I have a new Twitter follower who has branded herself as an "authenticity coach." This puzzled me. Is that a real business?  Is "authenticity" a critical business skill so important it has become a cottage industry? And perhaps the bigger question is, exactly what DO you need to learn to succeed in a marketing career today? This is a complex question because marketing as a career discipline has evolved differently than other areas of business. If you are a finance professional or you work in accounting or economics, the fundamentals of your career success are not sliding under your feet. But if you are trying to establish a career in marketing, not only are the tools of your trade changing, the rules of engagement are changing every day. If you want to aim to land a marketing job, what should you study in college?  Do you even need to go college? If you are an established marketing professional, how do you stay relevant?  Are you doomed to be in a constant state of catch-up? This is a fascinating topic and that's why I think you will particularly enjoy the latest edition of The Marketing Companion, a 30-minute podcast I create with the amazing Tom Webster. We cover a lot of ground in a short period of time, including:

• The gap between marketing business needs and today's marketing education
• Real world experience versus a college education - Do you even need a degree any more?
• Why marketing education is different than other disciplines in the business school
• Is "social media" an entire degree program, one class, or an essential life skill?
• Community manager - The hardest job in marketing?
• Five critical marketing career skills you will never get in school

At this point, you probably can't wait to wrap your ears around this podcast, so here it is!

 Other helpful resources mentioned in this podcast:

Book by Tom Peters:  The Brand You Book by Dr. Robert Kelly:  How to Be a Star at Work: 9 Breakthrough Strategies You Need to Succeed

Blog post by Mark Schaefer: The crisis in marketing education and what to do about it

Illustration courtesy of BigStock.com   Book links are affiliate links

The blogging life used to be so easy. Just five years ago, a blog was still a novelty and if you started one, you would probably occupy a niche in your industry. But since then, the world has conspired to make blogging very difficult ... "Content marketing" also means "content overload," -- this is a crowded and noisy field for newcomers. The dynamic world of search engines and SEO has made it complicated for bloggers to become discovered. New entertainment alternatives and social media distractions have probably challenged blogging's role as the king of content. Even technology like smartphones has made blog consumption, sharing, and commenting more difficult. What's a blogger to do? That's the question Tom Webster and I tackle in our latest Marketing Companion Podcast. We explore the topics of:

• The challenge of information density
• The entertainment edge - Next big thing for blogging?
• Expertise and the content saturation index
• Content quality, optimization, or both?
• The most important blog metric ... perhaps the only one?
• How much time should you put into promotion versus content quality?

This is a fascinating topic and we cover a lot of ground in just 30 minutes! I think you'll love the podcast and hope you'll also leave a comment below. Can't wait to listen?

Of course you can't! Well here it is right now!

There are several blog posts referenced in this podcast so here are some handy links if you want more depth on this subject:

From Mark: How the physics of social media is killing your marketing strategy From Tom: When Content Marketing stops working

From Marcus Sheridan: A discussion of Content Saturation Index

Newspapers are dying. Local TV stations are struggling. Many radio stations have been in decline for more than a decade. And then, Jeff happened.

This has been a fascinating couple of weeks if you're interested in newspapers and digital media. John Henry (owner of the Boston Red Sox) bought the Boston Globe and Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon) bought The Washington Post within the same week. When I first heard about the Bezos move, I thought "huh?" But the more I considered it, the more excited I became.  

The Post and many other traditional media outlets have been dying, primarily because they fell behind the digital revolution and have been unable to monetize fast enough. But a few years from now, we may look back and see that all that finally changed in this seminal "Jeff Moment."

Jeff Bezos is a master of media distribution and has boldly led Amazon into the publishing business. If anybody can lead The Washington Post into the digital age (and beyond), wouldn't it be him? In fact, couldn't the world benefit from more digital innovators making a move into "traditional business?" Wouldn't it be great to see an executive from Amazon, eBay or Apple take over the US Postal Service, The Department of Motor Vehicles, or a major state university? This is the topic that fuels our latest Marketing Companion Podcast.  Please listen in as the scintillating Tom Webster and I explore ... Can the Amazonification of journalism save newspapers? Will The Washington Post be the next great social media start-up? Does Bezos represent a new breed of

Wouldn't it be great to see an executive from Amazon, eBay or Apple take over the US Postal Service, The Department of Motor Vehicles, or a major state university? This is the topic that fuels our latest Marketing Companion Podcast. Please listen in as the scintillating Tom Webster and I explore ... Can the Amazonification of journalism save newspapers? Will The Washington Post be the next great social media start-up? Does Bezos represent a new breed of

Please listen in as the scintillating Tom Webster and I explore ... Can the Amazonification of journalism save newspapers? Will The Washington Post be the next great social media start-up? Does Bezos represent a new breed of benefactor?

