TA #67: 🕸️ A Writer's Hierarchy of Needs; the Most Important Skills of 2020 Leaders

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This week's image, #67: Henneke Duistermaat

Welcome to the 67th issue of Total Annarchy, a fortnightly newsletter by me, Ann Handley, with a focus on writing, content, marketing, life. THANK YOU for being here. P.S. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe right here.

Boston, Sunday, August 16, 2020

Hello, Pet.

It's been two weeks since I last wrote to you. But it feels like two hours: That's how fast things have flown around here.

(Is it possible to feel whiplashed in a pandemicked world that's markedly slower? Yes. I have the metaphorical neck brace to prove it.)

So today I've resurrected a summer classic that has new relevance in the strange new world we are living in today. It originally ran in August 2018, but I've renovated it for Summer 2020.

* * *

Where to Do Your Best Work

Yesterday, I disturbed the spider ecosystem thriving on Tiny Porch (TP), the official name of the screened porch of my backyard Tiny House Office (THO).

My THO is a small office I built in my backyard; it's where I do my best work. (You can read the back story on it here.)

I'd been meaning to take care of that spider situation all summer. But I'd been avoiding it, instead breezing by it with blinders on.

Kidding myself about the growing number of feathery webs.

Ignoring the small, growing piles of spider trash on the floor—the chewier parts of a fly, the undigested husk of a beetle. Spiders can be real pigs.

Then I started noticing more and more egg sacs—tiny cement-colored balls that seem rolled out of boiled wool and dirt. They look like sepia-tone models of that spiky Coronavirus ball.

That image has been everywhere this year, and now here it is on TP. Time to sweep.

Reclaiming Your Space

It was only later that I thought of the obvious metaphor—cleaning out the cobwebs, reclaiming a space.

The satisfaction of doing the claiming yourself. Of finishing your own unfinished business. Giving yourself a clean slate. A spider-free, virus-free spot to do your best work.

Georgetown professor Cal Newport says the details of the physical space you work in can substantially up the quality of what you produce. Giving yourself a place you feel good in helps you maximize what you get out of your brain.

Cal calls this principle "location-boosted cognition." A place free of cobwebs, actual and metaphorical, is especially important for anyone who does a lot of thinking work—like marketers, like writers.

Cal's description of "maximizing brain output" and "location-based cognition" feels a little bloodless to me. But, then again, his job is to create bloodless names for what goes on inside Tiny Houses tucked under a copse of trees in late August.

Especially in late August, when (as Thoreau wrote) "the year is full of warnings of its lateness, as is life."

This time of year, he gets a little melancholy, that Thoreau. He saw late summer and early fall as the "night of the year."

Time is closing in—on the year, as it will eventually on our lives. (See? Melancholy.)

So Thoreau challenges us, in his classic heavy-handed way that's either wildly motivating or mildly depressing (or both): "What have we done with our talent?"

Also: I am a little melancholy this time of year during almost any year. But especially this year, when all kinds of spiders are spinning on overtime in my head.

Which is why I needed to clear out my own cobwebs. Which is why I needed to clear the rubbish heaps I walk by on my way to do my best work.

As August rolls into the fall, most of us are still working from home, and homing from work. These are questions we need to ask ourselves now, 5 months into this pandemic, in the night of the year:

What are the cobwebs you need to clear to do your best work? Actual cobwebs; metaphorical, too.

What business from the year is still unfinished? And what can you do this week to get closer to finishing it?

How can you reclaim your space to do your best work?

Tweet me. Email me. Send me a signal. Let me know.

I'd love to hear.

* * *

FROM TWO-DAY EVENT TO YEAR-ROUND LOVEFEST

A question I've been getting a lot: "Is the MarketingProfs B2B Forum happening this year?"

Answer: YES, AND... (as the improv folks say!)

*YES* 🎉 You can attend the 2020 MarketingProfs B2B Forum virtually this November... (and you might even get in for FREE).

*AND* 🎉🎉 You'll also get access to year-round B2B community, resources, training, high-fives, support when you need it most. It's like the event never stops.

