Form 540 Instructions 2011: Fill & Download for Free

Yes. And it is really quite all encompassing, the “Contextual Voice Commands” patent application.A Road Map For SiriOn December 9, 2010 Apple filed a patent application called Contextual Voice Commands with Apple scientists/engineers, Marcel Van Os, Gregory Novick and Scott Hertz listed as the Inventors. It seems rather likely that this patent will be granted giving the prior history of patents Apple submits:Abstract:"Among other things, techniques and systems are disclosed for implementing contextual voice commands. On a device, a data item in a first context is displayed. On the device, a physical input selecting the displayed data item in the first context is received. On the device, a voice input that relates the selected data item to an operation in a second context is received. The operation is performed on the selected data item in the second context.”http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220100312547%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20100312547&RS=DN/20100312547The Contextual Voice Command application is really the road map that will sketch out the journey Apple may take with Siri. Although I wrote quite a bit about this (privately) and the Siri Inc. purchase in December 2010 to alert people I advise, with 20/20 hindsight, we can now see the steps that lead up to the product Apple calls Siri today.Data overload warning. There is quite a bit to this patent. I have just touched upon it in this post. To bypass the things it covers in Siri today and to move to Siri's potential future, jump to the headline "Siri's Potential Future". Here are the bullet points for the future:Voice Cut And Paste"Siri, Take A Picture", Talking To The CameraAdvanced And Complex Learning ModelsTeaching Siri To Understand Movements And Other Sensor DataSiri Triggering Powerful MacrosSiri Using Voice Navigation In Unique WaysI apologize for the size of this posting but feel that there is an astounding amount of important information.Notes From The PastPatents are not products. It is important to understand, in most cases a vast majority of patents are never made into a product. However, in the case of Apple, they have a much higher ratio of implementing patents. It is important to understand that this patent application is sort of a “note from the past”, whereby a number of use cases it prescribed and predicted that are now taking places.The language of a patent application is both vague and exacting at the same time, maximizing the best coverage for the patent. Thus we are confronted with “patent speak” that can be challenging to digest. In most saves the Contextual Voice Command application is rather easier to understand now that Apple’s version of Siri is now released. It is however a very long read broken up by citations of paragraph identifiers. There is far more that I could cover, but in this posting I will limit the scope to some great points.The Contextual Voice Command application is a huge collection of use cases for Siri. This is really just about covers everything and the “kitchen sink” when it comes to the way Voice commands can dynamically structure contextual options and menus in real time. What really makes Siri very powerful is the context engine, the ability to determine, for example a voice command that says “Reply to text message” is related to the text message that Siri just notified you about. In the patent we find parts of the conceptual model Siri uses and perhaps is already taken for granted:“The contextual voice command mode allows the user to issue a command and have the action performed in the background without the user leaving the context of the currently used application. Also, many more operations are at the user's disposal without requiring space on-screen to fit more buttons or add long menus for finding such options.”The very first Detailed Description of the patent makes the case for Siri we see today. It present an idealized iPhone that is able to become a input device for a Voice Controlled User Interface:“FIGS. 1a and 1b show front and bottom views of a device 102 for performing contextual voice commands to operate the device. The data processing device 102 can be any device, such as a mobile device, with the ability to receive voice and physical inputs and perform operations in one or more applications or contexts based on the received voice and physical inputs.The data processing device 102 includes communication technology (e.g., wireless technology) for sharing information with other devices. The data processing device 102 can include a variety of integrated user interface units or can be coupled to user interface units through one or more communication ports or data links of the device.Some examples of the user interface units include but are not limited to a voice input unit, such as a microphone 106. Some examples of the user interface units include but are not limited to physical input units, such a keyboard, a mouse, a track ball, a rotary dial or wheel, a touchpad, or a touch-screen. Some examples of the user interface units include but are not limited to motion sensors, such as an accelerometer, magnetometer, or a gyroscope.Any of these user interface units can be implemented as an external unit that communicates with the data processing device 102 to provide user input using a wired or wireless communication technology. Examples of wired communication technology include Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, FireWire interface, etc. Examples of wireless communication technology include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMax, infrared, etc. Through these user interface units, the data processing device 102 can receive physical or voice inputs from the user.”The patent then goes on to express how the contextual environment is a key element:“The disclosed voice commands are contextual in that inputs, in addition to voice, that indicate different levels or types of context for the commands are considered. The contextual inputs considered can include the particular activity being performed at a particular time, a particular portion of the activity selected, or voice commands in such context.For example, contextual voice commands can be implemented in the context of the activity that a user is performing on a data processing device, such as using a particular application. For example, FIG. 1a shows data items, such as icons displayed on the display unit 108 of the data processing device 102.Each icon represents a corresponding application available to be performed on the data processing device 102. Some examples of the available icons and associated applications include but are not limited to: a phone application icon 110a, an email application icon 110b, a Web browser application icon 110c, a music player application icon 110d, a media player application icon 110e, a music download application icon 110f, an image processing application icon 110g, a geopositioning (e.g., GPS, Wi-Fi based positioning, cellular triangulation) application icon 110h, a contacts application icon 110i, a short message service (SMS) application icon 110j, a video game application icon 110k, and a text processing application 110l icon.Also, the available applications can be presented to the user using audible data items, such as recorded sounds associated with the available applications. The recorded sounds can be user recognizable speech, such as the names of the applications or simple sounds, such as a beep, a tone, a chime, etc.