Hey Everyone,
Hope you're having a great week. Here are a few things I've been reading, writing and pondering lately. Enjoy!
1. What Are the Best Places for Content Marketers to Work?
We at Animalz are curious about the best places for content marketers to work. Which companies empower content teams to do great work? What is it about these companies that sets them apart?
We’re running a quick and informal survey to learn more. Once we’ve collected responses, we’re planning to document what we learn on our blog. If you’re interested in filling out this (very short) survey, you can check it out here.
Thanks in advance!
2. Strange and maddening rules
If you want a great piece of writing and some high-level thinking, Joel Spolsky has you covered. For the uninitiated, Joel created Trello (among other products) and is an excellent writer. In this piece, he explains a product challenge he’s been working through at one of his other companies, Stack Overflow.
3. How to Write Prolifically Without Spewing Junk
This is a great post by my friend Blake Thorne about how to balance quality and quantity. He makes a strong case that those two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
For about six months in 2015, I was the world's most productive content marketer.
An article in the New Yorker recently linked to one of these pieces. My first week on the job I was interviewed on a national radio show about one of them. Our approach worked and before long, the iDoneThis site grew to 400,000 monthly pageviews. This strategy isn't for everyone, but it can work.
One piece per day. Here's how I did it.
4. It’s Time to Blow Up Our ‘Always On’ Work Culture
You know I can get behind this idea. Cal Newport makes the case that today’s knowledge work is similar to car manufacturing—before the assembly line. It’s evolved without much attention to efficiency and change is going to require a lot of hard work.
5. Random Links
- My coworker Haley (who I mention here all the time) just launched a newsletter of her own. It’s great and you can subscribe here.
- YouTube video of the week: Wheel of Musical Impressions with Keegan-Michael Key
- Here’s another awesome video: Meet Memo, the Marie Kondo of Fitness
- Ever wonder how your friends afford their lifestyle? (Me too.)
- The slide from this WeWork deck 🤦♂️
Have a great weekend!
Jimmy
PS - Want to brush up on your content marketing skillz? Check out my course 5 Days to Better Content Marketing. Join 300+ people that have taken and enjoyed it.
PPS - I’ve had some great folks sponsor this newsletter lately. If you’re interested in promoting your product or service to 4,000+ incredibly smart people, reply to this email to chat more.