Write With Impact with Glenn Leibowitz

Neil Patel is a legend in the digital marketing space. He’s a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded companies like Crazy Egg, Hello Bar and KISSmetrics. He also helps major companies like Amazon, NBC, GM, HP and Viacom grow their revenue.  The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he’s one of the top 10 online marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies in the world.  Neil was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and he was named one of the top 100 entrepreneurs under the age of 35 by the United Nations. He writes frequently for publications such as inc.com, and his new book, Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum, landed on the New York Times Bestseller list.  Neil packs a lot of great tips into this episode. In our conversation, Neil shares some of his tips for formatting and writing a great blog post. He talks about some of the strategies he uses to maximize readership of his blog posts, and he reveals the exact strategies he uses to build his massive email list. Neil also tells me about some big changes to the format, length, and frequency of his own blog posts that his readers should expect to see him put into action soon. And near the end of our conversation, Neil tells me why he’s expanding his blog internationally, how he’s doing it, and the tremendous impact he’s seeing from his efforts. I included several links to Neil’s websites as well as to the sites he mentioned in this episode in the show notes to this episode, so be sure to head over to writewithimpact.com/episode54. And don’t forget to pick up some of my writing tips while you’re there. I’d also like to make a special shout-out to Tom Morkes who helped me make this episode happen. You can find Tom at his website at tommorkes.com.   One more thing before I get started: I’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback on my podcast or suggestions for future guests, please drop me an email over at glenn@writewithimpact.com.  I’ll be sure to get back to you. Subscribe to Write With Impact on iTunes here. Follow Write With Impact on Twitter and on Facebook.

I’ve invited Chris Fox back on the show again. Chris is a novelist who has published several thriller novels. He’s also published several writing craft books, including the bestselling 5,000 Words Per Hour, and Write to Market. In 5,000 Words Per Hour, which I discussed with him back in episode 29, Chris explained the exact process he developed for writing incredibly fast. And in Write to Market, which we discussed on episode 42, he explained how he researches categories on Amazon to identify potential markets for his books. Back in February, Chris decided to write a novel using the methodologies he laid out in both of these books. He called it the 21-Day Novel Writing Challenge. That’s right: He decided to write, edit, and publish to Amazon a complete novel. And he documented the entire process by producing and uploading a video to Youtube every day. The book— Destroyer — went on to sell more than 5,000 copies in the first month after publication, and then another 5,000 copies since then.  It quickly rose to become a bestseller in the military science fiction category on Amazon, and has held steady across that and several other categories. It has 240 reviews on Amazon, most of which are either five or four stars. Since publishing Destroyer, Chris has gone on to publish the sequel, Void Wraith, and most recently, Eradication, the third book in the trilogy. In this episode, Chris explains, for the first time since completing the challenge, how he accomplished such an extraordinary feat. If you’re writing a novel, or you're planning to write one, perhaps in November during National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, you won’t want to miss Chris’s story. Find Chris's books and websites at writewithimpact.com/episode53 Follow Write With Impact on Twitter Like Write With Impact on Facebook  

I just hit publish on my 100th blog post on LinkedIn. When I started writing on LinkedIn nearly two and a half years ago, I wasn’t sure about what I would even write about. I just knew I wanted to write. After a few posts that attracted only a few hundred views, I struck LinkedIn gold with my first viral post: A personal account about how my parents spent a good chunk of their savings to buy my first computer, an Apple II+. The response that post generated was overwhelming. It attracted over 34,000 views, more than 580 likes and over 160 comments from readers around the world. It quickly rose to become the third most popular post on LinkedIn Pulse. I was hooked. Read the rest of this post on Inc.com Listen to an audio version of this article on iTunes Download a free ebook with some of my writing tips

Today I’ve invited a guest back onto the show: Aaron Pierson. Aaron was on this podcast back in episode 15 last year, where we talked about how to create a killer brand strategy. In this episode, we dive deep into the strategies he used to launch his first book, Brand Dominance: How to Create a Disruptive Social Brand. In our conversation, Aaron shares the exact steps he took to make his book quickly hit the bestseller lists on Amazon. Some of the strategies you might already be familiar with, but to hear Aaron talk about his story of how he took his very first book and made it an Amazon bestseller is inspiring. Aaron also has some contrarian advice about email, which is powerful he admits, but has its limitations. He talks about Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, and the relative impact of each social media media platform on his book launch. And he offers some really practical, roll-up-your-sleeves tips for what you can do to get people excited about buying, reading, and reviewing your book. Links Aaron Pierson’s website Aaron on Twitter Buy Aaron's book on Amazon

