Podcasts about everybody writes

Quality vs. Quantity. Followers vs. Engagement. Reach vs. Resonance? Which is more important? When work matters more, we need to hustle for attention less. In this episode, Jay Acunzo helps us put to rest our “Maker Monsters” – procrastination, overthinking, imposter syndrome, and all the invisible barriers that keep us from shipping great work.It's been months since we released our last episode, and this one might very well be the final chapter of The Subtle Art of Not Yelling. There's no one I'd rather have close out this incredible three-year journey than Jay, bringing it to a fitting and meaningful conclusion.Jay is a speaking and messaging strategist trusted by creators, consultants, authors, and brands like Mailchimp, Wistia, and Salesforce to find the big idea, clarify the message, and craft stories and experiences to differentiate and resonate.His podcast “How Stories Happen” dissects signature stories from people like Seth Godin (marketing legend with 22 bestselling business books), Ann Handley (WSJ bestselling author of Everybody Writes), and Chase Jarvis.Please enjoy.Chapters01:57 The Journey of “Unthinkable” (Jay's previous podcast)06:02 Resonance Over Reach: The Key to Impactful Content11:13 Fueling Creativity: Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Imposed Deadlines15:18 From Good to Effective: The Power of Storytelling17:23 The Storyteller's Posture: Embracing Personal Experiences21:29 Moving Towards Action: Inspiring the Urge to Act26:39 Childhood Aspirations29:48 The Desire to Create: Finding True Passion34:22 Balancing Quality and Quantity in Creative Work36:09 Developing a Practice for Growth and Success39:17 The Craft of Storytelling: Creating Compelling Narratives51:46 Storytelling in Business: Building Connections and Driving GrowthConnect with Jay: https://jayacunzo.comThis podcast is your weekly Creative Companion helping you master the inner game, finish what you start, ship your work, and build a brand without yelling; because it's not the thunder that grows flowers, but the rain.Support & ConnectPodcast website: ⁠subtleartofnotyelling.comSubscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@notyellingThank you for listening.

This week, we're joined by our first-ever recurring guest. The brilliant Ann Handley (WSJ bestselling author of Everybody Writes and globally touring keynote speaker) joins us for a very special episode of “Is This Anything?”, the mini-series, where friends and collaborators join me to work out new ideas, unproven drafts, and hidden ideas to see if it is, in fact, anything.But because it's Ann, we're renaming it Is This ANNything. Get it? Do you get it? (If you didn't like that, you're really not gonna like this episode…)First, we discuss a story we co-wrote on Threads, sharing back and forth posts to build on each others' previous ideas. Read that story here (you need to click into the first Thread for the threading to make sense. Oh, Threads…)Then, we share drafts of our newsletters, each at different stages, and workshop improvements.It's a refreshing look at two prolific writers and speakers (and one bestselling author!) in the middle of their process.Read Jay's final newsletter version here. (Ann has not written the draft publicly as of this episode's publish date.)Listen to Ann's first appearance on How Stories Happen as she dissects a published piece: “How do we all sign our work?” - Episode 3 with Ann Handley RESOURCES:⚫  Learn more about Ann at her website and subscribe to her newsletter ⚫ Follow Ann on LinkedIn and Instagram⚫  Buy Ann's book, Everybody Writes

When so many people are excited to create a higher volume of content, shouldn't we think more about what gives our work greater power? That's what our guest today understands better than most, and she draws that power from everyday moments she hunts out, like a squirrel finding nuts in the yard.Meet Ann Handley—she's a best-selling author, a pioneer in content marketing, and a popular B2B speaker with a knack for imbuing ordinary moments with extraordinary meaning.Ann reveals her morning routine, her idea capture system, and most importantly, her process and practice of becoming a word-class noticer of stories during a time when so many people simply stuff a screen in their face or turn to cheat-sheets to produce generic content.In this episode, we dissect a signature story shared to her newsletter, Total Annarchy, which she sent to just over 50,000 readers. We zero in on a pivot point in the middle that makes the work resonate, and we find plenty of existential debates that unfolded in her writing process.Together, we discover how to connect with an audience on a more personal level and leave a lasting impression, ensuring your stories aren't just heard but felt. The best part? You don't need to experience anything groundbreaking for your words to hit hard. But you do need to become a notice.Jump into the conversation: (04:48) Meet Ann (19:36) Ann's Story (26:21) Dissecting the StoryResources:⚫ Follow Ann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhandley/⚫ Check out her website and subscribe to her newsletter here: https://annhandley.com/⚫ Read Ann's book, Everybody Writes: https://annhandley.com/everybodywrites/

In the digital age, words are currency — and we're all writers! In this episode, host John Arnold is joined by KBR communications manager Rebecca Lewis for a discussion about how KBR's new Content Community of Practice is exploring the art of the possible with the written word, building consistency in how writing is done at KBR, and safeguarding a global brand in the process.

How did Digital Entrepreneur Kevin Snow invest in himself to be able to run Time On Target and Success Champions? Well, that's what your Podcast Mogul Phil Better is here to do. Join Phil as he asks about how he is helping streamline the success of his champions and social media engagement is currently something they are dealing with in their business! We also discuss why Pumpkin Plan. Profit First, Everybody Writes is a book they recommend for Entrepreneurs to Read. Make sure to listen until the end for a special treat! Remember to Invest In Yourself Team Invest In Yourself

In this final episode of MIke'd Up Marchev for 2023, Mike reminds us that we are all writers. He references the book by Ann Handley titled EVERYBODY WRITES and reminds us of the importance of graphics, photos and videos in today's communication. Today's message is short, sweet and on target as we enter a brand new year prepared to build upon our already sucessful companies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the 100th episode of the ReWork! It's exciting to have made it this far and I have you, our listeners, to thank for listening and our many guests for lending their expertise. It's been 2 years of crafting information with one goal in mind:  To help portrait photographers: Uniquely Brand,  Profitably Price  and Confidently Sell  their Best Work!  With that in mind, I wanted our 100th episode to be dedicated to you, our listeners.  One of our very most requested topics is, of course, Marketing. It's the shiny new thing that we all like to chase. We love to hear about new ways to get our message out. Social media tricks, marketing funnels, SEO optimization, etc. etc.  The methods may change with technology - but the core principles remain the same because we are HUMAN BEINGS talking to other human beings.  We all want to get noticed, and “get our name out there.”  What I hear most often from photographers, “I just need MORE clients!”  or “I need NEW clients!”  If we're really smart, we know we need to get noticed by the right people–the best people for our particular business and in today's episode, our 100th episode, I'm going to talk about how to do just that, I'm going to share 10 ways to 10X Your Marketing (and last time I checked, 10x10 = 100! That's math that even I can do!) 10 Marketing Ideas that have changed my marketing from a spray and pray attempt to get anyone and everyone to a targeted, intentional effort that speaks to and attracts the very best clients for MY BUSINESS Join me as I count down 10 Marketing Ideas that will 10x your marketing.    Here's a glance at this episode: [3:05] - Number 10: Clarity and Communication.  [4:23] - Slow down and double check written communication to ensure that it conveys exactly what you want to communicate. [5:47] - Allison recommends the book Everybody Writes and the website Grammarly for support in written communication. [7:22] - AI tools like ChatGPT are also very helpful. [8:46] - Number 9: Define “more”. What does “more” mean to you? [10:24] - In 2022, 75% of Allison's clients were return clients. So her marketing focus is targeted on people who have booked her before. [13:01] - Number 8: Speak to someone. When you are posting on social media, think about the clients you want to bring in as a client and speak to them. [15:14] - Allison describes the ideal client for her services. [16:57] - Number 7: Create a database. This database is your business. [18:40] - Check out The Pumpkin Plan Spreadsheet that allows you to rate your clients in interesting ways to help organize your database. [20:12] - Number 6: Use your database and follow up! [21:49] - Allison uses her database to create her calendar. If she waited till clients called her, there wouldn't be many scheduled. [27:02] - Number 5: Create a plan. Set aside marketing time every week. [28:29] - Number 4: Anticipate client needs. Think about existing clients and what your ideas are for their next shoot before contacting them. [29:36] - Think about every little thing that a client could need or want before they think about it themselves. [31:11] - You don't have to implement all the new things at once. Add something new every year and keep building. [33:16] - Number 3: Run it all through your brand filter. [34:25] - If something trendy doesn't match your brand, don't do it. [35:02] - Number 2: Slow down and make it simple. [37:29] - A creator needs to be fully present and connected. [39:15] - Number 1: Make the value mindshift. If you don't believe it, no one else will. [40:50] - Clients want and need to be reminded and contacted. [42:17] - If we've created a memorable experience, odds are, the clients will be returning for more.   Links and Resources:  Do The ReWorkWebsite | Instagram Allison Tyler JonesWebsite | Instagram | LinkedIn  

Ann Handley, the world's first Chief Content Officer and Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, author of the Wall Street Journal best seller, Everybody Writes and co-author of Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business, explores the evolution of content marketing especially with the coming of age of ChatGPT, Improve your storytelling immediately with my The ABTs of Agile Communications™ quick online course to learn the agile narrative framework that all influential business communication is built.  Grab your copy of The Narrative Gym for Business, a short guide on crafting ABTs for all of your communications.  Read Brand Bewitchery: How to Wield the Story Cycle System™ to Craft Spellbinding Stories for Your Brand.  #StoryOn! ≈Park

Hear expert insights from Foundant's copywriter on how to craft compelling copy. In this episode we cover the importance of considering your audience, writing for different mediums, where to find inspiration, adding personality when you are writing for an organization, and the power of stepping away.Katie Sproles, Marketing Copywriter | Foundant TechnologiesThroughout her 30-year career in marketing and communications, Katie feels fortunate to have been able to dedicate her skills to writing compelling copy about organizations that serve others or enable the work of those who do. Before joining Foundant's team in 2021, she focused her efforts on writing about the programs and services offered by a public university art museum, a customer-owned utility, and local government in Eugene, Oregon—all of which make a difference in the lives of those they serve. That's what brought Katie to Foundant. She is energized every day by the work its clients are doing to make the world a better place. A mountain girl at heart, Katie is happy to have finally planted her roots in the city of Foundant's headquarters, Bozeman, Montana. When she's not working, you'll likely find Katie outside, looking for different ways to explore the local trails, rivers, and lakes. It's hard to say whether she has more photos of Bozeman's breathtaking sunrises and sunsets or her beloved dogs, Moby and Max. One thing is sure—she has fewer photos of her husband and two teenage daughters whom she loves deeply but are far less willing subjects.Links: Blogs Katie Has Authored: resources.foundant.com/authors/katie-sproles"Everybody Writes" by Ann Handley: annhandley.com/everybodywrites/Ann Handley Newsletter: annhandley.com/newsletter/Wordifier: claxon-communication.com/wordifier/"Communicate for Good" Recorded Webinar with Erica Barnhart: resources.foundant.com/education-webinars-for-grantmakers/communicate-for-good-raise-awareness-revenue-and-impact-one-word-at-a-timeCompass: Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.comSocial: Follow Foundant Technologies on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and Instagram

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs and the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everybody Writes. Recently, she embarked on a “down-to-the-studs” second edition of the book—revised, expanded, and 10% funnier. We talk about all of this—including why she didn't want to promise more than 10% funny—this week on the On Brand podcast. About Ann Handley Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author who speaks worldwide about how businesses can escape marketing mediocrity to ignite tangible results. IBM named her one of the seven people shaping modern marketing. Ann is a digital marketing pioneer and the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, the leading marketing training company with more than 600,000 subscribers. She is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, and co-author of Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. Her books have been translated into 19 languages, including Turkish, Korean, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. A LinkedIn Influencer, she has more than 420,000 followers on Twitter and is consistently named one of the more influential marketers on social media. She has contributed commentary and bylines to Entrepreneur magazine, IBM's Think Marketing, Inc. magazine, Mashable, Huffington Post, American Express, NPR, and the Wall Street Journal. Ann lives in Boston, where she is Mom to creatures two- and four-legged. She is an E.B. White Superfan, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel enthusiast, and a novice tap dancer. She escapes it all by retreating to her tiny-house office, which houses her vintage typewriter collection. Episode Highlights “Mediocrity has always been there,” Ann began as I asked about her focus on helping marketers escape a world of content mediocrity. However, she was quick to note that she never wants to make people feel bad—especially about their writing. What someone really means when they say ‘I'm terrible at writing.' We have a lot of baggage with writing. “When someone says ‘I'm terrible at writing what they usually mean is ‘I'm terrible at grammar.'” But that's just one piece of writing. And anyone can write. Or, perhaps a better way to say it is, everybody writes … “A fun romp through writing.” Recently, the second edition of Ann's bestseller Everybody Writes came out. New revised, and 10% funnier. Why just 10%? She explained that she didn't want to overpromise on the funny. The sunroom of brand voice. This ambitious undertaking had her taking the book “down to the studs” and rebuilding and in some cases removing sections. She also expanded the concept of brand voice into its own section. Think your brand isn't cool enough for brand voice? Check out the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (a favorite of Ann's). What brand has made Ann smile recently? “Cunk on Earth,” a hilarious new series on Netflix starring Diane Morgan. “It made me laugh out loud and I don't do that a lot.” To learn more, check out her website and connect with her on LinkedIn. As We Wrap … Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon/Audible, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn, iHeart, YouTube, and RSS. Rate and review the show—If you like what you're hearing, be sure to head over to Apple Podcasts and click the 5-star button to rate the show. And, if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review to help others find the show. Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you'd like our guests to answer? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #OnBrandPodcast and you may just hear your thoughts here on the show. On Brand is a part of the Marketing Podcast Network. Until next week, I'll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Ann Handley, author ofEverybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content!Ann's the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs which educates more than 600,000 marketers around the world. Her book - Everybody Writes - has been considered the bible for marketing writing for close to a decade.  Ann recently expanded and revised the book to update it on how marketing, content, writing, and audience mindset have evolved since the first edition.Some of the topics we discuss include:How marketing and writing have evolved over the past nine yearsHow to build a strong writing habitWhat prevents most people from writing “that big thing” they want to writeAnn's framework for consistently creating ridiculously good contentCrafting and evolving your brand voiceHow we should approach AI in our writingRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Ann's websiteAnn's book - Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good ContentAnn's newsletter - Total ANNARCHYMarketingProfsMarketingProfs 2023 B2B Marketing Forum

Welcome back to Making Good Book Club! In this episode, my book club co-host, Charelle Griffith and I discuss Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley.This book is marketing GOLD. If you own a business and do any kind of writing for it or about it (which I can pretty much guarantee that you do), this book is for you.In this book club episode, we talk about:How to approach writing for marketingGrammar and word choiceHow to find and establish your brand voiceThe role of storytelling in marketing contentMarketing for different content formatsAnd much, much more.____________________MAKING GOOD SHOWNOTES:https://makinggoodpodcast.com/157CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM:https://instagram.com/laurentildenGET 100 MARKETING PROMPTS (free!):https://makinggoodpodcast.com/100prompts 

Everyone has a personal brand! And everyone who talks about personal branding approaches it in a different way. What is a personal brand? "I like to think of it as the version of you that lives in other people's heads." Our guest on this episode gives us many examples of what she has done to create, develop, and hone her own personal branding over the years. We can learn a lot from this pro who has made helping others with personal branding her business. Do you know what your personal brand is? Our guest Christine Gritmon Christine empowers professionals to step into their personal brands in a bigger, bolder way on social media. You CAN do it—she'll teach you how! She's spoken on stages worldwide and is a frequent expert guest on podcasts, live streams, Twitter chats, and blog posts, as well as hosting her own weekly podcast, Let's Talk About Brand, and its companion Twitter chat, #ChatAboutBrand. She's also the senior editor of the Social Media Pulse Community, a one-stop destination for social media professionals to receive training, tips, conversations, and connections. Christine's book reco: "Everybody Writes" - 2nd edition by Ann Handley ~._.*._.~ We are "Making a Marketer"... in all ways. Check out episode 117 - and please take a minute to follow, rate, & review us on your podcast platform of choice & get each ep. when it drops! https://bit.ly/mamITuneNEW ::: This episode is made possible by Powers of Marketing - emPOWERing amazing podcast experiences & online events ::: **Our editor Avri makes amazing music! Check out his music on Spotify!**

If you want more clients, you need to build relationships.   There are few better ways to do that than writing.   In this week's episode, Stuart interviews Ann Hanley. Ann is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everybody Writes and Content Rules. They talk about how you can become a more natural, engaging writer so your future clients get to know the real you. You'll learn specific editing techniques which make your life easier and your content more engaging.      Timestamps:   Ann's first newsletter: 4:18  What is honest empathy? 9:13   Should you write the same way you speak? 14:53  Making every word count: 18:08  The importance of editing: 21:19  Why writing is a privilege: 23:55  Developing your writing voice: 25:06  Building a relationship with your readers: 31:45  Should personal trainers start a newsletter? 34:18  Ann's advice for her younger: 38:44                         Find Out More About Ann: Website: https://annhandley.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annhandley/ New Book: https://annhandley.com/everybodywrites/      Find Out More About LTB: Website: https://liftthebar.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftthebar/? Stuart's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stuart__aitken/?hl=en  14-Day Free Trial: https://liftthebar.thrivecart.com/ltb-membership-49 Free Newsletter: https://liftthebar.activehosted.com/f/16 

Financial brand marketers are in the communication business, so everyone has to flex their writing chops at some point. Yet, for one reason or another, many people believe they don't have what it takes to create quality written content. But as Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes, pointed out, you don't need to be a brilliant writer to communicate value to your customers. You just need to be authentic.   Join us as we discuss: - Marketing transformations that inspired Ann to update her book (7:20) - Her three-step formula for creating quality content (14:48) - How to differentiate yourself in an expertise economy (22:28) Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: - Ann Handley - Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content - Ann Handley Newsletter You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here. Listening on a desktop & can't see the links? Just search for Banking on Digital Growth in your favorite podcast player.  

If you struggle with your own content marketing, aren't sure what to write about or how to find your voice or just keep resisting the idea of doing an email newsletter, you're in for a treat. In today's episode, I'm talking with Ann Handley, author of the best-selling book, Everybody Writes, about everything content marketing. So if you like what you hear, we'd love it if you write a review, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and sign up for Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor.

