PAXCESS Portable Generator Power Inverter 40,800mAh

Portable power supplies are the most useful ways that we can charge and power our devices while we’re on the move. However, the main problem with these power supplies is that they’re very large and heavy because of their very high power capacities and they have lots of abilities so that ultimately, means they also have lots of circuitry. That results in not too many people purchasing these portable power supplies. That is why it’s important for there to be some power supplies that hit an average power capacity, charging abilities and powering abilities so that the power supply doesn’t result in being too massive that you find it difficult to take places.

One of those power supplies that don’t go all the way through with power is this PAXCESS portable generator (like GOAL ZERO YETI 150 ) that has a power capacity of 40,800mAh power capacity. It still has quite a few ways that you’re able to utilize it, but it’s not overbearing and you’ll find it rather easy to take it with you when you find the need to use it.

Power Capacity:

The power capacity of this power supply is 40,800mAh and since this is a power supply that has quite a few charging and power options available, it’s going to depend on how you use the power supply that will determine the Output power capacity that you’re actually going to use. That said, we’re going to give you the average amount of Output capacity that you’re most likely going to receive.

Power Capacity for Smartphones

Since there are USB ports on this power supply, you’re able to charge smartphones and tablets. When it comes to charging smartphones with this power supply, there are no problems at all. Since charging a smartphone with a relatively low capacity such as an iPhone 7 will result in 15 full charges. If you’ve got a smartphone that has a high battery capacity like the Galaxy S8 then it can charge to its full power about 10 times. Charging smartphones with this power supply can basically seem endless.

Power Capacity for Tablets

If you’re charging tablets with this PAXCESS power supply, it doesn’t really have any hangups there either and as Mini tablets such as the iPad 2 Mini and the iPad Mini 4 are able to charge to full power 5.5 times. Charging Full-sized tablets such as the iPad Air will result in about 4.5 full charges then.

Power Capacity for Laptops

Since this power supply has quite a lot of DC Ports and it also has two AC Outlets, you’re able to charge laptops with it too. That said, charging laptops will basically give you the same amount of charges that a tablet will give you as they have very similar capacities, so expect about 5 full charges for most laptops on the market.

Output Charging:

There are quite a few powering and charging options that are available with this power supply, so let’s go through them in segments.

USB Ports:

There are two USB ports and each of the ports has a charging speed of 5V/3.5A. This is a really good charging speed that is going to be able to charge most USB chargeable devices at their max charging speeds. However, neither of the two ports feature Quick Charge and therefore, Quick Charge compatible smartphones will not be able to recharge at their max charging speeds.

When it comes to Non-Quick Charge compatible USB chargeable devices, then they will most likely be able to charge at their max charging speeds. Tablets such as iPads are able to charge at their max charging speeds with these USB ports as they have a max charge rate of 5V/2.4A.

DC Ports:

There are 3 DC Output ports that each have a charging speed of 12V/15A and with that kind of power, these ports are mainly meant for charging laptops and possibly powering small appliances.

AC Outlets:

This power supply has two AC Outlets, with there being a Two Prong Outlet and there’s also a Three prong Outlet; the max power Output of the AC Outlet portion of the power supply is 100Watts. 100Watts is really only enough power to power small appliances and you’re definitely going to want to power small appliances with this power supply when it comes to using the AC Outlet. Since if you’re  powering a lamp that requires 100W of power then it will only be able to run for 1 hour because, in order to calculate the time, you should do this:

100W / 100W of the Lamp = 1 Hour of Powering Time

So the lower the wattage needs that an appliance has, the better. At least when it comes to using this power supply because then you’re able to power the appliance for a longer time.

AC Adapter

This PAXCESS portable generator is recharged through an Input port and you can recharge it from 3 ways. The fastest way to recharge this power supply is by using the Wall Adapter that gives a recharge speed of 15V/2.0A and that results in the power supply being able to recharge to its full power within just 7-8 hours; for a 40,000mAh power bank, that is really good.

Car Adapter

Then the second fastest recharging method of this power supply is its Car Adapter that gives a 12V/2.0A recharging speed and that results in a full recharge of 8-9 hours.

