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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Ann Handley</title> <atom:link href="https://annhandley.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://annhandley.com/</link> <description>Writer. Speaker. Marketer.</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 29 Aug 2024 18:47:54 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title>When to Use AI: Lessons From My Fave Library</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/when-to-use-ai-lessons-from-my-fave-library/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/when-to-use-ai-lessons-from-my-fave-library/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 29 Aug 2024 18:43:57 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[AI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[how to use AI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[library]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5663</guid> <description><![CDATA[How do we balance the human and the robot to make the best use of each? Ann Handley explores this questions and when exactly to use AI. The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/when-to-use-ai-lessons-from-my-fave-library/">When to Use AI: Lessons From My Fave Library</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-5658 aligncenter" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dog-at-Library-225x300.jpg" alt="Dog at Library" width="341" height="455" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dog-at-Library-225x300.jpg 225w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dog-at-Library.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px" /> Furry patron at the library A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. *** <div class="m_-1569200587787301336paragraph"> <div class="m_-5749909939054921511paragraph"> I love this tiny library. Two rooms (one for adults, one for children). Two leather wingchairs flanking one fieldstone fireplace. I’ve never seen it lit, the fireplace. But then again, the library is open only in the summer, when tourists and seasonal residents wander the short aisles, browsing for beach reads. The library is staffed by an elementary school librarian named Cheryl. “Welcome in!” Cheryl calls from her perch at a big oak desk by the front door. (“Please close tightly! AC is on!” reads a sign on the door.) Cheryl is off duty from her school for the summer. This is her side hustle. For years now I have been Welcomed In and paid my $15 for a seasonal library pass—a slip of thin cardboard the size of a credit card that lets you stuff your summer with all the books you can hold. I don’t really use the library much, to be honest. Or as much as I expect I will every June, when summer seems rich and generous and almost too much—stacked like a triple-scoop ice cream cone. You think you have alllllll the time in the world to savor it. But every year I get the card anyway. I love the ritual. How it’s always the same: same chairs, same fireplace, same Cheryl. Same card, my name printed in pen by… well, you know. Cheryl. I choose books to read on the beach or on the deck or in bed at night, to the music of Maine peepers in the dark salt marsh behind the house. That image seems quaint, doesn’t it—peepers! Music! But that’s not exactly right: They are as loud as a thousand city car alarms all simultaneously triggered. Peepers make a racket. * * * This year when I go to check my books out and plop down my $15… a surprise. This year the library has stopped issuing paper library cards. And instead of writing down your checked-out books in a spiral-bound notebook and stamping your return date inside the book’s front cover, Cheryl now points a scanner at a bar code and they’re entered into a computer, whisper-quiet. I just now notice a sleek new Dell on the old desk: How did I miss that before? No cards. No ink. No stamp. You get a printout of your books. Like a receipt. It’s as ordinary as buying sunscreen at CVS. * * * Cheryl explained all this to me last week as if I just landed on the planet and had never before seen a bar code. She spoke as carefully and precisely as the school librarian she is—as if she were explaining the Oregon Trail to a half-circle of school kids seated on a rug at her feet. I forced myself to listen. It was hard because my default mode is impatience and I just wanted to get on with my day. I know that’s the point of vacation—to slow down. But still my mind jumped around… “Bar code” would be a good name for a secret speakeasy, maybe. Or a Slack group for lawyers. I snapped to as Cheryl was asking me if I wanted a card anyway…? She could fill one out for me, she said. People sometimes want one. Because they’re children and have never had a paper library card. Or they’re old and they always have. Or because they put them in a scrapbook. “And that’s okay if you do,” Cheryl said with that soothing grade school voice—a cross between Bob Ross and Winnie the Pooh. She looked at me expectantly, hand poised over the drawer in her big oak desk which I guessed held a handful of cards meant for the children, the elderly, the scrapbookers. I did kind of want one. But I couldn’t think of why. I said no, that’s okay. I left, closing the door securely behind me. (The AC, you know.) But because the unexpected computer on the desk suddenly cast a cloud over this otherwise bright summer day, I thought… welp, guess we’re closing the door on paper cards, too. And then I rolled my eyes at myself. A bit dramatic, I know. * * * Sometimes analog (ink, stamps, paper) is useful. Sometimes it gets in the way of efficiency. Which is exactly how I feel about AI and writing. Writing is thinking. I like the process. I like the ink and stamps and the paper cards of it. (Actually: I hate it… then I freakin love it!) But AI is an accelerator? That I like. AI as barcode and computer is simply practical. It’s good to not be too precious about things sometimes. We used to lose a lot of books every year because they’re hard to keep track of, Cheryl had said. I guess I was listening more than I thought I was. * * * So when do we want the bar code? And when do we want the ink, stamp, paper? How do we balance the human and the robot to make the best use of each? A few months ago, Avinash Kaushik shared a <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3asQKWQkutUyQvK&b=B6dE4j77ZfZmHxN89v8hfg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3asQKWQkutUyQvK%26b%3DB6dE4j77ZfZmHxN89v8hfg&source=gmail&ust=1689692629362000&usg=AOvVaw38YlgrU56niAxtmc630qbe">framework</a> for how we might apply AI to the tasks we do every day. I riffed on Avinash’s framework, adapting it for writing and content. Adding more detail to answer the question: How can AI help us best? Which includes, by the way, no AI at all. (No bar codes. All stamps and ink.) Here’s where I came to: <a href="https://annhandley.com/?awt_a=8LvK&awt_l=DocHN&awt_m=3asQKWQkutUyQvK" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://annhandley.com?awt_a%3D8LvK%26awt_l%3DDocHN%26awt_m%3D3asQKWQkutUyQvK&source=gmail&ust=1689692629363000&usg=AOvVaw2zBG1edDV6NJe4BvEUJH9I"><img decoding="async" class="CToWUd aligncenter" src="https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/8MQWnPuqMA4WRdwFK1_vGFDpUQFaP1dczEcZBv1ok4jAmyvS8OzjMfCnfHZESkFf5ndK-duxCOZO7_Vcfmk35p1JJkARWT-JzljPQ3Z7yP5I4qSiryTN57OL7EmUY-M7yhzqFa68XFubwRm_TZEPMfDGZjNMGyE_a6eCfY_MEsJKGA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/b7da7cd359e44e018777021c502001ad.jpeg?t=1689544655" alt="How to Use AI" width="560" height="316" data-bit="iit" /></a> <div class="m_-5749909939054921511paragraph"> What kind of tasks are under each? ⚙️ Utility Player is AI that is heavy on automation. Minimal human involvement. Usually task-specific. >> Tasks like content summarizing, editing/grammar assist, meta descriptions for SEO, optimizing, product descriptions, fact sheets, translation, transcribing. 👯‍♀️ Wingperson is AI that works alongside you, helping you tease more out of what you’re creating. The mix of human/robot involvement is more level. >> Tasks like brainstorming, connecting disparate ideas, outlining a new piece, mimicking dialogue, personalizing, sentiment analysis, remixing content for social, reimagining one content asset into another, simplifying complex research or text, suggesting subject lines. 🧚 Fairy Godmother is AI that gives you a foothold, a place to begin. Not sure what to write? Ask the Fairy. (FAIry?) After some minimal robot involvement, it’s all stamps and ink and paper. >> Tasks like a reality check (“What am I missing?”), playing (“Write a limerick to wish my dog Augie a happy birthday”), stylizing (“Write in the style of Taylor Swift or Geoffrey Chaucer”), eliminating writer’s block (fear of the blank page). * * * 🙅‍♂️ There are times when we don’t want to use AI. That’ll be different for each of us. But for me… it’s when I need to think through how I feel about something. Like that moment when the peepers come out as usual. The vacationers return. Cheryl starts her summer job. And a single computer takes its place alongside the books and fireplace and the wing chairs. And we all evolve. For better or worse. But mostly—I’ve decided to think—for the better. </div> </div> </div> The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/when-to-use-ai-lessons-from-my-fave-library/">When to Use AI: Lessons From My Fave Library</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/when-to-use-ai-lessons-from-my-fave-library/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Mastering the Art of the Cold Open in Storytelling</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/cold-open/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/cold-open/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 29 Aug 2024 18:42:03 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[cold open]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Content]]></category> <category><![CDATA[content copywriting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ideas]]></category> <category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[storytelling]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5692</guid> <description><![CDATA[A cold open is a powerful strategy to pull a reader directly into your story. Ann Handley demonstrates and explains how to do it! The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/cold-open/">Mastering the Art of the Cold Open in Storytelling</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="m_362145783805449853paragraph"> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. *** Pearl is 8 years old but seems much more mature. Maybe because she’s so quiet. At first, I don’t even notice her there, sitting still and silent. Or maybe it’s the way she meets my gaze directly when I do. She regards me coolly—like she’s seen a thing or two. Like she’s sizing me up. “I know your type,” Pearl’s eyes say. “I don’t have a reason to trust you. So I won’t.” Her teeth are chaos—yellowed and all over the place. They’re scattered every which way, like a toddler decorated her gums with candy corn. Her mom must’ve noticed my focus on her mouth. “She needs braces,” she says. “They have bad teeth, shih tzus.” Shih tzus. A breed whose name makes me snicker. The grownup now murmuring “mmm yess—small dogs tend to” actually has the sense of humor of a middle-schooler, which is how old I was when I heard that dumb joke.