Tips

Personally, I’ve never liked the term “thought leadership.” It signifies some exalted guru status, and my 20 years of online content marketing suggest something much less exclusive. Anyone can achieve business authority with content, if they truly want to. I’ve done it in several industries, starting as a complete unknown ...

Getting your first paid writing gig is really exciting. It’s an accomplishment and a turning point. You might actually be “allowed” to call yourself a writer now. And there’s no doubt it can be the start of feeling like a real writer. But building a real writing business, rather than ...

There are writers. And then there are professional writers. Over my career as a writer and editor, I’ve noticed one key factor that enables writers to perform their craft professionally. I’ve said it before, so you won’t be surprised to hear: It’s the ability to self-edit. A strong self-editor doesn’t ...

The early days of a new blog, podcast, or video channel are actually a sort of magical time. It’s quiet. No one has shown up yet. You can say or do nearly anything. You have the opportunity to experiment and play without fear. And, let’s face it … we all ...

Many businesses are mediocre because they don’t have the slightest desire to be heroic. They just want to get through the day, collect the money, and carry on without too much hassle. Other businesses fail to thrive due to an overabundance of hero syndrome. “We’re awesome, we beat the competition, ...

You can’t have one without the other … No, I’m not musing about love and marriage. I’m talking about content marketing and writing. The foundation of great content marketing is great writing — and if you want to write, you have to learn how to market your finished product. On ...

Daydreaming is inherently flexible. You don’t need to set aside time for it or plan how to execute it properly. It effortlessly arises and plays out until you shift your focus back to your responsibilities. Last week, I talked about getting more out of your expectations, and today I’m going ...

Here on Copyblogger, you’ve seen us talk many times about how to tell a terrific marketing story. Why? Because stories are fundamental to how we communicate as human beings. Tell the right story and you can capture attention, entertain, enlighten, and persuade … all in the course of just a ...

I started working in the content marketing industry 20 years ago. Everything I did from the start until 2018 revolved around teaching businesses about content marketing and how they could use it effectively. But, in 2018, I quit everything. Not only that, I took a year-long sabbatical, which included a ...

If you ask virtually any working artist how they developed a creative career, they’ll mention a dedication to their craft and fierce persistence. Despite obstacles, criticism, and setbacks, they keep producing. But where does the motivation to be persistent come from? Since it’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. this week, I’ve ...