New Year Resolution App, Art of Newsjacking, Radio on Smartphones

The Strategist picks the day’s most relevant and interesting stories about the world of content from around the web. Here’s what you should be reading today:

Lenovo’s Year of the Do App

ClickZ reports that Lenovo has launched the Year of Do Facebook app, which lets fans of its page share their New Year’s resolutions.

As of Thursday morning, the company had 430,000 fans, and once someone enters their resolutions (almost 900 had done so), “they are displayed on a wall that pulls in profile photos, first names and resolution specifics, as well as the ability to like any given resolution.” The most resolutions have been submitted by people in Thailand.

The Art of Newsjacking

Content Marketing Institute’s Mark Sherbin writes about the benefits of newsjacking for content marketers. 

By jumping onto a news trend, marketers can boost SEO, draw readers in because content is timely, and lead the market in thought leadership.

While Spirit Airlines sent out email promotions poking fun at the fiscal cliff, the NFL picked baby names for Prince William and Kate.

FM Radio Coming to Sprint Phones

A deal between Sprint and broadcasters means that local FM radio signals will now be available on some smartphones, according to the New York Times.

The three-year deal states that phones will be able to play radio through an app called NextRadio. Jeffrey Smulyan, chief executive of Emmis Communications, said that if radio listening is widely available on cellphones, it would increase by 15 percent.

Making it as a Content Producer

CopyBlogger’s Sonia Simone writes about what it takes to go from an underpaid copywriter to an authoritative content producer.

She says that first, writers need to figure out their strengths. This means they know how social media functions, they are passionate, can produce decent-looking videos, or they know a lot about a certain niche. The second step is to point out constraints, such as lack of design skills, not having a sense of humor, or not having enthusiasm. Writers should make sure they know how to emphasize the good and play down their weaknesses.

She says to “market what you’re great at. Put it front and center, and make sure your audience knows exactly what you specialize in.”

Gawker in India

According to Paid Content, on Tuesday, Jan. 8, Gawker founder Nick Denton announced that his blog network is making its way into India with the help of Times of India.

The sites in India “will join Gawker’s new Spanish-language version of Gizmodo — which launched on Monday — as well as local versions of various Gawker sites that have launched in Brazil, Hungary and the United Kingdom.”

In the United States, Gawker expects to see a 40 percent growth in 2013. Internationally, he wants to take revenues from five percent to 20 percent.

Social Networking for Families

Kate Freeman of Mashable reports on social networks for families such as FamilyLeaf, MyFamily.com, and Origami.

Since people don’t want to share certain things with family members on Facebook, that’s where FamilyLeaf, a secure sharing network, comes in. That particular site is important in China because Facebook is blocked.

Other people use it “for keeping in touch with ill loved ones, or sharing photos of children with extended family members, or sharing photos of special occasions with only a select group.”

What Freelancing is Worth

CNNMoney reports on how freelancers can price their time. Freelancers need to figure out their target income, and determine whether or not hourly and pay rates match it. Then, they need to predict how long a project will take to complete, and to write out a detailed proposal for clients.

If clients rates are too low, freelancers should suggest working on a larger project.