Shame on me. Why am I so hell-bent on writing about the mistakes marketers make? Good question.

Why do teachers mark-up essays with red pens? Why do they give exams? Why do athletes review the “film” of their performances? Why do speakers practice their delivery by videotaping themselves? Why do the best of the best in any given field fall on their faces time and again?

Why am I asking so many questions? Good question. And you know the answer.

You learn from your mistakes. And as the learned declare, if you’re not making mistakes, you’re probably not learning. Imagine the skier, or surfer, or gymnast that never falls. You know what that means as well. It means they’re not trying hard enough. They’re not pushing themselves.

This concludes my preamble. Almost. I guess I’ve decided to amble a bit more.

Here’s what I’ve done.

I’ve created a content marketing Hall of Shame, a slide show. No need to spaz. You’re not in it. Or are you?

What I actually did is personify—in an extreme sorta’ way, seven types of shameful content marketers.

But who am I to say who the fools among us are? Well, er, I am a content marketing professional. However, rather than be a one man jury, I chased down seven of the men and women who uncorked the content magnum far before I did. These content monsters had seen their share of good and bad, wrote books and blogs, formed companies and consultancies, and were generous enough with their time to answer my emails.

So I said: “Joe, Michael, Arnie, Marcus, Heidi, Robert, Michael… Tell me please,

What’s the biggest mistake you see content marketers make?

Their answers were honest and awesome. I should say though, I didn’t tip ’em off about the Hall of Shame thing. That was all me.

Thank you to:

• Joe Pulizzi
• Michael Brenner
• Arnie Kuenn
• Marcus Sheridan
• Heidi Cohen
• Robert Rose
• Michael Stelzner

And thank you too.

Please enjoy the presentation.

Barry