Jonathon Colman knows how to build content teams and integrate them into big digital programs. He deftly navigates the challenges that come with creating complex products in fast-growing organizations, always championing the best content practices. Jonathon’s career arc mirrors the growth of content strategy and content design. He started out as a technical writer and […]
The Evergrey: Conversational Journalism – Episode 50
Mónica Guzmán and Caitlin Moran are thoughtful practitioners of a new kind of reporting – conversational journalism. Their team at WhereBy.Us builds community in five U.S. cities with newsletters that engage their readers in ways that old media couldn’t. I invited Monica and Caitlin to the podcast because I was impressed with how they had […]
Tracy Playle: Content Strategy Workshops – Episode 49
Tracy Playle has a super-power: people skills that help her run effective content strategy workshops. Clarify your “why.” Get the right people together. Engage them in focused and creative activities. Great strategy is the result. Tracy and I talked about: her content strategy consulting work in the education sector ContentEd, the conference she organizes how […]
Phillip Hunter: Designing Digital Conversations – Episode 48
Phillip Hunter has been designing digital conversations for 20 years. He started with touch-tone phone applications. More recently, he has worked on Alexa and other voice-based technologies. Phillip and I talked about: how fun it is to “talk about talking” his current work at [24]7 his early work developing touch-tone applications back in the 90s […]
Colleen Jones: The Content Advantage – Episode 47
Colleen Jones is a Jedi Master of content effectiveness. She helps organizations plan, create, and improve operations that produce user-focused content. Colleen and I talked about: her return to consulting after 9 months leading the content team at Mailchimp content effectiveness – how it’s a needed new way of measuring content succcess that fits conceptually […]
Torrey Podmajersky: Strategic Writing for UX – Episode 46
Torrey Podmajersky is a true UX writing pioneer. As a “content developer” for Microsoft’s Xbox she cultivated the skills she now uses as a UX writer at Google. Her new book, “Strategic Writing for UX,” shares the insights she has gleaned over 10 years of UX writing practice. Torrey and I talked about: how her […]
Laura Robertson: In Search of a Content-First CMS – Episode 45
Do you love your CMS? Laura Robertson asked the audience at her Confab 2019 talk whether any of them loved their CMS. In a room of 750 people, only one hand went up. This sad state of affairs has prompted Laura to reflect deeply on content management systems. Laura and I talked about: her content […]
Mike Atherton: Designing Connected Content – Episode 44
Mike Atherton applies insights from information architecture to help content strategists develop domain models. These models help align content stakeholders and create a powerful way to organize, discover, and display content. Mike and I talked about: his discovery in the late 1990s of the field of information architecture (solving what was then known as “the […]
Flora Paul: Editorial Intelligence – Episode 43
Flora Paul developed an analytics practice she calls “editorial intelligence” during her time at BuzzFeed Brasil. She firmly believes that writers and content strategists “can be friends with numbers and data.” Flora and I talked about: UOL, the huge internet portal in Brazil, her current employer her prior work at BuzzFeed Brasil how she came […]
Rachel Van’t Land: Finding Your Brand Voice – Episode 42
Rachel Van’t Land helps businesses speak in a credible voice that aligns with their brand. She is a copywriter, brand strategist, and content strategist based in Seattle, WA. Rachel and I talked about: how she defines “voice” and how she helps her clients find theirs the importance of voice – it’s every bit as, if […]
Blaine Kyllo: The Power of Content Governance – Episode 41
Blaine Kyllo helps enterprises understand and optimize their content processes. A key part of his work is helping his clients develop governance models that keep content operations on track. Blaine and I talked about: his background in journalism and publishing how large enterprises tend to have the big, sticky problems that governance can solve how […]
Crystal Taggart: Using AI to Optimize SMB Digital Marketing – Episode 40
Crystal Taggart helps small- to medium-sized businesses improve their business results with artificial intelligence. AI is rapidly emerging as a viable technology that even small businesses can use to optimize their marketing efforts. Crystal and I talked about: her company, Atlas AI, and its mission to empower SMBs to use artificial intelligence to better promote […]
Neal Sofian: Using Conversational Content to Build Relationships – Episode 39
Neal Sofian leads a company that builds conversation bots for the health-care industry. Using algorithms, machine learning, and contextual storytelling, they create complex, customized content on the fly to help people change their health behavior. Neal and I talked about: conversational AI and how conversation bots can create conversations and build relationships how technology that […]
Jennifer Bourn: Small-Business Content Systems – Episode 38
Jennifer Bourn helps small businesses create systems to plan and create their content. She also helps other small-agency owners streamline and systematize their operations. Jennifer and I talked about: the importance of systems and processes in both her business and personal lives her ability to identify and implement a systematic approach to any business activity – […]
Kronda Adair: Stealth Content Strategy – Episode 37
Kronda Adair helps mission-driven businesses succeed online. Helping her clients authentically share their expertise as digital content is a key part of this mission. Kronda and I talked about: her evolution from web developer to a full-service, results-oriented marketing agency her stealthy approach to eliciting content from her clients her new “Content Bootcamp” product how […]
Jenn Marie: Brand Copywriting & UX – Episode 36
Jenn Marie helps small businesses share their authentic selves online. She focuses on personality-driven content marketing that helps her clients start conversations with their customers and prospects. Jenn and I talked about: how her diverse business background prepared her for internet marketing work how her work in experiential marketing informs her branding expertise the confluence […]
John Sechrest: Content Strategies for Startups – Episode 35
John Sechrest helps startups tell their stories. By managing the narrative around their startup idea, founders can improve their odds of raising money, attracting the right talent, and – most importantly – connecting with the right customers. John and I talked about: the importance in of startup founders telling an effective story and living it […]
A Content Strategy Process Model
Content strategy can be described as a process. At the highest level, it entails planning, implementing, and administering the creation, distribution, and promotion of digital content. At a more detailed level, it entails stages familiar to any digital or business strategist: discovery, strategy, governance, designing, building, publishing, and management. At an even more detailed level, […]
WordPress 5.0 and Gutenberg: A Quick Update
I talked briefly with Matt Mullenweg after attending his surprise Q&A session at WordCamp Portland (OR) Saturday. The WordPress community has expressed concern about the impending release of WordPress 5.0 and the new Gutenberg editor that will launch with it. So there were a number of questions about both in the Q&A. On the issue of […]
Andrea Zoellner: UX Copywriting – Episode 34
Andrea Zoellner is passionate about making the web more accessible and usable. With clear UX copywriting and a single-minded focus on the user, she helps people succeed online. Andrea and I talked about: her passion for making the web more accessible her path to UX copywriting via communications and journalism her definition of UX copywriting: […]