Marketing Writing Bootcamp

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These days, you probably write more than you talk. Between blogs and business presentations, emails and ebooks, content and calls to action, you're a "marketing writer," whether or not it's on your business card.

But how do you keep coming up with interesting ideas and develop captivating content, again and again?

Turn to Marketing Writing Bootcamp. Our biggest and best-ever, this popular course gives you the strength to write anything anyone throws your way. From charismatic presentations to brilliant brand positioning. Stellar LinkedIn pages to well-honed Facebook pages. You'll build hands-on skills for writing lean, mean, marketing copy that gets readers to act NOW.

You'll master writing style, techniques, and processes. You'll learn how to write magnificent product descriptions. You'll find out the best ways to tackle brand identity and positioning. How to tell the right story to the right people at the right time to drive results.

This is no wimpy intro to writing course. Marketing Writing Bootcamp is strength training in all forms of marketing writing. Everything from writing for products to pitches to presentations is right here.

How does it work? Marketing Writing Bootcamp includes 16 classes (each 60 or 90 minutes long). The first class and final Q&A wrap-up session will be broadcast live. The 14 remaining classes are recorded and available online, anytime, on your computer or mobile device. Watch them at your convenience through May 2014 and remember to attend the live Q&A wrap-up on July 1 for your chance to ask any questions you have.

For each class, you'll have access to the class lecture (streaming media), as well as several support materials: the slide deck (PDF), the audio track (MP3, so you can listen to the lectures on other devices), a transcript (PDF), and a "cheat sheet" (PDF). Once you view all of the classes, you can download a Certificate of Completion (PDF).

Enroll in Marketing Writing Bootcamp NOW and you'll get these 16 classes:

TOPIC: STYLE
1. Brand messaging
2. Tone and voice
3. Grammar and style
4. Storytelling
5. Contemporary business writing
6. Global

TOPIC: PRODUCTS
7. E-Books
8. Whitepapers
9. Public relations
10. Case studies
11. Presentations

TOPIC: VENUES
12. SEO
13. Email
14. Website
15. Social media
16. Blogging

Each of these classes is recorded and available whenever you want it for 12 full months. Watch (and re-watch) any class until you've mastered it.

Building the Living, Breathing Brand

Speaker:
Tamsen Webster—Senior Vice President, Content Activation and Digital Strategy, Allen & Gerritsen

LIVE: Thursday, June 13—12:00pm-1:30pm ET

Brands exist in peoples' hearts and minds, not just at your corporate headquarters. That means you can't always control how your brand is perceived—it is, after all, a product of all the interactions people have with it. But you can build relationships that make lasting connections by building a brand that goes beyond taglines and slogans, to become a flesh and blood part of your customers' lives.

You will learn:

• How to identify your brand's DNA
• An easy-to-use framework for building that DNA into a living, breathing brand
• Why "Frankenbrands" (brands cobbled together by disparate marketing and PR departments) and "brandroids" (where the connection is only skin deep) fall short—and how to avoid creating them

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It's All In How You Say It

Speaker:
Angie Toomsen—Director of Content Strategy, MedTouch

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

If your brand could speak, what would it sound like? Adjusted and refined for specific audiences and goals, your brand's tone of voice is the mark of personality that unifies every communication. This class will help you identify your tone of voice and develop guidelines that can be spread across your organization, building and protecting your brand at every utterance, from tweet to press release to a 10,000-page website.

You will learn:

• How to identify and articulate tone of voice in a practical, applicable way
• How to use personas and other marketing techniques to educate your team about tone of voice
• How to create guidelines and a sound process focused on tone of voice

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Essential Style, Grammar, and Usage Lessons

Speakers:
Tracy Gold—Marketer, Writer, Editor

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Do you ever feel like you're so focused on producing as much content as quickly as possible that you aren't spending the time needed to ensure it's written well? When you're busy, the basics can slip. In this class, we'll step back and focus on improving basic writing skills. In a world where we're inundated with poorly written content, it is flawless style, grammar, and usage that will make your writing stand out.