Today I’ve got a really special guest on the show. Aaron Dowd is a podcasting expert who has been editing podcasts for over 5 years now.  He edits all of the podcasts for the very popular Seanwes podcast, as well as several other shows in the Seanwes podcast network. Last year, he launched his own podcast called The Podcast Dude, where he shares everything he knows about podcasting. I’m a fan of his podcast and I’ve watched over the past year how Aaron has grown his audience and his reputation as an expert podcaster through his podcast. It’s an excellent example of how, through high quality content and excellent production values, you can rapidly build your reputation as an authority in your field. Of course, as a podcaster myself, podcasting is a topic I enjoy reading about, and, occasionally, I like to write about it. And I thought, given how much is changing--and changing fast--in this emerging industry, it’s worth a conversation on the topic. And who better to talk about podcasting than The Podcast Dude himself, Aaron Dowd. In addition to sharing 5 things he’s learned about growing an audience and making money with podcasting, Aaron shares a bunch of other tips and insights that I managed to squeeze out of him during our chat. Links The Podcast Dude podcast Successful Podcasting Course Aaron on Twitter Aaron on Youtube

Download a free ebook with writing tips and subscribe to my newsletter at writewithimpact.com/episode49 Brian Clark is a legendary figure in the content marketing space. He’s the founder of Copyblogger, the world’s most widely followed website on all things content marketing. He’s also the CEO of Rainmaker Digital, the company he formed through the merger of several successful companies he had built over the years. Their Rainmaker Platform is an integrated content management system that digital entrepreneurs can use to build their businesses without having to worry about getting their hands dirty with code and other technical aspects of building and maintaining a website. Brian also hosts Unemployable, a podcast where he interviews freelancers and digital entrepreneurs who share their stories and strategies for building profitable businesses while doing what they love. And most recently, Brian launched a personal development newsletter called Further, in which he curates articles and other content from around the Web on personal development topics. In our conversation, Brian shares the story of how he quit a lucrative but unsatisfying career in law to strike out on his own as an entrepreneur, first serving the real estate industry, and later setting up Copyblogger, and eventually Rainmaker Digital, which today is a $12 million business the helps content creators and digital marketers around the world. Brian also shares insights from his experience as a successful entrepreneur, and has advice for writers and other content creators: Why writers have an advantage because they can turn their work into intellectual property that they can then sell. Why entrepreneurs should learn about the craft of copywriting so they can better understand how to communicate with their customers — and why they should still hire experienced writers like us to help them create great content. Why podcasting is just beginning; why it’s an effective and low-cost way to build your audience; and why now is the best time to start. and much more… Links to Brian’s sites Rainmaker Digital Unemployable Copyblogger Further   Download a free ebook with writing tips and subscribe to my newsletter at writewithimpact.com/episode49

Read the show notes to this episode and get a free ebook with writing strategies at writewithimpact.com/episode48 Pamela Wilson is Executive Vice President of Educational Content at Rainmaker Digital. There she manages, among other things, their flagship website, Copyblogger, which is one of the most widely followed websites in the world, where you can learn all you need to know about content marketing. Pamela is a long-time blogger for Copyblogger. And while she’s written a lot of blog posts, she has yet to write a book. She’s setting out to change that with her first book which will be about content marketing, a topic she’s a deep expert in, and a topic that she has been blogging about for many years now. What’s unusual, and I think incredibly fascinating, is the process she’s going through as she writes her book. Earlier this year, she launched a podcast called “Zero to Book” with Jeff Goins, the bestselling author and blogger, where she discusses the process she’s going through as she writes and self-publishes her first book. It’s what I like to call a “reality podcast”, where Pamela and Jeff walk you through, in realtime, the process of writing, publishing, and marketing a book. She's also sharing chapter drafts on her website and getting feedback from beta readers that she is then incorporating into her book. She calls it “crowdsourced feedback” and “crowdsourced marketing”, and it’s turning out to be a powerful way to get free advice while building a tribe of potential readers and advocates of the book. In our conversation, Pamela shares why she decided to take this approach to writing and publishing her first book, how exactly she’s doing it, and what she’s learned so far. It’s a fascinating story that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. At the end of the conversation, Pamela also talks about why content marketing is such a powerful strategy for building authority and for building a business. Read the show notes to this episode and get a free ebook with writing strategies at writewithimpact.com/episode48  

