Do you know what the word akrasia means?
Carl Michener does.
In fact, he recently learned it from Wordsmith, a daily email he’s been receiving for upwards of 15 years that delivers a word a day, right to his mailbox.
“The English language is just fascinating,” said Carl. “Language is enthralling.”
Carl is the founder and lead “scribe” at ¡OutWrite! Communications, a content marketing firm that helps organizations tell their stories and build their brand. Along with English, Carl speaks French and Spanish, and has always had a love of words and writing — good writing in particular.
“Writing with intention takes some doing, and it looks really good when it is done properly,” said Carl. “There is an art to putting words together.”
For those who don’t know, content marketing is marketing that seeks to take complicated and sometimes boring concepts and make them easily understandable, exciting, and desirable. Carl’s “team” at ¡OutWrite! consists of freelance consultants who are really good at what they do: ideation, strategy, design, SEO/SEM, social media, video and so much more. Although, behind the scenes, it’s mostly just Carl juggling it all.
Born and bred in Toronto and educated in Montreal, Carl followed in his parents’ footsteps and spent the early part of his career in advertising. But it didn’t take long for him to get sick of working set hours and spending a good chunk of his day commuting, so he went out on his own.
Carl founded ¡OutWrite! in 2003, and has thrived independently ever since.
“Over the years I have gotten better at being strategic,” said Carl. “Really knowing what my clients need — what they are missing — as opposed to what they think they need, which is not always the same thing.”
Carl does everything from writing — including web content, blog content, email newsletter and social media campaigns, and brochures — to doing the actual marketing and content planning for his clients, all from his laptop.
And, fun fact, he was the very first entrepreneur to set up shop at the Foundry.
Carl ended up in Collingwood somewhat randomly eight years ago. After starting ¡OutWrite!, he left the city and moved north to Alliston with his family. But he didn’t “play hockey, own a sled, or drive a truck,” so he didn’t last long, and they continued north. The move has not only been good for Carl and his family — who spend all of their free time outside, cross country skiing and racing, mountain biking, and getting out in the bay to surf — but it has been good for his business as well.
And it all started because one day, when The Foundry was solely occupied by Switch Video, Carl randomly knocked on the door and asked Brandon if he could work from one of the desks.
“I found it less distracting than being at home, I was less likely to check what’s in the fridge,” he said.
The Foundry and its membership have grown immensely around him, but Carl has been a casual member ever since that day.
“I found the Foundry,” he laughed. But, in all seriousness, he said, “It has been great to see the genesis of it, Brandon has done an excellent job.”
In terms of the day-to-day, one of Carl’s favourite things is hearing the feedback from his clients.
“The best thing is when you hear that there has been a great impact… that what you’ve written has had a tremendous impact on a person or their business,” he said.
However, he still likes the freedom of entrepreneurship the most. The freedom of location, of his time, and of the ability to choose the people he works with.
“I don’t work with people that I don’t like working with. And I can tell them to fuck off with impunity,” he laughed.
Carl currently works with clients all over the world, from Florida to Finland, but recently he realized he would prefer to work with local clients who are a good fit. Moving forward, he’s toyed with the idea of hiring a junior writer, and wants to connect with a few more local clients he can have on retainer, but for now, he is very content with the life his work allows him to live.
He said his biggest challenge, though, is finding a consistent work-life balance and managing his time. His mornings consist of day-to-day communications and billing, and then in the afternoon, “once the coffee wears off,” he is more settled and ready to write. Carl said he could easily write well into the night, but his schedule often interrupts that.
For the record, akrasia means, “the lack of will or self-control resulting in one acting against one’s better judgment.”
Something all of us entrepreneurs have likely struggled with at some point.
You can find this word among hundreds of others in an 18+ page document Carl has created over all the years he’s received a word a day from Wordsmith.
“This is probably my most precious document,” he laughed. “I read through it sometimes, just for fun.”
Carl Michener does.
In fact, he recently learned it from Wordsmith, a daily email he’s been receiving for upwards of 15 years that delivers a word a day, right to his mailbox.
