Making her INBOUND debut on the Bold Talks stage this year, Gini Dietrich is no stranger to the world of PR and marketing communications events. She is founder/CEO of Arment Dietrich, author of Spin Sucks, co-author of Marketing In the Round, and appears weekly on the Inside PR podcast.
What is your #1 source for staying on top of your world?
Sure, I have RSS feeds in Feedly and I subscribe to a lot of stuff that goes into a “to be read” folder in my email. But I see articles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, or stuff that people send me and I open tabs. I keep them open until I can get them read. I don’t use Evernote or do anything organized (out of sight, out of mind). By the end of the week, I can easily have 50-60 tabs open. And then I spend Friday afternoons going through all of them.
When and what do you read online?
Our VP of operations sends a daily email and that always includes a link to an article we should read. That usually leads me down a rabbit hole, where I click links and open tabs. LOTS of people send me stuff they think I’ll like. And Spin Sucks is mentioned in articles and blog posts so I keep all of those open in tabs until I can comment. I get through all of it on Friday afternoons right now, but we’re moving to a four day work week after Memorial Day (just for the summer) so I’m going to have to juggle my routine a bit. I might have to actually - gasp! - go back to reading daily.
What is your favorite place on the web?
Facebook. Hands down. Mr. D. and I took classes last summer. We were stuck in a windowless classroom for eight hours every Saturday. Not fun. BUT! We were allowed to bring our laptops. He spent eight hours every Saturday on Reddit (and sending me links of stuff to read) and I spent eight hours on Facebook. So yeah, Facebook. (And we both still managed to pass the class with flying colors.)
Which people or feeds or blogs do you follow?
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Media Bistro for industry news
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Harvard Business Review for learning/professional development
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Roger Dooley at Neuroscience Marketing for inspiration
Who is someone undiscovered that we should be reading?
I don’t know that they’re necessarily undiscovered, but I’m becoming a huge Medium fan. The thing I like about the site is you discover new voices, every day. It’s pretty amazing, and it’s hard not to spend your entire day there. The voices I follow are: Nancy Lyons, Jono Smith, and Rebekah Iliff (who has one of the most irreverent voices I’ve come across).
What is your biggest pet peeve about content?
There is so much bad content out there. Because everyone is jumping on the train, we are inundated with more bad than good. Just because you can now be a publisher does not a writer make you.
What is the most memorable piece of content of all time?
That’s like asking me to name my favorite child! I refuse to name the most memorable of all time. I won’t do it. If you’d like to revise your question, I’ll consider the appeal.
How would you rank these 11 social apps as your favorites?
If content types were stocks, which ones would you buy, which would you sell, and which would you hold?
BUY: video blog posts & books.
HOLD: podcasts, newsletters, ebooks & white papers.
SELL: infographics & slide decks.
What haven't we asked that you'd like to talk about?
Do you want to know how many miles I’ve been able to ride so far this year EVEN THOUGH IT SNOWED IN CHICAGO ON MAY 16? I’m at 1,225. My goal is 5,000 this year. I realize that has nothing to do with content marketing, but it’s what I’m passionate about right now (now that Spin Sucks has been published and I am taking a break from writing and book sales).
Don't miss Gini Dietrich, Chris Brogan, Martha Stewart, Simon Sinek and a whole roster of incredible speakers coming to Boston September 15-18 for INBOUND 2014. Tickets (regularly $1499) are just $799 through May 31.
Originally published May 30, 2014 1:21:00 PM, updated January 19 2023