Writing Authority on Google+

Demian Farnworth of CopyBlogger reports on how writers can build influence and authority using Google+.

They need to put out solid biographies, follow people they know and then people they want to know, and create original content for the site, he writes. They should also create content for their Circles instead of sharing everything witheveryone. Writers can join one of the many communities on the site and facilitate Hangouts with others.

Branding Tips for Freelancers

Mike Smith of Guerilla Freelancing compiled a list of social media tactics to brand oneself.

Freelancers should use the same profile image and username on all websites, and write quality content directed at a target audience. The message needs to be consistent online, and freelancers have to be as personal and approachable as possible.

In terms of friends, they should ask friends what they can do for them and contact them when they think there is something of interest to them.

Making a Freelance Writing Career Sustainable

Future Expats Forum covers the topic of making a living freelance writing.

Writers have to evaluate their skills, passions, and desires, and figure out what they need to do to strengthen their skills, whether it means taking a class or researching through online programs. They can create an initial prospect list (of 20-50 contacts) then reach out and follow up with them. A bonus tip? Write every day.

Letting Go of Negativity to Freelance

Write Your Revolution reports on what it takes to stop being negative and getting on with a freelancing career.

The post states, “anger and resentment can eat at your soul and effectively stop the flow of your creativity, something we have to have a lot of.”

If it’s the scenery that’s bringing freelancers down, they should change it up by moving things around and getting rid of stuff that’s not needed.

Career-Destroying Habits for Freelancers

HongKiat covers what habits can destroy a person’s freelance career.

If writers sell themselves short by lowering their rates, it can hurt their careers. Social media sites can destroy productivity, and taking offense to rejection and criticism might harm client relationships. Taking on too many projects at once may cause writers to miss deadlines, and claiming to be an expert in a certain field can lead to a loss of credibility and trust.

Earning a Living Freelance Blogging

Freelance Switch reports on what it takes to make money as a freelance blogger.

Jobs can be found on the Freelance Switch Job Board, as well as other job listing sites. Writers need to “give priority to those ads where the advertiser has gone through the trouble of giving you important details about the nature of the gig and their expectations. Also give preference to those positions where they haven’t chosen to remain anonymous.”

Writers should send out warm emails, which include an introduction, asking whether or not a company needs help, explaining how they’d bring value to the company, and asking if they work with outside writers.

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

That was a message that Conz Preti, social-media editor for Univision, brought to the Freelance Writers Meetup at Contently headquarters on Feb. 19.

Preti joined more than 100 freelance writers, creatives, and other professionals to talk about the ways that social platforms now intersect, integrate, and in some cases (yes) intensify the experience of writing for a living.

“We should all know at least the basics of every platform,” Preti said. “I always say at least know how the tool works. When there is a need for you to use that, then you’re already doing it. You don’t need to go through the learning curve as some piece of news breaks.”

But what tools, and how soon should a writer adopt the newest ones, and, hey, how many times a day should one reporter expect to tweets and update, in the first place?

Preti and John Hazard, director of community for Contently, had answers and suggestions for all of these questions, plus some advice about using social media to source experts for a story on which you’re working. Let’s take a look at the highlights.

[Note: We've linked to the social-media platforms mentioned, so that writers still new to a given tool can bookmark it along the way.]

Platforms: Let the Story Guide Your Choices

Instagram will let you share an image in some very powerful and attractive ways, but is it the right way to tell a story about, say, property taxes in your town of coverage?

That kind of thinking is a key part of the equation, said Preti and Hazard, when it comes to choosing the right platform for the right story in your social-media portfolio.

John Hazard and Conz Preti at Contently’s Freelance Writers’ Meetup.

“Not every story is a fit for every platform,” Hazard said. “That’s part of of your job: to say ‘that story’s for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram . . . that story is for Vine and YouTube.”

Exactly the formula, said Preti: ”When Pinterest was a big, big deal, my editor asked me if we should use it. We do. But we only use it for award shows: we add huge images that people people can share and re-share, but then we don’t have too much other content that’s right for Pinterest. Breaking news? We don’t find that that works as well with Pinterest. But award shows full of spectacular dresses: wonderful.”

