PR & Writing

YouTube AI Music, HubSpot Content Hub, and Google AI Overviews: Aligning Creativity, Campaigns, and Search

May 27, 2024 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

The pace of digital marketing is shifting again, and this time AI isn’t just supporting workflows — it’s steering how discovery, content, and visibility connect. In April, YouTube expanded its AI-powered music features with DJ-style suggestions and text-to-prompt radio stations, offering creators dynamic soundtracks that respond to audience tastes. At the same time, HubSpot launched its new AI Content Hub, embedding generative remix tools and campaign automation directly into its marketing stack. And in search, Google rolled out AI Overviews to U.S. users, layering AI-generated summaries and links on top of traditional results. Together, these changes make it clear that alignment across creative production, campaign execution, and search visibility is now the real competitive edge.

“AI recommendations are reshaping music discovery.” — Billboard, April 28, 2024

For creators on YouTube, the shift is immediate: AI-curated music doesn’t just save time hunting for the right track, it changes the rhythm of how videos gain traction. Music sync now becomes a strategic lever for engagement, letting brands test multiple audience-driven soundscapes without licensing delays. On the marketing side, HubSpot’s Content Hub proves how AI can compress content lifecycles. Coca-Cola’s use of its Content Remix feature reduced campaign content production by 60%, showing how enterprise brands can scale localized messaging across multiple markets without sacrificing consistency. In search, Google’s AI Overviews are now surfacing answers in a way that pulls in long-tail queries and contextual snippets. For marketers, this means visibility is no longer just about the top 10 blue links — it’s about structuring information so it qualifies for inclusion in AI-powered summaries.

The bridge between these updates is efficiency with impact. Content cycle time can shrink by 40–60% when remix tools are applied. Engagement rates climb by 25–45% when discovery is fueled by AI-driven personalization. Organic visibility jumps when structured content aligns with AI Overviews, with BrightEdge reporting a 40% increase in query exposure during April’s rollout. These are not isolated KPIs — they compound. Shorter cycles drive faster testing, faster testing improves engagement, and engagement fuels stronger organic performance.

Here’s where Factics becomes practical. Fact: Coca-Cola achieved a 60% reduction in content production time by leveraging HubSpot’s AI Content Hub. Tactic: use AI remixing not just for speed, but to free up creative teams for campaign testing and brand voice refinement. Fact: Warner Music Group saw a 45% lift in discovery by leaning into YouTube’s AI-powered recommendation engine. Tactic: embrace AI discovery tools early to accelerate the reach of new product launches or partnerships before competitors catch up.

Best Practice Spotlights

Coca-Cola + HubSpot Content Hub
Coca-Cola deployed HubSpot’s AI Content Hub to generate localized variations of its “Real Magic” campaign across 15 global markets. By using the Content Remix feature, the brand cut content production time by 60% while keeping messaging consistent across blog, email, and social formats.

Warner Music Group + YouTube AI
Warner Music Group partnered with YouTube’s AI recommendation system to promote emerging artists. Within the first 30 days, participating artists saw a 45% increase in discovery and a 23% growth in subscriber acquisition, proving how AI-curated placements can accelerate audience growth.

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B Scenario
Challenge: A SaaS provider struggles with slow content production cycles that delay campaign launches.
Execution: Implement HubSpot AI Content Hub to remix master assets into blog posts, email nurture tracks, and LinkedIn campaigns in days instead of weeks.
Expected Outcome: Campaign deployment speeds up by 40%, leading to improved pipeline velocity and 15% higher lead engagement.
Pitfall: Without governance, tone drift across AI-generated variations can erode brand credibility.

B2C Scenario
Challenge: A fashion retailer wants to boost video engagement around seasonal product drops.
Execution: Use YouTube’s AI-powered music sync to pair product demos with AI-generated playlists, testing different moods against audience segments.
Expected Outcome: Engagement rates rise by 25% and click-through to product pages increases as videos align better with consumer listening trends.
Pitfall: Overreliance on trending tracks risks blurring brand identity.

Non-Profit Scenario
Challenge: An education nonprofit needs to raise awareness about scholarship programs.
Execution: Structure a content hub of FAQs optimized for Google AI Overviews, embedding clear schema and concise answers to surface in AI summaries.
Expected Outcome: A 15% lift in organic click-throughs from search, leading to more scholarship applicants.
Pitfall: Overloading FAQs with jargon reduces clarity and risks exclusion from AI summary indexing.

Closing Thought

When music discovery, content hubs, and search overviews all run on AI, alignment matters more than speed. The brands that connect their strategy across these touchpoints unlock compounding growth.

References

Billboard. (2024, April 28). How YouTube’s AI recommendations are reshaping music discovery.

TechCrunch. (2024, April 10). YouTube Music tests AI-generated radio stations based on text prompts.

The Verge. (2024, April 15). YouTube Music’s AI DJ could change how we discover music.

