Podcast appearances and mentions of margot bloomstein

Margot Bloomstein is one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap and Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust. About AIGA Design Adjacent AIGA Design Adjacent is a monthly podcast series with AIGA's Executive Director, Bennie F. Johnson, in conversation with industry leaders who are innovating and designing the future. These conversations expand beyond the design community, encompassing industries and areas that intersect with design and shift the ways in which we think about and interact with each other and the world around us. About Bennie F. Johnson Bennie F. Johnson is the Executive Director of AIGA, the professional association for design. Bennie thrives on the connections between marketing, technology, education, and innovation. With experience in strategic and consumer marketing, brand management, and innovation management, he is drawn to opportunities that allow him to lead and create new modes for business engagement. He has broad experience growing brands, businesses, and organizations with a special focus on venture launch and brand relaunch business environments. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aigadesign/message

How can brands build trust with an increasingly cynical audience? Margot Bloomstein believes you can win over any audience by creating consistent, high-quality content. But in order to cut through the noise, you need to build a clear content strategy and be vulnerable. As the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a Boston-based brand and content strategy consultancy, a speaker, and an author, Margot has experience partnering with a range of organizations to deliver quality messaging, including Sallie Mae, Lovehoney, Scholastic, Fidelity, Harvard University, and the American Montessori Society.She talked to us about the nuances of building trust with increasingly distrustful audiences, prototyping in public, and focusing on consistency.Show TopicsMake good on content strategy through content marketingCreate message architecture from a content hierarchyUse the same wording as your clientsNurture confidence in your audienceAdvocate for solving problems through contentRespond to cynicism by building trustCut through the noiseGuide better decision-makingPrototype in publicFocus on consistencyCheck out Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust GapFollow Margot Bloomstein on LinkedIn or TwitterPast guests on The Long Game podcast include: Morgan Brown (Shopify), Ryan Law (Animalz), Dan Shure (Evolving SEO), Kaleigh Moore (freelancer), Eric Siu (Clickflow), Peep Laja (CXL), Chelsea Castle (Chili Piper), Tracey Wallace (Klaviyo), Tim Soulo (Ahrefs), Sean Blanda (Crossbeam), Ilona Abramova (AppSumo), and many more.Some interviews you might enjoy and learn from:020: Spark Creativity and Generate Memorable Content with Ryan Law (Animalz)041: Actionable Tips and Secrets to SEO Strategy with Dan Shure (Evolving SEO)045: Building Competitive Marketing Content with Sam Chapman (Aprimo)009: The Long Game Podcast: Building Communities, Teams and Companies through Marketing with Sabel Harris019: Peak Performing, High-Earning Freelance Writing with Michael Keenan (Co-Founder at Peak Freelance)028: Purpose-Driven Leadership & Building a Content Team with Ty Magnin (UiPath)Also, check out our Kitchen Side series where we take you behind the scenes to see how the sausage is made at our agency:015: Should You Hire Writers or Subject Matter Experts?017: How Do Growth and Content Overlap?027: Is Organic Traffic the Best Traffic?Connect with Omniscient Digital on social:Twitter: @beomniscientLinkedin: Be OmniscientListen to more episodes of The Long Game podcast here: https://beomniscient.com/podcast/

We talk to Margot Bloomstein about how companies can foster trust and content across their different branches, and how to develop that important consistency of communication.