From an editorial point of view, the newest social-media platforms should be allowed to season a bit, Preti recommended. For example, right now, Vine is in her hands at Univision, but it hasn’t yet become commonplace for her reporters. As the learning curve proceeds, she said, the right story will come along and then someone in the newsroom will deploy Vine going forward.

And that’s the recipe she thinks is right: learn a new social-media tool, observe its use, and then implement it in your work when a story finally demands it.

Frequency and Quality: Establishing a Daily Routine

For journalists, whether freelance or traditionally employed, cranking through a story or two per day can be a lot of work — between tracking down sources, rounds of interviews, double-checking and triple-checking squirrelly details in the piece, where’s the sweet spot for social-media tasks as well?

Start with five interactions, said Preti. Go from there.

“They don’t have to be the most wonderful 140 characters you have ever written,” Preti said. “It can be a reply to someone. It can one of your colleague’s stories that you’re interested in — you can share that. It can be an image. Find five things to share with your audience. And it doesn’t have to be a photo of your sandwich at lunch!”

Sourcing: The Social-Media Conduit

Preti and Hazard emphasized the role of social media for writers seeking sources.

Both suggested that the comment sections of published pieces are a mine (and sometimes a minefield) to be explored. Point is, stories can spin into new cycles, if the right commenter posts the right lead under a story that the reporter imagined was done when it went up.

Beyond that, Preti said that writers should learn the search tools that can tap the deeper info buried in platforms.

“Learn how to find sources on Twitter, and the next one is Facebook Graph,” said Preti. “People are dying to know how to make reporting easier. And it grows your profile and allows your brand to grow; you become someone for sources to come to. If you’re seeking sources on social platforms, then they know they can come to you when they have another story.”

Therein lies a goal: social-media will demand some time, but when the freelancer masters the task, new work can come from the effort. Social media, for the writer, should be a two-way street.

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

Paragraph Shorts for iPad

Paragraph, a startup that offers digital author services such as apps, introduced the first issue of its short story iPaid magazine, Paragraph Shorts, according to Paid Content.

The program, available as a free iPad app, uses editors to curate short stories — in video, audio or text format.

Editor of The Paris Review Lorin Stein said, “By curating the best short stories, and offering them to people who might not have known they existed, Paragraph will create a link between great literary magazines and readers who are eager to kill fifteen minutes in a quality manner.”

The Army’s Digital Marketing Campaign

Lisa Lacy of ClickZ reports on the U.S. Army’s Army Strong campaign. There is a TV ad and YouTube video called “A Mentality” that focuses on the African-American community, along with “Badges,” which targets Hispanics.

Rich media ads that expand to video and/or graphics are appearing on sites like Vibe and BET. The Army also has a blog called Army Strong Stories that includes more than 5,900 posts.

Podcasting Going Strong

According to Small Biz Trends and eMarketer, podcast audiences will grow in 2013.

A predicted 37.6 million people are going to be downloading podcasts every month, which is more than double the 2008 statistic. All types of brands are podcasting- from Rachel Ray, to NPR, and ESPN. Deborah Shane writes that they are so popular to produce and listen to because they’re easy to make and they strengthen a brand.

“Podcasting as a content marketing vehicle can brand you for who you are and what you want to be known for in a very personal way,” she said. ”It’s you speaking to and about things you are knowledgeable and passionate about.”

Gawker Editor Leaving

Just after announcing it was heading to India, Gawker has lost editor A.J. Daulerio, reports the New York Times.

He will be replaced by John Cook, a writer at the blog. In an internal memo to the staff, owner of Gawker Nick Denton said that AJ heralded the introduction of unemployment stories, Trayvon Martin coverage, and an honest discussion of gaydom, making him the most successful editor on the site.

Press Releases vs. Content

Sally Yates, blogger and PR professional, writes about how content is going up against the traditional press release. 

She says that press releases survive because people can easily produce them and journalists know what to read in them. However, she says, ”There are so many more exciting ways to get out your content and 2013 should surely be the year where we intelligently choose the best channel — social channels have fundamentally changed the way your audience consume information and how we push out news and views needs to reflect that.”

