Content Rules

Have you ever felt frustrated that your marketing seems to annoy rather than inspire people? In Content Rules, Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman argue that the secret to transforming your business is deceptively simple: create content so valuable, genuine, and useful that customers seek it out rather than avoid it. They contend that every business—whether it sells solder paste, golf lessons, or social advocacy—must learn to act like a publisher, not an advertiser. This isn’t just about producing words, videos, or blogs; it’s about developing a consistent voice, clear intention, and lasting relationship with your audience.

Handley and Chapman identify a profound shift in marketing: the Internet has democratized publishing. Every company, artist, nonprofit, or government agency now holds the same power once reserved for media giants. Your audience lives online, searching Google, scrolling Instagram, asking peers for recommendations, and rejecting hollow slogans. To thrive, you must meet those people where they are—with content that shares and solves rather than shills. This approach reframes marketing from pushing products to pulling customers through storytelling, education, and trust.

From Interruption to Invitation

Traditional marketing relied on interruption—ads in magazines, commercials on TV, calls at dinner—that forced attention. Handley and Chapman say those methods no longer work because consumers have taken control. As David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR (which inspired this book), notes, buyers research and decide on their own before contacting sales. The authors urge you to replace interruption with invitation. Instead of shouting what you sell, publish useful content that helps your audience solve problems, learn something new, or feel inspired. When you do that well, customers will not only listen—they’ll share your message themselves.

Why Content Rules

The book’s central argument boils down to this: content is the ultimate competitive advantage. It drives awareness, trust, and loyalty before any sale happens. Unlike ads, great content doesn’t expire; it becomes an “information annuity,” as consultant Jay Baer calls it—a resource that keeps paying you back long after its initial publication. Whether through blog posts, videos, podcasts, or webinars, your content forms the emotional and intellectual backbone of your brand. It reveals personality, earns credibility, answers questions, and humanizes your business. Marcus Sheridan of River Pools and Spas proves this point by treating his company not as a “pool installer” but a content marketing firm. By publishing transparent, educational articles like “How Much Do Fiberglass Pools Cost?” Sheridan turned a tiny Virginia business into the nation’s top pool seller.

Learning the Publisher’s Mindset

If every company is now a publisher, Handley and Chapman insist that means embracing editorial discipline. You must understand your audience’s needs (“what keeps them up at night”) and build your brand voice around authenticity and human connection. Instead of corporate jargon—what they call “Franken-speak”—your language should sound conversational, sincere, and empathetic. Voice becomes the expression of your brand’s identity, akin to a musician’s tone or a novelist’s style. Think of the email platform Emma.com, whose homepage reads like a friendly chat instead of an ad. Its simple, witty copy (“see ya around, support phone queue”) makes visitors feel like they’re talking to a person, not a marketing automation robot.

The Book’s Impact and Scope

Across the chapters, Handley and Chapman combine storytelling with practical frameworks—their infamous eleven Content Rules. These rules teach creators to speak human, share or solve (never sell), reimagine rather than recycle, and play to their strengths. They detail how to use blogs as hubs, webinars as conversations, photos as emotion, and videos as visual trust builders. Each concept is illustrated through real-world examples—from Boeing’s brand journalism to Kodak’s employee blogging, HubSpot’s inbound marketing machine, and PinkStinks’ social activism. These diverse stories prove that the rules apply across industries and scales.

Why This Matters to You

You may already have a website, a newsletter, or even a social media presence. But are you publishing content that connects, teaches, or delights people—or merely filling space? Content Rules challenges you to raise your standards: become a trusted voice, not a noise maker. In doing so, you enter what the authors call a “campfire economy,” where conversation and community replace one-way broadcasting. Whether you’re a solo consultant or a global enterprise, this shift is monumental. Great content doesn’t just sell—it builds relationships that turn audiences into loyal advocates. And in a world where attention is scarce, that kind of loyalty is the most valuable product of all.

Handley and Chapman’s sixth rule—Share or Solve; Don’t Shill—captures the moral center of Content Rules. Marketing shouldn’t feel like an embarrassing sales pitch. It should feel like a gift. Every blog post, podcast, or video you create should either share a resource or solve a problem for your audience. When your content genuinely helps people, it earns trust and authority far faster than any ad campaign.

How Helpful Beats Hype

The authors describe how brands like Procter & Gamble and the Wisconsin Cheese Board used this principle to move beyond self-promotion. Pampers’ “Welcome to Parenthood” web series, for instance, featured real parents discussing problems like nighttime diapers and potty training—creating community, not commercials. Similarly, Wisconsin’s Grilled Cheese Academy and Cheese and Burger Society didn’t beg people to buy local cheese. They offered creative recipes and interactive challenges that sparked passion around food culture. Both examples show that when you serve your audience’s curiosity and emotion, sales follow naturally.