My guest today is Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. Jennifer is a pop culture writer who writes for BBC Culture, The New York Times Book Review, Fast Company and many more publications. She’s also the author of four books, her latest being about Seinfeld, the wildly popular TV show that became a cultural phenomenon in the US. Her book is due out this coming July, and it’s being published by Simon & Schuster. In our conversation, Jennifer talks about how she fell in love with writing — freelance writing, specifically — at the ripe young age of 8, and how she turned her obsession with pop culture into a full-time job at Entertainment Weekly, where she worked for a decade.   She also shares the process she went through to research and write her upcoming book about Seinfeld. And in the last part of our conversation she walks me through the 5-part process for writing a great blog post, a technique she teaches her students at Gotham Writers Workshop, where she teaches blog writing. You can find the show notes to this episode with links to Jennifer’s website and books on Amazon over at writewithimpact.com/episode47  And be sure to sign-up for my weekly newsletter so you can get the latest podcast episodes and my latest articles about writing and other topics, which I usually publish on Inc. and LinkedIn. Follow Write With Impact on Twitter @impactfulwriter Like Write With Impact on Facebook  

Today I’m talking once again to Chris Fox. Chris was on episode 42 of this podcast when we talked about his new book which he had just published, “Write to Market“. He also discussed his 21-day writing challenge in which he wrote and published “Destroyer“, his first science fiction title, which has gone on to become a bestseller on Amazon. This time, we spoke about a fun topic: Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D as it’s known to those who play it. Created by Gary Gygax in the 1970s, Dungeons & Dragons rapidly became massively popular. The game triggered several copycats and inspired the explosion in role-playing video games that continues to this day. I haven’t played D&D since I was a young teen — that was a long time ago. But in the past couple of years, I’ve noticed a revival of interest in the game. There have also been several articles in mainstream publications, and blog posts that have discussed the influence of the game on the writing careers of many well-regarded authors. It’s a connection I had never made before, to be honest — playing D&D and the art of storytelling — and when I read these pieces they triggered a sense of nostalgia for the days I played the game, and also piqued my curiosity about the linkage between the game and the art of storytelling. In our conversation, Chris explains the impact playing D&D has had on his career as a novelist. He talks about the three types of Dungeons & Dragonsplayers, and how playing the game — which requires players to develop characters and create stories on the fly — can help writers become better storytellers. Don’t worry! While we do geek out a bit on D&D, you don’t have to be a player of the game to follow our conversation. Click here for the show notes to this episode and sign-up for my newsletter and get the latest podcast episodes and blog posts.

Today I’m very pleased to introduce Kirun Kapur. Kirun is a poet whose first book, “Visiting Indira Gandhi's Palmist”, was awarded the 2013 Antivenom Poetry Award and was published in January 2015 by Elixir Press. In addition to writing poetry, Kirun also teaches poetry and creative writing at Brandeis University in Boston. Kirun is the Poetry Editor for The Drum Literary Magazine, which publishes short fiction, poetry, and essays exclusively in audio form. Last year, NBC News named her to their list of Asian-American Poets to Watch. Several themes run through Kirun’s collection of poetry, including the partition of India in 1947 and the mass migration of people between India and the newly-created Pakistan. She also touches on themes around family that are featured in the book of Genesis in the Bible.  In our conversation, Kirun talks about how she approaches the reading, writing, and teaching of poetry. She explains how to tell a story through poetry, and how to create music through a poem.  Kirun also explains what writers writing in any form including nonfiction can learn from the craft of poetry.  Near the end of our conversation, Kirun reads two poems from her book, which I know you’ll enjoy.  You can find the show notes to this episode over at writewithimpact.com/episode45. There you’ll find a link to Kirun’s book on Amazon, as well as a link to her website.