The Social Network for Kids

Media Bistro reports on Grom Social, the site created by a preteen for kids.

This social network is for kids under the age of 16 and lets them connect with friends, access free video games, entertainment and sports news, and tips on health. It has its own apps that allows users to post Instagram photos and tweets as well. For parents that want to keep tabs on their kids, there is the option to create an account.

New Show “Banshee” Made its Own GIFS

According to Mashable, GIFs have been released by the marketers behind the new show “Banshee” before its premiere.

GIFs from the first episode of the Cinemax show are available on BuzzFeed as well as the site’s Tumblr blog. Viewers can use them as “OMG,” “LOL,” and “WTF” reactions.

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

2012′s Most Popular Ads on YouTube

On YouTube’s list of 20 most popular ads of the year on its website, Old Spice ranked four times, The New York Times reports.

The list was compiled with statistics from the number of views to the rate row and how much of the commercials the viewers actually watched. Old Spice had the most ads on the list, while Volkswagen and Nike had two each.

The top spot was given to “My Time Is Now,” a Nike ad for the 2012 European Football Championship.

Ford Predicts Major Industry Disruptions in Report

According to AdWeek, Ford has released an internal consumer trends report for next year that predicts major disruptions in several industries, including its own.

Joan Voight writes, “Car-sharing services like Zipcar, carpooling by Gen Yers, bike sharing and ‘multi-mix forms of mobility’ are all explored as signs of how consumers are changing their car habits.”

This is part of the company’s plan to be proactive about the changes and show that it isn’t ignoring the “green” trend. For instance, in 2012, Ford models began appearing as Zipcars on college campuses and the company put out driving technology that reduces gridlock and conserves energy.

There’s Good Content, and Then There’s Bad Content

The content backlash is in full effect. Keith Blanchard of Engage: Men rants about how he’s not interesting in sharing content, especially since most content is not shareable.

He says that marketers need to “Commit to creating content that propels itself — content so good people will want to share it.”

There are three levels of content, and marketers should strive to get to the “shareable good” level where content is so great that people have to pass it on. He writes, “Your content also has to be genuinely new, and unique, and super relevant to whatever’s going on right now. People share because they see themselves as nodes in a massive digital collective, and are looking for opportunities to contribute to the national conversation—to see and be seen, social media style.”

NFL’s Ratings Have Dropped

According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of viewers watching NFL games has dropped two percent since last year and three percent since 2010.

This season, in general, audiences for broadcast television have decreased substantially, which is in part due to the popularity of watching shows on demand via Netflix and Hulu.

During the next 10 years, the NFL’s partners in television have pledged more than $40 billion to broadcast the games.

Avoiding Content Marketing Burnout

In order to avoid burning out on content creation, marketers need to have back up blogs ready to go, says Geoff Livingston. While frequency matters, quality matters more. Instead of writing mediocre posts daily, it’s more important to post great posts less often.

“What matters is delivering consistently valuable content for your stakeholder. If your content is less frequent yet consistent — say two or three times a week — and hits home, your stakeholders will reward you with loyalty, consistent repeat visits, and most importantly grassroots word of mouth in the form of social shares, email, and plain old conversations.”

The Marketing Traditions of Companies

Tessa Wegert of ClickZ outlines what companies are doing in terms of holiday marketing this year. 

OfficeMax’s ElfYourself has gone from a simple microsite to a Facebook and mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod over the past six years. J. Crew sends out emails that contain content-rich editorial pieces, while Saks Fifth Avenue is running a Pinterest contest that involves pinning gifts on boards.

Digital Marketing in 2013

Jonathan Gardner of Mashable writes about the digital marketing trends that will occur in 2013. He says that mobile will have its day next year, and brands will be leveraging location technology and social-media data in their marketing campaigns. Consumers, as always, will come first, and social media marketing will grow past the infant stages.

“The challenge will be for these sites to act smartly and display sensitivity, to manage users’ comfort level with data security and third-party relationships,” he writes. “As long as they keep taking baby steps, they’ll find the revenue they need to grow, as they explore new ways to work with brands and develop integrated social media experiences.”