…Additional visual and/or audible indication can be optionally provided to include a list of normal and contextual voice commands available for the selected element of interest (640). For example, a status bar (e.g., status bar 105 in FIGS. 2b, 3a, 3b and 4) can be used to provide a visual indication of the available contextual voice commands.The list of available commands can include non-contextual commands, such as "call person," "read email," "next meeting," etc., and contextual commands, such as "send this to . . . ," "bookmark this," "remind me of this in 2 hours," "delete this," "search Web for this," etc. The contextual voice commands are recognized to be in the context of "this."The term, "this" or "item" or "current item" or "selection" or any similar identifier for the element of interest can relate to the entire displayed screen, the selected active screen, or any element on any screen, or any physical input, such as hardware buttons.The element of interest can be a data item displayed on a screen if the user touched or named the element. The element of interest can be an application specific data item (e.g., "clear list"). Also, the element of interest can be a unit presented on the screen (e.g., "this mail message").“Siri's Potential FutureWe can see the future of this technology using to do more complicated things. Some examples seem obvious, however some are rather surprising. I will point how the Patent applies to Siri 1.0 how we may see the future path Apple has planned.Voice Cut And PasteJust like the cut and paste delay in the first iPhone models we can see that Apple has a path for Voice cut And Paste. In concept this can be a very powerful process:“For example, using touch and/or voice input, the user can make a selection on any screen, such as selecting a block of text in a word processing application context. To perform context crossover for the selected block of text, the user can simply speak the predetermined trigger phrase, such as "email this to [email protected]" or "move this to Web browser" to act on the selected block of text in another context.In contrast to such contextual voice command, a touch user interface requires the user to copy and save the selected block of text, open the email application, compose a new email, find or type the email address, paste the saved block of text into the email, and press the send button. “"Siri, Take A Picture", Talking To The CameraThe ability to go to the camera mode, snap a picture and then perhaps modify the picture, for example “Red Eye” removal. This can be a very powerful feature if implemented correctly:“… image 107 can be modified using an image processing application by speaking the predetermined trigger phrase, "modify this image." In response to the contextual voice command, "modify this," the contextual voice command module searches for a list of available applications that can modify the selected image.When more than one application is available, the status bar 105 can be used to display a list of the available applications. Also, the available applications can be played as an audible list. In response to the visual or audible list of applications, the user can speak the name of the desired application to activate that application to modify the selected image.”Siri would not stop there, once you are satisfied with the picture, you can ask Siri to Text the Picture or Email it. The patent covers this possibility:“The functions or operations available for the selected element or data item of interest can include the functions associated with the active application or context. For an email element, such as an image 107 attached to an email (see FIGS. 3a and 3b), email application functions or operations are available.The image 382 can be forwarded to another email address, for example.An example command can be "email this image to [email protected].”Advanced And Complex Learning ModelsOne of the most powerful features in Siri will be the ability to learn important things over time. In fact by virtual of the fact that as of today (10/18/2011) there are about 4 Million users of Siri that in very meaningful ways are training the system on what is more relevant. Over time these systems will become quite complex. Apple predicts that there will be a number of models they will use:“ FIG. 8a is a flow diagram showing an example process 800 for implementing a best assumption or learning model. The best assumption or learning model uses usage or preference history of the user to make the best assumption. Examples of learning models can include but are not limited to: machine learning models, such as support vector machines (SVM), an inductive inference model, concept learning, decision tree learning, Bayesian learning, and others.A machine learning model can be used to develop a process to teach the data processing device to improve its performance based on accumulated data received through an input unit or stored in a database. Such machine learning models can be used to automatically produce a desired result based on rules and patterns designed from the accumulated data. The device receives user input indicating the desired element of interest and contextual voice command (810). The contextual voice command module checks a knowledge base to identify the best assumption or most likely choice of what the user intended (820).…The knowledge base 806 can include a usage history 816 related to the requested contextual voice command. For example, for the received contextual voice command, "call John," the knowledge base can include a list of persons named John and the number of times each John was called. In the example usage history 816 shown in FIG. 8b, John Doe was called the most times (e.g., 31 times).Thus, the contextual voice command module 510m identifies John Doe as the best assumption of the user's intent.Based on this identification, the contextual voice command module 510m outputs through an output unit 540 (e.g., the status bar 105 of the display unit 108) a message asking the user whether John Doe should be called. In addition, the contextual voice command module can present an audible indication of the same message. In response to this visual and/or audible indication, the user can confirm or correct the assumption. “Teaching Siri To Understand Movements And Other Sensor DataThe patent goes into a use case where a user could train Siri to understand certain device movements and gestures to be a trigger for events:“ To build the