Life is tough right now. Just to be still standing after last year is a big achievement. So many hard decisions, so much effort keeping spirits up and companies afloat. Even if you and your business have found a way through relatively unscathed, it’s still hard to feel positive when you’re surrounded by so much loss, fear and uncertainty. How can we ensure we continue to find the light in the gloom? What can we do to get us and our businesses through to the other side? We’ve both read a lot on psychology and the science of happiness since the pandemic hit. What strikes us is that so much of t ..read more

The best and the worst of content 2020 2020 has seen the huge switch to online and virtual. Events that would have taken place in the real world have become online content. We’ve met, exercised, socialised, and learnt online. Dates, family gatherings and even funerals have happened online. In many ways, our lives have become online content. But this blog isn’t about that shift. When we’re talking about content in this context, we’re mainly talking about written content – blogs, guides, newsletters, social media updates, web pages; useful information shaped for a business’ audience that’s writ ..read more

We’ve been thinking. It’s been 18 months since we put down our pens at Valuable Content and headed out for new solo adventures. Sonja spent most of the first year leading the content design team at Nationwide Building Society before returning to coaching and consulting world. Sharon has spent the time building a successful freelance copywriting and coaching business. And then of course, Covid. At the time it hit, Sonja was still at Nationwide, and witnessing the way a big organisation had to shift to move and communicate on a completely different scale almost overnight. Like many freelancers ..read more

The challenge of creating valuable content is a fascinating one. As we head off for new solo adventures in the Land of Content we’re taking some time to reflect on the journey we’ve been on together. Here are some of the biggest lessons we’ve learned about content – so far. 1. Your content matters It really does. Content is everything you say about your business. And if you want what you say to connect with the people you want to serve then this takes thought, care, and skill. It’s never just a matter of filling in the boxes with some ‘magic’ words. >> We’ve ranted about this in the pas ..read more

How do you cultivate a stream of useful sales leads for your business? There isn’t one thing that you can do in isolation that will guarantee your prospective clients find a way to your door. Marketing with valuable content is a long-term strategy that covers many different activities and many different flavours of content. But there is something that will raise the odds in your favour of the right people seeking you out, and that is to create campaignable content. We’ve talked before about the need for stock and flow content. Stock being the big heavyweight pieces that deliver over the ..read more

A couple of weeks ago we hosted a fascinating Bristol Content Group meet up at our client cxpartners’ lovely open plan HQ by Bristol harbour. The focus of our discussion was change leadership. Perhaps not a topic some would associate with a group of digital, marketing and content specialists and designers, but a subject of increasing importance if we’re to make a lasting impact through our work. The session was led by change leadership coach and internal communications whizz Jo Twiselton. Jo has worked with many organisations over the years including Nokia, the BBC, and easyJet, hel ..read more

Sometimes a chance encounter can change everything. Just a few short weeks back I visited Romania for the very first time. Along with my friend Jon Burkhart, I was invited to talk at WeContent – the first content marketing conference in the country. As Jon and I took our seats on the Tarom Airlines flight from Heathrow to Bucharest my overriding feeling was one of bubbling excitement. I love to travel, meet new people and share my enthusiasm for this valuable content thing. It quickly became clear that my neighbour in the aisle seat was experiencing a very different set of emotions. The tense ..read more

UiPath is the fastest growing enterprise software company in history. This is a billion dollar Romanian startup that so nearly didn’t make it, but who are now leading the world in robotic process automation. A chance encounter on a plane to the WeContent conference in Bucharest led Sonja to uncover this amazing story; of how a shift in mindset matched with a massive generosity of spirit has led to their phenomenal, global success. She immediately changed her slides and told their story on stage. For anyone interested in learning just how far a commitment to the very human principles that ..read more

If you want to serve more people, you need to reach more people. That’s the truth. But how do you do that? It can be tough to make an impact in a world that’s cynical of anything that looks like a sales message. Even with the best of intentions – you want to find the right people because you know what you’re offering will help them – the shivery spectre of self-promotion can loom large. If any kind of self-promotion feels plain wrong, the temptation can be to slink below the radar and stay small. Luckily there is an easier and ultimately more successful way of telling a bigger story and reach ..read more

What does it take to create truly valuable content? The type of content that makes great stuff happen for your business – real interest, more enquiries, more sales, greater love for what you do? This question has intrigued us for nearly 20 years, and it was top of the list of thorny marketing challenges you shared with us in our survey a few weeks back too. We’ve witnessed the incredible impact when businesses get their content just right, but as you no doubt know from experience it’s no simple task. There are a variety of elements that need to work together to get your content right. So what ..read more