You will learn:

• Strategies to keep your style engaging and concise
• Common grammar, punctuation, and usage mistakes to avoid
• Tactics for making your brand's written voice consistent

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Using Storytelling to Engage Your Brand's Audiences

Speaker:
Meg Fowler Tripp—Copywriter and Social Strategist, Sametz Blackstone Associates

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

You've developed your brand strategy and messaging but how do you get people to actually care? The answer is storytelling. That same skill that keeps people glued to best-selling novels. That same skill that makes your witty friend the person to sit next to at dinner parties. You want this skill, and this class can help.

You will learn:

• How to transform brand messaging into your own unique brand story
• How to "tilt" your story to fit your different key audiences
• Five qualities excellent storytellers (and their stories!) possess—and why your brand needs them

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Business Messaging in a 140-Character World

Speaker:
Phaedra Hise—Senior Editor, COLLOQUY; Content Manager, LoyaltyOne

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

In an age of tweets and texts, is long-form writing even relevant for business anymore? What are the new rules for professional communication? As content channels change, learn what you should be doing to change along with them and which classic business-writing guidelines still remain mission-critical. This class covers the three main types of business writing: internal communications, externally placed pitches and stories, and official company publications.

You will learn:

• How to capture your readers' attention immediately
• The three elements that make up compelling business writing
• The six words that will kill any business piece

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Transcreation: The Secret Weapon for Global Marketing

Speaker:
Nataly Kelly—Vice President, Market Development, Smartling

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

To reach global audiences in a truly targeted way, merely translating content from your home market is no longer enough to compete. Savvy international marketers use an additional tool called transcreation. Unlike translation, which relates to transferring text from one language into another, transcreation focuses on producing the same desired effect in different audiences. The call to action might be the same, but the messaging leading up to it often isn't. Transcreation isn't just for B2C marketers anymore!

You will learn:

• How the world's leading companies use transcreation to connect with international audiences
• What types of content most commonly require transcreation
• How transcreation differs from translation

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Writing E-Books That Sell

Speaker:
Teresa Basich—Community Manager, Autodesk

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Writing a useful, comprehensive e-book can be a daunting task. But with proper planning and a solid understanding of your business goals, you can craft a compelling and marketable piece of long-form content worth its weight in sales leads. Often, the hardest part is figuring out where to begin. This class will not only help you find your starting point but will guide you down the path of e-book creation so you feel confident and prepared to tackle any e-book project that comes your way.

You will learn:

• How to develop e-book themes and topics that attract customers and connect to your business objectives
• How to identify the best voice and flow for an e-book
• How to turn your e-book from a simple Word document into a visually interesting and marketable piece of content

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How to Write Whitepapers That Engage, Persuade, and Convert

Speaker:
Rachel Foster—CEO and B2B Copywriter, Fresh Perspective Copywriting

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Studies have shown that B2B customers turn to whitepapers when making a buying decision—especially before purchasing technology. However, many whitepapers are poorly written and bore readers instead of engaging them. This class will reveal how to write whitepapers that your customers will want to download and share. We'll cover everything from finding compelling topics to how to promote your whitepapers to maximizing conversions.

You will learn:

• Tricks to writing titles that attract your ideal reader
• Essential whitepaper writing do's and don'ts
• How to repurpose your whitepaper across all your marketing channels to reach a wider audience

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Become the PR Writer Journalists Dream About

Speaker:
Lynne Farber—Assistant Professor, Florida International University

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Good writers know their craft. But PR writing is a different beast altogether. Developing a reputation among journalists and media specialists for producing tight, clear copy takes more than hard work—it takes specialized knowledge. This class will provide you with that knowledge and help you hone your PR writing skills.

You will learn:

• How to "think like a journalist" and uncover hidden stories within your organization
• The best ways to include dramatic elements in your PR writing
• How to organize and write copy that informs and persuades
• Tips for revising, reviewing, and editing your copy to maximize your chances of getting published

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How to Write Case Studies That Create Impact and Get Results

Speaker:
James Chartrand—Founder, Men with Pens and Damn Fine Words

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Case studies can seriously affect the results you achieve (or don't achieve) with your potential clients. Unfortunately, most case studies are boring reads that can't stir up any results at all, unless it's a yawn. In this class, you'll learn the fine art of writing a case study that hooks readers quickly, keeps them reading, and gets them thinking yours is a great business to work with. You'll discover the true purpose of a case study, why it's so valuable to your clients, and how to write one that knocks their socks off.