knowledge base, the user can teach the device to remember certain commands. For example, with the contextual voice command option active, the user can rotate an object by 45 degrees in an image processing application. Initially, the act of rotating the image can be performed using a positional input device.Then, the user can select this rotated object and identify it by saying "an image in 45 degree angle" to teach the device. Next time the user wants to rotate the object by 45 degrees, the user can simply say "an object rotated in 45 degrees”.Siri Triggering Powerful MacrosThe ability to program a Marco to perform a number of linked tasks could become one of the most powerful features of Siri. From a simple perspective one could choose from a menu of tasks. In an advanced mode deep details could be modified and new tasks can be created:“macros can be implemented to teach the data processing device. For example, macros can be generated by combining multiple operations into one contextual voice command. The following describes a process for generating an example macro: [0060] Data processing device enters contextual voice command mode. [0061] Contextual voice command module receives a contextual voice command that indicates macro generation, such as "learn this."[0062] Contextual voice command module receives user selection of a data item of interest and contextual voice commands for performing multiple operations, such as "use in a note," "remind me of note in 2 hours," "send note as email to contact group," etc. [0063] Contextual voice command module receives a contextual voice command that indicates end of macro generation, such as "done learning." [0064] Contextual voice command module prompts the user to name the generated macro. [0065] Contextual voice command module receives user input indicating a name for the generated macro, such as "Perform Operations." [0066] Contextual voice command module confirms association of the received name with the generated macro. [0067] End macro generation....Thus, a macro can be used to associate a sequence of operations with a descriptive name (e.g., "Perform Operations") and teach the data processing device to perform the sequence of operations in response to user utterance of the name. The next time the user desires to perform the same sequence of operations, the user can instruct the data processing device to "Perform Operations" on a selected data item of interest. This learned contextual voice command can be processed by the data processing device to perform the entire sequence of operations on the selected data item of interest. “Siri Using Voice Navigation In Unique WaysVoice based navigation seems to be a very logical extension to Siri. The patent suggest a unique use case that could give far more interesting navigations. Siri will surpass any navigation system available, one example is while in route you could ask “Siri, what is the statue I am looking at”. The patent really expands on the concept of navigation:“ In the navigation context, the orientation or position of the phone can be used to customize the contextual voice commands for providing direction to the user. The direction can be provided using GPS and a compass.For example, the user can speak the predetermined trigger phrase, such as "which way should I walk?" to receive appropriate direction from the device. The contextual voice command controller can use the GPS and compass based position of the device to provide proper audible direction to the user, such as "turn left," "walk straight," etc. In addition, the user can use the contextual voice commands to obtain directional information from the device.For example, the user can speak the predetermined trigger term, such as "what is this device pointing at" or "what am I looking at" or "What is to the left of me?" or "What is to the right of me?" or "what is ahead of me" or "what is ahead" or "what is behind me" or "which way to destination" or "how far away is destination," etc.In these examples, the orientation of the device can be a contextual element. These types of triggering phrases can be predetermined to cause the device to trigger the appropriate navigation related applications.[0076] For certain situations, such as the automobile context, in which the user is unable to provide input through a positional input device, an audible feedback mechanism can be customized for voice intensive interaction. For example, the contextual voice command controller can simplify the audible response sent from the device based on the context, such as driving context.For example, instead of the contextual voice command controller providing audible outputs, such as "We have multiple names, which one do you want?" to provide a list of choices, the audible response from the device can be narrowed to simple Yes-No scenarios. For example, the device can ask, "Do you want this? Yes or No." Such simple Yes-No response is easier for the user to use when driving, for example. “Siri And The FutureThere are more notable parts of this patent and once granted it will position Apple to be most dominant form the perspective of intellectual property. There are also a number of other patents that directly and indirectly touch upon what Siri is currently doing and may do in the future.Today Siri is in Beta. Patents are not products and much of this is open to speculation. However with this patent we may be seeing part of the future plans Apple has for Siri and it’s siblings. If this is the case, the next versions may be more astounding then the current version.

Do you know what this is?(Image source: Wikipedia)This, my friend, is one of the greatest examples of content marketing of all time.I bet, when you hear “content marketing,” you think about blogs, Twitter, Facebook and viral YouTube videos.But, it’s been around far longer than the internet.Why?Because content marketing is all about storytelling - and humans have told stories for as long as they could speak.Our attention will always go to those who tell great stories. That’s the reason why in 2015, blogs, like the one by Tim Ferriss and movies, like Jurassic World, do so well - and why Kevin Spacey is a keynote speaker at a marketing conference.When Hasbro and Marvel cooperated to launch their comic book series, “G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero!”, in 1982, their mareting strategy was simple. They wanted was to create what Kenner Toy Company's Star Wars action figures already had - a rich back story for their action toys.Within 2 months of releasing the first comic book, about 20% of their target audience, boys between the age of 5 and 12, had 2 or more G.I. Joe toys. And, the comic book only had 2 stories.7 years later, the series was one of Marvel’s strongest titles and 2 out of 3 boys in the same age category owned at least one G.I. Joe action figure.How’s that for using content to market a product?A lot has changed since then and what worked back in the 80’s won’t necessarily work today. However, with new marketing