In observance of the winter holidays, this episode doesn't feature a guest interview. Instead, I reflect on five themes that emerged in the diverse conversations we hosted on the podcast during 2021. I wish you and yours happy holidays! Cover photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review it in Apple's Podcasts directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 Show notes The Informed Life episode 53: Jason Ulaszek on Healing Social Rifts The Informed Life episode 54: Kourosh Dini on DEVONthink The Informed Life episode 55: Hà Phan on Product Leadership The Informed Life episode 56: Margot Bloomstein on Trust The Informed Life episode 57: Ben Mosior on Wardley Maps The Informed Life episode 58: Jesse James Garrett on Leadership and IA The Informed Life episode 59: Matt LeMay on One Page / One Hour The Informed Life episode 60: Kat Vellos on Friendship The Informed Life episode 61: Jeff Sussna on Customer Value Charting The Informed Life episode 63: Sophia Prater on Object Oriented UX The Informed Life episode 64: Sarah Barrett on Architectural Scale The Informed Life episode 66: Jim Kalbach on Jobs to Be Done The Informed Life episode 68: Mags Hanley on Career Architecture The Informed Life episode 69: Karl Fast on Interactionism, part 1 The Informed Life episode 70: Karl Fast on Interactionism, part 2 The Informed Life episode 71: Sunni Brown on Deep Self Design The Informed Life episode 73: Patrick Tanguay on Newsletter Curation The Informed Life episode 74: Annie Murphy Paul on The Extended Mind The Informed Life episode 75: Hans Krueger on the Cycle of Emotions The Informed Life episode 76: Dan Brown on IA Lenses Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. Read the transcript Jorge: Welcome to the informed life. In each episode of this show, we find out how people organize information to get things done. I am your host horsehair angle. Today, I don't have a guest on the show. Instead, I'm going to try something a little different. Rather than a conversation with a single guest, I'm going to do a review of some of the things that I heard during the course of the year. So, you'll be hearing from several of the folks who graciously agreed to be on the show. And the reason why I'm doing this is because I listen to a lot of interview-based podcasts. And while I find myself getting totally engrossed in each individual conversation, I often lose track of what I've heard before in prior conversations, and I have a hard time making sense of patterns that may be emerging. So, I thought that during this quiet time of year I might take some time out to do just that, to see if there are any themes or patterns that have stood out during the interviews i've done in the past 12 months. Of course, the guests on the show, didn't speak with each other. I don't want to imply that they're somehow in conversation or responding to each other's points. In fact, the only point that any of these conversations have in common was that I was a part of all of them. I'm also aware that when you take snippets of interviews out of context, It may change their meaning, especially when put next to other snippets from other conversations. And that's definitely not my intent. I'm not going to present these in the order in which they were recorded. In fact, I'm going to talk about these in no particular order. So, in this episode, I'm just going to edit these together and see if I can highlight some of these themes that seemed to have come up in more than one conversation. If you want to check out the full conversations, which I encourage you to do, I will include links to each episode in the show notes. Hopefully, this will prove useful to you if you choose to revisit the conversations we've had over the last year. So, now onto the themes. We recorded 25 conversations during 2021. And in revisiting them now, I've grouped them into five high-level themes. There are other ideas that have come up and there are different arrangements you could make, but these are five themes that stood out to me. The first theme, I'm calling, aligning our values with our actions. The second is about using intentional structures for self-development. The third is about practicing information architecture at scale. The fourth is highlighting tools and methods for visualizing systemic intent. And the fifth is about thinking beyond the brain. I'll unpack what these are about one by one and hopefully draw connections between them to try to bring some coherence to the conversations that we've been having throughout the year. Because I do think that there are things that connect them. Aligning our values with our actions Jorge: So now, let's dive into the first of these themes, which has to do with aligning our values with our actions. And this is one that came in this year, particularly strongly and with intent on my part because I was appalled by the January 6th insurrection in Washington, DC. This horrible event brought to life the degree to which there are deep social rifts in the U.S. And I I've been thinking about what designers can do so what can I do through my work to help make these things better. So I wanted to talk with folks who have been explicitly thinking about this stuff. And this led me to reach out to Jason Ulaszek, who has used design to help heal Rwandan society in the wake of the Rwandan genocide, which I think is obviously a much more extreme situation than the one that we're facing here in the U.S. Now, Jason is not originally from Rwanda, he's from the U.S., so I asked him if there's anything that we could learn from his experience that might help us in our society to start healing the rifts that divide us. And I was very intrigued by his answer; he talked about re-engaging with cultural values. And this is what he had to say: Jason Ulaszek: What was part of the Rwandans cultural value system well before the genocide against the Tutsi, and is now swung fully back -- and they're working hard to ensure that that's the case -- is a really strong sense of cultural values. What they've really tapped into -- and I think this is where it gets into design a bit -- is that they've tapped into ways to embody these cultural values inside of the experiences people have within education. Jorge: So there's an explicit attempt there to create structures — in that case, within the educational system — that help highlight the common social values that bind a people together. And in part the way that I understood it, at least the part of the idea there is to try to rebuild a sense of trust among parties. And we had another episode this year where we talked explicitly about building trust. And this was in episode 56, where I had a conversation with Margot Bloomstein about her book on the subject, which came out this year, called Trustworthy. And, as Margot put it in our conversation, a big part of building trust has to do with authenticity: with having our actions be grounded in a clear set of values and having them be aligned with those values. This is how Margot put it: Margot Bloomstein: You used the term "authenticity." And I think that that's a term that we throw around a lot; that's a term marketers love to throw around. Who wouldn't want to be authentic? And I always wonder, authentic to what? Do you know who you are? Know thy self first, and then you can determine, well, how do we align our actions with our values? Because that's how we measure authenticity: it's the distance between our actions and our words, all of that external stuff and our values. And I think for many organizations, they can jump into kind of the national conversation, into the international conversation, around many of those social issues and say, "Here's what we're doing. Here's why we support this. Here's what we're doing internally. And here's what we're doing externally to make this better for everyone." To put a stake in the ground. And they can do it building on that long-term, authentic investment in their values. Jorge: I love this idea of being more intentional about aligning our values and our actions as we seek to be more authentic. And of course Margot was talking here about doing that at the level of organizations, but it's also possible to do it at an individual level. And in my conversation with author Kat Vellos, we dug into that specifically in the context of her work. In nurturing friendships. And I asked Kat about how we might be more authentic in looking to create the structures that allow us to nurture friendships as we get older. And she highlighted the importance of being present. This is what she had to say about it. Kat Vellos: The more you immerse yourself in what is actually happening in that time that you're connecting with the other person, the more likely you are to feel the benefit. You know, when you're spending time sharing stories with a friend say, focus on their story, focus on them. Get curious. Ask followup questions and have that be the focus of your attention, rather than halfway listening and halfway being in your own head. Like, "do I feel less lonely right now? Do I feel less awkward right now?" Get out of that mental evaluation mode and get real immersed and real curious and interested in the other person. And that's actually when somebody feels heard. That's actually when somebody feels more connected is when you're really present and holding space with each other. Intentional structures for self-development Jorge: This idea of being more present was also an important part of our second theme, which has to do with creating intentional structures for self-development. I like to think of this almost as kind of an information architecture of the self. So, while it might seem on the surface like some of these conversations run a bit further a field from the subject of the show, I see them as being quite aligned in that we are creating conceptual structures that help us affect some kind of change. And in this second theme, the change has to do with internal transformation. We delved into this in a few conversations during the year. The first I will highlight is episode 71, where I interviewed Sunni Brown about her work in Deep Self Design, which is a practice rooted in Zen Buddhism and design thinking. And during this conversation, Sunni chastised me for allowing myself to let my devices keep me from being more present during a camping trip with my family. And I loved how Sunni talked about being more present. This is what she had to say: Sunni Brown: Camping, when it's like safe and beautiful... the point of it is to actually get you into a different state. To get your regulatory system in a different state so that you can enjoy your life and be present with your family and look at the sky and realize that you're part of... you are the sky, there's no difference between you and the sky, you just project that there is. And like, you know what I mean? So, you have to understand that that space is essential for your humanity and and make it a priority. And you can tell people, I mean, there's ways to approach it that are gentle on other people. So you can let people know, "I'm going to go dark for 72 hours. You should know that," Or, "I'm going to go dark, and then I'm going to have one hour where I look at stuff," you know? You have to design it for your life and what's actually available for you. Sometimes people have sick parents at home or sick kids or whatever, but you have to start to understand the benefit of it. Because I think most people think it's just like something they would lose. Like, they wouldn't get... something taken away from them. And I'm like, "no! It's something you're giving yourself that is priceless." And you get amazing ideas. Like your productivity goes up. So, I call it going slow to go fast. Actually I read this interesting Nietzsche quote, which I don't read Nietzsche a lot or anything, but like he said like great ideas are found when you're walking. And Steve Jobs was... Also, I'mnot obsessed with Steve Jobs, but he did a lot of walking meetings. So, If you are a productivity junkie, going slow helps you go fast. And it actually frees up a lot of stuck tension in the body and stuck ideas that you can't get through and it gives you solutions and ahas and insights. So there's huge rewards in it anyway, if you need it to be aligned with productivity. But it's like, dude, we're gonna die one day, Jorge. Like all of us! And the last thing I want to do is be like, "I spent my whole life on my iPhone!" That is like the worst thing that could happen. Jorge: So, we need to be more aware about what is going on with our systems, with our bodies — and we need to be present. And this was not the only conversation that I had that delved on similar subjects. In episode 75, I talked with my friend, Hans Krueger, who has also been influenced by Buddhism, on what he calls the cycle of emotions, which is a conceptual structure — a way of thinking about emotions and how emotions affect our behavior. Here's Hans: Hans Krueger: What surprisingly few people realize is that there is like a real system behind this thing, this whole emotional complex. How they work, how they interact with each other, what leads to what, what you can do to actually cultivate your own emotional state. A state that allows you to perceive as clearly as possible what is real, versus what you imagine is real. Jorge: There's an emerging theme here in the power of visualizing, might be one way to think about it, but at the very least naming these conceptual distinctions, becoming more aware of what is happening internally. And again, this might come across to some folks as not being relevant to information architecture at all. But I do think of these as conceptual structures where there are distinctions that we label and we establish relationships between those distinctions. And the structure helps us understand what we're doing so that we can act more skillfully, more mindfully. And at least one guest during the year talked about using such conceptual models, not just to help us personally, but to help us in our careers. In episode 68, Mags Hanley shared with us her work on career architecture, which is also the subject of her book, which was published after we talked. And Mags made the connection between the methods, processes and tools that we use as information architects and how we develop our careers. Mags Hanley: Career architecture is about how we can use the methods that we think about and we use as information architects or as UX professionals and apply that in a very systematic way into how we think about our careers. Practicing information architecture at scale Jorge: I like this idea of using information, architecture and user experience methods, practices, and tools for our own personal development. But we can also use them to develop our teams and to work at a different level of impact. I think of this as information architecture at scale, which is the next theme that emerged in the conversations that we had on the podcast over the year. Two that immediately come to mind, but I'm not going to highlight as much here, are the conversation with Jim Kalbach on jobs to be done, which, in addition to Jim's book, helped me clarify my own understanding of what jobs to be done are. And this is an important subject, one that designers and product managers need to be aware of. So, if you have heard the phrase, but are not entirely clear on what it means, I encourage you to check out my conversation with Jim. Another one is the conversation that I had recently with Dan Brown on information architecture lenses. And as that explained in that episode, the lenses are a set of cards, and now podcasts and YouTube videos, that aim to serve as a tool to help designers deal with architectural conundrums. So again, if you are into information architecture, and you haven't done so already. I encourage you to check out the conversation with Dan Brown. That said, there are a few episodes that I do want to call out here and bring to your attention. One is the conversation I had on episode 63 with Sophia Prater about her object oriented user experience framework. I see this as a way of formalizing conceptual models so they can be shared and discussed with other team members. This is how sophia described it during our conversation: Sophia Prater: OOUX is all about saying, "okay. If we know that our users think in objects and just human beings think in objects - not not just our developers - human beings think in objects, and to be able to gain understanding, you need to understand what the objects are in that system. And to understand what the objects are we need a certain level of consistency and recognizability to our objects." So as the designers of these environments, if we don't get really super clear on what our objects are, there's no way. There's just absolutely no way in hell that we're going to be able to translate that to our end users. We're just not! If we can't get it straight on our team and we can't get it straight among ourselves, then 1) that's going to create a lot of communication problems internally which is a problem that I hear all the time. We've got everybody on the team coming together. And some people, depending on what department you're in or what your role is, you've got the same object, the same thing being called two or three different things and different objects being called the same thing. And you're trying to design complex software. So just getting on the same page internally is going to be absolutely intrinsic to making sure that it's clear to your end users. Jorge: Another conversation that had to do with considering design at a different level of abstraction was in episode 64, where Sarah Barrett shared with us considerations about the architectural scale of the systems we design. I was particularly drawn to the way Sarah described how we should approach the intended effects of our work: Sarah Barrett: Occasionally, I get comments or people worrying that our information architecture isn't innovative enough that we're not doing anything surprising or introducing anything brand new. And I feel very strongly that your architecture is not the place to surprise people. Like, there are actual architects out there building very innovative homes that no one wants to live in. And I have no interest in doing that. I really want us to use the oldest, most standard, most expected way of doing things. I think the example of the grocery store is another great way here. There's a lot of benefit to not innovating in the layout of a grocery store. There probably is some benefit in innovating a little bit around the edges or in some details, but you gain a lot from making it legible and making it expected for people. And so, that one is really about... okay, given these things that we expect to have: we expect to have global navigation, we expect to have metadata on content, we expect to have titles and breadcrumbs... how do we unpack what each of those things is doing for us and make sure that between the suite of those elements we are using? Because you never use just one, you use lots of them together. Between all of those elements, we are presenting a coherent, complete view of the wayfinding people need. Jorge: It's one thing to create a coherent and complete system that allows people to find and understand things, and it's another to create the conditions that allow that system to evolve over time gracefully as conditions change but to retain that cohesiveness. And doing this requires that we understand that the things that we are designing are in fact systems and they are systems that will require stewardship over time. This implies that we need leadership. And that was the subject of episode 58, where I had a conversation with Jesse James Garrett about leadership and information architecture. This is part of what jesse said during that show. Jesse James Garrett: The way that I talk to folks about design leadership, who have come from a design background -that is to say they've been doing design work - is that leadership is just another design problem. And you're working with different materials and you're working toward different outcomes and you're having to follow different principles, but the task is the same task. It is a creative problem-solving task. It is a systems-thinking task, as a leader. So looking at the ways that you're already doing that systems-thinking, the ways in which you already doing that architecture for yourself in the work that you're already doing, and those will be your strengths. And those will be the pillars that you can lean on that are going to support your work as a leader going forward. They will evolve and they will not look like what they looked like when you were doing content inventories or task flows or whatever other artifacts you might've been working on as a designer. But the skill set that you're building is the same skill set. Jorge: The relationship between design and leadership, and how designers can use our tools, methods, practices, et cetera, to take on leadership roles, was also the subject of episode 55, which featured a conversation with hop-on about her own trajectory from design to product leadership. Hà Phan: I think the difficulty was between the role I have now, or the delta between the role I have now versus being a UX designer is that, you know, it's really a leadership role to basically provide the path to clarity. So when you have a vision, even as a seasoned UX designer, you're going to present forth this vision. And usually there's a thousand questions and a thousand steps before you get there, right? And usually you don't get there entirely. You know, you don't get to the vision entirely the way you had envisioned it. You're going to take turns, right? And I think in this role, what I get to do is that I get to enable the team to find that path to clarity, and to provide the milestones or the mission for each of the goals along the way. Jorge: This idea that leaders provide clarity and vision is very important. And it's one of the reasons why designers can make good leaders, because part of what designers do is clarify and help visualize abstract ideas. I keep saying that design is about making possibilities tangible: we take these vague notions, requirements, constraints, ill defined contexts, and we make things. And these things that we make can be validated somehow. We can put them in context and have them be used by the people that we intend to serve, to see whether things are working or not. And we create feedback loops where we make them incrementally better, better suited to meeting the needs of the people they serve. Visualizing systemic intent Jorge: And this idea of leadership as a role that clarifies and articulates a vision, brings us to the fourth theme that I noticed in going back over this year's episodes, which has to do with highlighting tools and methods for visualizing systemic intent. And by that, I mean different ways of mapping systems and making systems more tangible. Again, this idea of making the abstract more relatable. And we had several conversations along those lines. The first I'm going to highlight here is episode 59, in which Matt LeMay may shared with us One Page / One Hour, an approach he's developed to help teams articulate what they're making by working fast and iterating. So, rather than creating some kind of polished deck, the idea here is to articulate a vision really quickly so that you can spend less time upfront creating polished artifacts and spend more time iterating with stakeholders and other team members. Here's Matt describing how he came up with One Page / One Hour. Matt LeMay: I wrote up this pledge to my business partners saying I'm willing to forego the sense of individual accomplishment that comes from presenting finished and polished deliverables to my colleagues. I promise that I will spend no more than one page and one hour working on any deliverable - any document - before I bring it to the team. In other words, if I show up with five beautifully formatted pages or a one-page that took me 10 hours to create, I want you to hold me accountable to that. I want you to say, "man, why did you do this? We made a deal. We made a commitment to each other! We all know that if we actually want to deliver value, if we want to do valuable work, we need to collaborate earlier on. You can't go off onto your own and create this big thing, and then just want us to tell you how great it is!" Jorge: One Page / One Hour is about trying to articulate very quickly what we have in mind and sharing it so that we can start iterating on it. A few of the other conversations that we had during the year around visualizing systems and visualizing intent were about artifacts that are a little more elaborate. An example of this is Customer Value Charting, which Jeff Sussna shared with us in episode 61. Customer Value Charting, as Jeff explained, it is a tool to balance strategy and agility. And the purpose of creating that balance is to drive customer benefits, which are related to but not the same as business benefits. Jeff illustrated this by means of an example using a common service. Jeff Sussna: The benefit of the dry cleaner is that I can get my tuxedo cleaned in time to go to the formal event. It's not fundamentally about a cash register or a counter or even cleaning chemicals. And I mention that because a lot of the conversation I see around outcomes over outputs tends to actually talk about business outcomes. You know, revenue growth and customer retention, and time on site and business outcomes are great. I don't have any problem with them, but people tend to skip this step. We have a hypothesis that this feature will cause this change in customer behavior, which will lead to this business outcome or business impact. But it leaves open the question of, well, why is the customer changing their behavior? What is the benefit to them? Jorge: These are complex questions to take on for designers or for anyone, frankly. And it's helpful to hear about how folks are going about it. Customer Value Charting is one way of doing it. Another way of visualizing systems and visualizing things like customer needs in a systemic way was shared with us by Ben Mosiure in our conversation, which focused on Wardley maps. Ben Mosior: Wardley mapping is a visual way of representing systems: its users, its needs, its capabilities, its relationships between all those three things. And then it's also positioning those things in a way that helps their qualities become more apparent. So there's this thing that Simon Research called "Evolution." It's basically how do things evolve and get better or die under the pressures of supply demand competition, and what you get is like things start out new, uncertain, high risk, high failure, but with a high potential for future value. But then as they evolve, they get better. You know, someone's always like looking at these weird ideas and trying to make them better because capitalism basically suggest there's money to be made. So someone out there is going to try to make it better. And over time, if the idea is worth investing in, it will continue to get better, more known, more boring, more predictable, and the value of it will be more concrete. And eventually, if it evolves to a certain extent, it becomes an invisible part of our everyday lives. And so, Simon says, look, you want to represent the systems that we're a part of both in terms of their parts and relationships, but also in terms of how evolved each of those parts are. Because what that does is it sets you up to understand the implications of those qualities. New stuff is going to be high failure, old stuff that everybody understands, that's just part of everyday reality like power in the wall. It is going to be less surprising, it's going to be less failure. And so that means that depending on the context, depending on the part of the system we're looking at, we need to have a different way of approaching it. And I think that's the entire point. By making visual artifacts -- by talking about our systems visually -- we can come together, look at a specific part of it, appreciate its qualities, and then together determine what our collective intent is about that part of the system. Jorge: That's a great description of this idea that we can take these complex abstract ideas and make them tangible, make them manifest in the world, and as a result, make it possible for us to have conversations about them, to somehow change the state of things, to make things better. Thinking beyond the brain Jorge: And that brings us to the fifth and final theme that emerged over the year and that I want to emphasize here, which has to do with using tools and our environment to extend our cognitive system. So, in some way, when we are putting up stickies or diagrams or anything up on the wall, we are making it possible for us to share a cognitive space of sorts. And this is true, whether we're doing it with a note-taking app or stickies on a whiteboard. In taking stuff out of our heads and putting them out into the world, we can somehow extend our minds. And that's why I'm calling this fifth theme "thinking beyond the brain." Conversations about this theme came in two different flavors. On the one hand, we had folks who shared with us their thinking processes and tools. And on the other hand, we had a few conversations that were about thinking in this way itself and I'll say a little bit more about both of those. So, first with the thinking processes and tools. In episode 75, Patrick Tanguay shared with us, how he uses a combination of tools to write one of my favorite newsletters, Sentiers. And it's a setup that mirrors somewhat closely my own setup. Another great conversation about a particular tool was in episode 54, where Kourosh Dini told us about how he's using DEVONthink for building a personal knowledge management system. I was very excited to talk with Kourosh because he wrote a book that helped me use DEVONthink better. If you're unfamiliar with this tool and you are someone who needs to manage a lot of information, let's say if you're teaching or writing, it behooves you to give episode 54 a listen. As I mentioned, I also hosted a few discussions which were not about tools in particular, but a little more meta about how the mind itself works beyond the brain. I'll be frank with you, these were some of my favorite conversations during the year. One was with Annie Murphy Paul about her book, The Extended Mind. Annie's book is the clearest explanation I've read on the science behind the field of embodied cognition. It was one of my favorite reads of the year because it does a really good job at dispelling erroneous notions about how the brain works. And I think that this is a very important subject for designers to understand. Here's Annie. Annie Murphy Paul: I always like to say we're more like animals than we are like machines. You know, the brain is a biological organ. I mean, I know this is obvious, but we really can get very entranced in a way by this metaphor of "brain as computer." The brain is a biological organ that evolved to carry out tasks that are often very different from the tasks that we expect it to execute today. And so, our misunderstanding of what the brain is leads us, as you were saying, Jorge, to create these structures in society. In education and in the workplace, in our everyday lives, that really don't suit the reality of what the brain is. I mean, I'm thinking about how, for example, we expect ourselves to be productive. Whether that's in the workplace, or what we expect our students to do in school. You know, we often expect ourselves to sit still, don't move around, don't change the space where you're in. Don't talk to other people. Just sit there and kind of work until it's done. And that's how we expect ourselves to get serious thinking done. And that makes sense, if the brain is a computer, you know? You feed it information and it processes the information, then it spits out the answer in this very linear fashion. But that's not at all how the brain works. Because the brain is so exquisitely sensitive to context, and that context can be the way our bodies are feeling and how they're moving, that context can be literally where we are situated and what we see and what we experience around us, and that context can be the social context: whether we're with other people, whether we're talking to them, how those conversations are unfolding -- all those things have an incredibly powerful impact on how we think. And so, when we expect the brain to function like a computer, whether that's in the office or in the classroom, we're really underselling its actual powers -- its actual genius -- and we're cutting ourselves off from the wellsprings of our own intelligence, which is the fact that we are embodied creatures embedded in an environment and set in this network of relationships. So, it really... we're really kind of leaving a lot of potential intelligence on the table when we limit our idea of what the brain is in that way. Jorge: While this may seem like we are venturing a little far from the ostensible subject of the show, which is about how people organize information to get things done, there's two reasons why I think it's important for us to delve into this subject. One reason is that, if we are to properly organize information so that we can find things, understand things and so on, we have to understand how our minds work, because ultimately what we're doing is we are designing for minds. And the second reason is that in so doing — in organizing information, in creating these information environments — we are creating contexts of the sort that Annie was talking about there. Even if they are not physical contexts, they are contexts that influence how we understand things. The second conversation I had this year on this subject and which I want to highlight here is the conversation I had with my friend, Karl Fast over episodes 69 and 70. And as you might know, if you've been listening to the show for a while, that's the first time I've ever done a double header. In other words, that I've split a conversation between two episodes. And it's just because we had so much to talk about. And I don't think I can do that conversation justice by extracting just any one clip. But again, I do believe that this is an important subject for you to know about, so I encourage you to check out the whole thing. Closing Jorge: So there you have it, that's a very high level overview of some of the conversations that have stood out to me in the podcast over the last year. Now, obviously there were many more — I told you that we recorded 25 episodes — I don't want to in any way suggest that the other ones weren't as interesting. I just wanted to highlight the ones that I thought manifested some of these themes. And to recap them, the five themes are: aligning our values with our actions, using intentional structures for self-development, practicing information architecture at scale, tools and methods for visualizing systemic intent and then finally, thinking beyond the brain. These are subjects that I care about. And it's no accident that we end up having conversations about these things on the show. One of the interesting things about revisiting them now at the end of the year, is that I can start seeing threads that run through several of the themes. For example, the idea that we need to visualize abstract and complex systems, and that doing so allows us to have better conversations about them. That seems to be a thread that's running through various of these themes. It's true, whether we are talking about our own internal values or our career development, or whether we're talking about a service that we are looking to develop for our clients. And like I've said before, I think that designers — and particularly structurally- and systemically-minded designers, such as information architects — are particularly well-suited to visualize systems in this way. The other thread that I see running through all of this is the importance of considering the context that we are working with and working on, and not just the content of what we're designing. The things that we make are going to be experienced in some kind of environment, whether it's a physical environment or some kind of information environment. And the environment makes a big difference. We understand things in context. And part of what we do as information architects is establish those contexts. That's one of the reasons why I've been emphasizing these conversations about embodied cognition and the extended mind. Because science is making it increasingly clear that thinking happens, not just in our nervous systems, but in our bodies. And more to the point here, it happens out in the world. It happens in our environments and it happens in the tools that we interact with. And again, it's a system that is comprised by ourselves as actors, agents, but also the environments in which we're operating. And we can configure those environments in various ways to help us think better. And I think that this is an important frontier, so to speak, an important area of development for people who design structures of information, who create contexts through language and signs. I've loved the conversations that we've had on the show this year. And that is mostly due to the fact that the guests have been great. I am very grateful to everyone who has agreed to be on the show to have me interview them, to share their ideas, their work, their research, their experience with us. I also want to thank Sarah Clarkson, who I have not acknowledged in the show before. And I'm long overdue in doing that, but Sarah helps me edit the podcast. And her help has been invaluable in getting these shows out to you on time. And of course, I'm very grateful for you; for the fact that you are listening to this, that you have decided to make the show a part of your podcast listening. I would love to know whether there's anything that we can do to make things better. So, please drop by the informed.life, and leave us a note. But for now, I'll just tell you that I am planning to keep the show going. I have guests already lined up for next year. I'm excited about these conversations: having them and also being able to share them with you. So again, thank you. I wish you and yours happy holidays and I look forward to sharing more with you next year.