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

New York Times Compendium

The New York Times last week launched Compendium, a Pinterest-like tool that lets readers collect articles, parts of article, pictures, and videos online, according to Paid Content.

Developed by the NYT Research & Development Labs, after users sign in with their Twitter and Facebook accounts, they can “add the Compendium bookmarklet to their browser and then create a collection with a title, description and choice of format — standard, timeline or gallery.”

Then the users add the Times content to the collection, and when they click on the bookmarklet from a Times page, “a Pinterest-like box pops up with options to add the entire article, a quote, or images or video. You can share finished collections on Twitter or Facebook.”

Furniture Company Starts Games of Musical Chairs on Twitter

Blu Dot, a furniture company, has launched a microsite, musicalchairs.bludot.com, where users can participate in a virtual game of musical chairs by tweeting their entries, reports ClickZ. When the band Doppio stops playing their instruments, the images of chairs stop moving and users have to tweet out phrases and hash tags.

Winners get free chairs.

YouTube’s Redesign 

Last Thursday, YouTube launched a redesign that focuses on its channels, according to the New York Times.

Every time a user logs onto YouTube, he or she will be able to see the latest videos produced on the channels he or she is subscribed to. The goal of the new site is to “make YouTube a destination for entertainment, rather than someplace you visit when you receive a link or search for a certain video.”

Bank of America’s Aging App

According to Mashable, Merill Edge, which is part of Bank of America, has developed an app called Face Retirement, which shows people what they will look like in the future.

Its goal is to persuade people to save for the futures so they have money when they’re older.

Getting the Most Out of Facebook Engagement

Business2Community’s Selina Power writes about how companies can maximize Facebook engagement. 

She writes that brands should have a good looking cover photo, that they should thank fans on their pages, and that they should jump on a news trend and discuss it. In addition, brands need to monitor engagement and run competitions.

Content Curation Inspiration

Pawan Deshpande of Content Marketing Institute writes about where content marketers can find inspiration for curating content. They can look on news feeds, Google Alerts, social media sites, email newsletters, and forums.

If a company has a PR team, those employees will be scouring the web already for relevant content and should be tapped into for curation purposes as well. He says, “Ask them for a list of keywords and publications they are researching, and add them to your own list of potential sources of content.”

Personalizing Videos and Engagement

According to James Dohnert of ClickZ and a study by SundaySky, “a short-form video advertisement without personalization had a 50 percent consumer completion rate.”

But a longer video ad with consumer personalization was viewed for 2.5 times longer. The study also found that 48 percent of the top 50 retailers showcased videos on their websites, a 200 percent increase from 2011. Forty six percent of those same top 50 retailers feature more than 1,000 videos on their websites. Last year, that number was at 22 percent.

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

Syria Deeply: A News Site for Syria

Lara Setrakian, a foreign correspondent with Bloomberg and ABC News covering the Syrian conflict, has started a new site devoted to it called Syria Deeply, GigaOm reports.

Three-quarters of the content on the website is curated and 25 percent is original.

The journalist said she created the site because, “The user experience of the Syria story sucked. It was just abysmal. It was bits and pieces, very hard for the end user (being the news consumer) to take it and process it and come to any kind of synthesis.”

Virgin America to Stream YouTube on Flights

Virgin America flights will begin streaming some of YouTube’s content on its flights Dec. 15, according to The Next Web.

The service will be available in the United States and Mexico and people will be able to choose from content on five Warner Bros. channels.

Old Navy’s Holiday-Themed BuzzFeed Content

ClickZ’s Susan Kuchinskas writes that BuzzFeed has put out an Old Navy sponsored page that encourages users to ”Deck the Web.” 

After clicking on a “Deck the Web” button, users “can enter a URL, load the page and glitter it out.”

People can add on pictures of snowflakes, reindeer, and other holiday themed items. Over the course of the holiday season, eight sponsored posts from Old Navy will appear on the site.

Huffington Post Ushers in New C.E.O.

According to the New York Times, Jimmy Maymann is going to be the new C.E.O. of The Huffington Post. He ran the site’s international expansion duties and his new post is effective immediately. Maymann will be working on increasing revenue and traffic.

