#I love metaphors and small details and sharing experiences and sharing pieces of yourself

[side-of-honey]

I love art

[iwillnotburnmyjournals]

What Are You Doing, Julie??

I made a decision that is vague and formless and without guarantee, and also requires attention, detail, self-awareness, and tirelessness.

I am not working for a month. No day job, no part-time. I am meditating, working through “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, and writing music for a month. This may sound ideal to some, stupid or entitled or not a big deal to others. One of many motivations for this month was that I recently had a conversation with a friend who had decided to switch from being an actor to going back to school for social work and possibly an eventual law degree. When I asked her why the switch, she responded, “When I really sat down with myself, I just knew I didn’t actually want to spend my energy putting in the kind of work it would take to be an actor. But I’ll always be a performer at heart.”

And I thought, “Good lord, have I ever been that honest with myself about what I want to do?”

For me, this month is a small protest against my denial of past years as well as an experiment. For almost a decade, I have gone through a series of begrudging and slow admittances. At first, I pretended that I just couldn’t find the correct job or career path, I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do. (This kept concerned adults off my back for a bit). And so I bought myself some time and meandered in a career-malaise for five years after college, working various and multiple jobs, none of them satisfying whatever I was craving. I had an ex tell me I was never going to find what I was looking for – which is laughable considering no one should ever say that to another person, and also considering that I was years away from saying out loud what I actually was looking for.

I wrote two songs in college. Stopped. Started again in 2016 and wrote most of the songs I have now, maybe 10 “finished” – (are they ever fucking finished?) – songs. Stopped. I didn’t write again for three years, but all the while was reading memoirs of artists and musicians, how-to-creativity books while deeply embarrassed that I needed a how-to at all. In 2019, I admitted that I at least wanted to move to New York City so I could be near music, so I could see live shows, so I could perform if I wanted to. I was inching myself closer to the edge, like a little kid who’s still in swimmies inching her way to dip her toes in the deep end. But I still wasn’t writing.

After having a conversation in April with a fellow musician about Charlie Parker locking himself in his apartment for two years to play music for 16 hours a day and do heroin, I said, “Fuck it. I’m tired of saying I want something and not doing anything to move toward it.” It’s easy to think that if you love something enough, you will magically just find a way to do it. This is not the case for me. It seems that I find every excuse I can not to write. When I told a friend a few years ago how writing for me was often like extracting an arrow lodged in my chest and that I ran away from it as much as possible, his response was, “Well, maybe you just shouldn’t write.” I’ve hated that response ever since he voiced it.

Annie Dillard was the one person who gave me permission to realize and admit that I was cripplingly afraid of writing, and rightly so. Her small masterpiece, The Writing Life, is a mortar and pestle to the ego if you’re stuck in the shadowlands of thinking you want to write when all you really want is attention (large neon blinking arrow to my head.) In representing the frustrating, often fruitless, painstaking process of writing, Annie uses the metaphor of an architect who has a sole worker who refuses to work on the architect’s building design, claiming it is faulty. She writes, “Acknowledge, first, that you cannot do nothing . . . Subject the next part, the part at which the worker balks, to harsh tests. It harbors an unexamined and wrong premise. Something completely necessary is false or fatal. Once you find it, and if you can accept the finding, of course it will mean starting again. This is why many experienced writers urge young men and women to learn a useful trade.” I’ve always hated when artistic types say, “If you can do without this [art], you should try.” It’s always seemed egotistical or pejorative to me. But now I get it. The thought of so much self-accountability, starting and failing and having to be one the one who declares you yourself have failed, terrifies me and seems so pointless.

But I really do have masochist in my bloodstream. Whatever terrifies me, I’m a bloodhound for. So, when I realized I kept saying I wanted to be a singer-songwriter while simultaneously sneaking out the backdoor of my brain and action to get away from just that, I figured I should test myself. At least I’ll know whether I’m a total fraud and attention-grabber, or whether this is what I need to do. Bob Dylan’s words that the world doesn’t need any more songs ring in my ears daily. But I guess that’s a good litmus test if I persist in writing songs while the greatest American songwriter repeats that mantra in my ear.

So, I am dedicating this month to meditation, working through “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, and writing music. I will be giving updates, either written or video recorded, each day. Not for attention or because “this is so original” but because I read a book years ago called Show Your Work by Austin Kleon and one of his pieces of advice was to share your creative processes with others rather than wait to show a perfected result. That and I am so horribly cock-blocked when it comes to expressing what I truly think and feel that I’m forcing myself to put out processes/anything I’m working on where a roving eye could see it if it wanted. Seeing as how I’m pretty obsessed with people’s sketch books and rough drafts, watching people apply makeup on the subway, and existential crises in the midst of trying to get somewhere, I figured keeping some kind of public record was a good idea.

Good lord, here we fucking go.

[greenishbucket]

some assorted check, please! fic recs

not at all exhaustive, of course! but i’ve read a lot of fic in the years since i first came across this comic and probably not given any the amount of love they deserve, so this is just a selection of some

scared to let your guard down by cumulativeChaos (Ford/Lardo, 4.8k)

Ford isn't an art student, but she likes to visit the art building. It's got a nice view of Lake Quad, a nice view of the art pieces, and a nice view of the pretty senior girl who's always working on the fifth floor. 

Comments: I love Ford all the time despite the little canon we have of her, but I just love Ford here; the humour in her narrative voice, her sweetness, and her determination to make college good despite the isolation-in-a-crowd, nothing’s-wrong-but-it’s-not-right-either feeling which is such a staple of starting college imo. And while as a fic it’s more broadly about that freshman year character growth of finding yourself and setting down new roots, the Ford/Lardo grows from this base and is all the better for it! The way their gradual relationship development is weaved through the fic is really satisfying, and all their interactions are so, so sweet.

too complicated for simple labels (but they sure do help) by @pongpalace/jamesiee (aro!March, QPP March & Ransom, 4.5k)

“What’s 'aromantic' mean?” March asks suddenly, stuck on the ending. “So you know how asexuality is the absence of sexual attraction right? Aro is basically the same except it’s the absence of romantic attraction.” “Romantic attraction?” March hasn’t ever heard the two words put together like that. “Uh, the part of you that wants to like um, date someone. Crushes and stuff.”

Comments: I reread this fic soo often. March’s (and her friends’) understanding of her aromanticism unfolding is handled with such care and nuance. The attention to (especially physical) details makes March’s experiences so vivid and the fic really highlights just how much romance is assumed to be central to people’s lives in big and small ways. But alongside there are always hints of change, and willingness to learn and respect, that keep the overall tone hopeful! March’s relationship with Ransom, which is a delight of mutual respect and and finding peaceful reprieve in each other’s company with a side of dorkiness and cuddles, really cements that.

hold me in this wild, wild world by @queerbycrs/darlingargents (Lardo/Camilla, 666 words)

Lardo thought, sometimes, that Camilla was like the sun.

Comments: I’m not sure I’ve ever been so thoroughly affected by a fic under 1k before. It manages to capture the gentleness and constant-lowkey-settled-affection of a slice of established relationship life so well, and the use of art language/metaphor/etc throughout feels really fitting for Lardo.

untitled fic by @nanlicia (Ransom/Nursey, 1k maybe at a glance)

Justin unlocks the door to his apartment at 4.27am, fighting to keep his eyes open just a minute longer - he only has to make it the 12 steps to his bed.

Comments: Sweet enough to cause tooth decay, honestly. I love domesticity in all it’s slightly unappealing realness, the kind where the trying-to-impress period has passed, and here Nursey eating Ransom’s teriyaki and Ransom being too tired to have sex is a great show of that. The dialogue in particular is a delight.

Little Sour Hearts by @omgericzimmermann (Holster/Esther Shapiro, 6.1k)

The girl is wearing a candy stripe apron, and right as Holster walks into the shop, she makes a face like she’s just taken a bite out of a lemon.

“I can go,” Holster offers.

Comments: Woooooow! I love this take on Holster (and his growth!) and the whole construction of Esther who we barely know!! As suggested by the tags, they are both disasters, and it’s both adorable and achey and I could read so many more fics about these two. Plus their families! The section with Holster’s booming dad and Esther’s eyeliner and sharing truffles was just so much. Esther working in a sweet shop and Holster just taking whatever stuff she offers is a really nice opening-closing link, too, and throughout I just really enjoyed their whole dorky thing.

bless this mess and call it a home by pepperfield (Nursey/Dex, 27.4k)

The thing is, being able to talk to houses doesn't actually preclude them from conspiring to ruin your life. Dex finds this out a little too late. First comes the Dib Flip, then Nursey's bed, and the water heater...the Haus definitely has it in for him.

In which Dex has house magic, Haus has Haus magic, and at least one of them is in love with Nursey.

Comments: I feel like this must be a staple of any Nursey/Dex reading? But it deserves a mention here, because I’ve read it so many times and I adore the entire concept of a living Haus and domestic magic. The dialogue between everyone but esp Dex and Nursey is a delight and really enviable in how it feels so organic, plus the classic of Dex thinking it’s just the house’s feelings (oh, hon) stretches out for the most enjoyable length of time.

hand on your heart by @zombiesolace (Chowder/Lardo/Nursey, 6.1k)

Three struggling art students and a whole lotta love.

Comments: Very stressed but passionate and loving art students Chowder, Lardo, and Nursey is everything I didn’t know I needed. The detail of the Art Experience is really immersive and I loved how the three of them all linked up bit by bit. The inclusion of Charmer through text was so nice, too, and I really like how they all just go for it? I love some dragged out mutual pining but this was just so refreshing, and so fun! 

The Takeover by @giraffeter (Bitty/Jack, Shitty/Lardo, SMH friendship, 47k (WIP))

When Eric Bittle started his new job at a local tech startup, he wasn't expecting to find a home.

When pro hockey player Jack Zimmermann agreed to a sponsored Instagram takeover for his favorite nutrition tracking app, he wasn't expecting their social media person to be quite so cute.

When Shitty Knight founded a company, he wasn't expecting being his friends' boss would be this hard.

(AU in which the gang all work together at a tech startup)

Comments: It may be hot off the presses, but this fic has already made its place as one of my most fav Check, Please fics out there!! This is some of the most consistently enjoyable and on point characterisation, dialogue, and journeys of everyone and I actually really like the amount of insight into start up businesses! So so so satisfyingly cohesive, and just a general joy to read! Catch my probs v incoherent comment on the last chapter when it comes to get a more live reaction :D

[stennnn06]

(1) Ok just so you know I am spamming you rn because TLOF is freakin legendary. Thank you so very much for sharing it. It is different, unique, and the characters you've decided to add to the story only made it better, more interesting, intriguing and in sync, and I know for a fact I am never getting over it like... Ever. So yeah, thanks for ruining me.

(2) I just NEED you to know that it touched me here "💙" And it truly shows that you've put your heart into it and I felt this on so many levels during the time I read it. I mean, you've masterly written all these characters in a way that I have never seen before and I mean all of them, how they show their true colors and not just the characters, all the small little details that you perfectly put in every chapter and all the metaphors and...

(3) Everything, everything... I don't know Kristen, there is so much I wanna say and a lot of lines that I wrote down that were unbelievably stunning. I have always believed that every written piece is not just imaginary and I know it takes a lot to put yourself in each character's shoes and to feel, see, and believe everything they go through and adding a little bit of life experience into it. You got invested and got me invested and Kristen... you're just great that way. Sorry this is long..

(4) also that was me... That anon that always calls you sunshine! ❤

WOW i wish my response to this AMAZING comment could be anywhere near as articulate as you put it but PLEASE KNOW this means A LOT to me. i am so flattered that my writing could have such an impact and that it resonated with you in a lot of different ways. i am VERY attached to that piece now that all is said and done, and im just so happy that people are really enjoying it. i tried to be crafty and purposeful with the direction, the emotions, the sentences...so its SOOOO satisfying to know i did a semi decent job conveying all of that. jumping into different characters’ shoes is something i try to practice with these works, especially when i have to pull from outside my own comfort zone or my own personality...so i hope i can only get better at it. anyway this is wonderful, and lovely and you’re wonderful and lovely and thank you AGAIN for being so kind and thoughtful and reading my stuff!!!! <3 <3 

[redsletterday]

-originally posted March 14, 2017-

WALA TAYONG PICTURE TOGETHER - the last picture is getting me O.C. It’s not aligned with the rest of the pictures.

#1 First post here on Tumblr and I have to giver credit where credit is due. You told me you like long letters. 

Jesca,

I’m warning you now: I am completely going to be honest about what I feel. After all, this is why I’m making a Tumblr account - but more on that on another post. This (and almost all of my future posts) will be a double-edged sword. I’ll definitely flatter you genuinely (as ironic as that may sound) but it may as well hurt your esteem. To spoil, it’ll be more of the former as the latter may not even mean to you that much anymore.

Nearly a quarter of a year left ‘til our friendship strikes 1 year young. I’m not the type to take notice of how long friendships last but in the time we’ve shared so far, we’ve filled each other with stories of bits, pieces, and occasionally big chunks of our experiences - mostly life’s shit - on both ends of the spectrum (good and bad). And I would hate to see this wonderful exchange to end. 