channels, such as social media, popping up almost daily, opportunity is knocking.So, let’s take a look at what content marketing means now in my content marketing guide.DefinitionAccording to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is defined as:... a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.Their definition is solid, in my opinion, but could use some clarity.It means that content marketing is a long-term strategy, based on building a strong relationship with your target audience, by giving them high quality content that is very relevant to them on a consistent basis.Eventually, when customers make a purchase decision, their loyalty already lies with you and they will purchase your product and prefer it over competitors’ options.In contrast to one-off advertising, content marketing shows that you actually care about your customers and today, more than ever, they want to feel cared about, because the world is louder and noisier than ever before and attention is our most valuable resource.Keep that in mind, while we take a look at what types of content marketing there are.OverviewWhen Joe Pulizzi founded the Content Marketing Institute, in 2010, I don’t think he knew exactly how spot on he would be, let alone how successful CMI would become.In 2015, they were one of the top resources, when it comes to content marketing statistics. And, they’ve created a great video overview of the evolution of content marketing:The History of Content Marketing:You can already see that the activity has been around longer than the term itself, since it’s predicated on high quality content and storytelling.There’s still plenty to learn from those first offline content marketing activities that pre-date the internet, social media and the like.However, the online part can hardly be ignored for any successful content marketing campaign today.Because storytelling has changed over the years, the attention of people is found in more places than a few years ago and marketers have to make sure that they tell stories in the year we actually live in.Now that you have a good idea what content marketing stands for, you might wonder: “How can I succeed at content marketing myself?”I’m glad you asked!There are 3 major categories where you can put content marketing efforts these days: online, offline and hybrids.The best way to learn how to be a great content marketer is by example.That’s why I’ll show you 15 great examples of content marketing in all categories. Then, you can model them, tweak them and apply them for your own business.Putting age before beauty, we’ll start with offline first.OfflineWhile the comic book industry is even more on fire today than it was in the 80s, that can’t be said for all of the offline channels where brands used to tell stories.But, all of the lessons learned from them can be translated to today, in one way or another.I’ll walk you through 3 examples from content marketing history and then show you their modern day equivalents.Offline Example #1 - Comic books and blogsStan Lee and his crew created Marvel, as we know it, in the 1960s. They tried to tell the best stories that they could, combining visual content with a great story. Their initial comics have consistently sold millions of copies each month.Marvel still dominates the comic book space today, with not only a crazy market share of about 30%, but also sky high order numbers for individual comic book issues:And, even though the comic book industry made a whopping $540 million last year, it absolutely pales when compared to the sales of merchandise around those books.Last year alone, Disney, who bought Marvel in 2009, recorded sales of $40 billion dollars, just from merchandise.Again: They made $40 billion from selling mugs, plastic figures and t-shirts.This number doesn’t include any money generated from movies or theme park entrance fees. Just merchandise.Mind-blowing.That means:Good storytelling alone = a crapload of money, but...Good storytelling + great products = 80 craploads of moneyIn Marvel’s case, the story was the product and then additional merchandise came along the way. And, their target audience gobbled it all up. Even today, the story should come long before the product.By far, the easiest way to tell great stories, around which you can build great products, is with blog posts.You don’t need artists, painters and a printing press to put out comics any longer. If you’re talented at drawing or creating witty stories, you can outsource the other part for as little as five bucks and create high quality content that attracts hundreds of thousands of readers each month.All you have to do is release a strip a day.Aggregating news around comics is just as valuable.Remember, the content has to be valuable and relevant to your target audience.That’s why brands, like Excedrin, celebrate major successes, by developing a content marketing strategy for their headache pills.On their migraine blog, Excedrin provides helpful advice for all migraine sufferers, free software to help track the source of the problem and coupons for loyal customers and readers.But, this kind of marketing strategy isn’t just for big brands. Single individuals can create huge audiences this way.James Altucher is a great example. After blogging for 5 years and telling stories every week, his blog posts now routinely get thousands of social media shares.Over time, he’s built a huge following and all it takes now to sell his books or info products is an email to his 200,000 person email list.Since running a blog costs next to nothing, it’s a great way to test if your stories are good already or if they need work and you can always use it as a channel to provide helpful advice to the audience in your niche.What’s more, you can do this before ever selling anything, building a loyal relationship with your audience, long before you have customers.The result will be a long line of eager friends, waiting to buy from you when you launch.Offline Example #2 - From soap operas to NetflixDo you know why soap operas are called soap operas?The first soap opera aired in 1930. It was called “Painted Dreams” and ran on the radio, 5 days per week, in the morning and early afternoon.Primary target audience: housewives.The open-ended shows, which often presented a cliffhanger at the end of each episode, showed very dramatic elements, previously only known from operas.While listening to the show, most of the housewives cleaned their houses. Naturally, the commercial industry jumped aboard the ship and, you guessed it, aired soap commercials during show breaks.