The Six Elements of Good Content

To create content worth sharing, Handley and Chapman outline six essential traits:

• True: Your stories must be real, featuring tangible people and situations. Authenticity breeds credibility. (Anne Lamott’s lesson from Bird by Bird—tell the truth—is echoed here.)
• Relevant: Focus each piece around one clear purpose that serves your audience’s goal.
• Human: Speak like one person to another. Even in B2B, you’re talking to humans, not corporations.
• Passionate: Care deeply about your topic. Enthusiasm is contagious.
• Original: Offer fresh perspectives. If everyone talks about dogs biting men, be the one to write about men biting dogs.
• Surprising: Add an element of unexpected delight or insight to grab attention.

These ingredients turn forgettable content into irresistible storytelling.

From Ideas to Stories

Many marketers panic when asked, “What should I talk about when I have nothing new to say?” The authors offer twenty-five approaches—from interviewing experts to sharing customer questions, behind-the-scenes photos, or contrarian takes on industry trends. Chris Brogan’s advice figures here: leave things undone. Let your audience respond, argue, and participate. Content isn’t a polished monologue—it’s the start of a dialogue.

Hiring and Sourcing Creators

You may not write everything yourself. Handley encourages embracing brand journalism—hiring people who think like reporters rather than advertisers. A “chief content officer” ensures coherence, while embedded journalists, like Boeing’s writers, tell authentic stories inside big organizations. Good creators share six qualities: story instincts, digital intuition, amateur passion, social streak, open-mindedness, and curiosity (“ADOS—Attention Deficit, Oh Shiny!” for new tools). These traits make content creators explorers, not copywriters—and exploration is where original ideas live.

The Reward of Generosity

When you treat content as generosity, your audience reciprocates with loyalty. Whether you’re sharing advice like AskPatty.com or humor like Reynolds Golf Academy’s viral videos, your helpfulness positions you as a friend, not a salesman. That friendship evolves into advocacy, referrals, and long-term growth—the kind of “brand love” money can’t buy. The simple rule stands: help first, sell later.

If Content Rule #6 defines what to say, Rule #4 explains how to say it. In a world clogged with jargon and corporate buzzwords (“monetize,” “synergize,” “impactful”), your unique voice is what makes people listen. Handley and Chapman urge marketers to speak human—to drop Franken-speak and write like they talk. Great content doesn’t read like a press release; it sounds like a conversation.

Why Voice Matters

Borrowing from novelist Steven Pressfield and linguist John Simmons, the authors show how voice is a business’s personality in words. It reflects how you express purpose, culture, and attitude. Emma’s email marketing site demonstrates this perfectly: its homepage greets readers with warmth and humor (“Goodbye, generic templates”). NetProspex, a B2B data firm, uses straightforward and friendly copy to humanize an industry known for dryness. In both cases, tone builds trust faster than any tagline can.

Be Human, Be Honest

“Write the way you speak,” Handley says, echoing The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Use short sentences, active voice, and ordinary words. Break rules that deserve breaking. Humor, empathy, and sincerity engage more than technical precision. Harry Gottlieb of Jellyvision even advises worrying less about professionalism and more about not boring people: “Shock less. Bore never.”

Know Your Audience

Understanding your reader shapes your voice. The authors describe creating buyer personas—fictional profiles of ideal customers that help you tailor tone and vocabulary. A public library, for example, serves parents, teens, researchers, and nonprofits—all requiring different voices. Listening to what words your audience uses on social media guides your language. (Lee Odden, cited in the book, found his client’s customers searched for “call center outsourcing,” not “telemarketing outsourcing.” Adjusting language improved visibility overnight.)

Take a Stand

Handley endorses boldness. Be clear in your perspective—even if it polarizes. HubSpot’s blog famously ran posts like “Dude, Cold Calling Is for Losers,” directly challenging old-school sales. Controversy invites conversation. As Guy Kawasaki puts it, “If you try to please everyone, you end up bland.” Authentic voice means choosing tone deliberately and staying consistent—even if not everyone loves you for it.

Words to Ban Forever

The authors close this chapter with comic relief: eighteen business buzzwords that should be exiled, from impactful and synergy to mission-critical and moving forward. Inspired by E.B. White’s call for clear expression, they plead for language that “prefers the standard to the offbeat.” Think clarity over cleverness. Think purpose over puffery.

