I'm freshly back from Toronto. They repeat everything twice in Toronto—once in English, once in French. What's not to love about that inclusivity, non/no? So I'm keeping the spirit alive bilingually this morning.

In Toronto, I debuted a new talk. And a group of us went ax-throwing, a game both ancient and hipster at once.

You pitch a sharp ax at a target painted crudely on a pine board. Drinking is involved. It's vaguely athletic. It requires some strategy and skill. It's a modern/ancient mash-up of darts and bowling.

And you should go ax-throwing immediately.

Why? Because throwing axes will make you a sharper writer, communicator, marketer, for four reasons:

🎯 Starting is scary. Unless you were raised by lumberjacks (were you? RESPECT!), you probably haven't thrown many axes. It feels awkward and uncomfortable and scary.

Plus, everyone is watching you throw: They're standing right behind you. And you feel a little... conspicuous.

The same is true of writing: It's awkward to try to organize a tangle of thoughts on paper or on a screen. It feels like you'll never make this work. Letting anyone read it...? Deeply embarrassing. 

In writing and in ax-throwing, the key is this: Just START. Let your ego go. Hurl that ax. Do not worry if it hits the target. Don't fret if it doesn't even hit the board.

Starting is the scariest, hardest, most horrifying part.

 

Takeaway #1: HURL IT. It gets better.

🎯 Small tweaks deliver massive results. In Toronto, the guy with full-sleeve tattoos wearing a black tank and Carhartt beanie said I was gripping the ax handle like it was the safety bar on a roller coaster.

Tattoo-Tank-Beanie-Guy corrected my grip; he pointed out how I was twisting my torso when I threw. (I forgot his name, by the way. But I just described every super-helpful ax-pit instructor in Toronto.)

Small tweaks can massively improve your marketing and writing, too.

Write your face off at first without fear of where it lands. The magic comes in the editing.

👉 Here are five ways you can tweak your own writing to make it more vivid.

👉 Here's a technique you can use to take your writing from so-so to stellar.

 

Takeaway #2: You can't fix what you haven't started.

🎯 You don't always hit the target. The great thing about ax-throwing—like writing, like marketing—is that everyone can do it. Not everyone can do it well.. At least, not without practice.

And even then, there are things beyond your control: This throwing lane is sloped a bit. It's 1000 degrees Fahrenheit inside the venue. (That's 538 Canadian-Celsius.)

In writing, in marketing, in life... the point is this: At least you're getting it out there.

Takeaway #3: Sometimes it's enough to hit the board at all.

🎯 It's badass. Throwing a thing that could literally kill you feels badass and dangerous. And you know what else is badass and dangerous...? WRITING.

You're vulnerable when you put your ideas and thoughts out there. You make your creative self susceptible to criticism, ridicule, attack.

We can't worry about critics. Because it's badass to write. To create. To put something new out into the world.

Takeaway #4: Be dangerous.

So go throw an ax. And when you do, hit reply and tell me how it went! (This is how it went for me, BTW.)

* * *

Here are a few things worth sharing this week:

1. Murderous Marketing?

You'll either love this company or you'll hate it. You will not be neutral.

Liquid Death is a direct-to-consumer beverage company with a punk edge and paradoxical approach: It's both aggressive and admirable.

The company sells water, and the product is edgy in a non-edgy category: the Liquid Death tagline is Murder your thirst. But it also has a socially responsible mindset: the water is sold in aluminum tallboys that are more environmentally sound than plastic bottles. Plus, Liquid Death says it will donate 5 cents from every can sold to help rid the ocean of plastic garbage.

I'm intrigued at how the admirable/aggressive approach carries over into its marketing. This week, I got an email from Liquid Death with the subject line "Proudly not for everyone." The email included this screen grab from its social, with someone named Melissa hating hard:

However you feel about using murder in marketing, it's an incredible example of not trying to appeal to all people everywhere, and not playing it safe. Gross/glorious marketing here. Liquid Death website here. [Thanks to Steve Garfield for the share.]

2. The 411 on Contact Us

Your visitors still expect to see company addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses on Contact Us pages. Don't hide or replace those elements with automated tools like Contact Us forms or chatbots.

At least, that's what the science says. This is everything you need to include in your Contact Us pages.