* *(This is the dumb joke: “A woman goes to the zoo. There was only one animal there—a dog. It was a shit-zoo.“) <a href="https://annhandley.com/?awt_a=8LvK&awt_l=DocHN&awt_m=3VZscJBxT3UyQvK" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://annhandley.com?awt_a%3D8LvK%26awt_l%3DDocHN%26awt_m%3D3VZscJBxT3UyQvK&source=gmail&ust=1694532511764000&usg=AOvVaw3onEHHwAHsRYWILNBHAfHD"><img decoding="async" class="CToWUd aligncenter" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ztxLjiv6tHeIvEjhGnj5bKFQAa8RI3NUhfGSooZsp28j5k1NKDWvU_0sKbyajCF_aIh2g_cCqxft5z9_3oz0PYr-WUeqWb5KZnk9MYQknao8iIAwU2g_16_prShtxHXORikZYC4ZWF8-cKuewUW4C05C8ZYK=s0-d-e1-ft#https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/1f361ef3f9fb408b96ef6af6cd36f9ff.jpeg" alt="Teeth" width="560" height="400" data-bit="iit" /></a> <div class="m_362145783805449853paragraph"> Pearl Anyway, Pearl’s teeth. “I guess her whites aren’t Pearl-y!” I say. An attempt at a joke. It doesn’t land. Her mom leashes Pearl up and leaves the grooming shop. I turn to the shop’s owner, Alyssa. “Like pearly whites? Because Pearl?” I say. “Yeah,” Alyssa says. She either gets the word play and doesn’t think it’s funny. Or she doesn’t get it because it’s admittedly tortured. Alyssa picks up my Augie and plops him in the tub. “See you in 2 hours!” she says, by way of goodbye. * * * A cold open is a story technique used often in films and TV, like The Office and Saturday Night Live. It’s the practice of jumping directly into the action before any opening credits—no setup, no explanation. The viewer is airdropped into the middle of the plot as if by drone. They’re left to get their bearings. To get questions answered. Which is what makes a cold open so effective. We need to know wait what’s happening here…? The same is true in marketing: Your newsletter. Your blog post. Your podcast. Your story needs a cold open, too. Why is it important? Let’s return to Alyssa’s grooming shop… <walk with me>… Cold open: “Pearl is 8 years old but seems much older.” Reader’s brain: “Pearl. Unusual name for a… child? Why does she seem older, wizened, a bit sassy? I need to find out…” Imagine if this story started differently. Non-cold (“warm”) open: “Last week I took my dog Augie to the grooming shop run by Alyssa. There we met a dog named Pearl. Pearl seemed older than her 8 years…” Reader’s brain: “I wonder where Ann takes her dog to be groomed? That reminds me that my dog Mesquite Smoked Almond needs a grooming. I should book an appointment now…” SLAMS LAPTOP SHUT. See the difference? * * * A warm open tells more than it shows. It reports what’s going on—when and where we are, and why we’re there—sometimes with as much craft as a reporting of a five-car pileup on the freeway. This happened... then this happened… then this happened… and now you’ve lost your readers—their attention murdered by a story that didn’t propel them forward. A cold open shows more than tells. It leads the reader along, leaving small breadcrumbs of questions in the reader’s mind. They can’t help but follow. A cold open grabs attention and compels readers to stay with you. You invite a reader to stand beside you. You pretend their eyesight is poor, so your words help them see what you see, experience what you experience. Often in marketing we set the stage instead of airdropping our reader directly into the action with a cold open. Wander around the internet. Watch for it. It’ll smack you in the face, too. Why didn’t this blog post writer choose a cold open here? you’ll wonder. And you’ll think: A cold open makes our content and writing as shiny and appealing as Pearl’s teeth after a dental. * * * The cold open does something else that makes for a stronger story. It grounds the action at a single, specific moment. That single moment helps writers plant our feet in one place. Instead of taking a high-level approach by default (“I met a dog today“), you write a specific scene of a specific thought you had when you met Pearl. A cold open literally slows you down. It stops your brain from filling its sails with a rushing wind. It stops you from sailing ahead—letting the story rush out too fast—and instead dams the flow so you find yourself anchored in the best, most scenic place to begin. This is why I often write drafts longhand first. Then I transcribe them—I’m doing that right now. (#meta) (LOL) It introduces a little friction into the creative process. And a little friction in creativity is useful if you want stronger results. Writing by hand is slower than typing. So writing longhand forces my brain to slow down, too. That way, I tend not get flooded—where should I start a story? Here? Or here? Moving slower allows me to more intentionally choose the best parts of the story. I tend to not capsize that way. I don’t know where these sailing metaphors are coming from. Maybe it’s all the wind and wet outside. Anyway—try a cold open. Let me know how it feels. * * * BTW! Alyssa transformed Pearl from a hairy little demon into a smooth and stylish angel. Here’s a before and after: <a href="https://annhandley.com/?awt_a=8LvK&awt_l=DocHN&awt_m=3VZscJBxT3UyQvK" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://annhandley.com?awt_a%3D8LvK%26awt_l%3DDocHN%26awt_m%3D3VZscJBxT3UyQvK&source=gmail&ust=1694532511764000&usg=AOvVaw3onEHHwAHsRYWILNBHAfHD"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="CToWUd aligncenter" src="https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/xTdfuMLvlPUVIwwVB6Qh114feWKFC9hm0gnnLfiNqeRzfsg7t1VPRrpBU545b9asE8wFXp7_ZEtftoZClCKBzJCMaiR2FlRLObQ5H7_pO0qLbedBWIEbWMzTaYyliYcORYvkmgu4IYiiPcG4DDI9k4eI0sby=s0-d-e1-ft#https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/ce06a301cd7f40f6a7f933a86a505aa5.jpeg" alt="Before vs. after" width="560" height="400" data-bit="iit" /></a> </div> </div> The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/cold-open/">Mastering the Art of the Cold Open in Storytelling</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/cold-open/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>6½ Ways to Write Faster</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-faster/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-faster/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:16:06 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2024]]></category> <category><![CDATA[copywriting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[creative writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[generative AI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[journalism]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[writing tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[writing tools]]></category> <category><![CDATA[writing trends]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5772</guid> <description><![CDATA[Ann Handley shares how to write faster - whether you're working on a presentation, newsletter, blog post, book, or anything else! The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-faster/">6½ Ways to Write Faster</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="m_7074211797906591975paragraph"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-5773 size-full" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ann-Handley.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="426" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ann-Handley.jpg 750w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ann-Handley-300x170.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. *** <div> <div class="m_3278167294452925923paragraph"> In a year when nearly every marketer is being asked to Do More With Less and in a year with one extra day on February 29… my friend Jeffrey Rohrs had a crazy-inspired idea: What about a 24-hour continuous virtual event? What if it was global, with 125 speakers and attendees from all around the world? What if it played with the Leap Day concept of how we can #MakeMoreTime in 2024 with technology, strategy, process improvements? And what if it was FREE! Jeffrey called me on my cell just before Christmas and pitched his idea. I was walking my dog Augie. I nodded along as Jeffrey talked to me from his office in Cleveland. I started to breathe heavy—because Augie, Jeffrey, and I were in that part of the walk that’s a steep hill and my 14-pound dog was charging like a sled dog. There was a pause in the conversation. “You OK?” Jeffrey asked. “Yes,” I gasped. “And I’m… <gulp of air>… in.” How can we write faster? That was the focus of my talk last week at <a href="https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/leap-day-extravaganza-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The ActiveCampaign Leap Day Extravaganza</a>. (That’s a screenshot of my analog slides, above.) (Ann-alog?) I had only 20 minutes. I had to rein myself in. Here’s the Content + Bonus Tracks [Ann’s Version], just for you. Five years ago, I launched <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/">this fortnightly newsletter</a> about writing and marketing. As detailed in <a href="https://annhandley.com/everybodywrites/?awt_a=8LvK&awt_l=DocHN&awt_m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://annhandley.com/everybodywrites/?awt_a%3D8LvK%26awt_l%3DDocHN%26awt_m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&source=gmail&ust=1709649618769000&usg=AOvVaw1gS2Ub0LjNZqd7GQzkg9RJ">Everybody Writes 2</a>, it took me 8 hours-ish to write the newsletter. Now I write it in half that time. How did I cut the time in half? Generative AI, right? No. (And not more espresso. Or an extra day in February, either.) It all comes down to process. “Process” sounds as much fun as scrubbing dirt from beets. But stick with me. Here’s mine. 1. START WITH PEN + PAPER. Write a list of your key points on paper with a pen. Flesh out those key points with a few bullet points. Don’t worry about “writing.” You’re welding the scaffolding for ideas that will become writing. Why this works: You write slower than you type. Working with analog tools slows you down. Your high-speed locomotive brain isn’t screaming ahead to get to Next Sentence Depot. It has to wait patiently for your hands to catch up, like a car driver at a railroad crossing waiting for the train’s caboose. That slow pace ultimately delivers better insights. You can’t backspace or start over. You can only keep going. It’s the ultimate in distraction-free writing. Checking email. Scrolling LinkedIn. Clicking to another tab. You cannot. Because… well, paper. 2. STOP TRYING SO HARD. The fastest way to write is to take the pressure off yourself. You aren’t Michelangelo trying to sculpt David. You’re just throwing your thoughts on paper like a mass of wet, rough clay. Use your paper outline as your guide and write as fast as you can. In Everybody Writes, I call the result of this approach The Ugly First Draft. 