It's the mid-70's and you've just purchased your first new car — a Ford Pinto. The commercials convinced you that this car was built to survive a demolition derby, while the salesman in the lounge suit convinced you it didn't matter that you couldn't drive stick. Now you don't know what's worse — grinding the gears and stalling every 200 yards or that the bike messenger who bumped into your fender last time you did sent the entire car up in flames. Could anything make you trust a brand's content (or yourself) again? If anyone could, it would be today's guest, Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy and Brand & Strategy Consultant at Appropriate, Inc, who joins the show to discuss how effective content strategy is for building customer confidence and trust in your brand. In this episode, we discuss: Why customers need to be confident in you and themselves How to help your customers succeed (and why that builds trust) The 3 V's of content strategy Why you need a consistent voice across all channels Now that you know how to build trust and confidence with your content strategy, are you ready to learn how to optimize your tech stack or dive into how Google's new rules impact your SEO? Check out the full list of episodes: The B2B Revenue Executive Experience.

It's the mid-70's and you've just purchased your first new car — a Ford Pinto. The commercials convinced you that this car was built to survive a demolition derby, while the salesman in the lounge suit convinced you it didn't matter that you couldn't drive stick. Now you don't know what's worse — grinding the gears and stalling every 200 yards or that the bike messenger who bumped into your fender last time you did sent the entire car up in flames. Could anything make you trust a brand's content (or yourself) again? If anyone could, it would be today's guest, Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy and Brand & Strategy Consultant at Appropriate, Inc, who joins the show to discuss how effective content strategy is for building customer confidence and trust in your brand. In this episode, we discuss: Why customers need to be confident in you and themselves How to help your customers succeed (and why that builds trust) The 3 V's of content strategy Why you need a consistent voice across all channels Now that you know how to build trust and confidence with your content strategy, are you ready to learn how to optimize your tech stack or dive into how Google's new rules impact your SEO? Check out the full list of episodes: The B2B Revenue Executive Experience.

