Foreword

Hi, content friend.

Beth invited me to write three-hundred words for this book foreword. That’s an Instagram caption, really. At least for a writer like me, who always seeks to capture nuance and impart gravitas.

So just three-hundred words? Well, that doesn’t seem quite enough to set the stage, especially for such an important book as this.

The pressure. She’s on.

Let’s hop to it. Just as Beth did when, a mere few paragraphs into this book, she articulates perfectly the tension so many of us feel as content strategists, producers, designers.

We love our jobs. We believe in content’s ability to transform organizations. Yet we aren’t seen as strategic partners. Too often we get the directive: “Just give me three-hundred words.” Or: “Can you just make this sound better?”

No one scoots over to make room for us at the Table of Strategic Decision-Making; no one views as more than grammar geeks. (Also: Everyone qualifies an ask with “just.” Annoying.)

As Beth puts it: “You’re always frosting a really terrible cake, but you don’t know how to get your hands on the recipe book—how to change the way content works in your organization.”

So that’s what Beth does here. And beautifully.

Beth doesn’t just tell you about the tools you’ll need (the cake pan, the mixing bowl, and the measurements, in this analogy). She gives you the power to fundamentally change your organization’s approach to content. She gives you the recipe, the raw ingredients, and the entire kitchen, complete with a Viking range and hood (the 48-inch professional-series model).

Beth also offers tactical ideas to truly bake in (LOL) your position as a strategic content lead—giving you newfound respect, influence, esteem, reverence, support, appreciation, access…plus a squad of sous chefs and a finer crumb on your cake. And a tighter butt.

Just kidding on that last one. Maybe.

In my own work, I seek to empower content creators and strategists to do work that matters. You already do work that matters—so this is your opportunity to get your entire organization to understand your worth.

Now you can have your cake. And everyone else gets to eat it, too.

—Ann Handley