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Article's Content
Welcome to Volume 79
When is your most creative time of the day?
For some reason, I’m an owl. I think and work better late at night.
The calm that the nighttime brings gets my creative juices flowing. I also focus more during the early hours of the morning. Things are quieter on Slack, and it gives me time to think and create something extraordinary.
It’s important to find the time you get your best work done and leverage it. That way, you won’t struggle throughout the day to try to get work done.
FAnd if you do miss that block of time (I miss mine sometimes), adapt.
Things won’t always go in your favor, but you can make the most of whatever you have. If we always want the perfect moment, we might miss out on good opportunities.
Turn on some music or do something that will inspire you to dig the work and produce something great.
Before we dive into today’s stories, here’s a peek at what’s to come in this piece:
- Atlassian Launches Atlas
- You Can Now Create Once and Distribute Forever (FREE COURSE)
- 4 Questions to Help You Land the Right Job as a Content Marketer
Atlassian Launches Atlas
Keeping remote and hybrid teams aligned is a trait successful organizations have, and they rely on collaboration tools to achieve this. That’s why companies like Zoom, Slack, ClickUp, and many others have made a fortune fulfilling this need.
Atlassian is another company that became a decacorn building and shipping collaboration tools like Jira and Trello to power remote teams.
Valued at $68B, the company adopts a freemium business model for some of its products to give users a taste of their product features.
Of course, when the freemium users fall in love with the product, they often pay to get full access to the product’s features.
Sometimes, these users spread the word to their network, and those who try out the product end up as paying customers. It’s no wonder a product like Trello has over 50 million registered users.
Recently, Atlassian launched Atlas, a new service for cross-functional team updates. The product was first rolled out in beta mode in 2021 under the name “Team Central”.
Now, teams can send quick updates of 280 characters to keep the rest of the team informed about their progress on a given project.
Personally, I think this is a great move for remote and hybrid teams, especially for busy teams who don’t want to bother themselves with the gory details of a project’s progress. They just want the “tl;dr” version, and the Twitter-like character limit updates offer that.
Atlas also integrates with Slack, and team members can get a quick snapshot of project updates right in Slack without clicking to read more (we all know how overwhelming it can be to see a long update, and you have to click to read more).
For remote teams, staying aligned is important, and speed is also another critical factor.
When members of your team have to give an update on a project in two minutes or less, it will help them think through what they want to say and surface critical details only. You, on the other hand, spend less than a minute catching up on all that’s been happening behind the scenes.
Atlassian is one of many SaaS companies prioritizing speed and efficiency. Or launching something called Atlas.
There’s MongoDB with MongoDB Atlas, and Stripe with its own version of Atlas.
The third most valuable company in the world, Stripe, launched Atlas back in 2016 to help founders quickly turn their ideas into startups in 10 minutes.
In five years, over 20,000 businesses have successfully launched with Atlas, and they have generated over $3 billion in revenue.
With the successes of Atlassian’s past projects as well as their resource hubs and project management thought leadership, we anticipate seeing Atlas come to life and compete with other established industry leaders.
If ClickUp became a unicorn three years after its launch in 2017, I believe Atlas can too.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Atlassian launched Atlas, a new service for cross-functional team updates. Teams can now send and receive tl;dr updates to keep the rest of the team aligned on a project’s progress.
- The product was first rolled out in beta mode in 2021 under the name “Team Central”.
- The product is a great move for remote and hybrid teams, especially for busy teams who don’t want to bother themselves with the gory details of a project’s progress.
You Can Now Create Once and Distribute Forever
Imagine Dave Gerhardt publishing Founder Brand without telling anyone.
That’d mean the time he put into writing the book, along with other investments he made along the way, would go to waste because he ignored putting his content before the eyes of his target audience.
We’re sure glad he put the word out consistently, or else we never would have gotten the chance to read the book and improve our lives.
Sadly, many brands today still ignore distribution.
They invest $$$ in creating and optimizing relevant niche content but have no concrete plans for distribution. As a result, their greatest pieces see only a handful of traffic, and that traffic keeps declining until it dies of lack of exposure.