More Bad News for Martha

The Wall Street Journal reports that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia will be closing Whole Living after unsuccessfully trying to sell it off. The healthy-eating magazine content will go inside of Martha Stewart Living instead.

“Our valuable content will be leveraged across our media platforms and we will continue to look for strategic opportunities to further capitalize on it,” said Chief Executive of MSLO Lisa Gersh.

A Paywall for the Washington Post

Keach Hagey of WSJ writes that The Washington Post will most likely erect a paywall in 2013. The price of the print edition will increase as well. This year, the paper saw an operating loss totaling $56.3 million for the first ninth months.

Companies Lacking in the Social Media Department

According to Mashable, “less than one-third of companies have employees dedicated solely to social-media tasks.”

A survey by Ragan Communications and NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions that questioned over 2,7000 social media professionals found that 27 percent of businesses have hired one person to focus on social media, while “65% of companies add social media on top of other duties.”

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

P&G India Launches Branded Content 

P&G India has introduced Style Factor, a branded content website in partnership with Yahoo! India.

It “aims to bring the latest celebrity news and information on fashion, skincare, hair care and make-up to users in India using interactive methods to increase the brand’s engagement quotient,” Exchange4Media reports.

Age Gap and Holiday Shopping

The Wall Street Journal reports that in terms of holiday shopping, adults are still clipping coupons, while the younger generation doesn’t hesitate to research and buy on their cell phones.

Shelly Banjo writes that it’s been a struggle for companies: “Retail chains are struggling with how to respond to families like the Ulticans, hoping to capture the attention of the so-called Millennial generation, ages 16 to 34, but fearful that moving too fast will alienate baby boomers.”

Facebook Copyright Statuses Are a Hoax

Listen up, everyone, and stop posting those Facebook ”copyright” statuses: They’re fake, according to Prasant Naidu of Business 2 Community.

Hoax-Slayer and Snopes say that users either have to not sign up for Facebook, cancel their accounts or “bilaterally negotiate a modified policy with Facebook” if they want all of their online content to stay private.

Southern Living Goes Younger

Southern Living, whose main demographic is middle-aged women, is now targeting younger women by signing on Jenna Bush Hager as a magazine editor at large, according to the New York Times.

While circulation is at 2.8 million, the average age of readers is 51.2.

Fox News Flap

Fox News is getting flack after cutting short the interview with Thomas E. Ricks, a veteran defense author and reporter who criticized the network on air.

The New York Times reports that his three-minute interview turned into a 90-second one that ended with the sentence, “And second, I think that the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party.”

Move Over Bieber, There’s a New YouTube King

“Gangnam Style” is now the most viewed video of all time on YouTube, according to Mashable.

It has 805 million views and was the fastest growing viral video of all time. It also set a Guinness World Record for “Most Likes on YouTube” with 5.3 million.

A Real-Life Pinterest Board

Mashable also reports that a mall in La Jolla, Calif. has put up a real-life Pinterest board.

It is in celebration of a $180 million renovation and “features physical products from participating retailers in the mall.”

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

The Big Three of Content: Coke, Red Bull, and Pepsi
Content Marketing Institute’s Mark Sherbin writes about the content marketing strategies of three drink brands, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, and Pepsi. He discusses Coke’s new website, Coca-Cola Journey, and says that with it, the company “has laid the framework for a successful brand-centric online publication.”

Sherbin highlights Pepsi Pulse, which was released earlier this year and posts user-generated comments, tweets, and overall content. He says that while the content on the website is great, it needs more calls-to-action.

As for Red Bull, he says that pretty much everything works about its content strategy, and that it produces highly sharable content. His only critique is that the brand should create content that encourages people to visit its website.

Reuters and Newscred Creating Entertainment Content
As reported by Adweek, Reuters and NewsCred are teaming up and introducing Red Carpet Ready, ”a package of special coverage … that includes exclusive editorial content around shows like the Oscars, the Grammys and the Golden Globes.”

