This is a nice list of writing articles from the past year. It has a good number of sources I recognize and just as many new ones. It certainly looks worth the time to explore. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on any one of them.
You have to go above and beyond your keyword list to get a reaction. There has to be a general theme – or story – that runs through the entirety of your marketing. People are getting the story in pieces from different platforms so it has to be consistent.
Have things changed? What happened to the not-so-old-but-old-as-the-Internet saying "Content is King"? All Google did was bring it back to what great authors have been saying since the beginning of stories.
You’re a storyteller now – whether you like it or not.
The “just the facts” approach to your website may cover all of the bullet points you need covered, but it’s not engaging enough to keep people around.
Your role is to sell your products or services – but in order to do that you have to engage and encourage your audience. Your content can’t read like you’re in it for the sale. Your job is to be an advocate for your audience. You’re there to help. Learn how to engage on each platform you’re using for marketing, and then be present as a helpful, encouraging voice to guide your audience to the right decision.
Unlike the early days of SEO copywriting, you can’t keyword stuff and get great results. You can’t even rely on customers to visit your website before they make a decision about company. They are connecting with you on Facebook, following you on Twitter or reading a landing page.
TextMaster.com is an interesting little site that is fairly new but already has a reputation for being a good way to get started as a freelance writer. They make the claim that they are writer centered and by all accounts are fair and honest.
To become a member of the site, you simply sign up and verify your email address. Then you can go and explore the site.
There are 3 categories on TextMaster that will be of immediate interest to you: Copywriter, Translator, and Proofreader. These are the 3 areas that you can apply to for work.
You can choose up to 7 interest categories and then select a star rating based on your expertise in the area. Because your list of available jobs is based on this list, you might want to tweak it to get the best search results. It’s not a long list and the categories are fairly standard with one exception: There is a separate are for the sensitive topics of religion and pornography.
There are two methods of finding a job on this site: Look for one and wait for one to come to you.
there is no direct client to writer communication which almost always increases the issues with editing.
there is the warning that if a writer has a lot of requests for rewrites or changes their status may be downgraded and eventually suspended.
There are several different levels of writers on this site and they are ranked in two different manners. Your initial level after submitting your sample is going to be Bronze. This means that you have written less than 10,000 words. The more words you write, the higher your level is going to be. The levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum.
Basic, Standard or Expert. So if you do well on your sample then you might enter the site as a Bronze Standard. That would mean that your initial pay rate is 3.9 cents per word. It sounds low but you can move up quickly. If you do well you will be rated again and if you are granted the expert level then you get a bump to $0.10 a word. You can eventually make more than $0.15 per word.
You’ll catch clunky sentences, missing and repetitive words, and misspellings.
Make a list of your most common offenders. Then search for those words and see if you can take them out without altering your intended meaning.
Take a look at each sentence and see how many words you can cut out.
Check to make sure you put commas before direct address in dialog.
The most mutilated verbs are lay, sink, drag, swim, and shine.
Flowery verbs such as quizzed, extrapolated, exclaimed, and interjected, stick out. Instead, use said and asked, with an occasional replied or answered.
When sentences begin with “it was” and “there were,” readers are left wondering exactly what “it” is. These words are vague.
“It was hot today” can easily be replaced with “the sun baked his shoulders,” which paints a clearer picture. Think: strong nouns and verbs.
Spreading an idea means getting it from your brain into someone else’s. It means putting together the essential facts, the logical arguments and your insightful conclusions together in exactly the right way to recreate your brilliant idea in the mind of your reader.
Try to describe your audience with this simple formula:
X who Y.
For example: “Bloggers who want to get more traffic”.
If you can’t explain what your post is about in one simple, short sentence, it’s probably too complex or unfocused.
Make sure a clear connection exists between the opening of your post and the headline.
If a sentence, phrase or word is particularly important or significant, use bold or italics to add stress.
But don’t overdo it.
Always be consistent with your terminology.
If a point is worth making, it’s worth making twice. Or even three times.
Only tell them what they need to know to follow your argument. Share the minimum you need to convey the desired message.
Clear examples help readers understand difficult concepts.
Concrete language describes something detectable by the senses. Something you can see, feel, hear, smell or taste. Abstract concepts are much harder to imagine.
When you provide specific detail in your writing, there’s less room for ambiguity. Your reader is far more likely to end up with the same idea in their head as you have in yours.
Clarity does not tolerate “might,” “may” or “possibly.”
If you can’t say something with certainty, perhaps you shouldn’t be writing about it at all.
if you’re in the business of spreading ideas, you must make friends with bullets.
Bullets are a valuable tool, but you should never drop your reader into a list without first setting the scene.
make sure each point is recognizably related to the others.
If you were giving your reader a list of steps, you’d present them in the order they needed doing, right? Obviously.
But if the items in your list aren’t steps, they often still have a natural order – even if you didn’t have one in mind when you wrote them.
always supply everything the reader needs to fully understand your points within the post itself.
You think you’re being generous but truthfully you’re being greedy. Greedy with your reader’s time, their attention, and their patience.
include a clear call-to-action. Tell your reader what you want them to do.
write a post specifically for that ideal customer. Narrow it down as much as possible, and write as if they are sitting right across from you learning from you along the way.
using words that evoke images:
Every post you write should be a complete thought.