Keith MacKenzie

If you still review content for typos, not trajectory, you’re missing the point. When I first started out, I thought a “content audit” meant proofreading. I’d zoom into every line, every comma, every keyword, like a grammar cop on a caffeine rush. I'd check for grammar slips, word count, and keyword density. It looked neat and read well, but never really moved the brand forward. That’s when I realized: I wasn’t fixing their content problem. I was just decorating it. Now, if/when I audit a brand’s content, I don’t start with grammar. I begin with strategy. Here’s my 3-step framework: √ Content Fit/Relevance Does this piece sound like something the target audience actually cares about, right now? Does this piece still align with the brand’s product positioning and business goals? If not, it’s irrelevant noise. Most content becomes “dead weight” not because it’s bad, but because it’s outdated. √ Conversion Flow/Retention: Is there a clear emotional path from first line to final click? Does it hold the reader long enough to convert curiosity into conviction? If I can’t feel the brand’s voice or rhythm after the second paragraph, it’s not sticky enough. As your first audience, if I can’t trace it, neither can the remaining audience. √ CTA Intent/ROI (Return on Intent): What’s the next step this content is driving, awareness, lead, trust, or sale? If there’s no measurable intent, then it’s just another noise. When I began using this approach, everything changed; clients started seeing growth, not just “great writing.” That’s what happens when you audit content like a strategist. You stop fixing commas and start fixing direction. So here’s my question to you, when last did you audit your brand content beyond typos? When you look at your content today, are you proofreading or positioning? Because one gets you approval. The other gets you results. Drop your audit routine (or your struggle) in the comments. Let’s see how you measure direction, not just delivery.

43

20 Comments

A few years ago, I was checking the links on my writing samples page (a good practice for writers to do periodically) and found that all of the blog posts I’d written for a former client were gone.   Dozens of articles I was proud of—that were the main clips I had demonstrating expertise in a particular industry—just disappeared, overnight. I couldn’t even find them on the Wayback Machine.   I signed up for Authory soon after that.   One of the great things about having a freelance writing business is that it’s relatively easy to keep overhead low. A lot of freelance expenses and tools you see people talk about aren’t *really* necessary. If you want to keep your business lean, it’s pretty easy.   But Authory is the paid tool I find myself recommending to other writers the most.   There are a couple of main benefits I get from it that make the cost worth it: 1.    The most straightforward: it saves all those writing samples.   Over the years, current and former clients will do content audits and updates that involve removing your work from the web (or updating it with someone else's name). It’s inevitable. It happens to all of us, no matter how good your work is. If you don’t have them saved somewhere, you risk losing all evidence of your hard work. 2.    It keeps them looking professional.   Even if you have your work saved in old Word or Google Docs, it just doesn’t look as impressive or professional to share them with prospects in that format. Authory maintains whatever images the piece was originally published with, and keeps the look slick and official. Sharing an Authory link looks a lot better than sending over the same article as a Word attachment.   3.    It makes it easy to search all your old work.   Putting together a list of relevant samples for prospects used to take me *much* longer. I’d have to try and remember what I wrote, or go searching through old folders on my desktop or in Google Drive. With all my work saved in Authory, I can search keywords there and bring up all the articles that touch on a topic. It makes the process of putting together a list of relevant samples much faster and easier.   I’m not being paid by Authory or anything (although I’ll drop my referral link in the comments for anyone considering it), I just genuinely find it to be valuable. I still see writers sometimes bemoaning clips they’ve lost. I know that feeling too well, and want to help others avoid it.  