A typical Friday ROC play practice comes to an end in Mozu. I sit halfway on the couch by the long table. We weren’t that many; just some of the cast of Aminan sa Telengtan. Troy and a familiar face comes by to join. Troy sits opposite of me and the familiar face sits on my right. I learn her name as Jesca. Not that it was new; I already knew her name. I just was never sure of it. I’ve seen her months before, after all, the university is a small campus. Team Kerrots: a playfest group I was never really close to. Tried my best to fit in by the last few practice sessions with only a few close friends and the rest as either acquaintances or more familiar faces. One rehearsal night, a girl sits on a chair near the board where the cast would usually practice. If my memory serves me right, it was TDR so the cast was naturally warming up outside the TDR room. I knew her to be the Kim Luke’s girl. “Hey, she’s pretty”, I thought, looking at her in her white shirt and light blue jeans. Jesca’s her name, I think.  Jesca’s her name, I’m sure of it now, as Troy introduces me to her. She apparently has a hole in her heart which I thought was a metaphor for Luke breaking up with her. Joke’s on me, Troy meant it literally. What a great way to start knowing someone. No sarcasm intended. Honestly thought that this would be just a passing one-night friendship thing but who knows? I stayed friendly anyway. So I asked her about the breakup, with her permission of course. Got some typical young-relationship-that-ends-up-breaking-fast kind of answers which I didn’t really think would be useful to me until months later.  And months later, we apparently become close buds. Can’t give much detail into it, I actually don’t remember how, we just did (Pa’no nga ba?). I think it was just because I got to reconnect with friends after my breakup with Yela. Then again, I got closer to a lot of people anyway. Little did I know that the reconnection was albeit temporary. The ones I continued to become closer with are ones I did not expect, and that includes you. I’m thankful it included you, dang.

Soon enough, we chatted normally whenever we had to share something. Or nothing - which is really just you saying “ayoko naaaaa” but I still reply to you anyway. We hung out one day back in November (or was it early December?) in Megamall. Wanted to watch a movie but respected your decision to decline as it may have triggered your emotions for Luke. Few weeks later, we got to watch Saving Sally anyway.  What rings my memory the most when thinking about this day was the ice breaker game we played in Pinkberry. You brought out your cards and showed me some silly but fun game. Then you brought another set of cards, this time, flash cards, with questions that technically force you to talk about yourself. It was quite unfair, to be honest, since you already played this with Jan and Amiel, that when we played it, you knew exactly what you wanted to say. Nevertheless, I learned more about you: your brother’s stupidity, Luke’s stupidity, and just other stupidity. I didn’t even think I’d tell you about my secrets but I haven’t regretted doing so anyway. 

Speaking of Luke, I really don’t understand why you just cannot move on from him. Okay, maybe I do, but there’s nothing else we can do. Luke’s not going to move or do anything as much as he says, at least according to people, that he would soon talk to you. Let’s not hope on it and after all, you can always do something for yourself. Everyone’s been trying to help you, but do help yourself too. Don’t let your emotions be judged with what he’s not ever going to do. You know more than that. It’ll take time, I know. I’ll be there along the way, but please don’t let this last too long. Well, anyway, Luke’s the least of your problems for now, so I’ll put the emphasis on this problem aside. 

You’ve got your “situation” to deal with. Mind you, it is not something you have to deal with alone, okay? Surely, it’s hard opening up to people with the fear of just annoying them with your problems. Maybe the repetition of the issue with Luke gets people (in this case, maybe Jan specifically) off with you but Jan still talks to you anyway. If they get annoyed and stop talking to you because of it, then they never really were your friends in the first place. I get annoyed with it too to be frank. I just don’t see it as a reason for me to just leave. I’m here for you, your joys, and your sadness. Never solely for when you have a problem because you are never your problems. Nor will they ever define you. On the contrary, they better you. Only, if you let it. Only, if you let yourself. I believe in you.

Always, Your favorite color, Red

P.S. You’re the only other friend that has seen me cry (aside from my exes, Bianca and Yela). It surprises me that I still let out some tears even when you kept me company. I guess it goes to show that I can really trust you. Oh and by the way, you randomly sending me selfies really reminds me of how Yela used to do it. Not as often as you though. You don’t have to stop; I appreciate it anyway.

P.P.S I love you, Jesca! Not in that way. But not all love has to be romantic anyway. It just has to be true. And mine is true for you. Well, hopefully. It’s a constant  act. 

[kmalexander]

Trip Report – Santa Fe

The decision was made immediately after Kari-Lise and I got our first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine back in May. TRAVEL. Travel was calling. Call it a spontaneous trip or revenge travel, we were hungry for the world. Like everyone else, we’d spent last year social distancing and sticking close to home, doing our part to stop the spread. Now, on our way to being fully inoculated and assured we wouldn’t unknowingly spread the virus to others, we craved a change of scenery—something opposite from the verdant mountains of Western Washington. We plotted our vaccine schedule, figured out the timeline, and booked a trip.

It’s been a decade since we visited Santa Fe, and it’s no surprise the city called to us once again. It’s an easy trip in non-pandemic times and was a place we both wanted to revisit. In May we weren’t sure how everything would play out, but we decided to roll the dice and plan for a trip of a few days exploring the town and the surrounding landscape. It was well worth it. Like any instance of travel, I came away feeling invigorated and creatively inspired. After a year at home, it was good to get away, breathe the thin desert air, and visit a place so unlike my daily experience. As the pandemic recedes in here America, everyone is still feeling out public behavior. But even with the mild awkwardness, the results were a trip comprised of fantastic food, incredible art, and surprising exploration.

The Food

It’s not going to be possible to share this trip without hitting on the copious amounts of delicious food we devoured. New Mexico is the land of the chile, and red and green varieties show up in every menu across the state, no matter what cuisine. When ordering, one is often asked if you want red or green chile—you can also opt for both by ordering your meal “Christmas.” (Yeah, it sounded corny the first time I said it as well. But the place is called Santa Fe. *rimshot*) Neither are particularly spicy despite the many warnings for tourists, but both are complex and flavorful. Trying different combos is worth the effort there’s no wrong choice here. Choose what works for you and enjoy.

Standout meals include the tacos from El Chile Toreado (arguably some of the best tacos I’ve ever had). The Short Rib Birria from Paloma, probably the fanciest dining we experienced on the trip. Solid enchiladas from The Shed (a return visit). And a strange little chile dog from the Taos Ale House; a mess to eat but incredibly delicious.

The Art

The third-largest art market in the United States is an artery running through the heart of Santa Fe along a street known as Canyon Road. (At this point it has spread well beyond Canyon Road, but posterity likes a metaphor.) The narrow lane is lined with over a hundred art galleries and studio spaces full of a variety of art. Everything from contemporary to traditional art, sculpture to jewelry, couture clothing to leather goods is offered somewhere along the route, and it’s easy to lose yourself for half a day or more.

These wind sculptures were quite relaxing.

Much had changed in the decade since our last visit, as one would suspect. Couple that with a receding pandemic and Canyon Road felt like a place awakening from a long slumber. In some spots, masks were optional for the fully vaccinated. Others were still being cautious and requiring masks and social distancing for all guests. We were happy to oblige and spent many hours wandering through the galleries discussing art and finding new favorites.

The standout for me was discovering the work of Grant Hayunga at his own recently opened gallery. His work varies but what stood out were his mixed media pieces that sat somewhere between paintings and relief sculpture. Made of various materials, calcium carbonate, crushed marble, beeswax, Hayunga creates fascinating pieces that explore humanity and our relationship with nature. My favorite from this series is fur trapper a recent piece from this year. He also creates these stunning neo-traditional landscapes, one of which—2016’s Asleep—enthralled both Kari-Lise and me. It’s all beautiful work, easily my favorite of the whole Canyon Road experience. You all need to buy more books from me so I can get one of his pieces.

“fur trapper” 2021, hanging in the Grant Hayunga Gallery

Meow Wolf

Canyon Road wasn’t the only artistic experience of the trip. When we last visited Santa Fe, the art collective known as Meow Wolf was still in its infancy. In the decade since our visit, they have experienced significant growth. Their permanent home in Santa Fe is a former-bowling alley funded by some local guy named George R. R. Martin. It sits near the southwestern edge of the city as is home to their first large-scale interactive art experience House of Eternal Return. It’s amazing. The whole thing plays out like an interactive X-Files episode.

I can write a thousand words on what is inside, but it’ll never do it justice. Even photos don’t really capture the magic. You begin outside a modest home oddly enclosed in a warehouse (the reason why is eventually explained). After you pass through the front door (it’s open), you’ll soon discover a rich story told through journals, newspaper articles, videos, and photo albums, pictures on the wall, toys in the bedroom, and much much more. It all ties the family that resided there and their experiences to the surreal worlds you’ll interact with as you move beyond the House itself. I don’t want to go into too much detail on the experience since the House gives back what you bring, and spoilers remove that sense of wonder. (I even consider not sharing pics.)

I came away feeling inspired by the whole thing and thought it’d be great to someday recreate a corner of Lovat for readers to explore in person. Will it ever happen? I don’t know. My “Old Haunts” project is a small attempt at capturing some of that, and while I love them, being able to do it in person would be so rich and satisfying. Imagine standing outside Russel & Sons with rain dropping down around you, muffled jazz blaring from somewhere above, and the smell of spicy noodles cooking from a push cart down the street. Rad idea, right?

House of Eternal Return isn’t Meow Wolf’s only project. They have another installation that went live this year, and more experiences are planned for the future (Denver and eventually Washington D.C.). We’re already looking at a trip to Las Vegas for one reason: visit Omega Mart. Think cosmic horror as a grocery store chain, and you’d be on track. (Check out some of their ads.) It all sounds as creepy and weird and wonderful as I’d hope. I am excited to explore its aisles in the future.

New Mexico Highlands

On a whim, we decided to leave Santa Fe behind and head out into the country. We did this a decade ago, heading northwest toward Abiquiú and the Ghost Ranch. This time we headed northeast toward Taos. Early-summer storms were sweeping across the land, and you could watch enormous dark clouds trailing tails of rain and shadow for miles. For some reason, I expected more of the high desert environment like what I saw ten years previous. But the land toward the northeast was very different to that of the west, it rose suddenly. As we left the desert behind, we found ourselves in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. I’ve grown up among the Rocky’s most of my life. But driving north along highway 68 and looking across the vast Taos plateau and seeing the gorge carved by the Rio Grande was utterly breathtaking. I’ve seen deep valleys before, but never one carved in such flat and open land and from such a height. I still find myself reflecting on that view. Seeing the ground opened up that way was like staring into the vastness of time.

The Río Grande Gorge from the Taos Overlook, off State Road 68 near the “horseshoe.” Photo from the Taos News.

Instead of continuing East across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, we decided to loop up into the mountains. We found ourselves in Carson National Forest, taking the High Road to Taos scenic byway back to Santa Fe. This is proper mountain country, think tall trees, deep valleys, tiny communities tucked away into hollows, and vast untouched stretches of forest for miles and miles. It all felt closer to home. Beautiful, but not at all what I anticipated.

So Much More

Santa Fe and the surrounding land can be a bit surreal at times. Modern art and interactive art experiences exist alongside deep history. The Palace of the Governors, erected in 1610, is the oldest public building in continuous use in America. Just down the street is the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the United States. Outside of Taos is the Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, originating sometime between 1000–1450 A.D. and not discovered by Europeans until the sixteenth century. And that only scratches the surface of what you can find in this small section of the state. This doesn’t even begin to cover other places in New Mexico we were unable to visit, locations like White Sands, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns, Shiprock, Trinity, the burning of Zozobra, Los Alamos, and so much more. There is a density of wonder here and New Mexico doesn’t hold back and is very much worth your attention.

Advice & Tips

You’re going to want to rent a car, this is big country. That said when in town, be willing to walk. There’s so much to see in Santa Fe, and unexpected places are often found on foot.

Eat everything. Try new dishes. Explore New Mexican cuisine. Fear no chile. Don’t be put off by location. Sometimes the smallest trucks tucked into the quietest corners can have the best tacos.

Scenic byways are your friend in Western States and New Mexico is full of them (High Road to Taos, Turquoise Trail, Santa Fe Trail, among many many others). While slower than major freeways, these routes will give travelers glimpses into a New Mexico easily missed by tourists. The extra time is worth it.

This was my fourth trip into New Mexico, my second to Santa Fe, and easily my favorite of the bunch. Each time I visit, the trips get a little longer, and each time I return I wish I had stayed a few more days. The name “Land of Enchantment” is a fitting one. The terrain there is haunting, rich in history and legend, and it calls to the traveler to take time and explore its wonders.

I’m not going to lie, it’s weird to travel right now, even fully vaccinated. People are rightly nervous, business hours are funky, and what we thought of as “normal” has changed significantly. Traveling at the end of a pandemic requires a lot of patience and copious amounts of kindness and empathy. We’re in a transitional period, and those can be both interesting and weird to navigate. However, it’s still worth it to get away for a time, and allow oneself to experience the world again. It was good to return to New Mexico, and a shame to have waited so long to return. Here’s hoping our next visit comes sooner rather than later.

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[entergamingxp]

DualShockers’ Favorite Games of 2019 — Rachael’s Top 10

December 31, 2019 4:00 PM EST

There were plenty of games of 2019 that I enjoyed immensely, but if I had to pick just 10, here were my favorites of the year.

As 2019 comes to a close, DualShockers and our staff are reflecting on this year’s batch of games and what were their personal highlights within the last year. Unlike the official Game of the Year 2019 awards for DualShockers, there are little-to-no-rules on our individual Top 10 posts. For instance, any game — not just 2019 releases — can be considered.

Here we are again at the end of another great gaming year. Even though we didn’t see as many huge titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man, or God of War as seen in 2018, my year has been packed full of some amazing titles regardless. Thankfully, I didn’t have to solely rely on AAA games to have a great gaming experience, as this year we saw many fantastic indies that included Untitled Goose Game, Outer Wilds, Lost Ember, My Friend Pedro, to name a few. This only goes to prove how far independent studios have come along, and how they have firmly made their mark within the gaming industry.

