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
Other versions by this Author