The Blogsmith

I operate The Blogsmith, an SEO content agency for B2B tech companies. My background in WordPress web design contributes to a well-rounded understanding of SEO and how to connect brands to relevant search prospects. 

Learn more about our process and get in touch to talk content strategy: www.TheBlogsmith.com

Some of our clients include:
• Automattic
• HubSpot
• Klaviyo
• Bluehost
• Wix
• Clearscope
• Scribe

You'll find my byline on:
• Newsweek
• Fast Company Executive Board
• Moz
• Search Engine Journal
• Semrush

Activities, Associations, and Awards:
• BuzzSumo & Semrush Top 100 Content Marketers 2022
• Fast Company Executive Board Member
• NaNoWriMo winner 2020
• The Write Life’s 100 Best Websites for Writers
• Process Street Workflow Wizards 2022
• Open source contributor: Documentation and Community WordPress teams
• WordCamp Denver organizer (multiple years) and WordCamp US speaker 2019 & 2022 

I also offer consulting services and coaching on a limited basis. Email maddy@theblogsmith.com for more information.

Content Strategist & Founder

Writing for Humans and Robots

Author

Various

• Skillshare "Teacher to Watch" — my most popular class has 1,900+ students: https://www.skillshare.com/user/maddyosman
• SEO Speaker for SearchCon and SEJ eSummit 
• Presented webinar sessions for brands including Process Street, Clearscope, Orbit Media, MarketMuse, Serpstat, Bluehost, iThemes, and Fanbooster
• WordPress speaker for WordCamp US, WordCamp Denver, and WordCamp Chicago + local meetups including Freelancers Union SPARK and The Marketing Alliance
• Held monthly Blogging Coach office hours at Next Door Chicago plus regular free online office hours
• Moderator for monthly Bloggers Meet Startups meetup events, events for The Marketing Alliance, and Freelancers Union SPARK

Speaker and Teacher

Madeline Osman

• Created websites for 10+ area business professionals
• Assisted 10+ University of Iowa students with their own web projects
• Grew Farmer's Fridge Facebook likes from 23 to 2000+ and helped them achieve perfect 5 star Yelp reviews
• Regularly contributed to BrentJonesOnline.com on Marketing topics and Choose Chicago with Chicago-related topics
• Wrote as a ghostwriter for several clients in content creation
• Hosted #ideaschat for Chicago Ideas Week

Freelance Front End Developer, Social Media Consultant and Blogger

Bloggers Meet Startups

Together with Scott Winterroth, I help organize monthly meetups connecting Chicago startups with bloggers.

• Connected with and book 4+ speakers for each event
• Promoted event to past attendees and my own Chicago network of bloggers and startups
• Interviewed bloggers and startups for features on BloggersMeetStartups.com
• Moderated monthly events and find networking opportunities for attendees

Co-Founder

UrbanCheapAss.com

UrbanCheapAss.com (previously ChicagoCheapAss.com) is a lifestyle blog for young urbanites on a budget.

• Created WordPress blog and promoted across many different channels including social media and interest groups
• Managed team of 5 writers who create content for several different relevant categories
• Collaborated with local and national businesses including Verizon, Protein Bar, and Argo Tea for promotional features and product giveaways
• Regularly contributed to Choose Chicago's Chicago Like a Local Blog
• Active member of Windy City Blogger Collective, attending at least one event each week

Blogger, Editor & Founder

Social Media Beast

• Co-developed outbound sales process
• Consulted with inbound and outbound prospects to help develop social media marketing plans
• Built relationships by regularly attended networking and speaker events for BMA Chicago, Choose Chicago, Magnificent Mile Association, River North Business Association, and Concierge Preferred
• Wrote bi-monthly posts for the Beast Blog (Social Media Beast's blog)

Social Media Consultant

Zipcar

• Assisted Marketing team with guerrilla marketing efforts and planned events
• Educated consumers and created new business account leads

Brand Ambassador

Groupon

• Graduated in the top 5 of my sales training class of 25, after 2+ months of cold-calling sales training
• Sought out additional training when offered, including optional mentorship — eventually mentoring a new sales trainee
• Increased gross bookings each month on my market, surpassing sales goals
• Contributed multiple employee profile articles for The People Blog
• Consulted with the social media department to strategize Groupon Goods promotion ideas
• Active member of Women @ Groupon and the Employee Volunteer Program