3. AHOY, PROCRASTINATORS. THIS IS FOR YOU. The hardest part about writing is often just sitting down to do it. I procrastinate, too. When it’s getting in the way, I call up the Pomodoro Technique: a time-management method that helps you break any work into chunks separated by quick breaks. It’s perfectly suited to writing. It’s basic. But it’s magical. Here’s how it works: You set a timer for 25-ish minutes. You adhere your 🍑 peach to the chair. You work until the timer dings. You take a short break. Repeat three times. Then you take a longer break. These intervals are known as “Pomodoros.” Many apps, websites, and tools have widely popularized the technique. Like <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=8x496g5WKgFB.e6J_Ef9Lw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3D8x496g5WKgFB.e6J_Ef9Lw&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw2VC3uh_MbXW0QnVt1JkdR9">this one</a>. And <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=iwvxZ4uDsRrmve2B37lnXw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3DiwvxZ4uDsRrmve2B37lnXw&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw2nZOMH2BdPyf0fla2OQZL7">this</a>. You can also buy <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=Q.QZfdTVq.chuCRvkAaZQA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3DQ.QZfdTVq.chuCRvkAaZQA&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw3ud0o2iNmz6yhrm38RXUd7">cute little tomato timers</a>. But I simply use my Alexa and ask her to sing to me in Italian after 28 minutes just to make the technique my own. That initial adhere-peach-session is usually enough to get into the flow. 🍅 Fun fact: The “Pomodoro Technique” was developed in the 1980s by a university student, <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=d1QiHicG4UiDQDgyKOBW1g" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3Dd1QiHicG4UiDQDgyKOBW1g&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw2IpDKsNyga0uz0hFs7sZWA">Francesco Cirillo</a>, as a way to focus and complete assignments. Francesco used a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato (pomodoro in Italian), and ultimately published his method as a free download (<a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=5FBM3vCcKs3YE1UkpDItaw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3D5FBM3vCcKs3YE1UkpDItaw&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw0RZQT_g7wJniSCsA0Klsas">republished as a book</a>). 4. BUILD A TINY HOUSE STUDIO. I work out of a Tiny House Studio. It’s a one-room studio with an open ceiling and a tiny screen porch. I built it in my backyard 10 years ago as a place where I could focus on writing… because inside there’s nothing else to focus on. (<a href="https://annhandley.com/built-tiny-house/?awt_a=8LvK&awt_l=DocHN&awt_m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://annhandley.com/built-tiny-house/?awt_a%3D8LvK%26awt_l%3DDocHN%26awt_m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw2Hz9tMjTKAiJuo3-ToCIc_">Here’s the story</a>.) Since then, I’ve published 3 books, launched this newsletter, and written… I don’t know… maybe a thousand presentation scripts & blog posts & MOAR. I’m not saying the Tiny House Studio is responsible. But I’m not-not saying that, either. The air is rarefied in there; it’s where I feel most creative and motivated. Your Tiny House Studio might be metaphorical. Yours might be a room in your house. A corner of your loft. A coffee shop with the scent of rarefied air. But wherever it is… get one. 5. SHORTEN YOUR SENTENCES. Shorter sentences create momentum for readers because they’re inherently easier to read, unlike long, winding sentences that start one place and then seem to go on to make a second point without giving your brain a break (sometimes parenthetically even) and no matter how much you might enjoy the writing you’re reading this online, aren’t you, and your brain just starts to get impatient and fatigued so you …skip to the next paragraph. Shorter sentences are easier to read online. Shorter sentences are easier to write, too. One thought. One action. Keep it simple and straightforward. Short sentences clarify your thinking for the reader. And for you. You’ll move faster when you can see where you’re going. 6. OK, LET’S TALK ABOUT AI. AI can help you write faster in a few smart ways. I have two favorites: First one: Ask ChatGPT or your favorite AI tool to tell you what’s missing from your piece. Prompt with something like this: <blockquote>You are a content strategist who wrote this detailed attached how-to article that will delight and engage your audience of professional dog handlers for show dogs. You’re sharing grooming ideas and techniques that will inspire dog groomers to coif the most beautiful champions that the Westminster Dog Show judges have ever seen. The article is attached… What’s missing from this list of ideas? Which areas need further explanation? Which areas need more data and examples and visuals of dogs? Please offer actual examples.</blockquote> Second one: Add scholarly research that supports your ideas. (You’ll need <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=QL0G_jTfhyfPIkGSk7PtYg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3DQL0G_jTfhyfPIkGSk7PtYg&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw3PrfU4w7Ej9ws1oltRDq-V">a paid version of ChatGPT for this</a>.) 6½. USE AI FOR THE FIRST DRAFT. THEN TOSS IT OUT. </div> </div> <div><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="CToWUd aligncenter" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NZfRuL8Rw0cqr5POflmfGCU1Y5lG_ev_3CXy6eF6H1FYNOeJwn4wJbEwlqIlMA4ZIhDQ-3uLiPiXHYEdaeEaW0T4pNCXQUcxaPpjrYPE6i4A6Ez5YU33bg962bOPwVXrpPyq6orgRca3xEtlj-RM1FOmonYE98taQ=s0-d-e1-ft#https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/6452fbdd173947d483ea6f7deb69390a.jpeg" alt="Ann crumpling paper during presentation" width="560" height="316" data-bit="iit" /></div> <div> <div class="m_3278167294452925923paragraph"> This controversial technique is inspired by author Lauren Groff, one of my favorite novelists. She <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DocHN&m=3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK&b=_xAm1SS6VfLdnk0wfJH0TQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DDocHN%26m%3D3mtCqb3lAFUyQvK%26b%3D_xAm1SS6VfLdnk0wfJH0TQ&source=gmail&ust=1709649618770000&usg=AOvVaw08z0bq6ljGLljBF-ysrv3O">told the NYTimes</a> that when she “starts something new, she writes it out longhand in large spiral notebooks. After she completes a first draft, she puts it in a bankers box—and never reads it again. Then she’ll start the book over, still in longhand, working from memory. The idea is that this way, only the best, most vital bits survive.” Longhand. Large notebooks. Working from memory. Holy meerkats. I read that and got instantly depressed by my ordinariness. But then I realized that it’s a helpful way to think about getting over the preciousness of words, isn’t it? It’s a way to trust ourselves as writers. A few months ago, I needed to write the foreword to a research report. I stared at the page for eleventy years. I tried to decide where to begin. Nothing came to me. My usual tricks didn’t work. (Pomodoro = pulverized to red sauce.) Ugh. I was desperate. Deadline looming. So I pasted the entire report into ChatGPT and asked the robot to write it for me. “Certainly,” it said, in that clipped, chipper manner it has. Three seconds later. I had it in my hands. I read it. I printed it out. Then I crumpled it up and threw it away. That small, simple act made me realize I’m a better writer than ChatGPT. Seeing AI’s weak, stilted effort helped me realize that I had more to say. I had ideas. I had a clear point of view. “You got this,” me said to me. AI can be an incredibly useful tool. But sometimes where it really helps is when it reminds us of the power of our own voices. </div> </div> </div> The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-faster/">6½ Ways to Write Faster</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-faster/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>How to Write Sales Copy that Doesn’t Sound Like You’re Pitching on QVC</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 18 Nov 2023 16:18:55 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[inspired content]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5437</guid> <description><![CDATA[A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * One of the things I love about writing is that you’re never done improving. One of the things I hate about writing is […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/">How to Write Sales Copy that Doesn’t Sound Like You’re Pitching on QVC</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_5439" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5439" style="width: 1008px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-5439" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-13-at-12.03.45-PM.png" alt="" width="1008" height="468" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-13-at-12.03.45-PM.png 1008w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-13-at-12.03.45-PM-300x139.png 300w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screen-Shot-2022-09-13-at-12.03.45-PM-768x357.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5439" class="wp-caption-text">Source: Wiley</figcaption></figure> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * One of the things I love about writing is that you’re never done improving. One of the things I hate about writing is that you’re never done improving. It’s both, isn’t it? There’s always room to grow. (Frustratingly, awesomely.) There’s never a point where you check the box or punch the clock or consider the task (BOOM!) finished. It’s like a lot of things in life, I guess. Public speaking. Personal relationships. Parallel parking. There’s always room to get better. (Except me and parallel parking. I’m lying about that; I’m actually already very, very good at it.) Anyway: writing. I learned that room-to-grow lesson (again!) this week when writing sales copy for the dust jacket of my new book. What I learned will help your writing, too. Ready?! Let’s go! (And as you exit the vehicle, please admire the mere inches (INCHES!) between the tire and curb.) * * * “But I’ll never write a book,” you might be saying to yourself. Maybe you’re right. Maybe you never will. (Although you can… <a href="https://annhandley.com/6-signs-that-its-time-for-you-to-write-your-book/?awt_a=8LvK&awt_l=OUCUF&awt_m=3gcgM..AXVUyQvK" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://annhandley.com/6-signs-that-its-time-for-you-to-write-your-book/?awt_a%3D8LvK%26awt_l%3DOUCUF%26awt_m%3D3gcgM..AXVUyQvK&source=gmail&ust=1663165258416000&usg=AOvVaw10C8zNiRIZubig7oDNzQgw">if you’d like to</a>.) But you will probably write sales copy to market something you create. You’ll have just a few hundred words to convince someone to take action. To click. Download. Fill out a form. Buy something. Love you a little more. << Time out for a quick internal debate: is “love you more” an “action” someone might opt to take? Or is love instead a feeling that flourishes? Is “love” the goal? Or is “love” a byproduct? >> The trick in parallel parking is to know exactly when to turn the wheel. * * * The graphic above is the dust jacket proof for the new and improved (and 10% funnier) <a href="http://everybodywrites.com">Everybody Writes 2</a>. All the yellow highlighted text needs rewriting. Here is that text, condensed for space: In the newly revised and expanded edition of Everybody Writes, bestselling author and veteran content marketer Ann Handley serves up practical, step-by-step advice on writing stellar communications for every facet of your business: from your website, to your emails, to your bite-sized social media posts, all the way to your marketing promotions. This new and expanded edition includes fresh examples, tools, and resources to help you move forward confidently with your writing efforts, so that you can get the business results you’re looking for . . . without dreading the writing process! In a time-challenged world dominated by short and snappy videos, click-bait headlines, Twitter streams, and Instagram feeds, the idea of focusing on writing may seem outdated, or at the very least ineffective. Counterintuitively, your writing skills are actually now more important than ever. Customers are hungry to learn what you’re really about. Everybody Writes gives you expert insight into the process and strategy of content creation, production, and publishing, so that you can stand out from the crowd and capture the attention of your ideal customer. Handley offers both practical advice and inspirational guidance—giving you a winning formula to follow, while also helping you exercise your creative faculties to make your writing one-of-a-kind and deeply personal. For any business owner looking to communicate better with customers and reap the business benefits of doing so, the revised edition of Everybody Writes is an essential addition to your bookshelf that you’ll be able to turn to for writing help in the weeks, months, and years ahead. (288 words) * * * Sweet Jeebus. Did you read the whole thing? You skimmed, right? Don’t blame you. It’s bad. It’s ugly. Let’s give that copy a glow up! Here’s how: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="an1" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/14.