Some of the featured talent are Leonard Maltin, film critic, and Barbara Fairchild, former editor of Bon Appétit. In a statement, Steven Schwartz of Reuters said, “Working with NewsCred has enabled us to develop a package that serves the evolving needs of digital newsrooms, enabling online publishers to quickly deploy dynamic content for their audiences, and secure sponsorship and advertising opportunities that might otherwise be unattainable.”

Wired Finds a New Editor
The New York Times reports that Scott Dadich, who was creative director at Wired, is now going to step up as its next editor in chief. The announcement comes after Chris Anderson said he would be resigning earlier this month to work on producing drones.

Of his new position, Dadich said, “I look forward to finding new opportunities to delight and surprise the Wired community, both with the stories we tell and in the ways that we tell them.”

Dark Branded Content from Down Under
Australian Metro, in an effort to prevent accidents on trains, created and released “Dumb Ways to Die,” a song and animated movie, according to the Huffington Post.

The video, uploaded on November 14, already has over 4 million hits on YouTube. Some of the dumbest ways to die include “using your private parts as piranha bait,” and “taking your helmet off in outer space.”

Getting Comments on Social Media
Business 2 Community’s Patrick Murphy explains how content marketers can encourage people to comment on their posts on social media.

Posts that shock and awe, or provoke a visceral reaction, will promote commenting and sharing. Being funny and pushing an agenda are also going to get people revved up about content. Content that is emotional will encourage people to share and jump on a bandwagon as well.

“You just need to post something that gets a reaction,” says Murphy. “The comments will do the rest.”

Online Video Ads in 2012
According to marketing research firm FreeWheel and ClickZ, viewership of online videos with ads has increased 17 percent year-over-year.

“online videos that are 20 minutes or longer carry an average of seven ads,” ClickZ reports. “FreeWheel says that viewers of those long-form videos watch whole ads at a 93 percent clip.”

The study also found that “1.3 billion consumers view video on their smartphone, game console, or other portable device” and that more than 60 percent of videos not viewed on computers were watched on Apple devices.

YouTube Thinning Out Programming
According to Mashable, YouTube is planning to cut the funding for nearly 70 percent of its premium content channels.

The program, which cost $100 million to produce 100 channels, was set up to compete with television. Daily Dot predicts that some channels, like Shaq Comedy (number 84 on the YouTube Original Channel Tracker,) Team USA (the Olympics channel, number 58), and Smart Girls at the Party (starring Amy Poehler number 99), are likely to be cut.

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

Lenovo’s BuzzFeed Takeover

To promote its Ideapad Yoga, Lenovo has posted branded content on BuzzFeed, ”12 Awesome Additional Uses For Everyday Objects.”

In true BuzzFeed, form, it features photos, along with short grafs on how to use objects like Alka Seltzer for toilet cleaner and ice cube trays to hold earrings. There is also a display ad and video ad to go along with the sponsored post.

Facebook’s Pages-only News Stream 

Good news for brands: Users can now switch their streams to exclusively feature content from the pages they follow on Facebook, according to Pandomonthly.

The social media site has rolled out this feature as a response “to a market uproar as the company began changing the way brand content appears in the main news feed and then charging companies for increased distribution.”

An Increase in Self-Employeed Workers

A press release from Elance says that “online hiring and earnings are far outpacing the traditional employment economy with over 40% growth rates.”

More people are writing online due to bad economies at in their home regions. Niche writing is one of the biggest growing industries, and there have been increases across the board.

The report states, “Specialized writing skills such as speech writing (+474%), script writing (+371%) and sports writing (+282%) have seen increases compared to the same quarter last year on Elance.”

The Meaning of Data to Pepsi

Kate Kaye of AdAge reports that the CMO of Pepsi Frank Cooper is looking at how data can help his brand.

“We need to measure how people are becoming involved in brands, how people are advocating on behalf of brands,” He told Kaye. “We’re figuring out ways to synthesize the data we have.”

Pepsi already looks at information coming from Google Analytics, YouTube, and Collective Intellect, the social conversation analysis company it uses. The company is currently gearing up to release branded content on YouTube and partner up with several major channels on the site.

Where Target Went Wrong with “Revenge” Campaign

Emily Garvey of 360i Blog critiques Target’s campaign for Neiman Marcus during the show “Revenge.”