Host George B. Thomas and guest Ann Handley talk about Ann's brand new book, Everybody Writes 2. They discuss how she came to write a second book and how different it is from her first, as well as why she wanted to create a book for the new gene

The incredible Ann Handley is back and it's a rather interesting appearance because we discuss ChatGPT and specifically if AI bots will take away jobs and livelihood from copywriters. The response is eerily reasurancing, BUT what happens next is really quite weird: it seems like we are joined by a mysterious third guest that we could not see at the time, but after the fact it is impossible to miss... We are NOT ALONE!!!!! :P It's a wonderful conversation with amazing chemistry and here are the shownote: 16m - Language reflects culture 19m - Speaks to the brand 20m - My uncle Ed 21m - Showing up unannounced 22m - Signaling - I understand you 25m - Permission to show up unannounced 27m - First you have to earn equity/currency (which you do with consistency through showing up)...then surprise and delight with value 28m - Chatmans or Chathums 33m - Death to the Humans 34m - Level up; Step up 41m - The beginning of a brainstorm 43m - Leadership leveling up 44m - You can't shortcut relationships 46m - I didn't recognize the writer 54m - Becoming a better writer 54m - Trying to find your voice....you already have a voice...just evolve it 56m - Habit (showing up every day) versus obligation (showing up some days) My Take/Learning: If you show up informally, treat your audience informally; if you show up formally, treat your audience formally (traditionally) Quote: "Content is king, but marketing is queen, and runs the household." - Gary Vaynerchuk 1-minute Highlight: Death to the Humans Soliloquy: If Content is King is ChatGPT the Kingslayer? Exclusive 1-minute highlights and/or extended clips of this interview, plus behind-the-scenes looks at the show and group chat are now available for subscribers at just 99c/month on my profile, @jaffejuce on Instagram Watch full episodes at youtube.com/c/josephjaffeisnotfamous. Subscribe at bit.ly/subscribetotheshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley About the Book: A hands-on field guide to consistently creating page-turning content that your audience loves. (And that delivers real results.) In the newly revised and updated edition of Everybody Writes, marketer and author Ann Handley improves on her Wall Street Journal bestselling book that's helped hundreds of thousands become better, more confident writers. In this brand-new edition, she delivers all the practical, how-to advice and insight you need for the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing. This new edition also includes: All-new examples, tools, resources Updated step-by-step writing framework Added and expanded chapters that reflect the evolution of content marketing (and the evolution of Ann's thinking about what works today) The same witty and practical how-to approach How to attract and retain customers with stellar online communication How to choose your words well, sparingly, and with honest empathy for your customers Best practices and ideas for crafting credible, trustworthy content “Things Marketers Write”: The fundamentals of 19 specific kinds of content that marketers like you write Inspiration. Confidence. Fun. In this book, you'll discover: Content marketing has evolved. Yet writing matters more than ever. In this new edition of Everybody Writes, you'll find the strategies, techniques, tips, and tools you'll need to refine, upgrade, and (most of all) inspire your own best content marketing. About the Author: Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author who speaks worldwide about how businesses can escape marketing mediocrity to ignite tangible results. IBM named her one of the 7 people shaping modern marketing. She is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs; a LinkedIn Influencer; a keynote speaker, a mom, a dog person, and a writer. She is the co-author of Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. Her books have been translated into 19 languages, including Turkish, Korean, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. She has contributed commentary and bylines to Entrepreneur magazine, Inc. magazine, Mashable, Huffington Post, American Express, NPR, and the Wall Street Journal. And, interesting fact – her favorite book of all time is EB White's Charlotte's Web! Click here for this episode's website page with the links mentioned during the interview... https://www.salesartillery.com/marketing-book-podcast/everybody-writes-ann-handley

Embrace that procrastination is all part of the writing process. Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer, writer and speaker, focused on inspiring businesses worldwide to elevate their marketing. She chats with Erin about embracing the struggles of writing and marketing, while staying true to your personal brand. Learn more about Ann at annhandley.com and follow her on LinkedIn (@annhandley). Check out her new second edition of her Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Everybody Writes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Embrace that procrastination is all part of the writing process. Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer, writer and speaker, focused on inspiring businesses worldwide to elevate their marketing. She chats with Erin about embracing the struggles of writing and marketing, while staying true to your personal brand. Learn more about Ann at annhandley.com and follow her on LinkedIn (@annhandley). Check out her new second edition of her Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Everybody Writes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Embrace that procrastination is all part of the writing process. Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer, writer and speaker, focused on inspiring businesses worldwide to elevate their marketing. She chats with Erin about embracing the struggles of writing and marketing, while staying true to your personal brand. Learn more about Ann at annhandley.com and follow her on LinkedIn (@annhandley). Check out her new second edition of her Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Everybody Writes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to episode #851 of Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast. Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation - The ThinkersOne Podcast - Episode #851. Here is a truism that I live by: Knowing how to write (and speak) well is core to a person's success in work (and life). When it comes to learning how to write better, one of my favorite people in the whole wide world is Ann Handley. Ann has a constant flow of brilliant thoughts on content and marketing. She is one of the most insightful writers, and an incredible presenter on the concepts of content marketing and storytelling. Along with being a successful businessperson, she is also the author of two bestselling books, Everybody Writes and Content Rules (co-authored with C.C. Chapman). Currently, she runs MarketingProfs, which is a training and education company that has helped millions of professionals. Her previous company, ClickZ, was one of the first sources of digital marketing information in the world (which she sold over twenty years ago). Ann is beloved for all of the right reasons. And, if you still don't believe me, you should check out her incredible newsletter that comes out every two weeks. On this week's episode we dive into her latest project: A completely revised and re-written edition of her bestselling book, Everybody Writes. Enjoy the conversation... Running time: 1:06:01. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at Apple Podcasts. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. Check out ThinkersOne. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on Twitter. Here is my conversation with Ann Handley. Everybody Writes. Content Rules. MarketingProfs. Ann's Newsletter. Follow Ann on Instagram. Follow Ann on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'.

If you're in business these days, then you're a writer – like it or not. So you better learn how to do it well. That's the premise of a terrific writing how-to book called “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley. This week's episode of the podcast is taken from a group discussion I had with three fitness professionals serving the over-50 market. It started as a conversation about Ann's book but quickly evolved into a compelling tale of how these three people communicate with their clients and prospects, and how they're constantly pushing beyond their “comfort zones” to get better at writing.I was beside myself with what I heard. And I know many of you will enjoy their comments and relate to them and learn from them. Enjoy!Also, a reminder to take advantage of the business training event put on by the Functional Aging Institute Oct. 20-21 in Nashville. Use discount code FAIMM50 get 50 percent off. Register here: https://faievents.securechkout.com/nashville-2022Resources and Links“Everybody Writes” on Amazon.comPrime Fit Pros Group on FacebookFunctional Aging InstitutePrime Fit Content – Engage the over-50 marketNaamly – Support our advertiser, who helps you keep in touch with your members

In this episode, I'm thrilled to be talking with Angela Hursh again! Angela Hursh leads an outstanding team of marketing and training professionals at NoveList, a company helping libraries reach readers. She has also created courses on LearnwithNoveList.com to help library staff learn how to create effective marketing. She is the author of the blog SuperLibraryMarketing.com and host of the YouTube series The Library Marketing Show. Before her job at NoveList, Angela led the content marketing team for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. And has 20+ years of experience as an Emmy-award-winning broadcast TV journalist.SUPERLIBRARYMARKETING: 20% off the course Conquering Social Media: A Strategy for Libraries. Post about the promotional benefits of a library blog. Ann Handley's newsletter and book, “Everybody Writes”. Drew Davis's YT channel. Social Media Today. The Library Marketing BookClub.Please email me at info@thelibrarianmarketer.org. Intro & Outro Music Credit: Royalty Free Music by MusicUnlimited from Pixabay.

In this Marketing Over Coffee: Ann Handley stops in to talk about the new edition of her book Everybody Writes! Direct Link to File Brought to you by our sponsors: The Mailworks and LinkedIn! We learn all about the completely revised Everybody Writes! What’s been going on at the Market Basket over the past 4 […] The post Ann Handley on Everybody Writes appeared first on Marketing Over Coffee Marketing Podcast.

Are you writing content for your business? In today's episode, Fiona shares ideas on how to find content in everything that you do. Content is really storytelling and there are stories we can tell about everything. Tune in!

To all my US listeners, Happy 4th of July

In this episode, Jake talks about the process of how you can write a best-selling book in a hour a day. He shares the 2 most important pieces of knowledge that you need before getting started; your INTENTION for writing the book and the motivation for WHY NOW. Once you have the answers to these 2 questions then you are ready to begin the process. Jake Kelfer is a lifestyle entrepreneur, life elevator, and coach to ambitious entrepreneurs and freedom seekers helping people write and launch bestselling books. He is a 3x bestselling author, a high-energy motivational speaker, investor, and the founder of the Professional Basketball Combine which has helped 70+ NBA draft prospects turn their dreams of playing pro basketball into their reality. He and his work have been featured on Forbes, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and many other major media outlets.Follow Jake on InstagramJakes WebsiteFollow Candace on Instagram

When someone this important agrees to be your 100th episode guest, you record whenever she is available! Jen and Megan were beyond delighted when THE content marketing maven Ann Handley agreed to be on 100. (We might have fan-girled just a little!) Can you believe she used to think writing was boring? For real.   She went from thinking she had to write about herself to writing stories about things that happened that delighted her… from thoughts, emotions, feelings… to the ridiculous stuff that goes on that she can tell stories about. Ann has so much to teach us, and if you know who she is, you already know this. If you have not discovered her just yet, you're in for an even bigger treat with this one.  "I don't think writer's block is really a thing. I think that when we say we have writer's block, it's usually something else." We talk about how to track content back to revenue, how we should reframe content as a mechanism to hone our relationships with clients and prospects over time, and so much more.  Are you listening to your audience? Your audience will tell you what content is and isn't working! There are so many valuable nuggets and this EPIC episode… Even a brief chat about NFTs for good measure.  Our guest... Ann Handley As the world's first Chief Content Officer, Ann Handley speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training company that empowers marketers internationally with the skills they need to drive success at their companies. She is a speaker, author, and member of the LinkedIn Influencer program. She's the author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller on business writing, "Everybody Writes," and the co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, "Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business." A pioneer in digital marketing, Ann is the co-founder of ClickZ.com, which was one of the first sources of digital marketing news and commentary. Ann's book recos: The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott Linchpin by Seth Godin   We are "Making a Marketer"... in all ways. Check out episode 100 -- and please take a minute to follow, rate, & review us on your podcast platform of choice & get each ep. when it drops! https://bit.ly/mamITuneNEW ::: This episode is made possible by Powers of Marketing - emPOWERing amazing podcast experiences & online events ::: ** Our show music is provided by our GIFTED editor, MUSICIAN, Avri. Check out his song, "Too Close"! **

Third-party cookies are on their way out, but the deep-data connection to your future audience isn't gone for good.  This shift to first-party data allows you to pinpoint and own your audience's valid preferences, giving you greater control over your content strategy, customer experience, and marketing journey. First-party cookies are now your golden ticket to the perfect user experience and higher conversions.  But how do you get your email subscribers to share their preferences with your brand?  How do you get the information you need to customize their experience? Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs and Wall Street Journal's bestselling author, joined me on the SEJ Show to give you proven steps to gather first-party cookies.  In this podcast, you'll learn to connect with your audience, maintain relevant marketing campaigns, and nurture your owned audience to conversion.   When I look at that cookie or the idea of a post-cookie world, and when I look more holistically at what's going on in digital marketing, I think that we have an opportunity to not think about the death of cookies like it's death (in some ways it is because we're losing that access to bits of third-party data) but actually to reframe it as an opportunity to reboot our customer relationships. –Ann Handley, 25:32 Email is new again. –Ann Handley, 23:09 Sometimes there's an over-compensation for the short term instead of playing the long game. Playing the long game is what we can do from a content perspective.–Loren Baker, 48:07 [00:00] - Ann Handley's background. [06:25] - Pillars to create great content. [09:24] - Example of an airline using good content. [12:18] - Are avatars important when you're writing? [13:15] - Our job as marketers when it comes to writing. [16:40] - Google vs. Safari dropping the third-party cookies. [16:67] - How to relate your content to something newsworthy. [21:46] - Tips for getting emails opened and adding value to your list. [30:43] - Companies that humanized their approach to content. [33:00] - An example of how JetBlue approaches its content. [36:07] - Ann's thoughts on building subscriber lists on social media channels. [40:18] - Other ways to use email newsletter lists. [51:32] - Content marketing ideas to take “offline”. [52:28] - A nice example of print content.  [62:38] - How do you communicate your content to people?   Resources Mentioned:  Road ID - https://www.roadid.com/ Books: Everybody Writes & Content Rules - https://annhandley.com/books/ Marketing Profs - https://www.marketingprofs.com/ Part of the reason I believe so strongly in email and whether it's a post-cookie world or not is because it's such a tremendous opportunity to connect directly with one person at one time. –Ann Handley, 24:08 It's going to cut down on the amount of retargeting, remarketing, and data that third parties have about you, but first parties may be able to have it.–Loren Baker, 18:35 Instead of approaching your marketing with this level of anxiety…If we've done our jobs right from a content and an SEO standpoint, it will ultimately pay off in the long term. I think sometimes the reason that short-term thinking happens is that we have this anxiety around it.–Ann Handley, 48:32   For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal Are you looking to keep up with current and effective digital marketing today? Check out https://www.searchenginejournal.com for everything you need to know within the digital marketing space and improve your skills as an internet marketer.   Connect with Ann Handley:   ​​Ann is a pioneer in the world of digital marketing. A Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Author, LinkedIn Influencer and Writer, partner at MarketingProfs, and Founder of ClickZ, she has made an indelible mark on how we think about content and marketing. She has handled the tough topics of writing and content marketing with finesse. As an expert in her field, she has authored two best-selling books, "Everybody Writes" and "Content Rules." Her influence extends beyond being a speaker and author, as Ann has guided many companies to develop marketing strategies that work.   Connect with Ann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhandley/ Follow her on Twitter:https://twitter.com/annhandley/ Visit her website: https://annhandley.com/   Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

Hello from Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome to another episode of B2B Marketing & More. It's hard to believe we're almost at the end of the year. So much has happened. I thought it would be helpful to identify some of the business growth trends and the marketing topics that stood out and that will definitely keep on trending. That also gives me a chance to revisit some of the wonderful conversations on this podcast with my guests. In this episode: Felix Krueger is the CEO of Krueger Marketing. His company focuses on sales enablement and Account-Based Marketing for B2B enterprises. Felix talked about the changes in sales and marketing content that have been necessary to meet a more virtual world, and how we can find the balance between the hybrid, which is face-to-face communication and the virtual. Many of you know Ann Handley from her work as a Chief Content Officer of Marketing Profs and her book, Everybody Writes. When we were talking about writing, we extended our conversation to email marketing because she was able to capture over 25,000 email subscribers in less than one year. Ann suggests that we should use our newsletter a little bit differently. Lee Odden is the CEO of Top Rank Marketing, and he helps B2B brands with influencer marketing. Lee has a very specific point of view when brands want to be perceived as thought leaders and show their expertise and why it doesn't hurt to partner with an influencer in that specific area. Paul Roetzer is the founder and CEO of PR 20/20 and the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute. Paul talks about Artificial Intelligence and what will AI do for sales and marketing. Quotes from the episode: "The whole experience of sitting in a room with a salesperson for one hour, going through 30 slides, having a face-to-face discussion and back and forth involving other stakeholders - that experience has gone. And I think it's gone for good. What happens now is that one experience that you used to have, is more decentralized now." -  Felix Krueger "As much as I love social media, I also think it's not the best way to nurture relationships. A far more effective, especially in B2B, is through the email newsletter. Many B2B companies are afraid. They have this sense of a template, a templatized approach to their email newsletter versus just blowing the whole thing up and rethinking it." - Ann Handley "Creating a great experience obviously is a theme in B2B marketing for customers, but creating a great experience, not just for customers, but for influencers as well, is super, super important, because if they're inspired to share, it's just going to be that much more successful." - Lee Odden I would argue that most marketers will never know nor care what unsupervised and supervised learning is. Nor will they care about the eight common machine learning models of clustering and linear regression. What they need to know is what is AI capable of doing to identify and prioritize use cases internally. They need to know who the go-to experts are, the data scientists who can help them prepare the data properly and ensure that there's no bias built-in." - Paul Roetzer ————— If you want to chat, reach out to any social media channels or email me at hello@pamdidner.com. You can also join my Facebook community: Build Your Marketing Skills to Get Ahead. When you join, you get a free Starbucks on me. You can go to the Announcement tab and click on the barcode of the gift card.

Books Discussed A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai (Adapted by Junji Ito) The Room by Herbert Selby Jr. Everybody Writes by Anne Handley Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas Out of Love by Hazel Hayes Desperate Measures by Katee Roberts Den of Vipers by K. A. Knight Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold A Slaying in the Suburbs: The Tara Grant Murder by Steve Miller and Andrea Billups Lucky by Alice Sebold The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

รีวิวหนังสือ Everybody Writes : Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content ตอนที่ 3 เขียนโดย Ann Handley ส่วนนี้พูดถึงกฎไวยกรณ์ในการเขียน กฎการสร้างเรื่องราว กฎการเผยแ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sakol/message

รีวิวหนังสือ Everybody Writes : Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content ตอนที่ 2 เขียนโดย Ann Handley พูดถึงเทคนิคการเขียนที่ต้องอาศัยการฝึกฝน ผู้เขียนเน้นให้เวลาเขียนมองเห็นภาพรวมนึกถึงคนอ่าน --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sakol/message

รีวิวหนังสือ Everybody Writes : Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content ตอนที่ 1 เขียนโดย Ann Handley หนังสือเล่มนี้บอกเทคนิคการเขียน "13 สิ่งที่นักการตลาดเขียน" เช่น การเขียน Blog ทำเว๊ปไซด์ การเขียนบน Twitter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sakol/message

Jonathan DeYoe is a Licensed Insurance Agent, Certified Private Wealth Advisor, and the President of Mindful Money. He is the author of the Amazon Bestseller Mindful Money: Simple Practices for Reaching Your Financial Goals and Increasing Your Happiness Dividend.Before establishing his own company, Jonathan worked for a number of Wall Street giants, including Morgan Stanley, UBS PaineWebber, and Salomon Smith Barney. He later founded DeYoe Wealth Management in 2001 out of the need to offer independent financial advice and unparalleled customer service in a warm, welcoming, client-centered environment. For over 20 years, he has been successfully helping people to gain a sense of order in their financial life.Jonathan writes about Financial Literacy and Behavioral Wealth Management for news outlets like BusinessInsider.com and MindBodyGreen.com. Today, Jonathan and his team manage close to $250,000,000 for nearly 235 families and non-profits in the Bay Area and beyond.Listen in as they discuss:Behavioral wealth managementOvercoming biases in behavioral wealth managementMindfulness as a tool to overcome biasesFundamental principles to learn from Jonathan's bookAnd, more!TIP OF THE WEEKMark: My tip of the week is the best, it'll really change your life, just go to mindful money and get Jonathan DeYoe's book Mindful Money: Simple Practices for Reaching Your Financial Goals and Increasing Your Happiness Dividend.Scott: Check out this book, Everybody Writes by Anne Handley.Jonathan: My whole life changed when I started doing a couple of different things, and one book that helped me get through this is Steven Pressfield's The War Art, which is a fantastic book for people who are struggling to finish a creative project or start a creative project. It really talks about THAT struggle, and what's inside our brain that makes struggle happen and how do we overcome THAT struggle.Want To Listen More?Did you enjoy this episode? Check out another exciting episode with special guest Dan Candell as they discuss how to unleash the power of your mind for success.Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want, and with whomever you want?

Ann Handley, co-founder of MarketingProfs, began her career as a journalist, and her roots in storytelling and understanding the needs of her audience helped her launch a media business which has since evolved into becoming the premiere destination for professionals and educators to learn and get training for marketing, The best-selling author of two books, The Content Code and Everybody Writes, Ann continues to trail blaze the path forward for enterprises and professionals on how to create content that connects in a deep way. Learn all about how Ann built her influence through and content and how you and your company can as well. For more information: •Ann Handley: https://annhandley.com •MarketingProfs: https://marketingprofs.com •Ann Handley's Books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Handley/e/B003OSWOGS •Amanda Russell: https://amandarussell.co •Neal Schaffer: https://nealschaffer.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training company that empowers marketers internationally with the skills they need to drive success at their companies. Ann is a speaker, author, and member of the LinkedIn Influencer program. She is the author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller on business writing, "Everybody Writes," and the co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, "Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business."

Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content. In today’s world, we spend a lot of our time online. As a result, we communicate through pictures, memes, gifs, and more. Who needs writing anymore, right? Well, with all this content creation, writing matters more now than ever before. Whether you are simply sharing pictures on social media or maintaining an entire website for your company, you are a writer. Today, online words now act as our currency, they tell our customers who we are, and they carry our marketing messages. This means you need to choose your words well and begin placing value on an often-overlooked skill in content marketing: how to write! In Everybody Writes, top marketing guru Ann Handley provides insight and guidance into the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing. The lessons and rules apply to all areas online, including web pages, landing pages, blogs, email, and even Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media. As you read, you’ll learn why your first draft should be "ugly," why less is more, and how to write a successful landing page. *** Do you want more free audiobook summaries like this? Download our app for free at QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries.

Let's discuss ten of the very best content marketing books. I've used content marketing as a core strategy to build six and seven figure businesses.  It's a very well established approach for attracting an audience and establishing trust with that audience.It's grown in popularity over the last decade or so - especially as it's become easier and easier to publish articles, videos, podcasts, and other forms of content.  And as a result, there are some really great resources that can help you get started.Want to leave a COMMENT or watch the VIDEO?► https://youtu.be/16L00y4S_UcTHE 10 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS

We know you’re here for SEO tips so today we double down on an area overlooked by all too many: content creation.Maybe you want to create your own content but you need some tips to help you sharpen up your writing.Perhaps you want to outsource your content creation but you want to know what you’re talking about when you’re hiring a writer.Either way, grab a copy of Everybody Writes, a great primer on writing copy that converts. Don’t have the time for that?Put the tips covered in today’s podcast into practice and see a huge difference.All you need to do is think about the following simple markers: · Know your audience· Write as if you’re talking to a friend· Embrace white space· Use the active voice· Content should be as long as it needs to be· Use Grammarly as a guide· Hire a writer but recognize the important of an SEO strategyKnow your audienceThis might sound obvious, but you need to be talking to the right people. We help a number of recovery centers so we’re producing content targeted squarely at female decision-makers. We’re also ensuring that we make technical or complicated content easy to read for everyone.That approach is flipped on its head when we’re working with tech companies.All that counts here is talking to your customers directly and in the way they’re accustomed to being addressed. And this brings us to the next point: keep it personal.Follow us on social media: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCblrV8Hb4xyl6r7ZRcGZCOQ/https://www.linkedin.com/company/53207723/https://twitter.com/RyanJacksonRhttps://www.instagram.com/_jacksondigital/Subscribe to our newsletterCheck out our new location in Orange, County.

Joei Chan is the Director of Content at 360Learning and one of the most creative and strategic content marketers out there. From launching a reality docu-series that followed her first few weeks at the company, to balancing content strategy with execution, Joei is a master at finding ways to use different content types to hit company goals. In this episode we discuss her approach to content and being a marketer.Resources:Joei on LinkedIn360Learning blogWatch the onboarding Joei docu-seriesMasterclassMention & TwilertIntercomWistiaFS blogWait but Why blogAnn Handley's Everybody Writes

