There are more podcasts available today than anyone could possibly consume.

More than 10 billion episodes were downloaded on Apple devices alone in the last year. These days it seems the only thing as plentiful as podcasts are podcast producers complaining about how hard it is to get theirs discovered. And yes, that includes us.

We launched The Growth Show a couple of years ago and have grown a sizable loyal audience since then, but that audience growth  –  it took work  — or more like werrrk, with an e and three rs. So why on earth would we launch a second podcast?

Simple. We found a story worth telling.

A little further in the post, I’m going to tell you all about that story, plus the uniquely enthralling host who was under our noses the whole time, and the delightfully weird guests who have made up our first collection of episodes. But first, a few more words on that initial question:

Why would you launch a new podcast when there are so many already?

Time travel with me for a moment. It’s 2006. There are already 57 million blogs on the internet, but readership can’t possibly keep up. In fact, analysts start calling it a day. Ars Technica runs the following headline:

Gartner says blogs will level off because “most people who would ever use blogs already have, while others who may have been attracted to the growing trend initially have gotten bored and moved on.”

It’s 2006, Do you launch a blog?

This idea that content formats can reach a saturation point has bubbled up with every rising trend in the history of communications. How can you ever watch more than 20 TV stations? Who has the time for browsing the internet when there’s so much media already? Why would I watch Youtube or Facebook streaming when I already have Netflix?

It’s malarkey, and we know it.

That said, jumping on a trend for the sake of checking a box is worse than ineffective, it’s tantamount to pollution. The internet awards you no points and may god have mercy on your soul. Badly conceived and produced podcasts are as annoying to listeners as content farms are to readers.

We believed that firmly when we launched The Growth Show and invested heavily in the quality of it. With the release of a second show we asked ourselves the same questions. Can we do this right, with a unique concept, a strong host and meticulous production team?

Once we felt confident that the answer to all of those was yes, we returned to that all important question: Do we have a good story to tell?

Oh, do we ever.

Let’s Get Weird

We call the new podcast Weird Work and  —  true to its name  —  it’s about people who make living in really unusual ways. As an industry we are obsessed with start-ups. We glorify their founders. We even use fancy words like entrepreneur to describe them. And we should. Starting a company is really freaking hard. But all too often these entrepreneurs follow an overplayed formula. Become the Uber for X, the Tinder for Y, the Amazon for…well, there’s really nothing left that amazon doesn’t cover. You get the idea.

We wanted to talk to people who went completely off-the-beaten path with their business ideas. People who found a profitable niche at the end of their passions. Weird Work is a celebration of those founders who live life outside of the 9-to-5, doing jobs you’ve probably never heard about.

Like what? Well:

Writing Dinosaur Erotica

Whispering 

Getting your mom off your back on your wedding day

At first glance, it looks like this show doesn’t have much to do with marketing, sales, and customer success. But we think otherwise.

Weird Work is the natural extension of our obsession with how people work, and why. Make no mistake, these aren’t hobbies. They’re businesses. While they may seem peculiar, each offers insights about product-development, strategy and marketing. 

Don’t underestimate these founders. Because one thing we’ve realized in making this show is that unusual perspectives can be just the influence you need to break out of incremental thinking. 

Weird Work is hosted by Sam Balter, a 30-year-old HubSpotter who has had his share of odd-jobs. While he’s been a liquor-auditor and a road-side sign holder, Sam is the first to admit he’s not a household name. (Actually, “Sam Balter” is a household name, just not our Sam Balter.) At least not yet.

Each week beginning September 28, 2017, Sam will dig into the stories and personalities behind some of the weirdest businesses out there. I had Sam on the Growth Show to talk a bit about Weird Work and the one simple word he (pretty inconveniently) can’t pronounce. 

Here’s a trailer of what you can expect from the show

If you want to hear more, please subscribe to Weird Work on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, RadioPublic, or ask Alexa, “Play the Weird Work podcast”. You can also subscribe to The Growth Show there to hear more from me on topics like the rise of bots, building an introvert-friendly office, and innovating in a crowded space. 

And yeah, I’m going to do it, I’m going to ask you to give us a review and share the podcast if you like it. Because in a format short on discoverability tools, word-of-mouth really matters to fledgling shows. So, if you help us take off, Sam will help you find some truly original perspectives in a world chock full of knock-off ideas.

So you’re ready to start looking for a skilled freelancer to help your project (and productivity) take off?

Whether you’re engaging a freelancer for a small project or looking to bring them on for a longer engagement, here’s what you need to consider to find and hire the best freelancer for your project.

How to Hire the Best-Fit Freelancer for Your Next Project

1) A well-laid plan for your project has to come first.

If you don’t have a clear idea about what you need done, don’t hire a freelancer — at least not yet. Why? Before you can successfully source the best freelancer for your project, you need to know as much as possible about what you’re engaging them to do. Be sure to provide a project brief with deliverables, timeline, and payment schedule. This is important for both sides:

• From the freelancer’s perspective, knowing the project and skills required up front helps them to determine if they’re a good fit. A job post lacking the right information is often the first thing to turn a high-quality freelancer away.
• On the client’s end, you should be able to describe your goals in detail to help ensure the deliverables meet your needs. Have the logistics of how the freelancer will collaborate with your company ironed out so you can get started without wasting each other’s time after the contract is signed.

This raises another question: Exactly how much do you need to know about your project? You’ll definitely need to have an “eagle view” — the high-level goals you’re looking to accomplish with freelance help — but you should also consider a “mouse view” — the nuts and bolts of what you’re comfortable delegating, who they’ll need to be introduced to on the team, what systems and documents they need access to, and how the work will be coordinated internally.

2) With that information nailed down, write an awesome job post that appeals to the cream of the crop.

It’s important to remember that you’re competing for the best freelancers. Your job post should stand out in the crowd. The more detail you can provide about your project (say, niche tools or specific areas of expertise), the easier it is for freelancers to submit accurate proposals.

For example, say you need a mobile developer to help you build out your mobile app idea. Will it be native, hybrid, or cross-platform? What technology do they need to know to build the app? Then, what next-level features might the app include that the programmer should have experience building? Details like these will enable a potential freelancer to check off all the ways they’re a good fit for your project.

A great job post follows a certain formula:

• It reveals plenty about who you are, your business, and your objectives.
• It leaves no room for guesswork about the work, deliverables, and deadlines — but does leave room for discussion and input from the freelancer.
• It includes as much detail as possible. This might require that you do a bit of research so you have a solid idea of what you need from them.
• It indicates whether your preference for the project is fixed-price, hourly, or a longer engagement – but the freelancer may have good input here, too.
• It lays out any competencies and experience the project requires.

3) Post a job and let proposals come to you, or proactively seek out the freelancers who have the skills you need.

If you know where (and how) to look, reviewing freelancer profiles online can yield some excellent prospects. Certain platforms make life easier by narrowing the search with filters for specific skills, languages, locations, and rates.

Keep an eye out for performance ratings, testimonials from past clients, and examples of prior work. Look for other signs that they’re top talent: Upwork, the largest online freelancing platform, includes profile badges like the Top Rated badge, Rising Talent badge, and a Hubspot badge to indicate a freelancer is also a thought leader in his or her field.

Don’t stop at posted profiles. Often, experienced freelancers will share their expertise and take the time to engage in online communities and discussions. Searching for a developer? See if they’ve contributed to a tech-related discussion on a site like Quora or StackOverflow.

4) Let freelancers in different timezones work to your advantage.

When you’re reviewing freelancer profiles, don’t let a different timezone be a disqualifier. If you’re able to work out a system for communication during overlapping hours, having the increased coverage of someone working in part of the world when you’re sleeping can boost productivity.

Ben Young, head of Nudge who frequently hires freelancers, says “the great benefit of having remote freelancers is suddenly you can have 16-hour a day coverage, 6 days a week. That incremental difference means your product iterates faster, bugs are handled quicker, and over a few years, suddenly you have a significant competitive advantage.”

5) Don’t be cheap.