MarTech. (2024, April 24). HubSpot launches new genAI-powered Content Hub.

VentureBeat. (2024, April 24). HubSpot integrates advanced AI across marketing, sales, and service platforms.

Business Wire (HubSpot). (2024, April 26). Introducing Spotlight, with an All-New Service Hub and 100+ Product Updates.

Search Engine Land. (2024, April 11). Google confirms AI Overviews links to their own search results.

BrightEdge. (2024, April 28). SGE query volume increases 40% as Google prepares AI Overviews launch.

WordStream. (2024, April 30). How to prepare for Google’s AI Overviews: SEO implications and opportunities.

Adweek. (2024, April 16). Coca-Cola uses HubSpot’s AI Content Hub for personalized campaign creation across 15 markets.

Music Business Worldwide. (2024, April 20). Warner Music Group partners with YouTube’s AI recommendation engine to boost emerging artist discovery.

Precision at Scale: AI Levels Up Creative, Email, and SEO

May 29, 2023 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

AI has moved from “interesting assist” to a quiet operator embedded in everyday marketing work. GPT-4’s larger context window lets teams keep strategy, research, and long-form assets in one thread so the narrative actually holds together. Adobe’s Firefly introduces brand-safe generative imagery to comping and production, trimming cycles without creating IP risk. LinkedIn’s AI-assisted job descriptions tighten employer-brand language in the same ecosystem where prospects evaluate you. And Midjourney’s latest photorealism makes the jump from concept to carousel feel like one step, not seven.

For B2B teams, the practical win is orchestration. Long briefs, customer insights, competitive notes, and brand standards can live in a single GPT-4 conversation and come back as a coherent proposal or thought-leadership draft. SEO leads pair that with AI-assisted content gap analysis to map intent clusters and prioritize coverage that actually compounds authority. Design moves in parallel: diagrams and supportive visuals are generated inside brand-safe creative tools, so product marketing, sales enablement, and content ops finally run in lockstep.

All of this matters because the stack buys you speed and consistency. Put GPT-4 to work turning research and briefs into coherent long-form; use Firefly or Midjourney to collapse concept-to-creative; and let open-time personalization keep the feed and the inbox telling the same story. Track cycle time per asset, the share of on-brand outputs, non-brand organic movement on your priority clusters, carousel engagement, and email CTR—then double down on what clearly compounds.

For B2C brands, the lift is visual speed. Midjourney’s tighter prompt-following accelerates concepting for ads and social, while Firefly’s rights-clear generation and edit tools keep creative on-brand and legally clean. Carousels that used to require hours of back-and-forth can be spun up in minutes by pairing AI ideation and copy with template-driven design workflows. The story extends into email with dynamic image personalization at open time—product angles, offers, and visuals adapt per recipient based on live data—so the feed and the inbox stay in a single, consistent narrative.

Underneath the workflow changes is adoption at scale. GPT-4 rolled into production use across industries within weeks of launch. Firefly’s early beta saw massive asset creation, a signal that creative teams were ready for brand-safe generation. Platform-native AI—from conversational search experiences to AI-drafted job posts—keeps arriving where marketers already work, which is why adoption keeps climbing: less onboarding friction, more immediate value. The through-line: AI is moving closer to the work—inside the writing, the comping, and the posting—so your time can move back to positioning, creative direction, and channel strategy.

Best Practice Spotlight

Nike-Style Integrated AI Campaigns: GPT-4 Narrative + Brand-Safe Visuals + Real-Time Personalization

A global sports brand can combine GPT-4 for multilingual, context-rich storytelling with Adobe Firefly for on-brief, brand-safe visuals, then personalize everything at open-time through a platform like Movable Ink. Copy and creative iterate quickly, stay on-brand, and adapt to each recipient’s context the moment they engage—without brittle, net-new workflows. Keep a human review loop for voice, claims, and compliance; maintain a lightweight “AI edit spec” so speed never trades off against identity. Benefits include compressed creative cycles, a clearer rights posture while embracing generative imagery, higher engagement through context-relevant experiences across email/social/site, stronger loyalty via participatory content, and faster topic development by feeding SEO gap insights back into campaign themes.

Creative Consulting Concepts

B2B – The AI-Assisted Content Gap Accelerator

Challenge: A growth team needs to fortify topical authority across solution pages and thought leadership without adding headcount.
Execution: Run AI-driven content gap analysis on priority clusters (intent coverage, competitive deltas). Use GPT-4 to produce briefs and long-form outlines mapped to search intent and sales objections. Generate supportive diagrams and charts in Firefly for brand-safe visuals, and align employer-brand language with AI-drafted job posts so tone stays consistent across touchpoints.
Speculative Impact: Coverage depth could increase quickly, with non-brand organic and assisted conversions trending up as clusters harden.
Optimization Tip: Re-crawl quarterly, prune low-ROI topics, and tighten schema so AI-assisted summaries and emerging AI overviews favor your pages.

