Words First

Words First Digital strategy advisor specializing in compassionate content for more business impact & a more human online world.

Some people’s happy brain dance is a creepy brain dance and that’s okay too. Happy spooky season from this Words First b...
09/20/2024

Some people’s happy brain dance is a creepy brain dance and that’s okay too. Happy spooky season from this Words First bookmark outside of Stephen King’s house. 🤡 🦇 👹



Image description: A Words First bookmark that says Words are my happy brain dance with a picture of a happy brain dancing across a tightrope held in front of Stephen King’s Victorian Gothic home in Bangor, Maine.

What a wonderful whirlwind earlier this week at the White House! I joined my fellow Southeastern business leaders in DC ...
09/12/2024

What a wonderful whirlwind earlier this week at the White House! I joined my fellow Southeastern business leaders in DC for this SE Business Briefing to discuss:

💼 the not-insignificant costs of running and growing a small business
💼 share our stories in discussions with administration leaders
💼 learn from and inspire one another

I won’t soon forget it. Thank you to and for the opportunity!

I actually jetted straight from DC to my vacation time (hint: I’m writing this while eating mucho🦞), so I’ll be sharing more about this experience in my Words First weekly email next week. If you want to know more about what was discussed and what it might mean for those of us in spaces where digital and humans intersect, sign up via the “Weekly Email” link in my profile or via my site.

                                           

Image descriptions: 1. Bailey at the White House in front of portraits of President and Vice President 2. Sign welcoming attendees to the SE Business Briefing 3. Group photo from official event press release 4. Press release screen shot: Southeastern entrepreneurs connect with policy leaders and advocate for small business growth at the White House 4. Selfie of Bailey in the White House 5. Bailey’s place setting with name card and agenda at the White House discussion briefing

If you ask me this question, which Benjamin Ard of Content Amplified did, I would say BOTH. But function must come first...
09/06/2024

If you ask me this question, which Benjamin Ard of Content Amplified did, I would say BOTH. But function must come first.

Every digital experience must have a clear purpose in order to successful. And that purpose comes from what the experience communicates to its audience, and why. Aka, the content.

In the podcast episode, Ben and I talk about:

📝 the interplay of content and design

📝 why content leading the way is the best approach for everyone involved

📝 how it all contributes to a human-centric approach to digital strategy

It's a particularly important conversation for anyone creating net-new digital anything or in the midst of a digital transformation involving interfaces of any kind.

The episode is just 16 minutes. Listen in while you brew your next pot of coffee, then come back here and let me know what you thought.

You can listen anywhere you get your podcasts, or check it out on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuYlxfrZAlQ

Still using a design-first approach in your digital processes?This week, Words First founder and digital strategy adviso...
09/05/2024

Still using a design-first approach in your digital processes?

This week, Words First founder and digital strategy advisor Bailey Lewis wrote about the (MANY) compassion red flags created for team members and audience members alike by putting design before content,
and how to swap those for even more green flags using her signature content-first, people-first approach.

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

Read or listen to the post:
https://wordsfirst.substack.com/p/red-flag-green-flag-compassion-in

Don’t forget your Words First bookmark in your library book like I almost did! May’s bookmark prizes are going out to to...
06/14/2024

Don’t forget your Words First bookmark in your library book like I almost did!

May’s bookmark prizes are going out to top engagers of the Words First Publication this week! 🏅

If you want a bookmark of your own mailed to your door (and a shout out in my weekly post), subscribe to the Words First Publication - second link in my profile under Weekly Email - for your chance to be a top engager and win!

When you sign up, you’ll get short but powerful digital content strategy tip in your inbox each week, have access to all past posts in the publication, and join hundreds of your fellow communicators and content pals in enhancing your business content and career through the power of words. ✨ See you inside the inner circle!



Image description: A Words First bookmark shows a humanoid brain happily dancing across a tightrope strung between two mountaintops with text that says Words are my human superpower and shows the Words First logo mark. The bookmark sits on top of a library copy of the novel, Interesting Facts About Space and another book under it whose title we can’t see, resting on the seat in a vehicle before library drop off.

Save this so you can find it for your next big communications or content project. Putting the words and the humans first...
05/07/2024

Save this so you can find it for your next big communications or content project.

Putting the words and the humans first is the secret in every platform, every format, every industry, every medium.

I've spent 15+ years figuring this out, so steal my proven tactics for planning your big, important content and comms projects. This is how to prevent the project risk, rework, headache, and heartache that we all want to avoid.

I went into more detail about each of these tactics in the email this week. Take the deeper dive via the "Weekly Email" link in my bio.

If you're not signed up for my emails yet, the person reading this post at the same time as you probably already is. They're using my weekly emails to turn their communications visions into successful reality. Just sayin, that could be you too!