In a world crowded with content, how can brands stand out and develop content that people will fall in love with? This week on The Inbound Success Podcast, Wall Street Journal best selling author and MarketingProfs Chief Content Officer Ann Handley shares her perspective on what makes great content. Ann debunks the myth that business content has to be "professional" and shares examples of companies that have developed authentic brand voices and, in doing so, built huge followings. Check out the episode to hear Ann's advice and get actionable takeaways for creating your own brand voice. Resources from this episode: Visit annhandley.com Subscribe to the Total Annarchy newsletter Get your ticket to Marketing Profs B2B Marketing Forum Get a copy of Everybody Writes Check out some of the other resources Ann mentioned: Subscribe to the CB Insights newsletter Subscribe to the Phrasee newsletter Visit the Think Currituck website Transcript Kathleen (00:12): Welcome back to the Inbound Success Podcast. I'm your host, Kathleen Booth. And you guys, this week my guest is Ann Handley. Woohoo! Welcome Ann. Ann (00:31): Thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here with you and with everybody. So thank you for having me. Kathleen (00:35): I'm so excited to have you. I don't know why it has taken me until episode 150 something to have you on this podcast. Shame on me. But then again, I will admit, I hesitate to ask the people that I, that are sort of like my marketing idols until I really feel like I have my act together. So I'm just going to say that I, maybe I finally have my act together enough, enough to have you on. Ann (00:46): I like that. I like that. Kathleen (01:01): So for, for those who don't know, Ann is a wall street journal bestselling author, the author of Everybody Writes. She is also a keynote speaker who's amazing speaking at live events, if you have not seen her. And she's the chief content officer at MarketingProfs, and I mean, I could go on and on about your resume, but I think you can probably tell us better than anybody your story and how you came to be doing what you do. Ann (01:27): Yeah. So I think you, you covered the you covered the highlights. I went to school for journalism. In my mind. Journalism training is the best training that any marketer can have, because what that does is it inspires you. It instructs you, it educates you on how to think about the audience. And increasingly that is what marketers need to be doing. I mean, obviously we always need to be thinking about our customers. So thinking about your customers in terms of what they need from you, I think is uniquely suited to to journalists. And so I, I think that my background as a journalist, I worked for a journalist for, Oh, I don't know about a decade or so before I, I joined I launched clickz.com, which is one of the first sources of marketing education online for this using this nascent thing called the internet. And and yeah, and then so from there, I was a journalist for 10 years before I started dipping my toe into the marketing space. And it's surprisingly relevant. Kathleen (02:40): You know, I couldn't agree with you more. I have hired a lot of marketers in my many, many years, I will not say how many in the industry and by far the best writers I've hired have all been, they've all come from journalism backgrounds to the point where now that's almost like a requirement for me when I put out a job description. It's not only I feel like, do they know how to really speak to an audience, but they know what questions to ask. Like, that's such an interesting skill that, that I think was surprising to me. And maybe I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that that marketers aren't always the best interviewers and listeners, whereas journalists are really good. Ann (03:21): Yeah. And that's really interesting because I think about this a lot, you know, I wrote Everybody Writes as you generously pointed out in the introduction, and as much as I believe in the power of good writing, what good writing means in a marketing context is really about providing value for the audience. So what does your audience need? You know, I hear from people all the time who feel, you know, they say to me, I'm not a good writer and that's not really how I think about, you know, the value of writing because in a marketing context, again, the value of writing is really what is your audience need? What do you need to give them and what can only come from you? And so I think if you reframe writing in terms of that, it just it'll automatically just improve how you communicate a hundred percent, because you'll be thinking about your audience. Ann (04:09): And, and that to me is the biggest differentiator between marketers who don't think about the audience, they just think about what they want to say. They want to talk about their products and their services and I get it because that's so exciting to us. We want to talk about that. We get excited about it. We see the value for the people who we sell to. And so we want to talk about that, but the reality is, you know, you've got to take it one step beyond that, right? Because your audience doesn't care about you. They care about what you do for them. And that's so elemental in so many ways, but at the same time, I see marketers and marketing all the time that doesn't look at the world through that lens. And so I think if we can constantly do one thing, just remind ourselves all the time, you know, what, what is it in it? What is in it for the audience? What do we need to lead with? Not to what, what not, what do we want to say, but what would be most important and resourceful and what would be most interesting to our audience? And so it's a subtle shift, but I think it's such a key and important one and one that we tend to forget. And I, and I'm guilty of the same, but we've really got to always remind ourselves of that. Kathleen (05:17): You know, one of my goals before the end of this year is to actually have a baseball hat made that just says "Marketing" on the front. And the reason I want to do that is that I've been saying for so long, this the same thing that now I need like a physical prop for it, which is that we as marketers, we're all human beings, right? We, in our lives, we buy things. We are marketed to. We know, instinctively as human beings, what we like and what we don't like and what works and what doesn't. But for some reason, when we go into work, we put that marketing hat on and we like forget what it means to be human. And and so I think that's one thing I want to do before the end of this year is literally have the marketing hat, like sitting on my desk, in my line of sight so that I can keep remembering, like, do not put that marketing hat on when you write and, you know, and, and pretend like you're talking to your friend and not the audience. Ann (06:09): Yeah. That's awesome. That's a really funny idea. I love the physical manifestation of that. That's really great. I love that. I think, yeah. If we take off the marketing hat while we're writing and then maybe it's okay to put that marketing hat on, when you think about, you know, things like distribution and how are we actually going to leverage the kinds of, of content assets that we've created. So, you know, that's not to say that there's never a time for a marketing hat, but I think when you were thinking about it as a content creator, and when you're thinking about serving the needs of an audience, it's, it's better to just sort of set it aside for, for a little while and then maybe put it back on Kathleen (06:49): Oh, for special occasions, Ann (06:51): Bring it out for special occasions. Yeah. Like that. Kathleen (06:54): Well, one of the reasons that I have always really kind of admired you and followed you is because I like your writing a lot and I particularly have enjoyed reading your newsletter. And, and to me, at least I can only speak for myself, it, it it's, it makes me feel like I know you, like, you're my buddy. You know, like I read it and I, and I know things about you as a person, sad things like when your dog passed away and just like, it's funny, I guess it must be with like what celebrities experience, where they walk around and everyone feels like they know with them. I kind of feel like that about you. And then there's something special in the way you've developed it. And, and, you know, it's interesting when you talk about giving your audience what they need. Cause I feel like sometimes what the audience needs is information and sometimes what they need is a feeling of belonging and relationship. And you seem to have like intuitively mastered that. So I'd love it. If you could talk a little bit about that. Ann (07:52): Yeah. That's so wonderful first. Thank you. I, that I've, I've never thought about it quite in those terms, so that's really, that's, that's really, that's nice. Thank you so much. So yes, I publish a newsletter every other Sunday. It's called Total Annarchy. And if you want to check it out, it's at annhandley.com/newsletter. And I'm sure you'll put links somewhere on this page, right? Yeah. And it's, it's funny because I started that list, started the newsletter because, you know, I've had my own site forever. I've, you know, as, as much as I I've grown marketing process, I've also had my own website and I would occasionally blog on there. But, you know, what happens when your career is that after a while you, you know, as you go further, along in your career, you stop touching things quite as much, you don't build products anymore and byproducts, I mean, marketing assets anymore, you know, you manage people who do that and you certainly might have a hand in it, but you don't physically touch things quite as much as you once did. Ann (09:02): At least in my case, that's a hundred percent true. And I wanted something that I would build myself. So I wanted something that would really show me from the ground up. What does it mean? I like to build an email list now in, when I started at 2018, for example, here it is in 2020, I'm still learning that, you know, how do you actually connect with, with a, an audience, you know, from the start I started with very few people, that email list and here two years later, it's now I just hit 30,000. Wow. Which was, yeah, it was personally really gratifying to me. So what have I learned a lot in that, about building audiences? And so some of the things that you just talked about, like I said, I don't think I've quite expressed them in that way, but I've felt them, you know, and so connecting with an audience and growing it. Ann (09:48): It's just, I've learned a whole lot about it and it's really given me something to own and to, to build myself, I get enormous psychic satisfaction out of it. But I also have learned a lot about what does it take to be a marketer in 2020 again, when you, you know, when you're, when you've been in marketing for a long time and when you leave teams, you know, you don't necessarily, you're not in the trenches quite as much. So I really have valued just that ability to do that. And that's really why I started my list. So anyway, all that to say, it's been interesting too, to see its evolution. Like if I go back two years and I look at it, what I was talking about, then I, you know, I felt a little unsure about how is it that I actually communicate. Ann (10:34): I, I, was it like I can, it feels tentative when I read it now. And here it is two years later, and I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. And one of those things to your point is that the more you can be vulnerable, the more you can show people who you are, the more relatable you are and ultimately the more effective any piece of content is. And so that was just such a big, big takeaway for me from this whole exercise. And yeah, it sounds, again, elemental, it sounds like something I should have known, but I, didn't not in, not in any true sense, you know, not at that level. So that's, it's been really interesting to me just to sort of see that, and sometimes I'll publish something, you know, the thing about just publishing about owning something like I do and publishing it under me, not under MarketingProfs, but under me. Ann (11:25): So it's very close to my heart. There's a vulnerability to that. So there's a vulnerability to writing about, you know, my dog passed away anyway, which was a massively emotional experience for me. Or, you know, this past week I wrote about imposter syndrome and how I still struggle with it from time to time and sort of what I've learned from it and how I've used it differently now than I might have a few years ago or 10 years ago or 20 years ago when I started my career. So writing about those subjects, you know, it can feel vulnerable and I sort of have to brace myself sometimes because I worry that it's going to, that people are going to be mean about it, basically, that they're going to say, you know, what are you, who are you to write about this? Or, you know, shut your face, or I don't know, whatever. Kathleen (12:13): Have you encountered that? Ann (12:15): Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Kathleen (12:16): I would be shocked if you hadn't. Ann (12:18): Yeah, for sure. And so my point of saying this to you is that I think the more vulnerable that I am and the more vulnerable I feel when I publish, when I hit that button, I'm always a little bit terrified. And I actually think that that's a good thing. How does that relate to marketing? Because I think if, you know, as I wrote about this past week, and if we're not a little terrified when we're doing, doing whatever it is that we're doing, then I think we're not pushing ourselves far enough as marketers, because the point is, of course in marketing is not to connect with everybody. And as gratified as I am, that, you know, that they're, that my list has grown to 30,000. There's also a ton of people who have unsubscribed. Right. Of course, because if they don't feel like it's in that, what's in it for them is not a value and that's fine, but I think that's an important lesson for us to learn as marketers too. Kathleen (13:04): The interesting thing to me about having this conversation is, is, you know, your, as you said, your newsletter as a personal newsletter, but you also create content for MarketingProfs. And I think it would be easy for somebody listening to say, well, that's great. That's a personal newsletter. It's different when you're writing for your business. And one of the first things that really illustrated to me that it doesn't have to be different actually is something that you turned me on to. I've never told you this story, but you mentioned in a conversation around newsletters, you mentioned the CB insights newsletter, and I, to this day, still use that as an example of how a very successful, very like a business that's in a very professional sector, can have a newsletter that injects a strong vein of, of personality into it. And the, the part of it that I always shine my, my spotlight on is that I think his name is Anand Sanwal who writes it, he signs off every newsletter with, I love you. Kathleen (14:09): Who does that in a business newsletter? Like it's so awesome and unexpected and fantastic. And, and they have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. So clearly it's not, you know, causing people to unsubscribe in droves. But I wanted to, for one, share with you that, like you were the one who first alerted me to that example, which is one that I really love and to this day, still share with people, but also ask you if you could talk a little bit about, you know, that objection, because I feel like it comes up a lot. Like I can't do that in my company newsletter or in my company marketing, because I have to be somehow, you know, display this other level of professionalism. Ann (14:44): Yeah. I do hear that a lot. And that CB insights newsletter is a really great example of that in part, because of that, I love you, but also, you know, the way that it's written. He, Anand, writes it as a letter. Essentially it starts with hi friend, not friends, right? Hi friend, one person. Very different than a group, a room full of people. He does not write to an audience. He's writing to one person. And then, you know, the way that he approaches, so he talks about emerging technology, right? He he's he covers the, the the VC world a lot. He covers technology and data science and all kinds of things like that to your point, very, very buttoned up. And he talks a lot about FinTech, for example, not a category known for its warmth and humanity. And so I love the way that he's injecting that in a very, very unique way. Ann (15:40): So when he writes it, it's, it's a little snarky, it's funny, it's, you know, it's got definite personalities that, that I love you with the end is not, it's not divorced from the rest of the newsletter is what I'm saying. It's very much baked into the vibe and the approach and his perspective. And so I think that the broader lesson I think in, in marketing is, is just, you know, a few of those things, like he's, he's grown that list by the way, from 3000 people to, I think he's just over 600,000 now. Kathleen (16:11): It's unbelievable. Ann (16:12): I know it's massive. And so just think about the lessons inherent in that, you know? I'm not advocating that every B2B tech company out there, that every B2B company or that every, you know, insert any category here, company needs to approach their marketing and sign their newsletter with an, I love you. Ann (16:31): What I am saying is, you know, how can you inject your humanity and your personality into what you're doing? I mean, Anand Sanwal is a great example of that, but another one of my favorite newsletters is from a brand called Phrasee. It's with a ph. So Phrasee, I think it is. And they are based in the UK. What they do is very similar, like an ensemble, lots of personality goes into their newsletter, but it doesn't come from the CEO in this case, it comes from Phrasee. So it sounds different. It doesn't sound like any other tech company out there and Phrasee by the way sells a AI solutions for, for B2B companies Kathleen (17:14): Also. So also an industry that you wouldn't immediately think of, you know, as lending itself well to personnel. Ann (17:20): Yes, very good point. But I love the way that they write that newsletter. And you know, another objection that I hear is, well, we don't have an announcer on wall. We don't want it to come from one person. I mean, there's a diff, there's a million different iterations on that approach. And so I'm mentioning Phrasee as an example of another iteration of that tons of personality, they use lots of GIFs or, or Jiffs depending on, Kathleen (17:46): Ann, don't stir that controversy on this podcast now. Ann (17:51): Oh my gosh I know. We'll get letters. Talk about unsubscribes. That'll just, that'll just launch people into detonate. But they, they use GIFs in their, in their, in their newsletter. It's really fun. The personality just shines through and it comes from a brand. So it's, you know, we're not saying that you have to use, I love you. You don't have to have a person's name attached to it, although that's fantastic. If you do it, doesn't have to be personal in that approach. It just needs to be personable. So that's what I counsel brands about. It's not about personal, it's about personable. Are you actually showing people, you know, your personality and yes. Even if you are a brand are you giving them a shred of humanity to latch onto, does it feel like it comes from a person like start there? You know, that's a pretty low bar. Kathleen (18:41): You would think, you would think. Yeah. So when you, you said you counseled brands and what's so interesting about that statement to me is like obviously a brand isn't a person. So when you have, let's say a larger company where they're there, you know, there may be isn't that clear or one person who could be the voice. How do you advise companies to determine what the voice of their brand is going to be? Ann (19:09): Yeah, your brand, I mean, sorry, your brand voice comes from your personality as a company. And so that's going to depend on your brand more broadly, you know, what is your positioning in the market? How do you communicate with your prospects, with your customers? What are you all about? You know, in a lot of smaller companies that is going to come from the CEO, right? Because a lot of, or the founders voice you know. Dollar shave club, great example of that, right. Right. Comes from the founders sort of quirky, fun, irreverent style. So in a smaller brand, that's a hundred percent true, but in a larger brand, I think you've, you've got to really just think about like, who, who are we number one, and then just some basic attributes about how, you know, what best defines you. How do you communicate with your prospects? Ann (20:02): You know, do you want to keep it very buttoned up? And there's nothing wrong with that, by the way. I mean, I think you can be personable and buttoned up. But at the same time, you know, just, just make, making sure that it matches your, your overall brand. And the way the thing that I always think about is like, what are the three adjectives that best define your brand, right? How do you actually what are the three ways that, that, or three attributes, I guess, that you would, that you would say would best define your brand? So marketing process, for example, you know, when we think about this, we are marketers marketing to marketers. And so we want them to know that they can rely on us. So we want to project confidence, for example, another thing, though, we want to be approachable. Ann (20:46): We want them to feel because we are marketers marketing to marketers. We want to have that personal approach, right. That we want to be personable. So we want to be approachable is the way that we define it. And the third way we define it is some elements of unexpected, like sell some elements of fun somewhere. We don't want to sound like any other marketing training and education company. So what does that element that we can, that we can use to spice up our, our voice from time to time to spice up our content, everything we're doing across the website, across social channels, our email, like all of it. Kathleen (21:20): I like that approach because I think just the three words, it's very simple. It's approachable. Any company can do that, certainly as a starting point. Ann (21:29): I mean, you could hire an agency and come in and they will charge you, you know, I don't know, a hundred thousand dollars and do it for you. Kathleen (21:34): To come up with three words? Ann (21:34): They can go much deeper, but I'm talking about it, a basic that just, just start there and then, and then blow it out from there. Kathleen (21:44): So it's one thing to write a newsletter and to have a voice in it. But it seems like, you know, that voice needs to carry you throughout all of your marketing. So how do you do that? You know, like how do you really filter that voice down and seep it and soak it through all the various aspects and assets that you have in your marketing? Ann (22:08): Yeah. I think one of the things that we used to do in, in in my journalism days when I used to work for newspapers back when newspapers were actually paper we used to have editorial meetings, right? Every day we would have a standup editorial meeting. And so I think that, you know, that same approach applies to teams of marketers who all need to be on the same page. You know, it can be part of your creative review potentially, but I think it's important to just have that conversation, you know, to talk about your tone of voice as a living breathing document. So the first thing to do of course, is to write it down, document it somewhere, which sounds incredibly boring, but I think it's just the kind of thing where you need to have it front and center for you and for your teams all the time. Ann (22:58): Even if it's just a simple Google doc, which is what we have at MarketingProfs, by the way, simple Google doc that you can refer to when you need it just as a refresher and throw in examples, you know, here's how we communicate here. Some really strong examples. And by doing that, it also allows you to share that living, breathing document with freelancers or content creators, or anybody who happens to be creating content on behalf of your brand. So, you know, I think we tend to overcomplicate this whole process, but, you know, internal conversations, talking, you know, calling out great pieces of content that, or, or are great examples of tone of voice within the own or within your own organization. We do that all the time. And then secondly, a living breathing document, and I'm emphasizing living, breathing document because, you know, your tone of voice, just like your brand, just like your company is not a stagnant thing. It's not like you say, here it is. And you put it up on a shelf somewhere in your brand guidelines and end of story. I think it's much more relevant if you keep it front and center close by and you, you iterate and evolve it over time. Yeah. Kathleen (24:04): Now we've talked a lot about voice because selfishly, that was something I wanted to pick your brain on. But you know, I know for you this overarching theme of honesty, transparency, authenticity is like a big focus area right now. And I feel like for some people, those are very loaded words, especially in the day and age that we live in. And there's a lot of fear around that and what, you know, what are the guardrails to that and that sort of thing. Maybe you could talk a little bit about that. Ann (24:33): Yeah. I don't know if it's funny, cause I feel like, you know, here we are having this conversation in the we're, we're rolling into the, the, the close to the end of 2020, I guess, in, in, in August. And I started to feel like you can, you can see the end of the year over the horizon. And this has been such a crazy year for, for so many brands for so many people. I think if there's anything good that has come about from COVID is that I have seen greater transparency and authenticity with brands. Now this has obviously been a very difficult time for, for so many, so many businesses. But I, I do think that there's also, commensurate with that, there's been a sense of who people are as people within these, these brands, as much as we're getting a sense of of you know, just, just how, how are brands responding and how are people responding? Ann (25:37): So, you know, just, just as an example of seeing people in their home offices, seeing the challenges that we all deal with right now with kids home and, and the lack of clarity around what's going to happen next. Like nobody knows. And so I think that has added to a layer of, you know, kind of empathy and understanding. I mean, I certainly have a sense of people on my team, what their challenges are much more so than I I did before this pandemic hit. And you know, and, and we've always been virtual, but I think that this added stress and added layer has only improved our communications internally because there's a whole lot more, I don't know, there's, there's, we're all so hyper aware of each other's humanity right now, I guess, is the best way to put it. Ann (26:24): How is that playing out with brands? I mean, I think there's been a couple of great examples of companies who I think have done a really good job and trying to be as authentic and human and, and relatable as possible during this time at the very beginning of this pandemic, I really liked the way that Arnie Sorenson, who's the CEO of Marriott at a time, when so many brands were issuing emails or press releases to their, to their audiences expressing, you know, during this time during these unprecedented times, and I'm using like unprecedented air quotes during these unprecedented times, you know, we are here for you, we're with you, but I love that Arnie Sorenson did the complete opposite. Instead they fired up a video camera and filmed Arnie in this five minute video that they shared on social media. And in the video, Arnie discusses just how gutted he is by what's going on around the world, but especially how it's affecting Marriott associates. Ann (27:27): I think that was just so poignant and such a telling example of what I think so many more CEOs and leaders in business should have done, which is get on camera and turn that camera around, show your audience who you are. Don't just say during these unprecedented times we are gutted, you know, actually show it. And that's exactly what happened in that video. You know, you could see the emotion on Arnie's face. So that's a great example I think, of, of using and using is the wrong word, because I don't want to sound like, you know, any brand should be using the pandemic, but, but taking the opportunity, I think to just not just say how you feel, but really show how you feel. Kathleen (28:11): Yeah, it is so powerful and I'm sure there are many CEOs who probably have trepidation around that. Just like you say, you have trepidation around hitting send, but I think, you know, like you said, if there isn't a little bit of fear, then you must not be doing something, right. Ann (28:26): Yeah. Yeah. And you know, since then, there's, I mean, he did that back in, I want to say late March, maybe early April, something like that. So pretty early on when we have seen more leaders come out front and center, but you know, not, not as many as I think we could have. And so I'm just really thinking about how is it that we should be communicating right now. I mean, I think every brand should be having that conversation internally. How do we actually communicate in a way that's different because the world is not different. I mean, the world is a hundred percent different. The world is a hundred percent different for your company, for your audiences, for the people you do business with for, for, you know, for you, for me, for everybody, it's like, none of it is, is as usual. And so I think the conversation that needs to be happening internally and every brand out there is, you know, what is our response to this going to be not just now, but longterm. Because I do think that's how we behave right now does have repercussions, you know, years and months and years from now. Kathleen (29:26): Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Now speaking of the world being a completely different place one of the ways that that has manifested is the whole industry of events has just had an atom bomb dropped on it. And, and I wanted to ask you about that because MarketingProfs has an amazing annual event, B2B marketing forum, and it was supposed to be coming up here shortly. Tell me a little bit about what you guys are doing. Ann (29:58): Yeah, well, it is a surprise to absolutely know that the B2B forum, which was supposed to take place November 4th and fifth in San Francisco, California is now going to take place online. So it's going virtual, like every other event out there. It took us a while to get everything in line, but we are now moving full steam ahead with our virtual program. So it'll be a two day program. And one of the, the things that we've done is, you know, again, just like this conversation, we're having a minute ago about how it's incumbent on every brand to have this conversation, you know, what do we do now? How do we respond? And so a, I guess a silver lining of this pandemic is that we absolutely had to have that conversation internally at MarketingProfs about, you know, what does this mean for us and how do we actually respond in a way that's meaningful. We couldn't take a two day program that was intended to be in person and just poured it into an online platform. And I was like, okay, done. It just doesn't work that way anymore. And so we had to ask ourselves, you know, what's inherent to a virtual platform that maybe we can't do in person. And so that's an issue that we're working through. Like, is there, is there actually opportunity in a virtual environment? Now, one of the things obviously would be, yes, you can attract an international audience, whereas before not so much, Kathleen (31:26): Although I will say I was at the event last year and I was actually shocked by how many people I met from other countries at an event of that size. Like, I felt like an outsized proportion of people came in internationally. Much more than I had expected. Ann (31:40): Yeah. That's a fair point. Yeah. I think compared to other marketing conferences, I'll put it that way. Yeah. Yeah. That is a fair point. But I think even, even more so now, right. Because we just have the, once you, once there's no travel involved and whatsoever, that means that it does open it up to a whole host of people who may not have been able to be there otherwise. So yes, that's true. And then the other, the other issue that we thought about was, you know, the great part about going to an in person event is that you go there and it's, you meet all these people and you're inspired and you learning all kinds of new things and you just feel like, so I'm so filled up and so on fire. And then you get back to your office and it's you walk into the door and you sit down at your desk and as you open up your laptop and you've got like a thousand emails from that you need to respond to, and then your boss needs to meet with you and maybe your direct reports need some help and maybe sales wants to have a conversation. Ann (32:32): And next thing, you know, like by the afternoon, like all those good vibes are just completely just destroyed and you're sitting going, Ugh, what was I going to focus on again? You know? And so we saw that as an opportunity. Okay. So that moment isn't happening, right? People are not going to walk back to their, their, their opposites, right. They're not going to drive to their office on Monday post event and, you know, fire it up. So how do we actually think about that a little bit differently? So our solution to that was to think about how do we actually extend the inspiration and the learning from something like the B2B forum year round. So what we've done is that anyone who buys a ticket to the B2B forum this year will also get a pro subscription. So that means that you'll get access to our pro community. Ann (33:22): We have a Facebook group, we have ongoing resources, we have regular webinars and in the fall we'll be introducing masterclasses around various marketing topics. And so what we're doing there is essentially giving people the opportunity to extend that inspiration and that learning and that access to resources and that networking all year round. So yes, you can get fired up over two days, but then it's not going to go away because you're going to have access to it all year round. And so I'm sharing all of that with you as an example of how I think so many companies in the brands need to rethink, how is it that we are delivering our products and services with the, the, with empathy, for the mindset of, of those people you sell to, as I said, you know, people are not going to go back to their offices because we're already all in our home offices. Ann (34:11): And so that meant that we needed to, we needed to strengthen the value for our attendees, but also it was, it was a great opportunity I think, to display something or, or, or, or to address a challenge that I know I felt as a, as a business person, as a marketer, as somebody who loves events. I mean, I feel that same struggle of going back to the office and just being, you know, all those good vibes being completely destroyed. And so how is it that we could address that? It, it, it, for me, I think it was a it's I'm really excited just to be able to talk about that more. And I'm really excited to see how it plays out long term. Kathleen (34:50): I think it's really neat that you're including the membership in pro as part of it. Not only because it gives people access to all, all of that learning and education, but, you know, the community aspect, I feel like so much of it's really been interesting to me community online communities have been a thing for a long time. And but I really feel like in the last 12 to 18 months, some there's been like a tidal shift that has happened. And so much like goodness is occurring in these communities that are out there, whether they're on Facebook or on Slack or on somebody's website, in a, in a platform built there that, especially with us all stuck in our houses right now, it's such a great way to keep the energy going for the rest of the year and to build and, to form those relationships. And like, I mean, I've been in the MarketingProfs, the pro Facebook group, and there's great content in there, but it's also fun. Like I love watching Kerry when she does her videos. Ann (35:48): Yeah. It's a lot of good stuff happening there. Kerry did a great job and it's new. Like we just launched that basically in April, I think it was April. Yeah. So again, that was another response to the pandemic, you know, how can we actually connect people without the, who don't have the ability to connect in person anymore? So that was another example of something that we, that we wanted to do as a, as a, as a kind of gift to our, our pro members. Kathleen (36:14): Well, it's awesome. Everybody should be a part of it. If somebody is listening and they want to check out B2B forum, what's the best way for them to do that? Ann (36:23): Oh, they can go to mpb2b.marketingprofs.com, or you can just go to marketingprofs.com and you can just click on, sorry, my daughter's coming in. Kathleen (36:38): Part and parcel of the whole, yeah, the Zoom from home thing. Ann (36:42): Just got completely distracted. Yeah, you can go to marketingprofs.com and you can navigate to the B2B forum easily from there. Kathleen (36:48): Great. now shifting gears for a second, I have two questions I always ask all of my guests at the end. And I'm particularly curious to hear what you have to say about these two things. The first one is, of course, you know, we're all about inbound marketing on the podcast. Is there a particular company or individual that you think is really setting the standard for what it means to be, you know, a great inbound marketer these days? Ann (37:12): Hm. That's a good question. Setting the standard for what it means to be great inbound marketer. Does it have to be B2B or can it be, can be, can be an individual? Kathleen (37:25): It can be a company from any industry. Ann (37:32): Okay. Ann (37:33): Yeah, that's really interesting. Kathleen (37:35): And you can make more than one too. Ann (37:37): So, yeah, so I think my, my favorite, I was, it's not really a company organization who I think is doing a great job with their marketing is it's a, I wrote about them actually recently in my newsletter. So maybe it's familiar to you, Kathleen, but it's the economic development agency in Currituck County. If you go to Think Currituck, and it's C U R R I T U C k.com. Thinkcurrituck.com. What I love about what they do is that if you go to their homepage, they have a button right on there that says how to do two different calls to action on there. One is a, I think finding properties, something like that because an economic development agency, you know, they're charged with with, you know, developing the business in that area. Ann (38:32): But the other one says, call Larry. And Larry is Larry Lombardi, who is the executive director of the Think Currituck economic development agency, of the Currituck County economic development agency. And so all of their their, their marketing efforts are really around Larry. And so it embodies everything that we're talking about here, you know, that sense of humanity and vulnerability and transparency. But what I love about their approach is that it carries straight through to a call to action on the website. You know, so everything that Think Currituck is doing from both an inbound perspective, as well as, you know, just like again, they've thought through little details like that. I just think it's great. It's just genius. Their blog is, is really solid, really good. The website is not tons of bells and whistles on it, but it's it's so it's just to the point, you know, it's very direct. Ann (39:29): And so I, I just love the way they've honed that message. And then it's also wrapped with it's a wrapped around Larry Lombardi's personality. And that that call Larry button is genius. And when you click on that button, by the way, which I did, it gives you Larry's contact info and it gives you his, his telephone number. Kathleen (39:47): I was going to say poor Larry, his phone. Ann (39:50): So I called it, I called Larry, of course, because it told me to. That was a call to action on their website. Partly because I was like, Holy, wow, I love this. This is genius. What are you doing here? It's hilarious. I have to meet Larry. Kathleen (40:03): Yeah, exactly. Ann (40:04): So when I called Larry, like, hello, Larry, he's like, Hey, I'm like, hi, this is Ann Hanley. And he's like, how can I help you? Kathleen (40:11): Fantastic. Ann (40:11): So just a genius use, I think, everything's sort of working together. And I asked Larry, like, how many, how many of these do you get? And he said, he gets about 15 a month, which is not, I honestly thought that it would be a whole lot more, but anyway. Kathleen (40:26): I bet there's a lot of people who just don't believe like you're really going to get him. And there's probably a lot of skepticism out there cause people aren't used to anyone being that generous with their phone number. Ann (40:36): That's exactly the point though, isn't it like people aren't used to that level of generosity. So, you know, we haven't really talked about generosity, but that's another great way to think about your marketing was through that lens. And so I love the way that he is so accessible. People don't abuse. It, it turns out and maybe it's because as you say, people don't trust it, but how fantastic is that? Kathleen (40:55): It's awesome. Well, I can't wait to go check that out. I love hearing examples. So thank you for that one. All right. Second question. The number one pain point that I hear other marketers express is that things change so quickly in the world of marketing and they're, they feel overwhelmed by trying to keep up with everything and to educate themselves and to consume all the content that's out there. So how do you personally educate yourself and stay up to date? Ann (41:23): That's a good question. I, I read a lot, I read a lot of industry newsletters but I also, you know, my, my family makes fun of me because I think of everything through a marketing lens. So I I'm right now, I'm, I'm talking to you now from a little town on the, in Southern Maine, right on the coast. Ann (41:49): And when I go downtown, there's like, there's one little store in town, like one little general store with a tiny little sandwich counter at the back. And when I go down there, I just, I think about everything through a marketing lens and the way that they are approaching everything. And so I get a lot of inspiration just by the way that I move through the world, which sounds goofy. But man, it's like, I learned so much about what works and what doesn't work and by what I see other people doing myself. And so, yes, you know, you can read tons of, of online publications and you can, you can educate yourself all day long, but ultimately I think you've gotta just use all, you know, internalize all that information, just look to see what's working around you. You started this call today saying, you know, talking about your marketing hat. Ann (42:38): And I love that because, you know, we do your point, like you, as you said, we are all being marketed to on a regular basis. And so what, what cuts through the clutter for you? Like, I get a lot of inspiration in that way. So when I go talk to Lisa down at the grocery at the right in downtown two blocks from here and I listened to her and what's, what's working for her. I get a whole lot of inspiration from that. And I don't think because I'm going to suddenly start consulting with a bunch of small town, grocery stores, what, you know, what she's doing has and what she's finding valuable and what she's not finding value in has repercussions for a database business or a technology company. Kathleen (43:21): She's also very close to her customer, which a lot of bigger companies are not. So yes, Ann (43:25): Yes. That's actually a really good point. Yes. That's in part and, and some things that she's feeling frustrated by, I think, Oh, that's because you're not doing this. Right. Right. Right. And so it's, it's, it's equally when she says something isn't working, it's equally as interesting to me. So so yeah, so that's actually how I get a lot of a lot of, of education and inspiration also just like social media. I learned a whole lot just by, just by listening on social media and shutting up every once in a while. And just listening to what people are talking about, podcasts like this one too. I mean, I get a lot of value out of listening to friends and seeing what, what they're talking about just as much as, as I do. Just, you know, just through my own reading and, and and you know, from, from any of that, Kathleen (44:12): Well, it's really interesting to me to hear you talk about kind of just going out into the world and being a keen observer, because one of the things that I've noticed over 150 plus episodes of doing this podcast is that some of the best marketers I've interviewed - yourself, another person that springs to mind, Marcus Sheridan, who I know you're very close with - they're not trained as marketers. And it's, which is not to say that you shouldn't go out and study marketing. It's just that what makes them great marketers is that they are keen observers of, of the human condition and, and passionately interested in understanding what makes people tick. And like, that's what makes Marcus such a great communicator is he, he likes to figure out like, how do we connect as people? And I feel like you, you do the same thing. Like there's an instinct in there. Kathleen (44:59): You know, your training was in journalism. I don't even know what he studied as an undergrad, but he had a pool company. And there are plenty of other examples from throughout the history of the podcast that that's the case for. And so it, I guess the takeaway for me is really like, you can study marketing and it's good to do that, certainly. And there's a lot to learn from that, as you say, you learn from that as well. But none of that can make up for if you don't have the type of mind that's interested in understanding what makes people tick as human beings. Ann (45:27): Yes. Yes. And I guess the other thing I would add to that, and also this is a callback to what we were talking about earlier in this conversation, but make something, create something, try it, you know, build an audience. What are you passionate about? Even if it's something that isn't related to really what you're doing in your job at all? You know, my newsletter is about writing and it's about content. It's it's, I don't necessarily talk about writing all the time, but in this newsletter, that's what I focus on. And that's where I, what I am building an audience around. And so I've, like I said, I've learned a lot about communicating and writing and and what, what people really value and what connects with them just through that act. So wait in, get your hands dirty. Like you're not gonna learn it just from, from observing, you know, what, what, what other people are doing. I think it's much better if you can really weight in and apply some of that to actually building something yourself. Kathleen (46:22): That is great advice. And on that note, we will wrap up with, if somebody does want to check out your newsletter and subscribe, where should they go to do that? Ann (46:30): Yeah. So they can go to annhandley.com/newsletter. They can also go to just annhandley.com and, and navigate there via the newsletter button. Or you can check out anything that we're doing at marketingprofs.com as well. Awesome. Kathleen (46:44): Well, I will put the links to all of those things in the show notes and of course, check out B2B marketing forum and the Total Annarchy newsletter, two of my favorite things. And if you're listening and you learn something new this week, please consider heading to Apple podcasts or the platform of your choice and leaving the podcast a five star review. That helps us get found by other people. And if you know somebody else who's doing kick ass inbound marketing work, tweet me at @workmommywork, because I would love to make them my next interview. Thank you so much Ann. This was a ton of fun. Ann (47:15): Yes. Thanks for having me.