You will learn:

• Why a good case study resonates with your ideal customers
• Where most case studies go wrong and how to avoid those mistakes
• Storytelling tips to build a case study that keeps people glued to the page

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Penning a Presentation That Inspires

Speaker:
Kristi Hedges—Senior Leadership Coach, The Hedges Company

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Great presentations are inspiring and require a unique kind of writing—one focused more on a listening audience than a reading public. This class will show you how to develop presentations that are captivating, memorable, and informative by writing with the intent to present. Along the way, you will discover how to keep the purpose of your presentation front and center, and drive home your themes with a thoughtful use of language, structure, and design.

You will learn:

• How to frame and structure a compelling presentation
• Effective ways to use stories, anecdotes, and statistics
• Ways to simplify and clarify so your main points pop

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Writing for Users and Search Engines

Speaker:
Jessica Lee—Chief Creative, bizbuzzcontent

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Search engines use their own guidelines for determining good content, and with millions of sites vying for your users' attention, writing content that's optimized for both the user and search has never been more important. Optimized content helps search engines do their job better, builds your brand, and offers something useful to your audience. In this class, we will look at identifying important keywords and understanding the user intent behind them, to ensure that your brand communicates value at every point.

You will learn:

• Why you should optimize and what matters
• To create a user engagement funnel in which your brand is visible at every point
• Guidelines for content aimed at both search engines and users
• The nuts and bolts of Web page optimization

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Writing Emails That Drive Action

Speaker:
Justin P. Williams—Senior Marketing Strategist, StrongMail

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Email is critical for success in almost every modern marketing endeavor. Is your writing aimed at getting as many people as possible to take the next step in the conversion funnel? This class will show you how to craft subject lines, headers, body content, and calls to action that influence your recipients.

You will learn:

• The four fundamentals for email success
• How to leverage technology in your writing to drive relevance
• What modern trends such as mobile devices mean (and don't mean) for email writing

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How to Write Better Website Copy

Speaker:
Matthew Stibbe—CEO, Articulate Marketing and TurbineHQ.com

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Websites exist to communicate ideas, connect with visitors and, in some cases, drive transactions. A website without meaningful copy is—literally—meaningless. This class will teach you how to avoid the most serious problem plaguing websites today: poorly integrated, badly written, rushed copy.

You will learn:

• How to produce copy that is on-time and on-brand
• To discern good from bad copy, and how to make bad copy better
• Why so much Web copy is lousy and how you can you persuade clients to pay more for the good

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Writing for Retweets: Social Media Copy That Incites Action

Speaker:
Jennifer Spivak—Managing Director, Social Fulcrum

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Social media channels become powerful for brands only when overarching objectives are behind every post, tweet, or pin. If your updates don't incite your community to take some sort of action, you're missing out on the value of being able to communicate with your customers every day. In this class, you will learn how to create compelling and inspiring social media posts designed to get your audience to tweet, like, share, comment, download, and/or buy.

You will learn:

• How to align the copy of your social media posts with your overall objectives
• How to craft updates that get clicked
• Tips and tricks for social media writing for some of the most popular platforms

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10 Ways to Meet Business Goals With Blogging

Speaker:
Elisa Gabbert—Content Marketing Manager, WordStream

ON-DEMAND: View at your convenience, starting June 14, 2013

Don't lose sight of your business objectives in the race to build your corporate blog. It's easy to get distracted by page views, but traffic is not the only (or even the best) goal to measure when it comes to blogging for business. In this class, we'll cover 10 ways to manage a blog that actually helps your company reach its goals.

You will learn:

• The metrics that matter for corporate blogging
• How to align blog content to business goals
• Tips for managing comments, optimizing blog posts, and more

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Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Panelists:
A panel of instructors from this course. Check back for updates!

LIVE: Monday, July 1, 2013—12:00pm-1:00pm ET

Have a question that wasn't answered in class? Something that you found confusing? Just want to chat with our instructors? Now's your chance to pick the brains of some of the smartest marketers out there. They'll spend an hour answering your questions, clarifying anything that might be causing you stress, and giving you even more of the great information you've come to expect from MarketingProfs University. No agenda—it's all up to you!

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