“A mistake many people make is to be too cheap when paying a few bucks more will get you access to top-tier talent,” Ben adds. “Paying a higher rate means you’re getting the best out of tens of thousands of freelancers, many of whom have rates that they’ve worked hard to establish.”

That doesn’t mean they won’t be willing to negotiate on a per-project basis, though, particularly if there’s the prospect of more work down the line. A good rule of thumb is to gauge the complexity of your project and look for the appropriate level of skill. Know what you’re willing to spend, and keep in mind that in many cases, higher rates mean higher quality.

6) Be as clear about your deadline as you can.

Timing is especially important because it can often be an immovable thing for both parties.

Have a tight turnaround? Include this in your job post, and discuss it with potential freelancers. They may or may not have other clients or projects going on that conflict or dial back their availability. Be sure to ask if your timeline is realistic and how confident they are about meeting your deadline. Also, a freelancer can help you estimate timing of a project if you’re not sure how long it should take.

7) Consider how you’ll protect your intellectual property (IP).

Protecting intellectual property is a common concern among clients. You might have grabbed a freelancer’s attention with your job post but been intentionally vague — so when it’s time to provide more detail, discussing your ideas can be tricky. There’s no copyrighting ideas, but you can opt to have your freelancer sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Or, hire a freelancer through Upwork, which offers a terms of service agreement with a confidentiality clause.

This will allow you to have an open, productive conversation with your freelancer about the project without worrying about your IP.

8) Conduct a remote interview — preferably over video.

Once you have questions lined up, it’s time to set up an interview. Video interviews are a great way to meet a freelancer and chat with them “face-to-face.” You’ll likely be communicating via email in the future, so take the opportunity to ask specific questions and leave room for more off-the-cuff questions.

This is your chance to really “get a feel” for the freelancer. What would it be like working with them? Are they passionate about their work? Do they have additional ideas or suggestions? Are they looking to take on more responsibilities beyond this project?

A good fit is important, even with remote workers. Communication and collaboration are important and can really contribute to the success of your project. Source people who aren’t just a good fit but who also align with your business. Having someone you feel comfortable with could be the difference between good and great work.

9) Vet potential freelancers with a quick test project before finalizing your choice.

Found a few candidates and need to narrow the field before you commit? Try a smaller project to see how things go.

Ben Young also suggested “Hire a few individuals on a test brief, see who works the best, then bring them onboard. We do this quite a bit, often using new people on test or experimental projects.”

Having candidates tackle a small piece of the project lets you see how they work, adhere to timelines, and communicate, leaving you with a clearer choice, and a bonus: Your project will be that much further along.

10) Seal the deal with an offer and a thorough contract that works for both of you.

Once you’ve found that perfect freelancer, it’s time to make an offer and work up a contract based on what you and the freelancer have discussed. Don’t forget to take compliance considerations into account — hiring a freelancer is different than hiring an employee and has its own ins and outs to keep in mind — from legal and payment to communications — that you might not be aware of.

In the contract, lay out terms:

• What precisely is the work that the freelancer will deliver and when?
• Is the project fixed-price or hourly?
• If hourly, what is the hourly rate?
• When and how will payment be made?
• If fixed price, will you set up milestones during the project?
• What milestones are there, and when should they be met?

All of the above tips should get you started off on the right foot working with a freelancer, and ensure you’re both satisfied with the terms of your agreement. With that, you’ll be able to start getting great work done, faster.

While it’s certainly important for a beer to taste good, there’s no denying that packaging has a big influence on people’s buying decisions.

Ten years ago, a lot of breweries found they could get away with soliciting a friend to design their beer packaging. Not anymore.

With so many beers competing for attention on the shelves, standout beer labels have become a critical part of any brewery’s marketing strategy.

So which breweries have come up with those really standout designs? Here’s a list:

• 21st Amendment Brewery
• Evil Twin Brewing
• Kiuchi Brewery
• Oregon Brewing Company
• New England Brewing Company
• Uinta Brewing Company
• Huyghe Brewery
• Anheuser-Busch
• Stone Brewing Company
• Magic Hat
• Cisco Brewers
• Newburgh Brewing Co.
• Flying Dog
• Lagunitas

Let’s take a look at the 14 labels that set themselves apart.

14 of the Best Beer Labels Designs We Love

1) 21st Amendment Brewery

Source: Origlio

Didn’t think some of the best beer label designs would be on a can, did you? For 21st Amendment Brewery, the decision to use cans — and only cans — was entirely intentional.

“Back in 2005, I was out at the Great American Beer Festival … and I really saw the future of craft beer,” Co-Founder Shaun Sullivan told Cool Material. “Back then no one was putting craft beer in cans. But, it’s portable, easy to recycle, and perfect for the outdoors. It was also interesting for marketing and telling the story as the can is 360 degrees of space, unlike doing a beer label on a bottle. Coupled with the box the cans come in, we really have a great canvas to get our story across.”

Based in San Francisco, Sullivan and his business partner work closely with TBD Advertising in Oregon to come up with a design for each new beer that comes on the shelf. Designing and creating new beers is his favorite thing about making beer, he says.

2) Evil Twin Brewing

Source: Evil Twin Brewing

You might think a brewery with such creative names and crazy cool, fractal-like designs has a whole design team behind them. But that’s not the case. The beer-naming and label-designing at Evil Twin Brewing are divided between its two co-founders, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø and Martin Justesen.

Jarnit-Bjergsø is responsible for coming up with the beer names (although he admits his wife, who’s a copywriter by trade, comes up with most of them), while Justessen designs all the labels.

“I’ll often start doing sketches when I hear the name of the beer,” says Justesen. “The look of an Evil Twin label is quite geometrical and graphical. Every label is built up by triangular shapes. I like for the labels to work on two levels, the first to grab your attention by standing out, and the second by containing details you later discover when you sit down and look at it close up.”

As for naming the beer? Some of our favorites include “Even More Jesus,” “Bikini Beer,” and “Before, During, and After Christmas.”

“Our philosophy behind beer names is that we aren’t weird just to be weird,” says Jarnit-Bjergsø. “That said, I do like the idea of having names that don’t make sense — it means that if you see the name, you have to think about it, you have to consider what it is. If a beer is called ‘Brown Ale,’ you forget it a second later, because everyone knows what a brown ale is, and has seen that name 100 times before. But if you see a name that’s more interesting, you’re automatically like, ‘I wonder what that is?’ And that way you just remember it better.”

3) Kiuchi Brewery

Kiuchi’s been making sake since 1823 — way before they began brewing beer in 1996. And with distribution routes in over 30 countries and a gold medal at the Brewing Industry International Awards under its belt, it’s clear they’re darn good at it.

Source: South China Morning Post

The packaging of their series of Hitachino Nest beers features a distinctive red owl and the brewery’s name in gold lettering. The same cartoon-like red owl appears on every rendition of the Hitachino Nest series, making it easy to pick out from the crowd. You’ll notice the names of the beers — and their ingredients — are also distinctly Japanese: The “Red Rice Ale” uses red rice, a type of ancient Japanese rice; “Nipponia” uses a barley malt and hop from Japan; “Ginger Ale” uses wild-bred mandarin grown near the brewery. The brewery’s president Toshiyuki Kuichi says these names and ingredients help attract foreigners’ curiosity.

4) Oregon Brewing Company

Oregon Brewing Company’s line of Rogue ales is another example of great beer names paired with beautiful label designs. From “Chipotle Ale” to “Yellow Snow Ale” to “Voodoo Doughnut” (a bacon maple ale that comes in a bright pink bottle), the names — and flavors — certainly coincide with the brewery’s bold personality. The illustrations on many of the labels feature a person either holding up his or her left fist, or holding a beer and offering a “cheers” to the drinker.

Source: Brewers Journal

Other Rogue beers playfully mock popular culture, like the “Sriracha Hot Stout Beer” pictured below. The beer is made from Huy Fong original hot chili sauce and, according to Rogue Brewing President Bretty Joyce, it became a record-selling product for the brewery within only a few days of its debut — even though many people find its distinctively spicy taste questionable.

