In a world where content is everywhere, consumer attention is a valuable commodity. Every marketer, creator, and communication professional is vying to get eyes on their brand. But the old marketing techniques—paying for ad space and trying to pop up on the “right” platforms—aren’t cutting it to get the attention you require to grow your business. If this sounds familiar, you need to shake up your process and start earning the attention you’re asking for.
In Earn It, entrepreneur and innovator Steve Pratt delivers his forward-thinking approach with passion and humour to help you see why your marketing strategy needs to be as unique as your business. Drawing on his own expertise as well as insights from other leading experts in creativity, marketing, and media, Steve outlines the reasons you need to abandon the status-quo and get creative. He warns that there is no shortcut and no hack, but if you’re ready to do the work and find the sweet spot between your Commitment and Creative Bravery then your audience is waiting.
The strategies in this book may surprise you. The thinking and the techniques are unconventional. But if you embrace them, you will change the way you market your brand and your business, creating value for your consumers and reaping the benefits.

Steve Pratt's profile page

STEVE PRATT is the founder of The Creativity Business, which offers consulting, workshops, and keynotes to help companies develop differentiated content, marketing, and messaging that earns attention.

Steve is also the cofounder of the world’s first branded podcast agency, Pacific Content. Named one of Entrepreneur’s 100 Brilliant Companies, Pacific Content worked predomi- nantly with US-based brands, including Ford Motor Company, Audible, BMW, the New York Times, Dell Technologies, Face- book, Rocket Mortgage, Slack, Shopify, Zendesk, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Prudential, Adobe, and Atlassian. Pacific Content was started from scratch in 2014 and was acquired by Rogers Communications in 2019. Rogers ran the company until 2024.
Prior to embarking on his entrepreneurship journey, Steve was the director of digital audio at the Canadian Broadcast- ing Corporation (CBC), where he ran a content innovation lab, launched one of the world’s first legal music podcasts in 2005, and grew a highly engaged online community at CBC Radio 3.
Steve originally learned how to earn attention by producing television, working in genres ranging from music to children’s programming and entertainment journalism to local news.
Steve lives in Vancouver, Canada, with his wife, Debbie, and three kids, Cedar, Dawson, and Charlotte.

"What if your prospects and customers wanted to hear from you? What if they grew to anticipate you in their inbox, on social media, in a streaming platform? How? Well, friend... Steve Pratt has the answers for you."

Wall Street Journal–bestselling author of Everybody Writes and chief content officer, MarketingProfs

"ARGHH! I’d just finished writing a speech and then I read Earn It and had to rewrite the whole damn thing. NAILED IT! Thanks, Steve. #earnedmystandingO #notjustformarketers."

Former boss (twice), author of Fearless as Possible (Under the Circumstances)

"Steve Pratt always brings the perfect combination of strategy, smarts, and Creative Bravery to everything he does—and integrity. I love that he wrote this book!"

EVP and general manager, Universal Music Canada

"

Editor's Pick
. . . Pratt addresses crucial marketing concepts in a refreshing way while offering readers handy how-to pointers, including usable idea-generating exercises, strategies to make advertising content unique, tips to build a niche audience, and more.

"

Booklife

"Reading Earn It is like taking a course from unicorn strategists, where Steve Pratt is both a motivating coach, and at the same time, an inward-looking therapist. It made me want to reframe how I evaluated strategic direction without feeling scared by the opposite difference in approach."

Brave Marketer and principal strategist of brand advocacy at Atlassian

"Who wouldn’t like a more effective way to market their stuff? Earn It is a bold manifesto against mediocrity in marketing and a powerful path to transforming your approach."

Wharton professor & author of Contagious and The Catalyst

"How utterly refreshing: an industry executive who actually leads with creativity over analytics, risk-taking over audience reach, passion over predictability, and humor over heavy-handedness. And Steve Pratt provides content for audiences who are actually interested and engaged... no matter the demographic."