Solar Recharging

Lastly, the third recharge method can be done through a Solar charger that is under 100W 15-20V and you can use the Solar charger with an MC4 connector to actually recharge the power supply. It’s going to depend on what Solar charger you use that will determine the full recharge of the power supply. However, Solar recharging the power supply is going to take a lot longer than the other two options for recharging it.

Design

Size and Weight:

Almost all power supplies are large and heavy as they have very high power capacities. Of course, this PAXCESS power supply is quite large and heavy, but in terms of how power supplies are built, this is actually on the small size.

It has a length of 6.9 inches, a width of 6.5 inches and a thickness of 3 inches. The weight of it is 3 pounds. So it’s not all that bad and the portability of this power supply is made a lot easier with its use of a handle.

Stealth Cam P12 Trail Camera Review

If price is your biggest factor, you will inevitably end up considering either the Stealth Cam P12 trail camera, or the Moultrie A-5. They are similar in price, size, and specs, but after using the Stealth Cam P12 for a few weeks I can tell you that is where the similarities end.


When you are looking at the cheaper trail cameras, reliability, image quality, and battery life are all important things to factor into your decision. Stealth Cam got a lot of these qualities right when they designed the P12. In this review of the Stealth Cam STC-P12, I will show you exactly why it has earned my #1 recommendation as the best budget trail cam available today.
Technical Facts
(1) Image Sizes: 6MP (High), 4MP (Medium), 2MP (Low)
Video: 15 Second Videos in VGA 640×480 resoultion
Trigger Speed: Not Published by GSM (estimated to be between 1.5-2 seconds)
Recovery Speed: Not Published by GSM (estimated to be 5-6 seconds)
(2) Detection Range: 50 feet
Flash Range: 50 feet
Batteries: Powered by 8 AA Batteries (Alkaline or Lithium only)
Size:0” Wide, 10.0” Tall, 3.0” Deep
(3) Quick Set Knob for Easy Setup.
(4) 2 Side Battery Compartments.

(5) SD Card Slot: Compatible with 32GB cards or lower.
(6) Internal/External LCD Status Display.
Ease of Use

The Stealth Cam P12 is about as easy they come to setup, with a simple two step setup process. First, you use the Enter and Arrow keys to name your camera and to set the internal date/clock, which provides the useful data on the data strips stamped onto each photo. Second, you turn the Quick Set dial to one of 4 pre-set image capture modes, and that’s it!
TEST – Allows you to test and verify the positioning of your camera before leaving.
QSET1 – 3 Image Burst Mode. Each image will be 6 MP, with a 30 second delay between images.
QSET2 – 1 Image, at 6 MP resolution, and a 30 second delay.
QSET3 – Records a 15 second VGA video, with sound, on a 30 second delay between recording.
CUSTOM – Custom image resolution (6, 4, or 2 MP), custom delay time, and operational mode.

When you get to your scouting location, it’s a good idea to turn the Quick Set to TEST mode first. Now you can walk around the camera to make sure it’s being triggered properly, and there are now obstructions. I wish all trail cameras were that simple to operate.
Image Quality

The image quality is actually pretty good for a budget camera. Don’t expect frame worthy photos from this unit, and instead count on colorful and clear daytime photos. The camera does tend to oversaturate the green colors too far sometimes, but as long as the image is clear, that’s never bothered me.

Night photos are OK too, but you need to understand the Stealth Cam P12 only has a 50 foot IR flash range. I think the P12 may be best suited for placements in front of feeders or bait piles (if legal in your area). Night pictures are not as clear as on the Stealth Cam G42NG, but that camera also costs 3 times as much.
Trigger Performance

The trigger performance is what you should expect from a low cost trail camera. During my testing, it triggered at approximately 2 seconds. This really shouldn’t be a problem if you have it positioned in front of a feeder.

Some people will complain that 2 seconds is too slow and will give you a lot of pictures of deer butts or heads only. If you read my trail camera tips, you’d know the solution to that is to point the camera at an angle to where you think the deer will be walking. This way the animals are walking for a longer time in front of the camera as opposed to across its field of view.
Battery Life

You will get the best battery life by running Alkaline or Lithium AA batteries. Do not use rechargeable batteries because they aren’t powerful enough to get the Infrared emitters to flash.

