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

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

by Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman
Released May 2012
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118283035

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

The guide to creating engaging web content and building a loyal following, revised and updated

Blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other platforms are giving everyone a "voice," including organizations and their customers. So how do you create the stories, videos, and blog posts that cultivate fans, arouse passion for your products or services, and ignite your business? Content Rules equips you for online success as a one-stop source on the art and science of developing content that people care about. This coverage is interwoven with case studies of companies successfully spreading their ideas online—and using them to establish credibility and build a loyal customer base.

  • Find an authentic "voice" and craft bold content that will resonate with prospects and buyers and encourage them to share it with others

  • Leverage social media and social tools to get your content and ideas distributed as widely as possible

  • Understand why you are generating content—getting to the meat of your message in practical, commonsense language, and defining the goals of your content strategy

  • Write in a way that powerfully communicates your service, product, or message across various Web mediums

Boost your online presence and engage with customers and prospects like never before with Content Rules.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Foreword
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Big Fat Overview (Sometimes Called an Introduction)
  9. Part One: The Content Rules
    1. Chapter 1: The Case for Content
      1. What is Content, and What Can It Do for You?
      2. Good Content as a Competitive Advantage
    2. Chapter 2: The Content Rules
      1. The Content Rules
    3. Chapter 3: Insight Inspires Originality
      1. Start with the Why
      2. A Quick and Dirty Search Lesson
      3. Back to the Why—and Onto the Who
      4. Set Your Metrics: What Does Success Look Like?
    4. Chapter 4: Who Are You?
      1. Speak Human: How Do You Differentiate Your Content?
    5. Chapter 5: Reimagine; Don’t Recycle
      1. First, Look toward the Sun
      2. Create a Publishing Schedule
      3. Feed the Beast
      4. Aim for Variety, and Do Something Unexpected
      5. Imagine New Creatures
    6. Chapter 6: Share or Solve; Don’t Shill
      1. What Do I Talk about When There’s Nothing to Say?
      2. What I Really Want to Do is Direct: Hiring Content Creators and Sourcing Content from Elsewhere
      3. Who Owns Your Website Content?
      4. What to Look for in a Writer (or Any Kind of Content Creator)
      5. Sourcing Content from Elsewhere
    7. Chapter 7: Stoke the Campfire
      1. How to Build a Fire
      2. Your Content Campfire
      3. Start with the Small Stuff
      4. Finding the Bigger Sticks
      5. Singing Campfire Songs
      6. Why Doesn’t My Content Have Any Comments?
      7. Telling Stories by the Campfire Light
    8. Chapter 8: Create Wings and Roots
      1. Wings for the Web: Findable, Accessible, Shareable
      2. Fishing for Attention in the Activity Streams
      3. How to Make Your Content Go Viral
    9. Chapter 9: The Care and Feeding of Fans
      1. Setting Up a Listening Dashboard
      2. Responding Quickly, and with Sincerity
    10. Chapter 10: Attention B2B Companies: This is the Chapter You Are Looking For
      1. Your Prospects Are Avoiding You
      2. Marketers Need to Pick Up the Ball and Run with It
      3. Content Marketing is the Key
      4. Additional Steps to Getting Hitched: Content and B2B, True Love Always
  10. Part Two: The How-to Section
    1. Chapter 11: A Blog as a Hub of Your Online Content
      1. Blogging Guidelines
    2. Chapter 12: If Webinars Are Awesome Marketing Tools, Why Do Most of Them Suck?
      1. How to Create and Produce Awesome Webinars
      2. “A Rose by Any Other Name . . .”
    3. Chapter 13: What’s the Difference between an E-book and a White Paper?
      1. Nine Steps to Creating an E-book or White Paper That People Will Want to Read
    4. Chapter 14: The Single Biggest Secret to Creating a Compelling Customer Success Story
    5. Chapter 15: From Dumpy to Sexy
    6. Chapter 16: Video: Show Me a Story
      1. Equipment: What You’ll Need
      2. Creating Your Story
      3. Shooting and Scripting
      4. Show the World
      5. But What Am I Going to Shoot?
      6. iContent: Your Own Web Show?
    7. Chapter 17: Podcasting: is This Thing On?
    8. Chapter 18: Photographs
      1. What Should I Take Pictures Of?
      2. Sharing and Tagging
      3. Social Snapshots
      4. How Brands Are Responding
      5. Getting the Good Shot
      6. Bring in the Big Guns
  11. Part Three: Content That Converts: Success Stories (With Ideas You Can Steal!)
    1. Chapter 19: Reynolds Golf Academy
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    2. Chapter 20: The Cool Beans Group
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    3. Chapter 21: U.S. Army
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    4. Chapter 22: AskPatty.com, Inc.
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    5. Chapter 23: Qvidian
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    6. Chapter 24: HubSpot
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    7. Chapter 25: Kodak
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    8. Chapter 26: Boeing Company
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    9. Chapter 27: Indium Corporation
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
    10. Chapter 28: PinkStinks
      1. Content That Ignites
      2. Ka-Ching!
      3. Ideas You Can Steal
  12. Part Four: This Isn’t Goodbye
    1. Chapter 29: This Isn’t Goodbye, and a Gift for You
      1. A 12-Point Content Checklist
  13. About the Illustrator
  14. Index

Product information

  • Title: Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business
  • Author(s): Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman
  • Release date: May 2012
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781118283035