Warren Buffett published his much-celebrated annual Letter to Shareholders yesterday. I noticed it was out while I was on a flight home from LA, just as JetBlue and I were 30,000 feet over Nebraska. Nebraska. Buffett. Me. Coincidence? I. THINK. NOT. (To quote The Incredibles‘ Bernie Kropp.) By the time I landed in Boston, analysts […]
Writing
Why We Need Smaller Stories in Content Marketing
Image source: Gratisography I talk a lot about thinking BIGGER in your marketing: sharing a bigger story to put your company in the larger context of what people care about. But today, I’m focusing not on big… but on small. I’m focusing on the need to tell the smallest story possible. Small stories are specific. […]
Rethinking ASAP: The Magic in Going Slow at Just the Right Moments
As slow As Possible (AsAP) is the counterintuitive way to thrive in a fast-paced world. The key is slowing down at the right moments. Because that’s what will deliver faster, more sustainable results in the end. Sounds weird, right? But it’s true: AsAP Is the Key to Less Stress, More Success, Real Results. But what’s […]
The Oxford Comma and Why We Argue Over Grammar
This post is an expanded version of my biweekly newsletter content, which features a letter from me to you along with ideas worth sharing and a healthy dose of fun. Not on the list? You can subscribe right here. Nothing ignites fire in the gut of righteous grammar geeks more than the serial—aka Oxford—comma. Why […]
What I Learned from Keeping a Journal and Why I’m Relaunching My Newsletter
Recently my friend Ben Opsahl sent me a note. He had subscribed here in early 2017 expecting a regular newsletter, and then noticed that he didn’t hear from me much. He had four emails from me last year, he pointed out. Four? Yep: F–O–U–R. Because that’s how often I wrote here and how often I […]
12 Books That Can Help You Be a Better Writer and Storyteller
My favorite book is always the one I’m reading now. I get vested in the story, in the characters, in the voice of the writer. The last few pages can feel like a kind of death (a sense of foreboding, a final ending), which is why I often sequentially, and (sometimes) obsessively, read the works […]
You Had Me at Pizza: How Omnichannel Marketing Matters
What’s omnichannel mean, exactly? And what does it have to do with the best pizza outside of Naples? And where does lively writing fit into all this? Andris Lagsdin has a small company outside of Boston called Baking Steel that manufacturers and sells ultra-conductive metal baking sheets. Its flagship product is its namesake Baking Steel, […]
Why Snapchat Is Launching a Magazine
A messaging app investing in writing is a little baffling and weird, isn’t it? Today Snapchat launches online magazine Real Life, in which a staff of five writers publish long-form essays and narratives about life with technology. It’s headed by social scientist and researcher Nathan Jurgenson, who says Real Life “won’t be a news site with […]
Bigger, Braver, Bolder Content Marketing: 3 Examples from the Cutting-Room Floor of My Latest Presentation
This week I debuted a new presentation at Content Marketing World about creating bigger stories, braver marketing, and more buff, ripped marketing writing with bolder tone of voice. (I’m giving this same talk at INBOUND15 tomorrow.) If there were a 12-Step Program for PowerPoint Recovery, I’d be going to meetings thrice weekly. I tend to […]