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" alt="➡️" width="25" height="25" data-emoji="➡️" aria-label="➡️" /> Conjure up your buyer. Fix them in your mind with permanent adhesive. Speak directly to them, reflecting empathy for the problem that you solve. > What hell is your buyer in? > What salvation does this offer them? (<a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3gcgM..AXVUyQvK&b=anF3uxTMYc9Pf9NqQZeVlw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DOUCUF%26m%3D3gcgM..AXVUyQvK%26b%3DanF3uxTMYc9Pf9NqQZeVlw&source=gmail&ust=1663165258416000&usg=AOvVaw0DpXomm9yj_qQEfB6iUYK0">h/t Aaron Orendorff</a>) (Hi, Aaron!) Manifest what you hope they do. Close your eyes. Literally SEE them take the action. My approach: I thought of my buyers standing in the aisle of the bookstore. They flip open the book and read the first few lines. I see them nodding their noggin slightly: They recognize their pain. They feel SEEN. I hear a tiny chuckle. They walk toward checkout. They pull out their credit card. They swipe. They crack open the book and start reading while they’re still parked in the parking lot. MANIFEST THAT ACTION. << Time out for a reality check: Does Manifesting actually guarantee a desired outcome? No. This is an empathy exercise. >> << But then again… maybe? What’s the harm? And what’s that line from Hamlet…? There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. >> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="an1" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/14.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" alt="➡️" width="25" height="25" data-emoji="➡️" aria-label="➡️" /> Write the salvation in 3 or 5 bullets. Your salve eases the pain. Odd numbers work best. <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3gcgM..AXVUyQvK&b=p2bIDK257ttD_E49DuvdFA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DOUCUF%26m%3D3gcgM..AXVUyQvK%26b%3Dp2bIDK257ttD_E49DuvdFA&source=gmail&ust=1663165258416000&usg=AOvVaw0OMQl_Refh97BeKg-u7qr1">That’s just science</a>. Bullets. Not paragraphs. This is a get-in/get-out situation. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="an1" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/14.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" alt="➡️" width="25" height="25" data-emoji="➡️" aria-label="➡️" /> Keep the phrasing of your bullets consistent. Each bullet should follow the same construction. Don’t flip around between approaches, giving your reader whiplash. One bullet should not begin with “You’ll understand how cats bark” and the next one begin with “Witnessing why barking cats confuse the canines…” My approach: Whoopsie. I fumbled this one. Some of the bullets on an early draft started with nouns; others started with the conjunction “how to.” It’s a small thing. But why install a tripwire in the middle of a situation where you’re trying to encourage the reader to keep going…? <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="an1" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/14.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" alt="➡️" width="25" height="25" data-emoji="➡️" aria-label="➡️" /> Mirror the voice. Any sales copy should sound like the product it’s promoting. It should feel like the same author wrote it. Don’t let it sound like marketing. Another mistake I made. My first draft made me sound like I’m hawking Ginsu knives on QVC. (But wait! There’s more!) “Calm down,” Inner Me said. Do you believe your product helps people? Of course you do. Just say how. (^^ Actual internal pep talk by Inner Me to Ginsu-Knife-Pitching Me.) We don’t need to overcomplicate marketing. (Although we love to, don’t we?) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="an1" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/14.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" alt="➡️" width="25" height="25" data-emoji="➡️" aria-label="➡️" /> Consider word choice. Discover sounds like more adventurous than learn. Packed with is stronger than offers or contains. Use action words you can see it in your brain. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="an1" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/14.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" alt="➡️" width="25" height="25" data-emoji="➡️" aria-label="➡️" /> Eyeball for white space. Read it out loud. Listen for the music and flow. Always. Do this with everything you write. This is 2022. White space is oxygen. We won’t read chunks of text. Your goal is to appeal to the skimmers & scrollers. (We are all skimmers & scroller.) Your goal is to stop the scroll. The trick in parallel parking is to align yourself with the parked car in front of the open space meant for your car. Turn the wheel hard. When your front tires align with the back tires of the car you’re parking behind… STRAIGHTEN THE WHEEL NOW. CUT IT CUT IT CUT IT!! … and glide in like a pageant queen. * * * So what’s all this look like? New sales copy for the dust jacket: Everybody Writes is your essential guide to becoming a masterful marketer, writer, and storyteller. We think the ability to write well is a gift bestowed on a lucky few. But that’s not true. Writing well is part habit, part knowledge, and part giving a damn. We are all capable of better writing and better marketing. If only we had a clear approach and some useful go-to techniques. If only we knew exactly what would take our writing and storytelling to new heights. Ann Handley, one of the world’s leading experts on marketing and business writing, packs Everybody Writes with proven strategies, fresh frameworks, and fun examples. This brand-new, expanded edition offers you practical, step-by-step writing insight and storytelling approaches that you can put to work right away to transform your writing… and your business. You’ll discover the resources you need to tell better stories, connect with your customers, transform your business—and have fun doing it. It’s your essential guide to becoming a masterful marketer, writer, and storyteller… with a voice that’s all yours. Inside you’ll discover: <ul> <li>The resources you need to write ridiculously well—with a goal of creating deeper, richer customer relationships</li> <li>The joy and value of great writing (a clear, proven writing process)</li> <li>The way to create a unique brand voice</li> <li>Strategies for telling original stories that could come only from you</li> <li>Specific approaches to the top 20 types of content that marketers write</li> </ul> Everybody Writes will reshape how you think about your writing. It’ll transform how you market, and how your customers respond to your marketing. We are all capable of producing good writing. We all have the magic within us. Be the writer you’ve always wanted to be. Start creating content your audience will love. (283 words) * * * What’s the ROI on great sales copy? IDK. Let’s see how the new book is doing. It’s <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3gcgM..AXVUyQvK&b=Z6mrM0cLCoFpsCG.nyAdgg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DOUCUF%26m%3D3gcgM..AXVUyQvK%26b%3DZ6mrM0cLCoFpsCG.nyAdgg&source=gmail&ust=1663165258417000&usg=AOvVaw07_AtdLu9kZz8pQq0XxKF8">out </a>. The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/">How to Write Sales Copy that Doesn’t Sound Like You’re Pitching on QVC</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Why We Write: A Story About AI and a Sentient Toaster Oven</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/why-we-write/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/why-we-write/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 17 Jun 2023 17:02:57 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ai writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ChatGPT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ChatGPT4]]></category> <category><![CDATA[rule of 3]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5576</guid> <description><![CDATA[Source: Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * My friend Paul shared his out-of-office email with me. ChatGPT4 had written it. The prompt Paul gave ChatGPT4: […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/why-we-write/">Why We Write: A Story About AI and a Sentient Toaster Oven</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-5577" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Toaster-300x200.jpeg" alt="" width="737" height="491" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Toaster-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Toaster.jpeg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px" /> Source: <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3mssu8ViktUyQvK&b=mbmJ_5cXkoH.mY_HgA1JwA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DOUCUF%26m%3D3mssu8ViktUyQvK%26b%3DmbmJ_5cXkoH.mY_HgA1JwA&source=gmail&ust=1680699538955000&usg=AOvVaw2Y-DI2sFJStEvgVvgxUe_B">Claudio Schwarz</a> on <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3mssu8ViktUyQvK&b=lFZsa.81.ZX9ZHXEY_bbpQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DOUCUF%26m%3D3mssu8ViktUyQvK%26b%3DlFZsa.81.ZX9ZHXEY_bbpQ&source=gmail&ust=1680699538955000&usg=AOvVaw0SVAIko7HYB59Kn9GyDbei">Unsplash</a> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * My friend <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3mssu8ViktUyQvK&b=uaY4obAtMwzIBnZ__iCY3g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paul</a> shared his out-of-office email with me. ChatGPT4 had written it. The prompt Paul gave ChatGPT4: <blockquote>“Write me a clever out-of-office email that explains I’m going to be slow to reply to emails because I’m traveling for a series of talks about artificial intelligence.”</blockquote> The output read, in part: <blockquote>“I am out of the office attending and speaking at a series of AI conferences, where I will dive deep into the trenches of machine learning, neural networks, and sentient toaster ovens (just kidding about the last one… or am I?).”