B2C – The Photoreal Carousel + Dynamic Email Loop

Challenge: A retail brand needs a steady cadence of high-quality carousels and story assets for launches and promos.
Execution: Use Midjourney for photoreal base concepts; refine in Firefly for cleanup, scene tweaks, and product consistency. Have GPT-4 generate caption sets and CTA variants by audience segment; extend the narrative into email with open-time dynamic image personalization so visuals and offers match each recipient’s context.
Speculative Impact: Asset throughput could double, with carousel engagement and email CTR improving as visuals and copy stay tightly aligned.
Optimization Tip: Maintain a prompt/preset library (lighting, palette, framing) so creative feels consistent even as volume scales.

Non-Profit – Donor Personalization Without Extra Headcount

Challenge: A lean communications team needs more stories and visuals to keep supporters engaged between major campaigns.
Execution: Draft supporter spotlights with GPT-4; convert each story into an Instagram/LinkedIn carousel using templates; personalize email imagery at open time with dynamic content tools to match donor segments (recency, cause, geography); reuse logic across web/mobile to avoid duplicate builds.
Speculative Impact: Email engagement could rise meaningfully, with repeat donations and share rates improving as storytelling stays relevant and tailored.
Optimization Tip: Refresh inputs monthly (cause priorities, performance data) so templates evolve with audience behavior.

Close the loop each month by reviewing cycle time, engagement, and non-brand organic movement on your target clusters — ship more of what compounds, cut what doesn’t.

References

OpenAI. (2023, March 14). GPT-4 technical report.

Version 1. (2023, March 14). OpenAI GPT-4 review.

Microsoft Bing Team. (2023, March 14). Confirmed: The new Bing runs on OpenAI’s GPT-4.

Adobe. (2023, March 29). Adobe Firefly beta updates.

Adobe. (2023, May 23). Generative AI as a creative co-pilot in Photoshop (Generative Fill).

Stokes, G. (2023, March 16). Midjourney v5 is out: How to use it.

LinkedIn Talent Solutions. (2023, March 15). LinkedIn tests AI-powered job descriptions.

Wei, Y. (2023, March 15). How LinkedIn is using AI to help write job descriptions.

Social Media Today. (2023). AI-powered carousel automation.

Movable Ink. (n.d.). Studio email personalization.

Khatib, I. (2023, February 17). What is Movable Ink?

Peterson, D. (2023, March 15). Universal data activation for cross-channel personalization.

Search Engine Journal. (2023). Content gap analysis & SEO.

Moz. (2023). AI tools for semantic content gap analysis.

Master of Code. (2023). ChatGPT statistics in companies.

Exploding Topics. (2023). Number of ChatGPT users.

Sixth City Marketing. (2023). AI marketing statistics (2025 compendium with 2023 data).

Statista. (2023). Popularity of generative AI in marketing (U.S.).

Influencer Marketing Hub. (2023). AI marketing benchmark report.

AI, Me, and the Road Ahead: How I Use Artificial Intelligence to Create Content That Works

January 1, 2023 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

If you’ve read my work before, you know I believe technology should serve creativity, not replace it. That’s why in 2023, you’ll see two distinct kinds of content from me—each powered by AI in different ways, but with very different results.

Defining the Two Paths

Artificial intelligence can be an accelerator or an autopilot. When I talk about #AIAssisted, I mean I’m still in the driver’s seat—shaping ideas, fact-checking, editing, and adding that irreplaceable layer of human insight. When I label something as AIGenerated, I’m letting the AI take the lead, producing the content from a simple prompt with minimal intervention. Both have their uses, but only one carries my full creative fingerprint.

Additional Context: The Origins of the Terms

The distinction between AI-assisted and AI-generated content didn’t emerge with ChatGPT’s release. Both terms have been used in research, industry reports, and marketing circles for years.

AI-Assisted Content — This phrase appeared in academic and industry discussions well before 2022, often in contexts like “AI-assisted medical diagnostics” or “AI-assisted writing tools” such as Grammarly and Jasper’s early iterations. By the late 2010s, digital marketing agencies and SEO professionals were already using “AI-assisted” to describe workflows where humans retained creative control but used AI for research, outlines, and optimization.

AI-Generated Content — This term dates back to early experiments in automated journalism and text generation in the 2010s. Newsrooms such as the Associated Press used automated systems to produce financial reports, weather summaries, and sports recaps, labeling them as “machine-generated” or “AI-generated.” In the marketing world, the phrase was in use by at least 2018 to describe content fully produced by natural language generation (NLG) systems like Wordsmith or GPT-2, with minimal or no human editing.

By late 2022, the AI industry — along with journalists, academics, and marketers — was actively debating the quality, trust, and ethical implications of each approach. The public release of ChatGPT intensified that conversation but did not create it.

