Presenter: Mindy Weinstein of Market Mind Shift Description: Mindy breaks down three vital things in content marketing: how to develop interesting real-life stories, how to keep your eyes open for inspiration, and how to focus on being practical and personal. Let’s get started!

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@mindyweinstein
• Founder of Market MindShift
• Specialties: Content, SEO and social
media marketing
• Marketing Professor
• PhD Student

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3 Takeaways
Develop real-life stories Keep your eyes open for
inspiration
Focus on being practical
& personal
@mindyweinstein

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When your Subject
Matter is as dull as
a doorknob…
what do you do?
@mindyweinstein

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“Why are stories so valuable? One reason is that a
story exerts a power beyond the obvious. The whole is
so much greater than the sum of the parts—the facts,
the events, the context—that a story creates a deep
resonance.”
– Think Like a Freak
@mindyweinstein

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Develop Real-Life Stories
• Stories allow us to put ourselves in the character’s shoes
• As the reader, we start to project ourselves onto the character:
• “Yes! That is what I would have done”
• “That’s how I felt too”
@mindyweinstein

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Develop Real-Life Stories
• People become interested when they are in need and want to
know how you have helped others like them
• When you all of a sudden have a problem, you start to notice
possible solutions all around you
• A once boring topic is no longer that boring to you
@mindyweinstein

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Develop Real-Life Stories
• When you feel like you need a
fanny pack, what do you do?
@mindyweinstein

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@mindyweinstein

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@mindyweinstein

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@mindyweinstein

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Develop Real-Life Stories
• Develop stories that address:
• How people have used the product or service
• The types of successes your customers or clients have had
• Take testimonials a step further by painting the entire picture for
the reader
• Tell your story
@mindyweinstein

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Develop Real-Life
Stories
• Telecom expense
management
@mindyweinstein

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Develop Real-Life
Stories
• Why LED billboards are
the right choice for your
organization
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes open for inspiration
• It is often difficult to sit down at your computer and try to
determine what to write
• Prepare ahead of time by storing a file in your desk that is
labeled “Content Topics”
• Say goodbye to writer’s block
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes open for inspiration
• Behave like a critical thinker
• Reexamine every article or book you read and story you
hear—is there some type of angle or insight you could
provide your target audience?
• Reshape concepts and ideas into something new by asking
yourself, “How can I translate this information into something
useful for my audience?
@mindyweinstein

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@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes open for inspiration
• Harness your inner news reporter
• Always be looking for something new that would relate to
your audience
• Some of the questions you should ask:
• What are other companies saying?
• Is there an event or holiday that I can tie to this topic?
• What can I say that is different?
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes open for inspiration
• Did you know? May 11th is:
• Twilight Zone Day
• Eat What You Want Day
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes
open for inspiration
• Personal Finance = Often boring
• Budgets + Calories = Something
interesting
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes
open for inspiration
• Quicker Rooter
Plumbing
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes open for inspiration
• Even more sources of inspiration:
• Google Trends: http://www.google.com/trends/
• Answer The Public: http://answerthepublic.com/
• BloomBerry: http://bloomberry.com/
• Buzzsumo: http://buzzsumo.com/
• BoardReader: http://boardreader.com/
@mindyweinstein

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Keep your eyes open for inspiration
• Great tool, if you
want to store articles
and read them later:
• Pocket:
https://getpocket.c
om/
@mindyweinstein

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“And once the advice became practical and
personal, it became memorable.”
– The Tipping Point
@mindyweinstein

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Focus on being practical and personal
• You have to include points in your content that makes it
personal, but also practical to the reader
• You don’t have to provide an avalanche of new information—
you might only need a change in how you are presenting your
message (boring or not)
@mindyweinstein

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Focus on being practical and personal
• What concerns does the reader have and how can you make it
simple to get help?
• Consider the types of questions your customers or clients ask
and the worries they face—those are potential topics
@mindyweinstein

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Focus on being
practical and
personal
• When you are in a
car accident, you will
be looking for advice
@mindyweinstein

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Focus on being
practical and
personal
• Looking to store your
things?
@mindyweinstein

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No topic is truly boring!
@mindyweinstein

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3 Takeaways
Develop real-life stories Keep your eyes open for
inspiration
Focus on being practical
& personal
@mindyweinstein

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Mindy Weinstein
Founder & President, Market Mindshift
@mindyweinstein
@mindyweinstein