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How I overcame decades of writer's block

Since I've written 4 books in the last 2 years, you might not believe this, but I've had writer’s block for most of my life. Up until 2015.

In school many of us are traumatized by writing. We have to write on topics we don't really care about. We have to produce on a deadline, and the quality of our writing is judged as compared to our peers. It's a terrible way to learn to love a skill.

I suffered through 17 years of such schooling, earning a college degree in English literature (where I had …

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The fear of judgment that keeps you from publishing content

One of the biggest hindrances to creating content consistently? The fear of judgment. Can you relate?

What if I get one (or more!) of the facts wrong? What if there are typos or grammatical errors? What if later I realize that my ideas were wrong? What if people think I’m uninformed or stupid? What if I unknowingly say something offensive?

These are judgments inside your own head. You probably know this as well as I do: our own self-judgments are usually much harsher than our audience’s. 

You…

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How I Easily Create Social Media Images

When it comes to social media, I recommend text and video (rather than images) whenever possible -- because with text (example) and video (example), you’re reaching people who will resonate with your message, rather than just followers who like your pretty pictures and might not even be reading your messages.

However, this is different on Instagram and Twitter, where you can’t communicate a long message or video (except for IGTV), and therefore, images with a short message are the next best thi…

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Getting Started with Content Creation -- Aim for Consistency and Authenticity before Relevance

A reader asked about my process of writing blog posts and making videos:

"When you do your content planning for the week, do you pick a theme or category for that week's content? Is your content planned within certain guidelines? Or do you just go by what you are inspired to share that week and whatever is up for you in the moment? I've heard a lot about having themes for each week, so I'm wondering if there needs to be any organizational way to plan our content. Thanks for any tips!"

I'm goin…

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Why I don't recommend automated posting on Social Media

Should you use a tool that automates your social media, such as Buffer, Hootsuite, etc?

I've tried Buffer and Hootsuite, and have seen them used by some clients and colleagues. I use none of them now, and caution my clients away from such tools, especially when posting to Facebook. 

Here's why:
Algorithms Don't Like It

I've noticed that Facebook decreases the visibility of posts that use automated software such as Buffer, Hootsuite, PostPlanner, RecurPost, MeetEdgar, etc.

Why might that be? It se…

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