Why It Matters

The distinction isn’t just technical—it’s about trust, originality, and quality. Research from Nielsen and Spiegel Research has shown that authenticity and credibility drive higher engagement and conversion rates. AI can write fast, but speed doesn’t equal substance. Without human oversight, AI-generated work risks being generic, error-prone, and out of sync with brand voice.

B2B vs. B2C Impact

For B2B, AI-assisted processes protect the nuance needed to address complex challenges, long sales cycles, and specific industry contexts. In B2C, where speed and volume are valuable, AI-generated content can scale basic tasks—but human refinement still ensures emotional resonance and brand consistency.

Factics

Fact: Audiences rate content as more credible when they know a human was actively involved

Tactic: Clearly label content type (#AIAssisted vs. AIGenerated) to build transparency and trust.

Fact: AI-assisted processes can outperform human-only workflows for efficiency without losing quality

Tactic: Use AI for outlining, research, and draft refinement, but keep humans in control of narrative and tone.

Fact: Disclosure policies are becoming common across platforms and publishers.

Tactic: Adopt voluntary disclosure to get ahead of compliance trends and reinforce audience trust.

Platform Playbook

LinkedIn: Publish thought-leadership posts under #AIAssisted to signal human-led insight.

YouTube: Release behind-the-scenes videos showing how AI tools fit into your workflow.

Blog: Pair AIGenerated posts with human commentary sections to provide context and extra value.

Best Practice Spotlight

Nava Public Benefit Corporation’s AI Tool Experimentation — In 2022, Nava integrated AI into public benefits workflows to increase efficiency without losing service quality. By keeping humans in control of review and decision-making, they maintained trust while improving speed—proving that AI works best as an assistant, not a replacement (Nava, 2022).

Hypotheticals Imagined

The AI-Assisted Strategy Deck – You use AI to generate an outline for a client proposal, then add your case studies, data, and narrative. The result: a document that’s faster to produce but uniquely yours.

The AIGenerated Blog Experiment – You feed a topic into AI, publish the output with minimal changes, then compare engagement to an AI-assisted version. Data shows the AI-assisted version drives more shares and longer read times.

Hybrid Workflow – You produce product descriptions using AI, but manually craft the hero copy for the website. This blend saves hours but still delivers a branded experience.

References:

References:
AI‑Generated Content

AI‑Assisted Content / AI Assistance

ChatGPT Media, Press etc.

11. OpenAI. (2022, November 30). Introducing ChatGPT. OpenAI.

12. Lyons, K. (2022, December 1). OpenAI’s new ChatGPT bot: What it is and why it matters. TechCrunch.

13. Reuters. (2022, December 5). ChatGPT crosses 1 million users within a week of launch. Reuters.

14. BBC News. (2022, December 5). ChatGPT: What is it and why is it making waves?. BBC News.

15. Wikipedia contributors. (2022, December). ChatGPT. In Wikipedia.
16. Southern, M. (2022, December 6). The history of ChatGPT (timeline). Search Engine Journal.

Final Thoughts:

A Universal AI Perspective

For me, the use of AI is not limited to when I run prompts through ChatGPT or another named platform. It should be assumed that AI, in some form, touches every part of my work. From research and drafting to editing and formatting, AI tools—whether visible or invisible—are part of the process. Sometimes that means advanced language models helping refine a paragraph, other times it’s background algorithms suggesting the most relevant data sources, or automated systems streamlining workflow management. In short, my entire creative and strategic process is inherently AI-assisted, even when the final product reflects heavy human authorship.

I believe that everything we do is AI-assisted and has been since the first time we asked a computer to output anything after a prompt. The greatest example of this is the evolution of libraries’ card catalogues into searchable online databases and the ease of a simple Google search to find something. Whether we realize it or not, our digital tools—from spellcheck to search engines—are forms of artificial intelligence augmenting our thinking and expanding our reach. Recognizing this reality isn’t just a technical point; it’s a statement about how creativity, strategy, and technology have been inseparable for decades.

Create Your Own E-book For Free

January 13, 2013 by basilpuglisi@aol.com 1 Comment

You can create your own ebook in OpenOffice writer with this free Kindle template and EPUB generator from OpenOffice.org.

Kindle Template and EPUB Generator Review

These days, if you want to self-publish a book, the easiest and least expensive way to do it is to make it an ebook. You can save a standard OpenOffice Writer document as a PDF, but it won’t be properly formatted for digital readers, like Kindle, Sony Reader, or Nook. With a free Kindle template for OpenOffice Writer, and a free EPUB generator, you can make sure your Writer file is the perfect size and format, so any digital reader can view your ebook or document exactly the way it was meant to be viewed. Use the free Kindle template and EPUB generator with OpenOffice Writer to take lecture notes that you can read on the go, publish your own digital magazine, or distribute an informative pamphlet. Anyone with a digital reader or other mobile device will be able to read your document easily, and without a lot of scrolling.