This week on Timeless Leadership, the topic is Trust. What's the shortest distance between cynicism and hope? If you said trust, then you're aligned with Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. Trust also happens to be, in our opinion, the basis of any kind of relationship — and certainly of leadership. Without trust, you're a boss, not a leader. Margo Bloomstein joins us to talk about the trust gap, how building trust is about consistency and context, and how voice, volume, and vulnerability come into play.   Links The Basis of the Best Relationships Margot's website: Appropriate, Inc. Margot's book: Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap Please leave us a rating or review so other people can benefit from Timeless Leadership. Find Timeless Leadership wherever you listen to podcasts.   This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe

In EP56 we have the chance to learn from Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap (2021) and Content Strategy at Work (2012). She is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston.With Margot chat about the driving content design and strategy.During the episode we explore:The three-legged stool of content design.How to collaborate with stakeholders in content design.The upside of shared ownership to push ideas forward.Synergies of digital content and product design.Challenges of aligning Brand and Content StrategyChoosing the channel for content is key.Quality over quantity in marketingThanks a lot for your time and for learning Margot!——The GuestMargot Bloomstein is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap (2021) and Content Strategy at Work (2012). She is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston.As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy.Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust.

Margot Bloomstein joins me to discuss the topic. Join us.   Check out her book here: https://amzn.to/3xKM0hA --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ctrappe/message

Conversations about Information Architecture Dan Brown talks with Margot Bloomstein about the Lens of Accountability

Margot Bloomstein is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap (2021) and Content Strategy at Work (2012). She is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston, through which she creates brand-appropriate user experiences to help retailers, universities, and other organizations engage their target audiences and project key messages with consistency and clarity. Over the past two decades, she's partnered with clients like the American Montessori Society, Sallie Mae, Lindt & Sprüngli, Harvard University, Timberland, the state of Nevada, and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority to address messaging in both traditional and social media. A participant in the inaugural Content Strategy Consortium and featured speaker at SXSW, Margot keynotes events and teaches workshops around the world, live and virtually.

Margot Bloomstein After showing up in the content strategy world and generously sharing her expertise for more than 20 years, Margot Bloomstein has earned the trust of this community. Margot's new book, Trustworthy, shows you how to earn the trust of your customers and users. As reliance on experts fades and is replaced with crowd-sourced trust, the work of content strategists must evolve to account for these new dynamics. We talked about: the cynical era we live in and its implications for business our turn from trusted sources to distributed, democratized sources of expertise the corrosive effects of "marinating in a culture of gaslighting" how to help people learn to trust themselves again and to once again value good sources of information the three hallmarks of her approach to developing trustworthiness: voice - engaging users with content that sounds and feels familiar volume - understanding how much content is enough vulnerability - how to own up to stumbles and big mistakes and how to communicate in ways that build rapport examples of how "all businesses, regardless of their size or industry or budget, have the opportunity to engage in the work of rebuilding trust and gaining consumer confidence" the importance of undergirding trust-building work with a message architecture the shift over the past 20+ years in the understanding for the role of content on the web, from an experience that content creators thought they could control to the modern understanding that users bring a lot to content interactions her observation that content strategists are more empowered than we might think how content strategists can apply her insights to cultivate more trust in our work Margot's bio Margot Bloomstein is one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap and Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust. Connect with Margot online Appropriate, Inc. Twitter Video Here's the video version of our conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBEzV4wmP6g Podcast intro transcript This is the Content Strategy Insights podcast, episode number 103. Nowadays, trust is hard to come by. With authoritative figures like Walter Cronkhite fading into ancient history, experts are dismissed, and people are reluctant to accept information from unknown sources. These dynamics create a number of challenges for content strategists. Margot Bloomstein's new book, Trustworthy, shows how to create strategies that meet users on this challenging new terrain, how to get their attention, and how to earn their trust. Interview transcript Larry: Hey everyone, welcome to episode number 103 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I'm really delighted today to have with us Margot Bloomstein. Margot is the principal at Appropriate Inc, a consulting agency, but you probably know her, if you've ever been to any content strategy conference or your content design, any design conference, you've probably seen her on the slate. She teaches workshops all the time, you might've seen her in one of those. But anyhow, welcome Margot, tell the folks a little bit more about what you're up to these days. Margot: Thanks so much, I am thrilled to be here, thrilled to be talking with you,

Margot Bloomstein After showing up in the content strategy world and generously sharing her expertise for more than 20 years, Margot Bloomstein has earned the trust of this community. Margot's new book, Trustworthy, shows you how to earn the trust of your customers and users. As reliance on experts fades and is replaced with crowd-sourced trust, the work of content strategists must evolve to account for these new dynamics. We talked about: the cynical era we live in and its implications for business our turn from trusted sources to distributed, democratized sources of expertise the corrosive effects of "marinating in a culture of gaslighting" how to help people learn to trust themselves again and to once again value good sources of information the three hallmarks of her approach to developing trustworthiness: voice - engaging users with content that sounds and feels familiar volume - understanding how much content is enough vulnerability - how to own up to stumbles and big mistakes and how to communicate in ways that build rapport examples of how "all businesses, regardless of their size or industry or budget, have the opportunity to engage in the work of rebuilding trust and gaining consumer confidence" the importance of undergirding trust-building work with a message architecture the shift over the past 20+ years in the understanding for the role of content on the web, from an experience that content creators thought they could control to the modern understanding that users bring a lot to content interactions her observation that content strategists are more empowered than we might think how content strategists can apply her insights to cultivate more trust in our work Margot's bio Margot Bloomstein is one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap and Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust. Connect with Margot online Appropriate, Inc. Twitter Video Here's the video version of our conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBEzV4wmP6g Podcast intro transcript This is the Content Strategy Insights podcast, episode number 103. Nowadays, trust is hard to come by. With authoritative figures like Walter Cronkite fading into ancient history, experts are dismissed, and people are reluctant to accept information from unknown sources. These dynamics create a number of challenges for content strategists. Margot Bloomstein's new book, Trustworthy, shows how to create strategies that meet users on this challenging new terrain, how to get their attention, and how to earn their trust. Interview transcript Larry: Hey everyone, welcome to episode number 103 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I'm really delighted today to have with us Margot Bloomstein. Margot is the principal at Appropriate Inc, a consulting agency, but you probably know her, if you've ever been to any content strategy conference or your content design, any design conference, you've probably seen her on the slate. She teaches workshops all the time, you might've seen her in one of those. But anyhow, welcome Margot, tell the folks a little bit more about what you're up to these days. Margot: Thanks so much, I am thrilled to be here, thrilled to be talking with you,

After showing up in the content strategy world and generously sharing her expertise for more than 20 years, Margot Bloomstein has earned the trust of this community. Margot's new book, Trustworthy, shows you how to earn the trust of your customers and users. As reliance on experts fades and is replaced with crowd-sourced trust, the work of content strategists has to evolve to account for these new dynamics. https://ellessmedia.com/csi/margot-bloomstein/

Margot Bloomstein author of "Trustworthy" by The Best Business Minds

Welcome to episode #785 of Six Pixels of Separation. Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation - Episode #785 - Host: Mitch Joel. Margot Bloomstein spends her time in the content strategy industry. She's the author of Content Strategy at Work and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. For more than twenty years, she has led workshops, keynoted conferences, and advised marketing teams around the world. She developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy and created BrandSort, a tool embraced by consultancies to help their clients clarify their communication goals. More recently, she published the excellent (and timely) book, Trustworthy - How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. In an actionable framework focused on voice, volume, and vulnerability, her new book is about how to employ concrete tactics to help your business regain trust, respect, and customer loyalty. More importantly, how can you lead your organization and audience from cynicism toward something far more productive: hope. Enjoy the conversation... Running time: 53:27. 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. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on Twitter. Here is my conversation with Margot Bloomstein. Trustworthy - How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. Content Strategy at Work. BrandSort. Appropriate, Inc.. Follow Margot on LinkedIn. Follow Margot on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'.    

Margot Bloomstein is a brand and content strategy consultant. And author of an interesting book titled, "Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap." Now hearing that title you might think that this episode is about branding and marketing. As I read Margot's book it struck me that the same techniques that brands use to connect and build trust with their buyers applies to B2B sellers as well. And building your own personal brand as a trusted advisor. We dive into the 3 main elements of trustworthiness that Margot describes: (1) Voice; (2) Volume; and (3) Vulnerability. And what each of those mean for individual sellers and how they connect and interact with buyers. Sponsored by: ringDNA | Transform your sales team into a high-performing revenue engine | www.ringDNA.com/andy Blueboard | A rewarding alternative to President's Club | https://podcast.blueboard.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of my conversation with content strategist and author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, Margot Bloomstein, Margot talks about accuracy vs precision, clear language, getting buy-in, design literacy and much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/savingux/message

In this first part of my conversation with content strategist and author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, Margot Bloomstein, Margot talks about balancing user needs and brand needs, helping orgs evolve by finding what is culturally appropriate, saying no and pushing back, and much more. Tune into the next episode for the rest of the conversation. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/savingux/message

With competition getting tougher by the day, how can you make your brand stand out in the market? John Livesay has the perfect guest who can tell you which brands are doing it right and which ones are doing it wrong. He sits down with the creator of BrandSort, Margot Bloomstein. Bringing her book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, she highlights the importance of regaining the trust of cynical consumers through empathy and authenticity. While having the ability to understand and share the feelings of your customers is key, understanding yourself should come first. Margot then dives into the importance of knowing who you are as a company and brand so you can be in a better position to engage with audiences.Wanna Host Your Own Podcast?Click here to see how my friends at Brandcasting You can helpGet your FREE Sneak Peek of John's new book Better Selling Through Storytellinghttp://sellingsecretsforfunding.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=655c123123cd21ff7a24d914e&id=6f12bc74af John Livesay, The Pitch WhispererShare The ShowDid you enjoy the show? I'd love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!Click this linkClick on the ‘Subscribe' button below the artworkGo to the ‘Ratings and Reviews' sectionClick on ‘Write a Review'Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join The Successful Pitch community today:JohnLivesay.comJohn Livesay FacebookJohn Livesay TwitterJohn Livesay LinkedInJohn Livesay YouTube

With competition getting tougher by the day, how can you make your brand stand out in the market? John Livesay has the perfect guest who can tell you which brands are doing it right and which ones are doing it wrong. He sits down with the creator of BrandSort, Margot Bloomstein. Bringing her book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, she highlights the importance of regaining the trust of cynical consumers through empathy and authenticity. While having the ability to understand and share the feelings of your customers is key, understanding yourself should come first. Margot then dives into the importance of knowing who you are as a company and brand so you can be in a better position to engage with audiences. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here's How » Join The Successful Pitch community today: JohnLivesay.com John Livesay Facebook John Livesay Twitter John Livesay LinkedIn John Livesay YouTube