There’s so much value in getting a piece of content in front of many prospects. If they don’t see it, how will they know you’re the right person to meet their needs?
Thankfully, the King of Distribution himself, Ross Simmonds, has made it easy for you and your team to prioritize distribution this year with the launch of the free Content Marketing Distribution Strategy course on LinkedIn.
If you’ve been following Ross for a while now, you know he practices what he preaches. Ross has helped brands reach millions of their target audience and earn millions of dollars through content distribution.
Now, he is sharing his playbook for FREE.
In this course, you will learn how to create a distribution engine that ensures all the content you are investing $$ to create doesn’t collect dust. Instead, you repurpose these content pieces and share them on channels where your audience spends the most time.
One of the areas Ross explores is the content distribution engine. This engine is the way you manage your content from publishing to amplification on various platforms.
Whether you are a solo marketer or a 50-person marketing team, the distribution engine shows you the series of steps you have to take after your content goes live to ensure you get maximum ROI for your investment.
Here’s a snapshot of what the map looks like:
It’s up to you to figure out the best person to execute each part of this engine. For example, who is good at creating killer Twitter threads in your org? Or creating content for a group on Slack or Facebook?
Figuring out who does what best is a great way to delegate and make the most out of everyone’s time.
Ross also talks about how to ensure your content aligns with your audience on a given channel:
You want to be sure the pieces of content and the content format you share in a community are going to resonate with the audience there. You need to be sure these content pieces are rooted in the problems they are trying to solve. And most of all, the content format has to fit the channel.
These are just a few of the things you’ll learn from the course.
If you’re ready to build or scale your distribution engine, head over to the distribution strategy course on LinkedIn and get started.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Ross Simmonds launched a free Content Marketing Distribution Strategy course on LinkedIn.
- One area Ross explores is the content distribution engine. The engine is the way you manage your content from publishing to amplification on various platforms.
- If you’re ready to build or scale your distribution engine, head over to the distribution strategy course on LinkedIn and get started.
4 Questions to Help You Land the Right Job as a Content Marketer
First things first.
We’re delighted to announce that Melissa Zehner is now the Director of Content at Foundation Marketing Inc.
Melissa brings over 10 years of industry experience to the role, and she will be leading our content marketing efforts, both on the client side and for Foundation Labs, as well.
Melissa is also an active member of the Forbes Communications Council where she contributes her expert knowledge to help marketers and entrepreneurs make the right career/business decisions.
Recently, she shared some killer tips to help the 56.9% of content marketers thinking about a job change choose the right job at any stage of their career.
If you’re a content marketer considering a new job at the moment (or in a few weeks or months), here are four questions you should ask to be sure the job is right for you:
Each of these questions helps you figure out whether or not a job opportunity is for you, and it sets you up for success on the job, should you choose to accept the role.
For example, the first question helps you see how the company views content marketing and its motivation for hiring.
Some companies see marketing as the economical option to gain qualified leads, and a way to avoid spending so much on paid ads. Here, content marketing hires are a part of the demand generation team.
Some other companies place content marketing in the creative department where they field requests from other creatives like the design team. And there are others who see content marketing as a part of the brand team. That means owning or supporting public relations efforts and drafting the company’s messaging.
Depending on what your goals are, you can decide which company type is a good fit for you as these companies elevate different forms of marketing.
Like Melissa, I’m a demand gen type of girl. I love doing marketing-related stuff that directly impacts leads and revenue generation. I also love creative work, but the kind that feeds into directly generating revenue for the company.
It’s important you seek out opportunities that tie with your preferences and long-term career goals. That way, you’ll accept job offers that offer you fulfillment and handsome financial compensation.
These questions are your starting point. You can learn more about how to answer these questions here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Melissa Zehner is now the Director of Content at Foundation Marketing Inc.
- If you’re a content marketer considering a new job, here are four questions you should ask to be sure the job is right for you:
- How does content marketing fit into the overall structure of your marketing department?