The Result: Connection

When your content sounds human, it resonates emotionally. Whether it’s Boeing’s journalistic storytelling or PinkStinks’ advocacy blog fighting gender stereotypes, genuine tone builds credibility. A human voice makes even B2B companies approachable, relatable, and memorable. No matter what you sell, remember: people buy from other people who sound alive.

One of Handley and Chapman's smartest rules—Reimagine; Don’t Recycle—challenges you to think like a content ecosystem architect. Recycling implies laziness: republishing the same stuff everywhere. Reimagining means transforming core ideas into multiple, fresh expressions that fit each platform and audience. The authors call this the Content Food Chain.

The Content Food Chain

Imagine your Big Idea as the sun that feeds smaller forms of content—blogs, tweets, videos, e-books. It’s a continuous ecosystem. A white paper might become a webinar, which spawns blog posts, which yield social snippets. MarketingProfs, for example, turned its massive State of Social Media Marketing Report into a webinar, articles, and even event conversations, each radiating from the same core insight. Kinaxis, a supply-chain software company, created monthly white papers that morphed into daily tweets and videos. The strategy tripled its online leads.

Use a Publishing Calendar

The authors introduce Russell Sparkman’s “1–7–30–4–2–1” framework: daily tweets and comments, weekly blog posts and videos, monthly newsletters, quarterly webinars, biannual events, and annual big releases. This rhythm ensures momentum. It turns sporadic posting into an editorial discipline. Think of it like feeding a fire—you need both kindling (small updates) and logs (major projects).

Starting Small vs. Big

Some companies begin with a major e-book and slice it down; others start with blog micro-content and later bundle it into a larger resource. Handley argues both work if guided by a single theme. Starting small allows quick testing and feedback; starting big provides a strong anchor. Either way, the point is to let one idea spawn many offspring—each adapted to a platform’s native style.

Include Variety and Surprise

Audiences crave freshness. Mix formats—text, video, infographics—and vary tone. Business blogs can feel like magazines: long essays, quick tips, humor, and personal reflections. HubSpot classifies its blog content as Raisin Bran (practical tips), Spinach (thought leadership), Roasts (deep projects), Tabasco (controversy), and Chocolate Cake (fun). Variety keeps readers coming back.

Amplify and Optimize

Each reimagined piece must include social sharing buttons, keywords, and calls to action. Optimize for search engines but also for people. You should break content silos by sharing across platforms: embed webinars on LinkedIn, post slides on SlideShare, publish videos on YouTube, and link everything to your website. When executed well, reimagined content multiplies reach without duplicating effort.

Atomization in Practice

Todd Defren called it “atomizing” content; Jay Baer called it “getting more bait in the water.” Either way, it’s about efficiency and creativity. Start with rich source material—research, interviews, or stories—and transform them into versatile formats. Reimagination pushes you beyond being a marketer who posts stuff. You become a strategist who builds an enduring circle of life for your ideas.

Content is not a broadcast—it’s a campfire. In one of the book’s most evocative metaphors, Handley and Chapman compare community building to gathering people around a fire. The warmth isn’t just from your content; it’s from the conversation it sparks. You light the tinder, nurture the flames, and invite others to sing along.

Starting the Fire

Like a real campfire, great content starts small. Tweets, comments, and blogs are the tinder. They ignite awareness. But to keep the fire going, you need steady fuel—larger pieces like webinars, videos, and e-books. Consistency builds reliability. “Regularly dependable, recurring, reimagined content is the key,” the authors say.

Community Over Audience

Community cannot be bought or forced. It must be earned over time. The authors quote Chris Brogan’s keynote at BlogWorld: “Your awesome site isn’t awesome. Getting your stories into the hands of people who need them is awesome.” A true campfire fosters participation, not performance. Encourage comments, forums, feedback, and user-generated content. Let others tell their part of the story.

Measure Engagement, Not Just Views

Success isn’t clicks alone; it’s dialogue. Some followers will comment actively; others will quietly absorb content. Social media fragments conversation, but the principle remains: measure how genuinely people interact, not simply how many show up. A loyal small circle beats a crowd of indifferent visitors.

Tell Stories That Travel

Your stories should serve as social objects—pieces that others can quote, embed, or remix. Encourage sharing by giving your content “handles” like widgets, infographics, and videos. Brogan calls this giving your content wings. When your story resonates emotionally—whether through awe, humor, or empathy—people naturally spread it further, keeping the fire alive.