There's a trust gap between consumers and brands that has been growing for decades. For some, social media has helped close the gap, but only for those who truly understand the dynamics of social media. For others, the spray-and-pray, blast messages just push consumers farther away. Margot Bloomstein is a well-known content marketing strategist who has written a new book about closing that gap. It's called Trustworthy. She joined us on Digging Deeper to help brands understand the gap, how to close it and how to ultimately earn trust from your audiences. This episode of Digging Deeper is sponsored by Julius, the end-to-end influencer marketing solution. If you've read Jason Falls' book Winfluence - Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand, you know he and Cornett have depended on Julius for influencer discovery and campaign management for some time. When we look for the right influencer for client projects, Julius allows us to search across Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs and more. When we click into an influencer's profile, we see their audience demographics, what other networks they have reach through and quickly scan their recent posts to decide if they're a right influencer for the client in question. All the pieces of campaign management are there, too. Julius allows you to reach out, document contracts, share and approve influencer content and, of course, measure the ROI of each campaign, influencer or post. You owe it to your brand or agency to do a demo of Julius today. Go to jason.online/julius and request one. If you like this episode, please share it with a friend or colleague. Don't miss the video show each week by subscribing to our YouTube channel or our audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify. And we could use some reviews on each platform, so do give us a quick rating or review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trust me, you're going to love tonight's Joseph Jaffe is not Famous, because I have Trustworthy's Margot Bloomstein on the show. And if you don't trust me, I hope you'll trust her. Don't be cynical. We won't let you down. Join us LIVE at 9pm EDT, where we'll discuss why it's bad for trust to dumb down information, how to come back from errors, missteps and challenges with humility….and….Minoqua Brewing Company! Plus another performance from a talented creator, Prince Ayinde Join us! As I countdown to my open-heart surgery, I'd love to invite you to support myself, my work and the show at rally.io/creator/JAFFE. There are a series of participation and reward levels all connected with and integrated into the show (and yes, there'll be an NFT as well!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Margot Bloomstein, the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy and author of  Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, explores how to build trust with your brand storytelling. Explore Park's free and premium story building tools including his new book, Brand Bewitchery: How to Wield the Story Cycle System™ to Craft Spellbinding Stories for Your Brand: http://bit.ly/StorytellingTools Like what you hear? Park offers online or in-person workshops, consulting and keynotes. Visit businessofstory.com to get in touch.  

This week, "One to Watch, One Hit Wonder or Wonderwall" returns. As my co-host, Jeff Clark, is taking a week off, David McGuire, Creative Director and Co-Owner of Radix Communications, returns to the show to fill Jeff's virtual hot seat, and we discuss A.I. writing content.   If you are into content marketing or strategy, then you will know or maybe should know this week's guest, Margot Bloomstein, internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She’s the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy, and we discuss her new book Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap.We round off the week with a trip to the Rockstar CMO virtual bar, where I find my friend and content marketing guru Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at The Content Advisory, who, over a cocktail, transports us away to discuss one marketing thought for the week. This week, we are allowing ourselves time to go from good to great. Hope you enjoy this episode, and, please visit these links:The people:Ian Truscott on LinkedIn and Twitter David McGuire on LinkedIn, Twitter, and at Radix CommunicationsMargot Bloomstein on LinkedIn, Twitter, and at Appropriate Inc.Robert Rose on Twitter,  LinkedIn and The Content Advisory Mentioned in this weeks episode: The Twitter thread about AI copy that David referred to Sensation Smith on SpotifyRockstar CMO Podcast #53 that featured DavidMargot's book - Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap Robert's This Old Marketing Podcast Rockstar CMO:The Beat Newsletter Rockstar CMO on the web, Twitter, and LinkedInPrevious episodes and all show notes: Rockstar CMO FMRockstar CMO AdvisorsThe wonderful Piano Music is by Johnny Easton shared under a creative commons license.

UX-radio.com is a podcast about Information Architecture, User Experience, and Design. Hosts Lara Fedoroff and Chris Chandler talk with industry experts with the purpose to educate, inspire and share resources. In this episode, we dive in deep to understand how trust is impacted by our design decisions.

Author Margot Bloomstein isn't a typical guest here in the Bunker. She works in content strategy and advising. But two things brought her to Brad's attention: the first was her work with technology, and—more importantly—the second was Margo's focus on trust and inclusion, two slippery ideals in the world of technology. So, stop by for our talk about her latest book Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, and stay for their rumination on life, the universe, and everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Margot is one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of “Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap” and “Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project” and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust.Learn More: https://appropriateinc.com/trustworthyInfluential Influencers with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-margot-bloomstein-principal-of-appropriate-author-of-trustworthy-how-the-smartest-brands-beat-cynicism-bridge-the-trust-gap

Margot is one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of “Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap” and “Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project” and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust.Learn More: https://appropriateinc.com/trustworthyInfluential Influencers with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-margot-bloomstein-principal-of-appropriate-author-of-trustworthy-how-the-smartest-brands-beat-cynicism-bridge-the-trust-gap

We live in times of heightened cynicism, where people don't believe things at first blush anymore. People, in general, tend to resist new information in a protective response to the countless lies without consequences from politicians or the feeling that behind every conversation, someone is hiding, trying to sell them something. As people feel they can't trust any external sources, they only accept the truth that resonates with them; they adopt the facts that match their identities. Joining us today is Margot Bloomstein, Author, Keynote Speaker, and Content Strategist at Appropiate, Inc. She is a Lecturer in Content Strategy at FH Joanneum, and she offers industry-leading training and consulting at Rosenfeld Media. She holds a BFA in Design and Anthropology from Carnegie Mellon University. Margot is considered one of the leading voices in content strategy of the moment. She published two books, Content Strategy at Work and her recently published, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap.Margot kindly shared her journey in the content strategy business, how it was to grow simultaneously with the intaernet emerging industry. She talked about the humbling experience of working in an industry in constant development, where there are lots of things to learn every day. Margot brilliantly explained why cynicism grew that much in our society and why people decide to wall themselves from new information. We also discussed what companies can do to overcome the lack of trust in communication. If you want to learn more about communication, lack of trust, and overcoming the wall of cynicism around the audiences, tune in to Episode 277 of Becoming Your Best. Some Questions I Ask:Tell us about your background, including any turning points in your life that's had a significant impact on you. (2:33)Brands use voice, volume, and vulnerability to bring people closer and then drive brand engagement? How does this happen? (7:58)How do we use voice, volume, and vulnerability to overcome that barrier? (18:05)Is there a way for organizations to measure how effective they are right now with voice, volume, and vulnerability to bring their people closer and drive their brand engagement? (24:11)If you have a low return rate and high satisfaction rates, does that mean you're close to communicating in the right way? (26:45)In This Episode, You Will Learn:A humbling experience in an industry in constant growth (6:35)Companies need to rebuild trust and confidence (10:18)What happens when no new information is accepted (13:43)How can the 3 V's - voice, volume, and vulnerability - help a business to grow trust (18:39)Why vulnerability is considered a strength, not a weakness (29:10)Resources:Appropiate, Inc. WebsiteBook: Margot Bloomstein - Content Strategy at Work: Real-world Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive ProjectBook: Margot Bloomstein - Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust GapConnect with Margot:LinkedInTwitterBecoming Your Best Resources:Becoming Your Best WebsiteBecoming Your Best University WebsiteBecoming Your Best LibraryEmail: support@becomingyourbest.com Book: Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful LeadersBook: Conquer Anxiety: How to Overcome Anxiety and Optimize Your PerformanceFacebook Group – Conquer Anxiety See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In an era of doubt, how do you establish and hold trust, and why does it matter anyway?Join Laura Gassner Otting as she hosts this episode of LGOtv with special guest, Margot Bloomstein - Optimist, Designer, Ventriloquist.Margot Bloomstein is one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. An internationally recognized keynote speaker, she is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap and the industry mainstay Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project. Margot is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a Boston-based brand and content strategy consultancy. For more than 20 years, she has taught workshops, keynoted conferences, and advised marketing teams at organizations like the American Montessori Society, Harvard University, Fidelity, Lovehoney, Sallie Mae, Timberland, and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

Margot Bloomstein wanted to find out how companies can beat cynicism and build trust in this moment. Years of research and a new book later, she has the formula: voice, volume, and—the scariest for all of us—vulnerability.  Margot Bloomstein is a brand and content strategy consultant, speaker, and the author of “Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, just out this spring. As the principal of Appropriate, Inc., she has helped organizations ranging from Harvard to Timberland engage their audiences with transparency, consistency, and clarity. Now, in Trustworthy, Margot opens up about how brands, and consumers, can use vulnerability and transparency as powerful tools to affect change.Being able to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, “What is uniquely me? What makes me distinct,” that's hard. And I think it goes back to that point of vulnerability. We have so much discomfort about confronting not our strengths and flaws, but our humanity—what makes us unique—that the idea then of sharing that with other people, that's scary. But it turns out that is the most rewarding thing for both us and for those other people.—Margot Bloomstein, author of TrustworthyWe talk about:How “voice, volume, and vulnerability” can combat cynicismWhat it means for a company to be vulnerable and why that’s a positive thingHow to handle criticismHow to start writing, speaking, and idea-sharingPlus: in this week’s You’ve Got This, Sara challenges us to confront perfectionism and discover our perfectionist origin story. Who taught you to be a perfectionist? What else were they teaching you? And what's all this perfectionism costing you? If you want to take that challenge on, head over to https://www.activevoicehq.com/podcast.Links:Margot BloomsteinTrustworthy BookWomen Talk DesignInnovation WomenActive Voice

Margot Bloomstein has helped brands like Timberland and Lindt develop their marketing, content and user experience (UX) strategies. She has used her experience and research on brands across industries to tackle a known industry problem: winning and keeping customer trust. The result is the new book called: Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. During this episode of Retail Remix, Margot shares why she felt a book like this was needed, and real-life examples of brands that have successfully tackled audience cynicism and built powerful content engines.

