What’s not to like about LEGOs? Most of us have spent more than a few hours playing with them.

A brand recognized around the world, and one that inspires global brand loyalty — something a competitor like Mega Blocks does not — there’s much to be admired. Who would think that LEGO was a master of content marketing? Or that they successfully started content marketing about 20 years ago with their Bricks Kicks and Mania magazines?

Spend a few minutes on the LEGO Club site and you’ll learn a lot about content marketing. Not only does the site appeal to kids, it packs a punch with parents too (just like the LEGO bricks themselves). The LEGO club site allows LEGO fans to “connect” with one another — they can see each other’s Cool Creations or find a calendar of family-friend events that are all about having fun with LEGOs. They can sign up for emails, become a BrickMaster, submit a news story (i.e., become a brand ambassador), get building tips and ideas, share photos of LEGO creations, enter a Comic Captions contest, or get the inside dirt on cool designs and new products. They can also download LEGO screen savers, wallpapers and activities (like “build your own shield” designs), play a wide range of games and view comics and movies. Everything a lover of LEGOs could possibly desire.

How did I discover all this? I have my sister to thank for sharing the BrickMaster idea — on Facebook no less. I couldn’t resist — I had to check it out. Coupons, six sets of LEGOs and an annual magazine! My kids loved it.

And once I was there, we were blown away by the Design by Me function: you can download digital software to design and produce your own LEGO creation, including the nifty little catalog that helps you build it. Better yet, they encouraged kids to “honor their moms” with a custom-created LEGO set. Not only could I get a great Mother’s Day gift, what a great birthday gift for my kids and their friends! We are hooked.

And it doesn’t end there. We kept exploring and found the My LEGO Network — yes, a social networking site for children that let’s them share everything that’s LEGO to them — they can create their own web page, share designs and ideas, and even trade virtual LEGOs.

The point is this — we just kept exploring and never found an end to content we couldn’t wait to devour. And we keep going back.

I know what you’re thinking — “I’m not LEGO.” No, but if you can produce content that helps your customers and prospects solve a problem, anticipate a need or address other interests germane to your service and product offerings — they will come. And come again. That means supplying them with original content you’ve created and also sharing third-party content that you know will tweak their interest. It means helping them learn and making it fun and easy to do so on a wide variety of traditional and digital platforms — be it catalogues, websites or social media channels.

Get creative with your content. Build it. Share it. And “LEGO” of it in the digital sphere.

Do you consider yourself a Creator, Critic, Joiner, Spectator or Conversationalist? In a recently published Ad Age article, Josh Bernoff provided a chart that defined each of these levels of social media participation. According to North American Technographics Empowerment Online Survey, seventy percent of U.S. adults online are categorized as Spectators — they read blogs or tweets, listen to podcasts, or watch video from other users at least once a month. Less than one in four adult online users are categorized as Creators — those who publish a blog or web pages, upload original videos, audio or music, or write and post articles or stories.

Why are 3 out of 4 online users passively absorbing the content that 1 in 4 is providing? Perhaps it’s because an overwhelming 3 out of 4 of us really don’t understand what social networking is all about.

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As if there weren’t enough lists to start the decade, let’s toss in one more.

One: It’s high time we took the “social” out of social media. Let’s face it — social media is as traditional nowadays as traditional media. Over 300 million Facebook users, 861,800,000 tweets in September 2009 alone, 156 billion text messages between June 2008 and May 2009, and lest I forget, $25 billion in digital ad revenue last year. I think social media, or I should say, this type of media, is here to stay.

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When it comes to social media, businesses usually make one of two mistakes. They rush into it faster than a doped-up sprinter without realizing the consequences of their actions, or they stick their toe in the water — ever so slightly — making it utterly impossible to see any results.

To avoid the predictable, which is no measurable results from your social media efforts, you must adopt a point of view, or POV.

Before you do that, it’s imperative that you subscribe to the philosophy that we spend so much time trying to be understood and not enough time understanding. If you have trouble agreeing with that belief, it’s almost a certainty that you’ll have trouble with social media.