Award-winning broadcaster and author

"This is not a sales pitch! Steve Pratt’s style of marketing is about connection and treating audiences for who they are—actual human people. He does it all with generosity, curiosity, and real respect. Anyone whose job even comes close to marketing or storytelling needs this book."

Journalist and cofounder of Media Girlfriends

"Steve Pratt understands what few seem to remember: how you see the world changes how well you execute your marketing. Earn It is a book for visionaries."

Author of Break the Wheel

"“Steve Pratt is an absolute wizard at creating delightful content that dazzles and inspires users. He was instrumental in our content strategy at Slack and provided content fuel for our rocket ship growth.”"

Marketing advisor and former Slack CMO/CRO

"What Steve Pratt has done with Earn It is something truly devious and wonderful—he’s created a complete primer for brainstorming creative ideas under the guise of an incredibly useful book for marketers and content creators. I’ll be going back to this book for many years."

Partner at Sounds Profitable and author of The Audience Is Listening

"Steve Pratt is one of the most creative people I know. Earn It is filled with ideas and strategies for telling stories that stand out—it’s a must-read playbook for any content or marketing team."

Host of SC with Jay Onrait and author of Anchorboy and Number Two

"Steve Pratt is the Wayne Gretzky of content strategy. He doesn’t go to where audiences are—he goes to where audiences are going to be. Earn It will make you a better storyteller, content producer, and marketer. Steve knows what he’s talking about."

TSN host and author

"Earn It is like Seth Godin meets Steven Pressfield. Steve Pratt gives us an insider’s perspective on the critical mission of earning and sustaining an audience’s attention. This book is a winning combination of practical and playful—it’s sure to earn a large following among marketers."

Coauthor of Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments

"How much do I love this book? Let me count the ways... Suffice to say, Earn It gives you the road map for making your content deliver on your dreams for it. Is it going to be easy? No—you’ll have to earn it, just like the title says. Common approaches create commodity content, after all. But if you’re interested in creating content that captures people’s hearts, heads, eyes, and ears, that’s a craft, and there’s no one better than Steve Pratt to teach you."

Founder of the Message Design Institute and author of Find Your Red Thread

"Insightful, actionable, and memorable. An essential guide for marketers on how to use storytelling to drive results."

Cofounders of Bumper

"Steve Pratt’s Earn It is a must-read for any marketer aiming to break through the noise. Having collaborated with Steve on developing a highly successful podcast for Dell, I witnessed firsthand the power of his unconventional strategies. Steve’s approach, rooted in commitment, hard work, and Creative Bravery, led us to create award-winning content that resonated deeply with our audience. His expertise and collaborative spirit shine through in this insightful and practical guide, making Earn It an invaluable resource for Brave Marketers ready to redefine their strategies. Highly recommended!"

Vice president of marketing for Latin America at Dell Technologies

"Both inspiring and actionable, Earn It offers a complete road map to planning, creating, and measuring content marketing programs that will delight audiences and deliver on brand goals. A must-read manual for anyone trying to break through in today’s oversaturated media landscape."

Principal of Kimmerling Content Strategies

"I’ve read various books on creative marketing strategies but always found them lacking in any actionable insight or tangible feedback. Earn It, however, has both insight and practical value. Not only does Steve Pratt lay out a proven method to get your brand noticed, but he inspires you to improve your game and think big so you can significantly differentiate yourself from your competitors in a crowded and saturated marketing landscape. His insights, coupled with great examples and clear, concise writing, makes for a formidable mix. This book made me laugh, it made me contemplate, and it is pushing me to re-evaluate how my marketing team can break away from our status quo to approach our strategy with more Creative Bravery. It is evident from his content that Steve is a wealth of knowledge, with a long history of credible experience in successfully marketing his company and shows. Your future marketing teams will thank you for taking his advice. Earn It has the ability to transform the way marketing teams think about their strategy."

Founder and CEO of Quill and CoHost and professor of podcasting at the University of Toronto