39

9 Comments

Every single freelancer needs to listen to Ed Gandia's podcast Why AI Change Is Happening Faster Than You Think (and What That Means for Writers). https://lnkd.in/eSUgVf-s And not add it to your playlist to listen to sometime between now and Christmas. But find time to list to it this week. It’s that good and that important. I might have listened to it 3 times and even shed a few tears during it because I felt inspired about the future of our business. Ed doesn’t sugar coat what is happening, but he’s definitely not in the “gloom and doom camp.” He instead offers practical ways that writers can evolve both their mindset and their business. Here are my top 5 takeaways: 1.     The order taker model of freelance writing (meaning a client gives you a story, you write it and send it back) is coming to an end in the near future. This is the shift we are seeing on the ground right now. It feels like work is going away, but what clients need is just shifting way from the producer role to a conductor, which Ed describes as orchestrating human plus AI resources. 2.     Writers need to use AI to expand their capabilities. By looking at things we cannot offer and seeing how we can use AI to add these to our business, we can provide value to clients in new ways. Ed lists six types of capability gaps (craft, production, niches/industry, domain, process, strategic). He explains that we must now offer insight, judgement and strategic thinking, which AI can help us with. 3.     We need to consciously make a choice about our personal direction. My favorite quote of the episode is “Make a choice. Decide something, but don’t just stand there when that hurricane comes through and not take shelter just because, no, this is my beach.” 4.     We don’t have to overhaul our business, just evolve. This was very reassuring to me. My gut has been that the pivots we need to take aren’t ginormous treks into unknown territory, but more side hikes that appeal to us. Ed suggesting to use AI to become exponentially better at whatever lane you are already in or already chosen for yourself. If it leads you in a new and exciting place that thrills you, then he says that is fantastic, but that isn’t the goal or measure of success. 5.     Rapid adopters that move expand their capabilities in the next 6 to 18 months will gain a lasting advantage. Writers that miss this opportunity will struggle to catch up. I totally agree with this because I was an early adopter of content marketing writing and positioned myself as an expert in B2B tech content marketing, which gave me an edge that I still lean on today. Bottom line - we need to use AI for capability expansion. He says that in 6 months writers will either be systematically expanding capabilities or making excuses. I am 100% sure which one I am going to be. And this episode showed me how to get there. Thank you, Ed, for once again being a voice of reason and giving us an actionable path forward.

94

39 Comments

We've got an archive problem going on: "While they were surprised by our findings, they also highlighted a larger issue in the United States: There’s no real mandate for the internet to be preserved at all. Outside the Internet Archive, the Library of Congress operates perhaps the second-largest web archiving initiative in the U.S., but on a significantly smaller scale." https://lnkd.in/eB8KphZd

6

1 Comment

By request, here’s a follow-up to my previous post on dashes and hyphens. That post covered how to create them; here’s how to use them. — Em Dash — When writing in U.S. English, use an em dash to indicate a break in thought — like this. You can use one or two em dashes in a single sentence, but more than two is overkill. Notice my em dash has a space before and a space after. That’s Associated Press style. Most other style guides—The Chicago Manual of Style and The American Psychological Association Publication Manual, for example—tell you NOT to include those spaces. – En Dash – When writing in British English, use a spaced en dash to indicate a break in thought – like this. When an en dash is used this way, it always gets spaces. Again, you can use one or two – but please not three – per sentence. In the U.S., some style guides, such as Chicago and APA, tell you to use an en dash in ranges and sports scores: The art fair took place August 3–5. Paula will order 10–12 cheesecakes for the party. The Biloxi Shuckers beat the Montgomery Biscuits, 2–0. In these cases, as you can see, there are no spaces around the en dash. Then there’s my favorite use of the en dash🤓 When you have an open compound (e.g., Los Angeles, ice cream, high school), use an en dash to connect it to another word or a prefix: Los Angeles–based office, ice cream–themed decorations, post–high school education. - Hyphen - AP style calls for hyphens where Chicago and APA call for en dashes, as AP doesn’t use en dashes. Also, use a hyphen to join simpler compound modifiers (Sheboygan-based, dog-themed) to connect some prefixes (co-worker, anti-cat, post-workout), and when writing about Spider-Man. Does this cover all possible uses? Of course not. But most people have stopped reading by now.