With alkaline batteries, and using the base single image mode (QSET2), you should get 6 months plus pretty easily. Lithium batteries will extend life even further, with some users reporting 12 months and more of use on one set.

The Moultrie A5 has a comparable battery life, but unfortunately runs on C cell batteries, making it a bulky camera.
User Feedback

I found tons of customer reviews online, many of which are 4 star rated and above. That number of good reviews is nice to see, because we all know how sometimes “cheap” products don’t live up to expectations. One user was impressed with the build quality, commenting on the fact that his P12 had withstood multiple black bear attacks. Most users favorite features are the Quick Set dial, the long battery life, the picture quality, and of course the low price.
Pros & Cons

Pros – The Stealth Cam P12 is a well-built budget trail camera. For its low price, it provides very good day images and videos. The battery life is very good, and many people have found the P12 to be a reliable trail camera.

Cons – The trigger speed is on the slow side, but by using best practices you can get plenty of useful pictures and videos. The P12 would make for an excellent feeder camera if you can’t get over the trigger time. The other minor complaint is the green saturation in some of the pictures. Your trail camera also need MOULTRIE 6V BATTERY CHARGER  which will charge battery quickly without any fault.

Less Known Amish Trivia

With the execution-style killings of five Amish quilts schoolgirls, the less known and hidden group has yet again come into the media glare. Everybody everywhere is talking about the Amish quilting, customs, peace-loving character, ability to eliminate and amazingly simple means of primary lifestyle. With so much being written and read about them, there is really nothing new left to the state. But after some deep research and digging, I have found some less known trivia about the baby quilts.

We generally imagined that the Amish quilt patterns did not use technology. The Amish quilts for sale do employ disposable diapers, gas grills, skates, and mobile phones! They use machines that run on batteries rather than on electricity. The baby quilts may experience in automobiles and buses but cannot own them.

The Amish quilts designs are not just into farming. They are good at woodworking. handmade Amish quilts, made of wooden, is very popular in the USA. For making wholesale handmade patchwork quilts they utilize modern machinery run by occasionally ingenious combinations of diesel engines used to power hydraulic and oxygen pumps that replace the electrical engine.

Amish quilt patterns and girls start their visit a partner if they turn sixteen. The young man demands his gal to marry him, but rather of a band he offers her china or a time.

baby quilts wear orange at their marriages. Navy blue, sky blue and shades of pink are the hottest colors wearing Amish quilt patterns. Her wedding outfit becomes her Sunday church dress after she's committed. She's even be hidden inside the same outfit when she dies. Nobody within the wedding party bears flowers. The groom wears a black match, bright clothing, black shoes and stockings, a bowtie, High topped dark sneakers, and a black hat using a three 5 inch top. There's no best man or maid of honor.

Wedding schedules for the Amish quilting are restricted to November and element of December, once the crop continues to be accomplished and extreme the winter season has not yet appeared. Most marriages are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are employed as times to organize for or to clean up after. Saturdays aren't employed as wedding times to avoid work or cleanup about the following day, Sunday.

The pair is first night together is spent on the woman's property simply because they must get right up to early 24 hours later to aid clear the house. The pair lives in the property of the woman's parents until they are able to set up their own property these spring.

Amish quilts never lower their hair, that they use in a bun to the back of the head. On their heads, they don a bright prayer covering if they are married and a black one if they are single. In the earlier days, the ladies wore flat straw hats.

An Amish man doesn't cut his mustache after he becomes married; a long beard could be the draw of a grown up Amish quilts. Mustaches are from the military and therefore are banned among the baby quilts.

Because so many Amish quilting have the same labels, a person is occasionally recognized by the title of his parents and grandparents, such as "Amos Johns Sammy" or "Davis Suzie is Mary." Sometimes a person even gets a nickname from his partner's title.

Tube and cigar-smoking could be the accepted practice. Cigarettes, however, are seen as 'worldly.' Older men may actually do have more 'right' to chew or smoking than young men. Contemporary matches are utilized by some. Earlier, it was common for older women to smoke a tube.

