C.C. Chapman

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• What is the most effective way to market to and engage with dads? Are dad's easy to target, or are you effectively just marketing/ targeting 'men' of a certain age (who happen to have kids) ie focus on sports, careers, hobbies, or their wives/ children as influencers, etc. vs. mom's who may seek out more mom-related content, resources, etc. directly?

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    I’m working on something right now to actually make this a lot easier, but can’t share it just quite yet.

    The thing with dads is that many men don’t self identify themselves as openly as moms seem to online. As weird as that sounds it is the truth.

    If you want to engage Dads though you do need to think beyond JUST the parenting angle. Most guys (even the full blown “daddy blogger”) wants to talk about more than just their kids so playing to their other interests is key.

    Every day I get a pile of pitches and VERY few of them are anything outside of directly pitching to the DAD side of me. There are lots of other things I’m into besides being a Dad and brands would be wise to always keep that in mind when working with Dads.

• Hi C.C. Would you recommend sticking a) video or b) copy on a landing page or Home page?

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    Both.

    You of course want to have copy there from a pure SEO standpoint, but also remember that people may come to it when watching a video is not a good thing for them and you want to provide as much information as possible.

    Video of course is great because people enjoy watching videos and if you format it properly it can play on most modern devices.

• I want to build a community around a specific niche, kind of like you did for dads. What are your tips for getting started?

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    Don’t wait for the perfect set up before diving in. That was one mistake I made when I started http://www.digitaldads.com

    Figure out how you want to set up the community (blog, forum, FB group,etc) and then dive in and start sharing it with people.

    Don’t try to rush it because especially in the beginning it is going to build slow unless you have a REALLY hot niche that people are dying for.

    Also, more than likely there are other communities out there around your niche. Don’t try to compete with them, but work with them. There is always room for everyone.

• Your book comes out soon - what are the major themes in it, and why did you want to be an author?

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    Yup, http://www.contentrulesbook.com comes out in just under 2 months and I’m psyched.

    The major theme is that no matter what the organization is, if you want to be successful in today’s world you must have a content strategy at the heart of your marketing and PR efforts to be successful.

    We talk about our “Content Rules” and then explain them in detail with lots of examples from a variety of different businesses.

    We then go into a shallow dive of how-to create each type of major content.

    The book ends with ten case studies full of ideas you can steal to create great content on your own.

• Do you think podcasting is still a relevant way to create content?

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    Of course I do. People still crave audio and video content and podcasting is a great delivery mechanism to do so.

    While the audience that we all hoped would flock to podcasting in the early days never showed up as big as we all dreamed of, people still enjoy getting regular audio and video updates from businesses and individuals that inform or entertain them.

    My personal podcast listening has gone down since I no longer commute, but I still believe that a business or individual who wants to become a bit of an expert in their field should consider podcasting.

    We talk a bit in Content Rules about how underutilized it is in the corporate and B2B worlds where I firmly believe it is a relevant form of content.

• You're a recognized name in the social media world. How did you get to where you are today, and how would you recommend I get started with social media for my startup?

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    The short answer for how I got here is that I worked a lot and continue to do so every day.

    No one becomes an overnight success. Most are from years of hard work.

    Why do you want to use SM for your start up? Is it to get funding, customers, awareness, all of the above?

    Always remember that social media is a TOOL that you use to reach your goals. There is no silver bullet and how you use the tool depends on what you are doing. Give 10 people a hammer and tell them to do something with it and you’ll get 10 different results.

    First figure out what your goal is. THEN determine which pieces of Social Media can help you get there.

• It seems like everyone and their uncle is writing a book. Do you think it's a good idea to get more WOM for my business?

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    I think what you are really asking is, “Will writing a book raise the profile of my business?”

    You know that I believe that content is key to helping raise awareness for any business. Doesn’t matter if it is an ebook, newsletter or a good old fashion book, every piece of content helps.

    While many people are writing books right now it is a very long process from the time you come up with a proposal to the time it actually hit store shelves and unless you are a good writer or go the self publishing route there is no guarantee that it is going to help your business.

    If you have it in you to write a book and have a unique enough angle that having it in print will make people go “hey I want to buy what they are selling” then go for it.

    But, why not test the waters with something quicker and smaller first such as an ebook. That way you can write it and publish it in no time and see if your audience is looking for that type of content or not.

• How do I get more followers on my Twitter?

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    Be talking more about other people than about yourself.

    By helping people and listening.

    By not focusing on collecting followers like they are trophies.

    A great article to read would be: http://www.brasstackthinking.com/2010/09/9-ways-to-build-a-twitter-community-with-substance/

• Do you think pornography or NSFW content is a good way to attract a crowd for your site quickly?

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    Pornography is never an appropriate way unless you are in the Adult Entertainment industry.

    What each person considers “not safe for work” is very different. Should you consider something a little racey or irreverent? Perhaps. It really depends on if it is appropriate for your brand or not and only you can answer that.