We tell your stories. Content strategy, content marketing, mainly for B2B tech companies. https://xitter.cf/t.co/5faoS1FZ6o
London
Joined November 2011
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Looking for advice on trying to choose the right content agency for you?
We looked too, and couldn't find a guide anywhere.
So we made one.
collectivecontent.agency/how…
Collective Content retweeted
If you're starting out as a #copywriter, you might be wondering how to pitch to new editors and agencies.
@ColContent offer some tips on how to make successful approaches and build valuable professional relationships: procopywriters.co.uk/2019/01…
#ProCopyBlog
Some of the CC team ventured down to The Comedy Store last night for an evening of familiar faces, agency in-jokes and genuinely side-splitting laughter.
A huge shoutout to everyone involved in the @agency_hackers comedy event, thanks for the laughs!
At the end of the first quarter, check our 11 essential content marketing links here, to help you get the best out of the year so far.
collectivecontent.agency/202…
ALT https://collectivecontent.agency/2024/04/01/11-essential-content-marketing-links-from-q1-24/
Great read on the ethics around GenAI use in PR with inputs from experts in ethics, corporate reputation and DEI.
We know our stance at Collective Content. It's fascinating to see what others across comms industries are doing and the noted need for full transparency.
#GenAI
Since the @PRCouncil’s initial publication of the guidelines last April, the landscape of generative AI in the communications industry has evolved significantly.
NEW revised its Ethical Guidelines for #GenAI in #PR and #comms. prcouncil.net/advocacy/polic…
🐒 1,000 monkeys
⌨️ 1,000 typewriters
It’s a great thought experiment, but not a basis for your content.
Join Senior Editor @ebishirl as we explore AI, the art of writing and the difference between ideas and execution.
collectivecontent.agency/202…
ALT A robot sits at a keyboard
It's National Clean Your Desk Day, and our team has set the bar high.
Here are Aled, Fan and Daine's desks for some organisation inspiration...
#HomeOffice #RemoteWork
The world is constantly getting bigger and brighter, with distractions aplenty.
Our 12th gift of Christmas comes from senior editor Andrew Smith. Some days dedicating focused time to writing is half the battle.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
💪 Not such a weird flex really.
Our 10th gift of Christmas comes from managing director @tphallett. Content comes in a wide variety of forms.
A healthy balanced content diet improves all aspects of your craft.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
“Murder your darlings.” Arthur Quiller-Couch, On the Art of Writing, 1913.
Sometimes clever doesn’t benefit the message.
Our 9th gift of Christmas comes from content director Aled Herbert. Content is for the reader above all else.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
Without challenge, we can’t grow.
Our 8th gift of Christmas comes from senior writer @evelloyd_. Criticism can be hard to swallow, but finding a good team, an experienced editor and setting your ego aside all make it much easier to develop as a writer.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
The fear of the blank page. Every writer knows it, and how challenging it can be to overcome.
Our 7th gift of Christmas comes from senior editor John Oates, a reminder that the backspace button exists and that a bad page can always be edited.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
📚 If you don’t know what you’re writing about, your reader certainly won’t either.
Our 6th gift of Christmas comes from senior editor @ContentBill. Good subject knowledge reflects in every aspect of your writing.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
Yule is a time for magic. It seems only right our gifts should have some too. ✨
Our 5th gift of Christmas comes from content director Aled Herbert, an editing wizard himself.
Transform your copy into gold with a rigorous editing process.
#Xmas2023 #WritingTips
🐠
Did that catch your attention?
Our 4th gift of Christmas comes from content and marketing executive @maelstromsdove.
A punchy headline and good hook seem like marketing 101, but there is a reason it’s a tried-and-true piece of advice.
#Xmas2023 #WritingAdvice
Tip #3 of the 12 Days of Collective Content... sorry, Christmas, is from MD @tphallett. Practice makes perfect! #WritingCommunity #WritingTips
Tip #2 of our 12 Days of Christmas writing advice comes from senior editor Andrew Smith. Much like the rule KISS: Keep It Simple, S... you know the one. #WritingCommunity #WritingTips
Tip #1 of our 12 Days of Christmas writing tip special comes from senior writer @evelloyd_. Agencies will always have someone on hand to edit and proof work – do you? #WritingCommunity #WritingTips
Happy holidays one and all! Over the 12 days of Christmas, we've got some writing tips for you – festive style. We hope you all have a great break and get to rest those creative muscles for a while. #Xmas2023 #WritingCommunity
A brilliant visual, comedic depiction of storytelling by the literary legend Kurt Vonnegut here ⬇️ #Storytelling #WritingCommunity
In 4 minutes, Kurt Vonnegut explains stories better than anyone I’ve ever heard.
“The shape of the curve is what matters. Not their origins.”
He plots stories on 2 axes:
X: Time
Y: Good fortune / ill fortune
He goes on to say,
“Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it.”
Point 1:
Stories have defined patterns.
In Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces, he makes the case for the Hero’s Journey.
Since then, it’s become the most famous storytelling structure in the world.
Vonnegut argued stories could be divided into 8 shapes.
Each story, he said, fit one of the 8.
Point 2:
Vonnegut says,
“Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — so the reader may see what they're made of.”
To see who your characters really are, you have to make them suffer.
Only then does your audience have someone worth cheering for.
Point 3:
End on a high note.
Vonnegut says, “It’s not accidental that the line ends up higher than where it began. This is encouraging to readers.”
The way a story makes people feel when they finish is how they remember it.
It’s called recency bias.
Lift people up and they will love you.
***
“There are people. There are stories. The people think they shape the stories, but the reverse is often closer to the truth.”
I wrote this with @RobbieCrab. Follow him for lessons on storytelling + fundraising.
And I talk about creative storytelling & writing fiction. Follow me @nathanbaugh27 for more like that.