Book Recommendation: Content Rules by C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley

Here we are. The third and final book review in this series. To review, Marketing Outrageously by Jon Spoelstra teaches you to think about new ways to increase your revenue. Then, Attention! This Book Will Make You Money by Jim Kukral gives you tools to bring attention to your company to make more money. So, you’ve followed the steps in those two books. You’ve got some great new ideas and you’re bringing attention to your business. Now how do you keep people engaged so that they’ll come back? You create compelling content! C.C. Chapman and Ann Handley wrote Content Rules to help you do that.

They break their book into three parts: the content rules, the how-to section and success stories. The first part, the Content Rules, goes through their rules for creating the content. They give you tips on how to create consistent content. More than creating “stuff,” they show you how to focus on your brand and audience to make your content relevant. They also go over what tone to use, how to reimagine current content, and how to grow your stories.

Then, the second part of the book teaches you to use the rules to create specific vehicles for your content. They show you how to create blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, webinars, white papers and more. Each has a specific use and tone to follow, so your audience will get the most benefit.

Finally, they give examples of companies that are creating excellent content and how they are doing it. These companies include the U.S. Army, Kodak and Hubspot, to name a few. Because of their use of the content rules, you can learn from what they’re doing.

Well, that’s my take on three great books. I’d love to hear what you are reading that’s inspiring you. I’m always looking for new books, so please share with us! Thanks!