StoryBrand Guide Schell Gower believes that marketing and sales should work together seamlessly if you want to run your business effectively. She understands that sales can be challenging, but offers great advice on this episode of the podcast about how to shift your mindset so you can start implementing sales without feeling sleazy. Schell Gower is a competitive person who's found ways to build the life she wants. She's a StoryBrand Guide, a triathlete, and basketball coach who has worked in marketing in the foodservice industry, as a pharmaceutical sales rep, and in her daily life as a mom, wife, and member of the community. Schell uses her marketing skills and ability to write in more than just the business space. She brings in the StoryBrand principles and her copywriting ability to every aspect of her life. Plus, she's constantly reading and learning so that she can continue to grow. Schell believes, as Ann Handley, that everyone is a writer, you just have to learn to do it well. Her brain automatically jumps to ideas for her clients and she loves working with companies who are really passionate about what they do. She primarily works in the finance, health and wellness, and tech spaces. Schell's advice to anyone running a company now is that it's not too late to pivot your message and succeed. People might see through the traditional sales tactics, but that doesn't mean you can' shift your mindset and start to see sales as it really is: a way to solve people's problems.“If you stop thinking of your self as a salesperson and think of yourself as the solution to the problem they have, then, when you're asking the right questions, you're uncovering a need that you can offer a solution.”The point is, salespeople create a need in the company. They then need to work with marketers to get the word out. Those two aspects of the business should work together to solve problems in a genuinely helpful way so that the company can thrive. Right now, that's exactly what customers are looking for: genuineness that helps them solve their problems. You can learn more about Schell here:https://clearmark.io/Read the books referenced in this podcast:Everybody Writes by Ann Handley Thinking of starting your own podcast? Buzzsprout's secure and reliable posting allows you to publish podcasts online. Buzzsprout also includes full iTunes support, HTML5 players, show statistics, and WordPress plugins. Get started using this link to receive a $20 Amazon gift card and to help support our show!Support the show (https://cash.app/$stevemfbrown)

Bienvenidos al segundo episodio de la tercera temporada de Marketing Hack Show. En este episodio invite a Ann Handley, conferencista, autora best seller de 2 libros: Everybody Writes y Content Rules, Marketera y la primera Chief Content Officer en Marketing Profs para hablar sobre Content Marketing Ella es Linkedin influencer, nombrada 1 de las 7 personas que están cambiando el marketing moderno y su newsletter es uno de los más famosos llamado: Total Annarchy Este episodio es todo en ingles y vas a escuchar sobre estos temas: ¿Qué se considera Content Marketing? Hemos visto evolución en este concepto? ¿Cómo se si estoy haciendo un buen trabajo? ¿El Content Marketing es para cada empresa e industria? ¿Qué se debe y que no se debe hacer en Content Marketing? ¿Qué se debería saber este 2020 sobre crear contenido? Por fin llegamos al momento de Calidad Vs Cantidad, qué recomiendas para que un contenido sea de gran calidad. ¿El content Marketing aún será relevante en 5 años? Recuerda si te gusto el episodio compartirlo con tu equipo o con tus amigos, podría ayudarle a alguien en estos momentos También síguenos en redes sociales como Marketing Hack Show y mi perfil personal Gabriela Escamilla para darnos feedback sobre los episodios ;)  

"I think one very important thing that is going to last long-term is the notion of authenticity. I think it's shown that brands don't have to be polished and perfect, that it's much better to just be in your home environment, which we all are, and sharing from the heart."In Episode 2 of this series, Ahava talks with Ann Handley. Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and also the best-selling author of Everybody Writes.Stay tuned for new episodes of What Did You Learn every Monday! Join Ahava Leibtag as she explores how marketers are handling the challenges of the pandemic. Explore more COVID-19 marketing resources from Aha Media Group.

The HerBusiness Podcast has reached 500,000 downloads! Thank YOU for being one of our wonderful listeners. Hey there. I was inspired to make today's focus Sharpening Your voice after reading Ann Handley's newsletter. Ann is the author of Everybody Writes, a digital marketing pioneer and the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, the leading marketing training company with more than 600,000 subscribers. In her cleverly-named newsletter, Annarchy she was talking about this idea of Sharpening Your Voice. The message was not about saying more, but being more thoughtful about what you do say. Sharper. In this episode of the HerBusiness podcast I talk about not just sharing your voice, but Sharpening Your voice. And there's a big difference. Technology has made it easy for us all to speak, to Tweet, to write, to publish mountains of content, all with a few keystrokes and at the click of a button. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of turmoil in the world. I've personally received a lot of communications from brands who want to tell me where they stand on the significant issues. Unfortunately, many are sounding same-same and not offering any value or taking a clear stand. I've seen cliches and overused terms that don't really say anything. As marketers, as business owners — our job is to move people towards making a decision, to inspire and to lead people to change. Our voice is the primary vehicle we have to help us to realise those goals. But, the value that is uniquely ours won't be heard if we follow 'groupthink' and use a voice that is the carbon copy of our competitors' voices. Listen to hear: The mistake big brands are making with ‘karaoke-singalong’ copy Four ways that you can sharpen your voice How to be ready that people are ready to HEAR you Why true communication is evident by the response that you get How sharpening my voice has help grow engagement from podcast listeners Mentioned in this episode: Ann Handley’s Annarchy Newsletter MarketingProfs HerBusiness Manifesto Here are some popular recent episodes: Trusting Yourself More Nothing Compares 2 U Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Playing the Inner and Outer Game of Business Success HerBusiness Facebook Page: https:/facebook.com/HerBusiness/ HerBusiness Network for Women Business Owners: herbusinessnetwork.com

Welcome to episode #719 of Six Pixels of Separation. Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation - Episode #719 - Host: Mitch Joel. One of my favorite people in the whole wide world is Ann Handley. Brilliant thoughts on content. One of the most insightful writers. An incredible presenter on the concepts of content marketing and storytelling. Successful businessperson. Author of two bestselling books, Everybody Writes and Content Rules (co-authored with C.C. Chapman). Currently, she runs MarketingProfs, which is a training and education company that has helped millions of professionals. Her previous company, ClickZ, was one of the first sources of digital marketing information in the world (which she sold over twenty years ago). Ann is beloved for all of the right reasons. Today, we deep-dive on writing, isolation, working through crisis, and where the best stories come from. Enjoy the conversation... Running time: 1:02:55. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at iTunes. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on Twitter. Here is my conversation with Ann Handley. Everybody Writes. Content Rules. MarketingProfs. Follow Ann on Instagram. Follow Ann on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'.

She's a Wall Street Journal Best-selling Author and World's First Chief Content Officer. Ann Handley is a marketing thought leader, writer and a great human.Ann is a digital marketing pioneer and the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, the leading marketing training company with more than 600,000 subscribers. She is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content and Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. Her books have been translated into 19 languages, including Turkish, Korean, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.And she loves encouraging us all to write well.“There's a vulnerability in creating anything. The chance is high that somebody out there is not going to like it. But don't let that stop you. Finding your community… your people, is important.” - Ann HandleyIf you liked the show, please consider sharing this podcast with your friends, family and network. Your stamp of approval is more valuable than anything I can offer to your network. I appreciate your sharing! Also, leaving a review (and rating) helps spread the word. And just makes me feel warm and squishy.The Storytellers Network with Dan Moyle publishes every Monday at 7 AM EST.

On today’s episode of Steal the Show, we’re talking about using the tricks of the journalism trade for producing better storytelling online and on stage.  Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book Everybody Writes and Content Rules. Named by IBM as one of the seven people shaping modern marketing, she has more than 400,000 LinkedIn followers. Read more at https://stealtheshow.com/podcast/128-ann-handley-serving-audience-better-storytelling/. 

Ann Handley is a veteran of creating and managing digital content to build relationships for organizations and individuals. Ann is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller ‘Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content. She is the chief content officer of MarketingProfs; a columnist for Entrepreneur magazine; a LinkedIn Influencer; a keynote speaker, a mom, and a writer. In this AQ’s Blog & Grill Q&A, Ann talks with Alan about how we are all writers, and provides tips on being a great storyteller. Ann talks about how writing is a habit, not an art. Content marketers need to write a little bit every day to be effective. She also shares her favourite practical tools and apps that she uses to help her with writing.

Quando você produz conteúdo para públicos específicos, a questão talvez não seja adaptar a linguagem, mas ser didático. É o que sugere, por exemplo, o Google. Apresentação: Cassio Politi. Convidado: André Rosa. Dica de leitura: Everybody Writes, de Ann Handley: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00LMB5P0G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1. Resumo traduzido do livro Everybody Writes: https://www.tracto.com.br/resenha/everybody-writes/. Twitter do projeto do André Rosa sobre metadados: https://twitter.com/metadadosjor. Para participar do grupo do Comunique-se no WhatsApp, o link é este: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HXXid2XK9mp3cuzf8sDZIc.

Quando você produz conteúdo para públicos específicos, a questão talvez não seja adaptar a linguagem, mas ser didático. É o que sugere, por exemplo, o Google. Apresentação: Cassio Politi. Convidado: André Rosa. Dica de leitura: Everybody Writes, de Ann Handley: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00LMB5P0G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1. Resumo traduzido do livro Everybody Writes: https://www.tracto.com.br/resenha/everybody-writes/. Twitter do projeto do André Rosa sobre metadados: https://twitter.com/metadadosjor. Para participar do grupo do Comunique-se no WhatsApp, o link é este: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HXXid2XK9mp3cuzf8sDZIc.

Ann Handley is a digital marketing and content expert, partner and Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, and WSJ best-selling author of Everybody Writes. She joined us for a conversation on the importance of storytelling in B2B marketing, of knowing your audience and finding the right voice to speak to and with them.

In the latest episode, I got to chat with Ann Handley, best-selling author of “Everybody Writes,” and the world's first Chief Content Officer. We bonded over our mutual obsession with email newsletters and talked all about how to write ridiculously good content and the art of curating content. If you like what you hear, write a review, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and be sure to sign up for Ann's newsletter, Total Annarchy, and for my Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor.

In this episode, Jason Tucker and Bridget Willard were joined by Jeff Matson from Pagely's NorthStack. He gave insight into Managed WordPress, WordPress Hosting, and Managed AWS Service.Thank you to our sponsor!The WPwatercooler network is sponsored by ServerPress makers of DesktopServer. Be sure to check them out at https://www.serverpress.com as well as PeepSo.If you're interested in sponsoring the 40 minute mark of this show, check out the details on our sponsor page. We offer episode by episode spoken ads, rather than large contracts. A show by you for you.Stop Getting Cheep-A$$ HostingWordPress hosting matters. Hosting is hosting is hosting until it's not. When it comes to your "hobby," if you take it seriously, it has the potential to become your career.It seems like WordPress hosting is saturated, but it's really not. Pagely was the first to create Wordpress Managed hosting back in the day. You can hear Joshua Strebel talk about the last ten years in his WordCamp Phoenix talk.So, how do we convince content creators, bloggers, and non-inside baseball writers to think good hosting is important?When you pay for $5 hosting, you get $5 hosting. They're digital slumlords, Bridget says in jest. If the support folks are getting paid minimum wage ($7 something in VA), the Five Dollar Host loses money every time one of their customers calls."Even if they are getting paid minimum wage, if they talk to you for an hour, the company lost money on you." Jeff MatsonBridget spends $25 a month on Pressable and thinks that's a reasonable amount for anyone to spend. To her, it matters that the company she chooses has a reputation of treating their employees well."I don't want to use a service that has a big turnover. If they can't keep their employees, they have internal issues." Bridget WillardHobbyists Learn Everything When Their Sites Blow UpIt's true. When your blog gets notices, as Jason points out, and all of a sudden you're getting traffic, your site may not be able to handle that. Managed hosts will scale the traffic.Do you want to learn the hard way? Your hobby or small business needs to value website hosting."You teach them that their business is important." Jeff MatsonYou don't need more web hosting than your site requires, especially if you're getting only 20 hits a week. But with something like a managed service, you can scale up and then down when you need it.What do you get with Managed WordPress Hosting?If you're in the $250 a month or $25 a month plan, when you pay for managed WordPress hosting, you're paying for support. Larger fees at the front pay for concierge-level service. Jeff recalls how Pagely had top-tier folks in their slack helping with Gravity Forms site migrations at midnight. That's the kind of service you get with top-tier Managed WordPress Hosting.Why not run your own box?You could run your own DigitalOcean box, but why? If you're running your own box, you have to do all of the security maintenance, patches, and updates. Also, if you're facing a DDOS attack, you have to face those trials, too.Almost any level of business should outsource these types of things so they can focus on working on your business."Is that really what you want to spend your billable hours on?" Bridget WillardSo, the perfect solution between running your own box and buying high-end Managed WordPress hosting is managed AWS service.What is a Managed AWS Service?With NorthStack, Pagely is bringing the same level of product without the support. You can get a fast site that scales when someone posts your article to Reddit."It's an unbelievable product to host your sites on without all the extra stuff that you might not need." Jeff MatsonThis is made for developers who use GitHub and CLI to create apps and build sites. For now, that's where NorthStack is focusing. You pay for the amount of resources you're using instead of a general bucket. Automated deployments for the win.This product better suited for small to enterprise agencies. Not everyone needs Disney-level service.How do you market your product?Marketing products in a word-of-mouth space like WordPress requires finesse. Jeff makes recommendations on products based upon his personal experience. He regards his recommendations as a reflection of himself. In short, Jeff manages his personal branding and that's how he recommends products."I keep my reputation above all else and that's what I use to market products. "Jeff MatsonTool or Tip of the WeekThis week's Tool or Tip of the Week is brought to you by PeepSo. PeepSo is a super-light, free, social network plugin for WordPress that allows you to quickly and effortlessly add a social network or an online community right inside your WordPress site. Your Community. Your Way. Find out more at at PeepSo.comBridget recommends Everybody Writes by Ann Handley. It gives actual and practical tips on effective copywriting.Jeff recommends The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.Jason recommends the app Vignette which allows you to (at a minimal cost) add and update photos for your contacts.Do you have any tools or tips we should know about?We'd love to hear from you. Also, how are you marketing yourself? Tell us in the comments below. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Melanie Deziel is sitting down with us this week and man, is she a force to be reckoned with. She has combined her original love for journalism with her innovate eye for marketing to revolutionize the brand content of companies from Huffington Post to New York Times to TIME Inc. She is the founder of StoryFuel, which consults with brands looking to create, expand or optimize their branded content teams, processes and practices. Also a public speaker, Melanie travels the world giving keynotes and corporate workshops that teach marketers, publishers, creators and companies how to create the best possible brand storytelling. Melanie’s experiences offer crazy insights on both journalism and advertising within media- the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the expectations, and the unique potential each has in creating a more informed and more conscious world. She’s sharing how we can be the best communicator possible in both sectors, in today’s world when credibility and reliability is everything. For those listeners considering either of these career tracks, this episode is an absolute gem. Take a listen and let us know what you think!   SHOW DETAILS Running time: 47:56 Subscribe on iTunes and leave us a review!   SHAREABLES What’s one book everyone should read? Everybody Writes by Ann Handley What’s your favorite podcast? 99% Invisible App Everyone Should Download Streaks Most Important Skill of the Future Empathy If You Could Have One Superpower Mind-reading One Thing Everyone Should Do Today Thank someone who has made a difference in your life CONNECT WITH MELANIE Story Fuel Website Story Fuel Facebook @meldeziel on Instagram Melanie on Linkedin Melanie on Youtube CONNECT WITH JEFF Email Jeff @JGibbard on Twitter Jeff on Linkedin (make sure to introduce yourself) Jeff’s Website

Warren Buffet is a better writer than you for one simple reason: he knows his audience and he writes directly for them. Are you doing the same? Don't write your content for "the world," rather write it for an individual. Don't try to make yourself *sound* smart. Try to make your reader *feel* smart. This episode covers some takeaways from Social Media Marketing World 2019 and pulls from a great presentation given by Ann Handley, the author of Everybody Writes.

Melanie Deziel is sitting down with us this week and man, is she a force to be reckoned with. She has combined her original love for journalism with her innovate eye for marketing to revolutionize the brand content of companies from Huffington Post to New York Times to TIME Inc. She is the founder of StoryFuel, which consults with brands looking to create, expand or optimize their branded content teams, processes and practices. Also a public speaker, Melanie travels the world giving keynotes and corporate workshops that teach marketers, publishers, creators and companies how to create the best possible brand storytelling. Melanie's experiences offer crazy insights on both journalism and advertising within media- the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the expectations, and the unique potential each has in creating a more informed and more conscious world. She's sharing how we can be the best communicator possible in both sectors, in today's world when credibility and reliability is everything. For those listeners considering either of these career tracks, this episode is an absolute gem. Take a listen and let us know what you think!   SHOW DETAILS Running time: 47:56 Subscribe on iTunes and leave us a review!   SHAREABLES What's one book everyone should read? Everybody Writes by Ann Handley What's your favorite podcast? 99% Invisible App Everyone Should Download Streaks Most Important Skill of the Future Empathy If You Could Have One Superpower Mind-reading One Thing Everyone Should Do Today Thank someone who has made a difference in your life CONNECT WITH MELANIE Story Fuel Website Story Fuel Facebook @meldeziel on Instagram Melanie on Linkedin Melanie on Youtube CONNECT WITH JEFF Email Jeff @JGibbard on Twitter Jeff on Linkedin (make sure to introduce yourself) Jeff's Website

Have you ever considered how to develop your voice through speaking and writing? Whether you are a speaker who wants to write or a writer who has a book to promote writing and speaking go hand in hand. Here to tell us more about this is Ann Handley. Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, she's also a best-selling author and a speaker. Today on The Speaker Lab she and Melanie are talking about writing and speaking are intertwined, how to find and refine your unique voice and the importance of showing up authentically on stage and in your content. Episode 209 is also a different kind of episode: Melanie Diezel is back as our interviewer. We've done this once before and you all loved it so much we decided to do it again. Let us know if you want another Melanie-run interview and a repeat visit from Ann after you listen to this latest edition of The Speaker Lab!   THE FINER DETAILS OF THIS SHOW:    What is the essence of public speaking? What is the dirty truth of being an author? Can we develop a strong sense of our own voice, even if we aren't writers? What makes the best writing? Is writing something only a few special people have been gifted with? How does content play into building your speaking business? What gave her the feedback to know she needed to write her second book? What is a baby step you can take right now to experiment with writing? And so much more! EPISODE RESOURCES Ann Handley’s web site  Ann's newsletter  MarketingProfs web site  Everybody Writes by Ann Handley Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman Ann Handley on Twitter Aaron Draplin on Instagram  Content Marketing World  Email us! Episode 195 of The Speaker Lab Ready for more? Join our free speaker workshop Speaking Fees Calculator The Speaker Lab Facebook group Got questions? Send them in here Subscribe on iTunes, and leave us a rating or review  

