I hate to make mistakes. Even more than that, I hate to be wrong. I’ll sometimes freeze at making a decision because I don’t want to make the wrong one. I bet many of you reading this get stuck the same way (if not, please share how you decide to . . . decide). As…
Tag: writing
Hey, Clients, We Need Your Help to Create the Content People Will Give a Damn About
You can’t just hand us the keys to your marketing efforts and expect success. We need you. Of course, we need to talk about goals, sales hand offs, high-level strategy, and more; but I want to talk today about content. We need access to the industry expertise and customer knowledge you and your co-workers have…
The Ghost in the Content Marketing Blog: A Few Tips for Writing Like Someone Else
Caffeine IS required to be a good ghost in the blog, though my preferred delivery vehicle is tea. Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash Real. Honest. Authentic. These are all words content marketing aspires to be. When you’re the ghost in the blog, it’s easy to feel like you’re faking it. I’ve been ghost blogging for five-ish years…
Skill Is Skill, Not an Attitude About Your Perception of Your Skill
Excellence is not a skill, it is an attitude. Ralph Morton Horsehit. [For the record, I quite like Ralph Morton’s website, The Daily Motivator.] Attitude determines altitude. God I hate that one, though it’s also true; to an extent.. Something about “altitude determines attitude” and the Marston quote just rubs me the wrong way,…
3 of the Most Common – and Simple to Avoid – Writing Missteps Spikey Katfish Sees That Prevent Your Marketing from Blasting Off
The most common mistake businesses make is writing like they're a business. While I've noticed a shift to a friendlier writing style in the past decade, partially thanks to social media and I'm sure influenced as well by Millennials entry into the working world in large numbers, there's still waaaaay too much bad business writing…
You Don’t Need to Be an Expert at Writing to Write Great Content
Photo by Rita Morais on Unsplash I stumbled across a blog post by Chris Riley a few weeks ago. The main point of the post: experts shouldn’t be afraid to write what they know about and businesses shouldn’t be afraid to use content written by in-house experts. It’s a good post, check it out: Why Non-Writers Often Produce…
In Defense of Writing Twaddle
Sometimes, you just need to not overthink and just write -- even if it is navel-gazing to an extent.
D Is for Difficult: The Cheeky A-Z Guide for Content Marketing
Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?How much can you lose? How much can you win?Oh, The Places You'll Go!…
C Is for Customer: The Cheeky A-Z Guide for Content Marketing
Are you ready to serve your customers? Photo by Hamish Duncan on Unsplash Obvious, right? No customers, no business. But think about it -- is your business really aligned to focus on and meet the needs of your customers (including your marketing)? Here’s a quick way to tell. Look at your website and ask yourself this question, “Is…
It’s Spring: Time to Deadhead Your Content
Our Japanese maple, post de-twigging. I adore the Japanese Maple behind our house. Each fall it drops every leaf and winters as a crazy straw look alike. As it begins to bud each spring, we deadhead it by flicking off its dead twigs. I’m not much of a gardener, but even I know that breaking…