Articles by Isla McKetta
Isla McKetta // 22 Apr, 2014
Marketing Tactics so Contagious, Even a Professional Isn’t Immune
I like to think I’m immune from marketing. Working day in and day out with all the tips and tricks can make the underlying message of a soft sell glow in my brain like a neon light. And it makes me want to run the other way. Reading Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah… Read More
Isla McKetta // 5 Mar, 2014
Internet Marketing Lessons Learned from Walking the AWP Book Fair
A writer at a book fair is a lot like a teenaged girl loose on the Internet with her mom’s credit card. The wonder! The excitement! The expense! When that writer is also a marketer, you can be sure she’ll be looking at the displays! The giveaways! The opportunities to build brand awareness! This is… Read More
Isla McKetta // 11 Oct, 2013
Portent Pop Quiz: Isla McKetta on Why Editing is Just as Important As Writing
Sometimes we’re in meeting or on calls with clients and we catch our colleagues saying something worth sharing. So we created the “Portent Pop Quiz” series where we ambush the Portentite and have them drop a quick knowledge bomb about a random subject. In our latest installment Isla McKetta speaks on why editing, though commonly… Read More
Isla McKetta // 12 Sep, 2013
Content Actually is All Around (Not Just on Your Blog)
Yes, blogging is fun. Anyone who enjoys long-form writing can have a field day extolling the virtues of a product or (even better) building authority with significant posts that address the needs of your audience. But if you think your content only lives on your blog, you’re missing something. I can think of seven other… Read More
Isla McKetta // 24 Jun, 2013
Why You Should Add “Building a Lexicon” to Your Copywriting Toolkit
A couple of months ago, Kane Jamison asked me to present at Content Harmony’s first ever content meet up. I was excited, but wondered what I had to say that would actually help other copywriters. And then I realized that my MFA in creative writing means I bring a different set of tools to the… Read More
Isla McKetta // 24 Apr, 2013
How to Blog: Humanizing Your Brand
So you’ve realized the benefits of having a kick-ass blog. Now what are you going to say on that blog? You could go the route of taking all that carefully-prepared corporate branding, and using your blog to put out press releases about things that you want your customers to care about (but really only matter… Read More
Isla McKetta // 14 Mar, 2013
The Life of Pi Part Deux: What Does an Internet Marketing Firm Do? (In Vines)
Back in November, we detailed the (Real) Life of Pi from pre-dawn breakfasts at the train station to lights out. In honor of International Pi Day, we decided to pull back the curtain again so you can see how each department contributes to the Internet marketing expertise here at Portent. Account Strategists @portent Account Strategists… Read More
Isla McKetta // 26 Feb, 2013
The Secret Backstory of Portent’s Content Idea Generator
”There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.” – Audre Lorde At SearchFest on Friday, Ian Lurie debuted a fantastic new tool, the Content Idea Generator. I could tell you about how amazing the tool is and how influencers like Jonathon Colman shared it all over social media: How… Read More
Isla McKetta // 29 Jan, 2013
The Viral Video Manifesto: How to Make Content Shareable
“I want this to go viral.” If you are a client, you’ve said it. If you’re a marketer, you’ve heard it and (most likely) cringed. We want your content to go viral as badly as you do, but the public can be fickle and there are no guarantees. Or are there? The Viral Video Manifesto… Read More
Isla McKetta // 8 Jan, 2013
7 Ways Inbound Marketing is Like a Snowball Fight
On Saturday, January 12, the people of Seattle will gather for Snow Day, the world’s largest snowball fight. Dump trucks will deliver 162,000 lbs. of snow to more than 5,000 people attempting to set a new Guinness World Record. Plus it’s a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County. What on earth… Read More
Isla McKetta // 14 Dec, 2012
Sneak Peek: How Content Strategy Will Save the World
Last night, when most of Seattle was at a holiday party or stuck in traffic on the way to a party, a group of intrepid souls filled the Portent presentation room to discuss using content strategy to save the world. The event, Content Strategy Forum 2012 Redux: Out of Africa, was part of an ongoing… Read More
Isla McKetta // 11 Dec, 2012
Is a Kick-Ass Blog Worth the Trouble?
You’re reading this post for one of two reasons: 1) You’re thinking about starting a blog and wondering if it’s worth the time and energy, or 2) You’ve already invested time and energy in blogging and are not seeing the return you imagined Let’s start at the beginning. Should I blog? Sometimes when you’re having… Read More
Isla McKetta // 20 Nov, 2012
Black Friday Gives Retailers a Black Eye
Stop the Madness! Thanksgiving weekend used to be the best of times for retailers. The official start of the holiday season had merchants seeing green in their registers and black on their balance sheets. But between store stampedes, parking lot violence and protests by over-scheduled workers, Black Friday has become bad news. It’s time to… Read More
Isla McKetta // 13 Nov, 2012
Editing for Creativity: How to Enhance the Writer’s Voice
In a world of endless content, innovative copywriting is a great way to catch and keep the attention of the customer. While a creative approach will often draw a bigger audience than simply following best practices, it can be tempting for an editor to change the writer’s style to fit an assumption about what sells.… Read More
Isla McKetta // 17 Sep, 2012
Why I Hate the Twitter Follow Limit
We wanted to flip the tables on internet marketing this week and take a look at one of the limitations of Twitter from a user perspective. You may not know this yet, but there is a limit to how many of your fellow tweeters you can follow. I found out the hard way. As a… Read More