Rachel Van't Land

Rachel Van't Land helps businesses speak in a credible voice that aligns with their brand. She is a copywriter, brand strategist, and content strategist based in Seattle, WA.

Rachel and I talked about:

how she defines "voice" and how she helps her clients find theirs

the importance of voice - it's every bit as, if not more important than, your logo and other visual branding elements

how you can end up with an "accidental" brand voice if you don't pay enough attention to it up front

how there's a perception that "anyone can do the writing," whereas not everyone can use Photoshop or make a logo

her process for helping clients articulate their voice - it works best if you can work alongside the brand and leadership team from the start

the importance of deep foundational work to inform the articulation of the brand voice

the combination of qualitative and quantitative (analytics) research to inform voice development

how the starting point in her projects can vary depending on how much of that fundamental work has already been done

how the terms "conversational" and "authentic" drive her nuts

her hunch that most people mean "relaxed" and "approachable" when they say "conversational"

Microsoft's success in developing a conversational tone in their consumer messages

her thoughts on the differences between "voice" and "tone" - you usually speak in  the same voice but adopt a different tone depending on the context (e.g., Target using a pun in an Easter promo but being much more formal when letting you know about a data breach)

the unique benefits of establishing voice in a consulting role, as opposed to an in-house role or as part of an ongoing agency team

how "voice" is a living, breathing thing, worth revisiting on a regular basis

her work with a company that has grown and added products by acquisition and how to maintain a consistent voice through the process

her use of a "this not that" methodology to fine-tune one-word descriptions of an aspect of voice

the differences between voice-and-tone and grammatical-style guides

her work with chatbot auto-answers, making sure they conform with the brand voice, and how it is often really more of a tone problem that needs to be solved

"It's never to late to work on brand voice." - never to late to revisit - a quick site audit against the current voice and tone guide, e.g.

circling back the "conversational" voice - how The Evergrey has established a genuinely conversational style in their publication

Rachel's Bio

Rachel Van’t Land is a copywriter and consultant who helps organizations use storytelling to bring the right messages into their marketing. When she’s not at the keyboard, she’s meeting up with friends, coordinating her family schedule, or nerding out over marketing books. Her favorite things are desert hikes and free refills on coffee. You can find her at suncatchercopy.com.

Video

Here’s the video version of our conversation:

https://youtu.be/E7KzYc0h4IU

Transcript

Larry:

Hi everyone. Welcome to episode number 42 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I'm really happy today to have with us, Rachel Van't Land. Rachel's a copywriter, a content strategist, and a brand strategist here in Seattle, Washington. She runs an outfit called Suncatcher Copy, and I'll let Rachel tell you a little bit more about herself.

Rachel:

Yeah, thanks Larry. Thank you for having me. So as Larry said, I am the founder of Suncatcher Copy. And I help brands come up with the right messaging and positioning, and then the way to convey it effectively to their audience. That involves a lot of storytelling, but it also involves finding the right voice and the way to connect the mess...

Rachel Van't Land is a copywriter, brand strategist, and content strategist. Rachel helps businesses speak in a credible voice that aligns with their brand.

https://ellessmedia.com/csi/rachel-vant-land/

Blaine Kyllo

Blaine Kyllo helps enterprises understand and optimize their content processes. A key part of his work is helping his clients develop governance models that keep content operations on track.

Blaine and I talked about:

his background in journalism and publishing

how large enterprises tend to have the big, sticky problems that governance can solve

how media companies - whose business is content - can be a model for non-media enterprises

how content crosses departments, how it's cross-functional by its very nature

how content strategy at its core is really change management

how governance is the people side of change management

how content governance starts with the "what"

the content lifecycle - discovery, planning, design & creation, maintenance - and the processes needed at each stage to make sure the work gets done

the importance of thinking as early in the process as possible about how you'll measure content success

how to visualize success for each kind of content intention, as well as for your content operations

how the practice of content ops has emerged - "Content is not something that you ever finish and leave" - it's not a project

how efficiency and measurable impact are two of the key benefits of content strategy and content governance

clever ways of measuring content ROI, beyond page views, downloads, etc. - e.g. a calculation showing how much customer service time is saved by knowledge center content

the importance of setting baseline metrics at the start of a project

how content marketers are probably further ahead in using content metrics

how the processes that content managers use look very similar from a high level - regardless of channel, content type, industry, etc.

how to apply knowledge of process-pattern best practices to your organization's unique needs

his definition of "governance": "how you manage the work of content" - encompassing the tools, the technologies that support the work (CMS, e.g.), the people, your publishing model, and roles and responsibilities

the common problem of establishing a "the buck stops here" point in your content processes

his upcoming Confab talk, "Process to the people: How content governance can power content teams"

Blaine's Bio

Blaine is a senior content strategist at Content Strategy Inc, where he focuses on enterprise content governance. His clients have included BC Hydro, Investors Group, and Pearson. He’s also structured content teams for other contexts and has become a master at streamlining complex content processes.

