I hate advertising. It’s lazy and intrusive and generally ineffective. I use a strategy that’s blocked nearly three million ads in the past three years, and I’ve helped thousands of readers do the same. I believe ad-based platforms like Facebook and Instagram are dead, they just don’t know it yet.

And then there’s Ryan Reynolds.

The dude is a marketing genius:

• His movies get a huge boost from his social media teasers.
• Mint Mobile is growing despite the massive mobile monopolies.
• He managed to turn a garbage-tasting gin into a $610 million exit.

I’m one of the 2.5+ million subscribers…

Not all social media management tools are equal. In my 20 years of experience as a digital marketing geek, I have seen the landscape change a lot, and tools to manage your social media come and go.

I have used all of the tools in this list personally myself and they all have their pros and cons and also (for most) a cost. This list is not exhaustive, there are other apps out there to manage your content, and they all offer different things.

Here is a list of my top 5 free tools and also (for those bigger organizations)…

I almost gave up my dream of becoming a successful writer.

Fear and doubt silently crept into my mind and controlled my thoughts. Maybe I’m not good enough. Perhaps nobody will want to read what I have to say. I kept thinking I wasn’t good enough. And as a result, it became challenging to focus whenever I sat down at my desk to write.

Deep down, I just wanted to express what was on my mind. But every day, I stared at a blank page in agony. It was a constant battle between my desire to have a successful future…

By mid-2019, more than half of Instagram users had already downloaded the new update. Not much had changed except for the fact that now you wouldn’t be able to see how many likes people had gotten on their photos.

Instagram stated that this new update was meant for people to shift away from “vanity metrics” — things like the number of followers and likes — and just be able to focus on the content that was being posted on the app.

Though Instagram claimed that the biggest reason for removing the option to see the number of likes on someone…

Here’s the deal with email marketing: you send out lots of free content in the hope that someone buys your product or service.

I can also tell you two other things based on my experience at Outdoor Swimmer magazine, where we’ve run an email list for about eight years. First, it works, and second, it’s hard work.

Email marketing is the most effective way we have found for selling magazine subscriptions. Our email newsletters also generate additional revenue through third-party advertising.

But it wasn’t always like this.

In the beginning, our mailing list was tiny. Starting a regular email newsletter…

When I started my business, I attended my first webinar with a successful marketing coach. A large part of the webinar was discussing the difference between free and paid content. The host discussed how you should have free content to attract people, but your free content should only fill the holes people have to understand your paid content.

For example, you shouldn’t actually teach people how to do something, but instead, teach them why they need to do it.

The thought was that if you give a substantial portion of your knowledge away for free then no one will ever…

Marketing, and in particular, digital marketing, is a critical part of any modern business strategy. Because of the dynamic and interactive nature of digital marketing, it’s easy to see how less exciting legal details can be forgotten when creating an effective marketing plan. But make no mistake, overlooking these will, at best, negatively affect your reach and ad revenue, and, at worst, land you in legal hot water.

In this post, we’ll go through 5 common legal mistakes marketers make and look at the simple ways you can avoid making them.

1. Not Having a Clear and Easy Email Opt-Out for Both US and EU-Based Users

Email marketing is a powerful tool; however, when it…

I worked for three years to find an agent, court a publisher, write my book, and work with the publishing team to make sure it was ready for the shelves of Barnes & Noble and Target. Three months after the book has been released, I haven’t even recouped my advance. And, after listening to a recent interview, I can tell you exactly why.

I’m Talented… Now What? was published by an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield in December 2020 and it is the culmination of 15 years of educating young artists on the business side of the performing arts. …