trust Archives - Ann Handley

Should You Ungate Your Content?

An excerpt from Everybody Writes 2: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Ridiculously Good Content. Get a copy; 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… promising. As I stepped just inside the door, a foot-tall robot jumped out of nowhere: “HI WANT TO CHAT? I’M HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY.” I kicked him aside. I browsed the aisles. Something caught my eye. As I reached out to look closer, a salesperson slid directly in front of me. “TONY,” his name tag read. He had a tattoo of an onion on his neck. “Not so fast, sister,” TONY said. “You want to touch it? Look closer? See if it’s right for you? Give me your email address first.” His neck veins bulged. The onion pulsed. Before […]

Jargon: A Marketer’s How-Not-to Guide

My daughter and I were at a college’s Accepted Students Day, which is basically where school administrators wine and dine prospective incoming freshmen in the hopes they’ll choose that institution out of all those a student might’ve been accepted to. The “wine and dine” bit would be metaphorical—because there is no actual wine involved. But we did get a nice chicken sandwich and quinoa salad at lunch. I could’ve done without the red onions in the quinoa, though. I piled them at the edge of my plate. Anyway, at one point we were all gathered in an auditorium to hear about student life. The heads of various departments spoke, including Campus Security, Student Activities, and Housing. They were trying hard to make student life there sound awesome: Community! Traditions! Camaraderie! Emotional support! And the beds are soft! And the food is locally sourced! And the sun shines ALL. YEAR. ‘ROUND! I’m

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