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Ann is a writer and the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content and Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (co-authored with C.C. Chapman). Her company, MarketingProfs, is a marketing training and education company with more than 600,000 subscribers.

“Create user-centric content that answers the questions your prospects have, and that makes them feel like you understand their problems, shoulder their burdens along with them, and feel their pain.”

“The root of curious is cura, meaning care. The decision isn’t, Would I be any good? But, rather, Do I care enough to try?”

“The industry of the modern work world can feel intense. Each new quarter shows up like a Gatorade-fueled Extreme eSports Avatar, suited up and ready to Get Stuff Done and Check All The Lists.”

“In the midst of Autumn Adrenaline: Leave some room to suck at something new. It’s curious how satisfying that can be.”

“Snap out of the tendency to state things only as you see them—it’s an easy trap for lazy writers.”

“Reading your final draft out loud is the best way to hear your voice, literally. Yeah, you sound like a nutloaf, talking to yourself in the middle of your office. So?”

“As a journalist, I learned—over time, and over many late-night drafts of my work—that great writing isn’t born; it’s made.”

“Great writers make writing look easy-breezy. But that’s only because they don’t skimp on rewriting. “

“Make each sentence earn its keep. The life goal for any sentence is to pass the baton to the next sentence—not stop the flow. “

“It can feel discouraging to think that you’re a mediocre writer. That you’re not as good as that person. Or that author. Or that one over there, selling all those books. But here’s the deal: If no one is a great writer… then that’s freeing, not discouraging—when you think about it: It means that we all start out mediocre. But we don’t have to stay that way.”

“Gated content is the default in B2B marketing. But when the world changes, you need to rethink everything. “

“You have to be willing to veer left toward the bumpy road of the unknown when the rest of the world is veering to the worn-smooth right. And that’s inherently risky. “

“Your brand needs a David. Your brand needs an anchor host, too. An anchor to lend credibility and build trust; a host to keep the conversation flowing and to top off everyone’s glass. “

“A crisis is not a time for Marketing to be clever or snarky. It’s a time to be helpful and sincere. It’s a time to build relationships, nurture customers, and create long-term loyalty.”

“In the age of content abundance, your niche is already covered. No problem: Add your spin/angle/point of view that others can’t replicate in quite the same way.”

“Your newsletter is not a tower; it’s a bridge to your other Marketing. Your social media especially.”