Link Lessons from a Digital Nomad, Pandora Combines Podcasts & Music, & WordPress Launches 5.1...This Is THE LATEST!

When I graduated college, I made a promise to myself that once a year I would travel to a country I've never been to before.

Breathe a different air, walk a different street, select an entree from a different country's McDonald's Menu. (Seriously. This has become a must for every country I visit. I've seen 7 so far.)

Unfortunately last year, with seven weddings on my calendar, this eluded me. I'm making up for it in 2019 with two international trips already booked, but what if I didn't have to plan for them?

What if I was always on the go and took my job with me? 

🚌  HubSpot's Resident Digital Nomad Shares How You Can Use Link Building to Build Your Site Authority 

Fresh off launching a brand new business blogging course for HubSpot, Principal Inbound Professor Justin Champion joined my fellow IMPACT content queen, Liz Murphy, on the latest episode of Content Lab to talk link building. Justin and his wife have been using this content staple to build the awareness and authority of their website, Wild We Wander, and now he's teaching others to do the same. Listen in as Liz and Justin dive into how you can do guest blogging and link building right.

🎵  Pandora Stories Combines Elements of Podcasting & Your Favorite Music For One Awesome New Content Medium

I don't regularly listen to podcasts, but when I do, I am drawn to those that use music to enhance the episode (i.e. introducing a new segment or even just their intro.) Luckily for me, this week, Pandora introduced Stories, a new product designed around playlists that lets users combine music tracks from the streaming platforms library and voice tracks to create a whole new listening experience. Curious what this sounds like? We explored Pandora Stories and how brands and influencers can use it to their advantage.

💻  WordPress Users Rejoice! Betty Carter Is Here to Make Building & Maintenance Even Easier

Just a few months ago, we introduced you to Gutenberg, WordPress' newest website editor that was designed to make site maintenance a breeze for tech-challenged marketers. Well, this week, the popular CMS introduced us to "Betty Carter," its latest update that promises to only enhance everything Gutenberg has to offer. Design Supervisor Jessie-Lee Nichols takes a look at all of the exciting changes coming with WordPress 5.1 aka Betty Carter. 

👀 ... When You're All Ears (& Eyes) 

• First INBOUND Speakers Announced, Issues with Omni-channel, & Restricted Access to Content [Hubcast 215]
• "Getting on Camera, Getting Creative, & Getting Sponsors" (The IMPACT Show, Ep. 71)
• "To Script or Not to Script" (Film School for Marketers, Ep. 4)
• "How a New Blogging Strategy Broke HubSpot's Website Traffic Records" (Inbound Success, Ep. 79)

🚨 Save Your Seat!

• In this month’s Website Throwdown, we have speaker, bestselling author, and marketing strategist David Meerman Scott joining the ring to critique a few hand-picked sites with our panel of experts. They’ll be reviewing everything from content and design to SEO and conversion paths. Test your luck and submit your site for the chance to be critiqued by Monday, March 11! Or if you’d rather be a spectator, you can save your seat.

🎉  Weekend Nonsense

A new "challenge" is taking over social media and it's certainly one I wish I knew about when I was travel-deprived last year.

In the "Pretending to Fly" challenge, people across the globe are using everyday, household items to fool their friends into thinking they're on an airplane off to exotic locations -- or perhaps they're trying to show us all that you can't always believe what you see on social media.

What will the kids think of next? Check out this video of examples:

See you next week!