- What is the current perception of content marketing within your organization?
- How much access will I have to SEO, design, UX, and/or development resources?
- Can you clarify which marketing assets I’ll own and which will be shared?
- It’s important you go beyond financial compensation and seek out opportunities that directly tie with your preferences and long-term career goals. That’s how you find true fulfillment, career growth, and great financial compensation.
OTHER NEWS OF THE WEEK:
- TikTok is launching a new Creative Agency Partnerships (CAP) University program that will teach creative agencies all they need to know about marketing on the platform.
- VPN provider Nord Security is now a unicorn, raising $100M in VC funding after bootstrapping for a decade.
- Binance.US is planning on making its IPO debut in two to three years. Recently, the company raised over $200 million in its first external funding round, boosting its valuation to $4.5 billion.
- Is Work From Home over? 77% of managers say they’d fire you or cut your pay for not coming back to the office.
- Google has committed to the Silenced No More protection for all of its employees. That means these employees are now free to talk about unpleasant experiences at the company (like sexual harassment, bullying, etc.), despite NDAs.
BRAIN FOOD OF THE WEEK:
Some months ago, I shared practical ways industry experts can help entry or mid-level professionals improve their skills and attract better opportunities.
Finding a niche and learning all you can about it is a great place to start building a career in any industry but it sometimes isn’t enough.
There are lots of mistakes a person can make when they have no one to guide them.
Sure, mistakes are sometimes unavoidable, and they can help us see things from a better perspective. But some mistakes are costlier than others, and if you have someone to help you avoid these ones, wouldn’t you be delighted?
You can attract such helpful people by being a helpful person first. But you have to give something if you want to receive something. You go higher when you help others get out of their own way and become better at what they do.
You owe it to your community to be a hand that lifts others. Like I shared before, here are three ways you can do that without wearing yourself thin:
📌 Be a “Guide” who is willing to be vulnerable when necessary
People want to hear your struggles and how you overcame them. So, be vulnerable. Back up your advice with real experiences people can relate to.
📌 Go out of your way to leave feedback
After reading a post that resonates with them, some people like to reach out. You may not have the time to respond to each person, but you can block time to engage with your audience.
📌 Be creative with your time
You don’t have to respond to everyone who leaves a comment. Instead, you can browse through the comment section and your inbox to identify and address the most pressing questions/concerns in your next post without mentioning names.
You can also host a webinar on the topic, start a community on Telegram or Slack and get other experts on board to help offer some guidance, and offer mentorship to some people in your community if you can.
📢 Remember, we rise by lifting others
It’s also important to set boundaries while helping others and stick to them. That way, people know to respect and value your time and advice.
Of course, not everyone you help will take the needed action and transform their lives. But the few or the many who would take that step will make your efforts worthwhile.
Shout out to everyone already doing this. You’re the real MVP.
TWITTER THREAD OF THE WEEK:
24 Threads That Will Teach You More Than Any Business Degree by Daniel Murray
INTERESTING FINDS ACROSS THE INTERNET
- How the Metaverse Will Change the Face of B2B Marketing
- Why SaaS opens the door to so many cyber threats (and how to make it safer)
- The Five Biggest Marketing Tech Trends In 2022
- 3 Strategies for Avoiding Employee Burnout
- Can Silicon Valley Still Dominate Global Innovation?
- What Is The Best Way To Measure Customer Experience?
- Recruiting Is Now A Race For Talent. Software Companies Hope To Help HR Keep Up
IN CASE YOU MISSED SOME OF OUR GREATEST HITS:
- How Dreamdata’s LinkedIn Strategy Attracts Qualified Leads
- Hootsuite’s Billion-Dollar Content Repurposing Menu
- How Outreach Is Using Employees & Empowerment To Win on LinkedIn
- LinkedIn News Headlines: Examples Of Headline Writing Done Well
- The Modern Distribution Playbook
WHAT WE’RE WIRED INTO THIS WEEK 🎧:
These round-ups are brought to you by me, Jessica O., every week ✌!