Jag förmodar att du har hört talas om Ann Handley och kanske läst någon av hennes böcker (Content Rules och Everybody Writes). Då vet du att både content experter och förmenta dito lyssnar noggrant när hon talar. Och talar gör hos just nu på Content Markting World i Cleveland, Ohio. Ann Handley talar om ett trendbrott, "först stegvis och sen plötsligt", mot längre och mer genomarbetat innehåll". I en artikel skriver hon att "the days of one-off, standalone, so-called snackable content are over", och citerar en studie som visar att sannolikheten för ett "starkt resultat" är dubbelt så stor med långt innehåll än med kort innehåll. Det betyder inte att långt innehåll automatiskt ger bättre resultat. Men det visar att större ansträngningar ger större ROI. Men det finns en hake: Långt och genomarbetat innehåll tar tid och kräver hårt arbete. Ann Handley ser därför utvecklingen mot allt länge och allt mer genomarbetat innehåll som en effekt av en större trend mot en långsammare marknadsföring ("slow marketing approach"). Allt detta är utgångspunkten för höstens första sammanträde med content spanarna: Malin Sjöman från Hägvall & Sjöman och Thomas Barregren och jag (Pia Tegborg) från Kntnt. Lyssna på vårt samtal i avsnitt 192 av Kntnt Radio. Länkar med mera finns på www.kntnt.se/18012. Musik: All Alone © Ivan Chew (CC BY 3.0) Musik: Southern Breeze © Frank Rawel (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Episode 164 - Ann Handley discusses her book "Everybody Writes" and success tips for creating ridiculously good content in this Best of Everyday MBA episode. Ann is a best-selling author and was cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media. She was recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers today. Stay tuned after the interview for five action items you can do to immediately take advantage of the ideas and advice in this interview, and hear some bonus comments from Ann as well as some listener shout-outs in the second half. Host, Kevin Craine Want to be a guest? http://Everyday-MBA.com/guest

How does the four-time New York Times best-selling author Tucker Max feel about almost every bit of advice when it comes to defining success as an author, books on being an effective writer and the idea that it doesn’t matter how good your book is, just that you should have one? Complete BS. Tucker goes deep into what the true purpose of writing a book should be for just about any genre of non-fiction author. He reveals the truth behind the power of self-publishing, how to land a traditional publishing deal, and the real way to be featured on the New York Times bestseller list. Listen in as Matt and Joe learn more about the highest and best use of a book, their time and how to shave close to 2,000 hours of the time it takes to write a prescriptive non-fiction book if you have one in you waiting to get it. If you’re ready to get serious about seriously getting your message out there, be sure to check out this episode with Chandler Bolt and this advice from Matt and Joe on how they wrote a book in a weekend. "We can’t make your book great but we can make it the greatest possible book you have in you.” - Tucker Max Some Topics We Discussed Include: Almost every definition of success as a writer is BS Books on the New York Times bestseller list mean they’ve sold the most copies, more BS Plus, discover the biggest pile of BS yet when it comes to the book you produce What Matt needs to throw in his burn pile What the true purpose of writing your book should be Who's to blame for the lackluster connotation of being an Amazon best selling author? How to segment like a superstar so your book lands in the hands that  earn you true wealth Joe’s a-ha about fortune over fame Is Matt secretly pining to be the next Willie Shakespeare? The highest and best use of a book for your business Even better, the highest and best use of your time period How to shift from middle-class thinking to  break out of your “busy” yet unproductive rut The key to consciously choosing what you do every day Tucker’s two cents about how to be famous...Something you may not want to emulate An easy solution to the “honey do” lists at home How to fight with your spouse and end up with a happier life Three qualities Tucker looks for in his clients before signing a deal Contact Tucker Max: Find Tucker and his team at Scribe Media Follow the Tucker  on Facebook Learn more about Scribe Media on YouTube Find Scribe Media on LinkedIn References and Links Mentioned: I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max Scribe Media (formerly Book in a Box) The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish HARO site to gain exposure and build authority  while helping reporters complete stories The Scribe Method by Scribe Media Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker Speakeasy mastermind group Everybody Writes by Ann Handley Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott On Writing by Stephen King Hustle & Flowchart Masterclass #38 with Chandler Bolt How to Write a Book in a Weekend by Joe Fier and Matt Wolfe Want to learn how to define your message and find your perfect audience to market that book to? Learn how we can help you narrow your focus.  

This week, John Espirian and I talk about how to be your own Google (providing the best answers to people's real questions in your areas of expertise), pursing clarity and simplicity in your writing, and how content marketing can work for your business by creating content that works for you even when you're on holiday - and how to balance the time spent creating that content against the time spent doing the work that directly brings in revenue! John is a freelance copywriter, helping businesses communicate better with their customers. He's also been a Director of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders for 8 years, and tirelessly shares his knowledge via his blog and mailing list, and on social media. A central theme in this episode is the idea that no-one ever complained that something was too simple to understand, which John found in Ann Handley's book Everybody Writes.

Segundo o livro Everybody Writes, da americana Ann Handley, texto precisa ter empatia patológica. Isso significa colocar-se no lugar do leitor. A base disso é justamente conversar com leitores frequentemente.

Segundo o livro Everybody Writes, da americana Ann Handley, texto precisa ter empatia patológica. Isso significa colocar-se no lugar do leitor. A base disso é justamente conversar com leitores frequentemente.

Good Morning Y'all, Coming to y'all from the floor this morning. It just looked safe and comfortable. Last night was a very scary night. I suffered through an episode of vertigo, and it was traumatizing to say the least. I really don't even know how to comprehend the moment, but acknowledge it happened, I am scared of it happening again. I am obviously not paralyzed by the experience, but it took me by surprise to say the least.  I am optimistic about today. I have a feeling I am going to have a very very good day. Oh my gosh.. I finally just sneezed. If I was going to guess, I would guess that last night when I needed to sneeze, but couldn't, that some pressure built up, and that caused the vertigo, but I am no doctor. But yes, today will be a great day. Yesterday was a very full #momlife day with one #realtorlife phone call. I am about to get that listing (in Creekside) that I mentioned running the comps for while at Starbucks the other day when the stranger talked to me for one hour when I only had 90 minutes to work. Lol. So that is exciting. I meet with them on Thursday. Well Cami needs me to take her to choir.. I'm off for now.. Sorry for the short episode, but I did record a raw & unscripted last night.. P.S. Everybody Writes is a fantastic book by Ann Handley. You should pick it up! And to the shooooow notes.. #SHOWNOTES MY LIFE #YTT [Cleaned house. Did laundry. Got organized around here. Read a little of my new book, Everybody Writes. We ate lunch out. Target run. Important phone call. Getting a new listing. Picked up kids from school. Dad came over. Ordered pizza. Picked up pizza. Park time! Had a blast. Came home. Dad played with them. Baby went to bed. Had popcorn. Showered them. Organized Link's closet. Kids to bed. Me to bed. Vertigo sucks. Sleep. Today I have an office meeting. Lunch. Getting work done. Target run. Grab kids. Probably going to feed them leftovers. Tomorrow just working. Nothing big planned.] #TODAYSGOALS [Upload a #POCUMENTING episode tonight. Continue working on the website. Find some road tripping shorts!] Love y’all.

How do you stand out among thousands of other businesses? How do you become unique without being crazy? Our guest today is Melissa Eggleston — an author, UX designer, and content strategist. You'll learn how to identify and promote your brand values, how to find your voice, and how to make your user experience truly special. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes The Zombie Business Cure — Melissa's book we're talking about, written with Julie Lellis as a co-author Lenovo — Melissa's place of work Trauma-Informed Website Resources Buffer + Transparency — special page created by Buffer to celebrate transparency as their key value Baremetrics demo — a dashboard featuring their own numbers Differentiate Your Business Through User Experience Research — an article featuring Aga Bojko, the director of UX for Indiegogo New Dropbox design Interviewing Users — a book by Steve Portigal 5 Keys to Developing a Strong Tone of Voice in Your Content Marketing — an article by Ann Handley where she asks to "mask the logo on your site" Everybody Writes — a book by Ann Handley Seth Godin's blog Melissa's website Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_egg Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by RefineAI — a tool for measuring the emotional appeal and engagement of your video ads. This simple solution lets you automatically test your videos with real people and get insights back in real time. Schedule a demo at refineai.com/uibreakfast and receive 20% off your first year if you decide to sign up. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

Ann Handley, an amazing writer and marketer, joins me today. She knows exactly what it takes to attract, engage, and keep an audience in today’s market.Quality content is more important than ever in the world of marketing. You shouldn’t just be focused on churning out content in an attempt to reach more customers. That’s a surefire way for your content to get lost in the ever-widening sea of information. Instead, you need to specifically identify your audience and create content that addresses their needs.  Ann talks to me about all that and more, so listen in and start making great content today! Find Out More About Ann Here: Ann Handley @MarketingProfs on Twitter @annhandley on Twitter MarketingProfs Ann Handley on LinkedIn Ann Handley on Facebook In This Episode: [01:23] - Ann and Stephan start off the conversation by talking about their recent random run-in with each other. [03:48] - What are some of Ann’s favorite nuggets of wisdom and insight from her book Everybody Writes? [08:04] - Ann shares some of the basic rules of creating content that matters. She discusses viewing communication with your audience as a privilege, and thinking of things from an audience-centric point of view. [09:23] - When Ann thinks about who she’s creating a piece of content for, she thinks about one person who she wants to help. She then explains that she spends a lot of time on Twitter getting to know her audience. [11:51] - Ann talks about how deep her profile of her audience persona goes. [14:21] - We hear Ann’s thoughts on tools that are important for writers, including The Elements of Style. [18:05] - Does Ann recommend that companies or marketing departments come up with style guides to make sure everybody is on the same page? [21:16] - Stephan brings up some wisdom from a previous episode of Marketing Speak. [23:20] - Ann talks about how she handles situations with ghostwriters, in terms of how she gets the best outcome for the company. She emphasizes the importance of having an editor, not just a writer. [27:04] - Every company with writers should have an editor, Ann explains. She then discusses how to figure out whether content is high-quality. [28:56] - Ann shares her thoughts on using video rather than writing as the best way to reach your audience. [31:17] - What does Ann think about repurposing content? [33:10] - Ann talks about her recommendations for what people should do in terms of creating video-based content. [35:22] - Stephan’s membership site is running Memberium, and he’s moving to using LearnDash, he explains. [36:44] - We hear Ann’s thoughts on the ways to use a video transcript. She prefers reading a transcript to watching the video, she explains. [39:29] - Ann points out that quite a few people start their content by dictating, rather than writing, the content. [42:58] - Where would Ann recommend people go to find ghostwriters? [45:45] - Ann thinks there’s an enormous upside to training yourself to think about things from an audience-centric point of view. [46:57] - What would Ann say to someone who is using writers as cogs in a wheel and just churning out content? [48:31] - Stephan talks about the importance of intentionality and approaching everything from this perspective. [52:08] - Ann digs deeper into places to find writers and freelancers. [54:10] - Ann shares her thoughts on focus groups. [55:04] - We learn what Ann means when she talks about telling bolder stories. She gives an example of a company that does an excellent job of telling bold stories. Stephan then shares an example of his own. [58:42] - Being bold doesn’t mean you have to be crazy or wacky, Ann clarifies. Instead, it’s about fully expressing your brand. [61:51] - Ann offers a book recommendation: Between You & Me by Mary Norris. Links and Resources: Ann Handley @MarketingProfs on Twitter @annhandley on Twitter MarketingProfs Ann Handley on LinkedIn Ann Handley on Facebook Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by Ann Handley and C. C. Chapman World Domination Summit The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White Hemingway App Grammarly Searchmetrics Content Experience Uberflip Style Guide MailChimp Style Guide Ephraim Olschewski on Marketing Speak Blue Bottle Coffee From Plant to Cup: Brew an Amazing Cup of Coffee on Skillshare (by Blue Bottle Coffee) Skillshare LearnDash Wistia Vimeo Thinkific Rev.com SpeakWrite Speechpad The One Minute Millionaire by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen Cash in a Flash by Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen WriterAccess ClearVoice Textbroker Amazon Mechanical Turk Ephraim Olschewski on the Optimized Geek Meetup ProBlogger Craigslist Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug Freaker USA Zappos Greatist Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott Between You & Me by Mary Norris Nick Westergaard Chris Rugh on the Optimized Geek  

If you’re a company with a great product or service, marketing is critical to your business growth – both online and off. In fact, creating great marketing can be the difference between booming sales and flailing sales. But great marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum or the confines of a boardroom. Great marketing is created when organizations takes risks. When they’re creative. When they’re obsessed with their customers. My guest on today’s episode of the Grow My Revenue Business Cast is marketing and branding expert Ann Handley. Ann is the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs, an online education resource for modern marketers, and the author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller Everybody Writes. Today, we cover the common mistakes businesses make when coming up with their marketing strategies, why ‘going viral’ is not recommended, and how developing a 'pathological empathy' for your customers is the number one thing that will move the needle in your marketing. I know you're going to love this talk, and you're going to learn a ton on today's edition of Grow My Revenue! Listen to this episode and discover: · The common mistakes companies make when developing marketing content. · Why innovation and creativity are the foundation of great marketing. · Why ‘going viral’ should never be a company’s aim. · How Ann defines great marketing. · Why developing ‘pathological empathy’ for your customer is vital. · What companies can do to create rich, meaningful marketing messages that resonate. · And so much more! Episode Overview As an expert and self-described marketing geek, Ann Handley understands the value of marketing in a way most business leaders don’t. While most follow cookie-cutter approaches to marketing, Ann champions an approach centered on innovation and creativity. “The willingness to take some risks in your marketing I think is also key,” Ann says. “And inherent in that is really knowing who your audience is, know who you’re selling to as opposed to selling to everybody.” That's why she encourages business owners and marketers to be “obsessed with their customers,” or what she calls ‘pathological empathy.’ “It’s next-level empathy,” she says. “All the companies I talk to that are actually using marketing to drive business are obsessed with their customers.” Today you'll learn: · What marketing really is. · How templates and cookie-cutter approaches fail · Why it’s vital to know your audience. · How to create marketing that resonates. · The company that wowed Ann with its genius marketing message. On this edition of Grow My Revenue, you'll hear Ann’s take on how, in many ways, marketing has changed over the years and how, in many ways, it’s remained the same. Also on today's show, Ann shares an embarrassing moment from MarketingProf’s 2016 B2B Marketing Forum in Boston, now in its 11th year. Tune in for all of that and more on today's Grow My Revenue with Ann Handley. For full show notes and other resources, please visit: http://www.ianaltman.com/podcast/ann-handley/

This is a conversation with Ann Handley. She co-founded Click Z before becoming the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and the WSJ best-selling author of Content Rules and Everybody Writes. Enjoy!

  In this episode, Terry uses the story of THE SELF-AWARE LEADER, a book that took 11 years and 5 months to be published from first proposal, to share tips, insights, and resources for those who have a dream of getting published.   Be sure to get your 37 the Podcast T-shirts and Hats while supplies last. People ask us all the time about starting a blog or hosting a website. We’ve tried MANY services and our friends have tried the rest. Everyone keeps coming back to Bluehost and there is a reason: It’s inexpensive, it’s easy, the support is great, and you’re in total control. Try Bluehost today and start a new online presence, business, or blog!   Show links   Get SO many more links, tips, and resources via our FREE download on publishing. Uh….. it’s FREE!   If you’re looking for an “all in” coach to help you get published, there are few with a better track record than Kary Oberbrunner and his Author Academy Elite. He provides an abundance of training videos that walk you through what you need to know. Kary throws in all of this templates and forms needed to put your most professional step forward. However, what makes the program amazing is that he becomes your monthly coach, walking you through the particulars of your project. He even helps you develop your proposal, introduction, and first chapter. His success with first-time authors is impressive. Of course, coaching costs money, but a strong book will EASILY cover those costs and provide you with a strong platform AND MORE. Kary himself is a model of what is possible. Anyway, check out Author Academy Elite. We strongly recommend it.   Links you Need to Bookmark   Rachelle Gardner’s list of topics related to publishing. Steve Laube Agency blogsite – a fantastic Christian literary agency with blog posts that are consistently helpful. The Christian Writers Institute – a wonderful site of resources, teaching videos, and more. Chip Macgregor – one of the leading Christian agents who teaches through his blog.     Helpful Books   Book Proposals that Sell by Terry Whalin. Create Your Writer Platform by Chuck Sambuchino. This is such a comprehensive resource! The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman. I think I’ve read this book four times. It’s so very helpful. Everybody Writes by Ann Handley. Geared more toward marketing and social media, Ann’s writing voice is contagious and her tips are helpful. And most of us need both of those! Christian Writers Guide 2017 by Steve Laube. This book will help you learn more about the larger Christian publishing field, with contact information and more.     Free Resources from Experience Mission!   We are so blessed to have EXPERIENCE MISSION sponsor Season 3. EM is one of the leading non-profit organizations for short-term mission trips and longer Immersion experiences throughout the U.S. and around the world. Right now, EM is offering some amazing cross-cultural training resources for FREE to listeners of 37 the Podcast. Check out their training sessions built around the ideas of Hope, Human Dignity, and Brokenness. EM believes that “living your mission” and serving others is incredibly important and these resources explore the importance of how we serve others in a cross-cultural setting. Don’t miss these and all of Experience Mission’s upcoming mission trip opportunities.   Links:             Follow 37 the Podcast on Twitter             Connect with Terry on his website – TerryLinhart.com       Follow Terry Linhart on Twitter or Michael Yoder on Twitter.       Thanks to J2 Marketing for providing studio space.   The opinions expressed on this episode are exclusively those of podcast participants.

When Everybody Writes, everyone is thinking!  Such a simple strategy, but it is one that can significantly change learning in your classroom. Got 5 minutes?

Today on DMJ, we talk with the best selling author of Everybody Writes, Ann Handley, about content creation, and dealing with haters.

Episode 45 of Landscape Digital Show reveals how to simplify your 2017 marketing for growth by getting an audience strategy that includes content marketing. Did you know that 80% of consumers searching for a product or service are using the Internet to support their decision? Ask yourself about your own behaviors. Most of us will […] The post Audience Strategy: How to Simplify 2017 Marketing for Growth appeared first on Landscape Digital Institute.

