Write With Impact with Glenn Leibowitz

Pamela Wilson is the Founder of Big Brand System and author of the Master Content book series. Pamela and I spoke on this podcast several years ago when she was publishing her first book, Master Content Marketing: A Simple Strategy to Cure the Blank Page Blues and Attract a Profitable Audience. She later followed that book with another one, Master Content Strategy: How to Maximize Your Reach and Boost Your Bottom Line Every Time You Hit Publish.  Both have been top-rated, bestselling books on Amazon. Today, she helps mid-career professionals build successful online businesses with her Offer Accelerator program. You can find out more about Pamela on her website at www.bigbrandsystem.com. In this Writing Masterclass for Write With Impact Academy, I spoke with Pamela about how she writes and self-publishes books. She shares her writing process, from outlining, to thinking through the content of each chapter before writing it, to the power of deadlines. To watch a video of our interview just head over to my learning community for writers, Write With Impact Academy at writewithimpact.academy. Just enter your email to sign-up for more video and podcast Writing Masterclasses.

Decades ago, I wrote my college application essays, and then went through the process again—twice in fact—when I applied to two different graduate school programs. While things have changed over the years—the numbers of applicants have exploded thanks to the common app and the internationalization of the applicant pool—one thing has remained the same: the importance of writing well-crafted essays that tell your story in a compelling way, in a way that sets you apart from the thousands of other applicants also vying for a spot at the school of your dreams. To offer some advice on this topic, I sat down recently with Dr. Aviva Legatt. Dr. Legatt is the founder of Ivy Insight Group, where she advises high school and college students on getting into competitive colleges and graduate programs. She’s also the author of a brand new book, “Get Real and Get In: How to Get Into the College of Your Dreams by Being Your Authentic Self" (St. Martin's Griffin). In our conversation she explains how the college application process has changed over the years, and she shares some of the frameworks and tips she writes about in her book. To watch the video of our conversation, head over to my new learning community, Write With Impact Academy, and enter your email to sign-up. There you’ll find lots more free videos, podcasts, and articles with writing advice.

After picking up an MBA from MIT and pursuing a career in the corporate world, Paul decided to shift gears completely and explore a totally different approach to work and living. He documents his approach with raw honesty and insight that cuts through the BS in his weekly Substack newsletter, which he calls Boundless, and on his podcast, Reimagine Work. Head over to my new learning community, Write With Impact Academy, and watch a few video clips from my conversation with Paul to get a flavor for the kind of wisdom he shared around his approach to writing and storytelling. Of if you want to go really deep, watch the entire conversation, which I’ve posted there as well. It’s all free. Just head over to www.writewithimpact.academy, and just enter your email address to sign-up. We’re part of Substack’s growing community of writers and creators expanding the reach and impact of their art.

I recently sat down with Amy Blaschka for a special Writing Masterclass for Write With Impact Academy.   Amy is a social media ghostwriter and storyteller, helping busy clients craft compelling content that people want to click and share.   She also writes prolifically under her own name on LinkedIn and as a Forbes Leadership Contributor.  This year she launched a newsletter on Substack she calls, “Illuminate Me”, which you can subscribe to at amyblaschka.substack.com.   In her Writing Masterclass, Amy shares some of the strategies she uses to help her clients turn their ideas into clickable and shareable content, as well as some of the strategies she uses to consistently generate the excellent content she publishes under her own name.   Subscribe to Write With Impact Academy, hosted on Substack, and begin your journey to becoming a better writer.

Andrea was a correspondent for CNN before entering the nonprofit sector.  Today, Andrea is Founder of College2Career Academy, and helps confused college students, new grads, and young professionals build meaningful careers they'll love. Andrea is also the host of Time4Coffee, an Apple Top 100 podcast where she interviews successful professionals across different industries. She was named by LinkedIn as one of the top providers of career advice.

Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Writing Center at Harvard College and former editor at The Atlantic, shares tips on improving writing skills. Topics include debunking the myth that STEM students can't write well, crafting effective writing pieces, and tips on outlining and avoiding perfectionism.

Richard Rys, Editor of Wharton Magazine, helps address common writing challenges, from choosing a topic, to outlining your story, to writing the first draft.  This is an excerpt from a longer conversation you can find on Write With Impact Academy, a new learning community hosted on Substack dedicated to helping you become a better writer. Subscribe here.

Two years ago, after writing an article on LinkedIn consistently every week for nearly five years, I hit the pause button. Here's my story about why I stopped, and why I've decided to start writing again. Here's how I'm rediscovering the joy of writing. Subscribe to the Write With Impact newsletter on LinkedIn  Subscribe for the latest writing, podcasts, and resources from Write With Impact Subscribe to Write With Impact on Apple Podcasts

In this episode I chat with James Crabtree, a journalist and author of the new book, Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age. The Billionaire Raj charts the rise of the new billionaire class behind India’s rapid economic rise. In this eloquently-written page-turner, James combines on-the-ground reporting, rigorous economic research, and vivid storytelling as he brings to life the fascinating yet not very widely-known tale behind the world’s second most populous nation. Before writing his book, James was the Mumbai bureau chief for the Financial Times. He’s currently an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, where he teaches courses on leadership and political communication. Since it was published in July, Billionaire Raj has received several glowing reviews by top-tier media. Along with just a handful of newly published books, Billionaire Raj was short-listed for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. It was also recently named by Amazon as one of the 100 best books of 2018. In our conversation, James explains the process he followed as he wrote his book, from 4 am writing sessions at a coffee shop across the street where he lives in Singapore, to his “a-ha” moment while doing laps in the swimming pool, a pivotal event that led to the three-part structure he eventually adopted for his book. James also explains how he balances research with writing, why having memorable characters matters, and why he rewrote his prologue 100 times before he felt it was ready for publication. You can find the show notes to this episode with links to James’s website and his book on Amazon over at writewithimpact.com/episode66 If you’re interested in reading more of my writing, head over to LinkedIn at writewithimpact.com/linkedin. There you’ll find my essays on writing, professional development, and a range of other topics. It’s because of the support of readers like you that I’ve been named a “Top Voice” by LinkedIn’s editorial team for the past four years in a row. So thank you!

Today I’m pleased to share a conversation I had recently with Dr. Simon Targett, the co-author with John Butman of the new book, New World, Inc.: The Making of America by England’s Merchant Adventurers. Dr. Targett holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. He was a  journalist and editor with the Financial Times for over a dozen years, and later headed up the publishing arm of Boston Consulting Group before founding Thinking Cap Communications, a London-based strategic thought leadership and reputation management consultancy. Soon after its publication in March by Little, Brown and Company, New World, Inc. was named a “Best History Book of the Month” by Barnes and Noble. New World, Inc. tells the story of English merchant adventurers in the 16th and 17th centuries. In their search for China, where they hoped to trade woolen cloth, England’s chief export at the time, for China’s silk and other luxuries, they ended up establishing trading outposts and colonies in America. These adventurers, backed by a new breed of investors in England, were the earliest founders of America; not the Pilgrims, as the widely accepted narrative goes. This meticulously researched, well-written, and beautifully designed book tells the fascinating and largely untold story of the earliest days of globalization, of innovation and entrepreneurial risk-taking, and of the creation of some of the earliest venture-financed companies in the world. In our conversation, Dr. Targett explains the process he and John went through to research and write the book. He tells how they prepared their book proposal which led to a bidding war for their manuscript and eventually a book deal with a major publisher. And he offers advice for writers seeking to take on large non-fiction, “big idea” book projects like theirs. You can find links to the book and information about Dr. Targett over at writewithimpact.com/episode65.