You Won't Believe What Ann Handley Just Said

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The illustrious Ann Handley had the audacity to say on a live webinar to an audience of writers, PR practitioners, and other marketers herded together by Vocus that"there's no such thing as writer's block." Cue my reaction - similar to the face below - as I listened to the webinar while walking along the Boston seaport shore line:

Oh no she didn't!

(Yes I obviously looked that fashionable but I believe I was wearing a shirt too. Stock photo fail, Bigstock.)

Ann, ouch babe. Writer's block is one of those dirty little problems that creeps up on every marketer once in a while, but like a hickey under a scarf at work, we keep it hidden, knowing deep down that our livelihoods require us to write, write well, and keep on writing.

So what do we do when there's content for nurture campaigns and witty subject lines to be written for demand gen campaigns? When we have mere minutes to bang out a blog post or contributed article?

We focus. We get inspired. And we write.

On this webinar, Ann provided 15 titles to inspire you if you've hit one of those mental places where good ideas have gone to die. I found them so valuable, I emailed my team right away, and wanted to share them here as well:

1. Quiz. Test Your Privacy IQ

2. Skeptic. You Don't Control Your Privacy Anymore

3. Explainer. The Online Privacy Debate in Plain English

4. Case study. How One Person Got Control Over Privacy

5. Contrarian. Why Online Privacy Concerns Are Overblown

6. How-to. Five Steps to Improving Online Privacy

7. Quick How-to. Three Stupid Simple Things You Can Do to Keep Your Profile Private

8. How NOT to. Five Ways to Compromise Your Online Privacy

9. First person. My Personal Privacy Horror Story

10. Comparison. How Privacy Protection Services Measure Up

11. Q&A Five Common Questions About Online Privacy with Edward Snowden

12. Data. Are Privacy Problems Worsening? Yes, Says Survey

13. Man on the street. Experts Offer Opinions on the State of Online Privacy

14. Outrageous Why Online Privacy Is an Oxymoron

15. BuzzFeed-style outrageous (not advised but good for a laugh!) This Woman Insists Online Privacy Is a Joke, and You Won't Believe What Happened Next

They're also in her new book which I am pre-ordering in t-minus 30 seconds,Everybody Writes.

Thanks Ann for exposing us all - but in all seriousness, thanks for calling us out. I agree with your big takeaway from the webinar and book: we're all capable of creating ridiculously good content.

(No excuses.)

Every week(ish) I send out new ideas, writings, and interesting links on marketing, business, and life. It’s free & curated by me. Get on the list.

Advice to Young Women in Digital

Every week(ish) I send out new ideas, writings, and interesting links on marketing, business, and life. It’s free & curated by me. Get on the list.

Last night, I was invited to speak on a panel of kick-ass marketers at Hubspot HQ in Cambridge, MA with my new favorite organization, Young Women in Digital - a group of ladies working in the Boston marketing scene. Joining me was Elizabeth Good of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, Marissa Green of Cone Communications, and the only person I know to be able to speak in only 140-character soundbites, Katie Burke of Hubspot. The topic of the panel was PR, but naturally I took the opportunity to advise all the impressionable young minds in the room to, quote, "have the balls to say no" and "be a bullshit artist" when necessary. Sigh. Here are some of my other favorite quotes from the night:

Know your priorities. Have the balls to say no. Don't be afraid to ask for Money. Know your target audience. #Advice from #YWDBoston — Heather Paige Campos (@heatherpcampos) January 23, 2014

.@KatieMartell just went there with the feminism, and I think we're all right there with her. #YWDBoston #girlpower — Lindsay (LW) (@_elledoubleyouu) January 23, 2014

Speak the lingo of the CFO and CEO, learn what metrics of that they measure to best determine how mktg fits in #YWDBoston — Katie Gardner (@Gardner_Katie) January 23, 2014

"Marketers especially in PR need to know how to articulate how their creativity is of value to the company" @KatieMartell #ywdboston

— Hannah Fleishman (@hbfleishman) January 23, 2014 

"Surround yourself with strong women and support each other." @themarissagreen #pr #protip #ywdboston

— Desiree Nattell (@DreamDabbler) January 23, 2014

"Most people treat journalists as a one nigt stand," true! Treat PR/journo relationships as two way street, @Hubspot Katie Burke #YWDBoston

— Bessie King (@Bessiejking) January 22, 2014

Thanks for having me, YWD!

Every week(ish) I send out new ideas, writings, and interesting links on marketing, business, and life. It’s free & curated by me. Get on the list.