(Image source: Wikipedia)The stories sold the products and the products were connected with activities that led customers to listen to more stories.Okay, so how about today?Well, any ideas what’s similar to a soap opera today? Cliffhangers...binge watching episodes...opera-like drama…Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like Netflix?With 60 million subscribers, the $10 per month subscription streaming service saw around $6 billion in revenues in 2015.A few years ago, Netflix started producing its own original shows, such as House of Cards, and, recently, Daredevil.Instead of just bringing great TV shows and movies to users all over the world, the company decided to start telling its own stories, to create more awareness for the brand and to expand like crazy in its first few years.Daredevil is fully financed and produced by Netflix and, who would’ve thought, is a Marvel classic.See how the content marketing wheel keeps turning round and round?Note: Netflix has since gone on to turn more Marvel comics into TV shows, the latest being Jessica Jones.Offline Example #3 - From sneaky advertising tricks to viral commercialsWhen Hasbro released their comic book series around G.I. Joe, they faced a dilemma.They wanted to run TV commercials, to promote their action figure toys and comic books, which was a new concept.But, TV regulations stated that toy commercials had to show the toys and only include up to 10 seconds of animation, in order to not mislead kids into thinking the toys could do more than they did.In order to circumvent this problem, they decided to focus on the story, not the product. They completely took out the toys and just promoted the comic book series.Never before had a TV commercial solely promoted comics, and, thanks to bending the rules, Hasbro was able to show 30 fully animated seconds of material.The original commercial has now made it to YouTube.But, back then, TV commercials themselves were still working. In today’s ADD world, where our attention spans have shrunk to that of a goldfish, TV ads hardly capture us any more.What does spark our attention are viral commercials, like the ones for the Super Bowl.Consider this one from Volkswagen, a German car brand, that ran during the 2014 Super Bowl:Volkswagen Super Bowl Ad:Not only was it seen by hundreds of millions of viewers during the Super Bowl itself, but it's also become a viral video on YouTube, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and social media shares.The best part: It will continue to do so. Every Super Bowl commercial the company creates will become an online asset and collect views for years to come.(VW’s Super Bowl commercial from 2011)Customers are happy, because they can spend hours entertaining themselves and Volkswagen is happy because it nurtures the relationship with its target audience while the executives are sleeping.OnlineOkay, so offline translates to online, one way or another, but hasn’t content marketing really been all about the interwebs from the beginning?Yup, it has.Brands are huge on it and some do a pretty good job.Which is why it’s time to look at some of the best examples of content marketing that originated online.Online Example #1 - The first viral video everBack in 2005, when Google Video was still, well, Google Video and people used to download videos to watch them offline, the first viral video happened.IT company, LiveVault, hired two independent marketers, who decided to make an entertaining video for them that would stand out among IT professionals, their target audience.After all, disk-based backup systems for corporate data were not very sexy, so they decided to go for a few laughs.John Cleese, famous actor and comedian, made sure that they got them.Cleese demonstrates the severe consequences of a fictional disease called “Backup Trauma” and leaves the viewer with several options to continue exploring the company’s products and services by clicking buttons at the end of the video.It was great content, because it was funny and interactive, yet it still promoted their services.The video was downloaded almost 300,000 times in the first few months after its release - and, remember, this was 10 years ago!Of course, it’s gotten harder to stand out, with so many videos published daily. But, if you create high quality video content, you can still land a hit!Online Example #2 - What is code?“What is code?” was an article published by Bloomberg Business Week in June 2015. Let me rephrase that. It’s not an article.It’s a book.The article is the longest piece they’ve ever published. Its 38,000 words.Yet, they didn’t publish it as a book. Or, as a magazine. Or, in a newspaper.They just released it online. For free.It has animated graphics, chapters, sections, examples, notes, statistics and, and, and...The result? 93,000 social media shares. That’s 93,000 people who now know about Bloomberg.And, they’re likely to return to read more and. to eventually, one day, become customers by buying a magazine subscription.Will it hurt them that they published it for free? I doubt it.Pro tip: You don’t even have to go as nuts as Bloomberg. Look at this 7,000 word productivity guide on how to stop multitasking and focus on what matters.It’s an example of an expanded list post, as Brian Dean from Backlinko would call it.You know all those long list posts, right? Like this one from Boost Blog Traffic with 77 traffic building resources?Instead of just listing out all of the items, simply adding detailed instructions to each list point will make your post 10 times more valuable - and, before you know, it you’ll have a great piece of long form content. Brian is the master at this.Online Example #3 - InfographicsYou probably already know that I’m a huge fan of infographics. On KISSmetrics, we’ve published 63 infographics to date.They are a neat way to bundle up valuable information, summarize it and present it in a clear way.Remember, a solid content marketing strategy isn't only about written content. it's also about visual content, audio content and more.But, when should a prospective blog post become visual content? With infographics, it's all about taking a subject that might be hard to explain in words and explaining it with images.It’s easier to understand how much click-through rates for email outgun Facebook and Twitter, when shown as ounces in a beer bottle, rather than just saying, “email has more engagement.”(a great infographic from Devesh Design)They usually get lots of shares and the reference section is a great way to load up on influencers that you’d like to connect with.They’ll often be happy to share it with their audience, in their blogs and on social media, since you mentioned them.Plus, when your audience has future questions about the same topic, guess who they will turn to?You.