Serving Up Success
Not every content strategy you read about is healthy or nutritious. Sometimes, it’s just gross—chewed-up scraps that won’t make anybody feel good. You might think you’re being thrifty or efficient by serving up your leftovers with some chips, but it’s not often all that appetizing. Or nourishing. Regurgitation often just makes people gag (just like […]
Against the Ideology of Stupid
I was bullied through most of school. A lot. Not just for being a non-conformist—eyeliner, torn clothes safety pins, as early 80s as you can imagine. Not just for being gay. Not just for coming from a single-parent household. There was a much deeper stigma… I was effortlessly, unstudiously, and unapologetically smart (i.e., good at […]
The Anti-Intellectual Cult of Writing Advice
Too much writing advice is just good old-fashioned tent-revival anti-intellectual crap. Writing experts intone their points with the cynical piety of anyone who broadcasts truisms—cynical because it positions those experts as having the solution to redeem people from their doomed attempts at thinking. I’m old enough to remember when dogma dictated we should write for […]
Authenticity in a World of Thought Leadership
Nothing is new. Nothing is true. This dictum may seem strange when advocating for thought leadership, but hear me out. Let’s take the Pythagorean theorem, for example. In one sense, what better “thought leadership” than having a fundamental principle named after you? But: Back to thought leadership, what does this all mean? If becoming a […]
Balancing Innovation and Advocacy
Startups in B2B are justifiably very focused on being in “build mode.” But they shouldn’t lose sight of how to be in “communicate mode” as well. Many founders are not even naturally inclined to be vocal advocates. But when you’re innovating, you also have to be a clear voice on why the problem you are […]
Embracing Playfulness, Flexibility, and Resilience
Be an octopus. No, not putting your (unwanted) arms and hands everywhere. But like this: The octopus is PLAYFUL. They have been observed short-circuiting their tank lighting, spraying water at people, and throwing items. They are masters of mimicry. They even seem to prank other animals. The octopus is FLEXIBLE. They can unlock cage doors […]
Decoding the Myth of Data-Driven Objectivity
Relying on data is often nothing more than outsourcing your subjectivity. Data doesn’t say anything. People say things. Saying things takes sense-making. Sense depends on human context.
When Influence Becomes Ubiquity
I finally figured it out! I know why 90% of all the tips and truisms posted here sound the same, and I learned where they come from. It’s all from James Clear’s Atomic Habits. I’m very late to the game in reading it. It’s an excellent book. It’s also very obvious how many LinkedIn posts […]
A Ripple Effect of Easy Success
When done well, thought leadership begets more thought leadership. One of my favorite moments last week was working with a new team in a client’s business. They previously resisted doing thought leadership because coming up with a crisp point of view and compelling content seemed like it would take too much time and effort. But […]
The Power of Thought Leadership for High-Stakes Decisions
One thing B2B marketers often get wrong—they use generic, mass-market tactics for small-to-mid-sized businesses when their buyers are large enterprises. They put traffic ahead of trust. This mistake seems more common among smaller and newer providers, but it happens elsewhere, too. The thing is, the buying decision for a high-stakes, high-ticket purchase doesn’t work like […]