During the show, ABC “aired a scripted mini-series to craft a story around the new luxury-for-less retail line, mimicking the look and feel of ’Revenge.’ As the show’s characters unwrapped various Target items, viewers were prompted to tweet with the hashtag #GiftofRevenge, which was displayed throughout the episode,” Garvey writes.

She says that the scripted mini-episodes detracted from the real episode that was airing, and that no value was given to fans of the show. There was also a lack of communication between Target, its #GiftofRevenge hashtag, US Weekly, and Neiman Marcus, she adds.

Coca-Cola and Fidelity Invest in Spotify

Spotify, a streaming music service, is receiving financial support from Coca-Cola and Fidelity, The New York Times reports.

The service, which is worldwide and opened in Luxembourg and Ireland this week, will be valued at $3 billion. It currently has 15 million users, 4 million of who pay for the service.

Pinterest’s Business Accounts Introduced

According to ClickZ, Pinterest has now introduced business accounts. Cat Lee, product manager of the company said, “We want to help more businesses provide great content on Pinterest and make it easy to pin from their websites.”

Businesses will require a verification badge and the pages are suitable for bloggers, online merchants, publications and retailers, to name a few.

The Freelance Strategist is a daily publication for and by freelance creative workers navigating today's changing employment landscape. Brought to you by Contently.

Delta’s Safety Videos are Comedy Gold

Delta is putting out more content after its in-flight safety videos became YouTube hits, Deadline Detroit reports.

The new safety videos feature “dressed-alike triplets, a miniature bag ‘small enough to fit under the seat’ and an accordion player,” along with the original flight attendant from the videos, “Deltalina.” One of the videos has more than 50,000 views on YouTube.

The Ad Industry and Journalists

Forbes’ Lewis DVorkin argues that journalists, instead of ignoring and turning away from what’s going on in the ad business, should learn to understand it.

He says, “The economics of journalism no longer work like they used to. The same holds true for the advertising business. These two clashing industry realities require both print stalwarts and digital believers to get a grip.”

DVorkin delves into content marketing and how for some journalists, it may mean a full-time job.

The New Yorker’s Content Marketing Approach

Copyblogger’s Demian Farnworth writes about what makes New Yorker’s content model work. The magazine is full of 10,000 word articles that are in-depth and tell a great story, and he says that marketers/writers should look to do the same with their work.

Like The New Yorker, companies should hire quality writers. After all, “Only superior content will build your influence with your target audience and Google.”

Marketers need to speak the language of the consumer by answering their questions, alleviating their friends and encouraging their desires as well.

Washington Post’s Executive Editor Steps Down

Marcus Brauchli, who has been with the Washington Post as executive editor for four years, is being replaced by Martin Barton, editor of The Boston Globe, according to the New York Times.

In the third quarter, revenue in the publishing division of the Post dropped by 4 percent because of a loss of ad sales. It also faces tough competition from online news outlets printing similar stories, such as Politico.

Lay-Offs at NBCUniversal

The Wall Street Journal reports that about 100 people are going to be laid off at NBCUniversal over the next few days. By the end of the week, the company will have laid off 500 people over the past few months.

The cuts are part of budget review and “include about 100 people from G4 videogame cable channel several weeks ago, as well as two dozen previously reported layoffs at NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in the late summer, and separate cuts at Universal film studio.”

Creating Content for Latinos

ClickZ’s Gustavo Razzetti writes about how the media and content creators can appeal to Latino consumers.

He says, “Marketing to emerging cultures is about connecting with deep cultural values. Brands that want to engage with Latinos (or other emerging cultures) need to create, not simply communicate. They need to embrace that culture and be part of it. Brands need to act as a cultural enabler, empowering people and amplifying the influential role that emerging cultures are playing.”

Papa John Memes Take Over Reddit

Redditors, according to Mashable, are posting memes that poke fun at Papa John’s for its opposition to Obamacare. It started on Sunday, when one user called for a boycott of the chain.

CEO John Schnatter is being portrayed in the memes as a hypocrite – He gave away two million pizzas last year, but can’t spend money on health care for employees.

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