“Let me look up that email infographic guy again, maybe he has something on this as well.”That’s exactly what you want.Online Example #4 - PodcastsPodcasts are the radio of the 21st century and a very powerful content marketing tool. There's just less advertising and more value.Most podcasts usually have a sponsor or advertise a product at the beginning and at the end of the show, but that’s it.People love them, because they can listen to their idols and heros spill their guts about whatever topic they’re interested in.When I listen to Pat Flynn interviewing Ramit Sethi, I deepen my relationship with both of them. I get to know them more and, since they’re helping me out, I’ll be happy to turn to them in the future for further advice.Sometimes, I might pay for that advice and that’s fine.If you think interviewing people is a waste of your time, you couldn’t be more wrong. John Lee Dumas, host and founder of Entrepreneur on Fire, is the best counter-example.All that he has done is to interview one entrepreneur per day and press publish. That way, he built a huge vault of recordings pretty fast - and massive success right along with it.Check out his income report from one month:(see the full income report here)A million dollar business from picking up a microphone and calling a bunch of people on Skype.Not too shabby, huh?Online Example #5 - Guides and ebooksThink through this scenario with me.You’ve done what few people do and have created an actual product for your online business.You’ve created a sales page and send it around. But, no one buys :(There’s something missing. Then, it hits you.Copywriting! You need to learn copywriting. Easy enough, you just turn to Google, right?Type in “learn copywriting” and voila, Copyblogger turns up.Hit that link and hold onto your chair. Look what they’ve done:That’s insane. It’s not a PDF. Or a blog post. Or some paid course.It’s a series of 16 ebooks, PLUS a 20 part course.All for free!You can learn copywriting in a week, just from these guides. If you ever need more, it’s highly likely that Copyblogger will be your first stop.Online Example #6 - Red Bull StratosThis one’s remarkable. It’s like Red Bull created its own, mini version of the Super Bowl.On October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver, jumped out of a hot air balloon floating in the stratosphere. He basically jumped towards the Earth from space.He fell down 24 miles at 843 mph. He broke Mach 1 and 3 world records right along with it - the first human to break Mach 1 without any engineered vehicle, highest balloon travel and highest jump.Never has anyone done this before.The sole sponsor of the event: Red Bull.They made history - and marketed it.Not only did the event get insane media coverage and buckets of social media activity, but it also went into the Guinness Book of World Records.Excitement, gripping suspense, entertainment at its best and, needless to say, a total home run for Red Bull.Online Example #7 - GoPro’s sponsorships“Hey, when you surf that next huge wave, want to film it? Here’s a camera that’s perfect to do so!”GoPro is wherever sports is, which is pretty much everywhere.Since their product is a way to create visual content, the best way to market it is to show how great it is at doing what it does.Therefore, they sponsor all kinds of events, athletes and artists, like surfers, bike racers and even Rubiks’ cube jugglers.Their marketing strategy is to hand people cameras and let them do what they do.Their product does the rest for them. It basically markets itself.All they have to do is edit the video, throw some cool music on top of it and boom, millions of views:I don’t know how many times I watched that video. But, I'm sure that you guess what camera I bought when I went to Mexico on a vacation with friends.Online Example #8 - Social Media CampaignsThe important part to get right, when running a social media campaign, is to respect the context of the platform.You can’t publish a series of 10 tweets on Twitter. No one would see them all. Neither does video work on Instagram.If you decide to go all in on a specific social media channel, be sure that you know how users use the platform.Disney decided to run a Twitter campaign. But, on Twitter, you only have a few seconds to catch your audience’s attention.They did a great job at it, by playing a pun on the way that the platform works.Since Twitter limits tweets to 140 characters per message, Disney set out to create the “Ultimate Twitter Hashtag in 140 Characters.”(way to go Disney)That’s Disney characters. They rounded up 140 of their performers to form a hashtag symbol, snapped a photo of it and tweeted it out.The result: over 2000 retweets and 3000 favorites to date.So, be sure to research the social media platform that you’re running your campaign on. It’s not only about providing valuable, high-quality content, but also providing it in the right form.Online Example #9 - British Airways and the live billboardRemember how I talked about billboards in another guide?Well, they still work, if you use them right.British Airways came up with a really cool way of doing so. They installed a video billboard in London's Piccadilly Circus that showed a kid who would point up to the sky every time a BA machine flew over.Not only that, but the billboard would then also show the flight information and number.(the #lookup campaign has reached 350 million views)Imagine seeing your sister’s plane as it leaves for a trip to Europe and having that kid point to it.Doesn’t it make you wonder: “Hm, wouldn’t it be cool if my family could see my next flight like this, too?”British Airways just got to you. All it took was a few LEDs, a creative way of packaging flight information and the natural sense of wonder that flying still carries today.Online Example #10 - Ford’s text message marketing campaignHow annoying is going to a car dealer, where you’ll be immediately painted into a corner by the next sleazy salesman?Not any more. A Ford dealership offered a “text-for-more-info” service for its customers. They see the poster, text FORD to a certain number, and can then choose the model that they want to learn more about.It’s a simple matter of providing information to save you some time. Don’t we all value our time more and more?What a nice change of pace it is to have a company not shove their products in our face, but instead give us the time to think about it for as long as we want.Although Ford would follow up 3 times, in case you didn’t respond, it’s still a great way of giving me control over the experience.This marketing strategy landed Ford a 15.4% conversion rate.HybridsFinally, I want to show you 2 examples of what I call hybrid content marketing. I already showed you that online translates to offline and vice versa.Some companies already use this principle and build their content marketing strategy around that.You can use online as a gateway to offline and the other way around.For example, you could use social media to drive awareness to an offline event or run an offline event and take it online.Hybrid Example #1 - Gary Vaynerchuk calls fansGary is a true content marketing master.This guy is always out to provide value. Plus, he hustles about 27 hours per day.When he was on his way to an interview with Chase Jarvis in 2013, he had a few minutes to spare while going from the airport to the studio.He tweeted out a simple message for his fans to text him their cell number and he’d call them.Out of thin air, it seems, he created a mini offline event and used his massive 1.18 million Twitter following to drive awareness to it.Within seconds, he had several people respond, called each of them for about a minute or two and then