If you have a website, you are a publisher. If you are on social media, you are in marketing. And that means that we are all relying on our words to carry our marketing messages. We are all writers. Everybody Writes is your go-to guide to attracting and retaining customers through stellar online communication, because in our content-driven world, every one of us is a writer.

In Everybody Writes, top marketing veteran Ann Handley gives expert guidance and insight into the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing with practical how-to advice designed to get results. This new edition will feature updated examples and stories, as well as a new chapter on newsletters.

ANN HANDLEY is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author focused on helping businesses worldwide escape marketing mediocrity to ignite tangible results. Her work has appeared in Entrepreneur, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Chicago Public Radio, and the Financial Times. IBM named her one of seven people shaping modern marketing. More than 50K people subscribe to her popular email newsletter.

She is the world’s first Chief Content Officer, a principal at training and education company MarketingProfs, and a regular speaker at events globally.

Ann is also a mom, dog person, and writer. Her favorite food is kale salad. But don’t hold that against her.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: Writing Rules: How to Write Better (and How to Hate Writing Less)

1             Everybody Writes

2             Writing Is a Habit, Not an Art

3             How to Keep a Daily Writing Ritual When You Aren't Feeling It

4             Shake Off School Rules

5             Publishing Is a Privilege

6             Why You Need a Writing Process

7             Introducing the Writing GPS Framework

8             Embrace The Ugly First Draft (TUFD)

9             Draft 2: Cross Out the Wrong Words

10           Draft 3: Swap Places with Your Reader

11           Draft 4: Humor Comes on the Rewrite

12           Develop Pathological Empathy

13           Think Before Ink

14           15 Ways to Organize

15           Start with “Dear Mom . . .”

16           If You Take a Running Start, Cover Your Tracks

17           Place the Most Important Words at the Beginning of Each Sentence

18           Notice Where Words Appear in Relation to Others

19           Leads + Kickers

20           Show Don't Tell

21           How to Write Funny

22           Use Surprising Analogies, Meaty Metaphors

23           Add Another Sense

24           Add Obvious Structure to a List

25           Approach Writing Like Teaching

26           Keep It Simple but Not Simplistic

27           Find a Writing Partner

28           Avoid Hot Dog Writing

29           Hire a Human Editor

30           Set a Goal Based on Word Count Not Time

31           End on an I-Can't-Wait-to-Get-Back-to-it Note

32           Deadlines Are the WD-40 of Writing

Part II: Writing Rules: Grammar and Usage

33           Use Real Words

34           Avoid Frankenwords and Words Pretending to Be Something They're Not

35           Don't Use Weblish

36           Default to the Present Tense

37           Choose Active Voice Over Passive Voice

38           Ditch Weakling Verbs

39           Adverbs Aren't Necessary (Usually)

40           Use Cliches Only Once in a Blue Moon

41           “Mistakes Were Made.” Avoiding These Simple Mistakes Will Make You Look and Feel Smarter Instantly

42           Words We Always Get Wrong

43           Grammar Rules Made to Be Broken

44           Limit Moralizing

45           Eggcorns & Mondegreens

Part III: Writing Rules: Voice and Tone

46           Sweat the Smallest Stuff

47           What's Brand Voice?

48           How to Develop Your Brand Voice

49           4 Powerful Places to Apply Brand Voice

50           Voice Doesn't Change, Tone Does

Part IV: Story Rules

51           The Six Elements of a Marketing Story

52           Your Brand Story: Tell the Story Only You Can Tell

53           Product Story: Make Your Customer the Hero

54           The Rudolph Framework in Action

55           Hermit Crab Content

56           Innovation Is about Brains Not Budget

Part V: Publishing Rules

57           Share News That's Really News

58           Biased AND Balanced

59           Brands as Media Companies

60           Should You Ungate Your Content?

61           Memes, Trends, Newsjacking

62           Better Interviews with These Nonobvious Tips

63           Check Your Facts

64           A Mind-Like-Water Mindset

65           Seek Out the Best Sources

66           Beware of Hidden Agendas

67           Credible Data

68           Cite as You Write

69           Curate Ethically

70           Seek Permission Not Forgiveness

71           The Basics of Copyright, Fair Use, and For Attribution

Part VI: 20 Things Marketers Write

72           The Ideal Length for Every Piece of Content

73           Writing Direct Response Email

74           Why You Need an Email Newsletter

75           Writing an Email Newsletter

76          Writing the Home Page

77           Writing the About Us Page

78           Writing Landing Pages

79           Writing Headlines

80           Writing Infographics

81          Writing for Video

82           Writing for Social Media

83           Writing Image Captions

84           Writing with Hashtags

85           Writing Your LinkedIn Profile

86           Writing for LinkedIn

87           Writing About Hard Stuff

88           Writing a Non-Boring Boilerplate

89          Writing Speech Descriptions

90           Writing a Sales Letter

91           Ghostwriting

Part VII: Content Tools

Research and Knowledge Management Tools

Writing Tools

Productivity Tools

Tools to Limber Up Atrophied Writing Muscles

Editing Tools

Word Finders

Readability Tools

Non-Text Writing Tools

Content Idea Generators

AI Writing Tools

Acknowledgments for Tools

Epilogue

Notes

Index