Source:
uncrate

5) New England Brewing Company

The label on the “Imperial Stout Trooper” from New England Brewing Company is nothing short of amazing — and the story behind it is pretty funny, too.

Source: Beer Street Journal

Each year, the brewery creates a special release beer, which is why they first brewed the Imperial Stout Trooper in 2007. It was an instant hit and the first batch initially sold out, and the beer itself quickly became something of a Star Wars fan cult item.

When it was first released, its label featured an undisguised Stormtrooper’s face. But in 2010, they were forced to change the label due to copyright infringements … which is why the Stormtrooper on the label now wears a Groucho Marx disguise. The label change made the already rare Star Wars-themed beer even more sought after than it already was.

6) Uinta Brewing Company

Salt Lake City-based Uinta Brewing first hired The Tenfold Collective, a small design firm based in Colorado, in 2010. Since then, the firm has created plenty of beer labels for the brewery and launched its beautiful new website. The bright color schemes and attention to detail make these labels fun to take a closer look at. Plus, they look a heckuva lot like vintage ski posters, reminiscent of their Utah/Colorado origin.

Source: DrinkedIn

On their blog, the folks at Uinta describe the “classic Uinta feel” as one that “reflects an appreciation for the outdoors and the timeless beauty of the mountain west.” After all, the company’s namesake is Utah’s tallest mountain range, the Uinta Mountains.

7) Huyghe Brewery

Source: Jan Baca

You probably recognize this one thanks to the iconic pink elephant … it’s Belgium-based Huyghe Brewery’s famous Delirium beers. Although the Delirium beers’ names are famous now, the folks at Huyghe actually had some trouble getting them on the shelves for a while because of the name. For example, Delerium tremens refers to the shakes that alcoholics get when suffering from withdrawal, which are often accompanied by visions (like pink elephants).

Despite the controversy in the name, this beer managed to become one of the most well-known brands in the world. The name is written in what looks like the Kilkenny font, the pink elephant has become an icon, and the white bottle — which contrasts interestingly with the dark beer within — is easily recognizable on a shelf.

8) Anheuser-Busch

While most beer labels limit the design to what’s printed on the label itself, the folks at Anheuser-Busch let the shape of the label do some of the talking. The brewery’s marketing team positions their tequila-inspired Oculto beer around mystery and spontaneous nights out with friends, which is reflected in its packaging.

The Oculto label features a white skull with the eyes cut out. When the bottle is cold, the logo turns fluorescent and the skull’s empty eyes glow green thanks to temperature-responsive, thermochromic ink, according to Packaging Digest.

Source: 303 Magazine

Check out the Instagram post below, which shows the cool effect of being able to see the beer and flickering candlelight through the label.

 

When the lights go down, the mischief begins. #MakeSecrets

A post shared by Oculto (@oculto_us) on Jul 20, 2015 at 2:26pm PDT

9) Stone Brewing Company

The graphics and colors on Stone Brewing Company’s beers are bold — and so is their copywriting. The gargoyle is there to protect beer lovers from the “fizzy yellow” beer.

Source: Behance

The description of their Arrogant Bastard Ale reads, “Brought forth upon an unsuspecting public in 1997, Arrogant Bastard Ale openly challenged the tyrannical overlords who were brazenly attempting to keep Americans chained in the shackles of poor taste.”

10) Magic Hat

Magic Hat is proud of its deep connections with the arts community in its home city of Burlington, Vermont — even their brewery’s bar and shop is called The Artifactory — so it’s no surprise that its packaging is an artistic masterpiece itself. Each beer’s label features colorful, trippy, and super detailed illustrations.

Source: Behance

Where does the brewery draw its design inspiration? Concert posters, according to their blog. Several years ago, the folks at Magic Hat teamed up with printmaker Jim Pollock — the same Jim Pollock who became famous for creating many of Phish’s most memorable concert posters. For the most part, though, the brewery sources design work in-house.

But the company doesn’t just pair up with famous designers to design their beer labels. Every few years, they hold a “Labels for Libations” design contest to raise money for the local art scene, in which they solicit local artists to compete to design a label for a beer that’ll be released the following year. Here was the 2014 contest’s winning label:

Source: Magic Hat Brewing Co.

Finally, let’s not forget the copy on the inside of the beer caps of Magic Hat’s best-selling beer, #9. Someone’s even dedicated an entire Tumblr blog to Magic Hat beer cap “wisdom.” (I put wisdom in quotes because, well … you’ll see.)

A few of our favorites? “Remember the Dinosaurs”; “Why Don’t They Call ‘Em Bottle Hats?”; “Don’t Cook Bacon Naked.”

Source: bigblueapothecary Etsy shop

11) Cisco Brewers

There’s something so refreshing about simplicity in design. That’s what Cisco Brewers accomplishes with its beer labels, all of which are clean and minimalistic. Each has a single-color design that looks old-timey — almost like a woodcut from the 19th century. The simple approach they take with their brand is reminiscent of Nantucket Island — where the brewery is located — and its untouched, clean look and feel.

Source: Brookston Beer Bulletin

“Most of the original labels were just our logo — the name of the beer on different colored paper to designate the different styles,” Jay Harman, one of Cisco Brewers’ three founders, told me. “As time went on we started to work on more wood cut branded pieces that would allow customers to relive their island experience wherever they were consuming our beer.”

The labels themselves were designed by a combination of the brewers’ founders and some local artists from Nantucket. Local artist George Murphy created the “Whale’s Tale Pale Ale” logo, Cisco co-founder Randy Hudson did the “Sankaty Light” label and the “Indie Pale Ale” label; Wendy Hudson, Cisco’s other co-founder, did the “The Grey Lady” label; and local graphic artist Malcolm Brooks did the “Summer of Lager” logo.

Not only are Cisco’s traditional labels cool, but so is their recent collaboration with Marine Research Group OCEARCH. Last fall, Cisco released a brand new beer called the “Shark Tracker Light Lager” to benefit research and education about the ocean’s predators — and to inspire fascination, rather than fear. Scan a can with the lab’s mobile app and you can access all kinds of information about their research on sharks, watch videos, and so on. It’s a very cool, interactive touch.

Source: Brewbound

Finally, we couldn’t very well leave out Cisco’s tap handle designs. When you’re in a crowded bar wondering which beer to order, where do you look to figure out what the place has on draught? The beer taps, of course. That’s why it’s so important for them to stand out. For many breweries, the tap handle becomes a calling card.

“Off-island, tap markers designate the real estate behind the bar, so it’s important for customers to know what’s being poured,” says Harman.

Cisco’s designed big, carved-wood tap handles for its four most popular beers that really stand out. Here’s the tap handle for its Grey Lady beer:

Source: beertaps.blogspot.com

12) Newburgh Brewing Co.

With so many beers on the market these days, it can be really hard to stand out on the shelf. This is what drove Newburgh Brewing Company to solicit a busy and colorful label design for their Cream Ale, according to their COO and president Paul Halayko.

The label features the company mascot Betsy the Cow along with icons from around Newburgh, New York. You can see imagery of the brewery’s building, the Hudson Valley, and phrases showing they’re proud to be local like “This beer was born here” and “Our interpretation of a New York original”. Designed by Philadelphia-based design firm Modern Good, it beat 64 brands to win CNBC’s best-loved beer label for 2015.

Source: CNBC

13) Flying Dog

Back in 2012, Flying Dog Brewery rolled out new packaging with the goal of better reflecting the “insanely chaotic, yet intricately detailed” Ralph Steadman art on their labels. Steadman, a prolific artist who’s produced thousands of iconic illustrations, has been creating all the original art for Flying Dog’s beer labels in 1995. His designs are splatter art illustrations, often featuring mythical creatures.

Source: BOA Beer Blog

On Steadman’s official art collection website, his art for Flying Dog is described like this: “Steadman’s illustrations have caused outrage in some, been banned by some states, but have beer drinkers of the world over rejoicing. The perfect marriage of taste and rage, poetry for the senses and an orgy for the imagination.”

