All Blog Posts - Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}

A Bold Experiment in Paid Content

We are about to witness an extremely important experiment in journalism, marketing and the economics of the Internet. Last Friday, the 159-year-old New York Times, arguably the nation’s most important […]

Eight Scintillating Lessons from SXSW

I heard a story about a business man who had a half-day layover in Paris. He told a local person he had four hours to see Paris and asked him […]

Content Marketing is not Journalism

Last week I attended an explosive panel discussion at SXSW. With the mild-mannered title of “Debating Brands’ Role as Publisher” sparks flew as Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute […]

Twitter at Year Five

Twitter has had a transformational effect on many individuals and businesses. Five years ago this week, the service launched as Jack Dorsey (@jack) sent the first Tweet. Here is Twitter by […]

A Scorecard on the 7 Blogging Essentials

This corporate blogging question was submitted to me by our good {grow} friend Brent Pohlman: On a scale of 1-to-5, with 5 being a requirement, which items are most critical […]

On Twitter, no one can hear you scream

I had the strangest call from Charlie Sheen yesterday. “OK man, I’ve got 2 MILLION freaking people following me on Twitter and my Klout score still sucks. Ya gotta help […]

Six ideas to get your blog out of the fog

We have an extraordinary opportunity today! Thanks to Christina Pappas, a blogger with Zmags.com, we’re going to dissect her blog as a case study! Christina came to me with this […]

Steal this blog: Why the economics of blogging are broken

Imagine you have composed a beautiful song. This song is a culmination of years of music lessons, performing, and experimentation. You love your song. You’re proud of your song. Then […]

How do I find the “voice” on my company blog?

I received this great question from Josh Cantrell, a B2B blogger … Who is my audience? Is it the people I want to sell to, or the people that will […]

How Social Media Turned a Brand Into a Revolution

As protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square faced off against government forces, they were prepared with this Facebook lesson from supporters in Tunisia: “Advice to the youth of Egypt: Put vinegar or […]

Reality check

Today my wife and I took my 8-year-old mentee Elijah on a hike, as we enjoyed a Spring-like day here in Tennessee. On the way home, Elijah noticed a copy […]

20,000 Followers. Now What?

Does the number of Twitter followers matter? What happens when you reach 20,000?

How social media amplifies competitive advantage

When Jay Baer speaks, I listen. In fact, the blogger and co-author of The Now Revolution is one of the smartest guys I know. But he wrote a blog post […]

Ascent of the social media climbers: Klout goes mainstream

How important is your social scoring and your social influence?

Please take accountability for your social media experience

Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it’s a trend, but I’ve noticed a few posts lately with a theme of how social media is becoming a mind-mucked echo chamber of mind-numbing […]