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The recent passing of musician Vic Chesnutt prompted me to visit the itunes store to complete my collection of his work. As I browsed his albums, I began to think about how his album covers reflect his music. That led me to muse about how successful websites visually reflect the work and spirit of companies.

What kind of “music” does your company make?  Does it strike the bold chords of a Beethoven piano concerto? Or mirror the serenity of Handel’s Water Music? Is it a multi-layered, Hüsker Dü wall of sound? Does it dance to the mellow, lilting reggae beat of Bob Marley?  Perhaps it’s a bit of Frank Sinatra – confident, smooth and cool?  Maybe it’s even Elvis Presley in a glittering, sequined Vegas performance – replete with gyrating hips?

Your website should show the world who you are with more than just a tagline — the layout, photos, fonts and colors you choose should reflect who your company is — not simply what it is. In order for your website to do just that, it’s essential to reflect on your company and culture. Is your corporate culture loved more by the management or the people they lead? In what ways does your company give back to the community?  How do your goods or services make a difference in the lives of others? How do your future plans apply to the above questions?

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Retailers, it’s time to help out those of us who still have presents to buy. How? Social media. It’s the fastest, most direct way to let me know what sales you’re running, text me special offers and allow me to contact you directly to find out if the gift I want is in stock.

In a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, 33 percent of cell phone owners ages 35 to 44 are interested in receiving alerts about sales from their favorite establishments. Among 18- to 34-year-olds, that percentage jumps to 42. And yet, only 1 percent of cell phone owners currently receive alerts from retailers. With consumers so willing, retailers need to respond. A retail “Field of Dreams”: If you alert them, they will shop.

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News flash: People waste time at work. According to salary.com the average worker wastes 2.09 hours in a typical day, nearly half of it surfing the Internet. Believe it or not, Wisconsin ranks No. 4 in the country for most time wasted. So the desire to combat lost productivity by blocking Facebook access for your employees is completely understandable. But it’s also shortsighted.

For starters, the problem isn’t Facebook. Wasting time at work is as old as the caveman who sat around drawing pictures in the mud with a stick while everyone else was busy hunting and gathering. During the pre-Internet era (shortly after the caveman era), I worked at an advertising agency with a guy who spent at least three hours of every day on the phone chatting with his friends.

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So you’ve published your blog.  Hopefully, you’ve used all the basic “on-page” SEO strategies to help build readership and following for your blog as you developed it —  providing detailed quality content, adding compelling and keyword friendly titles, leveraging anchor text and paying close attention to your URL structure and descriptions.  But you’re only half finished with your SEO plan if you haven’t considered the “off-page” SEO strategies that encourage link building.

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…and has been for the last 16 months or so — but that’s not what I’m talking about.  Now, more than ever, it’s time to crunch the analytics of your next marketing campaign.  If you do it properly, you’ll satisfy the abacus-wielding bean counters in your office, you’ll know where you went wrong and where you scored, and your next campaign will be better off for it.

Of course, it’s a little dicey trying to track your successes in traditional advertising — television, radio, print and outdoor.  Other than using different phone numbers for each media vehicle, or sending people to different microsites (use Wordpress and save some money), the only sure-fired way to measure traditional success is to select one medium and promote it full tilt.  Unfortunately, that’s not the right way to purchase media – because the mix is essential to the media plan’s integrity.

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It’s no secret that, in the United States, women make the majority of brand purchases — including big-ticket, high-tech purchases — with the Internet being their primary research tool. But recent research indicates that specifically focusing on moms, and those who use social media, is producing gains for a wide variety of industries, from health care and automobiles to stereo equipment, produce and retail.

Mothers’ use of social media is skyrocketing. Recent market research indicates a 462 percent surge in usage among mothers since 2006. Of those women, 44 percent use social media for word-of-mouth recommendations on brands and products. A primary channel for those product recommendations tends to be online communities that offer parenting or health advice.

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