Before content strategy, Blaine worked as managing editor for a leading independent book publisher, as well as with a national telecommunications company, and a non-profit initiative.

He’s also an audio and print journalist.

Video

Here’s the video version of our conversation:

https://youtu.be/voXW8poCGpY

Transcript

Larry:

Hi everyone. Welcome to episode number 41 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I'm really happy today to have with us Blaine Kyllo. Blaine is a senior content strategist with Content Strategy Inc, up in Vancouver, BC. Let me have Blaine tell you a little bit more about his background, what he does up there. Welcome Blaine.

Blaine:

Hi Larry. Yeah, thanks so much. I appreciate the opportunity to join you. I come to content strategy like so many do from my particular background. There are people who come to content strategy from a technical communication background. I come to it from more of a journalism and publishing background. I worked with an independent book publisher in Vancouver for a long time, transitioned from there into doing digital content and journalism as a freelancer and had ...

Blaine Kyllo helps enterprises understand and optimize their content processes. A key part of his work is helping his clients develop governance models that keep content operations on track.

https://ellessmedia.com/csi/blaine-kyllo/

Crystal Taggart

Crystal Taggart helps small- to medium-sized businesses improve their business results with artificial intelligence. AI is rapidly emerging as a viable technology that even small businesses can use to optimize their marketing efforts.

Crystal and I talked about:

her company, Atlas AI, and its mission to empower SMBs to use artificial intelligence to better promote their businesses

how AI lets you personalize your communication with your customers - way better than the algorithmic marketing we're doing now

how personalized content experiences may affect SEO and other internet marketing practices

how small businesses can use AI - first, they need to become more data-driven

how most companies can benefit from stepping up their use of data - to identify customer problems and create content that helps the customer solve them

how shockingly limited Google Analytics data is - and how to fill the gap - to tie that limited information to specific customers - to learn what they care about and how to personalize your messages to them

how to optimize your content creation based on actual customer behavior on your website

how to integrate affordable information resources like Pipl, which charges 5-15 cents for a customer profile - "If you're spending a dollar [with AdWords] to get your customer through the door, and then you don't spend 5 cents to learn more about who they are, you're not doing yourself any favors."

how to use ZIP code information, which is free, to start to build a demographic profile of your customer that can help you predict their likelihood of becoming a customer

the hazards of gender and racial profiling

how chatbots can be a great way to engage customers - but most of the current ones are "pretty dumb," just picking up keywords

the importance of monitoring how people use your chatbot to avoid unintended consequences (like the infamous Microsoft chatbot that became a racist troll in just 24 hours)

how to create your own chatbot

how tools like flow.io can help non-programmers build their own chatbots - but you need to invest some time to use them properly

how training data sets and AI are used to predict chatbot answers

how AI can help SMBs with churn predictions - the likelihood of a prospect becoming a customer and then becoming a loyal repeat customer

how to combine the power of customer segmentation with A/B testing and other metrics to drive real business decisions

how AI can link specific customers to the drivers that actually engage them

her theory of how Google will handle the emergence of AI: that they'll reward AI-based dynamic solutions - you're giving the searcher a better answer if you do that, and Google appreciates that and will reward companies that do it

how marketers - who are creative, interesting storytelling folks - have been forced to become bean-counters in the current analytics-driven online marketing environment

how AI can help marketers return to their storytelling roots

how her goal is to help people measure the effectiveness of "every post, page and tweet"

how to link personas to actual individual customers and then customize your messages to them

how imminent much of this AI marketing technology is - "months away, not years away"

how AI discoveries can focus your marketing spending

how AI is a journey - first, you measure things to make sure things are working; second, you personalize the customer experience; and third, you prepare for technologies like personalized video content

how to align emerging AI technologies with your content strategy

how now is the best time to make mistakes

Crystal's Bio

Crystal Taggart is an entrepreneur and data scientist.

Crystal Taggart helps small- to medium-sized businesses improve their business results with artificial intelligence. AI is rapidly emerging as a viable technology that even small businesses can use to optimize their marketing efforts.

https://ellessmedia.com/csi/crystal-taggart/

 

Neal Sofian

Neal Sofian leads a company that builds conversation bots for the health-care industry. Using algorithms, machine learning, and contextual storytelling, they create complex, customized content on the fly to help people change their health behavior.