I spoke with the author of Trustworthy, How The Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, Margot Bloomstein about how some brands design their communication and UX around building and maintaining trust, so their customers don't feel icky. In the book, she uses a collection of great examples to make her points, and goes pretty deep on the work they did to identify the point of trust and keep improving on that front. Links: https://appropriateinc.com/trustworthy/ Here is a transcript of the episode: http://adampierno.com/you-can-trust-margot-bloomstein/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

What happens when a promise made by a company is broken? Complaining on Twitter. No more customer. You can lost trust one customer at a time, or en masse. When companies suffer surges in demand that let customers down (Clorox wipes) or just get caught with their hand in the data cookie jar (Facebook), customers begin to ponder the brand. When the promise is kept, there are no questions. Keep buying. Keep logging in. The core of a brand as a promise. It's the promise your company makes–and keeps–to its best audience. There's no brand without that promise that your company is going to perform the task or provide the product in your own special way - that the customer wants and cares about.Clorox Wipes have been out of stock for about a year. I don't grudge the company one bit, but my loyalties (if they ever existed) have evaporated. I no longer trust that I'll be able to find them, so I no longer look for them. Facebook has betrayed our collective trust so many times, I cannot believe I had to sign up for an account (friend me!) after three years away, knowing that they will exploit every 1 and 0 they gather about my digital behavior. Clorox has been replaced. I accept the reasons why their promise was broken. Facebook has lost all trust. I do not accept much of what they've done. I do not like transacting with them. I do not want to do it. The only thing I want less than an Oculus is an Oculus by Facebook. But then, they offer a powerful value proposition. I can connect with my family. I can connect with all the great people on Sweathead. I can advertise to prospects. All in ways I can't do as easily or as well without their service. I overlook their lapses in good behavior and good citizenship, because the benefits for me are more useful. At least I go in with eyes open, I tell myself, as each keystroke is streamed directly to Zuck's data cauldron. If only that were it; that I make this choice despite myself and move on happily with my day. This level of broken trust makes me reflect poorly on my own self-image. I'm a hypocrite for using this platform, the same way one might feel going back to a partner who has cheated on them. Using the service makes me feel bad. About myself. Because it has broken my trust, but I need to use it. Each time I use it, I resent it more, based only on how they've broken my trust up til now, but not factoring for the future failures that I fully expect at this point. Yikes.I spoke with the author of Trustworthy, How The Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, Margot Bloomstein about how some brands design their communication and UX around building and maintaining trust, so their customers don't feel icky. In the book, she uses a collection of great examples to make her points, and goes pretty deep on the work they did to identify the point of trust and keep improving on that front. Links:https://appropriateinc.com/trustworthy/Here is a transcript of the episode: http://adampierno.com/you-can-trust-margot-bloomstein/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

There was a time when businesses thought they needed to stay completely neutral and not ever take a side or have any opinion at all. Times have changed, and consumers now like and trust businesses that they can relate to and have opinions they support. It's really about looking for ways to build trust with potential customers and consumers by building them up and giving them information that is empowering.    Margot Bloomstein is a content strategist, author, and keynote speaker. She's been a content strategist for more than 20 years, and she's consulted with clients from a wide range of industries and backgrounds. Margot is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap and Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project. She's also the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston.    We tackle some of the concepts in her new book and look at unique ways that brands can build trust that just may not fit traditional methods. We also talk when there is a place for novelty and a place for comfort. Margot explains how voice, volume and vulnerability play significant roles in the trust equation. We have a great discussion about how to help your audience and create an environment they can identify with.    And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode.   Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com    Margot Bloomstein thank you so much for being here!   Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself.  Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.   Join 17,000 subscribers looking to do "business with a soul" and sign up to receive my Self-Employed Nutshell Newsletter! Sign up here!   Highlights –   [01:59] Margot is really excited about promoting her new book Trustworthy: How The  Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. She's really excited about the friends and mentors that have been helping to guide the process. [04:58] Sales can fall flat when audiences don't trust their own knowledge. People need courage in their own convictions to do the research and make the correct decisions. [06:21] We need to rebuild our customers' confidence before building their confidence in us. [09:55] Socially responsible businesses do well.  [14:22] The people we want closest to us are the ones that build us up and make us feel smarter in the world, not those who tear us down. The same goes for businesses. [18:31] Tapping into our customers aspirations. People purchase things from a point of optimism. [21:44] Creating trust through voice, volume, and vulnerability. [22:33] You empower the consumer by making your brand distinct. They understand who you are and how you are by your voice. [23:09] Voice is the consistent and familiar way that you engage in with your audience. [23:54] Understand your goal and then you can make choices around the words you choose and your color scheme. [26:42] Having balance between consistency and novelty. This may not be the time for brands to reintroduce themselves or launch a new logo. People may be surrounded with enough novelty currently.  [29:05] How trust and comfort play nice together. [31:37] Precision in language is not as important as being approachable and familiar. Familiar can be more valuable and useful than precise. [34:12] Use language to meet people where they are, but also introduce other terminology and perspectives to bring them where they need to go. [36:44] Volume. There are different levels of detail visually and verbally and it all goes back to whether you are putting a burden on your audience or helping them. [39:59] You know you've said enough when your customers feel good about the information they have and can make decisions based on that. [41:43] Vulnerability. Different points of view can lose or gain more customers. Sales can go up when you speak up. [45:56] The risk of making your values visible helps your audience find you. [49:48] Margot shares what she does everyday and how to elevate your business by helping others and more in the Rapid Round.    Guest Contact –   Appropriate, Inc.  Margot Bloomstein Twitter Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap   Resources –   643: Jason Dorsey - How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Busines‪s‬ America's Test Kitchen Cook's Illustrated MailChimp   Contact Jeffrey – Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!   Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review application and I'll take a look at your website. If I have suggestions for you to improve your brand message (I almost always do), we'll set up a complimentary 30-minute call to discuss. A select number of websites are also chosen for my LINGO Review Video Series. Fill out the application today and let's get your business speaking the right LINGO!   Host Jeffrey Shaw is a Small Business Consultant, Brand Management Consultant, Business Coach for Entrepreneurs, Keynote Speaker, TEDx Speaker and author of LINGO and The Self Employed Life (May 2021). Supporting self-employed business owners with business and personal development strategies they need to create sustainable success.  

Join us today at 12pm EST for Show & Tell Spotlight with author Margot Bloomstein. We'll be discussing her new book Trustworthy, and why investing in trust is worth the effort! http://indyhall.org/spotlight

Happy hump day! You're halfway through the work week, if you observe that kinda thing. Don't forget to rsvp for tomorrow's Show & Tell Spotlight with author Margot Bloomstein. We're discussing her new book Trustworthy tomorrow at 12pm EST. See you there! http://indyhall.org/spotlight