Kindle Template by RanRutenberg

Download this free Kindle template from OpenOffice.org to create an OpenOffice Writer document that will display perfectly on a Kindle screen. Standard Writer documents are designed to print on an A4 letter sized sheet of paper. A4 pages are too large to be properly displayed on a 6 inch wide Kindle screen. This free Kindle template formats any OpenOffice Writer document to print on an A6 sized sheet of paper, and it includes custom margins that make it the exact size of the Kindle’s screen.

EPUB Generator by Przemyslaw Rumik

PDF files can be viewed on a digital reader, but the best way to save a document for Kindle viewing is to save it in a digital reader format. EPUB files can be viewed on a Nook, Sony Reader, and Apple iOS devices like iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. EPUB files can also be converted to the Kindle MOBI format with a free conversion program or web site. With this free EPUB generator for OpenOffice Writer, you can ensure that your document is compatible with any digital reader or mobile device. Simply download the extension from OpenOffice.org, install it, and click “Publish to EPUB” on any Writer document to start the conversion process. You will need to have installed additional XSLT filters. These can be installed by selecting “XML Filter Settings” from the OpenOffice “Tools” menu. If you want to publish an ebook, digital magazine, or save a document for easy viewing on your digital reader or mobile device, you can do it for free with a Kindle template and EPUB generator from OpenOffice.org. ebooks can be viewed by almost anybody, either online, or on a mobile device with an Internet connection. Download the free Kindle template and EPUB generator from OpenOffice.org, and you can easily turn your OpenOffice Writer document into an ebook perfectly formatted for digital readers like Kindle, Sony Reader, and Nook.

Citations:

Jen Heller Meservey is a freelance writer for Downloadhaus who loves discovering new software and being more productive with freeware apps. Downloadhaus.com brings you the latest free, open source apps with no waiting times or download queues. Connect with Jen Heller Meservey on LinkedIn.

Copyrighting Color: How (And Why) To Do It

January 11, 2013 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Marketing studies suggest that over 80% of visual information is related to colour. Seem unlikely? Try and picture the following in your mind: Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Cadbury and O2. Roughly 90% of you just saw specific shades of red, green, purple and blue. Not a phrase, not an advert, just those colours and maybe a vague logo.
It’s only recently companies have begun to appreciate how vital this aspect of brand management is, and to litigate accordingly: in the past few years Cadbury’s have trademarked their particular shade of purple; T-Mobile have sued a blog for using magenta in their logo; and Orange have laid claim not only to the colour but also the word itself.
For designers it’s a nightmare: with an ever-dwindling colour palette, creating that stand-out design becomes increasingly difficult. But there are plus sides. It’s harder than ever for copycat businesses to leech off your brand, and once you hit upon that perfect combination, the law will protect it as ferociously as your tagline.

Who Can Copyright a Colour?

Short answer: anyone. In the UK, trademarking your logo automatically registers those colours to your brand, and yours alone. There are, however, certain restrictions. Obviously, you need to check if anyone else has a claim on this colour first, and hold back all that design-money until you’re sure.
Secondly, your logo will need to pass the functionality test. This prevents companies from trademarking colours with pre-existing psychological or cultural associations. We associate green with nature, life, ‘organic’ products; therefore you will be unable to pursue a claim on green, unless you are working in a field where that association simply wouldn’t apply (e.g.: telecommunications).
Depending on your industry, defining functionality could get complicated. Louboutin spent a ton of money dragging Yves Saint Laurent through the courts last year, in an attempt to protect their red-soled shoe from imitation. While they did manage to get limited trademark, it only applies in very specific circumstances, with one judge ruling that, due to the nature of the fashion industry, all colour was essentially functional.

How to Get Your Colour-Scheme Protected

So you have a distinct colour-scheme for a unique product in your field that passes the functionality test. What’s the next step? According to U.S law, that colour needs to have taken on a ‘secondary meaning’ in the eyes of the public. Simply put: you can’t trademark cyan for your tableware range, unless a good chunk of the population now associate cyan with your cutlery. Therefore, you need to have been making this product range, without the help of copyright law, for some time already.
It’s not just the USA either. Australian law requires a ‘record of colour use’ before a trademark will be considered, with the colour in question being used ‘intensively and extensively’ over a period of time. After all, if you could pre-emptively trademark a colour the system would be wide open to abuse from professional litigants. Make sure the colour is demonstrably yours.

How It Will Apply

First, your trademark will only apply in your industry. While T-Mobile may have sued a blog for using magenta, the blog in question was concerned with mobile phones; AKA telecommunications, AKA T-Mobile’s industry. If I want to open a delivery service tomorrow and spray all my trucks magenta, there’s nothing they can do about it. Colours are defined by industry.
Secondly, you will only be protected worldwide if you apply to be. In the EU this is via a Community Trade Mark. Make no mistake, what you consider ‘your’ colour may already be in use elsewhere in the world, and will cause a severe headache if you end up going global. Just see the difficulty faced by apple bringing their trademarked ‘iTV’ over to the UK (where the name doesn’t carry quite the same connotations).
At the end of the day, copyrighting colour is a minefield any growing business will need to navigate. While it may seem a headache, try and imagine how you’ll feel if a rival company gets there first.