Neal and I talked about:

conversational AI and how conversation bots can create conversations and build relationships

how technology that permits the creation of unique compelling content helps people change their behavior

their "Mad Libs" model for creating conversational content on the fly

the differences between machine learning and AI and how natural language processing relates to these technologies

how his background in public health leads to a people-first, behavior-first approach to the tech solutions he works on

how establishing conversational context - with concepts like the "vulnerability index," like information about relationships, etc. - drives the tone of the content they deliver

the importance of starting conversations by asking questions

how his service adds an "engagement layer," making them the concierge that helps you find the info you need to solve your problem - smoking cessation, for example

how they protect the privacy of users by giving control of their information to the consumer

how some medical content has been diluted by focusing on compliance with HIPAA and other standards, which reduces opportunities to create interesting, compelling content

Jamie, their gender-fluid bot whose personality can be programmed to be like your mom, a drill sergeant, coach, mentor, BFF, and whose vocabulary, patience, and how other voice and style choices can be customized for the context

how establishing context enables content creators to use vocabulary and deliver content that is appropriate for the exact situation the reader is in

how writing to one generic reading level is a relic of old mass communication - now we have "segments of one" with the customization that is possible

how storytelling with a narrative customized to the user's needs is superior to generic advice like, "You need to exercise. Here's why."

how the conversation itself provides the permission mechanism they need to include third-party information in the profiles from which they derive the context of the conversation

the ongoing need for good writers to create compelling content for their "Mad Libs"

how to go from "pushing information to creating a conversation and a relationship"

"Always start with people."

Neal's Bio

Neal Sofian is the CEO of tuzag, Inc., a digital, conversational AI health company that has built an "infinite" tailored-content & engagement platform, using conversational AI to drive exponentially greater consumer behavior change. Previously Neal was the Director of Member Engagement at Premera Blue Cross where he was responsible for development strategies to engage the 2.2 million members of Premera in reaching their optimal health.

Neal is a noted author and speaker and continues to be acknowledged as one of the true innovators in the world of health behavior change., and the role of personalization and social networking. Neal holds a master's degree in public health from the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He is also a working potter/sculpture and has done stand-up comedy in a vaudeville show.

Video

Here’s the video version of our conversation:

https://youtu.be/prCO94A9PMg

Transcript

Larry:

Hi everyone. Welcome to episode number 39 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I'm really happy today to have with us Neal Sofian. Neal is the CEO of Tuzag, which is a really interesting company that helps folks do behavior change in the healthcare field. One of the online ...

Neal Sofian leads a company that builds conversation bots for the health-care industry. Using algorithms, machine learning, and contextual storytelling, they create complex, customized content on the fly to help people change their health behavior.

https://ellessmedia.com/csi/neal-sofian/

 

Jennifer Bourn

Jennifer Bourn helps small businesses create systems to plan and create their content. She also helps other small-agency owners streamline and systematize their operations.

Jennifer and I talked about:

the importance of systems and processes in both her business and personal lives

her ability to identify and implement a systematic approach to any business activity - both hers and her clients

the flow of content work in a typical client project

the various interpretations of "content first" that she has encountered

the importance of adapting your content plan to the needs and style of your client

her system for guiding clients through the content-creation process

the similarities that she sees across her client base

her observation that while everyone thinks they are special and unique, in fact, most clients have very similar fundamental needs

the importance of getting systems information out of your head and into actual working procedures

how to delegate, automate, and otherwise streamline content (and other) operations

the stages of her process: welcome, on-boarding, design, development, launch, exit

how she sets the stage for her clients to begin thinking about crucial issues *before* she begins her discovery process

how her process helps clients build content momentum by doing easier writing tasks first

how her content checklist and associated document templates create a low-stress content-creation experience for her clients

how her processes have worked for a range of project sizes - from $3,000 to $30,000

the superiority of a systems approach to a bespoke approach to client work

how systematizing and automating simple tasks can give you more time to focus on strategy and other more meaningful work

how her systems reduced their workload by 50% shortly after they implemented them

her approach to ongoing iterative improvement of her processes

the importance of having - and following - a plan

how to align your content with the services you offer or the products you sell

the benefits of repurposing and reusing your content

Jennifer's Bio

With 20 years experience as a graphic designer, 14 years experience as a web designer, 13 years as a creative agency owner, and 10 years as a blogger, Jennifer Bourn has worked with hundreds of small-medium sized service-based businesses to build brands, establish profitable online platforms, and claim authority positioning in their niche. She is also a sought-after speaker and writer, earning rave reviews for her workshops, trainings, and valuable articles.

Through JenniferBourn.com, Jennifer focuses on providing the information, tools, and resources freelancers need to build thriving, successful businesses and delivering courses that help freelancers make more money. Through her agency, Bourn Creative, she offers a suite of services designed to maximize results and increase profits that include brand strategy, content strategy, and website strategy, as well as copywriting and content implementation.

Video

Here’s the video version of our conversation:

https://youtu.be/t2VWK5hq4xY

Transcript

Larry:

Hi, everyone. Welcome to episode number 38 of the Content Strategy Insights podcast. I'm really happy today to have with us Jennifer Bourn. Jennifer is at jenniferbourn.com down in Sacramento, California. She does a lot of creative agency-type stuff down there. I'll have Jennifer tell you a little bit more about herself.

Jennifer:

Thanks for having me. I am a designer at heart. I got my bachelor's degree in graphic design, so I've been a designer for 20 years, a web designer for 14,

Jennifer Bourn helps small businesses create systems to plan and create their content. She also helps other small-agency owners streamline and systematize their operations.

https://ellessmedia.com/csi/jennifer-bourn/