97

17 Comments

I'm moved to share this... Editing tip: When broader context threatens to derail a tightly focused piece As an editor, my instinct is always to keep ultra-specific topics laser-focused. But sometimes writers (or stakeholders) want to add broader contextual sections to a piece. My job isn't to force my preference. It's to strengthen what's there. So here's my approach: If someone wants to add broader H2s to a tightly scoped article, I have two options: 1️⃣ Realign it – Reframe the H2 to match the H1's intent/voice 2️⃣ Cut it – If it's too far off-topic and realignment doesn't work, suggest removal Example: For "What to Do After Your Flight Gets Cancelled" (action-focused H1) The main content (steps 1-6): Contact the airline immediately Check rebooking options in the app Document everything (cancellation notice, expenses) Request meal vouchers or hotel accommodations File for compensation if eligible Consider travel insurance claims Then the writer adds these broader H2s: These feel disconnected: ❌ Understanding Airline Policies ❌ How Flight Cancellations Impact Travelers But realigned to the H1's "what to do" angle: ✅ Know Your Passenger Rights and Next Steps ✅ Determine What Compensation You Can Claim The content stays, but now it supports the piece instead of pulling away from it. The question I always ask: Does this H2 help readers accomplish what the H1 promises or does it distract from it? Does this capture your strategy?

13

2 Comments

If you’re using generative AI to delegate away the writing process—replacing “idea, research, outline, draft, revise, proof” for “prompt, watch, publish”—you’re shortchanging your ability to think and write. And you’re getting the least out of what generative AI can actually offer. #linkedin #writing #generativeAI

20

Please stop calling newsletters "Substacks" -- The vast majority of blogs are created using WordPress software. No one calls their blog a "WordPress" for the very good reason that there are other ways to create and publish blogs. So if you've been gaslighted into calling someone's newsletter their "Substack' just because they use that platform, please stop. You're just doing PR for a company that manifestly doesn't deserve it. Why is that? You may not know that it was funded by Trump supporters and is run by people who have no problem helping right-wing extremists spread and monetize their bile. If you're thinking of starting a newsletter, by the way, there are many fine alternatives including Ghost (what I use), Buttondown, Beehiv, WordPress Medium and more. And please ask your friends who use Substack to look at the alternatives as well.

30

10 Comments

I’ve noticed something interesting about consumer content lately 👀 Media outlets consistently publish expert-driven articles, but many companies are still publishing the same surface-level information everyone else does. Here’s what I mean: An article on a credit union's site may read something like “5 ways seniors can protect themselves from financial scams,” followed by generic points you could find elsewhere. Compare that to the approach I take when writing for publications — featuring 2-3 expert voices, weaving in their real experiences and perspectives to bring that same topic to life. One sounds like ChatGPT wrote it… …and the other sounds like getting advice from people who know what they’re talking about. When interviewing industry professionals, I often begin with an open-ended question without leading them in one direction or another. 🔎 Then, I dig deeper based on what they share: → Why does X matter? (gets to the core importance) → Can you explain X in layman’s terms? (makes it accessible) → What would you tell someone hesitant about X, and why? (addresses real concerns/objections rather than assuming them) → What’s something most don’t realize they should be asking about X? (uncovers hidden insights not available through research alone) → Do you have a memorable/relatable example to support your answer? (gets the anecdotes that make content shine) The gold lives in those follow-up questions — stories you can’t find anywhere else that I then craft into articles where their voices take center stage. What I love about this approach is that it builds trust naturally. Instead of claiming your team is amazing, you let their knowledge speak for itself. The bottom line? ⬇️ If you’re a company creating consumer-focused content, quote relevant team members in knowledge base articles. They work with customers daily, see common (and not-so-common) situations firsthand, and have unique wisdom that no competitor can replicate. PS: If your business needs help implementing this kind of strategic content approach, let’s talk 😊 → sharewrites.com

