Word Wise Blog: Content Writing Made Easy
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Word Wise is for busy people who want to write more (or need to), but don't have a lot of time.
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Apr 06, 2020
How to Use Keywords to Write Better Web Pages
When you know how to use keywords, you can write better web pages, blogs, and social media posts.
Keywords are terms and phrases that define a piece of content. (How keywords work.)
They help drive search engine page results rankings, so the keywords you choose can drive readers to your website, blog, or social media platform for free. (Yay!)
But how do you know which keywords to use?
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Apr 05, 2020
The Headline: It's the Little Things
The title, the headline, the email subject line: how do you go about writing them?
Maybe you dash them off quickly, like an afterthought, once you're done with the heavy lifting in the rest of the content.
It was in one of my earliest assignments that my first writing instructor called me out about this very issue ...
Apr 04, 2020
The Query Letter: Submit It 100 Times
You’ve sent out a query letter. Or two. Or twenty – for the same article or book idea.
And now with plenty of rejections lining your walls or crickets in your inbox, you may be tempted to give up.
Don’t!
If you are serious about getting published ...
Apr 03, 2020
Persuasive Writing Tip: Raise Objections (Before Your Reader Does)
One of the most powerful persuasive writing tips you can use is to raise objections. That is, anticipate why your reader may protest, question, doubt, embrace skepticism – and address those objections head-on in your copy or content.
Why is this technique so powerful?
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Apr 02, 2020
What to Write in Your Welcome Email to New Subscribers
Ping! Another subscriber notification pops into your box. What kind of welcome email did that new reader just receive from you?
A welcome email is the first email a new subscriber receives from you after opting in to your email list or in requesting your lead magnet. You can set up the email as an auto responder in your email list manager so that every new subscriber receives this email automatically once he has joined your list ...
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Apr 01, 2020
How to Write Query Letters: A Quick Tutorial
I learned how to write query letters early on in my writing journey, when I took an article writing correspondence course through the mail (yes, it was ages ago, before online courses were the norm). The course guided me through the process of writing queries and completing article manuscripts.
A query letter is a way to introduce yourself and your project to an editor or agent. You write a query letter to ...
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Mar 31, 2020
Easter Is Coming! Use The Un-Bunny Book with Your Family
The Un-Bunny Book is a fun, Bible-Based family activity book for Easter. It was inspired by my daughter.
During the spring she turned three, I looked for activities to help her learn about Easter. Within the ...
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Mar 30, 2020
How to Write an Introduction: A Quick Tutorial
When I first started writing seriously, I had to learn how to write an introduction for different kinds of writing projects.
And I was confused.
As a new freelancer, I understood right away the importance of the first few words of a piece.
But everybody called it different things. My writing instructor ...
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Mar 29, 2020
3 Storytelling Tips from the Master Storyteller
I love these three short story writing tips from the Master Storyteller, Jesus.
They’re tucked into Matthew 13 amid six parables, almost as an aside ...
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Mar 28, 2020
The Writing Goal: No, You Don't Need a 25-Hour Day
A 25-hour day! It happens once a year in the U.S. on the first Sunday in November, when clocks move back one hour from Daylight Savings Time.
It used to be my favorite day. I had wiggle room to write more content, answer more email, outline more blog posts, pitch more prospective clients … I could get more done.
Why the frenzy? For the simple reason that ...
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Mar 27, 2020
Bob Stone's Copywriting Formula: It's a Gem
This highly-respected copywriting formula created by direct marketing pioneer Bob Stone remains an enduring tool even decades later.
Its specific focus is on the benefits of your cause, project, program, product, or service.tone (1919-2007), a legend in advertising world, earned the moniker “Mr. Direct Marketing” from ...
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Mar 26, 2020
3 Types of Newsletters: Which Should You Write?
There are three types of newsletters: the company newsletter, the consumer newsletter, and the organization newsletter.
Which one works for you? That depends...
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Mar 25, 2020
5 Valuable Tips for Writing at Home
These 5 valuable tips for writing at home are a practical way to cultivate a healthy mind and soul while your fingers are typing.
