May 3, 2017

SXSW 2017 Featured Speaker Noah Hawley [Video]

“In order to make Fargo I had to really become a filmmaker. I love a good dialogue scene as much as the next person, but I am really happy when I can have a few pages with no dialogue at all. It’s literally just the camera telling the story. It’s a visual medium,” said SXSW 2017 featured Speaker Noah Hawley.

Revel in this session with Emmy®, Golden Globe®, PEN, Critics’ Choice, and Peabody Award-winning author, screenwriter, producer and director Noah Hawley, moderated by author Philipp Meyer. In addition to his work on Fargo, Hawley is currently executive producer, writer, and showrunner of the series Legion from FX Productions and Marvel Television. The third season of Fargo is currently airing Wednesdays on the FX Network.

Explore More Content From SXSW 2017

Get inspired by a multitude of diverse visionaries at SXSW – browse more 2017 Keynotes, Featured Sessions, Red Carpets, and Q&A’s on our YouTube Channel.

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Photo by Karl Capelli

The post SXSW 2017 Featured Speaker Noah Hawley [Video] appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

May 3, 2017

Would You Want To Live Forever If You Could?

What would happen if people all over the world stopped aging and never died? If we had the ability to stop aging at 25 and we could live for as long as we wanted, how long we people actually choose to live? Lifetime Daily surveyed 2,000 Americans to determine how long they’d choose to live and under what conditions. Here is what they found out.

Surprisingly, 57% of Americans said that they’d only want to live another 100 years or less. 25% of those who were surveyed said they’d live another 76 to 100 years, 20% said they’d live an additional 51 to 75 years, while 15% revealed that they would want to live another 101 to 200 years. If you look at the data based on age, Americans 60 and older said they’d want 51 to 100 more years, while those under 30 were more likely to want only an additional 26 to 50 years.

The study found that men were more likely than women to respond that they would want a longer life span. When looking at the data by gender, 28% of women would be happy with an addition 51 to 75 years (versus 14% of men), but as the amount of years climbs, only 14% of women said that they’d want another 101 to 200 years and 7% were found to desire an additional 201 to 500 years, compared to 16% and 10% of men respectively.

When it comes to prolonging life, the study revealed that Americans were willing to put up with quite a bit if that meant more time on earth. 79% of respondents said they’d still want a longer life even if that meant they had to work the entire time, 73% said they would accept outliving everyone else except their family, and 63% would like a few extra years if it were only with their significant other. Conversely, 12% answered that they’d extend their life if they were paralyzed, 27% with a chronic illness, and 36% if they lived in poverty.

As far as why Americans want to live longer, a common theme was the desire to accomplish more in life. 13% of respondents said it was because they want to experience more in life and another 13% said it was to travel more while 11% revealed that it was to pursue hobbies. Surprisingly, only 7% responded that it was to avoid death and even less revealed that it was to make more money (5%).

With a longer lifespan, Americans revealed what they would do differently if given the chance. A majority confessed that they change their drug habits, relationship status, smoking and drinking habits, and the likelihood of having children. The data also shows that men were more likely to make changes in their lives in these categories than women.

A factor to consider when thinking about with the possibility of a long life is what the future may hold. A large number of those surveyed were not too concerned about having to adapt to future technologies (41%) but at least 35% said they were somewhat concerned about the possible collapse of civilization in the future and 20% said they were very concerned about the possibility of human extinction.

Check out Lifetime Daily to get some tips on staying healthy.

Source: Visual News

May 2, 2017

SXSW Alumni Film Releases – May 2017

Discover some of the SXSW alumni films on release this month, such as 45365, LOEV, and LONG STRANGE TRIP. Continue on for a complete list with trailers and more info.

45365
Documentary Feature, World Premiere, 2009
Website | Trailer

Available for the first time since winning the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at SXSW 2009, the Ross Brothers’ 45365 presents the intricate connections, close relationships and life-changing events of a small town in Ohio. An unforgettable, gorgeously realized journey into America’s heartland.
Available Now on Vimeo

BANG: THE BERT BERNS STORY
Documentary Feature, World Premiere, 2016
Website | Trailer

The under-appreciated genius behind iconic classics like “Under the Boardwalk” and “Twist and Shout” receives his due in this loving, rockin’ documentary portrait.
Now In Theaters

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
Episodic, World Premiere, 2017
Website | Trailer

Based on the film of the same name, this hilarious send-up of “post-racial” America tells the universal story of finding one’s own identity and forging a unique path.
Now on Netflix

DON’T THINK TWICE
Narrative Feature, World Premiere, 2016
Website | Trailer

Mike Birbiglia’s sophomore feature charms with a warm, yet acerbic look at the tragicomic world of an improv comedy troupe.
Available Now on Netflix

HOUNDS OF LOVE
Narrative Feature, North American Premiere, 2017
Website | Trailer

In the mid-1980s, seventeen-year-old Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted from a suburban street by a disturbed couple. As she observes the dynamic between her captors, she quickly realizes she must drive a wedge between them if she is to survive.
In Theaters May 12

LOEV
Narrative Feature, North American Premiere, 2016
Website | Trailer

A weekend trip between friends takes a sudden turn, making them each question what love is and what it means to them.
Available Now on Netflix

LONG STRANGE TRIP
Documentary Feature, 2017
Website | Trailer

The inspiring, complicated, downright messy tale of the Grateful Dead, a tribe of contrarians who made art out of open-ended chaos, and inadvertently achieved success on their own terms.
In Theaters May 27

MOMMY DEAD AND DEAREST
Documentary Feature, World Premiere, 2017
Website | Trailer

Child abuse, mental illness, and forbidden love converge in this mystery involving a mother and daughter who were thought to be living a fairy tale life that turned out to be a living nightmare.
Available on HBO May 15

The post SXSW Alumni Film Releases – May 2017 appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

May 2, 2017

HOW TO BRIDGE MARKETING AND SALES IN YOUR BUYER’S JOURNEY

This article originally appered on Column Five.