Attached Images:

License: Creative Commons image source
License: Creative Commons image source

Article contributed by Alfie Davenport, who writes for a printing and binding company, PrintExpress.co.uk; who are specialists in booklets, catalogues and business card printing.

Productivity Killers of a Writer

January 4, 2013 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

We writers are a blessed breed as not many other people get to sit around doing nothing all day long. We get to go to the beach whenever we feel like it, go to the pub for lunch and choose to stay there for the rest of the day, or just watch mindless rubbish on TV all day long. For some people, spending the entire time watching Jeremy Kyle and home shopping channels on TV while drinking endless cups of tea is a dream come true and writers get to live that dream, or at least that’s what some people seem to think. The reality, of course, is that watching TV doesn’t pay the rent and we do actually have to get some work done from time to time, although even well-disciplined workers can still find their productivity suffering if they are not careful. However by simply keeping away from some of the biggest productivity killers you will be well on the way to actually getting something done.
Don’t Be a Twit
Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook will destroy your productivity levels if you allow them to. What’s more is that it is not as though you are spending your time doing something constructive because playing bubble blast or reading what your friends have had for breakfast today contributes absolutely nothing towards getting your jobs done. The best way to avoid the output sapping platforms from resulting in you making no money is to not turn them on in the first place. Keep your tabs open only to the web pages that you really do need and once you have finished all of your tasks, you are then free to watch videos of funny animals on Facebook at your leisure.
Just One More Game
Start up the PS3 to finally beat that level on Black Ops and you had might as well say goodbye to the chances of getting a single word written. Once you have started playing, getting separated from the console becomes more difficult than splitting the atom and the concept of time becomes lost in the challenge of hitting the triangle and circle buttons at exactly the right moments. If you are thinking to yourself: “I’ll turn it off after just one game”, then think again. Keep well away from the machine; don’t even look at it and you might stand a chance of getting those blogs written after all.
Checking Up On the News
No you’re not. You’re not checking up on the news at all, you’re just making an excuse to do something other than working and you know it. You only checked 30 minutes ago anyway so what do you suppose has happened within that half an hour that so urgently requires your attention? Besides, even if something tragic has happened why does it require your attention at all? A huge earthquake in some part of the world for example, is a tragedy indeed but how does you reading about it make the slightest bit of difference to anything? You can still read the news later once you have completed your work so just keep focused on completing your tasks and you can give the news all of your attention later.
It can be all too easy to make excuses or to get lost in something else and before you know it, the working day is over and you have managed to do nothing. Remember to keep your discipline, recognise and keep away from those things that are a distraction to you getting things done and you should find that you are productive and soon delivering quality pieces well within deadlines.
Ian Arnison-Phillips is a copywriter for Apple Copywriters. If you are still struggling to find the motivation and discipline to get your guest blogging finished, we have professional writers who are ready and waiting to help you out.

Four Secrets Every Freelance Writer Should Know

May 28, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

Finding the right balance between writing what you want and writing for a living can be a difficult challenge for freelance writers. There may not be a good target market for the style and subject you would prefer to write about, but there is an endless supply of work for social media, technology and business experts, online. Here are four ways you can increase your chances of finding the right balance and earning enough money.
1.     Finding the right publisher
You can choose to write material and seek a publisher to sell your work to, or you can agree to write what a publisher requires. The two sets of work are often miles apart in subject choice unless you are one of the lucky writers who happens to live in an online social networking and SEO world.
However good your own work is, if you cannot find a suitable publisher, you will not be paid for your work. Your research hours may have reduced your pay per hour too far. Also, you need to consider the constant flow of rejections and your underlying stress levels.
If you are given an assignment you must complete on time or preferably, sooner, so you can guarantee payment. Of course, it must meet the brief offered and be suitable work for the personality with the check book.
2.     Finding jobs that pay enough
The jobs are out there and you need to find out how to locate them if you want to earn enough to extend your standard of living, at the very least.
Often the work offered by organizations will be mind-numbingly boring, but there is enough of it to ensure you can pay your bills. There isn’t always sufficient work in the area of your expertise, so you will spend time online researching the subject so you can write as an authority, taking care not to copy work directly from another source.
3.    The competition is fierce
You are not the only writer out there who has found they can work from home to avoid long car chases and the endless office politics that prevented real work at the office.
You are in competition with many countries where English isn’t the first language, but they can write for figures you wouldn’t dream of taking for a job. Just because others will work for the price of an expensive coffee each day, it doesn’t mean you should try to compete. You need to fight with your skills to not only write to the brief, but to ensure you meet all deadlines and are easy to work with.
4.   The editor is not always right
Editors vary in how they wish to see a finished product. If you write for several editors you will need to remember and apply each individual’s choice of style and composition. Otherwise, you run the risk of your work being returned for a re-write.
Even when editors are wrong in their choices, you must still apply to their terms and not fight an editor over your preferred alternative to writing sentences, paragraphs or layout. If they prefer short sentences while you maintain that long sentences make for better English, you will lose out in the long term. You might win the battle, but you won’t win the war which means they won’t offer you further work if you become a nightmare to work with.
Author:
Tim Brookes is the Managing Director of Storage Concepts a UK-based mezzanine floor & suspended ceiling company @storageUK
Sources:

The Two Things Every Piece of Web Content Should Lead With

May 20, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com 3 Comments

When you’re crafting Web content, it can often feel like there are so many factors to consider, so many things to get caught up with, that it’s hard to ever prioritize what really matters most. You think about the style of your writing, specific conversion goals you’re working towards, promotional strategies for helping you to bring more eyes to your content—and yet one of the simplest parts of writing good Web content is often one of the most overlooked: do you know what your Web content should always begin with?
The secret about good Web copy is that it should always begin by stating who should read it and why they should read it. It’s that simple.
Why You Want to Say Who Should Read It
Whatever you’re writing, start by saying whom it’s for—Bloggers? Copywriters? Business owners? Stay-at-home moms? Whatever audience you’re targeting, let them know. Here’s why:

Shows That You Know: Addressing your audience builds credibility. When readers see you’ve put the planning and thought into creating content to meet their needs—and that it does—they begin to trust that you’re a worthy source of information.
Addresses the Right Audience: While of course you want people to be reading your content, the fact is that not everyone will find it helpful or interesting. But by stating your audience upfront, you automatically target those individuals who are most likely to find value in what you’re saying.
Increases Effectiveness: Here’s the biggest reason to state your audience: it makes your content more effective. You’ve got to know your audience in order to reach them, and this is true in any industry, whether construction or travel, transportation or fashion.

Why You Want to Say Why They Should Read It

The very next question in a reader’s mind after knowing Web content is for them is this: what’s in it for me? Here are the benefits of answering that question:

Engages Your Audience: Writing to a specific audience is only half the battle—it’s just as important that you engage with them. And in terms of Web content, when readers know what’s in it for them, they are much more interested and willing to respond.
Communicates Value: Saying why someone should read your content is basically the same thing as sharing the benefits it offers. Maybe your content is going to answer a question or explain a topic thoroughly; maybe it will show how to do something or provide life-enriching stories that touch readers’ hearts. Whatever the case, make the benefits clear to communicate value.
Sets up Expectations You Will Meet: Giving readers a reason to read your content and then delivering on that reason gives them satisfaction, as well as the sense that you are someone who meets expectations. Likewise, it helps them track with you as they’re reading, staying interested throughout your writing.

Tips & Examples for Putting This into Practice

Maybe you’re reading the above tips and wondering what this looks like in actual Web content. Should every webpage start with the same, “This page is for X and you should read it Y”? Not exactly. Here are some tips for putting the two most important parts of content leads into practice.

Address the Reader Early: Begin your post by talking to the audience you’re addressing, kind of like this post does by starting with “when you’re crafting Web content.” As soon as you see that, you know this post is for Web writers and by the end of the first paragraph, you know what it’s going to give them—the two key elements to starting any piece of content.
Use Your Title: Sometimes you might use the title to state your audience and why they should be reading, like Jacqui MacKenzie does in “How to Write Great Web Content If You’re Not a Writer.” In it, she says whom she’s writing to and why they should care all in that initial title phrase: non-writers, to learn how to write great Web content.
Through an Interesting Intro: Some webpages and online articles are most powerful not through a super-direct title but through a more vague or nuanced one, used to build interest and anticipation. In Craig E. Yaris’s post, “The Need to Blog,” for example, the title alone doesn’t give his specific audience or intention away. Will this be about why people should blog? Why they need to blog? What to do about it? He opens with a story that leads into a more clear audience and purpose statement in the fourth paragraph, phrased as a question, “But, where does the average small business owner find that good information to write about?”

What other strategies have you used or can you think of for implementing these two important keys to beginning Web content? Or if these ideas are new to you, how could they impact the effectiveness of your Web writing?
Author:
Shanna Mallon is a writer for Straight North, a leading Chicago SEO firm. She writes for clients in various B2B industries, from broadcasting equipment suppliers to flame resistant apparel. Check out the Straight North blog! @straightnorth
Sources:

How to Write Great Web Content If You’re Not a Writer

The Need to Blog

Ten Tips for Writing the Best Web Content

BlogWorld and New Media Expo 2012 NY [Event]

May 16, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com Leave a Comment

The BlogWorld Social Media Conference and Expo returns to New York again this year from June 5th through 7th as a must-attend social media networking and educational event. They are expecting thousands of attendees from over 50 countries with more than 200 speakers for the event. With a great trade-show planned this may be the only industry-encompassing event that will help bring together those in the content creation and publishing businesses together.