moving on to the next one.Such a simple gesture, but, as Gary later explained, a short 1 minute call can get him another loyal soldier in his army for life.Hybrid Example #2 - Tweets during a showThe show that Gary did was called Chase Jarvis Live and it went on for 90 minutes.During the live show, not only did they take questions from the in-studio audience, but also asked people to submit questions via Twitter, using a specific hashtag.Instead of a boring offline event for a exclusive minority, they suddenly had a worldwide show, in which anyone could participate.Just the chance of having my own, personal question answered, makes it so much more likely for me to be engaged in the show, listen closely and actually process the value that’s already being given to me.The hybrid form of content strategy is becoming more and more popular, with apps and social media platforms, like Periscope, Snapchat and others, making it easier than ever to take online offline and the other way around.ConclusionPhew. Lots of examples. And, these are only the tip of the iceberg. I hope they give you a good idea of what it takes to be a good content marketer.What’s more, I really hope that you see that it doesn’t take a huge marketing budget. Today, anyone can use content marketing to their advantage.Before long, we will all have to, if we want to remain successful, because the world gets noisier each day.Those who focus their energy on telling good stories, no matter on which platform or in what context, will win in the long run.Yelling louder won’t help you any more, only yelling better things.So what’s your story? Are you using content marketing already?If you have any other great examples I’ve missed, please tell me about them in the comments.

Putting age before beauty, we’ll start with offline first.OfflineWhile the comic book industry is even more on fire today, than it was in the 80s, that can’t be said for all of the offline channels where brands used to tell stories.But, all of the lessons learned from them can be translated to today, in one way or another.I’ll walk you through 3 examples from content marketing history and then show you their modern day equivalents.Offline Example #1 – Comic books and blogsStan Lee and his crew created Marvel, as we know it, in the 1960s. They tried to tell the best stories that they could. Their initial comics have consistently sold millions of copies each month.Marvel still dominates the comic book space today, with not only a crazy market share of about 30%, but also sky high order numbers for individual comic book issues:And, even though the comic book industry made a whopping $540 million last year, it absolutely pales when compared to the sales of merchandise around those books.Last year alone, Disney, who bought Marvel in 2009, recorded sales of $40 billion dollars, just from merchandise.Again: They made $40 billion from selling mugs, plastic figures and t-shirts.This number doesn’t include any money generated from movies or theme park entrance fees. Just merchandise.Mind-blowing.That means:Good storytelling alone = a crapload of money, but…Good storytelling + great products = 80 craploads of moneyIn Marvel’s case, the story was the product and then additional merchandise came along the way. Even today, the story should come long before the product.By far, the easiest way to tell great stories, around which you can build great products, is with blogs.You don’t need drawers, painters and a printing press to put out comics any longer. If you’re talented at drawing or creating witty stories, you can outsource the other part for as little as five bucks and create a blog that attracts hundreds of thousands of readers each month.All you have to do is release a strip a day.Aggregating news around comics is just as valuable.Remember, the content has to be valuable and relevant to the target customer group.That’s why brands, like Excedrin, celebrate major successes, by developing a content strategy for their headache pills.On their migraine blog, Excedrin provides helpful advice for all migraine sufferers, free software to help track the source of the problem and coupons for loyal customers and readers.But, this kind of marketing isn’t just for big brands. Single individuals can create huge audiences this way.James Altucher is a great example. After blogging for 5 years and telling stories every week, his blog posts now routinely get thousands of shares.Over time, he’s built a huge following and all it takes now to sell his books or info products is an email to his 200,000 person email list.Since running a blog costs next to nothing, it’s a great way to test if your stories are good already or if they need work and you can always use it as a channel to provide helpful advice to the audience in your niche.What’s more, you can do this before ever selling anything, building a loyal relationship with your audience, long before you have customers.The result will be a long line of eager friends, waiting to buy from you when you launch.Offline Example #2 – From soap operas to NetflixDo you know why soap operas are called soap operas?The first soap opera aired in 1930. It was called “Painted Dreams” and ran on the radio, 5 days per week, in the morning and early afternoon.Primary audience: housewives.The open-ended shows, which often presented a cliffhanger at the end of each episode, showed very dramatic elements, previously only known from opera plays.While listening to the show, most of the housewives cleaned their houses. Naturally, the commercial industry jumped aboard the ship and, you guessed it, aired soap commercials during show breaks.(Image source: Wikipedia)The stories sold the products and the products were connected with activities that led customers to listen to more stories.Okay, so how about today?Well, any ideas what’s similar to a soap opera today? Cliffhangers…binge watching episodes…opera-like drama…Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like Netflix?With 60 million subscribers, the $10 per month subscription streaming service saw around $6 billion in revenues in 2015.A few years ago, Netflix started producing its own original shows, such as House of Cards, and, recently, Daredevil.Instead of just bringing great TV shows and movies to users all over the world, the company decided to start telling its own stories, to create more awareness for the brand and to expand like crazy in its first few years.Daredevil is fully financed and produced by Netflix and, who would’ve thought, a Marvel classic.See how the content marketing wheel keeps turning round and round?Note: Netflix has since gone on to turn more Marvel comics into TV shows, the latest being Jessica Jones.Offline Example #3 – From sneaky advertising tricks to viral commercialsWhen Hasbro released their comic book series around G.I. Joe, they faced a dilemma.They wanted to run TV commercials, to promote their action figure toys and comic books, which was a new concept.But, TV regulations stated that toy commercials had to show the toys