Ann Handley sits down with us at MarketingProfs’ B2B Forum to discuss her latest book, Everybody Writes, and why slow marketing is a practice you should consider in 2017.I cannot thank Ann enough for the impact her content has had in my life. In fact, it is the perfect case study of how to market well to a person and have them become a part of your audience and your customer base. Listen to her considerations of the reader in advance, and how the book comes from a desire deep in her life that she had to get out. These massive pieces of content that are considered by some masterpieces don’t just form out of mid-air. During the interview, Ann described the how she used other author’s work as guides she used along the way, such as E.B. White’s, The Elements of Style. Later in the show, we discuss the idea of Slow Marketing. In this approach, you slow down your marketing efforts to make sure there is true value delivered. I love this concept and see it ushering in the conversations we will have as modern content marketing grows into the 2.0 stage of life. Concepts like agile marketing, account-based marketing, and video marketing, paired with ideas of a slower pace, allow for us to see the consumption patterns of an audience and determine the best cadence for the content they want. This podcast is a shorter show but is jammed packed with goodies. We will continue publishing the shows from B2B Forum on Mondays and Fridays until we January. I would love your thoughts and commentary on the share. Email me at jeff@enterprisemarketer.com if you have something you would like to share.Full Show URL: https://enterprisemarketer.com/podcasts/enterprise-marketer-podcast-conference/mpb2b-show-24-ann-handley/ Additional Links:•iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enterprise-marketer-podcast/id1153750828 •Sharable Url: •Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarketingProfs •Twitter – Ann Handley: https://twitter.com/AnnHandley •LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annhandley •Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ann.handley •Book – Everybody Writes: http://amzn.to/2ekPnmK •Website: http://www.annhandley.com/

"The value of an editor cannot be understated. The editor is the proxy for the audience." As the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and the best-selling author of Everybody Writes and Content Rules, Ann Handley knows a thing or two about writing and editing. Most marketers have staffed up for content creation but what about editing? How do you know if you're creating what's best for your audience and brand. We discussed all of this with Ann on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast. About Ann Handley Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the world’s first Chief Content Officer. Ann speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category. She was a long time monthly columnist for Entrepreneur magazine, is a member of the LinkedIn Influencer program , and the co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (Wiley, originally published 2011. Paperback 2012.) The book has been translated into nine languages, including Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Portuguese. Her most recent book, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (Wiley, 2014) is a Wall Street Journal bestseller. She currently has more than 350,000 followers on Twitter and writes about content, marketing, and life at the highly entertaining AnnHandley.com. A pioneer in digital marketing, Ann is the co-founder of ClickZ.com, which was one of the first sources of interactive marketing news and commentary. She started her career as a business journalist and editor. Episode Highlights "Most writers are not great editors." Many of us have staffed up for content creation but what kind of quality control do we have in place? "The value of the editor cannot be understated. The editor is the proxy for the audience." How can brands up their editing game? "Peer editing is a great start. There's also the Hemingway app and Grammarly." What about your brand's tone of voice? Branding is often squishy to many. Brand voice is something that's harder still for businesses to get their arms around. But a deeper focus on brand voice can yield stronger content. "I always ask, if your logo or label was masked, would your customers' know it's your content and not your competition's?" Looking for a great example of a brand style guide? Ann points to UberFlip. The best part? Their online style guide is public! Everyone can be involved. Ann also reminded us that a good style guide should be like "bumpers on a bowling alley." It should help you stay in the lanes. In praise of slow marketing. At Content Marketing World, Ann spoke about slow marketing. "Today we want more funnel, more pipeline, more credit. Conventional wisdom tells you that if you slow down you're road kill." In many cases "you have to slow down before you can speed up." What brand has made Ann smile recently? Freaker USA. The beverage insulation category is decidedly unsexy but not for her friends at Freaker. Ann loves getting their fun emails. To learn more, follow Ann on Twitter, check out MarketingProfs, and her website. As We Wrap … Before we go, I want to flip the microphone around to our community … Recently Anna Yunker who gave us both a shout out Twitter with copies of both Get Scrappy and Everybody Writes in her reading stack. Thanks for the shelfie! Did you hear something you liked on this episode or another? Do you have a question you’d like our guests to answer? Let me know on Twitter using the hashtag #OnBrandPodcast and you may just hear your thoughts here on the show. Subscribe to the podcast – You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, and RSS. Rate and review the show – If you like what you’re hearing, head over to iTunes and click that 5-star button to rate the show. And if you have a few extra seconds, write a couple of sentences and submit a review. This helps others find the podcast. OK. How do you rate and review a podcast? Need a quick tutorial on leaving a rating/review in iTunes? Check this out. Remember – On Brand is brought to you by my new book — Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small. Order now at Amazon and check out GetScrappyBook.com for special offers and extras. Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet!

Ann Handley is a veteran of creating and managing digital content to build relationships for organizations and individuals. Ann is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller ‘Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content. She is the chief content officer of MarketingProfs; a columnist for Entrepreneur magazine; a LinkedIn Influencer; a keynote speaker, a mom, and a writer. In this AQ’s Blog & Grill Q&A, Ann talks with Alan about how we are all writers, and provides tips on being a great storyteller. Ann talks about how writing is a habit, not an art. Content marketers need to write a little bit every day to be effective. She also shares her favourite practical tools and apps that she uses to help her with writing. About Our Guest Ann Handley is the chief content officer at MarketingProfs, a one-stop source for online marketing resources, training, strategies, articles, online seminars and more. Ann is a columnist for Entrepreneur magazine, a keynote speaker and a LinkedIn Influencer. She is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Everybody Writes and co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, Content Rules.

If you have a website, you are a publisher. If you are on social media, you are in marketing. And that means we are all writers. In this interview with William Arruda, founder of Reach Personal Branding, Ann Handley tells us why writing matters more now, not less. Discover Ann’s reference list of resources and other content tools to help you produce your best work. In this interview you will learn: • Why being able to communicate in writing is critical to success • The proven process and strategy of content creation, production and publishing • How to give your audience the gift of your true story BIO: Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the world’s first Chief Content Officer. Ann speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category. She is a monthly columnist for Entrepreneur magazine, a member of the LinkedIn Influencer program , and the co-author of the best-selling book on content marketing, Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (Wiley, originally published 2011. Paperback 2012.) The book has been translated into nine languages, including Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Portuguese. Her most recent book, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (Wiley, 2014) is a Wall Street Journal bestseller. She currently has more than 260,000 followers on Twitter and writes about content, marketing and life at the highly entertaining AnnHandley.com. A pioneer in digital marketing, Ann is the co-founder of ClickZ.com, which was one of the first sources of interactive marketing news and commentary. She started her career as a business journalist and editor. Ann is based in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information about Ann, visit: http://www.marketingprofs.com/

Do you think of yourself as a writer? In today's online world, we're all writers. Between emails, social media posts, marketing materials, and content creation we are all writing more than ever before. Learning how to be an effective writer is key. We're joined today by one of the world's leading marketing experts who wants to shed light on writing and the future of marketing. Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the world's first Chief Content Officer. She speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category. She is a monthly columnist for Entrepreneur magazine, a member of the LinkedIn Influencer program, and the co-author of the best-selling book Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. Her most recent book, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content is a super useful read!

Ann Handley, the world's first chief content officer and best selling author of Everybody Writes, talks about overcoming her own distractions to be a better writer (and why delivering newsletters in her neighbor's mailbox as a child was not scalable.)

Fractional CMO, Digital Marketing Strategist, and Leadership Keynote Speaker Michele Price brings you weekly access to the top minds to Master the Inner and Outer Game of business.  Breakthrough Radio is a global business radio show that delivers high impact & pioneering knowledge for leaders in business. Entrepreneurs, startups, sales/marketing/IT professionals join us every Monday. Ann Handley, Everybody Writes Stewart Rogers, Dir. Marketing Technology Venture Beat delivers you Breakthrough marketing technology tips every 2nd Monday. Anthony Covington, Founder Meliate - Startup Community Sustainability  Follow us & ask your questions via twitter using #BBSradio.  We love rewarding engagement. You are invited to visit radio show blog at www.WhoIsMichelePrice.com     

Ann Handley discusses her book "Everybody Writes" and success tips for creating ridiculously good content. Ann is a best-selling author and was cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers today.  Stay tuned after the interview for five action items you can do to immediately take advantage of the ideas and advice in this interview, and hear some bonus comments from Ann as well as some listener shout-outs in the second half. Host, Kevin Craine. @Everyday_MBA Everyday-MBA.com

  Will customer experience become as fragmented as marketing An interview with Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes And our Customer Hero is #1 Cochran Automotive     Will Customer Experience Become as Fragmented as Marketing     Jeannie and Adam discuss whether or not customer experience will become as fragmented and specialized as marketing and other developed industries like accounting and law.     Adam argues that increased specialization is the natural progression in any developing industry.   Jeannie warns against having too broad a job description and describes how specialization has benefited her.     Discussion begins at 1:40.   Interview with Ann Handley, Author of Everybody Writes     Jeannie and Ann discuss how they first met at South by Southwest, in pedi-cabs.     Ann tells us that she wrote Everybody Writes to empower people who feel they are not good writers and to provide a call to arms to create better content.     Ann discusses how she focuses on the substance of writing over the mechanics and that one of her pet peeves is people and organizations that just push out content.     Ann says that the era of the marketing generalist is done, and marketing will become more specialized. She also notes that many companies still see content and social as bolted on instead of as a central component of marketing.     Ann points out that tone of voice can help organizations define who they are and help them better communicate with their customers.     Interview begins at 6:35.     Customer Hero, Customer Zero: #1 Cochran Automotive     #1 Cochran Automotive is making waves by shifting to a more customer-centric approach to selling cars. They realized that their customers were not the types who wanted to haggle but the types who preferred a better experience.     Jeannie says that most of #1 Cochran Automotive’s numbers have gone up, and Adam tells a story about a bad car buying experience.     Discussion begins at 24:35.       People, Places, and Things from the Podcast:     Sponsor:   Be Your Customer’s Hero– Adam’s new book, Be Your Customer’s Hero, Real-World Tips and Techniques for the Service Frontlines, is available now! This is a one-stop training guide for anyone who works with customers.     How to Sponsor   www.crackthecustomercode.com/sponsor           Guest Speaker / People   Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the world’s first Chief Content Officer. Ann speaks and writes about how you can rethink the way your business markets. Cited in Forbes as the most influential woman in Social Media and recognized by ForbesWoman as one of the top 20 women bloggers, Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category.  Twitter (Marketing Profs) | Twitter (Ann) | LinkedIn #1 Cochran Automotive         Take care of yourself and take care of your customers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are a writer. Sure, you may not be a writer in the traditional sense as it relates to publishing books or articles for publication. Maybe you don t even have a blog or website where you publish content. Maybe you do. Either way, writing is a core human technology. It s something we all do on some level. It s a necessity. Ann Handley, author, speaker, curator, marketer, taste maker and generally awesome person, joins Dane in this episode of Converge. They talk about Ann s journey from college, to publishing her latest book and many things in between. They also get into ideas around writing and content marketing. Ann shares her thoughts about the myth that writing is only for the chosen few. They also talk about Ann s new book Everybody Writes and it s applications for both marketers in large companies and soloprenuers trying to reach their audiences. If you want to find more of Ann s work you can find her at annhandley.com, Marketing Profs and on Twitter @annhandley or @marketingprofs. Also, if you’re in Boston in October, I’ll be speaking at her B2B Marketing Forum. Come say hi! Last thing: If you catch this episode before her book launch on September 15, 2014, you may still be able to get the free prize pack she is sending out to those that pre-order. Her swag is killer! Find out more at everybodywrites.com. Thanks to Triple Scoop Music for providing the music for today s show and thanks to our wonderful audio producer Anna Queza of AQreative. The post Ep. 026 Everybody Writes with Ann Handley appeared first on Fastermind.co.