Margot Bloomstein is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy. Over a twenty year career, she has consulted in a wide range of industries. Margot is the author of Content Strategy at Work and of a new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, which is the subject of our conversation today. Show notes Appropriate, Inc. @mbloomstein on Twitter Timberland Publicis Sapient Trustworthy: How The Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge The Trust Gap by Margot Bloomstein Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them by Ethan Zuckerman Gartner Edelman Crutchfield gov.uk Mailchimp Black Lives Matter Banana Republic Indiebound BookShop.org Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. Read the transcript Jorge: Margot, welcome to the show. Margot: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. Jorge: Well, I'm very excited to have you here. For folks who might not know you, would you please tell us about yourself? About Margot Margot: Sure. I was born at a very young age. I've been working in content strategy for about 20 years. My background before that, I have my BFA in design and I still consider myself a designer. I focus on brands-driven content strategy. So that means I work with organizations to help them clarify their communication goals and then figure out how to sort of solve for X. Knowing who they are and knowing who their target audience is and what they're trying to achieve, how do we kind of span that unknown space between what they're trying to accomplish, what their audience needs and then the right content types and tools and affordances that will help them get there. And I guess I still think of myself as a designer in that context because even though I'm solving problems, not through typography and the density of information on the page and color, but more through editorial style and tone and content types and that sort of thing. It's still around problem solving to facilitate communication and manifest those ideas. Jorge: And you practice as a consultant, is that right? Margot: Yes. Yeah. I've been an independent under the umbrella of Appropriate, Inc. since 2010. And before that I was in a couple of different mid-sized agencies that had hired me to develop their content strategy departments. Kind of around like 2003, 2004, up through 2010, as that was becoming something that their clients were requesting more by name or were interested in seeing how it would complement visual design and information architecture, and that three-legged stool of user experience design. And prior to that, I spent a year in house at Timberland. And then really, I think my graduate school was a couple of years at Sapient in kind of the height of the .com boom and bust. Trustworthy Jorge: I've been aware of you and your work in content strategy for a long time. The reason I wanted to speak with you now is that you have a new book out called Trustworthy. And I'm wondering if you could give us a high-level overview of the book, what it's about. Margot: Sure. So, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. I think that subtitle is... It's optimistic and hopeful, because I see that there are problems around us in our communication and in our society and how we interact in our society. And I think there's a real opportunity for brands to approach that problem with a fresh mindset and with new perspectives that we're not able to find from government or large institutions anymore. And this is something that Ethan Zuckerman writes about in Mistrust that recently came out. He looks at how we've lost trust in institutions and what people can do to respond to that. How we can kind of do our own bit of saving, as it were. And I look at how, within this context of the rise of cynicism, as we've lost trust in government, in politicians, in media, if we ever had a lot of trust there to begin with... We've seen how the effects of gaslighting in those realms have affected people. How people have turned away from those large institutions and maybe media outlets that they used to trust. Big organizations that they used to trust. How instead, we've kind of turned to our filter bubbles to people that are quote unquote, just like us, to say, "Well, what should I know? What's everyone else's experience with this? What should I be reading? What should I be eating? Where should I be going out to eat when I can do that again?" And in that context, we've kind of become more aware of our filter bubbles, and certainly how some brands end up gaining those filter bubbles. How ratings and reviews are skewed. And I think as people have become more aware of that reality, they've pulled back even further to kind of go with their own gut instincts to say, "well, if it feels right to me, that's going to be my test of reality and veracity. If it feels right, it must be right." The only problem with that is that over the past few years, as more of us have been affected by gaslighting from politicians, from the media, from news organizations saying, "don't look anywhere else. We're the only source of truth." That affects our gut instincts. We've lost our gut instincts and our ability to evaluate information from multiple sources and to feel good about our information analysis and our understanding of the world. And with that kind of outlook, people are shaky and susceptible to bad information. We've grown, sort of immobilized in our ability to make decisions. And that's why we see how sales cycles take longer and so much marketing falls flat. And that's why I think that even though those problems maybe started in the realm of politics and the media, those issues around indecision and cynicism undermine any kind of organization or industry that engages in marketing. If you're trying to sell something, if you're trying to offer a service, even if you are a government entity that is offering things for the public good, people now approach it with more cynicism and doubt. And that's a problem because our work suffers. Our work falls flat. And I think if this is the mindset of so many consumers, so many citizens, and readers and shoppers and voters. We need to meet them where they are and help them move forward. Help them kind of break out of that. And that's really the message of Trustworthy. So, I look at that problem, analyze the why and the how behind it, and then propose a new framework for designers, copywriters, content strategists, creative directors, marketers in general, to move forward and help their businesses move forward. Because I do believe that business can be a force for good, beyond merely corporate-social responsibility efforts and corporate philanthropy. Those things are certainly important. And those are oftentimes activities and areas of focus that are relegated maybe to an HR department. But I think there are things though that everyone can do that works in design or copywriting or content strategy or marketing. We can make changes to how we do work and the things that we prioritize in our work to help business be a force for good. To move things forward and ultimately better serve our users. Jorge: I'm glad you mentioned this idea of business as a source for good. Because it is a question that I had in thinking about two of the words in the subtitle of the book, "brands" and "cynicism," in that I see a lot of... this loss of trust extends to companies, right? And it extends to entire capitalist framework. In some cases, I see a lot of people ranting against that online. And yet the book does come across as being very much an optimistic take on trying to overcome that kind of cynicism through what — if I might characterize it, you talked about the framework — it came across to me as a framework for communicating more trustworthy-ily? I don't know if that's a word. Margot: Hmm. With a greater degree of trust? Measuring trust Jorge: Yes! With a greater degree of trust, that's a better way of putting it. I'm wondering, is there a way to measure degrees of trust? I mean, there's so much about this that is quantified. By "this," I mean, communications through digital media. Are there ways for organizations to know the degree to which they are trusted by the public? Margot: Yes. And I mean, we definitely see different surveys, kind of public opinion research. Gartner publishes on this. Edelman publishes on this. Edelman publishes their annual trust survey and most trusted brands. But I think that businesses can look for other markers - other indicators of trust - as well. And this issue, it kind of parallels the discussion that has... I don't want to say plagued content strategy as a practice for so long, but very often we wonder, and we hear clients wonder too, right? "If I make these changes, how do we measure if our content strategy is working? What are our metrics of success?" and I think that that's a valid question, but I think that we don't always ask it appropriately. I think we need to ask that question with a bigger, a wider-angle lens, I think, looking at the context. Because you cannot measure the success of content strategy by looking at a single element of content and saying, did it work? Did it not work? However, we can measure the results the same way that we can measure the effect and impact of trust by looking at other metrics from around the organization. So, for example, one of the brands that I profiled in Trustworthy is Crutchfield, the electronics company. They publish a tremendous amount of content in a wonderful, rich level of detail using a lot of different content types. They've got a lot of really long, long pages on their site and what they've discovered in looking at user research, in testing, and even just looking at onsite analytics: when people get to the end of those really long pages, they click to keep going. They want to read more and that's because their audience gains greater confidence in their ability to make decisions around maybe it's a really high-ticket purchase, a new home audio system or something for their car, or even maybe just a high-end camera lens. Their audience gains confidence in their own knowledge and in their ability to make good decisions by taking in more content. They spend a lot of time with it. And then they know that that audience is feeling more confident about it because when those people then are able to move forward with the purchase to put an item in the shopping cart, go ahead and check out, and then eventually get that purchase on their doorstep? They don't see a high rate of returns. There's not a lot of buyer's remorse there. So, I think when we look at asking, "are these brands trusted?", we're not asking the question in a way that is sufficiently broad enough because we should also be asking, "do our users, do our audiences act in a way that indicates that they trust themselves? That they're confident in their own knowledge?" And that's a lot of what I get at in Trustworthy. So much about brands earning trust and gaining the confidence of their audiences really is about how we enable those people to feel more confident in themselves; how we enable them to feel like they can make good decisions and then feel good about the decisions that they make. And we can measure that in the rate of product returns, time spent onsite. If they're going back and forth a lot between putting something in a shopping cart, as well as then in doing research in focus groups and talking with our users. One of the other examples that I include is gov.uk, when they went through a big effort to kind of reign in their content. So, in contrast to the example from Crutchfield, they realized that they published so much content. I think, information about government services in Britain was available across some nine different websites, 75,000 pages. And you could bet they weren't all consistent in message. Like it was a maintenance nightmare! It wasn't good for internal users, and internal content creators and designers, and it certainly was not good for British citizens. And they realized in going through a process of scaling back their content, adopting this mantra that government should only publish content on the topics on which only government can publish content. They pulled back. They said we don't need 75,000 pages of content. They went through a big audit process and reigned it back to about 3000 pages, then brought people in and asked them to accomplish certain tasks on the site. And again, and again, they were hearing from people, "oh, Oh, is that it? I guess I'm done! Great!" that kind of response, because they were giving them cues that said, "you can feel confident that this is all the information you need to access a certain type of tax paperwork," or to file for certain benefits. By giving them those cues that said, what you have received is everything that we have to say, and you can rest assured that you don't need to keep poking around the rest of the greater internet to find more information? That's what their audience needed to feel confident in their own knowledge. Jorge: I loved the gov.uk example in the book. It was used to illustrate, as you mentioned, the volume of content in the site. I also loved the discussion of the tone of voice that gov.uk adopted and how they made changes to – I'm going to paraphrase here – but to translate kind of ‘government speak' into language that was more understandable to a broader portion of the population. The question in my mind about both of these examples, Crutchfield and gov.uk — and by the way, the book is filled with examples from a wide range of organizations, which is really great because it really does a good job of illustrating these principles at work Margot: and something for everyone! Jorge: There's something for everyone, yeah! One thing that stood out to me is that many of these organizations have been around for a while. Like of course the government of the UK had a relationship with the public that preceded their website. And Crutchfield has also been around for a while. I remember one of the examples in the book is MailChimp, which is more of a startup, I think, but still it's been around. It's not a new startup. Margot: Right. Yeah, they've been around a long time. When they first started out, they were a small business, serving other small businesses with email marketing needs and now they support something like 60% of the world's email marketing messages go through MailChimp. No more small business there. Building trust Jorge: Right. I use them myself for my newsletter. The reason I'm bringing up the longevity of a lot of these organizations is that trust strikes me as one of those things that takes a while to build. It's not something that you can develop overnight. Is that fair? Margot: Ooh, that's a good question. I think more often, what we talk about is that trust can be destroyed overnight, and it takes a long time to regain. That's not to say though that even startups can't start from a position of trust because nothing exists in kind of a void. And if you're a startup, or if you're supporting and working for a startup that's in an established industry, there's that halo effect of the industry. And that may be good or bad. I think if you're a startup in an industry where there's a history of trust problems, where people do approach more transactions and more relationships with cynicism than excitement or connection or engagement or faith, then there's a real opportunity there. Is yours the startup that says, "we're doing everything differently, so expect better from us"? Because that's a bold statement. And then I think if you can back it up with tools and interactions and messaging that enables people to feel more confident in you and feel more confident in their own interactions with you? I think there's no reason to believe that you can't build trust fairly quickly there. At the same time, I think if you're a startup in an industry where there already is a strong sense of trust and accountability and empowered audiences that expect to retain that kind of strength. I think you can build on that as well. So, I think both ways there are opportunities for kind of new players to come into a space and make it their own and make things better for their audiences as well as their employees and everyone that is helping to kind of support the brand. Jorge: The distinction between building trust and regaining trust, I think is an important one. And I agree with you; that expression also came to my mind, that it takes a while to build trust and you can destroy trust in a moment. I'm wondering about the ability for organizations to put in place trust-building initiatives when incentives tend to be short term. So, a lot of organizations are measured quarterly, right? And they want indicators to make sure they're making progress against their goals. I'm very interested in initiatives that are more long-lived, and this strikes me as one area where building an authentic relationship with your audience should be a long-term aspiration and I'm wondering if there's a tension there between the fact that building and maintaining trust is this long-term goal, and the drive that so many organizations have for frequent updates or results. Margot: Yeah, I think you're right. It's a long-term goal, but I think it comprises a lot of short-term steps Short-term steps that are the responsibility of everyone in the organization. Like we always say in design that God is in the details. And I think it's in those details that organizations build an example of consistency and sustainable trust. So, for example, I think that now looking at short-term goals in many organizations, they might be thinking about like, "well, what's the next big campaign?" Or with all the kind of upheaval in our society, around the pandemic and a variety of different social issues, we need to jump into that conversation too. What's our position? You used the term " authenticity." And I think that that's a term that we throw around a lot; that's a term that marketers love to throw around. Who wouldn't want to be authentic? And I always wonder, authentic to what? Do you know who you are? Know thyself first, and then you can determine, "well, how do we align our actions with our values?" Because that's how we measure authenticity: it's the distance between our actions and our words, all of that external stuff and our values. And I think for many organizations, they can jump into kind of the national conversation, into the international conversation, around many of those social issues and say, "here's what we're doing. Here's why we support this. Here's what we're doing internally. And here's what we're doing externally to make this better for everyone." To put a stake in the ground. And they can do it building on that long-term, authentic investment in their values. If they've built those values over time, if they've invested in like... maybe their big cause is around diversity and inclusion, maybe in the context of Black Lives Matter, and they say, "yes, we believe this too." Okay, well, what are they doing and what have they been doing historically, to make sure that they're recruiting candidates that represent diverse viewpoints? That they are promoting from within and ensuring that they're bringing about a dialogue that benefits from diverse representation. What are they already doing there? I think that there's an opportunity though for organizations that jump into that fray that want to be a part of that conversation and then realize, wait a second. We don't walk this walk internally yet ourselves. There's still an opportunity for them to build trust by leaning into, like you mentioned, volume, before. One of the other parts of the framework is vulnerability. By having that vulnerable, open and transparent conversation with their audience that says, we believe this is important, but we realized we don't do that so well here ourselves. Doctor, heal thyself. So, here's what we're going to do to take steps to act on those goals. And I think it's by sort of prototyping in public. Making their values known so they can act as a beacon for others and then saying, "here's what we're going to do so that we improve in this regard as well. And here's how you can hold us accountable." That kind of transparency builds trust too. And that can be something that is a long-term growth opportunity over time. Where they are bringing people into their evolution, bringing people into that discussion, so that their audience is not just consumers, but also champions of their work. So, they feel like, yeah, they've seen the growth and they want to continue to support that kind of growth. And I think that works both long-term as well as short-term figuring out what those initiatives are and how they are making good on them over the next quarter. Leadership Jorge: I would imagine that core to that is having a clear set of organizational values where we know what we stand for. And my expectation would be that that needs to come from the top. Is that fair? Margot: Yeah, I think the goals come from the top. The execution comes from the bottom and we meet in the middle and hope that the railroad meets up and aligns. Jorge: Well, I'm thinking specifically of one of the examples in the book, the pre-Gap era Banana Republic. I thought that that was a particularly apt illustration of this idea where it seemed like they were very clear on who they were and their communications and the way that they, for example, structured their physical stores, their physical environments, were all manifestations of a pretty clear understanding from the founders of what was right for Banana Republic and what wasn't right. Margot: Right! Yeah. Mel and Patricia Ziegler, an illustrator and a journalist. They envisioned this place that felt like a Safari outfitter. That brought the idea of adventure home. And they scorned the idea of thinking of themselves as tourists. They didn't want to just dip into other cultures and then bring back the evidence of their travels. They wanted to, in some ways, bring the world a little bit closer for their target audience. And the passages that you're referring to there, talking about what they did with the store design to bring this kind of color to their audience and in their descriptions of the products, in how they were sourcing and creating some of the clothing and attire and whatnot, they sold... even their investments eventually in creating a travel desk to help people prepare for whatever sort of journeys they wanted to take through the world. That was all in alignment around this very consistent, cohesive brand. And then eventually when they were acquired by Gap Inc., they saw a lot of financial benefits to it around production and distribution and sales, but ultimately it scuttled that original idea of the store. The original idea of Banana Republic. That, yes, now we look back with some mix of... of maybe admiration as well as cringing? Because there are certainly aspects of their story that don't play today. That are an increasingly white Western worldview. That certainly wasn't their goal at the time. But as we talk about in vulnerability and evolution, you live and learn and then do better. However, what they did, after they were acquired by the Gap, wasn't necessarily better. It was in many ways more expected, homogenous, and milquetoast. They lost what made the brand distinct. Getting to your point around the values, I think organizations need to know what they stand for so that they can put that stake in the ground and manifest their values visually and verbally. In the first section on voice, we talk about that a lot. Like first, knowing who you are and a lot of the work that I've done with organizations over - certainly over the past 20 years in content strategy - nearly all of my engagements with clients start out with first figuring out their communication goals. Helping them wrap their arms around a message architecture or a hierarchy of communication goals. So, they know, "is it more important for us to project this idea of adventure and inspiration and innovation? Or do we really want to be more the brand that projects a sense of reliability and tradition and maybe responsiveness or warmth, and what's most important in that equation?" it's only after we figure out those things after we've established that message architecture that then we can move forward with that idea of brand driven content strategy and brand driven design. To know that if it's most important for us to project maybe a sense of innovation or of being really, really reliable, let's say. Okay. That's why we embrace longer sentence structures. Maybe more paragraphs in our copy rather than just bulleted lists. Maybe more, more Latinate rather than Germanic verbs. And also, that's why we adopted a typeface as our standard typeface with Serifs and that has this sort of bold kind of feeling to it. All of those kinds of decisions, those tactics, manifest the communication goals and manifest their values. Closing Jorge: So, that was very well put. And as you mentioned earlier in our conversation, it's something that strikes me as being much needed in this world where folks are losing a sense of trust in institutions, politicians, companies. And this idea that in being in touch with your organizational values and then finding ways to authentically convey those values to the world can help regain trust and build better relationships between organizations and their customers. At least that's what I got from the book. I think it's a valuable contribution to this conversation and to the field, and I encourage folks to read it. It should be out by the time that you listen to this, or if you listen very quickly, it might be on pre-order. But folks can get it in Amazon and all the usual places, right? Margot: Yes! Yeah. Support your favorite small local bookstore as well! You can always order through them through IndieBound or bookshop.org and, yeah! Or go to your favorite big, giant bookseller as well. Jorge: Well, fantastic. It's interesting, that clarification there, because it speaks to these issues of trust, right? We have a different relationship with the local bookseller than we do with a larger, more impersonal organization. Margot: Right. And oftentimes because at your local bookstore, you might know some of the booksellers there, or you might know them through their recommendations. And I think it's that... that kind of personal connection that it effectively curates your reading experience. To bring different ideas and titles in front of you to say, "Oh, if you're looking at that right now, you may want to also consider this!" Better than any sidebar recommendations or algorithm can necessarily offer. And I love that right now there's been such a rise in ways to connect with independent bookstores and independent booksellers. Certainly through the tour that I'm doing around Trustworthy, I'm trying to work with a lot of them in cities where I know I've spoken over the past 10 years and where there is a big design and content strategy community. To have them come out - even if it is over Zoom - to come out to an event where we're looking at the book in conversation and talking about the themes in it and how they relate in that city to small businesses and big businesses and everyone in between. Jorge: Well folks, you heard it here. Get Trustworthy at your local bookshop and join Margot on her tour. And where can folks follow up with you to find out about the tour? Margot: You can find me online at appropriateinc.com. If you go to appropriateinc.com/trustworthy, that's where you can sign up for my newsletter. And I always kind of put all the info there first, but yeah! Or find me on Twitter @mbloomstein, hashtag right now is #trustworthybook. And you'll see a lot of chatter on that as well. Jorge: Fantastic. I will include those in the show notes. Thank you so much, Margot, for being with us. Margot: Thank you. This was so much fun.