As a gamer, I’m very open to what I will play – which is probably a good thing in this business. As you’ll tell from my diverse list, I’m not afraid to jump into whatever piques my interest. That may be from the adorable and cutesy, to the dark and twisted underbelly of the video games universe. As much as I love experiencing all areas of gaming, there’s one factor that always calls me home, and that’s immersive storytelling. I don’t think there’s a feeling in the world like sitting back and getting completely lost within a world interwoven in an amazingly captivating narrative. Since the start of time, humans have used storytelling as a way to connect to others, to bring people closer together and how the world is right now, there couldn’t be a more apt time to continue this tradition in the games we play.

As we slide into 2020, I’m excited to uncover what’s in store for me – especially with my most anticipated game mere months away, The Last of Us Part II. But until then, allow me to share with you what has been my Top 10 games of 2019. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy to narrow it down to just 10!

10. Sayonara Wild Hearts

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a beautifully crafted piece of kit. It oozes bags of appeal and a refreshing, upbeat soundtrack that accompanied the game’s style perfectly. Other than its eye-popping visuals, the underlying story of heartbreak made this short, heart-pumping title really stand out.

I played it all in one go from start to finish and since then, I’ve been recommending gamers to give this unique and worthwhile title a try. On a side note: Queen Latifah’s voice is the epitome of ASMR.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Sayonara Wild Hearts.

9. Divinity: Original Sin II

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to play this game when it first released back in 2017 but when I saw that it was releasing on the Nintendo Switch, I knew that I had to play it. Divinity: Original Sin II is acclaimed to be one of the best western-style RPGs ever made, with stellar writing, voice acting, and brilliantly crafted tactical combat, and I couldn’t agree more.

The Switch’s small screen in handheld mode is perfect to get up close and personal with the bucket loads of action and endless, compelling dialogue. Divinity: Original Sin II’s emotion-wrought fantasy world really does make it one of the finest RPG games of recent years.

Check out DualShockers‘ review forDivinity: Original Sin II on Nintendo Switch.

8. Mosaic

Over the past few years, I’ve seen a rise in talking about mental health in video games. I love that we are now more open and free to discuss these issues that affect so many of us, and that developers are willing to take this on and adapt it to their games.

Mosaic offers a painstakingly realistic look under the heavy covers of depression and burnout in the workplace. I applaud that Krillbite Studio made no apologizes as they dove head-on in tackling these difficult subjects in Mosaic. Its cruelly dark and, at times, hard to play because of how authentic the main character plays out his troubles. But this is, in my opinion, when you know you’ve made a great game; when the player feels what you’re portraying.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Mosaic (by me!).

7. Planet Zoo

When it comes to management sims, I tend to get a little overwhelmed with how much you have to do. You almost have to divide yourself into a million pieces to just stay afloat, but thankfully Planet Zoo offered much more manageable gameplay that I thoroughly enjoyed.

With its plentiful tutorials and smart UI, I spent hours taking care of all the zoo’s creatures, and who doesn’t want to care for a baby lion cub? Frontier Developments also tackled important educational and conservation topics throughout, which gave me bags of insight into each species. If you’re looking for a management sim that won’t take hours just to know what you’re supposed to be doing or kill every brain cell due to an overload of tasks, Planet Zoo may be the one for you.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Planet Zoo by me, again.

6. My Friend Pedro

My Friend Pedro made me feel like I was actually really good at games. It made me feel like Neo from The Matrix with its slow-motion gunplay and super crazy stunts that offered one hell of an adrenaline-filled ride.

From barrel riding to swinging off chains to achieve the ultimate stunt-shot, My Friend Pedro provided me hours of entertainment. I was a bad-ass ninja on a skateboard with a talking banana; what’s not to love?

Check out DualShockers’ review for My Friend Pedro.

5. Life is Strange 2

This tale of brotherly love between Sean and Daniel Diaz begins as they try and flee America to start a new life in Mexico, and it hooked me from the get-go. Sure, it was a little slow in the beginning but it soon picked up steam and turned into a goldmine of storytelling.

What I appreciated most about Life is Strange 2 is how deeply it resonated with me in how well it addressed a lot of the current political and social issues we see in America today. Dontnod Entertainment obviously went to great lengths to make the player feel and care about what happened to these brothers, and for that, they have my respect. I’m really looking forward to knowing more about their next game, Tell Me Why – my guess is that it will be another emotionally hard-hitting adventure, and I’m totally here for that.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for the first episode of Life is Strange 2.

4. Concrete Genie

What can I say about this wholesome and charming game? I feel like it would be better to take my heart out and let it tell you, because that’s where I’ve stored everything that has touched me from this beautiful title. Concrete Genie throws you into the shoes of Ash, a young sensitive boy you loves to paint. When his town gets consumed by a dark, negative force coupled with some bullies set to make his life harder, Ash goes on an adventure where he meets the most adorable genies and together, they right so many wrongs.

Just before playing this game, I was going through a rough patch in life, so jumping into this adorably endearing title made that period much more bearable – I honestly couldn’t stop smiling throughout my entire time playing it. If you’re looking for something that will lift your spirits throughout these winter months, consider Concrete Genie. I dare you not to fall in love with Luna.

3. Luigi’s Mansion 3

I sometimes tend to lean towards games that are pretty dark and sinister, but as you can start to tell from this list – I’m trying to change that. In freshening up my game playing habits more, I found myself wanting to give Luigi’s Mansion 3 on the Nintendo Switch a shot and boy, am I thankful that I gave this game a chance.

There’s so much to love in the third installment of the adventure series that lets Mario’s chicken-livered twin Luigi take control. The graphics in Luigi’s Mansion 3 are a kaleidoscope of beauty that pops straight from the beginning, and in my opinion, the best graphics currently on the Nintendo Switch. Coupled with impressive animation, fun levels, and acute attention to detail, this game was an absolute pleasure to play. I honestly have never had so much fun hoovering in all my life – just ask Chrissy Teigen.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Luigi’s Mansion 3.

2. A Plague Tale: Innocence

In case you didn’t know this about me, I love games where I must fight to stay alive, so here I am again getting sucked into a world where I have to go head-to-head with forces that wants me dead – sounds charming doesn’t it? This time I’m running from rats in this deeply somber tale of the evil that scurries in the dark, and it’s not just the rats, FYI.

What I loved most about A Plague Tale is the narrative between the two siblings, Amicia and Hugo de Rune, who are thrown into a dangerous world where all they have are each other to rely on. Amicia, who constantly has to reassure her little brother Hugo, and Hugo constantly asking a barrage of questions is so life-like that you almost forget you’re playing a video game due to how well Asobo Studio cultivated the relationship between them both. A Plague Tale: Innocence will propel you into a broken and terrifying world, but also remind you that beneath the cruelty of its environment, a deeply set unconditional love story between a brother and sister waits to be uncovered.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for A Plague Tale: Innocence by yours truly.

1. Days Gone

From its very first reveal at Sony’s E3 2016 panel, Days Gone had me hook, line and sinker. As I’ve already stated, there’s something immediately appealing to me about apocalyptic survival games, (hello, The Last of Us). Whether it’s a metaphor from my own internal struggles, I’m not sure, but what I do know is that trying to stay alive in a world that wants to swallow you whole captivates me on a whole other level.

Days Gone has a meaningful and varied narrative with just the right amount of pain, hope, and unexpected surprises to keep you glued to your seat the entire ride. Bend Studio crafted something personal and unique to them where they invited players to enter this world with an open heart and a little patience, where only then would your gaming experience really pay off in this stellar title.

The story is rich and meaty with a wide array of diverse characters you meet on your journey around Oregon’s beautiful landscapes, with countless areas you can interact with and explore. I’ve even found myself mindlessly riding my drifter bike for hours from one end of the map to the other, merely to soak in the scenery – the lakes, mountains, and forests are breathtakingly beautiful that I’ve already filled up a lot of space on my PS4 with the games built-in photo mode. Hats off to Bend Studio on this epic adventure; I can’t wait to experience what’s next from the studio.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Days Gone by – yep you’ve guessed it.

Before you leave, I’d like to share some Honorable Mentions that didn’t quite make my top 10:

Untitled Goose Game – What a cute little asshole.

Disco Elysium – I haven’t yet finished this game but so far, I’m finding it really enjoyable with a cracking narrative.

Hearthstone – I finally dove into this online digital collectible card game at the start of 2019 and in my opinion, it’s the best card game out there.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer: this is where I go to release some pent up frustration. There’s nothing quite like finding unique ways to kill strangers online.

Death Stranding – I’m still peeing and pooping my way around this strange world. It may or may not fall into my Top 10 in 2020, but as of right now, it’s unsettling and addictive for reasons that are beyond my comprehension at present.

Check out the rest of the DualShockers staff Top 10 lists and our official Game of the Year Awards:

December 23: DualShockers Game of the Year Awards 2019 December 25: Lou Contaldi, Editor-in-Chief // Logan Moore, Managing Editor December 26: Tomas Franzese, News Editor // Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor  December 27: Mike Long, Community Manager // Scott White, Staff Writer December 28: Chris Compendio, Contributor // Mario Rivera, Video Manager // Kris Cornelisse, Staff Writer December 29: Scott Meaney, Community Director // Allisa James, Senior Staff Writer // Ben Bayliss, Senior Staff Writer December 30: Cameron Hawkins, Staff Writer // David Gill, Senior Staff Writer // Portia Lightfoot, Contributor December 31: Iyane Agossah, Senior Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Senior Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Contributor January 1: Ricky Frech, Senior Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer

December 31, 2019 4:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/dualshockers-favorite-games-of-2019-rachaels-top-10/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dualshockers-favorite-games-of-2019-rachaels-top-10

[hufflly-puffs]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter 12: The Patronus

What follows is a long stretch of time where neither Harry or Ron talk to Hermione, first because of the Firebolt and then Scabbers. And I think we talk about months here. And it is not like I never had fights with my friends about things that weren’t even worth the trouble but I had never been that petty. Sure we might didn’t talk for a week or so, but then it was over, because being in school together and sitting next to each other in every class is going to be real awkward if you no longer talk. Basically I just want Harry and Ron to get over themselves, instead of holding the second longest grudge, only outrun by Snape, the master of all grudges.

So Hermione knew that Lupin was a werewolf since Christmas at least, (probably before when she wrote the werewolf essay for Snape) and kept it a secret the entire time. Why? Was her trust and admiration for Lupin big enough that she didn’t think of the possible danger he could pose? Did she share this information with any of the teachers only to learn they already knew about him? Because I love Lupin, don’t get me wrong, but Hermione, highly logical Hermione, would take her emotions for her teacher aside if she thought he was dangerous. Because Hermione couldn’t have known about the Potion Snape made for Lupin… or maybe she did, as both Harry had mentioned it and Dumbledore again over Christmas dinner. Still, in the Shrieking Shak Hermione said she covered for Lupin and I wonder what that implied.

The Patronus Charm is probably one of the most specific charms there is. Like how often does an average wizard encounter a Dementor and therefore even knows the Charm? How come Lupin knew it? The only other time we see the Charm performed is as a way to communicate, in book 7. Apart from that the Patronus Charm is also the most beautiful charm if you think about it. Born out of a truly happy memory it protects the caster and serves as a guardian. And of course when we look at the Dementors as a metaphor for depression, the Patronus Charm is then a metaphor for a cure (though nothing can actually kill a Dementor). And it is quite telling that said cure is highly advanced magic, that a lot of wizards and witches never mastered to perform, that focussing on a happy memory does sound easy but is indeed the hardest part, as the Dementor takes away all your happy memories and the sense of yourself.

“‘Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.’” – Mine, of course, is a sloth.

Not only does the Boggart looks like a Dementor, it has also the same effect on Harry as a real Dementor. Which makes me wonder, can a Boggart actually hurt a wizard/witch? Or can they only scare their victims?

“What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can’t afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we’ve lost the Quidditch Cup!’” – Harry Potter everyone, setting his priorities straight.

It is interesting to look at the happy memories Harry chooses to conjure a Patronus: riding a broom for the first time, winning the House Cup, learning that he is a wizard. The first two feel strangely impersonal, whereas the third was a life-changing experience. And it reminds me of the Boggarts that most of Harry’s classmates saw, and how they presented childish fears like mummies, because hardly anyone of them had experienced real fear and horror. And Harry somehow is missing that one genuine moment of happiness. And it is not as he doesn’t have happy memories, but it is how he looks at things. He doesn’t think of the friends he found at Hogwarts as a happy memory, but rather about things and events. Later though, in book 5, the thought of Ron and Hermione does help him to conjure a Patronus, and again in book 7. And I think that might also be a reason why this charm is usually taught to much older students, because they have a deeper, more complex understanding of their own psyche, which would help them to cast the spell.

It is also interesting to look how different Lupin and Harry’s relationship was compared to what Sirius and Harry later had. Lupin never tries to be a father figure, he doesn’t treat Harry different than any other student and tries to keep his distance, and he only coincidently lets slip out that he knew James, without telling Harry more about their friendship. Things change a bit once Lupin is no longer Harry’s teacher. But Sirius on the other hand offers Harry to live with him after Harry knew him for about an hour, and Harry, longing for a real family ever since, happily accepts. I think Lupin kept his distance, knowing how complicated things could get with the history he had with James, and that is exactly where Sirius’s relationship with Harry went wrong, but we will talk about this once we get there.

