Hey there, everyone. My name is C.C. Chapman, and I’m the co-author of the best-selling book Content Rules.

I’m going to be writing from time to time to help you create better content that will gain the attention of the people you’re hoping to reach. If there are specific questions that you’d like to see answered, drop me an e-mail and I’ll try to address them in future posts here.

Now, lets get to the heart of the matter.

Every single one of us has an inbox that is overflowing. The dreams of reaching inbox zero are as much a reality as a unicorn walking across your lawn being ridden by a kitten.

To get your content noticed, I’d suggest you use one of our content rules and Do something unexpected!

Now, I have to remind you that unexpected does not mean inappropriate. What it means is something that will surprise the reader enough to get their attention. This could be as simple as a catchy subject line or a fun graphic as soon as they open the message.

Some examples to illustrate what I mean:

• The Camera Store wanted to attract new photographers to their site. Instead of the typical showcase of their equipment, they made the now famous video Battle at F-Stop Ridge.
• When Dr. David Reath wanted to raise awareness and bring in more customers to his plastic surgery practice, he created The Girlfriend’s Guide to Breast Augmentation as a helpful eBook for women thinking about surgery.
• Dunkin’ Donuts has the budget to not have to be creative, but instead they are constantly trying new things. They’ve recently dove into using Pinterest with a variety of funny sayings, photos from the mothership and playful bits of inspiration.

Each of these uses a different form of content with an unexpected slant to get attention.

Think about what you, your competitors and your audience expects. Look at what you’ve been creating over the last year. I’m betting that it looks, feels and reads pretty much the same.

Take some time today to brainstorm ideas that would pop out of this and grab your customers’ attention. What could you do that would be unexpected enough to break through everything else going on in their world?

Have you done something unexpected with great results? Share it in the comments so that everyone can celebrate your success and learn from it.

C.C. Chapman is the co-author (with Ann Handley) of Content Rules, a book that explains how companies can create remarkable blogs, podcasts, webinars, ebooks and more. C.C. is a leader in the online and social media marketing space; he speaks about building passionate consumer communities, and the strategic values of content-based marketing. C.C. can be reached by email at cc.chapman@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter (@cc_chapman).