</blockquote> Look at the wink to the audience (“or am I?”). That’s good. But I highlighted the really important part: The reference to Sentient Toaster Ovens. It’s a joke I would have made. A clunky, dumb little toaster oven tricked out with AI is inherently funny—it’s like a golf cart applying for a job as a limousine. You can imagine the ridiculousness of a Sentient Toaster Oven taken to an absurd extreme… Perhaps it complains about the drudgery of reheating mozzarella sticks and chicken nuggets? Maybe it resents the job at hand when it’s capable of so much more? (“Put me in! I can compose a full Thanksgiving menu! While reciting the full catalog of e.e. cummings poetry!” says Toaster Oven.) So ChatGPT is funny now? It writes just like me? And maybe like you? I kept thinking about it. That night, it kept me awake. Are you wondering why it kept me awake? What exactly is bugging me about Paul’s OOO, which I’ve now internalized as my Sentient Toaster Oven Moment? * * * The concept of a Sentient Toaster Oven (or another household appliance that has gained consciousness or a personality) is a common theme in science fiction/fantasy/gaming—stretching as far back as 2008, as far as I can tell. ChatGPT obviously pulled in the reference from somewhere, since it’s not capable of truly original thought. But what’s significant isn’t the Sentient Toaster Oven Moment reference itself. What’s significant is that the reference is following a pattern called the Rule of 3. The Rule of 3 is a principle of both comedy and copywriting. (Among other things.) In comedy writing, the Rule of 3 holds that in a list of three, you throw a curveball at the end: One that doesn’t fit the mold. That’s unexpected. That’s as absurd as our Toaster Oven friend complaining about the nuggets. The third item interrupts the expected pattern. It becomes the punchline. The pattern: Item 1, Item 2, Curveball Item 3 In Paul’s OOO email, above: Machine learning, neural networks, sentient toaster ovens * * * Pattern-recognition/replication is what machines do best. But in this case… it feels fresh. It feels real. It feels like something a clever writer would say, yeah? That’s why I’m sleepless. Lying in the dark. Feeling the blackness close in on my Sentient Toaster Moment. Feeling it wrap me in a grim despair as depressing as day-old mozzarella sticks. “Why write?” sleepless me thinks. 💭 Why write an OOO when you can spin up a prompt and have ChatGPT4 do it for you? 💭 Why write a newsletter like this when you can ask AI to write one for you? 💭 Why am I awake at 3 AM thinking about this? ^^ that was a Rule of 3 right there. Why write when the machine does it as well? What is writing for? I don’t know, I said out loud in the blackness. I don’t know. From somewhere far away… I heard a Sentient Toaster Oven chuckle softly. No… that must be my imagination? * * * You can’t wander through LinkedIn without tripping over post after post about how Large Language Models are transforming sales and marketing. You have seen two kinds of posts: 😈 AI is the devil that will undermine our credibility, steal all our jobs, and leave us penniless and destitute living in cold-water walk-ups. Or… 😇 AI is a sweet gift sent from the angels that will help us be more productive and creative and allow us to retire to our yachts in the Mediterranean Sea, wearing deck shoes stitched from hundred-dollar bills. Which is it? Both, maybe… depending on how we use these new tools. * * * The more interesting question to me isn’t whether AI is the angel or the devil. The interesting questions: What happens to writing? And because writing is thinking: What happens to thinking? If we stop writing… what happens then? Where will new ideas come from? How will we grow? Writing is a form of discovery. It lets us evolve our own thinking. It helps codify and distill our ideas for ourselves and for others. From programmer, writer, and investor <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3mssu8ViktUyQvK&b=sTr_F1pV2JuMWfmJkNJ7MA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paul Graham</a>: “A good writer doesn’t just think, and then write down what he thought, as a sort of transcript. A good writer will almost always discover new things in the process of writing. And there is, as far as I know, no substitute for this kind of discovery.” * * * Why write? We write to… <ol> <li>CREATE NEW IDEAS. Get them down! Plant a flag of this is what I think now right here.</li> <li>LINK ON IDEA TO A SECOND and discover offshoots growing out of ideas. Like spring seedlings that grow impossibly through a crack in the sidewalk.</li> <li>ADD SOME MIRACLE-GRO TO THOSE BABY PLANTS. Mulch the spidery roots. Maybe those ideas thrive and grow upright. Maybe they don’t.</li> <li>SHAPE AND CLIP THEM Edward Scissorhands-style. Make them attractive and help them stand out. You want others to understand, internalize… and add more mulch of their own.</li> </ol> If others love our ideas and mulch them—GREAT. If they let them wither and die… that’s cool, too. At least we’ll understand each other. It’s much better to be understood AND rejected than to be rejected AND misunderstood! <ol start="5"> <li>HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO EXPRESS IDEAS OUT LOUD, in public.</li> </ol> It’s scary to put your ideas out there. Sharing your ideas makes you vulnerable. People might criticize or disagree with you: You can hit reply and send me a mean note right now… because maybe you are a rep for the Sentient Toaster Oven community? But writing down your thoughts and sharing them publicly is the only way I know of to boost your confidence enough to keep doing it. Which helps us grow as professionals. And as people. <ol start="6"> <li>CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY. People like you—who are here right now reading this.</li> </ol> Ultimately, I write to feel less alone. * * * Why write? I had to write about it. I am writing about it. And that’s the answer, isn’t it? This is what writing it for. This, right here. What we’re doing together. Writing is how we work through what we do not understand. It’s how we realize that we don’t have all the answers. Writing is how we try to see some truth. And it’s how we realize that sometimes… a toaster is really just a toaster. The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/why-we-write/">Why We Write: A Story About AI and a Sentient Toaster Oven</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/why-we-write/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>What Does AI Mean for Writers?</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/what-does-ai-mean-for-writers/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/what-does-ai-mean-for-writers/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 07 Apr 2023 19:40:36 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[inspired content]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5525</guid> <description><![CDATA[A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Above is a screenshot of a video I posted recently on LinkedIn announcing earliest-bird pricing for the MarketingProfs B2B Forum. The captions you see below […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/what-does-ai-mean-for-writers/">What Does AI Mean for Writers?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-5527" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-02-at-3.36.42-PM.png" alt="" width="731" height="550" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-02-at-3.36.42-PM.png 986w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-02-at-3.36.42-PM-300x226.png 300w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-02-at-3.36.42-PM-768x578.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px" />A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * Above is a screenshot of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/annhandley_b2bmarketing-mpb2b-earlybirdoffer-activity-7008164554706681856-Laf0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a video I posted recently</a> on LinkedIn announcing earliest-bird pricing for the <a href="https://mpb2b.marketingprofs.com/register-2023-holiday-flash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MarketingProfs B2B Forum</a>. The captions you see below my face are robo-generated. What I actually said in the video: “Year-end budgeting” What the robot heard me say: “💦🚽” (Lolz.) LinkedIn gives you the option when you post a video: “Do you want to edit the captions?” Always say: HECK YES I DO. It’s a good reminder: Always take an extra few minutes to edit your auto-generated captions. And it’s a good reminder of something else more important, too. * * * <h3>AI Writing is all the rage.</h3> If I had a nickel for every post I saw in my social feed this week about ChatGPT… I’d be wrapping all my holiday gifts in gold leaf tied with ribbons made from twenty-dollar bills. I have a lot of thoughts about AI platforms and tools and how they help/hurt writers, marketers, and other tender creative souls. I’m working on a new keynote about it now.* *(Well, not now-now: Right now I’m writing to you. But you knew that.) But for now, here are a few of my early thoughts about AI & writing that have been knocking around my noggin. <h3>AI is a tool.</h3> That’s it. Full stop. It’s a power tool, sure—maybe a diamond-toothed chainsaw capable of felling a redwood. But it’s also just a tool. The question becomes: Who is holding the tool? (<a href="https://www.sixpixels.com/articles/archives/wondrous-tools-often-dont-replace-the-person-wielding-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hat tip to Mitch Joel</a>.) You can put a vibrating, live diamond-toothed chainsaw in my inexperienced, unpracticed, ignorant hands and within seconds I will lose control of it and catch my sleeve in the blade and oh my god I just sheered my arm clean off and then in a panic (chainsaw thrashing wildly) I hack off the limbs off anyone standing near me and before I black out I see everything, everywhere is chaos. It’s a bloodbath. AI tools like ChatGPT remind me of that chaos. The flurry of activity on social media this past week. The momentum of millions of new ChatGPT accounts. It’s not a exactly a bloodbath—but it’s a lot of wild energy that is fueling both panic and euphoria. It’s not that you can’t use ChatGPT in useful, substantive ways to be a better writer. Or to write at all: A flummoxed, frozen writer might use it to translate a garbled idea in their head into a basic listicle or email or meta description. But what about more than that? What about writers like us? What do we make of it? It comes down to the fundamental question: Who is holding the tool? The one holding the tool should treat AI as a party plus one. AI is the guest we invite into our work, not the one throwing the party. I talk about the writing process in three distinct phases; I detail that in my <a href="https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2022/48188/writing-gps-writing-framework-ann-handley" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Writing GPS </a> from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Writes-Improved-Go-Ridiculously/dp/1119854164" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everybody Writes 2</a>. Tools like ChatGPT can help in each phase, in various ways. The Sentences On Demand that AI generates is not where the real power is. The power comes in pushing us to better work. Who is holding the tool? The one holding the tool should recognize that the output from AI has a lot of swagger. Yet it can be completely off. One of the things that struck me about ChatGPT was how weirdly confident it is. It writes with the tone of the righteous. The text it delivers swaggers like a running back dancing in the end zone…THIS! Yes! I did it! Here is the result! This is my truth! <Spikes ball! Team high-fives!