“Terrible though it was to hear his parents’ last moments replayed inside his head, these were the only times Harry had heard their voices since he was a very small child. But he’d never be able to produce a proper Patronus if he half wanted to hear his parents again …” – Harry was only a baby when his parents died, so the memory of it is subconscious at the very least. And yet he remembers it as if he had been a real witness, including every little detail. So the Dementors are able to bring back memories we aren’t even aware of or that our mind made us forget in order to survive, forcing their victims to constantly relive their traumas.

“Harry didn’t have time to fathom the mystery of Hermione’s impossible timetable at the moment;” – Most oblivious character ever.

“‘I’m not buying anything Malfoy thinks is good,’ said Harry flatly.” – I love one (1) overly dramatic teenage boy.

“You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you’ll have no sense of self any more, no memory, no … anything. There’s no chance at all of recovery. You’ll just – exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone for ever … lost.” – Let’s talk about souls for a bit. First of all, the soul and the body are separate things here, and one can exist without the other. The idea of a separation between body and soul is quite common in most religions, and the way a human without a soul is described here fits into most philosophies. Essentially the soul is who you are as a person, and without it yourself stops existing, leaving only a body behind. (Which is actually quite different than how the soul is described in other fictions, such as Supernatural or Buffy, where the soul serves as a moral compass, and people without it become amoral beings.) However the great difference is that most religions believe the soul is immortal and indestructible. But we later learn that wizards are able to destroy their souls and break them apart, through the construction of Horcruxes. And yet creating a Horcrux is different than losing your soul, because Voldemort still had a sense of who he is, and all his soul-pieces shared the same memories, emotions and motivations (the Tom Riddle/Diary-Horcrux knew about Harry, even though Harry existed after its creation). Without a doubt though the Horcruxes made Voldemort more and more less human, and ultimately someone beyond saving.

It is also completely fair to read Harry Potter as a Christian text. While religion itself isn’t really mentioned in the text (apart from Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter), Christian motifs can be found throughout the text, the most evident Harry’s sacrifice in book 7, that results in the protection of the people at Hogwarts in the same way Harry was protected through his mother’s sacrifice, painting Harry as Christ figure.

“Explain why Muggles Need Electricity” – THE INTERNET.

As much as it annoyed me that Harry and Ron didn’t talk to Hermione because of a broom of all things, I appreciate that Harry’s first though after getting back the Firebolt was that they should make up with Hermione, pointing out that she was only trying to help, and was genuinely worried about her workload and the stress she put herself under. I mean the peace lasts only for about 2 minutes before Scabbersgate, but it was nice. (Give it to Peter to ruin friendships even as a rat.)

[plobbiwrites]

For anyone that’s left behind.

Dear Someone,

When I thought about making my blog public to all my friends on Facebook, I made one thing very clear to myself. That this would not be a personal journal nor would it be an online pity party. This would not be where I scrawl down my secrets. This would be about sharing personal experiences with people I know, in the hope that, through my writing and in me, they may find a kindred spirit. It would be about dispelling confusion, and acknowledging things that we often cannot find words to describe. I’ve written about heartbreak and stress. Today, I’m writing about death. I don’t hope to tackle the topic, for I hope I’ll never have enough experience in this to tackle its every in and out. Nor do I hope to give platitudes or aid healing, because if you ever read this when you really need to, you know platitudes are not enough and healing is too lofty a goal for one blog post. I’m not aiming to philosophise either, because I have not reached even a tenuous understand of what death is. All I hope to do is provide companionship, by breaking down, if you will, the immediate moments, days and weeks after someone you love passes on.

Two days from the day I’m writing this, my grandfather will have been gone for one month. So, be warned, things are going to morose up in here. Crying about it and making you tear up over my thaatha is not what I intend, I only want to talk about death and the reality of life after it. However, such a reality is sad, so proceed, only if you want to.

How does it feel, a month later?

The very first thing I can say with absolute clarity is, it feels like yesterday. 30 days seems like chewing-gum. A small brick, innocuous on the surface, but it will stretch if you make it. If you’re thinking, “Ohmygod, enough with the metaphors Pallavi”, I’d say “STFU, metaphors are love, metaphors are life”. But, I’m here to hold your hand and tell you how it feels, either because you’re curious, or you’re going through something similar, or you’re just plain morbid. To put it simply, it does not feel like a month has passed. It feels like it happened yesterday. But when you start to really think about what happened in that month after someone’s death, you’ll start to piece together everything you did over 30 days. Me? I told a couple of friends. I learnt the basics of the British sign language. I made stuffed French toast and brownies. I drew my beloved thaatha. On the fourth day, I went to Ameerpet to get his picture framed. I had what seems like an unending chat conversation with my brother, who couldn’t be with me, because I didn’t want him to feel alone when I’m surrounded by family. I ate 3 and 3/4th puran-polis, I got a throat infection, watched Suicide Squad on TV and wore a kurta that my thaatha gifted to me for the very first time. I order a cheesecake from Guilt Trip on the day of his passing, and since then, I have ordered Dominos once and Wok Republic twice. 12 days with my family, as our mourning customs dictate. That’s 12 baths and 24 coffees and 36 meals, and multiple between-meal nibbles. I find it hard to believe that this has all happened. To explain it to you, imagine waking up one morning, and realising that you’ve done all the things I’ve mentioned over the course of the last day. The surprise and the disbelief and the urge to scramble and rationalise what you’re feeling? I feel all of that when I try to rationalise that it’s been a month since he’s passed on.

TL;DR? Expect to feel disoriented when you realise how long it’s been since your loved one has passed on.

 How did I react?

My mom texted me in the morning, letting me know that my granddad was about to depart to the great beyond in about an hour. Not in as many word, obviously. I hightailed it to the hospital and ran up six flights of stairs, but I was too late. When I asked the throng of relatives and family friends what had happened, my aunt nodded at me. Imagine if you will, being very confused in a high stress situation. Everyone else is in on the secret and you’re scrambling for news. And you get a nod. Justifiably, I whispered/yelled, ‘what does that mean?’. She said, ‘ten twenty-eight am’ and my brain, although begging for specifics, made do with that. I was 9 minutes too late. I will spare you the gory details of seeing my grandfather after, because this is for you, and it isn’t about that. Tears were streaming down my face, and I was choking up when I held his hand. I could not associate my grandfather with what I saw before me. And here’s the thing. Here’s something you’ll acknowledge minutes after you see what’s left behind. Here’s the thing that may be the key to your healing much later. Let’s do a little exercise (way to sound like a pre school teacher huh?). You’re sitting down with your sister for a long overdue conversation. Imagine, if you will, her hair is longer, and red. And she has a smaller nose, and green eyes. Imagine she’s suddenly a boy. But you know she’s still your sister. So yeah, while you have questions about the particulars of her now-changed physical manifestation, ultimately, you can still have that conversation with her, right? She’s still the same person, with the same opinions, experiences, catchphrases and way of saying things. The physical body is something you see but is not necessarily the first thing you think of when you think of someone who’s close to you. To put it brashly, the physical body is a side character; replaceable and inconsequential. When I looked down at my granddad, I realised, my granddad is not this man I see now. My granddad is my memory of him. He is affection and confidence, and hating upma, and he is my memory of him teaching me how to frost cakes and he is haste and he is a kind man clad in all-white. This man in front of me is cold and while some part of me still thinks ‘thaatha’ when I see it, my thaatha is alive because I remember. Tears were streaming down my face and I had choked up. I was crying. But at no point in time did the realisation seem as final as it does in the movies. Again, imagine the brain is a collection of people playing Chinese Whisper. One part, the part that receives visual stimuli, is the guy that starts the game. Thaatha is dead, he whispers to the next guy, and then the next guy and so on and so on. I’m not sure the people in my head have stopped playing that game yet, not all of them know. Because I haven’t had that bone deep sense of realisation. And maybe I never will. Because to do so is to grasp and understand and process death, in all its colossal entirety, and no mortal can do that. No. Mortals spend months crying about new, small things that remind them of this unfathomably large thing happening to them, and the reality of death comes in bits and pieces. I’m convinced that if we tried to understand death in its entirety, our brain would explode like that Nazi woman’s did in Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. You wanna talk about mind fucked? Death is mind fucking.

TL;DR? Dissociating the body from the person is a thing that happens. Don’t fight it. Also, death is life altering, but it comes in bits and pieces, not all at once.

 What are the next few days like?

Slow. And these next few days will be very hard to recall for you. I’d imagine the same aftermath for someone who is drunk or high, when you know you did something but you can’t remember what. I’ve never been either, so I can’t be sure, I suppose. So, I’m going to break these hazy few days down.

Physically, I was exhausted. Imagine your worst day. The very worst. And multiply that by 20. That’s how it was. I didn’t want to move, I wasn’t hungry or thirsty but I still felt hollow. My chest hurt. You could call it heart ache, but scientifically, I don’t think the muscle, Heart, is supposed to ache, otherwise, you’re due for a hospital visit yourself. Nevertheless, there is a bubble of in the middle of your chest. For me it was around my diaphragm. It feels like anxiety, the kind you feel in your stomach before an exam, except a little more solid, and less like butterflies fluttering. The lump in your throat doesn’t go away and the heaviness in your head (like your whole head, not just eye pain and neck pain) keeps that lump loyal company. You may look back on this time and realise, you lost the consciousness of everything under your upper chest.

Mentally, the best way I can describe it is moving through ‘pakam’. You know, the thick syrup that’s made from jaggery? Imagine walking through a tank full of that. The days after someone’s death tend to be dragging and stifling and heavily bear down on you. And it also feels surreal. At the time, you don’t really have an awareness of what’s going on. I was aware enough to place that cheesecake order, but I fell asleep for an hour after that. I was not cognizant enough to make sure my phone was next to me, with its ringer on loud, as anyone who’s just placed a food order is wont to do. It feels like those days when you have a high fever and are really sick. You know what you’re doing, but you can’t rationalise, correlate or be logical, and things seem filtered through.

TL;DR? The days that follow, you may feel dissociated from yourself, going through the motions, and physically, you’re basically a wreck.

 How can I help a friend who’s going through this? Personally, the most inane thing I’ve heard all month and the few days preceding thaatha joining his family up there is, ‘My prayers are with you’. The sentiment is appreciated. I’m glad to know you are with me, by my side, here, when I will need someone to listen and to fall onto when my feet give out under me, as I feel they surely will. But as a person that is losing her thaatha, there are certainly more relevant things I can stand to hear, other than ‘God be with you’ or variants thereof. Unless the person you’re consoling or offering condolences to is extremely religious, which I am decidedly not, the helpful thing to say is something along the lines of ‘I’m here for you if you want to talk, whenever you need me’. To be frank here, even while you’re telling someone this, the most you’ll get out of them is a sad smile. Don’t expect a show of gratitude or an immediate spilling the beans session. Most of my very close friends said this to me. Again, it’s the sentiment that’s appreciated here, but don’t feel bad if we don’t take you up on your offer. And definitely don’t feel guilty about not being able to get through to your friend in her time of need. The biggest reason we don’t respond to your offer is: we are surrounded by family who are also grieving. We feel their grief too, which makes our own feeling of sadness that much more solid, and for the first few hours or days, the grief actually settles around us like a wet blanket. We are physically tired, but also tired of talking about the death itself. So please, do not be disheartened if we do not take you up on your offer. What we really appreciate, though, is talking about the person. Not about their death, but them. It makes us smile and it makes us remember that the person is still alive, albeit not in a physical way. So, if you want to help, help us remember the person we lost.

 Another thing we need a little bit later in the days after, is to talk about anything other than death and the person that died. At this point, we’re surrounded by so many people who are grieving, and quite frankly, we’d give anything to talk about something else. Not because we’re callous, or dismissive, but because that’s just human nature. Unfortunately, surrounded by so much of human nature, we can’t approach our relatives, asking about vacation plans or the latest gossip, because everyone is at a different stage in their grief. So, we’ll call you, and of course, as our friend on the outside, you’ll understand that this huge thing has happened to us, and you will want to offer your condolences. But don’t be surprised if we ask you the latest gossip, or where you are or what’s going on in that TV show that we haven’t watched in a while. In fact, it’s never a bad idea to ask if we want to talk about something else. You’re our scuba diving tube, and you’re helping us take a breath of fresh air.

 TL;DR? The most helpful thing you can do, is ask us about the person that’s passed on, and make us remember the good times. And sometimes, make us remember our life outside of this.

There’s a whole lot I didn’t cover. I think I’m further along on my road than this post would suggest, but like I said, death is stupefying in its magnitude and talking about it extensively makes me weary. I’m sorry if this post isn’t as eloquent as the others, but this is intended to be a hand-held tour of having someone very dear to you die. Maybe you’ll use this as an insight into the mind of a friend who is going through the same, or maybe you are the person going through it, and are looking for clarity or comradeship. In any case, I hope this fulfills whatever you need it to.

Love, Me

[williamgreen533]

Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again

Blank space: Great when it’s a Taylor Swift song (or a nifty 20’s-style cover of same), not awesome when it’s on your editorial calendar. You want to publish with a steady cadence to keep your audience satisfied. But you know that filler won’t do—it’s got to be quality and quantity.

Great content is no accident. It requires careful planning to provide the value and variety your audience craves. At TopRank Marketing, we create content for dozens of clients. That’s a lot of blank space to fill. But when it’s over, we know the high was worth the pain (sorry, now I have Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Hopefully you do, too).

Here’s how to create a content plan that’s designed to excel.