and only include up to 10 seconds of animation, in order to not mislead kids into thinking the toys could do more than they did.In order to circumvent this problem, they decided to focus on the story, not the product. They completely took out the toys and just promoted the comic book series.Never before had a TV commercial solely promoted comics, and, thanks to bending the rules, Hasbro was able to show 30 fully animated seconds of material.The original commercial has now made it to YouTube.But, back then, TV commercials themselves were still working. In today’s ADD world, where our attention spans have shrunk to that of a goldfish, TV ads hardly capture us any more.What does spark our attention are viral commercials, like the ones for the Super Bowl.Consider this one from Volkswagen, a German car brand, that ran during the 2014 Super Bowl:Volkswagen Super Bowl Ad:Not only was it seen by hundreds of millions of viewers during the Super Bowl itself, but it’s also become a viral video on YouTube, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.The best part: It will continue to do so. Every Super Bowl commercial the company creates will just become an online asset and collect views for years to come.(VW’s Super Bowl commercial from 2011)Customers are happy, because they can spend hours entertaining themselves and Volkswagen is happy because it nurtures the relationship with its fans while the executives are sleeping.OnlineOkay, so offline translates to online one way or another, but hasn’t content marketing really been all about the interwebs from the beginning?Yup, it has.Brands are huge on it and some do a pretty good job.Which is why it’s time to look at some of the best examples of content marketing that originated online.Online Example #1 – The first viral video everBack in 2005, when Google Video was still, well, Google Video and people used to download videos to watch them offline, the first viral video happened.IT company, LiveVault, hired two independent marketers, who decided to make an entertaining video for them that would stand out among IT professionals, their target group.After all, disk-based backup systems for corporate data are not very sexy, so they decided to go for a few laughs.John Cleese, famous actor and comedian, made sure that they got them.Cleese demonstrates the severe consequences of a fictional disease called “Backup Trauma” and leaves the viewer with several options to continue exploring the company’s products and services by clicking buttons at the end of the video.It was great content, because it was funny and interactive, yet it still promoted their services.The video was downloaded almost 300,000 times in the first few months after its release – and, remember, this was 10 years ago!Of course, it’s gotten harder to stand out, with so many videos published daily. But, if you create solid video content, you can still land a hit!Online Example #2 – What is code?“What is code?” is an article published by Bloomberg Business Week in June 2015. Let me rephrase that. It’s not an article.It’s a book.The article is the longest piece they’ve ever published. Its 38,000 words.Yet, they didn’t publish it as a book. Or as a magazine. Or in a newspaper.They just released it online. For free.It has animated graphics, chapters, sections, examples, notes, statistics and, and, and…The result? 93,000 social shares. That’s 93,000 people who now know about Bloomberg.And, they’re likely to return to read more, and to eventually, one day, become customers by buying a magazine subscription.Will it hurt them that they published it for free? I doubt it.Pro tip: You don’t even have to go as nuts as Bloomberg. Look at this 7,000 word productivity guide on how to stop multitasking and focus on what matters.It’s an example of an expanded list post, as Brian Dean from Backlinko would call it.You know all those long list posts, right? Like this one from Boost Blog Traffic with 77 traffic building resources?Instead of just listing out all of the items, simply adding detailed instructions to each list point will make your post 10 times more valuable – and, before you know, it you’ll have a great, long piece of content. Brian is the master at this.Online Example #3 – InfographicsYou probably already know that I’m a huge fan of infographics. On KISSmetrics, we’ve published 63 infographics to date.They are a neat way to bundle up valuable information, summarize it and present it in a clear way.It’s easier to understand how much click-through rates for email outgun Facebook and Twitter, when shown as ounces in a beer bottle, rather than just saying, “email has more engagement”.(a great infographic from Devesh Design)They usually get lots of shares and the reference section is a great way to load up on influencers you’d like to connect with.They’ll often be happy to share it with their audience, since you mentioned them.Plus, when your audience has future questions about the same topic, guess who they will turn to?You.“Let me look up that email infographic guy again, maybe he has something on this as well.”That’s exactly what you want.Online Example #4 – PodcastsPodcasts are the radio of the 21st century. There’s just less advertising and more value.Most podcasts usually have a sponsor or advertise a product at the beginning and at the end of the show, but that’s it.People love them, because they can listen to their idols and heros spill their guts about whatever topic they’re interested in.When I listen to Pat Flynn interviewing Ramit Sethi, I deepen my relationship with both of them. I get to know them more and, since they’re helping me out, I’ll be happy to turn to them in the future for further advice.Sometimes, I might pay for that advice and that’s fine.If you think interviewing people is a waste of your time, you couldn’t be more wrong. John Lee Dumas, host and founder of Entrepreneur on Fire, is the best counter-example.All that he has done is to interview one entrepreneur per day and press publish. That way, he built a huge vault of recordings pretty fast – and massive success right along with it.Check out his income report from one month:(see the full income report here)A million dollar business from picking up a microphone and calling a bunch of people on Skype.Not too shabby, huh?Online Example #5 – Guides and ebooksThink through this scenario with me.You’ve done what few people do and have created an actual product for your online business.You’ve created a sales page and send it around. But, no one buysThere’s something missing. Then, it hits you.Copywriting! You need to learn copywriting. Easy enough, you just turn to Google, right?Type in “learn copywriting” and voila, Copyblogger turns up.Hit that link and hold onto your chair. Look what they’ve done:That’s insane. It’s not a PDF. Or a blog post. Or some paid course.It’s a series of 16 ebooks, PLUS a 20 part course.All for free!You can learn copywriting in a week, just from these guides. If you ever need more, it’s highly likely that Copyblogger will be your first stop.