At the latest Content Marketing World conference in Cleveland, I had the privilege of leading the pre-conference workshop on “Web Writing 201.” Joe Pulizzi had pulled me in for the task, and my first hurdle was to think about what distinguished advanced web writing from basic web writing.
So I defined the basics as: storytelling, writing from/to the audience’s point of view, and developing a steady stream of relevant content.
The advanced, 201 stuff? To me, it’s about:
- Learning how to tease, rather than please (that is, completely satisfy curiosity)
- Applying strategies to communicate quickly to skimmers/scanners
- Figuring out how to sustain those regular content streams
Fortunately, I don’t have to tell you more. Because one of the attendees, Peter Gearin of BrandTales in Australia, has done the heavy lifting for me–and for you. In his article summarizing the workshop, “3 Secrets to Writing Successful Content,” you’ll get an in-depth explanation of the 201 concepts, plus the cool kangaroo story (this is that “tease” thing I mentioned) that transformed the way I write copy, and became the justification for the image accompanying this post.