3. New Kid on the Stock

Unsplash is a massive catalog of royalty-free images you can use in your marketing. It's one of my go-to sources for images because the images tend to look less stock-image-ish than a lot of other image sites.

This fall, the Montreal-based company is rolling out brand accounts so companies can host their own stock images. Some brands are already there, including Le Creuset, Harley-Davidson, Boxed Water, and Square.

What's the benefit to Marketing? In our book Content Rules, my co-author C.C. Chapman and I talked about how Marketing should Show, Not Tell: Show how your brand lives in the world. Beautiful, useful branded images are, of course, a subtle way of doing just that to grow awareness. Apply for a brand account here.

4. Better Never Than Late

Three Weird Tricks That Will Help You Beat Procrastination has smart advice from my friend Laura Belgray, writing in Fast Company. Her ideas seem subversive... but they are actually useful and genius.

Like: Commit to doing the worst job possible.

In fact, put this on a Post-it: Subpar work is the key to success... Strive for messy and mediocre. Forget the B-effort, and try for an F. Go for awful.

Read Laura's article while you're avoiding doing something else.

5. A Newsletter I Recommend

 

If you're enjoying Total Annarchy, then you should check out The Daily Good, a daily newsletter with recommendations for being kinder to yourself and the planet.


SHELFIES 📚What I'm reading

SemiColon by Cecelia Watson
Who knew semicolons were so dramatic? The UK subtitle of this book tells you everything you need to know: "How a Misunderstood Punctuation Mark Can Improve Your Writing, Enrich Your Reading, and Maybe Even Change Your Life." (The US subtitle is less interesting, but the content is of course the same.) [h/t to Denise Cowle]

There There by Tommy Orange
Not new. But new-ish in paperback. The novel tells a story of modern Native Americans. The thing that stuck with me is the way the characters are part of America... but also apart from it. One of the best novels I've read since How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia.

 

And:

Plug in your age, get a suggested book to read in "The best books to read at every age, from 1 to 100." The choices are all over the place. (Nothing truly great is ever created by committee, you know?) And the inclusion of 50 Shades of Grey made me debate whether to share it at all. But Charlotte's Web is there. So, fine.

 

TOOLS

⚒️ ScrnRcrd: Lets you record whatever is on your screen without downloading anything. The resulting video has no watermarks, either. Magical.

⚒️ Icebreaker: Team-management software Range created this fun interactive tool to help team members get to know each other. I like the three levels—from new and awkward co-workers to those who are ready to "get real."

 

DEPARTMENT OF SHENANIGANS

Usually I share something ridiculous here. But today, I'm instead giving a high-five to our valuable school teachers and the Best Thing I've Seen On the Internet this week: #ClearTheLists.✏️

Teachers are posting Amazon wish lists for classroom supplies they need, and strangers are buying those supplies for them. School teachers spend an average of $479 of their own money outfitting their classrooms each fall. You can contribute or just get a feel-good moment by checking out the requests and responses here.  

 

 

 LOVE LETTERS 
Shouts from around the internet.

 

💌 To Aditi Tandon, for listing this newsletter as 1 of 20 for every entrepreneur.
💌 To Nick Nelson at TopRank Marketing for laughing at my jokes.
💌 To Christopher S. Penn and Trust Insights, for giving me a shout in his data-fueled look at next week's Content Marketing World speakers.
💌 To Krishna Rg at Social Animal, for including me in this list of 125 content marketing influencers.
💌 To Akshatha Kamath at AMA San Francisco for naming me on of the 9 top content marketers.
💌 To the incredible Michelle Garrett for republishing this photo that made me smile!
💌 To Macarta for quoting me in its piece on multichannel marketing.
💌 To Barb Mosher Zinck for inviting me on the Ingeniux podcast. (And allowing me to give a shoutout to Avinash Kaushik.)
💌 To Jason Falls for listing me as one of his favorite keynote speakers.
💌 To Brittany Berger for seeing how Everybody Writes applies to video, too.
💌 To Dan Tighe at IMPACT for his generous regard for my work.

 

Thanks for reading this far. Thanks for your kindness and generosity. See you on September 8!

XOXO,

 

            Ann

P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, buy a book. Or forward this newsletter to a friend with an invitation to subscribe right here: www.annhandley.com/newsletter.

 

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