In this episode I ve invited digital marketing pioneer Ann Handley to chat with me about her writing process. She s a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, brilliant keynote speaker, the world s first Chief Content Officer, and a prolific digital content creator. Ann Handley appeared on the written interview series last year and stopped by again to share her methods of madness with us. You can also see Ann live at Authority Rainmaker, a carefully designed live educational experience that presents a complete and effective online marketing strategy to help you immediately accelerate your business. Ms. Handley will be speaking about creating content that makes a difference for your business objectives by showing you how to create content that is empathetic, useful, and inspired. In addition to Ann, you ll have the opportunity to see Dan Pink, Sally Hogshead, punk legend Henry Rollins, and many other incredible speakers live. Get all the details at rainmaker.fm/event, and we look forward to seeing you in Denver, Colorado May 13th, 2015. In this 28-minute file Ann Handley and I discuss: Everybody Writes: An ‘Elements of Style’ for the Digital Age The Art of Productive Procrastination Why Your Writer’s Block May Be a Research Problem How Hard Deadlines Help Writers Ship Why You Have to Find a Way to Shape Your Ideas for Sharing The Secret to What Makes a Good Writer Great Why Your Audience Is Key to Effective Writing Proof that Paper Books are Pure Writer Porn The Value of Patience Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes Everybody Writes by Ann Handley Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business Ann Handley on Entrepreneur.com Trello E.B. White Seth Godin on The Writer Files AnnHandley.com Authority Intensive, May 13-15 in Denver, Colorado Ann Handley on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By   Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! The Transcript How Bestselling Author Ann Handley Writes Voiceover: This is Rainmaker.FM, the digital marketing podcast network. It’s built on the Rainmaker Platform, which empowers you to build your own digital marketing and sales platform. Start your free 14-day trial at RainmakerPlatform.com. Kelton Reid: These are the Writer Files, a tour of the habits, habitats, and brains of working writers, from online content creators to fictionists, journalists, entrepreneurs, and beyond. I’m your host, Kelton Reid: writer, podcaster, and mediaphile. Each week, we’ll find out how great writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block. In this episode, I’ve invited digital marketing pioneer Ann Handley to chat with me about her writing process. She’s a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, a brilliant keynote speaker, the world’s first chief content officer, and a prolific digital content creator. Ann Handley appeared on the written interview series last year and stopped by again to share her methods of madness with us, including her art of productive procrastination, why your writer s block may be a research problem, how hard deadlines help writers to ship, and the secret to what makes a good writer truly great. Let’s get into the file of Ann Handley. Welcome, Ann. Ann Handley: Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here with you today. Kelton Reid: Who are you, and what is your area of expertise as a writer? Ann Handley: I am Ann Handley. I am the world’s first Chief Content Officer as far as I know, and no one’s challenged me on that yet. I am the author of the bestselling book Everybody Writes, the co-author of Content Rules, which is also one of the bestselling books on content marketing, and the chief content officer of MarketingProfs. Kelton Reid: What are you working on right now? Ann Handley: What am I working on right now? I’m kind of in between projects right now. I was talking to somebody last week who said, “Everybody Writes is now six months old. What are you working on next?” I was like, “Are you kidding me?” My heart and soul went into that book. I need to have a period of rest and recovery before I can think about doing any other big project like that, because it takes a lot out of me. Right now, I am just working on my ongoing projects. I write a monthly column for Entrepreneur magazine. I blog regularly at my own site, AnnHandley.com. I do some writing for MarketingProfs, and I’m also working with folks here, folks internally at MarketingProfs, on developing a workshop based on Everybody Writes. All that stuff is keeping me pretty busy. Everybody Writes: An Elements of Style for the Digital Age Kelton Reid: I will just add that I love Everybody Writes, and it feels like kind of an Elements of Style for the digital age. I’m a huge fan. Ann Handley: Oh good, thank you. Yeah, as you know, that’s exactly how I hoped it would be embraced, and I’m really gratified to feel that. For the most part, I get super great feedback on it, so that’s awesome. Thank you for saying that. Kelton Reid: We’ll drop that in the show notes, of course, for people to find. Let’s chat a little bit about your productivity if you care to share. How much time, would you say, per day do you read or do research? Ann Handley: Yeah, I was thinking about this. I think I do an inordinate amount of research on everything that I put out there. I think my background as a journalist instilled that in me. That’s true whether I’m writing a column, whether I’m writing a blog post. Pretty much anything sensitive I’m putting together, I do a lot of research. I’d say for every hour of writing, I probably do between two and three hours of research on whatever it is I’m putting together. I spend a lot of time wandering around back alleys and down corridors that I don’t know when they’ll end to try to figure out, first of all, as much as I can about a subject, and then how I feel about it. It does take me a long time to actually sit down to physically write because I spend a lot of time researching what’s already been said and researching any information I can find. Kelton Reid: Before you start to write, do you have any pre-game rituals or practices that kind of get you into the mode? The Art of Productive Procrastination Ann Handley: I am a terrible procrastinator, so I spend a lot of time not writing before I start writing, which sounds funny, but it’s so true. I can spend many, many hours kind of distracting myself. So I’ll eat all the snacks in the house. I’ll wash and fold all the laundry. I’ll answer all my work e-mails. I’ll do every other task that’s in front of me that’s on my to-do list before I’ll actually sit down to write, because I’m always looking for ways to not write. I spend a lot of time distracting myself from actually writing before I write. Kelton Reid: That sounds familiar. Do you find that you have a most productive time of day and/or locale for getting into the flow? Ann Handley: Yeah. Right now, I am speaking to you from my tiny house, which I built in my backyard. It’s kind of a writer s studio — or it is a writer s studio, essentially. It’s very, very simple inside. The only thing I have in here is an Internet connection and electricity and a heater, which you heard before we started recording, which is incredibly loud. My ritual is to come in here. This feels like almost sacred space to me in a way, which I know sounds kind of goofy, but it really feels that way. It’s the place where I feel the most creative. In terms of timing, I would like to say that I spend every morning writing, and when I’m working on a big project that’s absolutely true. But when I’m not working on a big project, like I am right now, I tend to spend my morning sort of easing into the day, so goofing around on Twitter, or looking at Facebook, or sort of warming up through writing small things. That’s not true when I’m working on a big project, but right now that’s definitely true. Kelton Reid: Do you listen to music or do you prefer silence while you’re writing? Ann Handley: No, I hate listening to anything while I’m writing. I really, really need silence. If anybody is home and breathing in my house, I ask them to stop because I find it really distracting. Right now as I’m talking to you, the guys just came up to mow the lawn, and I’m a little bit annoyed because after we hang up I was planning on writing, so I don’t know how this is going to work. I might have to shoo them away. I like total silence. Kelton Reid: Do you find that you’re putting in a certain number of hours, excluding that kind of warm-up stuff? Are you disciplined, in other words? Ann Handley: Yes, I do think I’m disciplined. I have a strong work ethic. I have a feeling that I will never disappoint anybody who is relying on me for something, whether that’s a presentation, or an article, or a book, any of those things. I’d say that if I’m not working on something, it’s probably an hour or two a day that I spend writing, either things for work or just for me personally. If I’m working on a project that’s much lengthier than that, I tend to work through an entire weekend, for example. I will easily spend probably 20 hours in a weekend just writing and then during the week anywhere between five and six. I get up early, and then I’ll do my job, and then I’ll write after my job. It’s a much more aggressive schedule, I guess, which is in part why I don’t relish jumping back into it too soon. Kelton Reid: In your book, you do talk about kind of the writer-as-athlete metaphor and working those muscles and staying limber. Do you write every day? Ann Handley: Yes, I absolutely write every day. Kelton Reid: Do you believe in writer s block? Why Your Writer s Block May Be a Research Problem Ann Handley: I don’t, actually, and I talk about this in Everybody Writes. I quote a journalist — and I’m totally blanking on his name right now. I should have looked that up. I quote a journalist who says, “My father never got truck driver s block,” or “my father never got plumber s block,” and no one ever gets ‘speaking block,’ for example. I do think that writing is the same way. I think that writing is nothing more than a way of communicating. I do believe in procrastination, as I just said, but I don’t believe that writer s block is a real thing. That said, there are times when I’ll sit down to write, and I’ll think, “I don’t know what to say.” Usually, that’s more of a thinking and a research problem than it is an actual writing problem, so that’s typically a sign to me that I need to do some more thinking about something, or do some more research before I think about what my own particular take on something is going to be, you know what I mean? Kelton Reid: Absolutely. Ann Handley: Yeah. Kelton Reid: Why don’t we get into talking a little bit about your workflow? What hardware or typewriter model are you presently using? Ann Handley: Does anybody actually use a typewriter model to write? Kelton Reid: I have no idea. Ann Handley: Wow, that’s interesting. I use a MacBook Pro. I’m waiting for them to bring back the 17-inch. So far, it’s been a pretty long wait, because this 17-inch MacBook Pro that I have, it’s my life. It seems like Apple is going smaller and smaller, and I don’t think they’re going to bring it back, so I am a little distraught over it, honestly. Kelton Reid: Do you have special software? Do you have a set of software that you use most for writing and your general workflow? Ann Handley: I use Word, and when I’m writing a big project like a book, I’m a huge fan of Scrivener for that just because it’s such great tool to help you organize your writing more than anything else. Otherwise, I’m pretty simple in my tastes. Just a simple Word doc is really fine for me. Kelton Reid: How do you stay organized? Are you using Evernote, for instance, or are you traditional — note cards and sticky notes? Ann Handley: I will tell you, this is my weak spot. I am terrible at Evernote. I’ve tried it, I don’t know, six or seven times now. Every time, I feel like I’m going to make a commitment to it. I’m going to make it work, and I don’t know — I just can’t. I don’t connect with it. I’m like allergic to it or something. It’s just not for me. I’m very old school in the way that I keep myself organized in terms adding to my internal editorial calendar. I keep a written list in a simple Moleskine notebook. I am trying to use Trello consistently as a way to keep an editorial calendar of myself and keep my projects aligned, and as a visual of what it is that my month looks like, for example. But as I said, this is completely my weak spot, so I’m sort of casting in the dark a little bit with this one. Kelton Reid: I definitely lean pretty heavily on Trello, so I’ll drop that into the show notes as well. Ann Handley: Do you? Okay, that’s cool. How Hard Deadlines Help Writers Ship Kelton Reid: I know we talked about procrastination before. Do you have some best practices for beating procrastination when it comes down to the wire? Ann Handley: Honestly, I lean into it. I lean into procrastination pretty hard, and then ultimately, it’s always my work ethic that saves me. I think the most important thing is to show up, to ship when you say you’re going to ship, to show up when you say you’re going to, and not to disappoint people. People start to lose faith in you after a while if you do that consistently. I never miss a deadline, but I will say that I do go right down to the wire, and the only thing that ultimately saves me is that I have to get my ass in gear and make sure it happens. Kelton Reid: At the end of a long day of writing and overcoming procrastination, how do you unplug? Ann Handley: Wow, it feels weird to think of my day as hard days. My life is relatively soft, really, when I think about it. I think about my grandparents, for example. They had hard days. My grandfather worked all day at an asbestos mill, and then came home and took off his clothes and breathed in all that horrible stuff, so that’s a hard day to me. I feel like my days are relatively soft by comparison, but what I do is probably the same as a lot of people. I end the day by taking my dog for a walk, typically. I walk her in the fields, and it brings me such joy to watch her run through the fields, and it sort of melts any of that stress away. Then I make a nice dinner for my family. We eat together. Then, usually I’m obsessed with something on Netflix, so that caps my day. Pretty boring, I know, but that’s when I’m home but I do travel quite a bit, so I really do treasure those moments when I’m around. Kelton Reid: Just a quick pause to mention that The Writer Files is brought to you by the Rainmaker Platform, the complete website solution for content marketers and online entrepreneurs. Find out more and take a free 14-day test drive at Rainmaker.fm/Platform. Let’s talk about your creativity. Can you define creativity in your own words? Why You Have to Find a Way to Shape Your Ideas for Sharing Ann Handley: I think creativity is really about finding a way to share your own ideas with the world, or maybe not share, but finding a way to shape the ideas that you share with the world. I think that’s important, and I think it can take place in whatever your art is. For some of us, it’s writing. For others, it’s a different kind of art, but I think that’s really what it is. I think it’s about really shaping your ideas and sharing them with the world. Kelton Reid: Do you feel like you have a creative muse at the moment? Ann Handley: What inspires me is reading really good writing. You asked me earlier about how I end my day, and one thing that I was just thinking is that after Netflix, after all of that stuff, I always end the day by reading a really good piece of writing, and typically that’s fiction, or it may be some creative non-fiction from the New Yorker or something like that. I’m always really inspired by reading incredibly good writing. Sometimes it makes me anxious, the sense that, “God, I wish I wrote that,” but it really is inspiring to me to read people who can take you on a journey with their words. I don’t think I have a specific muse as much as many, many muses who speak to me in different ways. Kelton Reid: When do you feel the most creative? Ann Handley: I think when something really strikes a nerve in me. There’s almost a sense of, “I can’t not say something.” When something is kindled inside of me, I almost feel like it ignites, and I have to figure out a way to get it out. Otherwise, it literally will consume me. That’s where my best ideas come from. We were talking earlier about Everybody Writes, and that book really did come out of this feeling that I can’t not write it. It’s like, I didn’t know what else to do because it was just something that I felt had to be said, and I let it kindle for a long time inside of me before I was like, “Alright, I just need to do this.” I think that’s actually the only reason to write a book, is because you can’t not write it. But I also think that’s almost the only reason not to do any kind of writing. It’s when you can’t not say something — that’s when you should say it. The Secret to What Makes a Good Writer Great Kelton Reid: What makes a writer great in your opinion? Ann Handley: I think it s a realization that you are never really the best writer you can be. That’s something that you’re always evolving into. I almost feel a little sheepish sometimes when I think of myself as a writer when somebody calls me a writer, because it feels like I’m still working on that. It’s like when someone says to me, “You’re a great speaker.” It’s like, “Really?” Because I feel like I’m just evolving that. I think that’s what makes writing and speaking and communicating so interesting to me, because I don’t feel like I’m ever going to be a master at any of that, and I think that’s true of the best writers. You look at Hemingway’s early stuff and then you look at his later stuff, and it’s very different. It s the same for any great artist in whatever their media or medium is. I think this willingness to evolve is really what makes a great writer, makes a good writer great. Kelton Reid: Evolution. Ann Handley: Yeah. Kelton Reid: Do you have a few favorite authors at the moment? Ann Handley: Yeah. I have some writers who I’ve read every single thing that they’ve written, and I’m scared that something will happen to them and they won’t produce any more work. That writer for me is David Sedaris, which is funny because everybody knows David as a humorous writer, but he’s also a really great writer. He’s incredibly soulful. I think he’s very talented, and he’s almost sold short sometimes I think as a humorist. It almost feel like it diminishes his work, but I think his work is really, really subtle and really wonderful. He’s probably my all-time favorite author. I also am a huge fan of E.B. White, not just because of the Elements of Style, but also, I’ve read everything he’s ever written, from his children’s books like Charlotte’s Web, and Trumpet of the Swan, and all that kind of stuff, all the way up to his letters. He’s somebody that I really love. I feel very connected to him, and I think he’s an amazing writer — or was an amazing writer. Joan Didion is another favorite of mine. In the business world, I read almost everything that Seth Godin writes because I think he’s a really brilliant and interesting mind. Right now I’m reading a book of short stories by Amy Bloom, and I really love the way that she tells a story as well. Like I said, it’s almost anybody. It’s almost whatever book I’m reading now is my favorite book because if I don’t love the book that I’m reading, then I don’t keep reading it. Right now I would say it’s Amy Bloom, but I wouldn’t say she’s necessarily the one for the long term. My heart belongs to David and to Joan and to E.B., but Amy, right now, she’s a fantastic writer. Kelton Reid: I know that Everybody Writes is just chock full of what I call ‘writer porn.’ It’s got so many great quotes in there, but can you share a best-loved quote for the podcast? Why Your Audience Is Key to Effective Writing Ann Handley: Yeah, I have two. One is … I’m not sure if it’s actually in Everybody Writes or not. I’ll have to think about that. I’ll have to go back and look at it. But it’s, “Write with the door closed; edit with the door open.” It’s a quote by Stephen King, and what I love about that quote is that what’s inherent in there is that you write for yourself. You just sort of barf it up, and you get it all out, and then you write with your audience in mind. You almost swap places with your reader at that moment. That’s a thing that I think if any writer keeps in the back of their minds — and by writer, I mean anybody who writes — I think it ultimately makes your writing so much better. Because you really are putting the audience first, which makes you respect the audience. It makes you think of, “I know what I’m saying, am I communicating it clearly?” I think that is ultimately, especially in the business world, the biggest key to really effective writing. My second one is in a completely different realm, by Eleanor Roosevelt, and it’s something that I live all the time, and she says, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” I do something maybe not every day, but pretty often. I do many things that scare me all the time, and so I think of that a lot. My first impulse when anybody asks me to do anything is typically to say no. Maybe not this podcast — I was actually okay with this, but to travel to an event because I hate to fly, to do anything that puts you slightly outside of your comfort zone, my feeling is always to say no first. If I can just sit with that and then remember that Eleanor Roosevelt quote, I — more times than not — will ultimately opt in to do it. Kelton Reid: Let’s do a few fun ones just for kicks. Who is your favorite literary character? Ann Handley: A lot of my favorite literary characters are from my childhood, essentially. They’re people that I feel like I grew up with in a way. Way back when, my first, probably my first favorite literary character was Laura Ingalls Wilder. When I was a little girl, I read all of those books. There was some tell-tale signs that I was going to be that kind of obsessive-compulsive reader, and so I read all of her things. She’s not quite a literary character because she’s a real person, but there’s sort of this literary character-esqueness to especially her younger books. Encyclopedia Brown was another one. Do you know the Encyclopedia Brown books at all? Kelton Reid: Of course. Ann Handley: Yeah, I always wanted to be him. I always wanted to be this super clever kid who functioned outside of normal childhood who did these amazing things. He almost had a super power. Almost any character invented by Roald Dahl, another one of my favorite authors, so Willy Wonka and Matilda, any of his characters, I think, are really brilliant and really different. Kelton Reid: Do you have a writer s fetish? I know it’s kind of an interesting question because ‘fetish’ has a couple different meanings. One of my fetishes is vintage typewriters, as I mentioned in an earlier episode, but I think I also have others that are weirder and more esoteric that I kind of keep around my office, but I won’t mention what they are for fear that I’ll be ostracized. Ann Handley: Oh, they’re real fetishes then, huh? Kelton Reid: Yes. Ann Handley: I have a couple of vintage typewriters. I have three, and they’re right behind me in my tiny house right now. Proof that Paper Books are Pure Writer Porn Ann Handley: I think my biggest fetish, if you can even call it that, are paper books. I feel sad that ebooks are taking over paper books. I love the heft, the feel, the smell, the experience of paper books. I can count on one hand, literally, the number of times I’ve read an ebook, and half the time, after I’ve read an ebook, if I like it, I’ll go out and buy the paper version of it, because I need it. It’s like I need to have it on my shelf. They become my friends, which I know sounds incredibly weird, but since we’re talking about fetishes, what the hell? Kelton Reid: Who or what has been your greatest teacher? Ann Handley: My parents, for sure. They gave me all the freedom to be whoever I wanted to be, and they also gave me a really fantastic work ethic that I mentioned before. That came from them. My second greatest teacher, I think, has been the many, many, many mistakes that I’ve made. I get this question a lot: “Which mistake do you regret the most?” The answer is zero. I regret no mistakes, only because I’ve often learned a lot from any big mistakes that I made. Sometimes it’s saying no to opportunities, as I mentioned previously, that used to be my default answer: saying no to opportunities. Sometimes it was just being young and stupid about something. They re mistakes that we’ve all made, but they’ve taught me so much, ultimately. My big effort in my life is to let my children make those mistakes too. My children are now teenagers, and my son is a young adult in his 20s. It’s like I want them to make those mistakes, too. It’s so hard as a parent not to control it, to warn them away, but at the same time, I think they need to make their own mistake because it is your greatest teacher. I think mistakes are your greatest teacher. Kelton Reid: On that note, can you offer advice to fellow writers on how to keep the ink flowing and the cursor moving? The Value of Patience Ann Handley: Patience. I think patience is the biggest thing. It can feel like you just want things to happen fast. I think it takes a while to find your voice. At least it did for me. You or your listeners may be a faster learner than I ever was, but I think it takes a while to really hone your voice. I don’t think you’ll ever stop, so I think it s just giving yourself permission to take longer than you think it’s going to and enjoy the process. It’s easy to say that because while you’re in it, sometimes, it can feel really horrible, but I think it’s wonderful. When I go back and read something I wrote five or six years ago and I can see the difference — like I wouldn’t say things in quite that same way — it really does make me appreciate where I’m at now and my evolution as a writer. So I think it s giving yourself permission to be a patient person. Kelton Reid: Thank you so much for your patience and wisdom and honesty. Where can fellow scribes connect with you out there? Ann Handley: You can find me at AnnHandley.com. It’s a site where I write most often about content and marketing but I also write about my life, or in person I will be at Copyblogger’s Authority Intensive 2015, which I am super excited about. It’s one of my top events of the year. If you’re going to be there, I’d love to meet you there as well. Kelton Reid: I will also be there, and I really look forward to hearing you speak. I don’t know if I can say the name of your presentation now, but I know that Ann is going to be dropping some wisdom for us, and it’ll be outstanding regardless of what the name of it is. Thank you so much. Ann Handley: Thank you. Kelton Reid: In the words of Ms. Handley herself, Think before you ink. You can see Ann Handley live at Authority Rainmaker, a carefully designed live educational experience that presents a complete and effective online marketing strategy to help you immediately accelerate your business. Ann will be speaking about creating content that makes a difference for your business objectives by showing us how to create content that is empathetic, useful, and inspired. In addition to Ann, you’ll have the opportunity to see Dan Pink, Sally Hogshead, punk legend Henry Rollins, and many other incredible speakers live. Get all the details at Rainmaker.fm/event. For more episodes of The Writer Files and all the show notes, or to leave us a comment or a question, drop by at WriterFiles.fm, and please subscribe to the show on iTunes. Leave us a rating or a review, and help other writers find us. You can find me on Twitter @KeltonReid. Cheers. See you out there.

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley https://www.salesartillery.com/marketing-book-podcast/the-marketing-book-podcast-everybody-writes-ann-handley

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs, a company that offers real-world education for modern marketers through training, best practices, research, and other content. She also literally wrote the book on how to create great marketing content with her bestseller, Everybody Writes. In this episode of Content Pros, Ann reiterates that writing isn't reserved for a chosen few: “Our words are our ambassadors. They're carrying messages for us. So when I hear from marketers sometimes, ‘I'm not a writer' or ‘I don't write,' I call BS on that, because I think we are all writers. We are all communicators and we're all communicating.” The first step is getting over the initial fear of the blank page and just get it out, whether through dictation or on the page. Then, on the rewrite, you can ask questions with the reader in mind: “Am I saying this as clearly as I could? Could I say this more briefly?” On an organizational level, Ann talks about the six essential roles needed for a successful content marketing team, and the importance of setting goals and measuring success. Everything should connect back to an overall business strategy, but at the same time, that business strategy must be customer-centric. Talking about ourselves rather than how to help ease the customers' pain points won't do the job. Obviously the harder goals of leads and sales should be measures, but Ann also measures softer goals: awareness and shares. As someone who must be tuned into what resonates with her audience, she is not one to discount the validity of shares. Visit ContentProsPodcast.com for more insights from your favorite content marketers.  

I've had the honor of knowing - and being friends with - today's guest (#37!) Ann Handley - for ... well ... a long time. She's smart. She's funny (proof here). She does not take herself too seriously (see #AnnIsNotImpressed). Oh, and she also happens to be one of the best writers I know ... and has a new best-selling book out, Everybody Writes (see my book review blog post / video).  Follow Ann online, read her book, talk with her on Skype (or in person!) and you'll quickly realize what her passion is. I'd ask you to guess, but it's in the title of this blog post (and below). Ann's passion: Ridiculously good writing. And while we certainly talked about Ann's passion, we joked around and had a ton of fun on this show. Also, that picture of Ann? The one in this post with her in the Santa gear? Yeah. Let's just say that was the toughest part of this post -- choosing the picture! So many good/funny ones to pick from. One more thing (confession): I have to admit, I felt a boatload of pressure to ensure this blog post was a "ridiculously good" piece of writing devoid of grammatical errors. Triple Serious. #SSS. In case you missed any of the previous episodes, you can catch them here by visiting the Living Your Passion landing page. Are you ready to learn more about Ann's passion for ridiculously good writing? During this episode ... We spent an inordinate about of time talking about how we met. Ann taught me about adjectives and adverbs and other grammatical "things." Ann shared what she meant by "ridiculously good writing." Ann brought us back to her "Little Annie" days (hint: She's always wanted to be a writter

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarkingProfs, joins Pamela Muldoon on this week's episode of Content Marketing NEXT. Ann shares some historical insight to the content marketing conversation and how the industry has evolved from when she wrote Content Rules to her current bestseller, Everybody Writes. Content creation, eliminating cliches and her love of dogs are all part of this witty, fun and inspiring conversaton. 

Ann Handley, author of Everybody Writes and Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs is our guest. We discuss how writing is like doing pushups, why the written word remains an important tool in a day of multimedia, what it takes to tell your unique business story and why being helpful is the best call to action you can take.

Todd Wheatland sits down with Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs and best-selling author of "Content Rules" and "Everybody Writes". 

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company. In addition to being named by Forbes as the most influential woman in social media, she is also a monthly columnist for Entrepreneur magazine, a member of the LinkedIn Influencer program, and the co-author of Content Rules - the all-time best-selling book on content marketing. Her new book, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, will help your business tell its story.

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, joins the Social Pros Podcast this week to discuss the essentials of writing in the visual media marketing world, key points of wisdom from her new book Everybody Writes, and the fact that honing your writing skills will make you a stronger digital marketer. Read the highlights: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-pros-podcast/is-writing-still-the-most-important-social-skill/

Welcome to episode #426 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. When everybody is writing, it can be challenging to find good writing (let alone, great writing). Ann Handley is a great writer. Don't believe me? Just start reading her blog. She's had an incredible career, including being the co-founder of ClickZ and she's currently the Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs. When people ask me about what it takes to be great at writing content (online or otherwise), I think of my dear friend, Ann. I was honored to be asked to write a blurb for her just-released book, Everybody Writes. If you're going to be writing anything (from a tweet or blog post to a book of your own), this is the book you want to read, study and leave right next to whatever it is that you will be typing on. If you lead marketing teams, you're going to want to pick up a few copy for those who are responsible for the words as well. Prior to Everybody Writes, she co-authored (with C.C. Chapman), Content Rules. She's also a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, and a very passionate person about the power and importance of content and words. Enjoy the conversation...  Here it is: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #426 - Host: Mitch Joel. Running time: 1:02:03. Please send in questions, comments, suggestions - mitch@twistimage.com. Hello from Beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at iTunes. Please visit and leave comments on the Blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on twitter.  Six Pixels of Separation the book is now available. CTRL ALT Delete is now available too! In conversation with Ann Handley. Everybody Writes. Content Rules. MarketingProfs. Follow Ann on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'. Get David's song for free here: Artists For Amnesty. Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast - Episode #426 - Host: Mitch Joel. Tags: advertising podcast ann handley blog blogging brand business book business podcast cc chapman clickz content marketing content rules david usher digital marketing entrepreneur magazine everybody writes facebook google itunes marketing podcast marketing profs twitter

I am Kathy Klotz-Guest, founder of Keeping it Human, coming to you live from San Jose, CA, in Silicon Valley. This show airs Thursdays at 3:30 PM PDT.  I help marketing executives and their teams tell their most important company, product and customer stories to the world. This is a jargon-monoxide-poisoning free zone. Leave a comment on the blog…I love hearing from you. This podcast is all about making marketing communications and content more human, fun and effective. Follow Kathy. Everybody Writes Ann Handley is a master at content and writing. Her new book, Everybody Writes, is available this Fall.  She has some cool giveaways running through 8/20 when you pre-order her book. Details are available at EverybodyWrites.com Join us for this special podcast with Ann Handley of MarketingProfs to discuss content, writing, and how to unleash your best content yet. While we normally record on Thursdays, this podcast will air Monday, August 18 at 11AM PDT/ 2PM EST. About Ann Ann Handley is a veteran of creating and managing digital content to build relationships for organizations and individuals. Ann is the author of the forthcoming book Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (fall 2014, Wiley) and co-author of the best-selling Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (Wiley). She is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs; a columnist for Entrepreneur magazine; a LinkedIn Influencer; a keynote speaker, mom, and writer. Follow Ann