Content Inc.: How Entrepreneurs Use Content to Build Massive Audiences and Create Radically Successful Businesses (BUSINESS BOOKS) by Joe Pulizzi

The NEW Rulebook for Entrepreneurial SuccessWhat's the surest way to startup failure? Follow old, outdated rules. In Content Inc., one of today's most sought-after content-marketing strategists reveals a new model for entrepreneurial success. Simply put, it's about developing valuable content, building an audience around that content, and then creating a product for that audience. Notice a shift? Author Joe Pulizzi flips the traditional entrepreneurial approach of first creating a product and then trying to find customers. It's a brilliant reverse-engineering of a model that rarely succeeds.The radical six-step business-building process revealed in this book is smart, simple, practical, and cost-effective. And best of all, it works. It's a strategy Pulizzi used to build his own successful company, Content Marketing Institute, which has landed on Inc. magazine's list of fastest growing private companies for three years straight. It's also a strategy countless other entrepreneurs use to build their own multi-million dollar companies. Build an audience and you'll be able to sell pretty much anything you want.Today's markets are more dynamic and customers are more fickle than ever before. Why would you put all your eggs in one basket before securing a loyal customer base? Content Inc. shows you how to get customers first and develop products later. It's the best way to build a solid, long-lasting business positioned for today's content-driven world. This is the simple but profoundly successful entrepreneurial approach of one of today's most creative business minds.A pioneer of content marketing, Pulizzi has cracked to code when it comes to the power of content in a world where marketers still hold fast to traditional models that no longer work. In Content Inc., he breaks down the business-startup process into six steps, making it simple for you to visualize, launch, and monetize your own business. These steps are:• The Sweet Spot: Identify the intersection of your unique competency and your personal passion• Content Tilting: Determine how you can tilt your sweet spot to find a place where little or no competition exists• Building the Base: Establish your number-one channel for disseminating content (blog, podcast, YouTube, etc.)• Harvesting Audience: Use social-media and SEO to convert one-time visitors into long-term subscribers• Diversification: Grow your business by expanding into multiple delivery channels• Monetization: Now that your expertise is established, you can begin charging money for your products or services This model has worked wonders for Pulizzi and countless other examples detailed in the book. Connect these six pieces like a puzzle, and before you know it, you'll be running your own profitable, scalable business. Pulizzi walks you step by step through the process, based on his own success (and failures) and real-world multi-million dollar examples from multiple industries and countries. Whether you're seeking to start a brand-new business or drive innovation in an existing one, Content Inc. provides everything you need to reverse-engineer the traditional entrepreneurial model for better, more sustainable success. Joe Pulizzi is an entrepreneur, professional speaker, and podcaster. He is the founder of several startups, including the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), recognized as the fastest growing business media company by Inc. magazine in 2014. CMI produces Content Marketing World, the world's largest content marketing event, and publishes the leading content marketing magazine, Chief Content Officer. Pulizzi's book Epic Content Marketing was named one of Fortune magazine's Five Must Read Business Books of the Year. From the Back CoverInstead of throwing money away and sucking up to A-listers, now there is a better way to promote your business. It s called content marketing, and this book is a great way to master this new technique. -Guy Kawasaki, Chief evangelist of Canva and author of The Art of the Start 2.0How do you take the maximum amount of risk out of starting a business? Joe Pulizzi shows us. Fascinate your audience, then turn them into loyal fans. Content Inc. shows you how. Use it as your roadmap to startup success. -Sally Hogshead, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, How the World Sees You If you're serious about turning content into a business, this is the most detailed, honest, and useful book ever written. -Jay Baer, New York Times bestselling author of YoutilityThe approach to business taught all over the world is to create a product and then spend a bunch of money to market and sell it. Joe outlines a radically new way to succeed in business: Develop your audience first by creating content that draws people in and then watch your business sell themselves! -David Meerman Scott bestselling author of ten books including The New Rules of Sales and Service The digital age has fundamentally reshaped the cost curve for entrepreneurs. Joe describes the formula for developing a purpose-driven business that connects with an engaged and loyal audience around content. With brand, voice and audience, building and monetizing a business is easy.-Julie Fleischer, Sr. Director, Data + Content + Media, Kraft FoodsWhat if you launched a business with nothing to sell, and instead focused first on serving the needs of an audience, trusting that the 'selling' part would come later? Crazy? Or crazy-brilliant? I'd say the latter. Because in today's world, you should serve before selling.-Ann Handley, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Everybody Writes and Content Rules Today, anyone, anywhere with a passion and a focus on a content niche can build a multi-million dollar platform and business. I did it and so can you. Just follow Joe's plan and hisContent Inc. model.-John Lee Dumas, Founder, EntrepreneurOnFireThe Internet doesn't need more content. It needs amazing content. Content Inc is the business blueprint on how to achieve that. If you're in business and are tired of hearing about the need for content marketing, but want the how and the proof, Content Inc is your blueprint.-Scott Stratten, bestselling author and President of UnMarketing Inc.Content marketing is by far the best marketing strategy for every company and Joe is by far the best guru on the topic. I wish this book was available when we started our content marketing initiative. It would have saved us a huge amount of time and effort!-Scott Maxwell, Managing Partner/Founder OpenView Venture Partners About the AuthorJoe Pulizzi is founder and chief content officer for Junta42, the leading online resource for content marketing.