#1: Start with Goals

“There is no content strategy without measurement strategy. Before embarking on a content initiative, irrespective of medium or platform, it’s important to know what you want to achieve.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC

The goal of content marketing is to compel your audience to take action. Without the action, you’re missing the “marketing” half of the equation. So don’t start with what you want your audience to know. Start with what you want them to do.

The desired action could be signing up for your blog, downloading a gated asset, attending a webinar, scheduling a demo, or just sharing your content on social media. Whatever you decide, make sure each piece of content is connected to a measurable result.

#2: Let Your Audience Guide Topic Selection

“The reason we struggle with content marketing is because we haven’t started with ‘Why?’ Customers don’t care about your vanity metrics. Ask them, ‘How can I help?’” Kristina Halvorson, CEO and Founder, Brain Traffic

At TopRank Marketing we have a name for the type of content that gets results: Best Answer Content. The word key word is “answer,” as in “a response to a question.” You’re not starting a conversation about your brand, you’re continuing a conversation about what concerns your audience.

Listen to the questions your audience is asking through search engine queries, emails to your sales department, forums like Quora, and tools like BuzzSumo and Bloomberry.

#3: Hit the Whole Funnel

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing, InsightSquared

Lower-funnel content is designed to lead directly to revenue. So it’s the type of content upper management likes—meaning it’s the type that helps justify your budget. It makes sense that marketers tend to focus on the lower funnel and go light on the upper stages.

The problem with that approach is that most of your traffic and interest is in earlier stages. If you don’t fill the top of the funnel you won’t have anyone left to read your awesome lower-funnel content. It’s important to find a content balance, with a variety of content across all stages of the funnel. The quantity of content in each stage should look like a funnel, too. Think lots of content in the upper stages, less (but more in-depth) content at the bottom.

#4: Change up the Content Type

“Just as anyone would quickly tire of eating from the same food group day after day, your customers and prospects can grow tired of the same type of content again and again.” Jason Miller, Global Content & Social Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing EMEA

I don’t envy the folks at Buzzfeed. They came up with a winning content formula and now they’re stuck with it. Pity the writer who has to come up with yet another “28 Hilarious Things Dogs Did This Passover (You Won’t Believe #24)!” As the world has moved on from clickbait-y listicles, the site has struggled to reinvent itself.

Keep your content fresh, and fill holes in your editorial calendar, by changing up the content type. Save room for those easy-to-write, sharable listicles, sure. But balance them with thought leadership pieces that firmly establish your brand’s point of view. Add how-to articles that are 100% utility. You can even round up useful content from other sources and curate for your audience.

#5: Look for “Turkey Slices”

“I use a Thanksgiving analogy…You cook up this giant bird to serve up on one glorious occasion and then proceed to slice and dice this thing for weeks on end. If you are like most families you are going to be repurposing this bird as leftovers for quite some time, creating everything from sandwiches, to soups, and more. Your content marketing strategy can be thought of in the same way.” Rebecca Lieb

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions*, they have a lovely mixed metaphor to describe their content strategy. It starts with a “Big Rock,” a hefty piece of gated content that includes visuals, influencer interviews, and in-depth discussion on a single topic (like their Sophisticated Marketer’s series).

They use the Big Rock to create “turkey slices,” blog posts that repurpose a small part of the content. Turkey slices help fill in your editorial calendar, and each one can serve to promote the Big Rock. A big enough Big Rock can keep your blog supplied with turkey slices for six months or more. Just don’t ask why the rocks are made of turkey.

#6: Have a Little Fun

“For those of you who think comedy won’t work for your brand, ask yourself: Will it work for your customers?” Tim Washer, Creative Director, Cisco

When you have plenty of thought leadership and useful, practical content, it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. Generally, people like to be entertained and like to laugh. Even decision makers at Fortune 500 companies have been known to appreciate the occasional chuckle. So there’s no excuse for not experimenting with a little comedy, as long as you stay consistent with your brand voice.

Ease into the idea of humorous content with an April Fool’s Day post—it’s the one day even the most staid of institutions can crack wise. If you get a good response, try a funny, light post once a month or so. Still not convinced humor would work for your industry? Look, if financial services marketers can enjoy a silly post, your audience likely will, too.

#7: Sprinkle in Interactive Content

“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.” Scott Brinker, ion interactive Co-Founder & CTO

I’m starting to get really excited at the potential of interactive content. It takes less than an hour to make a quiz that looks professionally designed, can be embedded on your blog, and provides detailed analytics on the back end. You can create a poll or a survey even more quickly.

Your chief competitor for your audience’s attention is not other content—it’s everything else in the world. We’re asking people to stop whatever else they were doing, ignore every other source of distraction, and engage. Interactive content makes it far easier to earn that level of attention.

#8: Leverage Internal Experts

“If you want to cultivate regular contributors to your content, create an editorial committee and invite key producers to join. Staffers will feel a greater sense of ownership and engagement in the content marketing program. They’ll also feel greater responsibility to produce quality content on time.” Michael Tevlin, Freelance Copywriter & Story Expert

“Authenticity” and “transparency” are marketing buzzwords that have almost, but not quite, lost their meaning through repetition. But there’s a reason we keep talking about these two concepts: Consumers want to hear the authentic voices of the people behind your brand. They know the purest expression of your brand’s values comes from your brand’s employees.

Cultivate these voices by asking internal experts across the organization to contribute to your content. As with external influencers (more about them in a moment), start with a small request. For example, if you’re writing a how-to guide, ask someone in a relevant department to contribute a quote or two. Next time, ask for a full interview.

Before you know it, you’ll have a team of regular contributors, filling your calendar with diverse voices across your organization.

#9: Co-Create with Influencers

“The future is not about marketing to influencers; it’s about marketing with them. Treating influencers as an extension of your company, rather than a distribution channel, will result in a more impactful experience for influencers and consumers alike.” Emily Garvey, Group Account Director, SVP

At TopRank Marketing, we have our own unique take on influencer marketing. It’s not about paying Snapchat stars thousands of dollars to pose with a product. Rather, it’s about building relationships with people who are genuinely influential to a relevant audience, and aligned with your brand’s goals and values.

You can start building relationships without even making contact with an influencer. For example, you can create a post that includes already-published quotes from influencers. Like, say, this post. Let your influencers know that you featured their expertise. Then nurture the relationship by helping to promote their content. Eventually, you can start co-creating content with the influencer, building in their contributions from the ground up. As with internal experts, start with an interview and go from there.

#10: Start a Dialog

“Twenty-five percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user generated content and thirty-four percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.” Erik Qualman, Keynote Speaker & CEO, Equalman

Still stuck with a few blank spaces in your calendar? Let your audience fill them in for you. User-generated content helps foster community, builds enthusiasm for your offering, lets customers see real-world examples of what your company can do, and a host of other benefits.

The best way to encourage user-generated content is, simply, to ask for it. Ask for reviews, product photos, customer stories. Run a contest and recognize the best submissions.

Even better, ask your most valued clients if you can feature them—they will very likely jump at the chance. You get a compelling testimonial, they get extra visibility.

Fill in the Blanks

A blank content calendar can be daunting. But don’t fill it in with random acts of content. Start with your goals in mind, then match them with the topics your audience most wants to hear about. Plan for a good variety of content types and formats to keep things fresh, and make sure to fill the top of your funnel as well as engage the lower part.

And if you need help creating great content that inspires action, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve got a long list of satisfied customers. But we’ve got a blank space…and we’ll write your name.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Joshua Nite http://www.toprankblog.com/wp-content/uploads/content-marketing-planning.jpg

[groovyturtlepeach]

Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again

Blank space: Great when it’s a Taylor Swift song (or a nifty 20’s-style cover of same), not awesome when it’s on your editorial calendar. You want to publish with a steady cadence to keep your audience satisfied. But you know that filler won’t do—it’s got to be quality and quantity.

Great content is no accident. It requires careful planning to provide the value and variety your audience craves. At TopRank Marketing, we create content for dozens of clients. That’s a lot of blank space to fill. But when it’s over, we know the high was worth the pain (sorry, now I have Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Hopefully you do, too).

Here’s how to create a content plan that’s designed to excel.

#1: Start with Goals

“There is no content strategy without measurement strategy. Before embarking on a content initiative, irrespective of medium or platform, it’s important to know what you want to achieve.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC

The goal of content marketing is to compel your audience to take action. Without the action, you’re missing the “marketing” half of the equation. So don’t start with what you want your audience to know. Start with what you want them to do.

The desired action could be signing up for your blog, downloading a gated asset, attending a webinar, scheduling a demo, or just sharing your content on social media. Whatever you decide, make sure each piece of content is connected to a measurable result.

#2: Let Your Audience Guide Topic Selection

“The reason we struggle with content marketing is because we haven’t started with ‘Why?’ Customers don’t care about your vanity metrics. Ask them, ‘How can I help?’” Kristina Halvorson, CEO and Founder, Brain Traffic

At TopRank Marketing we have a name for the type of content that gets results: Best Answer Content. The word key word is “answer,” as in “a response to a question.” You’re not starting a conversation about your brand, you’re continuing a conversation about what concerns your audience.

Listen to the questions your audience is asking through search engine queries, emails to your sales department, forums like Quora, and tools like BuzzSumo and Bloomberry.

#3: Hit the Whole Funnel

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing, InsightSquared

Lower-funnel content is designed to lead directly to revenue. So it’s the type of content upper management likes—meaning it’s the type that helps justify your budget. It makes sense that marketers tend to focus on the lower funnel and go light on the upper stages.

The problem with that approach is that most of your traffic and interest is in earlier stages. If you don’t fill the top of the funnel you won’t have anyone left to read your awesome lower-funnel content. It’s important to find a content balance, with a variety of content across all stages of the funnel. The quantity of content in each stage should look like a funnel, too. Think lots of content in the upper stages, less (but more in-depth) content at the bottom.

#4: Change up the Content Type

“Just as anyone would quickly tire of eating from the same food group day after day, your customers and prospects can grow tired of the same type of content again and again.” Jason Miller, Global Content & Social Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing EMEA

I don’t envy the folks at Buzzfeed. They came up with a winning content formula and now they’re stuck with it. Pity the writer who has to come up with yet another “28 Hilarious Things Dogs Did This Passover (You Won’t Believe #24)!” As the world has moved on from clickbait-y listicles, the site has struggled to reinvent itself.

Keep your content fresh, and fill holes in your editorial calendar, by changing up the content type. Save room for those easy-to-write, sharable listicles, sure. But balance them with thought leadership pieces that firmly establish your brand’s point of view. Add how-to articles that are 100% utility. You can even round up useful content from other sources and curate for your audience.

#5: Look for “Turkey Slices”

“I use a Thanksgiving analogy…You cook up this giant bird to serve up on one glorious occasion and then proceed to slice and dice this thing for weeks on end. If you are like most families you are going to be repurposing this bird as leftovers for quite some time, creating everything from sandwiches, to soups, and more. Your content marketing strategy can be thought of in the same way.” Rebecca Lieb

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions*, they have a lovely mixed metaphor to describe their content strategy. It starts with a “Big Rock,” a hefty piece of gated content that includes visuals, influencer interviews, and in-depth discussion on a single topic (like their Sophisticated Marketer’s series).

They use the Big Rock to create “turkey slices,” blog posts that repurpose a small part of the content. Turkey slices help fill in your editorial calendar, and each one can serve to promote the Big Rock. A big enough Big Rock can keep your blog supplied with turkey slices for six months or more. Just don’t ask why the rocks are made of turkey.

#6: Have a Little Fun

“For those of you who think comedy won’t work for your brand, ask yourself: Will it work for your customers?” Tim Washer, Creative Director, Cisco

When you have plenty of thought leadership and useful, practical content, it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. Generally, people like to be entertained and like to laugh. Even decision makers at Fortune 500 companies have been known to appreciate the occasional chuckle. So there’s no excuse for not experimenting with a little comedy, as long as you stay consistent with your brand voice.

Ease into the idea of humorous content with an April Fool’s Day post—it’s the one day even the most staid of institutions can crack wise. If you get a good response, try a funny, light post once a month or so. Still not convinced humor would work for your industry? Look, if financial services marketers can enjoy a silly post, your audience likely will, too.

#7: Sprinkle in Interactive Content

“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.” Scott Brinker, ion interactive Co-Founder & CTO

I’m starting to get really excited at the potential of interactive content. It takes less than an hour to make a quiz that looks professionally designed, can be embedded on your blog, and provides detailed analytics on the back end. You can create a poll or a survey even more quickly.

Your chief competitor for your audience’s attention is not other content—it’s everything else in the world. We’re asking people to stop whatever else they were doing, ignore every other source of distraction, and engage. Interactive content makes it far easier to earn that level of attention.

#8: Leverage Internal Experts

“If you want to cultivate regular contributors to your content, create an editorial committee and invite key producers to join. Staffers will feel a greater sense of ownership and engagement in the content marketing program. They’ll also feel greater responsibility to produce quality content on time.” Michael Tevlin, Freelance Copywriter & Story Expert

“Authenticity” and “transparency” are marketing buzzwords that have almost, but not quite, lost their meaning through repetition. But there’s a reason we keep talking about these two concepts: Consumers want to hear the authentic voices of the people behind your brand. They know the purest expression of your brand’s values comes from your brand’s employees.

Cultivate these voices by asking internal experts across the organization to contribute to your content. As with external influencers (more about them in a moment), start with a small request. For example, if you’re writing a how-to guide, ask someone in a relevant department to contribute a quote or two. Next time, ask for a full interview.

Before you know it, you’ll have a team of regular contributors, filling your calendar with diverse voices across your organization.

