I tend to use maybe six to eight words in a headline, to try to keep it on a single line. Nothing is worse than overdoing it by one word, which appears as an ‘orphan’ on the second line. This is mainly for aesthetic reasons, but think about retweets too (you want to leave 30-40 characters of extra space for the tweeter to add a comment).

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Properly managed, content has fabulous potential to deliver value. But too many organizations treat their website like a coalmine when they should be managing it like a goldmine. As web professionals we must continue to build the business case for the investment in a continuous improvement model. The value is unquestionably there.

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TV is simply one more kind of digital content that needs a strategy. […] In this nebulous, fledgling relationship between TV and the Internet, Jimmy Fallon and Ashton Kutcher are standing out as leaders.

Lessons from NBC’s Late Night:

• Timeslot doesn’t matter anymore.
• Programming must truly be cross-platform.

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Forty percent of Groupon’s writers have prior journalism experience, 70 percent were creative writers and 20 percent wrote marketing or business copy. As of this writing, there are 59 writers, 16 editors, 15 image designers, 24 fact-checkers, 11 copy editors and four editorial recruiters. They’ve hired 40 writers in the last six months.

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This also points to the need for new platforms that allow these media companies to syndicate their content.  Proliferation of individual apps or channels is not the new model. Google/Yahoo news isn’t the new model – they’ve been surpassed by Facebook already. Community sites like Digg and Reddit are not even in the running.

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It is an illuminating look into how AOL, a company with hundreds of millions in dollars in annual funding, is trying to turn itself into a 21st century media giant on the fly.

Some tidbits:

• AOL tells its editors to decide what topics to cover based on four considerations: traffic potential, revenue potential, edit quality and turn-around time.

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The AOL Way should have…

• Reminded AOL writers, creators, and producers to make stuff that lots of people will find addictive and easy to find.
• Profiled writers outside and inside AOL who “get it” – the stars.
• Introduced some tools to help AOL writers accomplish those goals and become stars too.

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