Pure Client Joy
“You’re the only writer I trust when I want to engage more thought leaders because I know they’ll see the value and love working with you,” my client said to me. Here’s why.
How or Why?
I’m at a point now where answers to most “how” questions seem trivial, boring, or even ill-conceived. It’s all about whys and whethers at this point.
Falling
Sometimes, a fall is just a fall. People often share business anecdotes as if they contain some sort of object lesson. Or they share oddly declarative proclamations as if they offer some sort of universal truth. It’s performative insight, but it means nothing.
Stop Making Bad Deals
When you make a deal to distort your writing and thinking for the sake of a platform algorithm, you slowly corrode the quality of your thought.
Striking a Balance
I try to make rational decisions around 90% of the time. There’s always room for a bit of emotion and impulse. So I give myself a bit of leeway when they pop up. But I try to make kind decisions 100% of the time. There’s never room for cruelty or brutality.
From First Impressions to Long-Term Success
Monday: pending deliverables for three new skeptical clients. I can SAY that they’ll receive drafts in their voice and with accurate treatments of complex financial topics. I can PROMISE that first drafts are more than 95% of the way to final. But do they really BELIEVE it? They say yes to a project, but they […]
Fostering a Culture of Compassionate Intelligence
Cruel and stupid are everywhere. That’s a big part of why I created my business—to create a safe little island of kind and smart for myself, my team, and my clients. And I don’t (only) mean the usual cast of bullies and bigots. What’s more insidious are the cruel and stupid forces that creep into […]
The Value of Expert Language
In specialized industries like institutional finance and fintech, beware of writers and content professionals with knee-jerk reactions related to jargon, simplicity, and clarity. Those reactions are often biased and self-serving. Saying “it might be confusing” often just means “I don’t understand.” In other words, watch out for generic conventional wisdom that doesn’t apply. Don’t let […]
Why Smaller is Better
Better things are happening in private communities than the big public social networks. I’m experiencing constructive dialogue, meaningful insights, deeper affinity, and higher resonance in places like invite-only Slack channels, mastermind or other learning groups on Mighty Networks etc., newsletters, and even Telegram or WhatsApp groups. What I like best: It becomes harder and harder […]
From Order-Takers to Strategic Partners
Marketers in complex industries like institutional finance have many inner demons to wrestle. Here’s what I mean. The conventional expectation is that marketers need to straddle the line between the client and the industry. They aspire to bring relevant trends, client insights, and industry knowledge to the table. But the reality is more nuanced than […]