14) Lagunitas

Lagunitas’ highly recognizable beer labels are characterized by an old-school white background and large, all-caps letters. But because their labels are so simple by design, they’ve experienced some trademarking trouble in the past. Right now, the brewery has four federally registered trademarks and two pending trademarks all relating to their most popular beer, Lagunitas IPA, against Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter IPA.

SourceL Behance

Below, you’ll see the similarities between Lagunitas’ IPA label (right) and Sierra Nevada’s (left):

Source: The Press Democrat

Does the label even matter?

Here’s the thing, though. There are plenty of beers out there doing just fine with totally generic labeling. Take Russian River’s “Pliny the Elder,” for example. It’s widely regarded as one of the best beers in the world, and it’s been named America’s best beer for seven years straight. And yet, its label is as basic as it gets.

Source: Russian River Brewing

If a beer crosses a certain taste threshold, does the label just not matter anymore? Or is beautiful packaging a new brewery’s best bet at getting their beer noticed on crowded shelves?

Whatever it is — we’ll drink to that.

Copy is writing that compels.

It connects with a specific audience, inciting emotions that drive action. It reads like a comfortable, personalized email but appeals to the masses.

Copy enables sales on a grand scale, which begs the question:

How do you write effective copy?

Copywriting is a technical craft. Practice, practice, practice makes perfect.

Writing copy begins with internalizing the principles that differentiate it from other editorial disciplines. And how do you do that?

Try Reading Bukowski

Charles Bukowski wasn’t a copywriter, but he was a prolific writer of poetry and short stories. In the first half of his life, he mailed thousands of drafts to potential publishers.

But most of his submissions were rejected. The work was too progressive, said the editors, too crude: Bukowski wrote about sex and love, about loss and failure, hardship. Most everything was autobiographical. Then, when he was 46, Bukowski met John Martin, a publisher compelled by his work.

“The first time I read him I said ‘My God, this is today’s Whitman,’” said Martin. “This is a man of the street, writing for the people of the street.”

And so it began: Bukowski found a platform and an audience found Bukowski. His work connected. In the second half of his life, he sold millions of books.

Charles Bukowski wasn’t a copywriter, but he did write like one, which roused readers and enabled his success. Want to write effective copy? Read Bukowski to internalize the core principles of copywriting, which are:

1) Write with emotion.

Most purchases aren’t logical decisions. People buy things based on how they make them feel.

So, your copy should evoke emotion.

To do that, copywriters dance with the human condition, playing on memories that conjure poignant images that resonate with their audience.

Bukowski was emotional.

His subject matter was personal, yet typical. Bukowski wrote about things most people could understand, if not relate to. Readers sympathized with him.

In Women, Bukowski writes:

I was sentimental about many things: a woman’s shoes under the bed; one hairpin left behind on the dresser; the way they said, “I’m going to pee.” hair ribbons; walking down the boulevard with them at 1:30 in the afternoon, just two people walking together …

Bukowski saw beauty in the mundane, depth and meaning in the prosaic. So he wrote about it, which made readers think, remember and, most importantly, feel.

2) Write with brevity. 

People have short attention spans. If we’re not interested, we tune out, sometimes within seconds.

So, your copy should make its point quickly.

Unless an emotional narrative calls for it, copywriters don’t use two or three words when one will do.

Bukowski was brief.

He rarely dragged on without purpose.

In Women, Bukowski writes:

Being alone never felt right. Sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right.

Bukowski respected the reader’s imagination. He didn’t color everything in. He let people come to their own conclusions. We enjoy that, after all. We like filling in the gaps for ourselves, using our own images and memories. It’s fun.

3) Write with clarity.

Confusion kills engagement. Clear writing keeps people reading. Clarity, like brevity, prolongs attention.

So, your copy should be comprehensible. A focused reader shouldn’t need to reread a sentence.

To ensure this, copywriters:

• Use simple words: Write “begin” rather than “commence.” Write “find out” rather than “ascertain.”

• Use specific words: Write “FaceTime” rather than “video communication tool.”

• Use the active voice: It’s easier to read than the passive voice.

• Use transitions: These are words or phrases that connect ideas between sentences (e.g., as a result; although; while; because).

Clear writing helps readers visualize your sentences, which keeps them reading.

Bukowski was clear.

One of the most understandable authors of the twentieth century, Bukowski’s clarity was his forte.

In Post Office, Bukowski writes:

In the morning it was morning and I was still alive. Maybe I’ll write a novel, I thought. And then I did.

Like Hemingway and Vonnegut, Bukowski used small words and crisp sentences.

“Bukowski had no time for metaphors,” said Bono, a friend. “He just wanted to get down to the bone, to the marrow of the bone!”

4) Write with honesty. 

Copy sells when it makes authentic promises and claims. Dishonesty, eventually, exposes itself.

So, your copy should tell the truth, even if it’s ugly.

Copywriters do it all the time:

• You’re not the preferred brand? Say it. Avis did.
• Your product is subpar? Say it. Domino’s did.

Honesty helped Avis highlight its strengths. It helped Domino’s regain consumer trust. Ultimately, the strategy inspired public sympathy, driving rapid growth for both companies.

Bukowski was honest.

He famously held nothing back. In print, he was fully exposed, sensitive and vulnerable and unsafe. He was naked and people glared.

In Ham on Rye, Bukowski writes:

And my own affairs were as bad, as dismal, as the day I had been born. The only difference was now I could drink now and then, though never often enough … I would certainly never be able to be happy, to get married, I could never have children. Hell, I couldn’t even get a job as a dishwasher.

“Forgive me,” Bukowski once said at a poetry reading. “You have my soul and I have your money.”

5) Write with style.

Though effective copy is driven by substance, it shouldn’t sound rigid. It should roll off the tongue.

So, your copy should use literary devices to help it flow.

Copywriters use sound repetition to create sentence fluency:

• Alliteration: Repetitive sounds at the beginning of adjacent words
  (e.g., “Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary.”)
• Consonance: Repetitive sounds produced by consonants
  (e.g., “The fair breeze blew, the white / foam flew / The furrow followed free …”)
• Assonance: Repetitive sounds produced by vowels
  (e.g., “I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless.”)

They use word repetition to create rhythm:

• Anaphora: Repetition at the beginning
  (e.g., “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right …”)
• Epistrophe: Repetition at the end
  (e.g., “Government of the people, by the people, for the people …”)
• Polyptoton: Repetition of the root
  (e.g., “No end to the withering of withered flowers …”)

Dive deeper into literary devices here.

Bukowski had style.

He leaned on literary devices, using them to add depth to his writing, to make his work more poignant and moving, more emotional.

In Dinosauria, We, Bukowski writes:

Born like this
Into this
As the chalk faces smile
As Mrs. Death laughs
As the elevators break
As political landscapes dissolve
As the supermarket bag boy holds a college degree
As the oily fish spit out their oily prey
As the sun is masked
We are
Born like this
Into this …

Bukowski’s style made his message more memorable.

Charles Bukowski wasn’t a copywriter.

But he wrote like the best of them.

Study his work and you will, too.

A few weeks ago, I had an alarming revelation: I’m a crappy listener.

That came to light when someone important to me pointed out that I don’t seem to have any interest in what he does for work. “Your eyes just glaze over whenever I talk about my job,” he told me.

I couldn’t deny that. And it wasn’t limited to him — whenever someone spoke to me about something that I found less than fascinating, I had a tendency to tune it out. In reality, I could learn to appreciate my friend’s line of work, for example, if I learned to listen actively.

It’s an imperative skill — at work, and in your personal life. After all, if you’re never paying attention to what your boss, your significant other, or your kids are saying to you, how are they supposed to take you seriously? How can you expect them to come to you for advice, or with important information? When you don’t listen, you set the precedent that you can’t be trusted to absorb what matters to other people.

That’s why it’s imperative to learn how to listen actively. It’s one thing to sit and make eye contact with the person speaking to you. But are you really absorbing what they’re saying? And moreover, are you responding in a way that communicates that you’re actually listening — and that you have something worthwhile to say in return?

There are a few key phrases out there to demonstrate that you’re listening actively. And it’s true — you’re not going to care about every conversation that someone initiates with you. But even if the topic isn’t important to you, the person sharing it might be. Read on to learn how to pay better attention, and how to show that you’re doing so.

