Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of bookpleasures.com is honored to have as our guest David Meerman Scott author of Cashing In With Content.

David is a writer, consultant, conference speaker, and seminar leader specializing in using online content to market and sell products and services.

Good day David and thanks for agreeing to participate in our interview.

Norm:

David, please tell our readers a little bit about your personal and professional background.

David:

Thanks, Norm – it is a pleasure to be with you. I’ve spent most of my career as a marketing executive at newspaper and other content companies. I was a marketing director at Knight-Ridder—one of the largest newspaper companies in the world, publishers of the Miami Herald, Philadelphia Enquirer, San Jose Mercury News and many other papers. At Knight-Ridder and later as VP at NewsEdge Corporation I was responsible for marketing online content such as electronic news. I learned a great deal about content, what it takes to create great content and how it is used by readers. Since 2002, I have run my own business helping organizations of all kinds to use the tools and techniques of online content to make their Web sites more effective marketing tools and help them sell more goods and services as a result. My first book, Eyeball Wars, was a novel and I wanted to do a non-fiction book in my area of expertise as my second.

Norm:

Why did you want to write a book about the importance of web content? How did your book come about?

David:

I noticed that the vast majority of “Web marketing experts” and how-to books on building Web sites devote attention exclusively to Web technology, and the visual aspects like graphics, organization, and branding. As a result, the importance of content on Web sites has been under-appreciated and misunderstood. I wanted to write a book to help people at a wide variety of organizations shift the focus of their Web marketing from aesthetics to substance.

Norm:

When you talk about web site content, what exactly do you mean?

David:

Content is whatever text-based information, photographs, stories, specifications, or other data people desire that you provide on the Web. Content could be, for example, a book review (like on your site), the latest specs on a set of snow tires, or ten steps to a healthy heart. Perhaps your content is a list of every song the Grateful Dead ever played at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Or you may know the number of people in California who speak Cambodian as a first language. Your company might possess a great deal of information about a promising new technology. Maybe you track a political candidate’s issues platform and how she compares to the other candidates. You might provide your readers with lively and informative stories and photos about each of the sports teams, service organizations, and clubs offered by your school. But no matter what form it takes, corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, non-profits, and individuals all possess compelling content that could be valuable to someone right now. And, through effective content delivery, organizations can deliver a powerful marketing message at the same time.

Norm:

In your Forward to your book you state that the Web has altered the way we create, deliver and consume information. Could you briefly explain?

David:

Before the Web, content consumption was exclusively a linear pursuit. What I mean by that is you could only read a magazine or newspaper front to back. Sure you might check a table of content, an index or the card catalog at the library to find what you need, but you still had to read a lot of words to get to the good bits.  The Web allows people to instantly locate content related to whatever subject they are interested in. A good example is the book reviews that you provide, Norm. Before the Web, I could only happen across a review of a book in a newspaper or magazine. Now I enter a book’s title into a search engine and reviews from all corners of the Web appear. The flip side, of course, is that anyone can be a publisher by creating content and posting it online. What my book describes is how content-savvy organizations are harnessing the power of the Web to tell their stories to the marketplace through Web content. In effect, organizations of all kinds are now publishers in every sense of the word.

Norm:

Why do you believe that content has been ignored as an important factor in the building of a successful web site?

David:

In the early days of the Web, the technology was new and therefore organizations put technical people in charge—many called themselves “Webmasters” and they focused on the mechanics of the Web. Then advertising and graphic design agencies entered the picture and focused on branding elements like design, colors and logos. As the Web continues to develop, more and more people will understand the value of content. From my perspective, the best person to be in charge of a Web site is a journalist, not a technologist or designer. They already understand how to create a site that is content rich. I’ll take a content focus over great technology or stellar design any day. Of course the very best sites combine all three.

Norm:

What challenges or obstacles did you encounter while writing your book? How did you overcome these challenges?

David:

My book is told with case studies and interviews with marketers at innovative organizations. The biggest challenge was narrowing down the field of sites that I wanted to include! I made certain to review as many sites as possible from all sorts of organizations: big and small; companies, non-profits, political campaigns, even a rock band. Some organizations were established corporations with 100 years of history and others were upstarts. It was tough to choose the candidates to focus on, but each has a terrific story to tell about how content drives action on their site.

Norm:

How many companies did you interview for Cashing In with Content? Did you have more than twenty and if so, why did you choose the ones you included?

David:

I started by looking at over 1,000 sites and narrowed the list down to about 50 that I liked. Then I reached out to the people in charge of those sites. In large organizations that was likely to be the person in charge of marketing and in smaller organizations the top executive. Interestingly about half either didn’t respond to my request of refused to speak with me. I think that the organizations that chose not to participate didn’t want to share their secrets for success on the Web. After I did about 25 interviews, I chose the 20 that were included in the book mainly based on finding the right balance of types of organization. There are case studies included in Cashing in with Content that appeal to every kind of organization.

Norm:

Will there by any unique ways you'll be marketing your book that is different from how others authors market their books with similar themes?

David:

Well, being an expert in Web content, of course I am doing a lot of Web content marketing to promote my book. I have a Web Site,  where I offer a great deal of complimentary downloads for people who want to use content to market on the Web. I have a blog  that allows me to update content regularly. And I do some search engine marketing—ensuring that people who enter words and phrases related to Web content into Google, Yahoo and other search engines will find me and my site. I’m also doing a lot of speaking at conferences and Webinars (online seminars) and I write articles for sites of all kinds.

Norm:

How have you used the Internet to boost your career?

David:

Absolutely. You may have noticed that I use my middle name in my professional endeavors. I do this for search engine marketing purposes because there are so many David Scott’s out there. One David Scott walked on the moon and another David Scott is a World Iron Man Triathlon Champion. So to keep us straight, I use my middle name. It is amazing how may “hits” on the search engines my name now has—more than 1,000. So when I am under consideration as a conference speaker, say or I’m pitching a magazine article I want to write, anyone who runs a search on my name will find out that I have the qualifications that are required. How cool is that? You couldn’t do that in the world of paper-based information.

Norm:

What is next for David Meerman Scott and is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

David:

My main goal is to shout about Web content from the mountaintops. I’m passionate about this subject. So many Web sites are ineffective because they focus on the wrong things. I want to help people do it right. Thanks, Norm, I appreciate your help in my mission.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.