career advice

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.>* *Kidding. Of course questions come via email. But “clicked email and pasted here” doesn’t land quite the same, does it? “How do you know when the time is right to draft your first book? Did you feel overwhelmed by writing about such a competitive topic?” —Sara Let’s answer the first part of that question with a visualization. (Walk with me…) I You’re wandering through the aisles of a bookstore/clicking around the virtual aisles on Amazon. You eye a certain book tucked on a shelf. A small shock of recognition: The topic. The positioning. You’re staring […]

6 Signs That It’s Time for You to Write Your Book Already [A Checklist] Read More »

Slay the Ignosaurus; Change Your Life

The Ignosaurus (Latin: Ignosaurus Status Quo) is a beast that lurks in the shadow of Marketing. Some say it doesn’t exist. That it died out millions of years ago along with the other dinosaurs. Some say it never existed. But insiders know the dirty secret… that the Ignosaurus is very much *ALiVe* in marketing. It lurks in our industry—holding you or your teams back, bringing everyone down. The only way to slay it…? Take away its seat at the table and invite another creature in its place. This is a lightly edited transcription of my keynote at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum, illustrated by a few of the slides. The full deck is here, too: Slay the Ignosaurus; Change Your Life from Ann Handley * * * San Francisco, November 14, 2018 This morning let’s talk about slaying the Ignosaurus—what it is; why we need to slay it. This is Ignosaurus.

Slay the Ignosaurus; Change Your Life Read More »

The One Thing the Best Career Mentors Do (and an Ode to Mine, Who Did That Very Thing)

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — e.e. cummings In one of my first assignments from the Boston Globe, editor Dick Powers sent me to cover a fire in the Boston suburbs that had destroyed much of a couple’s antique colonial home. It was a straightforward task, from a newspapering point of view. The coverage I later filed should’ve contained a few paragraphs on what happened—with perhaps a quote or two from the authorities and a family member, if they were up to it. Something like: A house fire northwest of Boston displaced an older couple last night…. But that didn’t turn out to be my story at all. When I got to the house that day, I saw the couple’s belongings strewn about on blankets on the lawn, drying in the sun. Among them was a sizable collection of German books that, it

The One Thing the Best Career Mentors Do (and an Ode to Mine, Who Did That Very Thing) Read More »