We're rethinking everything in 2020. (Everyone is.)

And I'm inspired by the idea of re-imagining this 13-year-old flagship event not simply as an in-person experience crammed into a virtual platform… BUT: as a whole new opportunity to rethink the kind of year-round learning, support, and community B2B marketers need.

Please take a look. (The speakers are announced*; full agenda will be up this week.) Hit reply if there are any questions I can answer for you!

P.S. See discount code under "EVENTS," below.

* a rare use of passive voice from me LOL

QUICKIES

🐙 8 Tips for Feeding Your Writing Genius. This infographic from the fantastic Henneke Duistermaat gives you 8 tips for clearing out the cobwebs so you can do your best work. I especially like her focus on the creative soul, not just the mechanics of Getting Stuff Done. [The image at the head of this newsletter is from the infographic.]

⚙️ Leaders: A Guide to Writing Well. Among the tools in a successful exec's tool belt—vision, execution, persuasion, perseverance, grit, resilience, ability to use emojis (the last one being my add)—effective writing usually fails to make the list. That's ridiculous, says serial CEO Dave Girouard (he's also former president of Google Apps). HELL YES, Dave!

[The] quality of your writing contributes to the outcomes you experience as a founder and executive day in and day out. Moreover, modeling and stressing the importance of effective writing throughout your organization can meaningfully improve business execution and outcomes on a broader scale.

TOOLS

The Freelance 50: 50 Freelance Writers to Hire
"Can you recommend a good freelance writer?" I get that question a lot. So does my friend John Bonini, director of marketing at a B2B company called Databox.

So John put together this list that's helpful for marketers looking to hire freelance writing talent, with links to their websites + writing samples + expertise. Handy as heck.

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

✅ Support a small, woman-owned business...

✅ that blends food and books...

✅ with puns!

What's not to love?

Judy Gelman creates + crowdsources a bunch of spice blends that riff on a slew of book and Netflix/TV titles. My favorites include Shallot's Web, A Wrinkle in Thyme, and Schitt's Greek.

Judy just released a bunch of new puns and spice blends, including Lord of the Fries. She rejected my suggestion (for now) for Great ExpectTacos, but I won't hold that against her. See the new titles/spices here; code ANNARCHY2020 gets you a 10% discount.*

* I don't benefit from any sale. I'm simply a fan of Judy's company. And puns.

LOVE LETTERS
Shouts from around the Internet.

💌 To Ahava Leibtag of Aha Media Group for including me in her ongoing YouTube series: What Did You Learn? [Side note for Marketers: Ahava's series is a great example of how creating content to serve your audience based on current realities can also educate you on how to better serve them based on current realities. #meta]

💌 To Leah Kinthaert at Informa for including my thoughts in this Informa research report on how Covid-19 affects business long-term.

💌 To Sheilamary Koch at MultiBriefs for the shout in her piece on how marketing can cope with Covid.

💌 Eric Butts at SmartBlogger for including me in his piece on how to create an About Us page.

💌 To Mark Strong writing at LinkedIn about what your 2020 content strategy needs, and quoting both Content Rules and Everybody Writes.

* * *

Thanks for reading this far. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Wear a mask.

I'll be back on August 30.

P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, buy a book. Or forward this newsletter to a friend with an invitation to subscribe right here: www.annhandley.com/newsletter.

SELECT PUBLIC EVENTS

📅 THIS WEEK! August 18-20: Healthcare Marketing + Physical Strategies Virtual Summit

📅 September 15-18: UBA Trends Day, Brussels, Belgium [online]

📅 October 13-15: Content Marketing World [online]

📅 October 20: OptIn Live 2020

📅 November 3-6: MarketingProfs B2B Forum. Code ANNLIKESME saves you $.

📅 November 12: SharpSpring Agency Accelerator Series

📅 November 30-December 2: Digital Sales and Marketing World, Hartford, CT [now online]

📅 Your Date Here: Book me to speak

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