Listen to the audio version of this post:

What is Active Listening?

Active listening is a type of communication that requires conversational participants to fully focus on, comprehend, and answer what is being said to them. It can be applied at home and at work, and it’s often used in management training, workforce development, and mediation.

To fully understand how to be an active listener, let’s take a closer look at how, biologically, we listen.

The Listening Process

To listen, according to Merriam-Webster, is “to hear what someone has said and understand that it is serious, important, or true.”

It’s that second part of the definition that stands out to me — especially when it comes to active listening. It’s the genuine absorption of what someone is saying to us that reinforces and communicates how seriously we’re taking it, or appreciate its importance.

Of course, there are many reasons to listen. It helps us to satisfy different physiological goals. We listen to alter our moods, stay alert, and figure stuff out — in humans, that’s been the case for pretty much as long as we’ve existed. The process starts when we receive auditory stimuli. Then, our brains have to interpret that stimulus. That’s enhanced by other senses — like sight — which help us better interpret what we’re hearing. That’s important. When someone is sharing information with us, our non-verbal reaction also communicates to that person how actively we’re listening.

Once we receive and interpret auditory signals, we follow a series of steps that consist of recalling, evaluating, and responding to the information we consume:

Source: Matthew Edward Dyson

All three of those steps are imperative to active listening. Numerous studies have discovered how listening triggers a widespread network of activity throughout the entire brain — and it’s why auditory stimuli are often strongly linked to memory.

When We Don’t Listen

Of course, we have to be paying attention in order to be able to recall, evaluate, and respond to what someone tells us. And even if we are, how we respond can send a variety of signals back to our conversational counterpart. Statements like, “I see,” or, “Cool,” for example, aren’t exactly active phrases. Rather, they exhibit a state of passive listening that communicates we hear the person, but probably don’t care.

And that’s not how anyone — let alone important people in your life, like your family or your boss — wants to be treated. Even if your significant other is telling you about his day, responding with something like, “Mm-hmm” doesn’t exactly send the message that you have great concern for what’s being said.

And even then, our intentions might be good. According to a coaching presentation created by Viorica Milea, there are many non-malicious explanations behind why we don’t listen. These are things like distractions, which abound in today’s device-centric world, and our tendency to start thinking ahead while the person is still talking — what Milea calls “judging,” which happens when we’ve preemptively “made assumptions” about what the person is going to say.

The Mutual Benefit of Active Listening

That’s why active listening is good for both parties in a conversation. It benefits the person speaking by helping to ensure that she’s actually being heard. But it also benefits the listener — learning to put distractions and preemptive judgments (well-intended or not) aside will not only prevent you from missing important details, but it will also help teach you how to tune out unnecessary interruptions while focusing on other important tasks.

Practicing the incorporation of these phrases into conversations is a great way to get started. When someone is speaking to you, keep these in mind — if you feel your attention start to drift, or a notification appears on your phone, or you begin thinking ahead, come back to your mental inventory of these phrases to demonstrate and execute active listening.

6 Phrases to Demonstrate Active Listening

1) “Do you mean … ?”

Why

Sometimes, it seems like life is one long game of “Telephone.” Even if we interpreted something one way, the person who said it may have meant it completely differently.

That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re getting the full story from the person you’re listening to, and understanding it correctly. By asking for clarification, you’re not only encouraging more details from someone who might be timid about bringing something up, but also, you’re making sure you actually heard a statement as it was intended.

Alternatives

• “I’m not sure I understand.”
• “Could you tell me a bit more about that?”

2) “It sounds like … ”

Why

This phrase is another one that helps to provide clarification by demonstrating your empathy. But be careful with this one, and make sure you’re not telling your counterpart how she feels, but rather, phrasing it as an expression of how you interpret her emotions.

I have a tough time admitting when I’m upset about something, especially in a professional setting. But my manager happens to excel at active listening and is very good at reading what I’m not saying in a conversation — and responding in kind. When I was disappointed about the outcome of a project, for example, I didn’t exactly say so, but she said, “It sounds like you’re feeling a little defeated.” I was, and having her say that to me out loud helped me take a proactive approach to the project moving forward.

Alternatives

• “What I’m hearing is … “
• “You seem a bit … ”

3) “Really?”

Why

This phrase is one that Milea helps to demonstrate encouragement during a conversation. It reminds the person speaking that you’re paying attention by encouraging them to elaborate on something they’ve said to you.

Alternatives

• “When?”
• “How?”
• “You’re kidding.”

4) “I’ve noticed that … ”

Why

Here’s another term that shows how much attention you’re paying. By pointing out your observations about someone’s behavior or tendencies while she’s speaking, you’re not only fully absorbing her words — you’re also taking the non-verbal communication into consideration.

Instructors at the University of Central Florida use the example of, “I’ve just been noticing that when you talk about your conclusions, you smile. That makes me think you’re comfortable with the direction.” Making sure you know what someone means isn’t limited to the spoken word — you want to clarify what nonverbal behavior could indicate, too.

5) “Let me make sure I’ve got this right.”

Why

Another method of active listening is checking in with your counterpart to summarize what you’ve heard them say thus far. By repeating back something to the person you’re listening to, you’re not only demonstrating that you’ve been paying attention, but also, you’re further ensuring that you understand what the person actually means, and that you heard her correctly.

Alternatives

• “These are the main points I’ve heard you make so far.”
• “Let’s make sure I’m hearing you correctly.”
• “Let’s pause to make sure we’re on the same page.”

6) “I’m sorry. That really sucks.”

Why

I joke about this one with my colleagues a lot. It goes back to the big idea of empathy and those occasions when, for just a moment, you want to have a pity party, rather than receiving proactive advice. Of course, you’re ready for that advice eventually, but not right away.

That’s why, when someone is sharing his frustrations with you, one of the most impactful things you can do is verbally acknowledge how crummy the situation is. Rather than invalidating the person’s emotions by immediately launching into suggestions for what she should do, you’re pausing to provide empathy, and to allow the person to work through what’s bothering him.

Alternatives

• “I’m sorry you’re going through that.”
• “What a crappy situation to be in. I’m sorry.”
• “That’s rough. How can I help?”

Listen Carefully

We get it. You’ve got enough on your plate. There’s always a deadline, and there’s always somewhere you need to be. It can be hard to genuinely pay attention, especially when you’ve got a long to-do list that’s occupying your mental energy.

But as we’ve mentioned, active listening doesn’t just benefit your conversational counterpart — you also stand to gain from it. From making sure you don’t miss important details, to exercising focus for any important task, putting these phrases into practice can help you become a proactive, empathetic listener.

When it comes to building a memorable brand, it’s all about consistency.

When you’re shopping for your favorite cereal or coffee at the grocery store, you want to be able to spot it from a mile away.

The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same logo, fonts, colors, and images. Once we see them enough, they become instantly recognizable, bringing us a clear sense of reliability and security.

Developing a consistent brand starts with creating a brand style guide. These branding rule books help graphic designers, marketers, web developers, community managers, and even product packaging departments all stay on the same page, and present a unified vision of the brand to the public.

We’ve compiled a list of some awesome brand style guides to use as inspiration for your next branding project or website redesign. Check them out below.

What Is a Brand Style Guide?

A brand style guide is a document containing the rules and guidelines for the composition, design, and general thematic look-and-feel of all of a brand’s collateral.

Think of one of the most recognizable brands of which you’re aware. Chances are that you’ve learned to recognize it because of the consistency across of the messaging — written or visual — that brand broadcasts. The same brand colors are reflected across them. The language sounds familiar. It’s all very organized and, while not rigid, it’s cohesive.

The purpose of the brand style guide, then, is to form and maintain all of those various elements that, when combined, spell out the entire brand as it’s recognized.

Intrigued? Check out 22 of the best ones we could find.