> But in AI’s case, the swagger is unearned. The text it delivers is sometimes wrong. Biased. Just a little bit off. Will it get better? I hope so. But always: Check the work. Ask questions. Research on your own. Plus-one guest, not host! Who is holding the tool? The one holding the tool should realize that Sentences On Demand are way less interesting than what’s to come. Or I should say… what I imagine will come based on what I hear is coming. (Thanks <a href="https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/blog/chatgpt-from-openai" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paul Roetzer</a> and <a href="https://www.christopherspenn.com/2022/12/almost-timely-news-practical-use-case-and-examples-of-generative-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christopher Penn</a> and others I forget right now sorry.) What if the next evolution of AI tools don’t just help us create better work… but challenge us, too? What if this Sentences On Demand grows up to become a full-fledged writing assistant—a North Pole workshop elf—that’s able to literally workshop a piece alongside us? Maybe instead of us bugging others for feedback—Does this make sense to you? Does the logic work?—what if instead an AI tool can lay its robot eyeballs on our work, challenging us to bust out of the well-worn tracks writers stay inside. You know those tracks: The pet analogies we go back to. The usual way we write. Can it help me disrupt myself? AI might eventually tell me something like… “Yo! Cut the boring bit in this paragraph.” Or: “Your leap of logic here is waaaaay too wide a leap—like you’ve crossed the Grand Canyon. The reader can’t follow. You need to give them a sure-footed burrow to get them there, metaphorically.” Or: “That power chainsaw / bloodbath thing above is a tad dramatic, isn’t it? Limbs being hacked clean off? I mean… really?” Can AI help me disrupt myself? Can it help you disrupt yourself? You can’t put AI in the hands of someone who can’t write and expect anything other than mediocre. And you can’t ever expect AI to ever disrupt your own writing—to call you to a higher place creatively—without a little gung-ho and gusto of your own. AI doesn’t work on its own… not really. It requires discerning people who care. It needs discerning people who care. So back to our question. Who is holding the tool? You are. (I’m resisting saying “Urine charge.”) Play around with it. Try it out. But don’t slice your arm off, OK? The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/what-does-ai-mean-for-writers/">What Does AI Mean for Writers?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/what-does-ai-mean-for-writers/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The One Email Metric You Need to Track</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/the-one-email-metric-to-track/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/the-one-email-metric-to-track/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 25 Feb 2023 15:38:59 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[inspired content]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5489</guid> <description><![CDATA[A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * That’s a quote from Paulo Coelho, Buddha, or The Little Engine That Could, the classic children’s tale of a small train that persevered in […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/the-one-email-metric-to-track/">The One Email Metric You Need to Track</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_5490" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5490" style="width: 678px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-5490" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM.png" alt="" width="678" height="677" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM.png 942w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM-300x300.png 300w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM-150x150.png 150w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM-768x766.png 768w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM-96x96.png 96w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Screenshot-2022-11-14-at-2.03.27-PM-84x84.png 84w" sizes="(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5490" class="wp-caption-text">Source: Grosset & Dunlap</figcaption></figure> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * That’s a quote from Paulo Coelho, Buddha, or <a href="https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=OUCUF&m=3iyWFA2gpxUyQvK&b=PfsbaKbB_Y1J_7mVizcUCQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l%3DOUCUF%26m%3D3iyWFA2gpxUyQvK%26b%3DPfsbaKbB_Y1J_7mVizcUCQ&source=gmail&ust=1668530614641000&usg=AOvVaw3woGOSxE6k-f9UL84EshZE">The Little Engine That Could</a>, the classic children’s tale of a small train that persevered in pulling a heavy load over a mountain after bigger, lazier engines tapped out. Or maybe the quote is from all three…? (LOL) About 18 months ago I started manually tracking a specific metric for this newsletter. Today a version of that metric is increasingly important to marketers, for a few reasons. It’s a small but powerful metric for email newsletters, one I’ve started to think of as the Little Metric That Could: It hauls a lot of important weight. * * * I call the email metric I track Open to Write Back Rate (OWBR, pronounced “Owe-bur”)—meaning, the percentage of people who literally reply to any given issue of this email newsletter after I send it out. OWBR is my own rebrand of Reply Rate or Response Rate (RR), which some email marketers track to measure the same. Email expert extraordinaire <a href="https://michaeljbarber.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Barber</a> told me that only a few email providers currently include RR on dashboards, including HubSpot, Salesforce Highrise, and Outreach. Outreach also measures the sentiment of each RR (Angry? Joyful? Need more drinks in the Bar Car?)—probably through an AI/natural-language processing tool, Michael said. * * * Why is this Little Metric the most important email metric right now? For a few reasons, running on parallel tracks: 1) RR/OWBR is a signal of email reputation. The more people reply to your email, the more your sender reputation improves. A strong email reputation means your email actually gets into the inbox. It does not get the shaft. It’s less likely to be sent to Spam or Promotions or kicked to the curb. 2) RR/OWBR is a signal for writing resonance. How inspired are your readers to hit reply and write back to you? Zero?Well, friend. I love you… but your email newsletter is a nurturing tool, not a broadcast platform. Try harder. You got this. 3) RR/OWBR is a harbinger of a relationship. How much do they want to have a conversation with you? Do you feel like a real person…? Or do you feel like a literal… uh… “solution”? I suppose I could have said that the metric is a signal of reader engagement. But I really wanted to use the word “harbinger” in a sentence. 4) RR/OWBR is an audience research tool. It tells you not just who your audience is from a demographic standpoint. But who they actually are. How they found you. What they care about. What they look to you for. In other words, it tells you a lot about both them and you. * * * All that ^^ is why I watch OWBR. So my advice to you: Work on making your own RR/OWBR into a powerful engine chugging easily over that mountain top! How? I have thoughts. 1) Use your Welcome email as a trigger to action. Invite your audience to interact with you immediately—in that first email. Invite them to respond. Set up a system to deal with the responses. > Important: Don’t make it feel “hard.” Make it simple-easy for a new subscriber to respond. Example: When you subscribed to this newsletter, I asked you two simple questions: (1) What path brought you here, and (2) what you hope to learn. Metrics: 82% of you open that email. The RR/OWBR is 43%—meaning, 43% of you write me back. Why it matters: I learn all the things I talked about above. I also learn a lot about who my “influencers” are (who is recommending my work); who my audience is; how I can most help. 2) Ask easy questions in each newsletter issue. Again: Be sure they’re open-ended, easy layups: What’s your favorite tool? was in a recent issue (93 of you shared a favorite with me). I learned the hard way why easy matters. (Side note: I generally learn everything the hard way. You, too?) Hard way example: Many, many issues ago I wrote my own Dr. Seuss-inspired poem. At the time I invited readers to do the same. “Write a Dr. Seuss-inspired poem!” former-me said. “It’ll be fun! Hit reply and share it with me!” What happened? Crickets. I might as well have asked you to map your dreams via a Cartesian coordinate system and then bring them to a bubble over a Bunsen burner. (Impossible.) 3) Optimize your content for Crush, not Crickets. I hate the Bro word “crush.” But in this case it describes when I get a crush of email into my inbox. Focusing on RR/OWBR makes me fine-tune my approach to optimize for maximum crush. (“Maximum crush”—and now I’ve temporarily entered full BroMode™ whoops. The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/the-one-email-metric-to-track/">The One Email Metric You Need to Track</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/the-one-email-metric-to-track/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>AI Writing and Typewriters</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/ai-writing-typewriters/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/ai-writing-typewriters/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 10 Feb 2023 17:46:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ai writing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5530</guid> <description><![CDATA[A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * This is a story about AI Writing and typewriters. Over the holiday break I lifted a curious grimy, gray case up off the […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/ai-writing-typewriters/">AI Writing and Typewriters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-5531" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.10.55-PM.png" alt="" width="439" height="596" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.10.55-PM.png 884w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.10.55-PM-221x300.png 221w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.10.55-PM-754x1024.png 754w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.10.55-PM-768x1043.