#9: Co-Create with Influencers

“The future is not about marketing to influencers; it’s about marketing with them. Treating influencers as an extension of your company, rather than a distribution channel, will result in a more impactful experience for influencers and consumers alike.” Emily Garvey, Group Account Director, SVP

At TopRank Marketing, we have our own unique take on influencer marketing. It’s not about paying Snapchat stars thousands of dollars to pose with a product. Rather, it’s about building relationships with people who are genuinely influential to a relevant audience, and aligned with your brand’s goals and values.

You can start building relationships without even making contact with an influencer. For example, you can create a post that includes already-published quotes from influencers. Like, say, this post. Let your influencers know that you featured their expertise. Then nurture the relationship by helping to promote their content. Eventually, you can start co-creating content with the influencer, building in their contributions from the ground up. As with internal experts, start with an interview and go from there.

#10: Start a Dialog

“Twenty-five percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user generated content and thirty-four percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.” Erik Qualman, Keynote Speaker & CEO, Equalman

Still stuck with a few blank spaces in your calendar? Let your audience fill them in for you. User-generated content helps foster community, builds enthusiasm for your offering, lets customers see real-world examples of what your company can do, and a host of other benefits.

The best way to encourage user-generated content is, simply, to ask for it. Ask for reviews, product photos, customer stories. Run a contest and recognize the best submissions.

Even better, ask your most valued clients if you can feature them—they will very likely jump at the chance. You get a compelling testimonial, they get extra visibility.

Fill in the Blanks

A blank content calendar can be daunting. But don’t fill it in with random acts of content. Start with your goals in mind, then match them with the topics your audience most wants to hear about. Plan for a good variety of content types and formats to keep things fresh, and make sure to fill the top of your funnel as well as engage the lower part.

And if you need help creating great content that inspires action, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve got a long list of satisfied customers. But we’ve got a blank space…and we’ll write your name.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Joshua Nite http://www.toprankblog.com/wp-content/uploads/content-marketing-planning.jpg

[christopheruearle]

Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again

Blank space: Great when it’s a Taylor Swift song (or a nifty 20’s-style cover of same), not awesome when it’s on your editorial calendar. You want to publish with a steady cadence to keep your audience satisfied. But you know that filler won’t do—it’s got to be quality and quantity.

Great content is no accident. It requires careful planning to provide the value and variety your audience craves. At TopRank Marketing, we create content for dozens of clients. That’s a lot of blank space to fill. But when it’s over, we know the high was worth the pain (sorry, now I have Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Hopefully you do, too).

Here’s how to create a content plan that’s designed to excel.

#1: Start with Goals

“There is no content strategy without measurement strategy. Before embarking on a content initiative, irrespective of medium or platform, it’s important to know what you want to achieve.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC

The goal of content marketing is to compel your audience to take action. Without the action, you’re missing the “marketing” half of the equation. So don’t start with what you want your audience to know. Start with what you want them to do.

The desired action could be signing up for your blog, downloading a gated asset, attending a webinar, scheduling a demo, or just sharing your content on social media. Whatever you decide, make sure each piece of content is connected to a measurable result.

#2: Let Your Audience Guide Topic Selection

“The reason we struggle with content marketing is because we haven’t started with ‘Why?’ Customers don’t care about your vanity metrics. Ask them, ‘How can I help?’” Kristina Halvorson, CEO and Founder, Brain Traffic

At TopRank Marketing we have a name for the type of content that gets results: Best Answer Content. The word key word is “answer,” as in “a response to a question.” You’re not starting a conversation about your brand, you’re continuing a conversation about what concerns your audience.

Listen to the questions your audience is asking through search engine queries, emails to your sales department, forums like Quora, and tools like BuzzSumo and Bloomberry.

#3: Hit the Whole Funnel

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing, InsightSquared

Lower-funnel content is designed to lead directly to revenue. So it’s the type of content upper management likes—meaning it’s the type that helps justify your budget. It makes sense that marketers tend to focus on the lower funnel and go light on the upper stages.

The problem with that approach is that most of your traffic and interest is in earlier stages. If you don’t fill the top of the funnel you won’t have anyone left to read your awesome lower-funnel content. It’s important to find a content balance, with a variety of content across all stages of the funnel. The quantity of content in each stage should look like a funnel, too. Think lots of content in the upper stages, less (but more in-depth) content at the bottom.

#4: Change up the Content Type

“Just as anyone would quickly tire of eating from the same food group day after day, your customers and prospects can grow tired of the same type of content again and again.” Jason Miller, Global Content & Social Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing EMEA

I don’t envy the folks at Buzzfeed. They came up with a winning content formula and now they’re stuck with it. Pity the writer who has to come up with yet another “28 Hilarious Things Dogs Did This Passover (You Won’t Believe #24)!” As the world has moved on from clickbait-y listicles, the site has struggled to reinvent itself.

Keep your content fresh, and fill holes in your editorial calendar, by changing up the content type. Save room for those easy-to-write, sharable listicles, sure. But balance them with thought leadership pieces that firmly establish your brand’s point of view. Add how-to articles that are 100% utility. You can even round up useful content from other sources and curate for your audience.

#5: Look for “Turkey Slices”

“I use a Thanksgiving analogy…You cook up this giant bird to serve up on one glorious occasion and then proceed to slice and dice this thing for weeks on end. If you are like most families you are going to be repurposing this bird as leftovers for quite some time, creating everything from sandwiches, to soups, and more. Your content marketing strategy can be thought of in the same way.” Rebecca Lieb

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions*, they have a lovely mixed metaphor to describe their content strategy. It starts with a “Big Rock,” a hefty piece of gated content that includes visuals, influencer interviews, and in-depth discussion on a single topic (like their Sophisticated Marketer’s series).

They use the Big Rock to create “turkey slices,” blog posts that repurpose a small part of the content. Turkey slices help fill in your editorial calendar, and each one can serve to promote the Big Rock. A big enough Big Rock can keep your blog supplied with turkey slices for six months or more. Just don’t ask why the rocks are made of turkey.

#6: Have a Little Fun

“For those of you who think comedy won’t work for your brand, ask yourself: Will it work for your customers?” Tim Washer, Creative Director, Cisco

When you have plenty of thought leadership and useful, practical content, it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. Generally, people like to be entertained and like to laugh. Even decision makers at Fortune 500 companies have been known to appreciate the occasional chuckle. So there’s no excuse for not experimenting with a little comedy, as long as you stay consistent with your brand voice.

Ease into the idea of humorous content with an April Fool’s Day post—it’s the one day even the most staid of institutions can crack wise. If you get a good response, try a funny, light post once a month or so. Still not convinced humor would work for your industry? Look, if financial services marketers can enjoy a silly post, your audience likely will, too.

#7: Sprinkle in Interactive Content

“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.” Scott Brinker, ion interactive Co-Founder & CTO

I’m starting to get really excited at the potential of interactive content. It takes less than an hour to make a quiz that looks professionally designed, can be embedded on your blog, and provides detailed analytics on the back end. You can create a poll or a survey even more quickly.

Your chief competitor for your audience’s attention is not other content—it’s everything else in the world. We’re asking people to stop whatever else they were doing, ignore every other source of distraction, and engage. Interactive content makes it far easier to earn that level of attention.

#8: Leverage Internal Experts

“If you want to cultivate regular contributors to your content, create an editorial committee and invite key producers to join. Staffers will feel a greater sense of ownership and engagement in the content marketing program. They’ll also feel greater responsibility to produce quality content on time.” Michael Tevlin, Freelance Copywriter & Story Expert

“Authenticity” and “transparency” are marketing buzzwords that have almost, but not quite, lost their meaning through repetition. But there’s a reason we keep talking about these two concepts: Consumers want to hear the authentic voices of the people behind your brand. They know the purest expression of your brand’s values comes from your brand’s employees.

Cultivate these voices by asking internal experts across the organization to contribute to your content. As with external influencers (more about them in a moment), start with a small request. For example, if you’re writing a how-to guide, ask someone in a relevant department to contribute a quote or two. Next time, ask for a full interview.

Before you know it, you’ll have a team of regular contributors, filling your calendar with diverse voices across your organization.

#9: Co-Create with Influencers

“The future is not about marketing to influencers; it’s about marketing with them. Treating influencers as an extension of your company, rather than a distribution channel, will result in a more impactful experience for influencers and consumers alike.” Emily Garvey, Group Account Director, SVP

At TopRank Marketing, we have our own unique take on influencer marketing. It’s not about paying Snapchat stars thousands of dollars to pose with a product. Rather, it’s about building relationships with people who are genuinely influential to a relevant audience, and aligned with your brand’s goals and values.

You can start building relationships without even making contact with an influencer. For example, you can create a post that includes already-published quotes from influencers. Like, say, this post. Let your influencers know that you featured their expertise. Then nurture the relationship by helping to promote their content. Eventually, you can start co-creating content with the influencer, building in their contributions from the ground up. As with internal experts, start with an interview and go from there.

#10: Start a Dialog

“Twenty-five percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user generated content and thirty-four percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.” Erik Qualman, Keynote Speaker & CEO, Equalman

Still stuck with a few blank spaces in your calendar? Let your audience fill them in for you. User-generated content helps foster community, builds enthusiasm for your offering, lets customers see real-world examples of what your company can do, and a host of other benefits.

The best way to encourage user-generated content is, simply, to ask for it. Ask for reviews, product photos, customer stories. Run a contest and recognize the best submissions.

Even better, ask your most valued clients if you can feature them—they will very likely jump at the chance. You get a compelling testimonial, they get extra visibility.

Fill in the Blanks

A blank content calendar can be daunting. But don’t fill it in with random acts of content. Start with your goals in mind, then match them with the topics your audience most wants to hear about. Plan for a good variety of content types and formats to keep things fresh, and make sure to fill the top of your funnel as well as engage the lower part.

And if you need help creating great content that inspires action, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve got a long list of satisfied customers. But we’ve got a blank space…and we’ll write your name.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

[prospectivepress]

Author + Artist = Interview...

Author Shervin Kiani sat down, metaphorically at least, with Award-winning artist Peter Hollinghurst for a chat about art, books, games, and life...

SK:  Hi Peter. We worked briefly together at Immanion Press, where you made that strikingly beautiful cover art for my first book. I began writing at an early age, around eight, but I didn’t consciously accept the ambition to become a writer until I was older. Were you an ambitious kid yourself, doodling in the margins of your notebooks? When did you decide to become a professional artist?

PH:  It was something I flirted with in my teens. I was always drawing as a child and I did my first piece of commissioned art at the age of fifteen (it was a painting of a racehorse). Later the person I sold it to was offered a fairly hefty sum to sell the painting. This made me realise people could be really interested in my artwork, but it was not until my twenties that I started to do more commissioned work. At that point I did a mix of paintings and design work and was lucky enough to get some work creating a logo for bassist Herbie Flowers (for his band Cloud Nine). Herbie had played bass for David Bowie, T-Rex, and Sky, amongst others, so I was pleasantly surprised to have got the commission.

It was then that I think I realised I could make a serious go of it professionally, but I still had not really found myself as an artist. It was discovering Photoshop that helped me to do that and to evolve the style of digital art that I do now.

SK:  Your work has a palpably haunting quality, and that gorgeous style keeps the eye lingering, taking in all the detail. Here I’m thinking of “The Lonely Dive,” “The Key,” “The Killer,” to name but a few. On your site you mention Sir Francis Galton and the digital technique that inspired you. How did you come to use this technique as your primary medium?

PH:  I had been cutting things up and repositioning them since childhood when I used to cutoff their arms, legs, and heads of my toy soldiers and then glue them back in different positions and combinations. It seems to be something that comes naturally to me. That led to me using montage techniques as an aid to composition in my oil paintings for some time—doing sketches and then cutting them and mixing them together, moving them around on the canvas till I got a result I liked.


Photoshop gave me an opportunity to explore new ways of doing that, but I was frustrated with the results. Reading about Francis Galton’s experiments with composite photographs (He was trying to create mug shots of the archetypal criminal) I was intrigued by the way he achieved a sort of average of several photographs by superimposing them and realized you could do the same sort of thing in Photoshop by simply changing the opacity of the layers. I did some ‘Alice in Wonderland’ illustrations using the techniques, taking small parts of images, often just textures and colours, overlaying them and blending them that way, and found it created a really haunting effect. Over time I learned to get a very precise control of the blending of layers so I can get exactly the sort of look I am after while still having an exciting aspect of chance combinations and effects that can inspire me as I work on an image.

SK:  As a creative individual there are a few questions that make me cringe, like that tired-old “Where do your ideas come from?” and “What books influenced you?”  Possibly because the answer for the former is “Everywhere” and the latter is simply unanswerable because I can’t distill all the great works and authors into a succinct answer. Nor would I want to prejudice the reader into thinking I’m borrowing from this or that style; I want the work to stand on its own, in my own style. So I won’t ask you either of those questions, but I will ask if you are inspired by things outside your field of art? For instance, do you listen to music while you work? I know Dave McKean said he’d listen to an album for which he was doing the artwork.

PH:  There are a few things I can point to as definite influences. Dada, Surrealism, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the artwork of Jim Burns all had a big influence on me. I love Dave McKean’s work as well. A bit of an odd mix perhaps but also a dynamic one.

Outside of art, Galton’s photographic experiments and—of all things—systems theory and fractals are a big inspiration. I rely on the way natural forms have a fractal aspect to them because it allows me to play with scale when I am blending textures. Music has always been a major influence for the mood as well, which carries into the art I am creating. I usually do listen to music when I create art but it is also not just mood that influences me with music; the creative approaches of musicians like Bowie and Eno have also been a great inspiration. It is an eclectic mix, I move around between various types of music depending on the image. If I am doing an illustration I also like to read the book I am illustrating as well if I can.

