What to Do When You Need More Writers
Your organization is full of people who can be great content writers. The trick? Providing the right resources and training to help them succeed.
content strategy
Assessing Your User-Centered Content Strategy
Three important questions to ask yourself when moving toward a more user-centered content strategy.
Put the Work Before the Words
Don’t let vocabulary or office politics get you down. Your content strategy work is relevant, no matter what words are tied to it.
stopit, Golden Principles, and the Golden Bridge
One my favorite talks I give is about making Dale Carnegie’s 9 Golden Principles for Being a Friendlier Person an accessible idea for UX designers. The first principle is often one of the hardest to adhere to, both IRL and on the web: Never criticize, condemn, or complain. When a user does something we perceive … continue
How I put together my latest workshop
I did a completely new workshop (and related talk) at Confab this year. By completely new, I mean: Not upcycled from a talk I’ve already given Not an evolution on a previous talk or workshop Not based on a blog post or other writing So new, new, new. It was a lot of work. Confab … continue
Conference diary: Confab 2018
Holy shit. So was that a conference or was that a conference? I’m still reeling from the end of Confab 2018, a (the) content strategy conference held annually here in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My employer, Brain Traffic, produces the event. My primary contribution leading up to Confab is to interject unasked-for advice into conversations I overhear … continue
Sketching a blog post
Used a couple of Sharpie twin tips and my Baron Fig Mastermind pad to prototype my latest post for the Brain Traffic blog. Normally when I use pen and paper in my writing workflow it’s very messy and haphazard — notes jotted in random places, maybe a partial mind map, maybe a bullet point of … continue
How to Use a Content Ecosystem Map
What do you do with that shiny new content ecosystem map you’ve created? Here’s how to effectively put your map into practice.
Ecosystems and origins on The Content Strategy Podcast
The boss had me as a guest on her new podcast about content strategy, The Content Strategy Podcast (great name). I can’t bear to listen to it but I hope you will. There’s a transcript, too. Behind-the-scenes: I went home to record from my apartment so we wouldn’t have to mess with a multi-mic set-up … continue
From the notebook: Maps and stories and journeys
Been developing a new workshop to help orient practitioners to all of the various tools available for being user-centered in their content strategy work. It’s been interesting and maddening at the same time. There’s a good deal of semantic diffusion across the various tools and methodologies. And many were blatantly misnamed to begin with. In … continue