BlogWorld Speakers

There will be many notable speakers attending the BlogWorld Social Media Conference and Expo in 2012.

Greg Cargill – VP of Client Services for Social & Media, Blitz

Greg’s professional career is focused on helping celebrities, brands, and products develop awareness through strategic and internet partnerships. Greg and his team at bigMethod have worked with some of the world’s largest brands such as City of Hope, Harley-Davidson, and Honda. They have successfully brought these organizations to the online social media marketing landscape. bigMethod was recently aquired by Blitz agency.

Greg will host a session called What Makes Big Brands Spend Money on Your Blog. He will share key points such as:

What makes brands decide to spend money on a blog
How much do they spend?

Linus Chou – Product Manager, Google

Product manager for Google Analytics, Linus Chou focuses on social attribution as well as real time analytics products. Before arriving at Google, he was an engineer for display advertising at Amazon.com.

Linus will host a session called Measuring Social Media Using Google Analytics. His key points will be.

Always measure ROI
Understanding how social channels are generating conversions for your business
Learn the difference between upper and lower funnel social channels and what that can mean for your social media marketing campaigns.

Katie Richman – Director of Social Media Strategy , ESPN / espnW

Director of Social Media Strategy for ESPN Digital Media, Katie Richman is part of the startup team that is building ESPN’s women’s sports business. Katie began her career in 2001 with MTV Networks Brand Creative and moved onto Oxygen Media in their startup days as well.

Katie will be hosting a session titled Creation, Curation and Collection: Getting to know Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr with key points focused on providing a good understanding of tastes, metrics and segmentation options as well as information on cutting edge platforms.

Who Should Attend?

Anyone who publishes online can benefit from the knowledge shared at this event. Content creators, publishers, bloggers, podcasters, radio and WebTV broadcasters will benefit from new understanding on topics such as trending strategies, best practices, and trusted techniques to improve content creation and monetization.

Author:

@BasilPuglisi is the Executive Director and Publisher for Digital Brand Marketing Education (dbmei.com). Basil C. Puglisi is also the President of Puglisi Consulting Group, Inc. A Digital Brand Marketing Consultancy that manages professional and personal branding for Fortune 500 CEOs, Hedge Fund Managers and Small Business Owners.

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What a Successful Company Blog Says about Your Business

March 18, 2012 by basilpuglisi@aol.com 7 Comments

We’ve all seen them – the company blog that is buried within the site map, with a single “Welcome” post that is three years old. Or the blog that is littered with bad grammar, typos or business jargon. A bad company blog can give off the impression that you’re lazy, technology-challenged, or you think you’re smarter than your readers. No blog at all is better than a bad blog.
Writing a successful company blog takes time and effort. It’s a way to start, continue and strengthen a meaningful conversation about your business and your brand.
So what does a great company blog say about your business?
You care about your customers.
The blog is your opportunity to reach out to your customers and provide them with in-depth, valuable information that they can’t find on your website. It allows you to connect and engage with them daily – answering questions, providing feedback and responding to comments. This interaction shows your commitment to building a community that benefits your business and your customers.
You know what you’re talking about.
When you write comprehensively about industry-related topics, you can establish your company as a leading authority in your field. Let readers know that they can rely on you for sound advice, useful information and knowledgeable opinions – and they can count on your products and services, as well.
You’re not a dinosaur.
You should be sharing your blog through Twitter and Facebook. Being active through social media channels can help you connect even further with your audience, and lets readers know you’re up-to-date with current trends and always thinking forward.
You’re well-known and respected in the industry.
Networking with other bloggers in your niche can increase blog traffic and in turn, increase leads. Engage other industry thought leaders in the conversation – contributing guest posts for other prominent blogs, for example, can help you expand your blog’s reach even further.
You have the resources to create quality content and designs.
Readers can tell if you’ve created a company blog with no knowledge of Web design or copywriting. A well-designed, well-written blog is crucial to drawing attention to your blog and keeping it there, and demonstrates the ability and talent behind the scenes – whether you have a staff of designers and writers maintaining the site, or you have taken the time to learn these skills yourself.
You’re friendly.
Blogs allow for a more casual, personal tone than your company website. Your blog has a voice – your voice – to give readers a sense of the people behind the business. Don’t fill your posts with industry jargon or make your readers feel inferior; this will only repel readers from your blog and your business. A blog that reads like a friendly chat over coffee, containing stories with which readers can relate, makes your company seem more approachable.
Do you know what your company blog says about your business?
Author:
Jacqui MacKenzie is a writer for Straight North, one of the leading Internet marketing companies in Chicago. She writes for a wide range of clients, from merchant account providers for credit card processing restaurants to manufacturers of electrical gloves. Check out the Straight North blog, or follow @StraightNorth on Twitter.
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