22 Brand Style Guide Examples

1) Medium

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Behance

2) Wolf Circus Jewelry

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

3) Ollo

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Bibliothèque Design

4) Skype

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

6) Barre & Soul

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

7) Spotify

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

8) Jamie Oliver

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

9) Herban Kitchen

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

10) Urban Outfitters

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

11) Love to Ride

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

12) Barbican

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

13) I Love New York

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

14) Cisco

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

15) University of the Arts Helsinki

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Behance

16) NJORD

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Behance

17) Espacio Cultural

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Behance

18) Alienware

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

19) Netflix

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

20) Scrimshaw Coffee

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Issuu

21) NASA

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Standards Manual

22) New York City Transit Authority

See the full brand guide here.

Source: Standards Manual

If I told you that content creation is a vital part of every company’s marketing strategy, your response would probably be a sarcastic “Well, duh. Thanks for that cutting-edge insight, John.”

That’s because most of us know how important content is to our inbound marketing and our brands — both our respective company brands, as well as our personal brands as a thought leader. We understand that content is important, but it doesn’t seem like we always agree on how much content we need, or how to create it well enough to consistently engage our audience.

But how you address that might depend on what your goals are for your content and who your audience is. But there’s one rule that holds true no matter what: Content consistency is key.

Why Focus on Consistency?

If you’re not consistent, you’re not taking advantage of all the opportunities you have to connect with your audience. Creating a few pieces of content here and there might help someone understand a topic better, but they won’t help you hit all of those touch points between your brand and your audience — and they won’t help you build a meaningful relationship with it. To do that, you need to be a consistent content creator. It’s that simple.

What’s not so simple is breaking down the nuances within your audience and your processes to deliver not just any old content consistently, but content that meets its needs in a way that attracts it to your brand.

Think of it this way: Picture your favorite actor. This person is probably in a few of your favorite movies, consistently delivering amazing performances, and you might find yourself interested in the projects he or she stars in, simply because you know and love his or her previous work. That’s powerful.

With consistent, engaging content, you can hit touch points on your audience members’ online journeys, build connections with them, and position your brand to be top-of-mind when they think of their most trusted and liked resources. (This approach to branding and relationship-building is one I go into in much more depth in my business book, Top of Mind.)

But if you want to get started creating effective content consistently now, here are five essential tips.

How to Create a Strategy That Works

1) Document an actionable content strategy.

While 89% of B2B organizations are actually utilizing content marketing, only 37% have put together a documented strategy around that content’s creation and distribution.

Creating this kind of strategy is similar to setting goals for yourself: You’re more likely to achieve them if you write them down and break them into actionable steps to hold yourself accountable than if you decide to wing it and hope for the best. The same applies to content — you need to write down what you want to achieve and how you want to get there.

That last part — how you want to get there — is particularly important. You can spend all the time in the world documenting your strategy, but if it isn’t set up to make consistent execution feasible, it won’t help you very much. So set goals, like your overall mission, audience personas, content mix, and promotion tactics. Then, make them actionable by laying the foundation for your process that makes consistency simpler right in your document.

2) Make use of a knowledge bank.

One of the biggest challenges inherent in creating loads of content is keeping track of it all, and organizing all the insights you’ve learned about your customers and your industry — and leveraging them to create more than just one piece of content.

Enter the knowledge bank, which allows you to store and organize key information about your company, your content, and your customers. It makes creating multiple pieces and types of content that speak directly to your audience’s wants and needs much easier — not to mention, it helps with consistency, because the more seamless the process of creating, finding, and managing your content, the easier it will be to do so in a quicker and more consistent manner.

3) Build the best team you can find.

With an actionable strategy in place and a system for leveraging your company’s expertise, it’s time to start actually creating content — and for that, you’ll need a talented team.

Sure, you could possibly write and promote all your content yourself — if you really wanted to that — but it’s difficult to scale this way. You’re busy with dozens of other tasks on your plate, so you’ll likely end up sacrificing either quality, or consistency.

That’s where a great content marketing team and a network of freelance writers come into play. My team at Influence & Co. has found a lot of success with this process, which starts with a thought leader’s expertise, a freelancer’s skills at turning that insight into a written piece, and our team’s ability to strategize, edit, publish, and promote that content. When every person focuses on his or her strengths, your content will shine, and you’ll find yourself publishing more consistently than if you tried to do it all yourself.

4) Get comfortable with your editorial calendar.

An editorial calendar can do so much more than set the schedule for your upcoming posts — it can also be a place to brainstorm ideas, plan your social media campaigns, and organize everything you’ve got coming down the pike.

That can help streamline the entire content process because everything is in one place, allowing you to see where you have gaps, and where you have excess content. Once you settle into your schedule and process, you can get even more efficient, giving yourself more time to focus on creating content, rather than organizing it.

A content calendar can also help track your successes and shortcomings, so you can make more informed decisions in the future. If, for example, you find that content posted at a certain time of day — or a particular day of the week — tends to outperform the rest, you can make changes accordingly. That way, you’re consistently on schedule and maximizing your impact.

5) Make distribution a priority, not an afterthought.

Each of these steps will help you create content consistently, but you can’t stop there. If you’re not also distributing and amplifying your content consistently and strategically, then all you’ve really accomplished is improving your content production — not your content marketing.

Don’t wait until an article is published, for example, before you start thinking about how you’ll use it as a tool to connect with your audience. Your content distribution plan should take as much priority as your content development process — content that you sit on or passively distribute won’t accomplish much.

Content creation can be a chore — if you don’t know where to start when it comes to developing or distributing your work. But it’s an essential component of your company’s marketing strategy. Consistent content is key to keeping your audience engaged, your brand top-of-mind, and your content investment worthwhile. With these five simple tactics, your path to consistency will become much clearer.

Productivity is generally thought of in terms of, “How do I get more done?”

If we’re lucky, we work in teams and environments where that perspective is at least softened by combining it with a measure of efficiency or impact, but even then we don’t fully escape the rat-race-like pursuit of more.

In fact, we usually answer “How are you?” with “I’ve been very busy.” And we wear our 80-hour work weeks like a badge of honor.

Speaking on his upcoming book, The Calm Company, Basecamp cofounder Jason Fried digs into the dangers of this troubling trend:

“Long hours, excessive busyness, and lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for many people these days. Sustained exhaustion is not a badge of honor, it’s a mark of stupidity. Companies that force their crew into this bargain are cooking up dumb at their employee’s expense.”

This was similar to the mindspace that I too occupied when I stumbled into mindfulness and meditation 18 months ago.

At the time, I had been working on my own startups for about nine hours a day, and even though I had the flexibility to work in any way that I wanted, I was in the mindset of doing more, working longer hours. I was chasing my own tail, and a proposal to sit still to meditate for 15 minutes a day, provoked a simple reaction: “Who has time for that?”

But through the evolution and expansion of my mindfulness practices since then, I’ve come to learn that an action geared towards less (like sitting, breathing, and not thinking) has the surprising effect of creating some more (calm, clarity and space).

If you’ve heard or read anything on meditation and mindfulness, that shouldn’t sound too unfamiliar. But in this article I’d like to reveal a couple of tactics where I optimized for less, only to get an exponential more on the other side. These tactics span different areas of my life, and each has their individual, contextual goals — but they are all intertwined and focused ultimately on my experience as I pursue various projects, goals and dreams in life.

I literally stumbled into mindfulness and meditation via a prompt from my therapist who had intervened as my monkey mind was running havoc and jeopardizing most good things in my life. I still work towards mindfulness today because I have experienced significant changes in my life and work as a result of my practice.

So here’s how I have managed to gain more in my life as a result of pursuing less in some situations.

Plan Slower Mornings

Waking early in the mornings has always been one of the easier things for me to do. In fact, I used to believe that I personally needed very little sleep — until I learned about the real effects of sleep debt over time.

In the past, I would use an early morning start as a way to get a headstart on the day ahead. I can remember during my time at WooThemes, I was at the office before 7am on most days. The rest of the team only arrived from 9am onwards, and most of our remote team would only sign on much later. Those first two hours were glorious though: I could just hack away at my to-do list for two hours straight without anyone or any notifications interrupting my flow.

And then I had kids.

