Brave Enough to Suck at Something New
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * “Be brave enough to suck at something new.” The quote is attributed to business book author Jon Acuff, the great Greek god Pinterest, […]
How to Create a Smarter Go To Market Approach in 4 Steps
Let’s talk about how you can create a smarter Go To Market approach… in four steps. Here’s my advice on the questions you need to ask/answer to create a smarter GTM approach: * * * Do your sales and marketing teams ask themselves four fundamental questions before they send a single email or post a […]
Brilliant Creative on a Tiny Budget: 5 Examples from an Unlikely Source
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * Has the pandemic made us more creative? I’ve been wondering this lately… Have the uncertainty and randomness of the past 18 months made us […]
Addressing the Elephant In the Room: 6 Strategies for Writing About the Hard Stuff
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * How do you write about Difficult Topics? How do you message to an audience about the Hard Stuff? At a time everything is wildly […]
How to Get Better at Writing: 10 Ideas to Ignite Your Best Work This Year
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * <Hand over heart; eyes to the heavens.> This year, you resolve to…. 1. WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT AS FAST AS YOU CAN. Get it […]
How to Build a Daily Writing Habit
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * I’m typing this with one hand—let’s call it Lefty, because it’s my left hand. Righty hangs by my side, injured but itching to get […]
How to Turn Editing Into the Best Part of Writing
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Long before I wrote books and your favorite newsletter 😊, I wrote for a financial newspaper about Federal Reserve regs and housing prices. […]
Specific Writing Is More Relatable Writing: Standout Sentences #1
Normally I celebrate standout marketing writing. But this week I’m sharing a line from a novel I’m reading. It’s simple. It’s compact. And it’s perfect: “His skin was not just clammy but the color and consistency of actual clams.” —Ann Patchett, Bel Canto Ann is describing a Bel Canto character—a Russian bureaucrat named Fyodorov. I […]
Public Speaking for Introverts (And Those Who Forget How to Be Around People)
Years ago I hired a public speaking coach to help me improve my on-stage presence. Yikes that sentence is lifeless. Let’s try it again, mmkay? Years ago I hired a public speaking coach to help me keep my heart rate in a normal range instead of flitting close to a cardiac episode every time I […]
6 Signs That It’s Time for You to Write Your Book Already [A Checklist]
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * From time to time I answer reader questions. This is one of those times. <Hoists mailbag onto table. Rummages around. Pulls out reader letter.>* […]
Should You Ungate Your Content in 2021?
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Last week I walked by a storefront. From the outside, I liked the vibe of the place. The products on the shelves looked… […]
Introducing My New Creator Coin: A Pen is Mightier Than a $WORD
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Jeremiah Owyang has been a friend for a long time. I credit him for getting me (as MarketingProfs) onto Twitter in 2007—eleventy-billion year […]
How to Write for Instagram
A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Last week, my girl Kerry Gorgone and I gave a talk at the Social Pulse Summit titled Blending the Personal and Professional on […]