As you’re well aware, sequels are almost always highly unsatisfying. So too, if we tell the same story as our competitor but with a slightly better punch line, we simply create sequels.

Had Hollywood been customer-oriented (providing entertainment) rather than product-oriented (making movies), would it have gone through the fiscal purgatory that it did?”

And in content marketing, your stories are your “pillars of content.” They are the WHAT of what you are going to say to your personas.

A good consultant will: Bring the experience of previous engagements and help you avoid the pitfalls that are inevitable in setting any new large effort Help uncover your unique conversation Devise the execution plan Reset expectations among the team,

Sample tools in this space include simple A/B testing tools like Google’s Website Optimizer, to sophisticated testing and targeting tools such as Adobe Omniture, Autonomy Optimost, and

Christopher Vogler took Campbell’s structure, modernized it for today’s audiences, and reduced it down to 12 stages in his book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters.

from simple content management tools such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Movable Type — to enterprise content management systems (CMS) such as Sitecore, Tridion, and Interwoven.

such as Wufoo or Google Docs, to sophisticated lead management and nurturing tools such as Marketo, Eloqua, and Manticore.

Differentiate means telling a DIFFERENT STORY — not the same story told incrementally better.