The Marketing Maven List: Malcolm Gladwell, Smart Bookmarking, and Getting More Instagram Followers

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point, he says there are three types of people who contribute to the spread of ideas and trends in our society today: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.

Ever since in read the book, I’ve been fascinated with Mavens. These are the information specialists – the folks who gather knowledge, then enjoy sharing what they know with other people.

Recently, people in my community have been telling me that I’m a maven, which of course I think is an enormous compliment.

In that spirit, I’d like to start sharing my resources with you here on my blog. So periodically I’m going to share some my favorite things in a curated blog post series called “The Marketing Maven List.”

All the items in these blog posts will be related to online business management or marketing in some way, although some of them may pull marketing lessons from unusual sources (like Broadway musicals, television or other pop culture sources).

So without further ado, here’s the Marketing Maven List for Saturday, August 7, 2016:

1. PODCAST: Malcolm Gladwell’s new show, Revisionist History

Speaking of Malcolm Gladwell – you’re going to love his new podcast, Revisionist History. It’s a 10-part show, and in each episode he examines a person, event, or idea from the past that has been misunderstood or overlooked. 

The reason I think this podcast is fascinating from a marketing perspective is that Gladwell is such an incredible storyteller. He’s meticulous with his research, and manages to lay out even the most mundane ideas in absolutely fascinating ways. And he always manages to weave stories together in a way that makes you think, “I never looked at it that way!”

I’ve always been a big fan of Gladwell’s writing, and this podcast is proof positive that podcasters will really need to be great writers and storytellers, too. If you’re thinking of starting a podcast, this show should be on your “required listening” list.

2. ONLINE TOOL: Pocket

For years, I used Delicious to store all my online bookmarks, but Delicious started going downhill about a year ago and never recovered. So I switch over to Pocket instead.

I can save a bookmark quickly and easily, and categorize any bookmark with as many tags as I want. Then I can go back into Pocket at any point and easily find any link by searching for a particular tag.

I used Pocket to save all the blog posts, articles, online tools, videos and other links I need to run my online business and stay up to date on my rapidly-changing industry. I even have a tag called “Maven” that I use to file all the resources I’m going to use for future Marketing Maven List blog posts!

If you’re still using the bookmarking tool within your browser (and you keep forgetting where you filed certain links), give Pocket a try. It’s completely free and really easy to set up.

3. BLOG POST: A Guide to Getting More Followers on Instagram: How We Got 10,000 Followers in 2 Weeks

I finally got sick of my own stupidity about Instagram marketing, so I jumped on a recent webinar with the Nathan Chan, the founder and publisher of Foundr magazine.

He had some smart things to share in that webinar about how they built an enormous Instagram following for Foundr (they currently have over 800,000 followers), and he shares those tips in his blog post, too. Definitely worth a read if you want to attract a bigger audience on Instagram.

Got ideas for the Marketing Maven List?

If you have a tool, blog post, podcast or other idea you’d like me to consider adding to future Marketing Maven Lists, feel free to submit it to me using this page. Just tell me a little about your submission and why you recommend it, and make sure you include a link.