Why Passion Is Contagious

A campfire thrives on passion. The authors show how brands like Zappos and PinkStinks turned authentic enthusiasm into advocacy. PinkStinks’ movement against sexist marketing grew because its founders’ conviction burned bright, inspiring supporters to share their message. Similarly, Boeing and Kodak built communities around pride and creativity. Fire draws people together; passion keeps them warm.

Words build trust, but images ignite emotion. Content Rules devotes entire chapters to photography and video, showing how visual storytelling humanizes even the driest industries. Chase Jarvis’s mantra frames the approach: “The best camera is the one you have with you.” You don’t need an expensive setup; you need authenticity and intention.

Photography as Connection

Photos personalize your business. Share the human side of your workplace—Snapshot moments at meetings, events, and milestones. Zappos’ employee photos became part of its annual Culture Book, showcasing genuine happiness rather than stock perfection. Tagging, sharing, and commenting on social platforms amplify reach: each tag extends your photo’s visibility into someone’s personal network.

Moment Sharing and Social Snapshots

Jane Quigley coined “moment sharing” to describe how people document daily experiences through images and status updates. The rise of Instagram proves that visual storytelling is universal. Brands can harness these platforms creatively—Ben & Jerry’s uses Instagram to show its Vermont roots and fan connections; General Electric transforms industrial machines into art. Even small businesses like McKay Flooring use live Instagram updates to turn real-time events into brand expression.

Video as Story

Video combines voice, image, and authenticity. Tom Clifford recommends making short “minidocumentaries” that feature real people solving real problems. Qvidian’s humorous “Confessions of a Sales VP” proved that even B2B software benefits from storytelling and humor. Charlie King’s golf videos added personality and reached millions. Handley’s advice: focus on story first, technology second. Good lighting, stable camera, and natural tone matter more than production polish.

Make Sharing Easy

Publish on YouTube, SlideShare, or Vimeo, but also embed videos on your own site with social sharing buttons. The authors insist on “social bling”: include Like, Retweet, and Share controls everywhere. When visuals evoke awe—research from the University of Pennsylvania shows awe inspires email sharing—your audience does your distribution for you.

The Human Element

Photos and videos convey the truth of your brand. Boeing’s embedded journalists, taking readers inside aircraft carriers and labs, turn complex technology into human stories. Kodak’s A Thousand Words blog invites employees to share personal experiences through photos, proving that transparency and creativity build trust. In short: when people see the faces behind your business, they see a brand worth believing in.

Ultimately, Handley and Chapman measure success not by clicks but by credibility. When your content consistently teaches, entertains, and engages, it transforms perception: customers begin to see you as a trusted expert. Case studies throughout the book—from Bob Knorpp’s BeanCast to HubSpot’s inbound empire—demonstrate how authority and community grow side by side.

Credibility Through Consistency

Bob Knorpp launched his marketing podcast, The BeanCast, to prove expertise before he had any clients. By speaking weekly with industry leaders, he gained credibility and reach, eventually landing thousands of listeners. “Being seen with experts makes them look good, and they make me look good,” he said. Regular engagement built archives he could reference—proof that content compounds value over time.

Community Through Conversation

HubSpot’s blog, webinars, and live video podcast HubSpot TV show how conversation fuels growth. By creating personas and educational resources first, HubSpot attracted loyal followers who converted naturally into customers. Its playful videos and research reports created a sense of belonging. Viewers didn’t just learn marketing—they became part of a movement.

The Trust Dividend

Trust amplifies everything. Once people see you as a generous, reliable source, they become your advocates. Jody DeVere of AskPatty.com freely gave her automotive advice to women’s websites, building 20 million quarterly views and steady leads. By “meeting consumers where they are” and publishing without paywalls, she turned information into influence. Similarly, Boeing’s open storytelling—featuring employees on aircraft carriers and in volcanic ash labs—transformed a “stodgy” brand into one admired for transparency.

Patience and Persistence

Content success takes time. Boeing faced skepticism, the U.S. Army risked controversy with uncensored soldier blogs, and PinkStinks tackled cultural backlash. Yet all persisted through criticism. Handley’s closing message: publishing is a commitment, not a campaign. It’s not “one and done”; it’s an ongoing relationship.

The End That Isn’t an End

The book’s final chapter literally refuses to say goodbye. Handley and Chapman invite readers to continue the conversation online and offer a “12-Point Content Checklist” as a gift—a roadmap for sustainable creation. It’s a fitting close: content isn’t a finish line but a lifelong dialogue. When you build relationships through authenticity and usefulness, you stop needing marketing gimmicks. Your content becomes your reputation, and your community becomes your brand.