The carriage, or cart as we Amish applique quilts call it, may well not have improved a whole lot in design, but now the human body of the carriage is mostly manufactured from fiberglass as opposed to timber.

The Amish log cabin quilts use car batteries and other alternative options to power their models. The new models were first applied as the hand operated ones broke, were old and may not be replaced since they were no further manufactured. Tore charge such batteries some Amish applique quilts use solar panel systems, which may refresh a12-V battery in about 7 days.

The Amish applique quilts purchased phones for years. Before these were frequent in the house, they employed versions in town. Later, as they became more common, a phone booth or cell phone "shanty" was frequently created outside, and provided by several neighbors. Several Amish log cabin quilts used to rely on answering products or solutions or tell their patrons to contact in a specific time when they could be at the outdoor telephone.

MIGHTY MULE 350

The MIGHTY MULE 350 Medium Duty Single Gate Opener Kit. Mighty Mule 350 is Designed to be used on residential properties with gates including farm tubing, steel, aluminum, wood, and chain link, along with many other gate types. Working either set on the left or right this gate opener is sold to be used in the standard pull-to-open operation. By adding the push-to-open bracket accessory (not included) the FM350 Medium Duty Single Gate Opener has the ability to push the gate open away from the property using a PTO bracket (not included) while keeping the gate opener arms safely inside the property.

Features:
Designed for gates up to 16 ft (4.9m) long or 550 lbs (249.5kg)
AC or Solar powered to meet the needs of 100% of the market
Designed for optimum solar performance with 5 Watt solar panel
Works with an automotive or marine battery (not included) which optimizes performance in cold weather
The Mighty Mule FM350 Gate Opener kit includes:
Operator arm
AC transformer
Control board (enclosed in weatherproof operator housing)
Receiver with 10 ft. cable
(1) Entry transmitters
10' Battery wire harness
Mounting hardware
Installation/safety manual
Installation video
Caution signs.
Warning Beeper
Adjustable obstacle-reversing safety feature



The Mighty Mule FM350 E-Z Gate Opener is designed for installation on a pull-to-open single leaf gate (gates that open into the property). By purchasing an accessory bracket (FM148), the Mighty Mule E-Z Gate Opener can accommodate a push-to-open single leaf gate (gates that open out from the property). The gate must not exceed 8 feet and 550 pounds or exceed 16 feet and 150 pounds . The Mighty Mule E-Z Gate Opener can be used on vinyl, aluminum, chain link, farm tube, and wrought iron gates. Use on solid (wood) gates is not recommended. Solid surface gates have a high resistance to the wind. If the wind is strong enough, the opener will obstruct and stop.

The Mighty Mule 350 E-Z Gate Opener Upgraded from Mighty Mule FM350 features adjustable obstruction sensing. This safety feature makes the gate stop and reverse direction within 2 seconds when it comes in contact with an obstruction. MIN is the factory setting; meaning the gate will exert the minimum force on an obstruction before it stops and reverses direction.

The Mighty Mule E-Z Gate Opener also has an adjustable auto-close feature. After the gate reaches the fully open position, it can be set to remain open up to 120 seconds before automatically closing. Pressing the transmitter button at any time after the gate opens fully will cause it to close immediately. OFF is the factory setting; meaning thegate will stay open until you press the transmitter (or keypad, etc.) again.

DRIVE
• Low friction screw drive (linear actuator) rated for -5 ºF to +160 ºF (-28 ºC to +71 ºC).
• Powered by a 12 V motor with integral case hardened steel gear reducer. Motor speed reduced to 260 rpm. Generates
520 inch lb. of torque at 12 V.
• Maximum opening arc of 110º. Approximate opening time (90º): 18 seconds, depending on weight of gate.



POWER
• The system is powered by a 12 Vdc automotive or marine battery.
• Battery charge is maintained by a 120 Vac, 18 Vac output transformer [rectified to 14.5 Vdc (40 VA) through the
GTO control board or by optional GTO Solar Panels [the panel should generate minimum of 5 W at 300 mA]. A
diode on the control board prevents battery discharge.
IMPORTANT: Never use both transformer and solar panel - this will damage the battery and control board.
• One (1) blade-style control board fuse is rated for 15 A.
NOTE: The transformer should not be directly connected to any battery. Do not replace fuses with higher ampere rated fuses; doing so will void your warranty and may damage your control board.

