When 2010 arrives, it’s likely you’ll have some decisions to make: perhaps it’s the direction of your content marketing, selecting a new piece of technology, finding the right marketing agency or trying to hire a writer for your website. Gathering advice from colleagues has always made a lot of sense – and some companies even have their own go-to guy that’s considered a “directional guru” of sorts.

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of placing a company’s path in the hands of a so-called corporate visionary. I’ve worked in places that adopted the opinion of certain individuals a little too blindly (sometimes because that person was the boss – which makes it tough) and the results were less than spectacular. The lack of mind-blowing success would often get blamed on the execution (in other words: everyone else) rather than looking critically at whether the chief idea ever had any traction to begin with.

While this strip from Dilbert.com takes it to the extreme, this is how I’ve felt about the legitimacy behind some visionaries and the decision-making process that followed:

I should say, it can be fantastic to have a visionary at your company. If they’re legit in their abilities, they can motivate the whole team, get the company on an exciting path and really set your business apart. However, you need to make sure that:

a) … these individuals deserve their reputations. So, they had a GREAT idea back in 2002. What have they done since? What real contributions did they make this year? Make sure you’re not praying to false business idols.

b) … you back big ideas with data. Identify the difference between thoughtful, experienced insight vs. buzz words, gut feelings and enthusiasm

c) … you listen to the ideas, logic and information from various team members and don’t simply take your visionary’s word as the lone source of gospel

d) … if you’re the boss and the visionary that you have a sense of the work you create every time you have a “bright idea.” Starting, stopping, flipping and switching directions isn’t just wasteful of time and money, it strains the patience and sanity of those who are actually carrying out the work

In 2010, we hope your business combines passion with logic, daring with caution and direction with teamwork!

Gobble Up These Ideas! Image from Zazzle.com

Thanksgiving is mere days away – and just as we suggested that Halloween can inspire your content, so can the All-Mighty Turkey Day. Articles, webinars, widgets, blog posts, podcasts – you name it – are at your disposal to spread some very timely tidbits to readers (just the sort of thing they’re looking for right now)!

Short on ideas? Here are a five free content marketing tips from us to you!

Let Them Gobble Up Some Thanksgiving Tips
Provide Thanksgiving tips for your readers that relate to your business. There’s something for everyone – let us show you: Run a daycare? Provide how-to’s on some easy kids’ crafts for centrepieces. Do you make soaps and lotions? Tell people how to put together a nice collection of bathroom goodies for guests coming over for dinner. If you’re an accountant, now may be a good time to show people how they can budget for Christmas purchases over the next 30 days.

Trivia: Thanksgiving Style
Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean people aren’t keen to learn something new. Have a bookstore? Promote a new American history book by providing snippets. Are you an aromatherapy guru? Let people know how the traditional smells of Thanksgiving (like pumpkin, apple and cranberry) can impact their mood. Sell movies? Put together a list of the biggest “turkeys” out there (hint: Battlefield Earth).

Give Thanks – Your Way
Take a moment to send a special message to your clients or readers to thank them for their business and interest. Be sure it’s done in a style that suits your corporate culture. Maybe your team is known for being a bit goofy. Any chance your CEO is willing to dress up as turkey for a Thanksgiving video? Or maybe a heartfelt blog post is more your style? A little good will goes a long way!

Make An App For That
Give your customers something to be thankful for. If you have the means and if you can find a tie-in to your business, consider developing a mobile app or a widget people can use this time of year. How about an iPhone app or online calculator that lets you select a menu and time the cooking of your food so it’s all ready at the same moment for serving? Maybe an app that lets people “Pilgrim themselves” – a quick online program that allows people to place pilgrim hats and garb on Facebook and Twitter pictures. If you’re reading this today, you probably don’t have time to launch these ideas this year – but maybe these can give you inpsiration for next Thanksgiving – or even this Christmas!

Treat Them to a Thanksgiving Contest
People love prizes, free stuff and pretty much any opportunity to win something cool. Ask people to comment in your blog post what they’re thankful for, ask for their best stuffing recipe, or ask readers to submit a picture of their holiday centerpiece – whatever makes sense to you. Put together a fun prize that will get attention – maybe a great download (instant gratification for the winner and no shipping costs for you!).

We have lots of additonal content marketing tips available – check them out!

If your web content marketing efforts have been drab, inconsistent or nonexistent – even when you *know* you should be doing a better job at it – maybe it’s time to add a bit of whimsy to the task at hand.

• Watch a recent episode of a work-situated TV show (The Office, 30 Rock, Hung, Mad Men) and draw comparisons between it and your own office (maybe even create your own parody of it!). If it proves to be well-received, consider doing weekly installments.
• Hand video cameras to staff and challenge them to create something for your website. It could be an over-the-top infomercial style video about your company’s services, an entertaining explanation of a question your customers ask, a short clip of the team mocking an industry habit – keep it light, have fun!
• Have a quick wit on staff? Ask if they’re interested in penning a weekly comic strip about life in your company or industry.
• Reward the individuals who create your great blog posts, videos and other web content with something simple but amusing: temporary ownership of a life-size cut-out of David Hasselhoff for a week, a 15-minute break to play Wii in the boardroom, a Kinder Surprise, their own Bobblehead at the end of the year … there’s bound to be a few easy and motivational treats you can think of that suit your corporate culture.
• Leave the legal department out of it. We know plenty of lovely lawyers, but if they have a significant say on the verbiage of your blog posts, videos or any other web content, they’re going to suck the life of out.
• Hire or outsource the work to people who really do enjoy writing and content marketing. They already think  this stuff is fun!