https://www.alainguillot.com/margot-bloomstein/ Margot Bloomstein is one of the leading voices in the content strategy industry and author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. Check out Margot's website: https://appropriateinc.com/

Margot Bloomstein is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap (2021) and Content Strategy at Work (2012). She is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston, through which she creates brand-appropriate user experiences to help retailers, universities, and other organizations engage their target audiences and project key messages with consistency and clarity. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbloomstein/

Margot Bloomstein is one of the leading voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of "Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap" and "Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project" and the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy based in Boston. As a speaker and strategic adviser, she has worked with marketing teams in a range of organizations over the past two decades. The creator of BrandSort, she developed the popular message architecture-driven approach to content strategy. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, and lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust. You can pre-order Margot's book at https://www.amazon.com.au/Trustworthy-Smartest-Brands-Cynicism-Bridge-ebook/dp/B08R12TLYX/

Do you trust brands? What created that trust and how is it maintained? We look at designing for trust together with content strategist Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy. How does brand personality impact the user experience and how it influences our design decisions and content strategies. Our discussion starts off by looking at our trust... The post #255 Trustworthy with Margot Bloomstein appeared first on UX Podcast.

Whether B2B or B2C, all brands need to focus on building customer trust. This is especially true as more people grow cynical of media, political figures and businesses. Margot Bloomstein has helped organizations like Canon, Harvard University, Fidelity and Sallie Mae develop their brand messaging and content strategies. She has taken these experiences, and her study of the evolving media and business climate, to author a new book: Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. During this episode of the B2BMX Podcast, hosts Klaudia Tirico and Alicia Esposito dig into Margot’s work and takeaways from the book.

In this episode, I talk with content strategist, speaker, and author Margot Bloomstein about her upcoming book Trustworthy and how brands and even governments can build trust in a cynical time by leaning into their values and showing vulnerability at scale.

Margot Bloomstein and Noz Urbina explore how building audience relationships based on trust starts from inside the organisation, and how digital transformation doesn't always mean disruption. More on https://OmnichannelX.digital Twitter:@OmniXconf Margot:@mbloomstein

Margot Bloomstein sat at the “founders’ table” when content strategy was not only named, but also planted and nurtured to become an industry of its own. Margot gives us a peek at the earliest days of content strategy, then quickly shifts to top-of-mind topics that will take us deep into some hot issues few content strategists dare to travel. Everything from trust, cynicism, and what has her fired up to write another book. Here’s what you’ll learn:  1:58 – The Margot Bloomstein Story  6:28 – A Seat at the Content Strategy Founders’ Table  9:07 – What Came Out of the 2009 Content Consortium?  11:37 – The Power of Open Sharing  12:31 – Defining Intelligent Content  14:30 – “We Have Intelligence But Do We have Creativity?”  15:00 – Hating On Our CMS  16:23 – Is There a Simple Answer to Content ROI?  19:44 – Deep, Slow-Simmering Thoughts of Margot Bloomstein  22:55 – Cynicism Undermining Trust in Brands  24:06 – It’s All a Matter of TRUST  28:42 – “Putting a Period Where There Should Be a Comma”  30:35 – Another Book In the Works?  32:34 – Taking Content’s Volume Game to Task  36:00 – Is There a Hopeful Outcome for Content Strategy?  37:45 – Answer: “Fried Oysters and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough”   Notes: Website: Appropriate Inc. Twitter:  @mbloomstein

Talking content, trust and branding with Margot Bloomstein! Including, thoughts on the content production process, the important of multimedia in content production, how to build trust, what role content plays in trust, and much more.

Subscribe to the podcast using: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud   This episode features an interview with Margot Bloomstein of Appropriate. Brought to you by our sponsor: Fluxible 2018 00:00 Intro Theme 00:11 Introductions/Interview with Margot Bloomstein of Appropriate. Links / topics mentioned: Carnegie Mellon Sapient Timberland Content Strategy Forum 2014 Building a Brand-Driven Message Architecture […]

Speaker: Margot BloomsteinOnline experiences can be fast, efficient, easy, orderly—and sometimes, that’s all wrong! Users click confirm too soon, miss important details, or don’t find content that aids conversion. In short, efficient isn’t always effective. Not all experiences need to be fast to be functional. In fact, some of the most memorable and profitable web engagements employ “slow content strategy,” content speed bumps, and surprising content types that aid interaction. We’ll examine examples of content strategy in action that demonstrates how to identify and control the pace of user experience, adding value for both our users and the businesses that engage them.

Margot Bloomstein joins Christopher and Sam to talk about content strategy for your brand, website, or new corporate marketing white papers.

Margot Bloomstein joins Christopher and Sam to talk about content strategy for your brand, website, or new corporate marketing white papers.

Margot Bloomstein joins Christopher and Sam to talk about content strategy for your brand, website, or new corporate marketing white papers.

Chicago Camps interviews Margot Bloomstein, Principal at Appropriate, Inc. and author of Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Engagement. Margot is also a Speaker Mentor at Speaker Camp Boston on October 11th, 2014.

In some scenarios, getting a user to convert or react to a call to action is the desired outcome. It means your design and experience work. But if users are coming to and then quickly leaving your site, what are they really experiencing? If they don’t take the time to explore and discover they may not have any loyalty to you or the experience. And if you’re dealing in complex decisions, you want your users to take the time they need to fully understand and commit to their choice.

Content isn't just an output: It's a tool for solving problems

Here at UIE we’ve amassed quite a library, and we’re adding to it all the time. One of the more recent additions is Margot Bloomstein’s book Content Strategy at Work. The subtitle of Margot’s book is “Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project” and in keeping with that idea, it is chock full of case studies and practical examples. Adam Churchill catches up with Margot to discuss her book in this podcast.

Here at UIE we’ve amassed quite a library, and we’re adding to it all the time. One of the more recent additions is Margot Bloomstein’s book Content Strategy at Work. The subtitle of Margot’s book is “Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project” and in keeping with that idea, it is chock full of case studies and practical examples. Adam Churchill catches up with Margot to discuss her book in this podcast.

In Episode No. 78 of The Big Web Show ("everything web that matters"), Jeffrey Zeldman interviews Margot Bloomstein, author of Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Engagement (Morgan Kaufmann, 2012), about her professional transition from design to content strategy; the vagaries of the consulting life; how mentoring and non-traditional academic backgrounds can fit into a web career; how to write a content strategy book for people who are not content strategists; and the beauties of Pittsburgh.

In Episode No. 78 of The Big Web Show ("everything web that matters"), Jeffrey Zeldman interviews Margot Bloomstein, author of Content Strategy at Work: Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Engagement (Morgan Kaufmann, 2012), about her professional transition from design to content strategy; the vagaries of the consulting life; how mentoring and non-traditional academic backgrounds can fit into a web career; how to write a content strategy book for people who are not content strategists; and the beauties of Pittsburgh. Links for this episode:http://appropriateinc.comhttp://appropriateinc.com/book/https://twitter.com/mbloomsteinThis episode is sponsored by Shutterstock.com, where you'll find over twenty million stock photos, vectors, illustrations, and video clips. Get 30% off any package using discount code bigwebshow11.

E pluribus unum? Better yet, out of one, create many—many channels within a multifaceted but unified experience. That’s the challenge of experience design among constrained budgets, tight timelines, and unlimited interaction expectations. Content strategy’s communication foundation, the message architecture, can help you answer that challenge.

With the amount of content coming at you from all sides, it can be difficult to make sense of it all and present it in a logical fashion. Curation allows you to create order out of all the chaos. Borrowed from the world of museums, curating your content allows you to form a narrative, showing your users what they can and should do with your content. Margot showcases lessons she has adopted from museum curators. She shows what content strategists take from these lessons and apply to their practice.