CONTROL
• GTO microprocessor-based control board is set for single leaf, pull-to-open gate installations. DIP switches can be
adjusted to accommodate an optional kit for push-to-open gates (see Accessory Catalog).
• Control board has temperature compensated circuits.
• A circuit on the control board regulates charging. "Sleep draw" is 25 mA; "active draw" is 2 to 5 A.
• Auto-memorization of digital transmitter code.
• GTO remote-mounted RF receiver tuned to 318 MHz.
• Opener length with push-pull tube fully retracted is 371/4", mounting point to mounting point.
• Adjustable auto-close timer (OFF to 120 s), and obstruction sensitivity.
• Power terminal bock accommodates a transformer or solar panels.
• DIP switches simplify setup of gate opener.
• Accessory terminal block fully compatible with all Mighty Mule access controls.
• Control board allows connection of safety edge sensors and photoelectric sensors.
• Audio entrapment alarm sounds if unit encounters an obstruction twice while opening or closing.

Don't Be Boring: 3 Tips to Trying New Marketing Techniques

In tenth grade, my English teacher gave the class an interesting proposition: We had the choice to substitute the regular final exam with something different.

Something really different.

Specifically, we had to do something we’d never done before. Something challenging. Something scary. Something we could show and tell.


Why?

I remember vividly the way our teacher told us about all of the things in life we’d have to do something for the first time, and that we should get used to the fear or uncertainty that comes with trying something new.

I did an original oil painting of our family dog, a little poodle named Pierre.

It was literally one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. I have no talent when it comes to painting or drawing. Nor do I really have any interest. None. And, the experience didn’t improve either -- I had no more talent or interest when I finished than when I started.

That wasn’t the point. The point was that I did something that I had never done before -- something I had never thought about doing before. And, you know what? It wasn’t half bad. I got an A (I’m sure it was mostly an “A for Effort” sort of thing, but I took the grade anyway). It helped me make the honor roll that semester.

So, what’s my point here?

It’s so easy for any of us to get stuck in a rut. It’s so easy for us to keep using tried-and-true methods. It’s so easy for us to keep doing what we are already good at.

But, I’ve learned in the years after high school that good marketing is like my tenth grade English class: it isn’t static. Rather, it’s a dynamic mix of great ideas that attract your audience continually, over and over again. Good marketing can’t stay the same because then it wouldn’t work anymore. By nature, good marketing is experimental and dynamic, changing as our targets’ lives change and the nature of the marketplace changes.

It’s our job as marketers to keep up with that change, which means we’re forever doing things we’ve never done before. Here are a few tips to help you branch out in your own marketing strategy:

1. Talk to your customers.

Good marketing begins and ends with your customers, and most marketers don’t talk to them enough. The customers’ lives and their needs are always changing, and you need to keep up. If you have too many to talk to individually, then hold focus groups and do surveys. How you react to that information will force you into new marketing techniques to keep your customers coming back.

2. Try new forms of media.

There are always new ways to reach customers, and many of them are unfamiliar at first. The only way to really get to know these new techniques is to do a little research and then jump in. Study up to see if a particularly new media form will actually help you accomplish your goals before fully committing -- dip your toe in the water before jumping into the deep end.

3. Create new types of content.

Your social media channels need to be fed constantly to keep your community engaged. It’s an exhausting job that demands new and different kinds of content on a regular basis. Experiment with new forms like short-form video or animated gifs to see if they’ll spark more engagement. If they don’t, then try something new again.

I’m sure you can think of dozens of other ways to keep your marketing platform fresh without my help, but keep yourself inspired and motivated to come up with something new every day.

How do I stay motivated to keep experimenting? I kept that oil painting of my family dog, and it hangs in my office as a constant reminder.

Here's 3 Reasons Why the Customer Isn't Pulling the Trigger

Everyone in sales knows the frustration of not closing deals down. There are many possible reasons why someone isn’t buying from you. It may seem like there is no reason they haven’t purchased yet but, really, you just haven’t figured out the reason. There is an objection or some issue that you haven’t handled.