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 439px) 100vw, 439px" />A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * This is a story about AI Writing and typewriters. Over the holiday break I lifted a curious grimy, gray case up off the cruddy floor of an even cruddier secondhand shop. It was heavy and bulky, big enough to house… what? A small motor? A human head? I don’t know why I scared myself with the head thing. But once I thought of it, I couldn’t not think of it. So crouching on that gross floor, working the latches on the case (it wasn’t just grimy, but sticky too)… I felt a creepy dread. (I also felt like Covid was crawling right off the floor and straight up my sleeves.) Finally the latches swung open… no heads, thank god. Instead though… THERE SHE WAS! A gorgeous turquoise blue Remington typewriter—gleaming bright even in the shop’s unkind fluorescent overheads. It was a Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty, circa 1969-70, the Internet later told me. <div class="definition-parent"> <table class="floated-none" role="presentation" width="100%" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="model aligncenter" src="https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/764a181cd87445bfa57c9bca5673c3bc.jpeg?t=1673716862" alt="Case in point" width="560" height="420" /></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <div class="definition-parent"> <div class="paragraph"> On the case, marked in Sharpie, was the price: $19.99. It was right near the name of the original owner: “Thomas Murphy,” printed in blocky letters with a pen. When I lugged the typewriter to the register (Thomas Murphy must’ve been jacked!) and heaved all of its 16 pounds (oof!) onto the counter, the shop attendant glanced at the $19.99 price. Then she rang up $10. I pointed to the price on the case. “It’s half off,” she said, by way of explanation that explained nothing. I got the Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty home. I cleaned her up. (I don’t know what the sticky stuff was on the case. I don’t think I want to know.) And, yes, she works perfectly! I love the way the clack of each keystroke erupts as a small cheer under your fingertips: Y! (cheer!) E! (cheer!) S! (cheer!) At the end of each line a small bell chimes—yeep! you wrote another line! “CONGRATS!” the turquoise Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty says. “You go! You’re writing!” It’s like having your own personal cheering squad, right there on the page. (Writers need cheering squads.) </div> </div> <div class="definition-parent"> <table class="floated-none" role="presentation" width="100%" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="model aligncenter" src="https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/42c344abc342481996875c01052c8e97.jpeg?t=1673716862" alt="Typewriter self-affirmation" width="560" height="640" /></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <div class="definition-parent"> <div class="paragraph"> <div> Which brings me to AI Writing. The promise of the “ease” of AI Writing is false—it’s a trap. Sure, it’s fun to play around with ChatGPT, this infant iteration of an AI writing tool. It’s fun to learn how to best prompt it to get decent results. But the turquoise blue Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty is a good reminder of three things: 1) Writing is a full-body contact sport. You need to participate fully. Your brain. Your hands. Your personality. Your voice. All of it. We writers can’t passively sit back and let AI write *for us*. The way to use AI is as a gymnast using a spotter and a coach—a way to help you create with more confidence. Even fearlessly. Yet it’s your talent that drives AI. You are the gymnast! 2) The advent of AI makes one thing really clear to me: Your relationship with your audience matters more than ever. *Who* is wielding the tool is crucial. You write faster first drafts, but you can’t shortcut relationships. 3) Your relationship with your audience starts with your relationship with yourself, as a writer. Do the work to become a better, more confident writer. Find tools that help your writing voice, your taste, your instincts to evolve. Use those tools often. Play with them. Maybe that’s a journal and a pen. A diary and a Sharpie. Or maybe you’re Thomas Murphy with a turquoise blue Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty. It doesn’t matter what you choose: Just find a way to connect physically to the work. It’s the only way to strengthen your relationship with yourself. <h3>The Rest of the Story</h3> It wasn’t until I got the typewriter home and unpacked that sticky case that I noticed one more thing about it: Thomas Murphy, it turns out, was a meticulous historian. Stashed under the Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty was all of its original paperwork, including a factory test she got before she left the factory floor in Norwalk, Connecticut, 53 years ago. The test was certified by “R.A. Pardon, Quality Assurance Manager.” </div> </div> </div> <div class="definition-parent"> <table class="floated-none" role="presentation" width="100%" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="model aligncenter" src="https://hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com/Nzc1NjIz/original/c628a3c635024b599fcb27a82e0b713d.jpeg?t=1673716862" alt="Typewriter quality assurance" width="560" height="727" /></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <div class="definition-parent"> <div class="paragraph"> <div> I immediately pictured R.A. Pardon as a lab-coated technician with a clipboard, putting her through her paces before she’d be released into the working world. At Remington headquarters in 1970… was there Typewriter Bootcamp? “THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG!” R.A. Pardon barks at her. “NOW KNEES UP! AND DOUBLE-TIME!” Thomas Murphy kept that certificate of achievement she earned. And the instructional manual, too. But why would he, I wondered…? Because he thought someone else (the next owner?) might want the documentation that she graduated top of her class? Because she had a future that would go beyond Thomas Murphy? Because she would go on without him? Is that why he—or someone—packaged her up with all her paperwork and sent to her off to her next assignment? Yes. That’s why. The Sperry Rand Remington Ten Forty would outlast Thomas Murphy. Or at least his need for her. * * * You might read this as a story of the stoicism and staying power of a machine made of metal and gears and no electrical components, chips, or fussy CPUs. (Can you imagine a MacBook languishing on a cruddy floor for years still able to perform right out of its case? Are you kidding? That MacBook would need a meticulous cleanup and gentle pampering and coaxing and a therapist for the emotional trauma of that cruddy floor… and even then it would be dicey.) Or you might read this as a story of the durability of typewriters. The nostalgia for a time when a machine didn’t need anything more than an annual tune-up and a de-sticky-fying to work. And—if you’re old enough—the nostalgia of learning how to type. But no. That’s not it. Instead, this story is about the staying power of something more lasting than typewriters or gears or any machine. Instead, this story is about the invincible, indestructible power of words themselves. And the need for writers who care. We make all the difference. </div> </div> </div> The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/ai-writing-typewriters/">AI Writing and Typewriters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/ai-writing-typewriters/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>How to Write Like Robots Can’t</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-like-robots-cant/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-like-robots-cant/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2023 23:28:39 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5536</guid> <description><![CDATA[A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * One of the things I love about the explosive chatter around AI writing is how overnight the conversation shifted from this: Yo! No […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-like-robots-cant/">How to Write Like Robots Can’t</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_5538" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5538" style="width: 530px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-5538" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.56.06-PM.png" alt="" width="530" height="735" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.56.06-PM.png 1118w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.56.06-PM-216x300.png 216w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.56.06-PM-738x1024.png 738w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.56.06-PM-768x1066.png 768w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screenshot-2023-02-07-at-12.56.06-PM-1106x1536.png 1106w" sizes="(max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5538" class="wp-caption-text">Actual footage from the party tent.</figcaption></figure> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * One of the things I love about the explosive chatter around AI writing is how overnight the conversation shifted from this: Yo! No One Reads. Writing Doesn’t Matter Anymore! To this: Writing Is the Most Important Thing We Do! Writing Matters! Dukes Up! I Will Fight You If You Disagree! Of course you and I have always been in that second, Dukes Up camp. That’s why I wrote <a class="validating" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118905555" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everybody Writes</a>. (<a class="validating" href="https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Writes-Improved-Go-Ridiculously-dp-1119854164/dp/1119854164/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">And then I wrote it again!</a>) Long ago I pitched a party tent and hired the band in that Writing Matters camp. Feel the thump-thump-thump of the bass? See that blur out there…? That’s me going HAM on the dance floor…! Now there are lots of new faces popping into the party tent! People aren’t here just for the free margaritas. They’re also here because… yep: Words. Matter. Whether you believe AI is a game-changer or not… I love how everyone is all-in on words and writing. * * * Yet writing is work. And that’s also fueling the frenzy around AI Writing. A lot of us are looking for a way to shortcut the process, because we think AI is like a microwave that’ll heat our Hickory Ham Hot Pocket in a jiffy. Look! 10 seconds on HIGH and I have an entire blog post! But it’s not like that. Because our content isn’t extruded and rolled and mass-produced. Or it shouldn’t be. And because that’s not how we should use AI. AI is a tool. Maybe we use it to brainstorm. Or refine. Or edit. Or reimagine a blog post as a social post. That kind of thing. AI is <a class="validating" href="https://archive.aweber.com/newsletter/totalannarchy/MTcwNDIxNDM=/ta-127-what-does-ai-mean-for-writers-i-have-thoughts.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a robot perched on our shoulder, not the creator at the keyboard</a>. You need to <a class="validating" href="https://archive.aweber.com/newsletter/totalannarchy/MTczNzM2NTg=/ta-129-ai-writing-typewriters-the-whole-story.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">do the work to become a better, more confident writer</a>. * * * Part of me hates that bold text above—that “writing is work” business. Because writing is also fun! It’s play! Or it can be. We don’t spend enough time talking about the sheer delight of creating things we love—things that we co-create with our brains, our hearts, our hands, our whole selves. Things that let us wallow in words and just… play. That’s what robots can’t do. No matter how good the output* eventually might be. (*Side note: Writing as “output.” Gross. I just threw up in my mouth a little.) So let’s play! Six thoughts! 