21

6 Comments

Note to website managers: You might want to remove the Chat GPT reference at the bottom of your copy. Kind of signals AI even more than those pesky em dashes. Found on multiple websites today. 😆

8

3 Comments

🔥 AI LICENSING FRAMEWORKS EMERGE AS PUBLISHERS FACE DIGITAL DISRUPTION 🔥 As generative AI continues to reshape content discovery and consumption, industry leaders are increasingly advocating for licensing frameworks that protect creators while enabling technological innovation. At a recent panel discussion titled "Licensing Is a Win-Win: The Exciting AI Partnerships Between Creators and Tech" part of the "The Story Starts With Us, " a day-long forum cohosted by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Copyright Alliance executives from publishing, entertainment, and AI development highlighted the commercial and ethical imperatives of establishing sustainable licensing models. 📊 Referrals from generative search results have increased by 5.5 million while top 100 publisher searches have declined by 64 million. This fundamental shift is transforming how publishers monetize content in the AI era. 💡 Why it matters: The publishing industry is experiencing its "Napster moment" as AI companies and content creators navigate a rapidly evolving landscape where proper licensing frameworks are crucial for sustaining both innovation and content creation. 🤝 By the numbers: 📈 50+ large content catalogs are now working with licensing platforms 💰 Startups like Moonvalley have raised $100M+ to build ethical AI models based on licensed content 📚 31-35% of content from books like Harry Potter series is "memorized verbatim" by certain AI models 🔮 What's next: New technologies can detect with "99.99999999% certainty" when content has been used in AI training, giving creators leverage in licensing negotiations. 🧠 Professional insight: Geoff Campbell, SVP of strategy and business development at Condé Nast, noted sustainable ecosystems benefit all parties: "If AI companies bring down the value of companies too much, who are going to be the human creators that are going to create the content that is going to teach these models something new?" How will your organization approach AI partnerships in this changing landscape? 🤔 MY TAKE: 😎 The first step is getting Big Tech and AI to acknowledge copyright is valid and that creators have a valid, legal claim for being compensated for their work that has been appropriated to teach the machines. #AILicensing #ContentCreation #PublishingIndustry #AIEthics #EdNawotka #EdwardNawotka #PublishersWeekly 👀 Looking for more? Read my full article Publishers Weekly https://lnkd.in/eXsNS5NA

16

You've probably never heard of Jonathan Schwartz. But every LinkedIn user has felt his impact. That's because when Schwartz launched "Jonathan's Blog" in June 2004, he started a snowball that's led to the LinkedIn content ecosystem we know today. Then COO of Sun Microsystems, Schwartz was among the earliest executives to embrace blogging. Historically, executives rarely communicated with the public. When they did, it was through formal press releases or annual disclosures. But in the late 90s and early 2000s, the popularization of blogging opened up a new avenue for those willing to step outside the norms. This coincided with the emergence of the concept of thought leadership, creating an environment ripe for change. As he explains in his inaugural blog post, Schwartz was compelled to start posting by motivations that draw people to post on LinkedIn today. Notably, he cites the unfiltered, two-way flow of information as a primary benefit. He even goes so far as to include his email address so that anyone who wants to reach him can. Within 2 years, the blog was getting over 50,000 monthly readers. This momentum led Schwartz to begin publishing in translation, broadening his audience to speakers of 8 additional languages. The motivation behind this also bears similarities to how we approach LinkedIn content today. Publishing in more languages, he said, would help the company tap into talent and customers from across the globe. And while his prediction that "In ten years, most [business leaders] will communicate directly with customers, employees, and the broader business community through blogs," didn't prove true, his fundamental idea held up extremely well. Blogging's popularity eventually compelled LinkedIn to add a long-form content feature in 2012, marking a significant step in the site's transformation from a job board to a social media platform. Today, it's rare for executives not to have an online presence. And for that, Schwartz certainly deserves some credit.

24

6 Comments