdry tricks.
A few pioneers—Chris Brogan was one—proclaimed at the time content marketing was a permutation of PR; that it was all about educating customers, connecting with them, and earning their trust.
But that was the view of outliers.
The herd chased fads and went in for cheap and tawdry tricks.
My gut told me the outliers were right and that the rest of the crazy world would catch on one day.
It took 3,650 days.
"In a world of zero marginal cost, being trusted is the single most urgent way to build a business," Seth Godin says. "You don’t get trusted if you’re constantly measuring and tweaking and manipulating so that someone will buy from you.
"The challenge that we have when we industrialize content is we are asking people who don’t care to work their way through a bunch of checklists to make a number go up, as opposed to being human beings connecting with other human beings."
A little, anyway.
