Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business

The one–stop resource for creating irresistible content and building a loyal following, revised and updated How do you create the stories, videos, and blog posts that cultivate fans, arouse passion for your products and services, and ignite your brand? Content Rules equips you for online success as a go–to guide to the art and science of developing content that people care about. Case studies show how companies have successfully spread their ideas through blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other platforms—and used them to establish credibility and build a loyal customer base. This revised and updated edition shows you how to: Find an authentic "voice" and craft bold content that will resonate with prospects and buyers and encourage them to share it with others Use social media to get your content and ideas distributed as widely as possible Get to the meat of your message in practical, commonsense language, and define the goals of your content strategy Powerfully communicate your service, product, or message across various web media and mobile platforms Boost your online presence and engage with customers like never before with Content Rules . Find out more at ContentRulesBook.com.

Foreword xi Acknowledgments xv Big Fat Overview (Sometimes Called an Introduction) xvii PART ONE THE CONTENT RULES 1 Chapter 1 The Case for Content 3 Chapter 2 The Content Rules 13 Chapter 3 Insight Inspires Originality: Who Do You Want to Attract? 21 Chapter 4 Who Are You? 31 Chapter 5 Reimagine; Don’t Recycle: Anatomy of a Content Circle of Life 55 Chapter 6 Share or Solve; Don’t Shill 69 Chapter 7 Stoke the Campfire 95 Chapter 8 Create Wings and Roots 101 Chapter 9 The Care and Feeding of Fans 115 Chapter 10 Attention B2B Companies: This Is the Chapter You Are Looking For 121 PART TWO THE HOW–TO SECTION 141 Chapter 11 A Blog as a Hub of Your Online Content 143 Chapter 12 If Webinars Are Awesome Marketing Tools, Why Do Most of Them Suck? 155 Chapter 13 What’s the Difference between an E–book and a White Paper? (And When Should You Use Them?) 171 Chapter 14 The Single Biggest Secret to Creating a Compelling Customer Success Story (Formerly Known as a Case Study) 183 Chapter 15 From Dumpy to Sexy: An FAQs Makeover 189 Chapter 16 Video: Show Me a Story 197 Chapter 17 Podcasting: Is This Thing On? 207 Chapter 18 Photographs: The Power of Pictures 211 PART THREE CONTENT THAT CONVERTS: SUCCESS STORIES (WITH IDEAS YOU CAN STEAL!) 219 Chapter 19 Reynolds Golf Academy: 221 Greensboro, Georgia Chapter 20 The Cool Beans Group: 227 Greensboro, North Carolina Chapter 21 U.S. Army: Fort Knox, Kentucky; 231 Fort Monroe, Virginia Chapter 22 AskPatty.com, Inc.: Thousand 235 Oaks, California Chapter 23 Qvidian: Lowell, Massachusetts 239 Chapter 24 HubSpot: Cambridge, Massachusetts 243 Chapter 25 Kodak: Rochester, New York 251 Chapter 26 Boeing Company: Chicago, Illinois 257 Chapter 27 Indium Corporation: Clinton, New York 263 Chapter 28 PinkStinks: London, England 267 PART FOUR THIS ISN’T GOODBYE 271 Chapter 29 This Isn’t Goodbye, and a Gift for You 273 About the Illustrator: Sean Tubridy 275 Index 277

Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, a training and education company with the largest community of marketers in its category, and co–founded ClickZ.com. She is a monthly columnist for  Entrepreneur   magazine, a contributor to LinkedIn′s Influencer program, and Amex′s OPEN Forum. There′s nothing more fun than following her on Twitter, where she has 170,000 followers, or subscribing to her own site at AnnHandley.com. C.C. Chapman is a media creator, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and online marketing consultant. He is the founder of DigitalDads.com and the host of PassionHit.tv. For more information, please visit cc–chapman.com.