Account Representative

• Performed at the top of my new hire class, surpassing members of previous new hire classes in contracts closed with 2.5 new contracts every day, on average (123% of goal)
• Assisted several Spanish speaking merchants each week with my language proficiency
• Developed topical training materials for the entire department of 100+ representatives
• Made over $100,000 in gross bookings during my time in the department
• Participated in several pilot programs to improve the sales process, including call recording, small market deal re-features, and sales contact-to-conversion analysis

Inbound Relationship Manager

Whirlpool Corporation

• Built relationships with employees entirely in Spanish
• Created promotional and administrative materials in Spanish
• Identified discrepancies between promotional materials and administrative records, in English and Spanish

Marketing Intern

Is your content team overwhelmed by inefficiencies? Well, you’re in the right place.

Over the last decade, I’ve:
→ Founded The Blogsmith, a content agency that works with top B2B technology brands like Klaviyo, HubSpot, Liquid Web, Skyword, and Automattic.
→ Self-published the bestselling book “Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style” and launched its companion LinkedIn Learning course.
→ Contributed to top industry publications such as Moz, Semrush, and Search Engine Journal.
→ Earned recognition from institutions like UC Santa Barbara and Cornell University, where my methodologies are part of their educational resources.
→ Navigated pandemic wedding planning, embraced entrepreneurship, and became a mom.

My mission is to empower content teams to streamline operations, creating scalable processes that enhance efficiency and ensure consistent quality.

Inspired by my dad’s entrepreneurial journey, I combined my love for building things with a passion for content, starting with website design in high school and evolving into a deep entrenchment in the WordPress community. This foundation laid the groundwork for The Blogsmith’s unique approach to content marketing for B2B brands.

Today, I focus on two key areas:
→ Content Marketing with The Blogsmith: Creating tailored content strategies that connect brands with their ideal customers.
→ Content Operations with The Content Operation consultancy: Optimizing workflows and processes to help teams scale effectively.

Accolades & Recognition:
→ Named a Top 100 Content Marketer by Semrush and BuzzSumo.
→ Featured on The Write Life’s 100 Best Websites for Writers.
→ Speaker at WordCamp US, Denver Digital Summit, and SearchCon.
→ Organic search growth wins for The Blogsmith’s B2B clients: theblogsmith.com/case-studies

Follow me on LinkedIn for insights on content operations, SEO strategies, and the intersection of AI and content creation. 

Subscribe to The Content Workshop newsletter for more in-depth investigations:
→ SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://blgsmth.tips/newsletter 

Get in Touch:
→ Email: maddy@theblogsmith.com
→ Twitter/X: @MaddyOsman
→ YouTube: @ContentMarketingMentor
→ Website: theblogsmith.com

I'm back on the WordPress.com blog! 

In my first article, I covered the latest features creators will want to know about in the newly released WordPress 6.9. I'm especially excited about Block-level Notes, which make it easier than ever to collaborate on content directly within WordPress. 👀 There are lots of cool new blocks, too, like the Accordion block, which will come in clutch for adding FAQs.

Link to my deep dive of new features in the comments.

Maddy French

Content Process Consultant | I help content teams streamline and scale efficiently through optimized content operations. | Founder @ The Blogsmith content agency | Bestselling Author "Writing for Humans and Robots”

Part of my new gig at DigitalOcean involves working on article rewrites to help with SEO, GEO, and to address the fast-changing world of AI.

Something I really love about this job is that it gives me the opportunity to dive deeper into my technical side and constantly learn new things, which was definitely the case for working on this piece! And because I have no chill, it's a ~23 minute read. 😅 

Link to check it out in the comments and more to come. 😁

It’s been a really tough week - my husband and I traveled home to be with family to grieve the loss of someone we hold dear. 

It doesn’t feel like there’s much to smile about, but I appreciated the boost of positivity I felt when I saw that my first article for n8n was just published ❤️ Thanks so much to Polina Medvedieva for the opportunity and trusting me to do this topic justice.

What would you add to my list of tools?

