In 1998, I became the investment club guide for About.com. My responsibilities included the creation of at least one original article per week on the topic of investing or investment clubs, as well as development of the e-newsletter for the subscribers of that channel.

I absolutely loved it. Every piece of content I created scored more traffic. The formula seemed so easy … just create article after article answering questions about investment clubs and the audience grew and grew.

About.com had hundreds of guides like me covering almost every topic imaginable. By the early 2000s, About.com was one of the largest websites (by audience traffic) in the world. At that time, it was all about scale … creating content for everybody. Yahoo did it. Microsoft did it. Excite.com did it (I owned stock in that little disaster).

It was about scale until it wasn’t about scale.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders how we handle filling big shoes. We discuss recent reader revenue moves from CNN and the Guardian, and why Facebook may have nothing to fear from ad blockers. In other news, we debate whether content marketing is in crisis or on the verge of its biggest opportunity yet. Our rants and raves cover audience building and how the flight to video could hurt publishers; then we close with an example of the week on the Electric Boat Company.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders the nature of beginnings. I make a big announcement about my future – and the future of the podcast – while the future of advertising itself is still up in the air. We discuss how LinkedIn is botching its big original content opportunity, and explore new blogging research that says longer posts are better. Our rants and raves cover the power of audience and a frustrating post from Mumbrella; then we wrap up with a This Old Marketing example on Lloyd’s List.

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Almost eight years ago to the day was one of the worst days of my life.

The business I had started 2.5 years earlier was on its last leg. It wasn’t just that we weren’t making money, but we were losing enough money that I started to question whether our family would have enough to pay certain bills.

The downtrend was apparent, but on this day … nail met coffin.

This was the day that one of our biggest clients, the one we delivered our best results to and was the most revered of all our case studies, decided not to renew our service (we provided qualified leads for content agencies).

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders how we compare ourselves to others. In the news, we talk about a new initiative from three marketing associations that puts the blame for bad online advertising directly on the shoulders of publishers. We also discuss media companies’ rankings for brand loyalty – though these aren’t the media companies you’re looking for. Our rants and raves include Nielsen’s bid at measuring Netflix, and what we can learn from one-hit wonders; then we wrap up with an example of the week on the “Gary Vaynerchuk” of sustainable farming.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders how we prepare for what’s next. We discuss the Brandwatch/BuzzSumo acquisition and Snapchat’s new location-based services. Mercedes launches its own “killing marketing” model for its integrated content brands, and one article format rises above them all. Our rants and raves include a new marketing model and transparency; then we close with an example of the week from Alcoa.
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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders spurts of success. In the news, we discuss Google’s olive branch to publishers (and why it may not mean what we think it means), Amazon’s blitz on the advertising business, and Blue Apron’s decision to double-down on podcasting. Our rants and raves include Lloyds Bank’s big bet on content marketing and Amazon’s cautionary tale on business models; then we close the show with an example of the week on The Points Guy.

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. If you enjoy our show, we would love it if you would rate it or post a review on iTunes.

In this week’s episode

This week, Robert ponders the nature of our personal power – and how we should choose to wield it. In the news, we discuss the week that was Advertising Week. Google and Amazon begin the war to end all wars, while Twitter is wasting everyone’s time by going to 280 characters. Our rants and raves include Time’s new membership model and Nielsen ratings; then we wrap up with an example of the week on the Chagrin Falls Film Festival.

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