SK:  I know you’re currently working on a tarot-based RPG (role playing game)—Fortune’s Wheel—and what little I’ve seen of it has made me restless for its completion. What inspired this shift from illustrative work to such a wider, more challenging project?

PH:  Fortune’s Wheel is something I have been working on for around fifteen years but it is really the result of some thirty-eight years of playing RPGs. I started playing them when Dungeons and Dragons first became available in the UK. I actually created my first RPG for an art and design exam when I was eighteen. My teachers thought I would either get an A grade or fail and fortunately I got the A grade! I have been making my own games and game settings ever since, but Fortune’s Wheel is the first game I have felt is ready to be shared and published. It just felt like the right game at the right time.

While it is an opportunity for me to create art for my own project it is also one to work creatively with my wife, Suzette McGrath, who is an artist and designer as well and is contributing some of her own artwork and doing the layout for the books.

SK:  With both our separate lifestyles we have little time for leisure, but I still find some time to get out, hunt for books, or have a sushi meal. How do you relax and get your mind off work for a time?

PH:  At the moment most of my time when I am not doing my day job is being focused on getting Fortune’s Wheel into print. When I do take a break from being creative it is usually to find inspiration in the creative work of others and the energy they have to bring it to us. Sometimes the harsh reality of those creative energies is that they are restless, always on the move, always taking things in so there is something to give. Every now and again I do take a holiday though. My wife and I pick a magical city to visit and we breathe that in for a while – just being somewhere fresh, interesting and alive rejuvenates us.

SK:  Peter, it’s been a pleasure, thank you.

PH:  Thank you, Shervin. It was a pleasure creating the cover for Indigo Eyes with you as it was truly collaborative piece having your sketch to work from. I am looking forward to seeing what you have been writing!

Peter Hollinghurst is a freelance digital artist and illustrator living in the UK. In 2008 he won 1st Place in the Dulwich Picture Gallery “Age of Enchantment” fairytale illustration competition. His thoughts and art can be viewed on his site: www.hollinghurst.org.uk.

Shervin Kiani has been called a “Bewitching new voice for literary fantasy” by author Storm Constantine. He was recently published in the anthology Off the Beaten Path 2 from Prospective Press, which also published his second novel, Sati and Doghu, an all-ages adventure fantasy. His biography and work can be found at www.shervinkiani.com.

[williamgreen533]

Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again

Blank space: Great when it’s a Taylor Swift song (or a nifty 20’s-style cover of same), not awesome when it’s on your editorial calendar. You want to publish with a steady cadence to keep your audience satisfied. But you know that filler won’t do—it’s got to be quality and quantity.

Great content is no accident. It requires careful planning to provide the value and variety your audience craves. At TopRank Marketing, we create content for dozens of clients. That’s a lot of blank space to fill. But when it’s over, we know the high was worth the pain (sorry, now I have Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Hopefully you do, too).

Here’s how to create a content plan that’s designed to excel.

#1: Start with Goals

“There is no content strategy without measurement strategy. Before embarking on a content initiative, irrespective of medium or platform, it’s important to know what you want to achieve.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC

The goal of content marketing is to compel your audience to take action. Without the action, you’re missing the “marketing” half of the equation. So don’t start with what you want your audience to know. Start with what you want them to do.

The desired action could be signing up for your blog, downloading a gated asset, attending a webinar, scheduling a demo, or just sharing your content on social media. Whatever you decide, make sure each piece of content is connected to a measurable result.

#2: Let Your Audience Guide Topic Selection

“The reason we struggle with content marketing is because we haven’t started with ‘Why?’ Customers don’t care about your vanity metrics. Ask them, ‘How can I help?’” Kristina Halvorson, CEO and Founder, Brain Traffic

At TopRank Marketing we have a name for the type of content that gets results: Best Answer Content. The word key word is “answer,” as in “a response to a question.” You’re not starting a conversation about your brand, you’re continuing a conversation about what concerns your audience.

Listen to the questions your audience is asking through search engine queries, emails to your sales department, forums like Quora, and tools like BuzzSumo and Bloomberry.

#3: Hit the Whole Funnel

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing, InsightSquared

Lower-funnel content is designed to lead directly to revenue. So it’s the type of content upper management likes—meaning it’s the type that helps justify your budget. It makes sense that marketers tend to focus on the lower funnel and go light on the upper stages.

The problem with that approach is that most of your traffic and interest is in earlier stages. If you don’t fill the top of the funnel you won’t have anyone left to read your awesome lower-funnel content. It’s important to find a content balance, with a variety of content across all stages of the funnel. The quantity of content in each stage should look like a funnel, too. Think lots of content in the upper stages, less (but more in-depth) content at the bottom.

#4: Change up the Content Type

“Just as anyone would quickly tire of eating from the same food group day after day, your customers and prospects can grow tired of the same type of content again and again.” Jason Miller, Global Content & Social Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing EMEA

I don’t envy the folks at Buzzfeed. They came up with a winning content formula and now they’re stuck with it. Pity the writer who has to come up with yet another “28 Hilarious Things Dogs Did This Passover (You Won’t Believe #24)!” As the world has moved on from clickbait-y listicles, the site has struggled to reinvent itself.

Keep your content fresh, and fill holes in your editorial calendar, by changing up the content type. Save room for those easy-to-write, sharable listicles, sure. But balance them with thought leadership pieces that firmly establish your brand’s point of view. Add how-to articles that are 100% utility. You can even round up useful content from other sources and curate for your audience.

#5: Look for “Turkey Slices”

“I use a Thanksgiving analogy…You cook up this giant bird to serve up on one glorious occasion and then proceed to slice and dice this thing for weeks on end. If you are like most families you are going to be repurposing this bird as leftovers for quite some time, creating everything from sandwiches, to soups, and more. Your content marketing strategy can be thought of in the same way.” Rebecca Lieb

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions*, they have a lovely mixed metaphor to describe their content strategy. It starts with a “Big Rock,” a hefty piece of gated content that includes visuals, influencer interviews, and in-depth discussion on a single topic (like their Sophisticated Marketer’s series).

They use the Big Rock to create “turkey slices,” blog posts that repurpose a small part of the content. Turkey slices help fill in your editorial calendar, and each one can serve to promote the Big Rock. A big enough Big Rock can keep your blog supplied with turkey slices for six months or more. Just don’t ask why the rocks are made of turkey.

#6: Have a Little Fun

“For those of you who think comedy won’t work for your brand, ask yourself: Will it work for your customers?” Tim Washer, Creative Director, Cisco

When you have plenty of thought leadership and useful, practical content, it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. Generally, people like to be entertained and like to laugh. Even decision makers at Fortune 500 companies have been known to appreciate the occasional chuckle. So there’s no excuse for not experimenting with a little comedy, as long as you stay consistent with your brand voice.

Ease into the idea of humorous content with an April Fool’s Day post—it’s the one day even the most staid of institutions can crack wise. If you get a good response, try a funny, light post once a month or so. Still not convinced humor would work for your industry? Look, if financial services marketers can enjoy a silly post, your audience likely will, too.

#7: Sprinkle in Interactive Content

“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.” Scott Brinker, ion interactive Co-Founder & CTO

I’m starting to get really excited at the potential of interactive content. It takes less than an hour to make a quiz that looks professionally designed, can be embedded on your blog, and provides detailed analytics on the back end. You can create a poll or a survey even more quickly.

Your chief competitor for your audience’s attention is not other content—it’s everything else in the world. We’re asking people to stop whatever else they were doing, ignore every other source of distraction, and engage. Interactive content makes it far easier to earn that level of attention.

#8: Leverage Internal Experts

“If you want to cultivate regular contributors to your content, create an editorial committee and invite key producers to join. Staffers will feel a greater sense of ownership and engagement in the content marketing program. They’ll also feel greater responsibility to produce quality content on time.” Michael Tevlin, Freelance Copywriter & Story Expert

“Authenticity” and “transparency” are marketing buzzwords that have almost, but not quite, lost their meaning through repetition. But there’s a reason we keep talking about these two concepts: Consumers want to hear the authentic voices of the people behind your brand. They know the purest expression of your brand’s values comes from your brand’s employees.

Cultivate these voices by asking internal experts across the organization to contribute to your content. As with external influencers (more about them in a moment), start with a small request. For example, if you’re writing a how-to guide, ask someone in a relevant department to contribute a quote or two. Next time, ask for a full interview.

Before you know it, you’ll have a team of regular contributors, filling your calendar with diverse voices across your organization.

#9: Co-Create with Influencers

“The future is not about marketing to influencers; it’s about marketing with them. Treating influencers as an extension of your company, rather than a distribution channel, will result in a more impactful experience for influencers and consumers alike.” Emily Garvey, Group Account Director, SVP

At TopRank Marketing, we have our own unique take on influencer marketing. It’s not about paying Snapchat stars thousands of dollars to pose with a product. Rather, it’s about building relationships with people who are genuinely influential to a relevant audience, and aligned with your brand’s goals and values.

You can start building relationships without even making contact with an influencer. For example, you can create a post that includes already-published quotes from influencers. Like, say, this post. Let your influencers know that you featured their expertise. Then nurture the relationship by helping to promote their content. Eventually, you can start co-creating content with the influencer, building in their contributions from the ground up. As with internal experts, start with an interview and go from there.

#10: Start a Dialog

“Twenty-five percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user generated content and thirty-four percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.” Erik Qualman, Keynote Speaker & CEO, Equalman

Still stuck with a few blank spaces in your calendar? Let your audience fill them in for you. User-generated content helps foster community, builds enthusiasm for your offering, lets customers see real-world examples of what your company can do, and a host of other benefits.

The best way to encourage user-generated content is, simply, to ask for it. Ask for reviews, product photos, customer stories. Run a contest and recognize the best submissions.

Even better, ask your most valued clients if you can feature them—they will very likely jump at the chance. You get a compelling testimonial, they get extra visibility.

Fill in the Blanks

A blank content calendar can be daunting. But don’t fill it in with random acts of content. Start with your goals in mind, then match them with the topics your audience most wants to hear about. Plan for a good variety of content types and formats to keep things fresh, and make sure to fill the top of your funnel as well as engage the lower part.

And if you need help creating great content that inspires action, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve got a long list of satisfied customers. But we’ve got a blank space…and we’ll write your name.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Joshua Nite http://www.toprankblog.com/wp-content/uploads/content-marketing-planning.jpg

[williamgreen533]

Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again

Blank space: Great when it’s a Taylor Swift song (or a nifty 20’s-style cover of same), not awesome when it’s on your editorial calendar. You want to publish with a steady cadence to keep your audience satisfied. But you know that filler won’t do—it’s got to be quality and quantity.

Great content is no accident. It requires careful planning to provide the value and variety your audience craves. At TopRank Marketing, we create content for dozens of clients. That’s a lot of blank space to fill. But when it’s over, we know the high was worth the pain (sorry, now I have Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Hopefully you do, too).

Here’s how to create a content plan that’s designed to excel.

#1: Start with Goals

“There is no content strategy without measurement strategy. Before embarking on a content initiative, irrespective of medium or platform, it’s important to know what you want to achieve.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC

The goal of content marketing is to compel your audience to take action. Without the action, you’re missing the “marketing” half of the equation. So don’t start with what you want your audience to know. Start with what you want them to do.

The desired action could be signing up for your blog, downloading a gated asset, attending a webinar, scheduling a demo, or just sharing your content on social media. Whatever you decide, make sure each piece of content is connected to a measurable result.

#2: Let Your Audience Guide Topic Selection

“The reason we struggle with content marketing is because we haven’t started with ‘Why?’ Customers don’t care about your vanity metrics. Ask them, ‘How can I help?’” Kristina Halvorson, CEO and Founder, Brain Traffic

At TopRank Marketing we have a name for the type of content that gets results: Best Answer Content. The word key word is “answer,” as in “a response to a question.” You’re not starting a conversation about your brand, you’re continuing a conversation about what concerns your audience.

Listen to the questions your audience is asking through search engine queries, emails to your sales department, forums like Quora, and tools like BuzzSumo and Bloomberry.

#3: Hit the Whole Funnel

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing, InsightSquared

Lower-funnel content is designed to lead directly to revenue. So it’s the type of content upper management likes—meaning it’s the type that helps justify your budget. It makes sense that marketers tend to focus on the lower funnel and go light on the upper stages.

The problem with that approach is that most of your traffic and interest is in earlier stages. If you don’t fill the top of the funnel you won’t have anyone left to read your awesome lower-funnel content. It’s important to find a content balance, with a variety of content across all stages of the funnel. The quantity of content in each stage should look like a funnel, too. Think lots of content in the upper stages, less (but more in-depth) content at the bottom.

#4: Change up the Content Type

“Just as anyone would quickly tire of eating from the same food group day after day, your customers and prospects can grow tired of the same type of content again and again.” Jason Miller, Global Content & Social Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing EMEA

I don’t envy the folks at Buzzfeed. They came up with a winning content formula and now they’re stuck with it. Pity the writer who has to come up with yet another “28 Hilarious Things Dogs Did This Passover (You Won’t Believe #24)!” As the world has moved on from clickbait-y listicles, the site has struggled to reinvent itself.

Keep your content fresh, and fill holes in your editorial calendar, by changing up the content type. Save room for those easy-to-write, sharable listicles, sure. But balance them with thought leadership pieces that firmly establish your brand’s point of view. Add how-to articles that are 100% utility. You can even round up useful content from other sources and curate for your audience.