Open article: Top AI Workflow Automation Tools for 2026 by blog.n8n.io

Top AI Workflow Automation Tools for 2026

When Crystal Carter gives you a shoutout 😍

Head of AI Search & SEO Communications at Wix | Award Winning Conference speaker | Awards Judge

Y'all personalization in AI is here. I tested for it and you can too.  

Why does personalization matter for your brand in LLM responses? Because your idea customers will get different responses based on their preferences. 

If you wanna be in front of them you need to make sure that you have content on the web that speaks specifically to them. 

Run this test:
- Open 2 ChatGPT profiles, each with their own login.
- Click the account name in the bottom left > select Personalization 
- Fill in the relevant files for you target audience (In my tests, "occupation" and "more about you" are the most relevant). 
- Submit.
- Now go to the chat an enter the same query for both users.

That's what I did in the screenshots below. Brunch recommendations for the "vegan, gym girlie" were very different from my "Chocolate lover, bougie, foodie".

What are you looking for?
- How much the responses vary. On this test there was overlap but on others there was not.
- Which part of the profile is referenced in the response ie how ChatGPT has translated "gym girlie" to "health friendly".
- Where they are sourcing the information for they personalized responses. Because in this case they pulled from GBP, but I've seen support docs, environmental statements and other affinity declarations mentioned as well.

So how do your respond? Start at the bottom...of the funnel.
Make sure your brand affinities, and communities are clearly stated on YOUR website, in your support documentations, FAQs, and make moves to get it cited on other websites, because for some customers, these considerations are make or break, and they will build it into their models!

Free access for charities? DEI Policy? Sustainability policy? Military discount? Cruelty free? Wheelchair accessible? Locally sourced? Organic? Made in the USA?  Dishwasher safe? Lifelong warrantee? Whatever it is, make it clear, don't wait on a Redditor to say it for you.

ChatGPT have said they use memory, personalized profiles and they just announced a new feature to carry out personalized shopping queries for users. And back at Google I/O we heard similar from the Gemini team. So expect only more to come in the future.

Need bottom of the funnel inspo for AI personalization? Check out this 🔥 article by Maddy French the Wix Studio AI Search Lab.
https://lnkd.in/ethZinZs

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Need a gift idea for a marketer in your life? 

Content Marketing Institute included my bestselling book "Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style" (plus some of my favorites and new reads for my list!) in a recent article (link in the comments). 

Thanks for including it, Ann Gynn!

This was such a great conversation about sales, content, and trust. Thanks so much for having me on your podcast, Stephen Woessner!

We help agencies sell more of what they do so they can reach their goals faster | Host of Sell With Authority podcast

Trust isn’t built in the pitch — it’s built in the patterns.

And in the agency world, few patterns matter more than the consistency and quality of your content.

A missed deadline or an inconsistent voice can erode credibility fast. 

But consistent, well-structured content doesn’t just show expertise — it earns trust over time.

Maddy French of The Blogsmith has built a system that proves credibility and delivers dependable results for top B2B brands.

If you're looking to move from “vendor” to trusted partner, don’t miss Maddy’s insights on process, mistakes to avoid, and how to create scalable content clients truly value.

Here’s where you can catch her episode of Sell With Authority: https://bit.ly/4iirBcv

I love vibe coding but I'm sticking with WordPress for my business website. With the new AI website builder, you get the best of both worlds. 

I explore the hype versus reality of AI website building in my latest for the WordPress.com blog (link in comments).

Get paid to write about building with DigitalOcean on your platform! We're now accepting submissions for our new initiative: Ripple Writers. Reach out with any questions while applying. :)

We're launching Ripple Writers, a paid program for #developers who publish technical content on their own platforms. 🌊✍️

If you're building with #DigitalOcean & want to share what you’re learning, submit your pitch, & we'll pay you for published articles that document your real experiences.

Happening this week: The Autonomous Marketer Live for ActiveCampaign!

I got a sneak peak of my co-presenter, Amanda Pressner Kreuser’s, custom GPTs for her sales process and can confidently report that you’re in for a treat. 

Can’t wait to share the BTS of what we’ve been building this Wednesday at 11am CST. Sign up (link in comments) to join us live 😎

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