https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1 daily 0.75 2022-09-06 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/products-gwsfb-p8abe-gbpcp-httjj monthly 0.5 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1662467434691-NSUFQDXHVBCOHZ13BAY6/fashionable-curly-woman-golden-earrings-standing-white-wall-adorable-stylish-girl-laughing.jpeg Podcast - 20 digital products to create in 2022 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/niche-yc2z5-mn56a-4n55z-mj7tz monthly 0.5 2022-08-25 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/products-j6g4g-n2mb2-jnwb4-7hwab-lpg8g monthly 0.5 2022-08-25 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/podcasting-year-pc325-mafg7-txnc4-2wrgr monthly 0.5 2022-08-25 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/managing-burnout-lmzk7-4kkag-5hkws-b9gyn monthly 0.5 2022-08-25 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/products-j6g4g-n2mb2-jnwb4-7hwab-npaax-mdltx monthly 0.5 2022-08-25 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/category/Inspiration monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/podcast-1/category/Quick+listen monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog daily 0.75 2023-12-26 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/b2b-writers-dirty monthly 0.5 2023-10-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/635a3ce6-5323-472e-b37f-ef560608c0b4/image-asset.jpg Blog - B2B Writers’ Dirty Little Secret - Overarching Statement. A recent flurry of break-ins in what were once low-crime Chicago neighborhoods has condo owners concerned about the safety of their buildings. The rise in crime is attributed to the lucrative ransacking of postal boxes, looking for cash, or sensitive personal information that enables bank fraud. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/e7467d31-3116-4b0c-94d5-3170ab050ce5/image-asset.jpg Blog - B2B Writers’ Dirty Little Secret - we overuse adverbs You know what I’m talking about. It’s those helper word adverbs ending in ‘ly’. We use them to describe the experience of using a B2B product. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/cf572f07-7e20-4683-876e-6e87d5205b6d/image-asset.jpg Blog - B2B Writers’ Dirty Little Secret - Example. That’s why homeowner associations (HOAs) are lobbying the property manager/owner to install smart, as in cloud-connected, video intercoms so they can see who wants to come in before opening the door. Door buzzers are annoying, and residents ‘buzz in’ unknown persons to stop the noise nuisance. Telephone intercoms are built on aging landline infrastructure, and maintenance costs are going up, up, up. And there’s no camera to show residents and managers the person who wants in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/3fb1afa0-04ac-42fb-a6e9-2a89eadb6a10/image-asset.jpg Blog - B2B Writers’ Dirty Little Secret - But instead of bringing a user experience to life, adverbs are like excess baggage that weigh down the sentence, disrupting the flow of noun-verb-context and meaning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/b7bb25a6-8aea-47ab-82ec-916fefd5fb62/ACS+Product+Family+2023+m+%282%29.jpg Blog - B2B Writers’ Dirty Little Secret - The Payoff. Cloud-connected video intercoms let residents see and talk with the person who wants to enter before opening the door. That feels safe. And that’s the way home should feel. Property manager/owners get the convenience and efficiency of managing access from an everything-in-one-place cloud dashboard. This enables the monitoring of entance events captured by video logs and even identifies vandals who try to damage the unit. That feels good. And safe. NOTE: I am an employee of the Chamberlain Group, the company behind the trusted LiftMaster brand of access control hardware, powered by the myQ Community cloud. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/49113cf7-40f1-4777-8d18-693434f5b481/image-asset.jpg Blog - B2B Writers’ Dirty Little Secret - Here’s my approach to sentences that are rich in meaning and free of adverbs (mostly). The overarching statement A specific instance The payoff Here’s an example. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/energize-your-b2b-writing monthly 0.5 2023-10-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/d5f8232a-a23b-48b7-97cb-9a4e09aedeca/image-asset.jpg Blog - B2B Writing Stuck in a Rut? Write Like an Anglo-Saxon - Date Night with the Dictionary Recently, I stumbled across The Word Horde, written by Hana Videen. I confess. I read dictionaries when I was a chubby kid and an awkward teen. I think the diacritical marks caught my eye. Those mysterious marks were, in my imagination, a secret code, a way to give voice to words. And, in time, reveal myself to me. The title of Videen’s book, The Word Hoard, is Anglo-Saxon for dictionary. How cool is that? Words are herded together and then hoarded in a single place: a dictionary. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/ad79d440-e62b-4821-ab66-e01c28361e36/King+Aethelred.png Blog - B2B Writing Stuck in a Rut? Write Like an Anglo-Saxon - Here’s my takeaway from the show. Every third person was named Aethel-something, as the prefix indicated someone noble - if not by birth, then by battle. Æthelhard, Æthelred, Æthelwulf; Æthelburg, Æthelflæd, you get the point. Even women got in on the name game: Æthelflæd, Æthelthryth, Ealhswitha, etc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/b1c24625-861d-40ca-91a5-020045773efa/Mathilde+of+Wessex.png Blog - B2B Writing Stuck in a Rut? Write Like an Anglo-Saxon - Further confounding my sleep-soaked brain, every other intrepid female, besides the Æthel-women, was named Mathilde. It’s like good-name karma. Mathilde, aka Maud, was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and the Anglo-Saxon princess Margaret of Wessex. Married to King Henry I in 1100, Mathilde lived a long and productive life, acting as regent when her husband was away politicking or warring. And through her daughter (you guessed it) Empress Mathilde, Mathilde the mom was the ancestor of all subsequent English and British monarchs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/b5064a6d-e854-46b5-b820-d68da98ed966/The+Making+of+Middle+Earth.png Blog - B2B Writing Stuck in a Rut? Write Like an Anglo-Saxon - I’m fascinated by random encounters with books and ideas that, in time, jump-start my imagination and feed my business and fiction writing. J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, is one of those books. Christopher Snyder’s book, The Making of MIddle Earth, is a wonderful resource. He digs deeper than the depths of Moria to shed light on the places and myths that informed and inspired Tolkien’s masterwork. ou either love Tolkien or you don’t. But this high fantasy was informed by Tolkien’s love for Anglo-Saxon history and its pantheon of myths. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1698597091549-JKFE6JE31TKEFJS3ZWRD/image-asset.jpeg Blog - B2B Writing Stuck in a Rut? Write Like an Anglo-Saxon - I love Anglo-Saxon compound words, also known as kennings. My first encounter was with David Crowther’s excellent podcast, Anglo-Saxon England. I listened to it at night, tucked under the covers, but was too close to sleep to remember the details of David’s amazing show. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/12073ba6-14a3-4987-88e0-2c41b46060be/Jan_Singer_10-8-22.jpg Blog - B2B Writing Stuck in a Rut? Write Like an Anglo-Saxon - I would have known about Kennings much earlier if I had been an English major instead of a voice major. Kennings are two-word phrases most commonly created using two nouns (heaven’s-candle, whale-road) or a verb and a noun (freelancer, bean counter, pencil pusher). These compound words work overtime. They’re a noun or a noun-verb, yet they’re descriptive like an adjective. They refer to a person, place, or thing and simultaneously embody the noun. Whether you call them kennings or Anglo-Saxon compound words, these two-word phrases convey a lived experience, giving them the energy, expressiveness, and unique ability to convey meaning. I’m hooked. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/my-favorite-anglo-saxson-compound-words monthly 0.5 2023-10-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/a7085e0d-a134-4ec6-abe6-642142bc37ac/Jan_Office_Edited-2.JPG Blog - My Favorite Anglo-Saxon Compound Words - As a B2B content strategist and writer, I’m all about the compound words known as kennings. Though I prefer to call them Anglo-Saxon compound words. Maybe it’s because these word phrases make me feel more powerful. Don’t call me a scrivener. Call me word warrior. Here’s a list of my favorite Anglo-Saxon compound words. Enjoy! And share your favorites. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/i-made-a-podcast-it-ruined-my-novel monthly 0.5 2023-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1693148767953-HMS7BFLGU9WTQF2T7IKY/image-asset.jpeg Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. - First, the back story. In the early 2000s, I ran a monthly interview program at a tech incubator in Ann Arbor, MI. I interviewed local business disruptors and creative thinkers. It was fun, and the program was popular. It was perfect for a podcast. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/5a9ecce9-8e1b-4a7b-a035-6ed020d3ecdf/Banner_Henrietta_2.png Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. - I published it as an eBook on Amazon in 2011, and that’s where it lives. The bones of the book are strong, but it could be so much better. I want to revisit it, change the audience to Young Adults (YA) and make it worthy of a larger audience. But that’s for another day. Henrietta Sharp and the Magic Lunch Box, cover art by Susan M. Bachman. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692742863367-3LJ6B6E4H1IY2DE14FTI/image-asset.jpeg Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. - It started on April Fools Day, 2020. I was laid off from my job as head of content at a cloud SaaS company because of Covid. Like so many others, I decided to use the time in lockdown to pursue a passion project — a podcast of my novel-in-progress, The History Singer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692789203864-W2T6TRZSN9ZABTUZTJC8/image-asset.jpeg Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. - And then, there was my voice. A classically-trained singer by education, I didn’t think this would be an issue. But it was. I had mouth noise. These intrusive clicks and pops that go unnoticed when talking were amplified by the mic. And let’s not talk about my breathing. My air intake sounded like a dragon breathing fire. I had to learn an additional editing program to minimize my trash mouth. But it was a time-eating process that didn’t eliminate the imperfections that troubled me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692789876910-NOK0COS1K6KTN8U2FUYN/image-asset.jpeg Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. 13 months and eight episodes later, I returned to work. It was time to make a choice. Create season two of the podcast in my spare time or focus on finishing the novel the podcast was based on. I decided to focus on the novel. It may be overly dramatic to say that my podcast ruined my novel. But it did delay the writing of it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692743255183-VQTHV4GC0T0CYG301U3N/image-asset.jpeg Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. - Fast forward to my Covid layoff. This was the right time to start a podcast. So, I did. But for all the wrong reasons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/bf909b3a-bd3a-4d41-a3e7-cd71a5fc52fb/Podcast+Studio_2.JPG Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. - According to the podcast search engine, Listen Notes, 1,109,000 new podcasts started in 2020. It’s an understatement to say that the market was crowded. My indie podcast had little chance to break through, much less break out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692788605425-RIKXZMWV7TARMV05ZY28/image-asset.jpeg Blog - I Made a Podcast. It Ruined My Novel. There was a lot to learn, like choosing the right equipment, a mic (USB or XLR), boom arm, and hanging my Gramma Daisey’s handmade quilts to reduce the echo. And I had to figure out Hindenburg Journalist Pro, my digital audio workstation (DAW). Everything was a new learning experience. Exciting and occasionally tear-inducing. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/no-business-being-in-business-3-reasons-why-it-works-for-inc-magazines-coolest-small-company monthly 0.5 2023-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/3aa2e685-7103-41e9-807e-e299b7c7b5ad/Ari%27s+Favorites_1.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - 1. Passionate They started small, but their vision was always big. Driven by their taste buds to bring the perfect corned beef sandwich to America’s mid-section, they were practical about building a viable business that was also a vehicle for something more. Like an elasticized waistband (which you need when eating at Zingerman’s because it’s SO good), the deli expanded outward: becoming a bakehouse, a creamery, an online store, a catering business, and more. The bottom line was an indicator, not an end. They were practical but never lost touch with a greater sense of purpose. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/8b1143ca-b55f-460b-b43e-dd7252fcdacc/Deli_Front_Spring-1-240x240.jpeg Blog - No Business Being in Business - “I’m an anarchist and an introvert.” This is not what you’d expect from a successful businessperson. But that’s exactly how Ari Weinzweig, partner and co-founder of Zingerman’s Delicatessen, described himself during our conversation. I can relate to the underlying sense of not having any business being in business. But Ari and co-founder Paul Saginaw have created a successful community of food-related businesses (ZCoB) that completely upend the idea of business as usual. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/8089f93f-b834-4b31-b6be-38a8e52de6a4/3zingerman650.jpg Blog - No Business Being in Business - Make it stand out Paul Saginaw and AriWeinzweig, founders of Zingerman’s Deli https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1687706894922-QDYP8I500Q5H72K0BQOF/Zingermans.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - There are plenty of reasons why Inc. Magazine named Zingerman’s the coolest small company in America. After all, they’ve succeeded in building an empire without giving up what made it great in the first place. My conversation with Ari and Paul focused on the practical ways that they put creative thinking to work. While there is much to consider in their uncommon sense, here’s my take on the top three reasons why no business being in business is good business for them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/863313e9-a06c-4b17-98a5-343118e24b02/Zingermans+Events.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - 3. Zingy! Really, Truly Remarkable Zingerman’s is a deli plus a community of other food-related businesses. But they’re also in the business of retail theatre. (This is true of the online store as well). The customer experience is a heady mix of yeasty, cheesy, meaty aromas with a congenial crush of people noshing, shopping, and learning about hand-crafted, insanely delicious food. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/9d83920e-0014-4837-9244-fdf547d09d3c/Black+%26+White+Brownie+from+Bakehouse.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - 2. Inclusive and Connected Ari and Paul lived the principle of transparency and authenticity long before it became the new normal for management best practices. From the get-go, they were as committed to their employees and the community as they were to their customers. How’d they do it? They share financial goals and performance with employees. They have training sessions so everyone, from cooks to counter staff and coffee house baristas, can read a balance sheet and grasp what’s happening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/873c9ffc-eae9-48ed-82ba-40e5e7199464/Deli+Menu.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - Ari and Paul may have started the deli because of a passion for corned beef. Still, from the start, their vision included creating a business that paid people a wage to support their lives, an education, a mortgage, and an opportunity to advance in life. Their philosophy in action has strengthened and enriched the Ann Arbor community, as have their many charitable programs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/f7c2fa6e-293c-4764-94c0-4e24912334e8/Zingermans+Pickle+Class.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - Their in-store graphics are great too, a little quirky, slyly funny, and with just enough feeling of homemade to keep it real. (The online store extends the brand with the same graphic style and high-quality content that will keep a foodie up long past bedtime). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/8089f93f-b834-4b31-b6be-38a8e52de6a4/3zingerman650.jpg Blog - No Business Being in Business - When your name (Zingerman’s) becomes an adjective (Zingy) that describes the experience you deliver, you’re doing something right. Don’t worry if you feel like you don’t have any business being in business. You may be destined for something great that isn’t business as usual. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/2d7dfd1a-4b42-4ba9-a311-ea3309f0ed4b/Zingermans+Deli.png Blog - No Business Being in Business - They train their people. With a variety of three and five-step guidelines, Zingers (my word for Zingerman’s staff) deliver a great customer experience. Zingers can make decisions based on customers’ needs, allowing them to excel as their authentic selves within the Zingerman culture. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/3-must-haves-for-effective-b2b-thought-leadership-articles monthly 0.5 2023-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691340083435-WXN6CK0EEL0JKM476P3R/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Must-have #3: Implications and Advice The third must-have is a transition from the macro exposition to the implications of the market forces for the industry in general or, in this instance, the implications of digital initiatives for CFOs. A sample transition follows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691340788772-764JA2X3CR4CWONGF6JG/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - In the closing paragraphs, our thought leader makes an offer. Here’s the important part. The offer is in service of the reader. This varies, but the offer is usually something like this. A personal offer to talk with CFOs about strategies for launching digital initiatives. A free fact sheet (no form submission) on how to get started with digital initiatives. A link to a related article authored by the thought leader. An invitation to follow the thought leader on a platform like LinkedIn or Substack. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688909782935-TA7OX3UTQN4UMMTNZIQ5/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Intention: What’s driving the need for the article? Purpose: What action should the article prompt? Audience: Who are they, what are their concerns, and how can the article help? Topic: What subject matter will be relevant to the audience and align with business priorities? Context: Is the article part of a demand campaign? Will it be repurposed for use in different channels? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691338449952-OPHH6SVYUJXW484AF925/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Next, I must validate the thought leader’s perspective with a reputable third-party source. Here’s what that looks like. McKinsey & Company explained the CFOs evolving role this way. As CFOs already own and manage much of the business information that feeds corporate digital initiatives, it’s natural that CEOs and boards want the head of finance to provide real-time, data-enabled decisions using digital technology. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691342061271-V61JDKKU1UT3LVE2J3UJ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - I had just finished writing a series of B2B thought leadership articles and was telling a friend how much I enjoy ghostwriting. I rattled off this response when she asked if I used a particular structure to write the articles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691339689908-ODL2KFYWSJI1FG1X7VNJ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - In this example, the reversal is that emergent trends are driving energy companies to take on digital initiatives. Here’s an example of a big-picture exposition sentence. A perfect storm of market forces is up-ending the traditional wholesale energy business model, with big implications for back-office financial operations. Let’s take a closer look at four of the forces that are driving change. I’ve introduced the concept of macro forces beyond the control of the business. Now it’s time to flesh them out. Usually, I have three supporting points, covering each point in one or two paragraphs, capping the word count for each around 125 words. Here’s an example of my big-picture points. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691338086469-4IZ8JCVDRNGH5LTFC75C/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Here’s an example of a two-sentence opening statement for the CEO of a start-up fintech cloud SaaS company. At the World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC), I talked with several CFOs at leading energy companies. Each of them expressed concern that leadership at the board and CEO level now expects CFOs to lead corporate digital initiatives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691339081107-EDIHR5VYLOMFNC5SK9LZ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Now we understand why CEOs and boards want CFOs to lead corporate digital initiatives. Next, let’s affirm the thought leader’s point of view with another confirmation of credibility. A survey from McKinsey found that almost 40 percent of CFOs are responsible for IT, cybersecurity, digitalization, and finance functions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691339403761-W6QO7ZE11GDN1LO8S9I9/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Must-have #2: A Big-Picture Exposition In this section, our thought leader foreshadows a pending disruption to the energy industry. I often start with the big picture, identifying market forces that are driving the disruption. The exposition plants the seeds of a reversal, as it’s called in writing fiction. The reversal changes the status quo. It’s seen as disruptive to how things are or have always been done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691342470627-5X2DLX72AASMIAIO3Z7W/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Sometime later, I realized I had only partially answered my friend’s question. I told her about my pre-writing criteria. But I’d said nothing about the organizing principles I use to make a thought leadership article, well, a thought leadership article. Here’s my perspective on the three must-have features that differentiate a thought leadership article from other forms of business writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691340640806-OB28ZI7EL08ROXJD6IWH/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - I commonly write three to five points of advice (what is it about prime numbers?), each running about 30-50 words. Let’s be candid. The thought leader has more than advice. He/she has a solution, most likely provided by his or her own company. I tread carefully, aware that I do not want the thought leadership article to become a piece of sales collateral. I think it’s appropriate to describe the identifying characteristics of a solution, but it’s not okay to list the product features. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691338171476-GNUSTZFYWOU4CB0AZ4OH/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - So, let’s see if I’m aligned with the structure. In the two italicized sentences above, I’ve positioned the individual as someone active in the industry (attending a conference). I’ve also shown that the thought leader interacts with top industry executives (talking with CFOs). And I’ve used the CFOs’ concerns about taking on digital initiatives to foreshadow a disturbance in the status quo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691337522250-GGE3KV3JZPQYZ4NYLIEJ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Must-have #1: A Distinct Point of View I like to kick off thought leadership articles in the first-person singular to establish a personal and distinct point of view. The opening statement should accomplish two things. Position the thought leader as someone actively engaged in an industry and deeply familiar with it. Foreshadow a disturbance in the status quo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691340502899-RNHHV3JA77D0PBU0K8VZ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Must-Haves for Effective B2B Thought Leadership Articles - Positioning the Thought Leader as a Trusted Advisor Our thought leader becomes an advisor as we head into the home stretch. Here’s my approach. Choose your first digital initiative carefully. Select a digital partner who can help you implement quickly with quality. Go for rapid ROI. But keep your eye on the long-term strategic value of your digital initiative. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/the-history-singer monthly 0.5 2023-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688905464396-S015FVX50LUFILJQ9NQV/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - 4. Identify your keywords and make sure that they’re in the meta description. I rely on SEO experts to inform the keywords I use. But when making choices about hot topics and keywords, I check out industry publications and, of course, the competition. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688820598285-NE3S7A7CHMCFJ2H3IIXR/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - When historian David McCullough was asked how long it took him to write a book, he said something like this. It doesn’t take that much time to write a book. But thinking about writing the book, that takes time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688820956728-TFJVZ5GA8HVRNM8JCIW6/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It My method is imperfect. But it puts a thin veneer of order over the mental chaos from which my writing emerges. Sticky notes are my operating metaphor. I use a sticky note to write down each key point when thinking about what to write. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688905577886-WNFJD183N5RI3CDHDQB1/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - 5. Write the meta description next. It’s usually around 50 to 100 words. Yes, I might have to go back and adjust it later but I don’t want to get bogged down trying to get it exactly right the first time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688906198023-LII97X8OV3QLLOF7UWRR/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - 7. Jot down the three compelling reasons to purchase. The reasons to buy are mostly about a problem and its pain points. For example, a problem could be a dramatic increase in operating expenses for older multi-family properties. Then, there are problems caused by ignoring the initial problem. For example, the problem could be a liability risk due to outdated security that puts the residents and the property at risk. And there’s the problem of operational inefficiencies. For example, using keys and fobs demand a physical presence on-site with time-consuming trips to the property to let people in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688905890311-YLFV87B7REQJWQZF5P58/Circular+discs+in+Google+Colors Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - 6. The first sentence in the article should be almost identical to the meta description. I say almost because we’re writing for humans as well as algorithms. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688907286940-5SQ3J1FZ525SZJE3ROUL/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - The solution in B2B content writing is the product or service being sold. But the value of what is being sold is entirely human. It’s the expertise, advice, and guidance on making change happen that gives buyers the courage to purchase. And that’s it. My process is imperfect, but it helps me figure out what I’ll write about a whole lot faster before I begin writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1688821724664-C654G6OVGX4LNN6NO023/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - Jot down the audience or audiences you’re writing for. Start with the end in mind. What action do you want your readers/viewers to take? Identify the social and industry trends that drive your audience to change their status quo. In fiction writing, this is called a reversal. I almost always begin with the macro forces that are driving change. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/5a9ecce9-8e1b-4a7b-a035-6ed020d3ecdf/Banner_Henrietta_2.png Blog - 7 Things I Do To Identify What I’m Going to Write Before I Write It - My sticky-note approach helps me do one very important thing. It keeps me from getting bogged down with actual writing when I only need to think about what I’m going to write. Each point is a sticky note. Here’s how it works for me. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/how-life-informs-fiction monthly 0.5 2023-08-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691847976759-2CU8MR6GEP0AKHT99GN4/image-asset.jpeg Blog - How Life Informs My Fiction Writing - I didn’t expect marketing speak to show up in our casual conversation about offal. But when you go grocery shopping, know that intestines, heart, liver, brains, and so on go by the name ‘variety meats’. That sounds a lot less awful than offal. My advice. Read the label before you buy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/5a5874f3-3414-434f-aba6-973a736c0409/IMG_1053.jpg Blog - How Life Informs My Fiction Writing - And there you have it. This a small example of how my life informs my fiction. I wouldn’t have it any other way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691842917927-N1TUISF0AL7FZI9AL17F/image-asset.jpeg Blog - How Life Informs My Fiction Writing - My husband Jesse and I were talking about the definition of the word offal the other day. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. We just do stuff like that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691846221682-5KWIPA1NMVEY4V9CKYZD/image-asset.jpeg Blog - How Life Informs My Fiction Writing - Borrowing haphazardly from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in act two, Juliet says, “Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself though not a Montague. … O, be some other name!” Re-naming a product is often the first step in a larger marketing strategy to make the product sold easier for a buyer to understand. Or, in some circumstances, skirt around the edge of what a product actually is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691852943422-N1LUN38O8LCFUVN0QNV8/image-asset.jpeg Blog - How Life Informs My Fiction Writing - We confirmed that offal, spelled o-f-f-a-l and pronounced like the word spelled a-w-f-u-l, as in you’re an awful person, but of course, you’re not. Anyway, the offal with an o is indeed the entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/why-once-upon-a-time-is-the-perfect-time-to-start-a-story monthly 0.5 2023-09-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691849491540-N8IPFIF0IJUAVMU631X5/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Why Once Upon a Time is the Perfect Time to Start a Story - The power of this beginning is in its ambiguity. It’s an invitation to experience a time and place outside and beyond the familiar routines that shape our lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691849151412-BUUYBJGCLK0UKYEXP1WM/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Why Once Upon a Time is the Perfect Time to Start a Story - I’ve been rolling around the words once upon a time inside my mind. Why is this the way so many fairy tales and children’s stories begin? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691850368399-JN08325XQJ8NS86E1CBB/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Why Once Upon a Time is the Perfect Time to Start a Story - A time. These two words add insight to the expansive description of upon. That’s because the story, in addition to happening in some-when of time, also took place in a particular time. This grounds the story in a particular circumstance without imposing the sense of a specific time. It is delicious in its ambiguity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691850782756-5U39JTMM92A4BUQP3M23/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Why Once Upon a Time is the Perfect Time to Start a Story - I’ve been thinking about how to approach a ‘once upon a time’ set-up for business writing. An introduction that has the same kind of ambiguous yet intriguing statement. One that pulls the reader into a space that invites their attention. I’m still noodling on it. But I know that thinking about a ‘once upon a time’ setup will inform and influence how I write. I hope it does the same for you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691849784252-OBBXVMU58WCBCNYPXQZN/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Why Once Upon a Time is the Perfect Time to Start a Story - Once implies a singular event. This story is unique, unlike any other, because it happened only one time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691850125181-FYCM84KS0SBB28TULJSO/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Why Once Upon a Time is the Perfect Time to Start a Story - Upon. This particular story sits on top of time. It happened in an expansive period of any-time. I find this eloquent in its economy. The story we are about to hear is beyond time. It exists apart from time. It’s timeless and yet universal. That’s a lot for a single word to accomplish. But upon is more than up to the task. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/3reasonswhythemarketingfunnelisthewrongmetaphorforb2bmarketing monthly 0.5 2023-09-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692389432010-RRPMYALLCVSB0KEQDWCT/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The journey ends with the hero’s transformation for good or evil or some murky indeterminate state of being. This change results from entering unfamiliar or terrifying situations, surviving them, and gaining a deeper understanding of themselves and the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/42b03ca4-a6ca-4e01-aa71-de3492da324d/Statue+of+Hercules.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The Hero’s Journey is a storytelling framework writers often use when writing fiction. Hercules, also called Herakles by the Greeks, was cursed with madness by the spiteful goddess Hera which caused him to murder his wife and children. In some versions, the Greek god Apollo told Hercules to atone for his crimes by performing seven great labors (tasks) for Eurystheos, king of Mycenae. His first labor was to kill the dreaded Nemean lion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/85814c00-3d0b-4e2c-9753-cca305c58520/Marketing+Funnel.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - Join me in the Way-Back machine. I once heard a VP of Demand Gen say this about the marketing funnel. “You pour money in the top, and leads come out the bottom.” This unfortunate gastrointestinal reference accurately reflected the thinking of the time during the 20-teens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692390650284-C5ZSP9WMLQVPRR7I7GXQ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - From Jason and the Argonauts to The Lord of the Rings, or Luke SkyWalker’s dreams of leaving Tatooine to join the Rebel Alliance, the quest shapes aspiring heroes who will fail many times before they succeed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/132b70c8-3c78-4e49-9ea8-348c86f1e160/Gandalf.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The quest is also an adventure of achievement, of overcoming insurmountable odds to serve a greater purpose. And as B2B storytellers, we play the roles of Gandalf the Wizard, Professor Albus Dumbledore, or Obi-Wan Kenobi. We are trusted advisors who understand the dangers that lie ahead. And we guide our future customers through quest scenarios that help them overcome the obstacles they face and find success with our products. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692394697677-ZXU72ZV09FJ4892M6P3Z/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - As in life, the journey continues as we help our customer become the ultimate hero, a brand evangelist. Once our customer heroes are triumphant with our solution, they are often willing to share their success to help people on the journey they have already traveled. That’s what heroes do. And this heroic behavior drives high net promoter scores (NPS), essential to the SaaS model of recurring revenue. So, for me, the marketing funnel is the wrong metaphor for B2B marketing. A storytelling framework is an innately human way to form a relationship between a business and the people they serve on their life journeys. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692389537361-SZW2S405TWF8UDZT7OOC/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - In B2B content marketing, a future customer is the hero. We (the business or the product) are the faithful companion that helps the customer triumph over their problem. If we’ve done our job well, cue up the happy ending with a customer for life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692391501936-XUIOX4S8IQRS390IVJLS/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - It’s fascinating that two classic horror stories, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and John William Polidori’s The Vampyre, began at a Villa on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816. The horror genre has flourished with authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and countless others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/eedde36e-e205-43d9-9cff-deb847c49cea/Elias+St.+Elmo.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - But I just learned something even more shocking. The AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) sales model still in use was developed in 1898 by Elias St. Elmo Lewis. He believed that the fourth stage, Action, would naturally result from movement through the first three stages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692394135472-SU7QNB2G2UTU9PHVS6U5/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - When we succeed in helping prospects complete their quest for a solution, they become valued customers. But we’re not done yet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/c0e34bb5-4dd7-4098-a35a-ecee7545400d/Beowulf+and+Grendel.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - My favorite movie, based on the epic poem Beowulf, includes the hero Beowulf and the monster, Grendel, in the title. The story takes place in 6th century Denmark, where King Hrothgar and his men kill a troll whose son, Grendel, vows revenge. Hearing this terrible tale, Beowulf and his men travel to Denmark from their home in Geatland, possibly in southern Sweden, to hunt and kill the monster and burnish their reputations as mighty warriors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692391713894-024JT9WOJ4WQJVC54R1F/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The monster scenario can be effective in B2B storytelling. The big, bad, ugly-scary thing can be rising insurance rates, an outdated access control system, inflation, inefficiency, AI, or any situation where the danger, aka monster, must be confronted and overcome. As with any story structure, bad things (reversals) happen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692389292416-GXJVJIGCDI3LFS7AS9D4/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The hero’s journey is also an interior experience of personal growth toward emotional maturity. Or, it can be a journey into anger, bitterness, and madness. I’m talking about you, Darth Vader. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692390769501-UT5YUCEOMRAPTDYXMILR/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - These ‘failures’ are the reversals that keep the action moving forward, hopefully in surprising ways that keep readers and viewers engaged. A future B2B customer may seek a product to help them overcome a situation like outdated technology. Future customers purchase our products when the status quo is so inefficient it’s limiting profitability and killing cash flow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1691856509815-GQM0YAYAURJMVKOZAVZY/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor Stories are innately human. People far smarter than me, like Jonathan Gottschall author of The Storytelling Animal, proposes that stories are like a simulator used to train pilots, a low-risk situation to learn new things. But he goes on to say that shared narratives are also how we construct meaningful social connections with others. And that stories, though we may lose ourselves in them, are also how we find ourselves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/744ecbcf-05d1-4780-87df-c00c4112dfc9/Grendel.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The poem tells us that Grendel is descended from Cain and has a mother who avenges his death. But like all great monsters, Grendel is something apart from our normalized viewpoint. He is other. And that’s the only requirement to be deemed a monster, even when human behavior is far more monstrous. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/0f9f77ec-1bfc-4337-b85e-3034fc4368e6/Infinity+Loop.png Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - So, hats off to Mr. Lewis. His 19th-century insight lives on in the 21st century. But Mr. Lewis could not have imagined the digital age of distraction that’s our new normal. Marketing and product teams are shifting from the funnel metaphor to a true journey model, which like life, is full of surprises, twists, and turns - a loop that has no end. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692388927809-L9XLJF81DHUZKW9NL5GN/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 Reasons Why the B2B Funnel is the Wrong Marketing Metaphor - The hero’s journey begins with the current state of things, the situation, or the status quo. In the case of Hercules, this was a happy marriage and a loving family. A crisis sometimes called a pivot, occurs, and changes the situation. And usually not in a good way. Just as Hera’s curse caused the madness that changed everything for Hercules. This reversal begins the hero’s journey. It’s a journey through the physical world where the hero gathers knowledge and finds companions to accompany him, often acquiring magical tokens that help him succeed. https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/threethingsivelearnedasileartowriteapageturner monthly 0.5 2023-12-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692463395581-0QAQFO7REREKN38FUL56/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - So, what exactly is a page-turner? A page-turner is a book that keeps you up long after your bedtime. It captures you from page one and refuses to let go until you finish the book. That’s what I’m focused on writing now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/8bac52e4-2314-4823-9bb2-5269df9a5bb4/Barbara+Kylie.png Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - One book has been particularly helpful in my pursuit of page-turner writing. Barbara Kyle is the author of the appropriately titled, Page-Turner: Your Path to Writing a Novel that Publishers Want and Readers Will Buy. Whether you want to write fiction or you want to use storytelling structure when writing B2B content, here are my top three takeaways. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/b32fc105-7170-41ca-9ac3-1ed2dbf7dfd3/Podcasting+Studio.jpg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - After a Covid-related layoff in 2021, I decided to use the time to create a podcast. A podcast? Well, yes. I’d been wanting to do one forever. And it would be a podcast of my book in progress. It was a time-eating experience as I had to learn how to podcast. And there was a lot to learn. It left no time to finish book one of my planned trilogy. Lesson learned. Write if you want to write a book. So that’s what I’m doing now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692455193187-9JF9LCKK10UKC6NK3ELV/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - While working for a B2B cloud SaaS company as Head of Content and Creative in 2014ish, I had one of those rare moments when the idea for a book broke through my muddled mind and poured itself out onto the page. I’ve been working on it since. Irregularly and with long lapses between pen to paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692653412402-1D521P0CBCLUQW246DFE/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - The Hook I’ve always considered this technique the current situation or the status quo. The way-things-are-now-viewpoint that the Inciting Incident will change. But Kyle drills down, saying that the hook is the novel’s first sentence or paragraph, and here’s the important part, it should generate some excitement! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692654343814-UYBBWZT94524LKTGDA92/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - Map the Action After the initial idea explosion, I worked on my novel sporadically, creating characters, mapping the world, and, more recently, writing the story as podcast episodes. Taking Kyle’s advice to heart, I am now, belatedly, mapping the book's actions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692655177447-X0YZD5Q43APY4A1JAJYS/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - As a B2B content strategist and writer in the day job I love and am lucky to have, I’m always thinking about applying the principles of fiction writing to lead-gen content. I rely on the three-act structure for everything from emails to articles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692654793742-4IJ0CY3JQZN11I1T4IGB/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - Reversals and Scene Construction As I map the novel’s action sequences, I think about how I’ve constructed scenes. Kyle clarifies this process, noting that there are scenes of varying lengths. And that big scenes are like miniature stories. They are turning points that drive the action forward. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692655481784-48IQY04GMYK0WINMGGGJ/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - It goes something like this. The status quo, as in the way things are. In this example, the status quo is outdated technology and poor security practices. The pivot, or inciting incident, disrupts the status quo, requiring that the potential customer take action. Here’s an example: telephone intercom technology will no longer be available, and security will be worse than outdated. It won’t exist. The climax, or CTA, sets things in motion that will take the person on a journey to purchase the product and (hopefully) have a happy ending as a customer evangelist. And speaking of endings, that wraps this article. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I hope you found it helpful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/1692654506844-ALKQYMRI8KZRHHKBDMV3/image-asset.jpeg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - Here’s how that works. You strip away all of the descriptive narratives like the inner emotional landscape, and list each character’s actions scene by scene, chapter by chapter. As Kyle puts it, “… readers relate to a character in action.” That’s because action sets things in motion. It raises the stakes. And it pressures other characters to react, often in ways that do not turn out well. Sure, it’s tedious. But it shows me that I have too many descriptions of things and not nearly enough action taken by characters. Eye-opening and humbling. And relevant to B2B writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63173d5106a79939597df140/c8110564-24c8-40d2-b5c5-30d70ccde307/A+Song+of+Ice+and+Fire.jpg Blog - 3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED AS I LEARN HOW TO WRITE A PAGE TURNER - I’ve been looking at George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire. Here’s his hook in the first sentence of the Prologue. “We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead.” That’s most definitely a promise of excitement! https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/category/Photos monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/category/Design monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/category/B2B+Content monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/category/Fashion monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/category/Lifestyle monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/category/Fiction monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/tag/Business+writing monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/tag/B2B+storytelling+framework monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/tag/Creative+Business+Strategy monthly 0.5 https://www.jannicholscreative.com/blog/tag/Innovative+B2C+Marketing monthly 0.5 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