And they’re for you no matter what kind of writing you do.
Maybe you carve out snippets of time to put together articles …
Mar 24, 2020
How to Write Objectives: Be S.M.A.R.T. About It with These 5 Tips
5 important tips for writing objectives: herein lies one of the great tips on writing – specifically, for writing grants, writing business plans, and strategic planning – that I wish I’d known when I first started out.
It ain’t a bad list of tips to have on hand just in general, either, when you're trying to write with clarity.
Just for the record, you can use these 5 tips when writing any kind of objective statement (although ...
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Mar 23, 2020
Should You Specialize in a Freelance Content Writing Niche?
Should I specialize in a freelance content writing niche? It’s a question that plagues all writers.
A niche is a small, focused subject. For instance, gardening is a large topic. Japanese water gardening is a niche – a specialized subset of gardening.
The freelancing temptation, particularly when you’re starting out, is to be a generalist – a writer who ...
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Mar 22, 2020
The Writing Formula: Is It Cheating to Use One?
"If I use a writing formula, am I cheating?"
It was a question posed to me by a new writer. To be completely honest, I asked the same question myself when I first started writing.
A writing formula is a template to follow when you're writing a specific ...
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Mar 21, 2020
The Search Engine: Here’s One That’s Indispensable to Writers
For today’s writers, a search engine is an indispensable tool. I use a search engine nearly every day, whether it’s to research statistics for an article or to check out an expert’s credentials.
A search engine is a computer program that ...
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Mar 20, 2020
10 Writing Tips for Your Website "About" Page
I’ve written this set of ten writing tips for your website About page for two reasons.
First, I needed the tips myself.
Total disclosure: I’ve been known to leave my About page alone for a couple years at a time. I figured I was not the only one who was lax. And there are likely plenty of you out there who ...
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Mar 19, 2020
5 Trigger Words that Move Readers to Act
Trigger words set off a quick response in your readers because they generate urgency.
These are a special set of keywords that are especially useful in countering a reader's inertia.
Use them in email subject lines, article headlines ...
Mar 18, 2020
What Is SEO Content Writing? Top Tips for Strong Search Results
“What is SEO content writing?”
It’s a question I hear a lot – and not just from writing newcomers. The idea of creating content that conforms to any kind of acronym can be intimidating, akin to following a secret military code.
Your fears may be especially acute if ...
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Mar 17, 2020
How to Build a Writing Sample Portfolio
“How do I build a writing sample portfolio?” a newbie copywriter asked. “People won’t hire me without first seeing my work. But I can’t get clips unless I write.”
It’s one of the questions I hear most often. And it’s a problem I faced, too, when I first started writing. A potential client always asks that pesky question ...
Mar 17, 2020
Introducing Getting Started Writing Devotionals: Free Mini-Course
If you've never written and published a devotional, you may be uncertain where to begin ... and how to write your life lesson in a way that is helpful and inspiring to others.
Getting Started Writing Devotionals gives you a blueprint to personalize and follow as you write devotionals. You will be able to follow this blueprint no matter what life lesson you want to share with your readers - and get started writing YOUR devotional in less than an hour ...
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Mar 16, 2020
How to Know the Main Idea of Your Piece Before You Write
The writing process is easier when you find the main idea – the single most important thing (SMIT) to tell your readers – before you write.
When I first started writing seriously, I struggled with ...
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Mar 15, 2020
The List: A Surprising Reason it’s a Good Content Writing Tool
A list is a good content writing tool.
I use lists as a set of bullets on a web page, in a series of subheads in an article, and in a sequence as part of a sentence (like this one). Lists allow me to organize my content logically.
The List: a good content writing tool for writers Here’s a surprise from the other side of the coin: a list is good for ...
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Mar 15, 2020
Do You Use This Content Writing Tool?
A list is a good content writing tool.
I use lists as a set of bullets on a web page, in a series of subheads in an article, and in a sequence as part of a sentence (like this one). Lists allow me to organize my content logically.
Here’s a surprise from the other side of the ...
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