And if you’re curious about these tactics or thinking you need personalized guidance to navigate your upcoming or already-here big communications or content project?

Book a 1-hour advising session with me. This is a new offering I'm calling the 111, because it's one hour, one-on-one.

If you're thinking about it, book before the waiting list starts. I've opened a limited number of slots and they're getting taken.

The link is in this week's Publication post, on the Words First site in my bio, and I'll send it right to you if you DM me with the words "cheesy ice cream."

Let's see what we can unlock and achieve for your communications together. ✨

📣 Attention communicators and content creators! 📣Are you struggling to:1. Come up with fresh content ideas?2. Actually i...
05/02/2024

📣 Attention communicators and content creators! 📣

Are you struggling to:
1. Come up with fresh content ideas?
2. Actually implement those ideas?

Join me (Bailey) and special guest Words First member Jared Macarin—editor, novelist, and content professional—for a FREE live online class on Wednesday, May 29 at noon ET.

In just one hour, you'll learn how to:
💡 Find inspiration and generate ideas
🎯 Focus those ideas into purposeful content that connects to your audience
📋 Turn ideas into reality with actionable tactics

Plus, we'll do two real-time, hands-on exercises to help you think about your content in a new way and then plan for making your ideas a reality.

I'll also share tips on tying ideation back to your content strategy and how creative writing practices can inform your business content.

This class is for anyone looking to level up their content game, no matter where you are in your journey.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn, grow, and get some fresh inspiration before you even leave the class.

👉 Click the link in my bio to register now! 👈
Choose Get Tickets to get the sign up link. 🔗 If you end up on the Words First site, navigate to "Classes and Workshops" and click the link in the big red banner. It will take you right there :)

Or skip the clicking around and drop me a DM. I'll send you the exact link.

(Don't wait, claim your spot right now and consider it a gift to your creative self.)

See you on May 29! ✨

There’s no such thing as “just the words.” Language is the foundation of all human connection and interaction. That goes...
04/30/2024

There’s no such thing as “just the words.”

Language is the foundation of all human connection and interaction.

That goes double in digital spaces, where distractions are many and frustration levels are often already high.

Your words shape your world.

Are you choosing and then **using** your words to their best advantage?

If you’re a professional communicator or content creator, join hundreds of your peers in understanding how to do just that.

Head to my bio links to get your free weekly insights and aha moments via the Words First Publication emails, sent by me to you every Tuesday.



Image description: Text that says “It’s just words they said and that’s all I needed to know whether or not they get it.”

Bookmarks are in the mail to this month’s top Words First Publication engagers! Along with personalized note and sticker...
04/25/2024

Bookmarks are in the mail to this month’s top Words First Publication engagers! Along with personalized note and sticker 😊 Thanks to this month’s winners!

Want a chance to win as top engager? Here’s how 👇

1. Go to the Words First Publication link in my bio
2. Sign up for the weekly emails (one nugget of digital content learning gold in your inbox each week!)
3. Read, click, and interact with the weekly emailed posts

That’s it! Hope to be sending you your Words First bookmark very soon
# WordsFirst

Image description: Two envelopes on a desk, one upright says Dana and we can’t see the last name while one turned upside shows a sticker of a bear sealing the back with written text: “Bookmark inside!”

Your social-adjacent content may be a little crusty for your audience members and customers. When was the last time you ...
04/23/2024

Your social-adjacent content may be a little crusty for your audience members and customers. When was the last time you checked these 5 areas? 🫢

New weekly post up on the Words First Publication. Go to the weekly email link in my bio to find out what the 5 areas are and how to check them. Read or listen like a mini podcast!



Image description: preview of post “Content is so much more than social media” with preview text “5 areas you might not have thought about that affect your social’s impact”

Content is a major question on everyone’s minds, including those of the topmost decision-makers in the C-suite. Yet, we ...
04/17/2024

Content is a major question on everyone’s minds, including those of the topmost decision-makers in the C-suite. Yet, we don’t often talk about it that way.

So, I am beyond delighted that The CMO dedicated an entire chapter about tackling digital content in our evolving digital age for their newly launched ebook, The Chief Marketer’s Playbook: A Practical Guide for New CMOs.

I’m doubly delighted that I was asked to be the one to author the chapter 🤓

The content chapter appears alongside other critical topics for marketing decision-makers, including:

-Leading teams and stakeholder collaboration

-Marketing strategy foundations

-Tech stack management

Seeing content elevated to this level of marketing leadership discussion, where it belongs, truly makes me happy.

Thanks to the CMO for recognizing the business driving impact of human-centered digital content, and for including me alongside the other amazing experts who contributed to the book.

If you want to check out the ebook yourself, I highly recommend doing so! I’ll drop the link to access it in stories.

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