“The English language is just fascinating,” said Carl. “Language is enthralling.”
Carl is the founder and lead “scribe” at ¡OutWrite! Communications, a content marketing firm that helps organizations tell their stories and build their brand. Along with English, Carl speaks French and Spanish, and has always had a love of words and writing — good writing in particular.
“Writing with intention takes some doing, and it looks really good when it is done properly,” said Carl. “There is an art to putting words together.”
For those who don’t know, content marketing is marketing that seeks to take complicated and sometimes boring concepts and make them easily understandable, exciting, and desirable. Carl’s “team” at ¡OutWrite! consists of freelance consultants who are really good at what they do: ideation, strategy, design, SEO/SEM, social media, video and so much more. Although, behind the scenes, it’s mostly just Carl juggling it all.
Born and bred in Toronto and educated in Montreal, Carl followed in his parents’ footsteps and spent the early part of his career in advertising. But it didn’t take long for him to get sick of working set hours and spending a good chunk of his day commuting, so he went out on his own.
Carl founded ¡OutWrite! in 2003, and has thrived independently ever since.
“Over the years I have gotten better at being strategic,” said Carl. “Really knowing what my clients need — what they are missing — as opposed to what they think they need, which is not always the same thing.”
Carl does everything from writing — including web content, blog content, email newsletter and social media campaigns, and brochures — to doing the actual marketing and content planning for his clients, all from his laptop.
“The best thing is when you hear that there has been a great impact… that what you’ve written has had a tremendous impact on a person or their business,”
And, fun fact, he was the very first entrepreneur to set up shop at the Foundry.
Carl ended up in Collingwood somewhat randomly eight years ago. After starting ¡OutWrite!, he left the city and moved north to Alliston with his family. But he didn’t “play hockey, own a sled, or drive a truck,” so he didn’t last long, and they continued north. The move has not only been good for Carl and his family — who spend all of their free time outside, cross country skiing and racing, mountain biking, and getting out in the bay to surf — but it has been good for his business as well.
And it all started because one day, when The Foundry was solely occupied by Switch Video, Carl randomly knocked on the door and asked Brandon if he could work from one of the desks.
“I found it less distracting than being at home, I was less likely to check what’s in the fridge,” he said.
The Foundry and its membership have grown immensely around him, but Carl has been a casual member ever since that day.
“I found the Foundry,” he laughed. But, in all seriousness, he said, “It has been great to see the genesis of it, Brandon has done an excellent job.”
In terms of the day-to-day, one of Carl’s favourite things is hearing the feedback from his clients.
However, he still likes the freedom of entrepreneurship the most. The freedom of location, of his time, and of the ability to choose the people he works with.
“The best thing is when you hear that there has been a great impact… that what you’ve written has had a tremendous impact on a person or their business,” he said.
However, he still likes the freedom of entrepreneurship the most. The freedom of location, of his time, and of the ability to choose the people he works with.
“I don’t work with people that I don’t like working with. And I can tell them to fuck off with impunity,” he laughed.
Carl currently works with clients all over the world, from Florida to Finland, but recently he realized he would prefer to work with local clients who are a good fit. Moving forward, he’s toyed with the idea of hiring a junior writer, and wants to connect with a few more local clients he can have on retainer, but for now, he is very content with the life his work allows him to live.
He said his biggest challenge, though, is finding a consistent work-life balance and managing his time. His mornings consist of day-to-day communications and billing, and then in the afternoon, “once the coffee wears off,” he is more settled and ready to write. Carl said he could easily write well into the night, but his schedule often interrupts that.
For the record, akrasia means, “the lack of will or self-control resulting in one acting against one’s better judgment.”
Something all of us entrepreneurs have likely struggled with at some point.
You can find this word among hundreds of others in an 18+ page document Carl has created over all the years he’s received a word a day from Wordsmith.
“This is probably my most precious document,” he laughed. “I read through it sometimes, just for fun.”
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