Content marketing isn’t a nice-to-have these days; it’s an incredibly effective and necessary tool. Whether it’s increasing brand recall with an online video, generating more exposure through earned media, or delivering higher social engagement via microcontent, it is essential to your operation. That’s why 89% of marketers pursue content marketing, according to the Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 B2B Content Marketing Report.

But just creating content doesn’t mean you’re doing content marketing well. The best success comes when it’s executed correctly. Great execution entails many things:

• Building a solid content strategy
• Crafting a strong brand identity
• Creating content that connects with your customers on an emotional level
• Publishing consistently to maintain that connection

But even if you do all of these things, there is one thing that may be sabotaging your content marketing: approaching content with an advertising mentality.

Advertising is interruption marketing. It wedges itself into a buyer’s experience. True content marketing is engagement marketing. It participates in the buyer’s experience.

For many marketers, the advertising mentality is colliding with the content marketing mentality.

Many brands are approaching content marketing as a way to sell a product or service. As a result, their approach to content marketing is overly salesy. And they wonder why their efforts aren’t converting friends into customers.

MARKETING AND SALES: A FINE LINE

Sometimes it’s hard to know when marketing stops and selling begins. Because of that, there’s a tendency to create content with themes and ideas that are more appropriate in a sales setting.

When this happens, marketers end up doing sales—and that’s not their job. Their job is to attract people to your brand, to get them interested in learning about your perspective, what you have to say, and what you stand for. It’s hard for marketers to do this successfully if they are also aggressively trying to get people to buy stuff.

Of course, content serves different purposes at each stage of the buyer’s journey. As people become familiar with your brand and begin to express an interest in your offers, it is important to have those sales conversations with them—but only once they get to that point. (Unfortunately, the Content Marketing Institute found that only 53% of marketers craft content based on specific points of the buyer’s journey.)

So, how do you ensure that content marketing and sales collaborate instead of cannibalize each other? And how do you make sure nothing falls through the cracks along the way? By developing a killer buying experience that lets marketers deliver potential customers to the sales door and lets sales make sure they get through that door safely. Here’s the two-part process to help you do that.

PART 1: LET CONTENT MARKETERS CREATE CONNECTION

The first step and the biggest priority for content marketers is to develop a rapport between your brand and your would-be customers. You want to develop true “friendships” with your audience. The end goal is to develop some sense of interest, excitement, and attachment in the buyer.

The best way to do this? By telling brand stories that communicate what your brand stands for and what its values are. This helps your audience connect at a relationship level—it’s not a transactional experience.

There are many definitions of “story.” Ask 100 people and you’ll get 100 different answers. The stories I’m referring to are those that communicate your perspective and understanding of your customers’ experience. This content provides your audience value. It increases their knowledge, enhances their live, or relates to their experience.

Within a marketing context, you can tell your powerful stories by sharing:

• What has worked for you and what hasn’t worked
• What you’ve learned from your failures
• The secrets that have helped you grow
• What matters to you and your organization
• How you help your employees

Your audience relationship relies on transparency and understanding. Content that lets you show your human side, that demonstrates your willingness to help is key. To keep things simple, create content that is interesting and useful to other human beings.

PART 2: CARRY THAT CONNECTION INTO SALES

A SOLID BUYER’S JOURNEY IS A COHESIVE, COMPLETE EXPERIENCE. AS CONTENT MARKETERS CREATE THAT CONNECTION AND MOVE BUYERS TO SALES, THERE SHOULD BE A SEAMLESS TRANSITION. IF YOUR MARKETING GOAL IS TO CREATE AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH YOUR CUSTOMER, COMING IN WITH A HARD SELL WILL DISMANTLE ALL THE WORK CONTENT MARKETING HAS DONE.

Selling well against the backdrop of content marketing requires you to carry the same mentality in your sales as in your marketing: Put the customer first. The same friendly, helpful positioning should infuse your sales conversations. Make your customers a priority and ensure your customers’ goals are understood and addressed.

At the sales level, carrying over a content marketing mentality includes taking every opportunity to connect and engage. This may include:

• Having proper calls to action
• Keeping in touch regularly so they have an easy way to buy from you
• Being responsive
• Asking for feedback (so valuable!)
• Finding opportunities to meet and talk with your customers
• Offering exclusive deals
• Providing gifts (or other signs of appreciation)

Additionally, the goodwill fostered during the buyer’s journey should continue after the sale is complete. In this sense, content can come full circle. After you close a sale, sending a buyer a relevant blog post or interesting piece of data helps reinforce that relationship, making them feel genuinely cared for.

The goal is to marry your sales and content marketing to create a solid ecosystem.

SALES AND CONTENT MARKETING TEAMS MUST BE ALIGNED

One of the biggest barriers to creating a cohesive buyer’s journey is internal siloing. Many companies have separate leadership teams and use different playbooks for marketing and sales. This isn’t inherently wrong, but if these teams and these leaders aren’t talking, strategies won’t be as effective and your customers may suffer for it. (Learning how to build a solid inside sales team is key to helping create a cohesive operation.)

You can’t dictate the timeline of when or if anyone becomes a customer; it’s up to them to decide when they’re ready to buy. But if you design your content marketing process well and thoughtfully, the end result will feel invisible to the buyer. And that’s how you turn friends into customers—without selling stuff.

For more tips on marketing, learn about the strategy we used to increase our leads 78% in 6 months, find out what 7 traits will make you a better marketer, and learn how to create content that provides true value to your audience.

Source: Visual News