Christina Aguilera's "Say Something" Collaboration With A Great Big World: How Did It Happen?

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Life for A Great Big World (aka, the musical duo of Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino) is moving at warp speed.

Their collaboration with Christina Aguilera on "Say Something" has, quite simply, completely changed their careers.

Xtina first heard the song while watching So You Think You Can Dance. "And then we got a call and were in L.A. like a week later recording with her," Vaccarino said as he and Axel walked the red carpet at the 2013 American Music Awards.

Not long after that, they were performing the ballad with Xtina on The Voice. "We were touring and we canceled some shows to make it happen," Axel said. "Everything was happening so fast."

NEWS: Xtina's AMA makeovers!

Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

And to think it was Aguilera's wish not to be at the center of the song. "She's just connecting with the song and singing so vulnerably," Axel said. "We wanted her to take a verse on it and she's like, 'No, I want to let the song be. I want to let it breath and be open.' We were just floored by the whole thing."

Most of what we hear in the rereleased single happened "in the first few takes," Axel said.

"You have to be on your game," Vaccarino said.

PHOTOS: More from the AMAs red carpet

ABC/Richard Harbaugh

"She's a really fast learner," Axel added. "The process was actually really fast, just going back and forth and trying different lines. She's super pro."

And then there was shooting the video for the song.

"That was like another world," Vaccarino gushed. "I don't know if you've ever been to Jurassic Park or ET at Universal Studios, but it felt like that. It literally was like walking into another world."

"We had never done a video shoot like that before," Axel said. "Our last video was one camera and at our friend's Christmas party."

PHOTOS: More of your favorite artists performing live on stage

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The Original Do’s and Unoriginal Don’ts to Creating Great Content

What Makes Great Content?

Whether it’s articles, social media, video, and more, the “secrets” to creating great content for any medium cannot be packaged in a nice little box. Although there are many factors that make great content great, it really comes down to this: you reap what you sow.

In content marketing (especially in article writing), you cannot throw a handful of articles on the Internet and hope something catches. That’s not a sustainable marketing practice and you’ll wear yourself (and what readership you have) out.

However, if you make content creation a conscious priority by giving it the love and dedication it deserves, it will love you right back.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Content Creation

Why is it that “Do’s” always occur before the “Don’ts”? It’s my belief that you should always end on a good note (“hit me with the bad news first” philosophy), so let’s get those dirty, unoriginal don’ts out of the way so we can savor the good stuff.

Unoriginal Content Creation Don’ts

This list is pretty self-explanatory, so we’ll keep it quick:

Plagiarize other people’s contentImitate other’s people’s contentSpin articlesUse PLR articlesWorks in the Public DomainRepeat yourself by rehashingAdd a few sentences of fluff just to meet the minimum word countBe VagueOver Quote

Original Content Creation Do’s

Be a trendsetter. Writing original content isn’t about ensuring your article is word-for-word unique; it’s about being the source for others.Plan (from goal setting to strategic planning) in order to stay organized and focus on your goals.Know your audience! Write based on their needs and keep up with trends to predict upcoming content that will pique their interest.Allow your personality into the article by exhibiting a confidence in your knowledge and experience that you’re sharing with readers.Choose a niche you’re passionate about as well as have relevant personal and professional insights and experiences.Stay classy by properly citing your sources if you do choose to quote.Ensure portfolio variance to keep readers interested in your brand by writing 80% evergreen content and 20% on current topics/trends.Retain the exclusive license for content produced for you by ghost writers (or purchased in any other manner).Get with the times by providing relevant content that relates both to readers and your niche.Aim for a quality user experience with a memorable and motivational take away.Break down your writing process into strategic steps to create quality, original content.

Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list: creativity and writing cannot be wholly boxed and content creation is like a living, breathing entity that is constantly changing. What do’s and don’ts would you add to this list? Let us know – we’d love to hear from you!

PS: Creating great content isn’t easy, but you can make it a LOT easier on yourself by using EzineArticles Article Templates. Designed to give you the ideas and structure you need, these interactive PDFs are easy-to-use, inexpensive, and wonderfully inspirational. Get the original 52 templates here or select from our packages containing 15 unique templates here.

Posted by Vanessa, Editorial Manager on October 23, 2013 at 9:00 am | 1,170 views

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