To get the sale, you will have to find what it is that’s causing them not to buy. Here are three possibilities to consider:

1. Change of guard.

This has happened to me a hundred times. It’s one of the biggest disappointments in sales and the thing I hate about business the most. I had the lead, I was at the top of their list, they were close to making a decision, then sure enough the big company moved our contact to another part of the world. If you’re in business and sales and nurture leads over time you’ll deal with changing of the guards.

To handle the change in guard, keep your pipeline full and nurture your leads. When your contact moves, follow up with them at their new company. Stay in front of their minds. But you’ll be starting over with this new client who is taking over your old contact’s place. It’s the real world and you’ll have to deal with it. Just be prepared to start all over again.

2. Buy/Sell agreement.

You’re all hot to get a deal and everyone is saying yes. it’s go go go, but it’s not going. There’s a buy-sell agreement going on in this company. That’s cost me several deals. There was a buy-sell going on while this client of yours was conducting business as normal. The only people who know the sell is going on is the major decision maker. Maybe the CFO is in on it.

The mid-level managers were looking at your product. You don’t know why they aren’t buying. You’ve discounted the product, everybody loves it, everybody says green light but it’s not happening. Welcome to planet Earth. Just hang in there. Whether it sells or doesn’t, be there for them on the other side.

3. Not the decision maker.

I recently jumped into my sales team’s office and said, “Heath, how long have you called this person back?”

He answered, “Every day for the last three weeks.” I asked if they were sold on the product, if they need the product and if they have the money to buy. He said yes. I told him, “You don’t have the decision maker.”

He insisted he had the decision maker but, no, he didn’t. The fact that someone says they are the decision maker doesn’t mean they are. There are two levels to this.

It could be, first, that he said he’s a decision maker, but he’s not. He lied to you. He may have a title but he can’t actually sign. He can’t tell you that he isn’t the actual decision maker because his title says otherwise. Ask, “Are you the decision maker?” When they say they are, then ask, “Would there by anybody else involved in the decision other than you?” or “I know a lot of decision makers like to bring other people in on stuff like this, so who else would be involved in making this decision?”

The second possibility is that he’s a decision maker who can’t make a decision. He could write the check, but he can’t make a decision.

Remember that not having the right decision maker causes you to follow-up unnecessarily. There’s a phone call that we do in my office where I tell the client, “Sir, there are only two reasons why you won’t buy this product right now. Can I share them with you? You either are not the decision maker, or you’re scared your people won’t use our product. Which one is it?” You’ll find out if they are the decision maker or not.

The Best Technology Tools for Content Marketing

The rate of content creation is growing exponentially year over year and content marketers now face more competition than ever before. Media publishers, other organizations and even industry professionals are competing for your audience’s time and attention, even though they may not be direct sales competition.

With all this clutter, content marketers must heavily concentrate on crafting an efficient strategy and set of tools to create the right content, distribute it effectively, promote it successfully and drive more results for their business goals.

Strategic content solutions

Managing successful content campaigns typically starts with detailed research to better understand your audience personas, their optimal purchasing journey and how you can align content to match their needs at the right time.

The following tools can help you research, plan and create strategic content solutions for your targeted audience segments, or buyer personas.

Buyer persona creation tools

A buyer persona helps you understand what your ideal prospective customers think and do as they make buying considerations. It’s more than just a description, too. According to the Buyer Persona Institute, “actionable buyer personas reveal insights about your buyers’ decisions -- the specific attitudes, concerns and criteria that drive prospective customers to choose you, your competitor or the status quo.”

Hubspot created a nifty online tool that walks users through the process of building buying personas called MakeMyPersona.com. MakeMyPersona.com is a step-by-step wizard that guides you through the process of creating your own personalized buyer persona. MakeMyPersona runs through 19 high-level questions to help you create a basic buyer persona and get you thinking about your customers in the right way. Consider this a starter option.