For any parent reading this, you’ll know that babies and toddlers operate on their own schedule, which means that none of my mornings were as predictable or within my control as before. Initially, I completely resisted this change and tried to stick to my previously focused and productive morning routine. I also tried various iterations to this routine, from waking up even earlier to trying to get work done while giving Adii junior his morning bottle.

Suffice to say, by trying to multitask, I wasn’t being a great dad and I wasn’t doing great work either — everyone was getting a compromised result.

Fast-forward to today, and my morning routine looks something like this: I wake up at 5am on weekdays. I immediately get a cup coffee and breakfast (the same every morning to avoid having to make a decision). The next hour or so I spend reading, and I then meditate for 15 to 20 minutes. Then from about 6am onwards, I get my two boys ready for school. This means on most mornings I only get to my desk (and work) at 8am.

With the benefit of hindsight and comparison, I can now see how singular and rushed my old morning routine was. Because my goal was to get to work as quickly and efficiently as possible, it meant that any friction or obstacles along the way had a major negative impact on my experience. And a crappy morning would eventually turn into an even crappier day on most occasions.

These days, by the time I get to work I have a sense of space and calm. No rush to do anything specific. No existential fear about not answering yesterday’s emails quickly enough.

Instead I find that I’m more aware of the whole day and week’s landscape, which has helped me prioritize the things I need to work on (versus the things I can delegate or allow to drop off my radar).

Curiously I have also found that the first hour or so in the morning has not become less productive at all, and I still often manage to do some of my best work in that time (especially when I manage to also prioritize the most important task for the day during this time). For example, it’s currently just after 9am as I’m writing this article, and I find the words flowing easily.

In the past, I used to run out of steam later in the day due to being so rushed. This inevitably meant that I either felt that I hadn’t accomplished enough on that day, or that I would try working until late in the evening to make up for lost time. We should however all agree that our brains do get tired, and if we continue to push ourselves beyond the point of exhaustion, we end up merely sitting in front of our computers, not getting anything done.

Disconnect from Interruptions

Software makers use often use gamification, notifications, and a combination of instant gratification and FOMO to keep us as engaged with their products as possible.

I’d never given much thought to how the programs and apps I use on a daily basis impact my productivity — until I read Cal Newport’s book “Deep Work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world” earlier this year and was introduced to the concept of attention residue.

To explain what attention residue is and how it impacts us, Newport references a 2009 paper titled Why Is It So Hard to Do My Work?” from Sophie Leroy, a business school professor at the University of Minnesota. As Leroy explains in the paper:

“People need to stop thinking about one task in order to fully transition their attention and perform well on another. Yet, results indicate it is difficult for people to transition their attention away from an unfinished task and their subsequent task performance suffers.”

I finished the book in a single sitting, and it prompted me to really investigate my work behaviors. I would like to tell you here that it has helped me to do more deep work, yet I don’t think I have a consistent workflow to do deep work often enough (even though, my awareness of pursuing deep work is more developed).

The book did however prompt me to do something more radical: I almost entirely switched off my phone without entirely switching it off. My iPhone is now permanently on silent, and has the “Do Not Disturb” feature switched on at all times.

I also disabled all notifications — badges on my icons, popup notifications or notifications on my lock screen. The only notifications that makes it to my lock screen are from WhatsApp, which I only use for family and close friends. And yes — I also disabled Slack notifications, which is the primary communication tool we use for Conversio, a team of 14 remote team members.

This has turned my phone into less of an attention-demanding force. I don’t get interrupted or distracted as often as I used to. This helped me read 22 books in about ten weeks because I picked up a book when I was bored instead of fiddling on my phone.

I also started writing more, which helped me get more thoughts out of my mind. And most importantly, limiting my phone time has without a doubt helped me sleep better (I have always struggled to fall asleep because I struggle to switch off my thinking mind).

The flipside of this is also true: whenever I now pick up my phone, I can pay attention to the possible interactions that it presents. If an old friend sent me a message on Facebook, I can invest in replying purposefully instead of both reading and replying in a fleeting moment (when the notification of the message popped up).

I don’t have any scientific evidence to determine how these decisions have impacted my attention residue. What I do know is that by allowing less external sources to demand my attention, I have been more purposeful to prioritise the most important things to me — in a way that also brings more clarity to my life.

Change Your Reading Habits

Consider for a moment that much of your daily communication consists of reading emails, Slack messages, texts, tweets, or comments on your latest Instagram photo.

A big part of our communication is in written form, which means that we need to read in order to respond and interact. Beyond that you are likely reading articles (blog posts) like these, short rants your dad has posted on Facebook, or a firehose of 140 character opinions on Twitter.

Even if you aren’t reading books everyday, you are reading a lot.

A couple of months ago, I hit a wall. I was consuming a lot of content, but not much of it really resonated with me. To link this back to my previous point about distractions, there was a particularly relevant quote from Cal Newport’s book that best represented my reading habits at the time:

“It’s amazing how overly accessible people are. There’s a lot of communication in my life that’s not enriching, it’s impoverishing.”

So I made a simple change: I de-prioritized most shorter-form content, and started dedicating my reading time to full-length books. Mostly classic fiction — nothing that had a direct tie back to work.

I have now read 40 books this year already. I’ve worked my way through older classics from authors like Viktor Frankl, Kurt Vonnegut, Truman Capote, Herman Hesse, Marcus Aurelius, and Alain de Botton. By consuming less modern day content, I give my mind a much needed break from the usual written content I consume online.

Tackle a Big Non-Work Goal

On New Year’s day 2016, I set one goal: I wanted to complete my first marathon (and do it under four hours.)

When I started my training a month later, I also stumbled into mindfulness. The combination of these two things soon had an unexpected impact on the way I led our company.

Since my primary goal was not about work, it meant that the first priority each week was planning my daily runs. Work started to fill the spaces around these more rigid blocks. As a result, I starting giving myself more mental space from my work than ever before. Even catching up on work in the evening — a usual habit of mine — wasn’t an option after a three-hour long run — I was just too tired to work.

Working less wasn’t part of my plan or intention, but it had a profound impact on our journey at Conversio. For the first time in my entrepreneurial journey, it felt like I wasn’t tumbling up and down constantly on the proverbial rollercoaster anymore. And since I felt more grounded in my day-to-day, my leadership style started to reflect this attitude. As a result, the team was doing great work in a stable, safe environment.

The results in 2016 spoke for itself: we 3x’ed our revenue, reached profitability and celebrated with a major rebrand and product update. This was clearly a consequence of the team feeling more stable.

I then stepped into 2017 with the aim of applying all of my ambition towards really growing our business. I started pushing and pulling wherever I saw a gap. I started conversations that proposed new ideas that questioned previous decisions, and recommend brand new directions.

During the first quarter of 2017, I was focused on the wrong things, which made my behaviour erratic and meant that I lumped a lot of stress on our team. The team was confused, felt less secure, and wasn’t collaborating at our previous levels.

As these things go, the team eventually managed to pierce my stubborn drive forward and I received the message: things were not as great as they were before.

Pretty much as soon as I started unraveling my own motivations underpinning my behaviour (primarily, seeking more and faster growth), the team got back to a calmer, more efficient collaborative flow once again. We once again found alignment on both our core values, as well as shared goals, which meant we were making progress again. For the first four months of the year, our revenue only increased by 8% and in the four months since we’re up 24%. (Naturally the change in our growth rate was a result of many different things, but this change was at the core of many of those.)

The only shift here was in my own focus. When I was narrowly focused on work and had no other person goals I was striving for, it created an unbalanced approach that was neither helpful nor healthy for our progress.

When I was working towards a goal outside of work that was just for myself, it gave me more clarity in our mission and helped me be a better leader.

Embrace Not Having All the Answers Right Now

I have an annoying tendency to feel like I need to answer every question in a group setting, simply because I’m the leader.

In many situations, this isn’t an inherently bad attitude to have. Afterall, I am the leader, and in many situations I have the context, knowledge and experience to give a valuable answer.

