Content Rules

How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (New Rules Social Media Series)

By: Ann Handley, C. C. Chapman

Narrated by: Ann Handley, C. C. Chapman

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

To market your business, reach new customers, and create long-lasting loyalty, you need one indispensable element: CONTENT. Whether it’s bite-sized tweets that allow you to forge relationships on Twitter, blog posts that give your readers must-have advice, ebooks or white papers that engage (and don’t bore), videos that share the human side of your company, interactive webinars that deliver a valuable learning experience, or podcasts that can be downloaded and listened to on the fly (and more!) . . . now more than ever, content rules!

Today, you have an unprecedented opportunity to create a treasury of free, easy-to-use, almost infinitely customizable content that tells the story of your product and your business, and positions you as an expert people will want to do business with.Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman, business writers, speakers, and marketing thought leaders for clients such as The Coca-Cola Company, HBO, and Verizon FiOS, show you how to leverage all of today’s tools to create content that truly speaks to your audience. They’ll show you how to:

• 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
• Explore ways to integrate searchable words into your content without sounding forced (or sounding like “Frankenspeak”)
• Write in a way that powerfully communicates your service, product, or message across various Web mediums
• Create a publishing schedule that allows you to create different kinds and types of content at once

Offering examples of businesses using content effectively across a wide range of industries and fascinating explanations of how you might approach your own content strategy, Content Rules is the essential field guide to creating your story, finding the right balance of humor and humanity in your content, and building a portfolio of value that will keep delivering for the long haul.

©2010 Ann Handley, CC Chapman (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

amazing book

for someone looking to start or learn about what it means to do content marketing!!!

Awesome!

Loved this audio book, was fantastic to listen to as my company was about to go through the review of our content strategy.

A Must Read For All Content Marketers!

I love this book! I love the narration and the creative ideas to effectively market your content. This book addresses the actual creation process as well. This is a gem filled with practical tips that you can execute right now to improve your business! Thank you to my friend Paul Castsin for recommending this book!

Perceived value = Actual value delivered

Although I was skeptical at first in the purchase of this book looking at the mixed reviews already provided, but there was still something that told and urged me I should go for this purchase. And I did! And I feel so satisfied about my decision. :-) Although I will comment that narration was quite fast at places, but the overall 'content value ;-)' that I have received from 'Content Rules' makes that quite a small improvement comment but at the same time a constructive improvement feedback, I would say. Special liking goes to re-emphasis of various points already covered at just the right places in the next chapters. That kept the links quite well.
I will surely be implementing a mix from what I have learnt now from this book and I will be more than happy to come back and share my 'Success stories' as I am confident - it will only be that way! :-) Thank you for this book! I much appreciate it and am already referring it to more than 1 of my friends. So, value delivered well to me undoubtedly as expected.

Very useful

I got a lot of tipps on how to start marketinhg our startup. Very simply and efficiently put together.

The BEST "course" for Content!

If you could sum up Content Rules in three words, what would they be?

Read. Re-Read. Read.

What did you like best about this story?

The level of detail and practical application is phenomenal. The 'content' that Ann and CJ crafted in this book is better than ANY in-person or online course I've ever taken. After reading this book once, my content drafting skills improved 100% and my writing business has benefitted tremendously.

Any additional comments?

This book is a MUST READ book for serious writers, marketing professionals, and - business people who's strength is not content or marketing. This book will help any individual think better and write better, ultimately making them communicate better.

Solid content, so-so delivery

Let's face it, after hearing some great performers on audible, it can be a letdown when an author (i.e., professional writer, amateur performer) chooses to read their own stuff no matter how well-intentioned. Here I think they do the material a bit of a disservice by opting to self-deliver --- it just doesn't have the power and clarity of a professional reader, and that means you're going to miss some good material by not being as fully engaged. That being said, it's well-researched an written - you should read it.

Helpful lessons for content creators

This book is all about creating content related to your brand and leveraging it as a legitimate marketing strategy. It’s very similar to HubSpot’s concept of “inbound marketing,” but it covers a few different topics than a book dedicated purely to that subject would.

This one is successful both on a low and high level. For example, on the low level, the authors lay out specific content calendars and plans for brand managers. And, on the high level, they discuss how the inherent tension in marketing is that companies only want to talk about what their products can do, while customers are only interested in hearing what said products can do FOR THEM.

The combination of these high and low-level wins is what makes this book compelling for brand owners, brand managers, and marketers all over the world.

The authors also spell out their “11 rules for publishing content,” which provide readers with a helpful framework for distributing their content to customers in a way that will entice them the most.

There are definitely a couple of parts that get a bit slow, but, overall, this is a pretty solid read for anyone interested in the subject — CEOs, managers, bloggers, influencers, and the like.

-Brian Sachetta
Author of “Get Out of Your Head”

Great but a bit dated now

There are many parts of this book that stand the test of time. Especially, it comes down to creating good content the captures attention. Well worth the read for those venturing into marketing and content matters; which still drive participation on the Internet. I just love Anne, which is why I bought this book! 🙂

Average at best, narration needs a lot of work.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I listen to most of my audio books while driving to and from work. I find that my attention to the audio is a great gauge for the interaction provided from the narrator. Unforunately, Ms. Handley is a dreadful narrator. I found myself tuning her out numerous times regardless of the value of what she was saying, which is unfortunate. Ms. Handley really needs some coaching to perfect her narration, otherwise the next book is going to suffer equally. I felt as if she was reading from a book in a 12th grade English class. Very few inflections, and when they were present, they were very obviously over the top as if the text on the page read (read with intent here.) Mr. Chapman was average in terms of holding my attention, but he did manage to bring some life to the recording. His speech was a bit more conversational, which helps to keep the listener interested and engaged.

In terms of information, I have to say this was one of the more desireable aspects of the book. They covered a diverse number of topics and gave great detail as to how one might endeavor to put these plans into action. Unfrotunately, once again I need to focus on Ms. Handley, as her portion of the book had some rather inane concepts. For example, there was an entire section devoted to word substitutions. At the risk of sounding arrogant, who are YOU to tell me what words my audience will appreciate? Several buzz words that you suggested were just as aggregious, if not more offensive than the originals. It seems to me that this was wasted filler material that is highly subjective and serves no benefit but to prop up the authors as some sort of authorities on what will or will not fly. Let's be clear, this book is just another in a series of social marketing tools, and the fact that it exists only goes to show that you're trying. Let's not take ourselves too seriously and assume that we know for a fact what will and will not work. This is a dangerous precedent to set.

All in all, it's not a bad book. There were some good nuggets of information, some filler and minor repetition. And by the way, I think I'm noticing a trend here. Much like websites work to get backlinks from other sites, it appears that books (or audio books) function much the same way, with authors often mentioning other authors in their readings....and those other authors just happen to have books for sale during the same period of time. Coincidence? I'll leave you to figure it out.

What three words best describe Ann Handley, and CC Chapman’s voice?

Amatuer