To dive deeper into your persona research, Akoonu helps marketers create more distinct personas and map their buyer journeys to the right types of content. Akoonu helps you identify the information you need to build personas, including the typical buying process for each persona, the types of content preferred by each, content tone per decision maker or influencer, how influencers and decision maker personas may interact in the buying process and more. Depending on what tier plan you select, you can even plan content within Akoonu and import data from your marketing automation and CRM solutions to develop a data-driven, persona-based content plan.

Ideation and content planning

Once you understand more about the people you are targeting with your content, the next step is to plan the type of content you’ll need to create to attract their interest.

One common way that marketers discover popular content is by using Google Alerts, Google Trends or some combination of social listening tools. To use these tools, create a list of five to 15 content terms or keywords that you are interested in tracking. Search each term on within your preferred platform -- Google Alerts, ClearVoice Content Studio, etc. Next, identify the content that is performing well for each term and assess it thoroughly. This should begin to spark your creativity.

Remember -- the idea isn’t to copy the best content that you find, but rather to create content that is better, more insightful, with more detail, stronger experience, etc.

Content creation and management

When it’s time to start the content creation process, you can either create internally or manage a team of content creators. There are several content management platforms that can help you better align your content efforts; however, most are enterprise solutions and not feasible for small to mid-size organizations or marketing departments.

Since managing your content can quickly become complex, it’s best to identify one or two tools or processes that work best for you. For example, I use a combination of Google Docs, for general team collaboration and editing, and ClearVoice to recruit freelance copywriters, manage my editorial calendar and publish to Wordpress or Hubspot depending on my client’s preferences. This helps me stay concentrated on only a handful of systems without getting bogged down in other technology.
Content Distribution Technology

To break through the content noise, you need to identify the best processes that help you distribute your content to your audience in a polished, timely and relevant fashion. Start by researching the following solutions.

Email marketing

Email doesn’t immediately come to mind for some marketers when considering their content distribution options; however, it’s still one of the most used channels of communications.

For small-to-medium-sized businesses, I recommend MailChimp. It’s an easy-to-use, inexpensive tool. MailChimp’s clean interface and competitive features, even on the free plan, make it the smart choice for small businesses or organizations building their first mailing lists. MailChimp offers three affordable plans for new and growing businesses.

For larger and enterprise companies, Marketo is one of the platforms of choice. Marketo’s features allow you to get granular and targeted with your email marketing, which sophisticated marketers will appreciate. Marketo Smart List feature lets you build dynamic lists based on a variety of targeting criteria.

Social distribution

While social is finally becoming a need-to-have, best practices are often misunderstood. Social is not a bulletin board to post your content. Rather, it’s a collective of like-minded individuals to engage with. I’d argue that social distribution is much more effective with a one-to-one, personalized and manual distribution process, but it can get tedious in the distribution stage. Try these social media management tools to find a process that works best for you.

Sprout Social is a robust social media management solution for both solo marketers and teams. Schedule content, cross-post, manage approval workflows and engage with your audience better with this social media management solution. Sprout Social lets marketers manage teams, schedule messages and cross-post content

Post Planner is another social media posting solution that starts at just $9 per month. This solution helps marketers develop a posting schedule and make the process of maintaining a posting schedule much easier.

Content syndication

With content syndication, you don’t always have to invest in additional technology. Take advantage of the options that are already available to you when possible. One very powerful means of syndicating your content is through LinkedIn Pulse or Medium. To get started with a LinkedIn Pulse article, click the “Write an article” tab that you see after logging into LinkedIn. Syndicating your content on LinkedIn or Medium can give you the opportunity to reach more of your audience, particularly for those who haven’t yet found your website or products. Remember, if you syndicate content on another site, be sure to provide a link to your original post to avoid a Google duplicate content penalty.

Employee advocacy

The 2016 Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows that people rank peers and employees as more credible than leaders. With this in mind, it makes sense to encourage your employees to actively share your content.

Bambu helps you put your most important messages and content in front of your employees for them to read and share. This platform centralizes messages to make it easy and efficient for your advocates. Furthermore, they can share curated content to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn without leaving Bambu.

What technology solutions do you use to manage your content marketing? How have you addressed the three stages of content marketing: creation, distribution and promotion? Do you have an example of an exceptional solution that has worked for your team?