But there’s a downside. Many times individual team members will just ask me directly for the answer, which means not involving the team and possibly excluding different perspectives and opinions. Once I’ve addressed a question, I sometimes shut the conversation down because my answer is deemed as authoritative or final (even when that is not the intention). That’s not great for inclusion and collaboration.

In recent months, I have been trying to avoid being the first to answer questions in meetings. Not only has this alleviated some of the demands on my time, but more importantly it means that the team is coming to more collaborative, creative answers on their own.

Get More Done By Doing Less

The truth — even for startups — is that most of the time it doesn’t really matter whether you finish something today or tomorrow, reach a goal this week or next month, or grow by 5% instead of 10%.

Yes, there are some exceptions to this. But for everything else, you can probably pursue the less obvious choice and route, while not compromising on your goal at all. In fact, you might be surprised that doing less actually helps you exceed your goals and expectations.

Despite the ever-present advice that long-tail keywords are king, many businesses still struggle to strategically use them to get content to the top of organic and paid search results.

The truth is, tackling these long-tail keywords feels hard when you know you’re up against the giants. I know. I worked with many startups before I joined HubSpot, and scouring Google Keyword Planner every day for keywords to fuel my blog posts drove me close to insanity.

But — it worked. When I skipped the keyword research, convinced that my blog post was just THAT epic, THAT viral … I was wrong. I was chasing an immeasurable goal (virality) with an unaccountable metric (my gut). That kind of strategy is really only a luxury restricted to those with pre-existing ample website traffic, sizable social media following, copious brand advocates, and a list of high-profile customers.

So if you’re one of those companies without those luxuries, listen up. I’m going to show you how to uncover new keywords to target and assess if you’re already targeting high-value phrases.

How to Find New Keywords

If you want to generate more organic traffic, it’s necessary to find the sweet spot between easy-to-target keywords and keywords relevant to your business.

A great (and familiar) place to start is to simply type some phrases into Google’s search bar, and watch how it pre-populates the rest of what you are typing.

Google’s search bar algorithm is built around a searcher’s intent. Beware, though: What is suggested is not just based on popularity or relevance, but it’s also personalized to the searcher. This exercise is simply to get you started with some ideas for keywords to target, and is by no means sufficient step on its own to do comprehensive keyword research.

That’s where the following tools come in handy — they’ll help you flesh out your keyword research. (And if you need a place to keep track of all of your research, download our free on-page SEO template.)

Below, we’ll dive into the following search term and keyword research tools:

• Moz Keyword Explorer
• Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool
• Google Trends
• Wordtracker’s Free Basic Keyword Demand
• keywordtool.io
• Keyword.io
• Infinite Suggest

Top Keyword Research Tools to Try

1) Moz Keyword Explorer

This keyword explorer is one of the best free SEO Tools available, providing an all-in-one tool to both discover and prioritize the search terms you’ll want to target.

2) Google AdWords Keyword Planner Tool

Like many of the other tools on here, the Google AdWords Keyword Planner provides a great way to discover new keyword ideas, especially for paid search campaigns. Criteria can be based on your product or service, as well as your target customers. 

3) Google Trends

Google Trends, if nothing else, an incredibly cool resource for trending search data. Not only does it provide information on search trends, but it also provides great visualizations that represent the data in a highly consumable way. You can also narrow the information by location.

4) Wordtracker’s Free Basic Keyword Demand

One of the best things about Wordtracker is that it helps users conduct keyword research across a variety of platforms. In addition to Google, for example, it helps marketers discover search term data for YouTube and Amazon, as well.

5) keywordtool.io

Keywordtool.io is, as the name depicts, a keyword research tool. What’s awesome about this tool is that it includes not only Google.com, but also all Google localized search languages, as well as YouTube, Bing, and the App Store. Sweet! Type in the ideas you recorded from the previous step, and expand your list.

As you go, make sure to remove keywords you know deep down cannot be relevant to your website. This will save you time and money in the long run, and result in a far better experience for the web searcher. Trickery is a fool’s game!

6) Keyword.io

Keyword.io has the disadvantage of only using Google data, but it’s handy in that it not only does keywords, but also looks at Google Trends information and lists the pages you have to beat for that keyword.

7) Infinite Suggest

You’ll need to have a long long list of keywords in order to boil it down to the golden nuggets. This tool will help you generate lots of terms (as it claims, “infinite”), and it’s up to you to pick out the best ones.

How to Evaluate Your Existing Search Terms and Keywords

Not only do you need to explore new keywords for your future content, but you also need to pay attention to your current keywords. When deciding on prioritizing your phrases and pages you must consider three things:

1. How many extra clicks will I get if I move up in Google’s results?
2. How much money will I make if I move up?
3. How strong is the page I’m trying to outrank?

To find out how to answer these questions, we spoke with Dan Petrovic, one of Australia’s best-known name in SEO and the director of DEJAN marketing. Here’s what he recommends:

1) How many extra clicks will I get on a keyword or phrase if I move up in Google’s results?

Export your keywords and work out your CTR averages.

This exercise is about predicting how many extra clicks an increase in rank would bring for a particular keyword. You may have seen clickthrough rate (CTR) studies such as this one in the past, but they’re anecdotal at best because every website is different.

We recommend you start by defining averages specific to your own website before working out click scenarios in different ranking positions. Once you know what your averages are for search queries, CTR, and position, you can start creating ranking scenarios for each keyword (e.g., if I move from position 10 to position 9 I will receive 12 extra clicks based on site CTR averages?). Be mindful though: If a keyword over- or under-performs compared to the site CTR average, you may need to adjust the expectation for its growth accordingly.

Here is how you can export your keywords and uncover these key metrics:

1) Log in to Google’s Search Console, navigate to the “Search Analytics” page under the “Search Traffic” header, and select the widest date range available on your website. This is typically 90 days.

2) If your website targets a specific geographic region, ensure you’ve got it selected before you export data:

3) It’s also wise to filter out any branded terms from the export. Branded terms tend to have very high CTR, which is not useful when calculating averages for non-branded keywords:

4) At the end of the report, click “Download” and select CSV. Now you have a file that contains:

1. Queries
2. Clicks
3. CTR
4. Position

Once you have these averages in hand, you can calculate which phrases will result in sufficiently more clicks for the effort put into moving up the rankings for that keyphrase.

2) How much money will I make if I move up in the rankings?

Add conversion rate and value to your CTR calculation.

The data gleaned from your keyword export can be enriched with your company’s financial information, such as the average value of a conversion and the average conversion rate. That way, you can project how much of a bottom-line impact your rankings changes could have (e.g. if an order value is $200 and conversion rate is 3%, how much more money will I get if I get 100 extra clicks from moving to a top spot in Google?).

You can now prioritize the keywords that drive the highest potential revenue on your website.

3) How strong is the page I’m trying to outrank?

Find results above you and look up their strength metrics.

Finally, once you have growth potentials calculated, it’s recommended that you balance them out with a difficulty metric. I personally use Flow Metrics from Majestic, but you can also use Moz’s Page Authority or similar values. These providers provide API access, too, so you can automate your research as well.

Advanced users can also map all keywords to their corresponding URLs, sum up potential scores from all keywords that lead to a URL, and end up with a list of priority pages to work on.

I use this exact methodology for my own research, and if you’re curious as to how it works, you can check it out.

Always Be Keyword-ing

Getting your keyword strategy right is the recipe for a long-term return on investment in digital marketing. Unlike other types of promotions, organic traffic is the gift that keeps on giving. Even when you’re not actively publishing new promotions, you’re still receiving traffic to your website.

To properly use keywords in your marketing, don’t just pepper them across meta descriptions, image alt tags, and H1s — apply them appropriately across your marketing campaigns and overall content strategy. Your marketing software should make implementing and tracking this easy. (HubSpot customers, you can use the HubSpot software to easily brainstorm, implement, and track your keyword strategy across all the content on your website.)

Remember: SEO is about serving the searcher with the best possible result. There are people out there searching for your very business, and you need to get in front of them. As your authority grows based on less-searched long-tail keywords, you’ll be able to tackle the giants as good as anyone.

Want even more tips? Check out the video below.