Will more digital leaders move into traditional business spaces? What are the possible implications of this move for advertising and marketing? If you had $250 mm to spend, would you invest it in the content business? What are the implications for personalized content delivery? Is this purchase really an offline play? ... and much, much more.

Please enjoy the podcast and let us know what you think! Can't wait? I know! This is good stuff! Listen now:

Can you imagine anything that would inspire marketing creativity more than a device that allows you to view the Internet all the time, everywhere ... like a digital layer across the world?

That certainly seems to be the promise of Google Glass, perhaps the boldest step forward in the trend of "wearable technology."  In my mind, this will be a transformational opportunity for, well ... everything!

Education. Connection. Discovery. Entertainment. Business. But my wise friend and podcast co-host Tom Webster is not so sure.

In the latest edition of The Marketing Companion, Tom and I debate a wide range of topics surrounding this exciting, and to some folks, disturbing, technology.

Some of the topics we tackle include:

Lesson 1: Never become a meme.

• A lesson in how NOT to become a meme like Robert Scoble
• Is Google Glass a win for wearable technology or the next Segway?
• Do the "eyes" have it, or does wearable technology belong some place else?
• What business problems does Google Glass really solve?
• A can of worms for privacy, or just another Kodak moment?
• Does "cool" trump "dork?"
• The Devil's bargain with privacy.
• A practical view from Jamie the bartender.
• The porn indicator, and Google's interesting new investment

I think the role of "content" in the marketing mix is one of the most fasciating discussion topics around. How much is enough? How do you break through? Can you win on the back of quantity alone by overwhelming competitors? So I was delighted to have the opportunity to thrash this discussion around with the brilliant Tom Webster on our latest Marketing Companion podcast. In this latest edition, we talk about:

• The dirty little secret of content marketing
• How quantity works against quality
• The Hubspot Problem and the content mill
• Quantity and the discoverability advantage
• Guest posts -- Strategic advantage or content snacks when you need a meal?
• How is SEO adapting to new content realities and search?
• The most important content-related metric
• How content marketing is like a retail price war
• Why content marketing encourages plagiarism

Yes, that is a lot of ground to cover in a 30 minute podcast but I think we get the job done and have some fun along the way too. Hope you enjoy the show and I would love to see your comments in the comment section below. To listen now:

Hope you enjoy the show and I would love to see your comments in the comment section below.

Program note: Christopher Penn weighed in with another perspective on this topic of content and SEO. Worth a read!

How many times have you led a business failure? Do you have to experience catastrophic failure to be successful? If I fail more than you, will I ultimately be more successful than you? These are some of the questions and topics creeping into the blogosphere over the past few years as the notion of failure seems to take on an almost romantic quality. I find this strange.  As an entrepreneur, I want to do everything I can to AVOID failure. Sure, if you are trying something new, you are bound to fail. I fail in some way every single day. But I never want to fail in a way that prevents me from getting back up again.  And yet, I have this feeling that if you've never been part of an entrepreneurial wipeout, you're not considered "legit" these days. There seems to be a growing acceptance of The Failure Manifesto. My podcast partner Tom Webster and I explore this interesting idea on the latest episode of The Marketing Companion. I really think you'll like this edition, as we explore:

• The romance of catastrophic business failure
• Why Seth Godin's "Just Ship It" mentality leads to problems
• The true source of business innovation and progress
• The untold side of the Apple story and survivor bias
• The strategy paradox --why we don't learn from failures
• Why you can't be Zappos
• Is technology an enabler or a leveler of business innovation?

Do you need to be "all in" to be successful in business today?  I hope you'll listen to the podcast and tell us what you think!

The Marketing Companion Episode 1: Flouting Klout

• Klout steps into the ring as a content creator
• Influence at the top of the search rankings
• Guest appearance by Ringo Starr as a talking apple
• Is Klout re-defining "expert?"
• The search for "warmer" search
• Klout and corruption
• The emotional hook of Klout
• Could your Klout score become a global VIP card?
• Will we be seeing Klout optimization experts?
• What Klout does well.
• Tom reads his spam