Stuff You Missed, Stuff You Loved: The Best of 2014

This blog, like most, is linear. It’s in chronological order, so things once thought precious get buried and lost at the bottom of the metaphorical sock drawer until you’re rummaging around in there one day and happen upon that thing you had almost forgotten about.

This is my effort to dig up the things buried deep in this blog, with the most-read marketing posts of 2014.

I hope you value one or two of the unearthed posts as a discovery that’s useful—like, say, a Kennedy silver dollar your uncle gave you.

But not, say, a pouch of your firstborn’s baby teeth, which seemed cute and precious at the time. But when you find them years later, they’re actually kind of gross.

First, a side note: I had it in mind that a “best of” this blog would highlight the most popular posts of the year.

But high-stepping through the tall weeds of 2014’s Google Analytics data, I found myself momentarily stayed by one question: Is most-read the same as most-loved? Or more simply: Is popular the same as best? (Seth Godin ponders this here.)

And drilling down more: If something is popular, can it also be good?

Hemingway would say no, categorically.

“If you become popular it is always because of the worst aspects of your work,” he famously said.

But we’re marketers. Not novelists. Data is everything, right?

Yes and no. Though metrics can tell you what resonates with your audience, it’s also worth noting, on this first day of 2015, that performance is a rear-view-mirror metric, expressing what was popular, not necessarily will be popular.

For marketers and content creators, rear-view-mirror metrics are only part of the story. The other part is the sensibility, creativity, inspiration, and artfulness you bring to the work you do.

So with all that in mind, here’s a toast to the year that was:

1. 9 Qualities of Good Writing
Published in late 2013, this piece was the scaffolding for what would become the best-selling Everybody Writes, published almost exactly a year later.

2. The Problem with Banning Bossy
Because not all strong woman leaders are bossy, and not all bossy women (or men!) are leaders.

3. Why I Built a Tiny House
When working from home has a dark side.

4. A Simple Content Marketing Org Chart
I’m allergic to complexity. So when I tried to find a simple org chart to help organizations visualize their own content team, I couldn’t find anything quite simple enough.

5. 14 Stages of Writing a Book (or Finishing Any Big Project)
The mess. The tears. The exultation. It’s all here.

6. 13 Writing Rules
We are all capable of shedding mediocre writing.

Side note: This post inspired one of the more mean bits of email I received in 2014, from “Daniel,” who wrote:

“Very disappointing. I don’t want to be hit with emails selling your stuff.”

Dear Daniel: Thanks for your kind and thoughtful feedback? Bye.

7. How Do You Balance Your Personal and Professional Social Media Presence?
Here’s my approach between @marketingprofs and @annhandley. What’s yours?

8. Introducing Everybody Writes
A first look at the newborn, mewling EW (d’aw!)... and free giveaways for the book launch.

9. Content Marketing in 15 Minutes a Day
What if you have only minutes per day to focus on your marketing?

10. Shelfies: Like Selfies, But for Book Nerds
I couldn’t love more what the New York Public Library does on Instagram. Here’s one example.

10 ½: Joint Effort: Why Ben and Jerry’s Won Social Media Last Week
What you can learn from Ben & Jerry’s hilarious tweet a year ago.