#5: Look for “Turkey Slices”

“I use a Thanksgiving analogy…You cook up this giant bird to serve up on one glorious occasion and then proceed to slice and dice this thing for weeks on end. If you are like most families you are going to be repurposing this bird as leftovers for quite some time, creating everything from sandwiches, to soups, and more. Your content marketing strategy can be thought of in the same way.” Rebecca Lieb

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions*, they have a lovely mixed metaphor to describe their content strategy. It starts with a “Big Rock,” a hefty piece of gated content that includes visuals, influencer interviews, and in-depth discussion on a single topic (like their Sophisticated Marketer’s series).

They use the Big Rock to create “turkey slices,” blog posts that repurpose a small part of the content. Turkey slices help fill in your editorial calendar, and each one can serve to promote the Big Rock. A big enough Big Rock can keep your blog supplied with turkey slices for six months or more. Just don’t ask why the rocks are made of turkey.

#6: Have a Little Fun

“For those of you who think comedy won’t work for your brand, ask yourself: Will it work for your customers?” Tim Washer, Creative Director, Cisco

When you have plenty of thought leadership and useful, practical content, it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. Generally, people like to be entertained and like to laugh. Even decision makers at Fortune 500 companies have been known to appreciate the occasional chuckle. So there’s no excuse for not experimenting with a little comedy, as long as you stay consistent with your brand voice.

Ease into the idea of humorous content with an April Fool’s Day post—it’s the one day even the most staid of institutions can crack wise. If you get a good response, try a funny, light post once a month or so. Still not convinced humor would work for your industry? Look, if financial services marketers can enjoy a silly post, your audience likely will, too.

#7: Sprinkle in Interactive Content

“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.” Scott Brinker, ion interactive Co-Founder & CTO

I’m starting to get really excited at the potential of interactive content. It takes less than an hour to make a quiz that looks professionally designed, can be embedded on your blog, and provides detailed analytics on the back end. You can create a poll or a survey even more quickly.

Your chief competitor for your audience’s attention is not other content—it’s everything else in the world. We’re asking people to stop whatever else they were doing, ignore every other source of distraction, and engage. Interactive content makes it far easier to earn that level of attention.

#8: Leverage Internal Experts

“If you want to cultivate regular contributors to your content, create an editorial committee and invite key producers to join. Staffers will feel a greater sense of ownership and engagement in the content marketing program. They’ll also feel greater responsibility to produce quality content on time.” Michael Tevlin, Freelance Copywriter & Story Expert

“Authenticity” and “transparency” are marketing buzzwords that have almost, but not quite, lost their meaning through repetition. But there’s a reason we keep talking about these two concepts: Consumers want to hear the authentic voices of the people behind your brand. They know the purest expression of your brand’s values comes from your brand’s employees.

Cultivate these voices by asking internal experts across the organization to contribute to your content. As with external influencers (more about them in a moment), start with a small request. For example, if you’re writing a how-to guide, ask someone in a relevant department to contribute a quote or two. Next time, ask for a full interview.

Before you know it, you’ll have a team of regular contributors, filling your calendar with diverse voices across your organization.

#9: Co-Create with Influencers

“The future is not about marketing to influencers; it’s about marketing with them. Treating influencers as an extension of your company, rather than a distribution channel, will result in a more impactful experience for influencers and consumers alike.” Emily Garvey, Group Account Director, SVP

At TopRank Marketing, we have our own unique take on influencer marketing. It’s not about paying Snapchat stars thousands of dollars to pose with a product. Rather, it’s about building relationships with people who are genuinely influential to a relevant audience, and aligned with your brand’s goals and values.

You can start building relationships without even making contact with an influencer. For example, you can create a post that includes already-published quotes from influencers. Like, say, this post. Let your influencers know that you featured their expertise. Then nurture the relationship by helping to promote their content. Eventually, you can start co-creating content with the influencer, building in their contributions from the ground up. As with internal experts, start with an interview and go from there.

#10: Start a Dialog

“Twenty-five percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user generated content and thirty-four percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.” Erik Qualman, Keynote Speaker & CEO, Equalman

Still stuck with a few blank spaces in your calendar? Let your audience fill them in for you. User-generated content helps foster community, builds enthusiasm for your offering, lets customers see real-world examples of what your company can do, and a host of other benefits.

The best way to encourage user-generated content is, simply, to ask for it. Ask for reviews, product photos, customer stories. Run a contest and recognize the best submissions.

Even better, ask your most valued clients if you can feature them—they will very likely jump at the chance. You get a compelling testimonial, they get extra visibility.

Fill in the Blanks

A blank content calendar can be daunting. But don’t fill it in with random acts of content. Start with your goals in mind, then match them with the topics your audience most wants to hear about. Plan for a good variety of content types and formats to keep things fresh, and make sure to fill the top of your funnel as well as engage the lower part.

And if you need help creating great content that inspires action, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve got a long list of satisfied customers. But we’ve got a blank space…and we’ll write your name.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2017. | Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again | http://www.toprankblog.com

The post Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

Joshua Nite http://www.toprankblog.com/wp-content/uploads/content-marketing-planning.jpg

[williamgreen533]

Content Planning for the Win: 10 Expert Tips to Keep Your Audience Engaged Again & Again

Blank space: Great when it’s a Taylor Swift song (or a nifty 20’s-style cover of same), not awesome when it’s on your editorial calendar. You want to publish with a steady cadence to keep your audience satisfied. But you know that filler won’t do—it’s got to be quality and quantity.

Great content is no accident. It requires careful planning to provide the value and variety your audience craves. At TopRank Marketing, we create content for dozens of clients. That’s a lot of blank space to fill. But when it’s over, we know the high was worth the pain (sorry, now I have Taylor Swift stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Hopefully you do, too).

Here’s how to create a content plan that’s designed to excel.

#1: Start with Goals

“There is no content strategy without measurement strategy. Before embarking on a content initiative, irrespective of medium or platform, it’s important to know what you want to achieve.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC

The goal of content marketing is to compel your audience to take action. Without the action, you’re missing the “marketing” half of the equation. So don’t start with what you want your audience to know. Start with what you want them to do.

The desired action could be signing up for your blog, downloading a gated asset, attending a webinar, scheduling a demo, or just sharing your content on social media. Whatever you decide, make sure each piece of content is connected to a measurable result.

#2: Let Your Audience Guide Topic Selection

“The reason we struggle with content marketing is because we haven’t started with ‘Why?’ Customers don’t care about your vanity metrics. Ask them, ‘How can I help?’” Kristina Halvorson, CEO and Founder, Brain Traffic

At TopRank Marketing we have a name for the type of content that gets results: Best Answer Content. The word key word is “answer,” as in “a response to a question.” You’re not starting a conversation about your brand, you’re continuing a conversation about what concerns your audience.

Listen to the questions your audience is asking through search engine queries, emails to your sales department, forums like Quora, and tools like BuzzSumo and Bloomberry.

#3: Hit the Whole Funnel

“Your top of the funnel content must be intellectually divorced from your product but emotionally wed to it.” Joe Chernov, VP of Marketing, InsightSquared

Lower-funnel content is designed to lead directly to revenue. So it’s the type of content upper management likes—meaning it’s the type that helps justify your budget. It makes sense that marketers tend to focus on the lower funnel and go light on the upper stages.

The problem with that approach is that most of your traffic and interest is in earlier stages. If you don’t fill the top of the funnel you won’t have anyone left to read your awesome lower-funnel content. It’s important to find a content balance, with a variety of content across all stages of the funnel. The quantity of content in each stage should look like a funnel, too. Think lots of content in the upper stages, less (but more in-depth) content at the bottom.

#4: Change up the Content Type

“Just as anyone would quickly tire of eating from the same food group day after day, your customers and prospects can grow tired of the same type of content again and again.” Jason Miller, Global Content & Social Marketing Leader, LinkedIn Marketing EMEA

I don’t envy the folks at Buzzfeed. They came up with a winning content formula and now they’re stuck with it. Pity the writer who has to come up with yet another “28 Hilarious Things Dogs Did This Passover (You Won’t Believe #24)!” As the world has moved on from clickbait-y listicles, the site has struggled to reinvent itself.

Keep your content fresh, and fill holes in your editorial calendar, by changing up the content type. Save room for those easy-to-write, sharable listicles, sure. But balance them with thought leadership pieces that firmly establish your brand’s point of view. Add how-to articles that are 100% utility. You can even round up useful content from other sources and curate for your audience.

#5: Look for “Turkey Slices”

“I use a Thanksgiving analogy…You cook up this giant bird to serve up on one glorious occasion and then proceed to slice and dice this thing for weeks on end. If you are like most families you are going to be repurposing this bird as leftovers for quite some time, creating everything from sandwiches, to soups, and more. Your content marketing strategy can be thought of in the same way.” Rebecca Lieb

At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions*, they have a lovely mixed metaphor to describe their content strategy. It starts with a “Big Rock,” a hefty piece of gated content that includes visuals, influencer interviews, and in-depth discussion on a single topic (like their Sophisticated Marketer’s series).

They use the Big Rock to create “turkey slices,” blog posts that repurpose a small part of the content. Turkey slices help fill in your editorial calendar, and each one can serve to promote the Big Rock. A big enough Big Rock can keep your blog supplied with turkey slices for six months or more. Just don’t ask why the rocks are made of turkey.

#6: Have a Little Fun

“For those of you who think comedy won’t work for your brand, ask yourself: Will it work for your customers?” Tim Washer, Creative Director, Cisco

When you have plenty of thought leadership and useful, practical content, it’s okay to let loose every once in a while. Generally, people like to be entertained and like to laugh. Even decision makers at Fortune 500 companies have been known to appreciate the occasional chuckle. So there’s no excuse for not experimenting with a little comedy, as long as you stay consistent with your brand voice.

Ease into the idea of humorous content with an April Fool’s Day post—it’s the one day even the most staid of institutions can crack wise. If you get a good response, try a funny, light post once a month or so. Still not convinced humor would work for your industry? Look, if financial services marketers can enjoy a silly post, your audience likely will, too.

#7: Sprinkle in Interactive Content

“By its very nature, interactive content engages participants in an activity: answering questions, making choices, exploring scenarios. It’s a great way to capture attention right from the start. Individuals have to think and respond; they can’t just snooze through it.” Scott Brinker, ion interactive Co-Founder & CTO

I’m starting to get really excited at the potential of interactive content. It takes less than an hour to make a quiz that looks professionally designed, can be embedded on your blog, and provides detailed analytics on the back end. You can create a poll or a survey even more quickly.

Your chief competitor for your audience’s attention is not other content—it’s everything else in the world. We’re asking people to stop whatever else they were doing, ignore every other source of distraction, and engage. Interactive content makes it far easier to earn that level of attention.

#8: Leverage Internal Experts

“If you want to cultivate regular contributors to your content, create an editorial committee and invite key producers to join. Staffers will feel a greater sense of ownership and engagement in the content marketing program. They’ll also feel greater responsibility to produce quality content on time.” Michael Tevlin, Freelance Copywriter & Story Expert

“Authenticity” and “transparency” are marketing buzzwords that have almost, but not quite, lost their meaning through repetition. But there’s a reason we keep talking about these two concepts: Consumers want to hear the authentic voices of the people behind your brand. They know the purest expression of your brand’s values comes from your brand’s employees.

Cultivate these voices by asking internal experts across the organization to contribute to your content. As with external influencers (more about them in a moment), start with a small request. For example, if you’re writing a how-to guide, ask someone in a relevant department to contribute a quote or two. Next time, ask for a full interview.

Before you know it, you’ll have a team of regular contributors, filling your calendar with diverse voices across your organization.

#9: Co-Create with Influencers

“The future is not about marketing to influencers; it’s about marketing with them. Treating influencers as an extension of your company, rather than a distribution channel, will result in a more impactful experience for influencers and consumers alike.” Emily Garvey, Group Account Director, SVP

At TopRank Marketing, we have our own unique take on influencer marketing. It’s not about paying Snapchat stars thousands of dollars to pose with a product. Rather, it’s about building relationships with people who are genuinely influential to a relevant audience, and aligned with your brand’s goals and values.

You can start building relationships without even making contact with an influencer. For example, you can create a post that includes already-published quotes from influencers. Like, say, this post. Let your influencers know that you featured their expertise. Then nurture the relationship by helping to promote their content. Eventually, you can start co-creating content with the influencer, building in their contributions from the ground up. As with internal experts, start with an interview and go from there.

#10: Start a Dialog

“Twenty-five percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user generated content and thirty-four percent of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.” Erik Qualman, Keynote Speaker & CEO, Equalman

Still stuck with a few blank spaces in your calendar? Let your audience fill them in for you. User-generated content helps foster community, builds enthusiasm for your offering, lets customers see real-world examples of what your company can do, and a host of other benefits.

The best way to encourage user-generated content is, simply, to ask for it. Ask for reviews, product photos, customer stories. Run a contest and recognize the best submissions.

Even better, ask your most valued clients if you can feature them—they will very likely jump at the chance. You get a compelling testimonial, they get extra visibility.

Fill in the Blanks

A blank content calendar can be daunting. But don’t fill it in with random acts of content. Start with your goals in mind, then match them with the topics your audience most wants to hear about. Plan for a good variety of content types and formats to keep things fresh, and make sure to fill the top of your funnel as well as engage the lower part.

And if you need help creating great content that inspires action, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ve got a long list of satisfied customers. But we’ve got a blank space…and we’ll write your name.

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