1. CREATE METAPHORS AS AN INSIDER WINK. Use your words to paint pictures in the context of your audience. Reflect their experiences. Use their language. Help them be seen. And delight your reader… insider to insider. Example: Aha Media Group is a marketing agency that serves (in part) healthcare clients. Behold this insider wink in an email it sent promoting a webinar to its community of healthcare marketers: “We’ll show you how to move away from social media platforms that are draining your budget like a vampire in an OR.” Budget. Vampire. Blood. OR. <a class="validating" href="https://hello.ahamediagroup.com/webmail/740263/333742198/5eaa0a9ebc9531f7b2272d5131d01b32c9d9cfef650c0cf2ae0615bc8753b43a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The email</a> doesn’t even bother to spell out “Operating Rooms.” Hospital marketers sprinkle acronyms on their morning oatmeal. 2. GO HARD TO TEASE OUT a theme. Example: In a direct response email selling winter cocktails, online liquor retailer <a class="validating" href="https://clicks.drizly.com/e/evib?_t=9d32c60f98ac40a490ccf8bea5d31bcf&_m=73b6d7b0543e4d57a42c976538fec3a8&_e=zdmNgLNcTWGs7x3JWduWf_zBLd_bd4bh2BRkOwMwdMmQkYjcwfkgt5-so-D7Fy5l" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Drizly writes</a>: “These drinks are so winter-ready, they might as well have chains on their tires. Go ahead and get ’em delivered right to your blanket fort.” Hunkering down in a blanket fort in the January brrr. Fun! 3. GIVE YOUR READER A CAMEO. Right there on the page, cast your reader in a speaking role. Say out loud what’s inside their head. Example: Writing about two healthcare systems consolidating, <a class="validating" href="https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/hospitalogy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Blake Madden voices what his been-around-the-block healthcare industry reader is thinking</a>: “Now, I know what you’re thinking—’but hospital consolidation…not again! This is just another way for hospitals to merge without merging.’ And yes, that is a legitimate concern anytime two huge systems announce anything substantial.” 4. ADD A SECOND SENSE. Show how something feels, tastes, smells, sounds… in addition to how it looks or what it is. Tap at least two senses. I talk about this a lot. We don’t use it enough. Example: Morning Brew <a class="validating" href="https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/issues/latest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">taps this technique</a> in an ad—an ad!—for Mugsy jeans: “If [thighs] could talk, they’d be telling you how Mugsy jeans are the softest, comfiest jeans a set of thighs has ever called home. “And if they could shout, these thighs would be screamin’ about the incredible stretch Mugsy jeans deliver, keeping the fit juuust right—never too baggy and never too tight.” Talking thighs. Shouting thighs! That word just with three Us in the middle. You can feel AND hear AND see those comfy jeans giving your thighs plenty of space. 5. LET WORD CHOICE = STYLE. I do this a lot; it’s kind of my thing. I toss an archaic or old-timey or unnecessarily long word like a hand grenade in the middle of a sentence. Harbinger. Nincompoop. Shenanigans. That Jiffy in the Hot Pocket reference above. Why? They’re a little weird. We rarely use them in speaking. So they stand out. It’s a stylistic choice I make. Do you make stylistic choices, too? Example: Cubitts is a British eyeglasses retailer with a keen sense of style and service. From its <a class="validating" href="https://cubitts.com/pages/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">About Us page</a>: “Our industry has become staid and uninspiring, characterised by badly made and fitted frames, confusing and overcomplicated processes, clinical and unfriendly environments, aggressive sales patter, and excessive wastage.” <a class="validating" href="https://cubitts.com/pages/services" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">From its Services page</a>: “Tools to keep your spectacles in fine fettle.” Sales patter. Wastage. Fettle. Cubitts’ fussy and precise word choice perfectly mirrors the fussy and precise approach of Cubitts itself. 6. READ IT OUT LOUD. I will never stop nagging us to do this. It’s the difference between sounding like you… and sounding like an AI tool just spit out 100 Facebook ads for Hickory Ham Hot Pockets. The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-like-robots-cant/">How to Write Like Robots Can’t</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/how-to-write-like-robots-cant/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>6</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Unclog Your Copy With This Easy Four-Step Framework</title> <link>https://annhandley.com/copy-framework/</link> <comments>https://annhandley.com/copy-framework/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ann Handley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2022 18:07:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Annarchy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[best writing advice]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ideas you can steal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[storytelling]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[good writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[messaging]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://annhandley.com/?p=5403</guid> <description><![CDATA[A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Above ^^ is a sign I read in a hospital waiting room a few days ago. It’s one of the top hospitals in […] The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/copy-framework/">Unclog Your Copy With This Easy Four-Step Framework</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure id="attachment_5404" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5404" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-5404" src="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-8.31.58-PM.png" alt="" width="510" height="585" srcset="https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-8.31.58-PM.png 510w, https://annhandley.com/ah/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Screen-Shot-2022-06-29-at-8.31.58-PM-262x300.png 262w" sizes="(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5404" class="wp-caption-text">‘E’ supply chain issues?</figcaption></figure> A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. <a href="https://annhandley.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get it in your inbox</a>; you’ll love it. * * * Above ^^ is a sign I read in a hospital waiting room a few days ago. It’s one of the top hospitals in the country, and they can’t afford Es? The DIY sign reminded me of a message I saw earlier that day in a public restroom. It was taped inside the stall: PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE THE TOILET BY FLUSHING ANYTHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE FLUSHED HERE Set aside that violate for a moment (a word that feels unnecessarily charged… time-sharing as it does half its letters with violent). Instead, let’s focus on the goal of the restroom sign: It’s a mess. (It puts the mess into message lol.) A lot of words. And still it’s unclear. “Anything that should not be flushed” is waaaay too open to interpretation. If we had a shared understanding of what’s flushable… that sign wouldn’t be necessary. Isn’t that the whole problem? * * * I always imagine the frustration that fuels signs like these posted in public buildings and institutions around the world. Crudely printed on a shared office printer. Hastily taped up or trapped behind a plastic standee. Each one is a story of a broken system, inefficiency, or fed-up frontline staff taking things into their own hands ferpetessake. I picture the maintenance staff, summoned for the third time that month to retrieve from the pipes someone’s false teeth or a stuffed animal or whathaveyou. “That’s it!” Maintenance Guy says, emerging with his plunger dripping. “ARTHUR!” he shouts toward the guy at the front desk. “We’re gonna need to post a sign!” It’s why they’re written in ALL SHOUTY CAPS: They’re pure rage. If I were in charge of Customer Experience at these institutions… I’d start by addressing the problems these signs seek to correct. * * * I see it all the time in messaging copy. Maybe you do, too? We write as if we picked up a bunch of words as free agents at the NFL Draft. Then we pile them all into the sentence. More players on a field means more of a chance of scoring, right? No. That’s not how words work. (Or sports, I guess.) Usually there’s an important message trapped in the copy. But the goal gets lost. Tackled by too many words. Our actual job as writers is to make the world a little more clear. A little less cluttered. A little less ugly. * * * Let’s live-edit the restroom sign together… using an easy four-step copy framework you can use to unclog (!) your own copy. Here we go….. <h3>Draft 1. Put all your players on the field.</h3> Let them all out on the dance floor. Write your face off. Unleash your wild words all over the page. I am intentionally stuffing this bullet with too many metaphors to demonstrate the first draft in a meta way. You can mix metaphors with as much abandon as college kids mix up a barrel full of Jungle Juice at a party. <h3>Draft 2. Keep only your strongest players.</h3> Make each word earn a spot on the roster. PRO TIP: Are you saying anything unnecessarily ugly? “Violate” is ugly. Back to the sidelines, Violate! <h3>Draft 3. Invite your reader in.</h3> Consider context: What is in the mind of your readers? Will they immediately understand the point? The goal? If we invite the reader into our… uh, stall: That “should not be…” needs to go. What’s more: Is it really about flushing? Shouldn’t we be addressing the throwing of stuff into the toilet? The action we need to interrupt? The action that leads to the clogging of pipes and Maintenance Guy bellowing at Arthur? The entire approach needs a makeover. <h3>Draft 4. Is it enjoyable?</h3> Will it make people think? Smile? Laugh? Will it stop them in their tracks? That’s the one job of copy, isn’t it? To not let anyone gloss over it? To be momentarily memorable? PRO TIP: Don’t sacrifice clarity for clever. Start with clear. Layer on clever. Go back to Draft 3 if you need to. * * * I know you didn’t come here to read about signs in a toilet stall. But that’s the kind of week I had LOL. And honestly… we’re in this deep. Let’s finish it now. Where does that leave us? PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE THE TOILET BY FLUSHING ANYTHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE FLUSHED HERE becomes THROW ONLY TOILET PAPER IN THE TOILET Seriously. Not even if it says it’s flushable. * * * Ah. Much better, yes? Use this same framework to unclog your own copy. Clearer copy will no longer be a pipe dream. Give it a try; don’t stall. Loo and behold! Your customers will lav you! And I’ll stop with the puns now. The post <a href="https://annhandley.com/copy-framework/">Unclog Your Copy With This Easy Four-Step Framework</a> appeared first on <a href="https://annhandley.com">Ann Handley</a>. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://annhandley.com/copy-framework/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>6</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>