Word Wise Blog: Content Writing Made Easy
Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.
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Nov 24, 2024
How to write a how-to article
On the first day of English class, the teacher asked us to pull out a sheet of paper. “Write a how-to article explaining how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” she said.
She gave us 15 minutes to complete the assignment, then collected the papers and dismissed us.
The next day, the teacher entered class wearing work overalls. She carried a loaf of bread, two jars (one of peanut butter, the other of jelly), a knife, and a roll of paper towels. After setting the supplies on her desk, she dug into ...
Nov 23, 2024
What makes YOU the ideal writer for a project
The USP – your Unique Selling Proposition or Unique Selling Point – is what makes you different from other writers.
It's also sometimes called your "Competitive Advantage."
But therein lies one of a writer’s deepest fears. It’s the fear that you are nothing special as a writer. That you are not as skilled as other writers ... that you have little or nothing to offer a client or publisher ... that you are a fraud.
Those fears are a pack of lies.
The truth is that ...
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Nov 22, 2024
Get ready for 2025! Create your own strategic plan
If you’re a nonprofit organization, small biz owner, or solopreneur, then you need a strategic plan.
And you don’t need an MBA to create one.
Nor must you pay big dollars to a consultant to get started. This workbook helps you get started with your first strategic plan for your own nonprofit or business – or update an old one...
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Nov 21, 2024
Life these call-to-action examples for your content
Readers expect to be told what to do.
But writing an Ask can feel awkward – like you’re being bossy or salesy.
When you have some call to action examples to use as a template, you can have confidence to ask with clarity.
You know how it is: your reader has a need. You’ve addressed that need in an engaging letter … email … landing page … blog post. Then you reach that point in your writing when you’ve got an icky feeling...
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Nov 20, 2024
Wannabe writer? Say goodby to your biggest enemy
“Where have you submitted your content?” That’s the question I posted to the writers in my Facebook writers’ group.
I expected members to list all kinds of markets. But the responses shocked me, like …
“I don’t know where to find someone who’d want to read my stuff. I’m just a wannabe writer.”
These precious, up-and-coming writers feel like they’re in a battle with a horrible enemy.
Maybe you feel that way too. If so, here’s what to do …
Continue reading "Wannabe writer? Say goodby to your biggest enemy"
Nov 19, 2024
Got your year-end online content ready to go?
A year-end online appeal is cheap and simple to send.
With December 31 as biggest electronic giving day of the year (according to some gurus), a year-end online appeal at the eleventh hour makes sense.
Leverage the year-end online rush when you create an email campaign (or short series) to send between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
All you need is ...
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Nov 18, 2024
How to use repetition to persuade
One of the best ways to write persuasively is by repetition – saying an idea more than once.
It’s a simple technique, but not simplistic. There are different ways to repeat an idea in order to persuade your reader and bring her over to your way of thinking. But you cannot write repetitively on auto pilot and expect to be persuasive.One of the best ways to write persuasively is by repetition – saying an idea more than once.
It’s a simple technique, but not simplistic. There are different ways to repeat an idea in order to persuade your reader and bring her over to your way of thinking. But you cannot write repetitively on auto pilot and expect to be persuasive.
Rather, handle with care...
Rather, handle with care.
Nov 17, 2024
Write your book summary before you start your book
A book summary is the cornerstone of your book-writing process. It offers clarity before, during, and after you write your book.
You can use your summary before you even write one word of your manuscript when you ...
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Nov 16, 2024
When should you write a donor note?
Fundraising experts tell us to write a thank you letter within 72 hours of receiving a gift to your nonprofit or ministry.
Why the urgency? You've got plenty of other pressing matters, such as ...
Nov 15, 2024
Simple steps to help you write an organized blog post
You want to build your blog.
The problem, you’ve found, is two-fold: (1) organizing your ideas … and then (2) writing a post in segments when you have just spurts of time.
What makes a difference is a blog writing worksheet to follow as you write each post...
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Nov 14, 2024
How to write a Christmas letter that people actually WANT to read
When my husband and I had children, I began to write a Christmas letter each year.
Until that point, I had sent handwritten Christmas cards with a short note. Yes, more than 100 of them every year.
I admit it: Christmas letters had just come into vogue and I didn’t like them because I thought they were too impersonal. But life had become busy and I wanted to keep in touch with far-flung family and acquaintances. Social media had not yet entered the picture. Writing a Christmas letter was a convenient solution...
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Nov 13, 2024
5 ways your email newsletter extends your reach
"Should I start an email newsletter?"
It's a question I hear often from solopreneurs, nonprofits, and small biz owners.
An ezine, also called and electronic magazine or an online newsletter, is published at a regular interval, such as monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, and is delivered by email to your nonprofit’s readers and subscribers. Ezines help you communicate with your audience, build good will, and add to your donor base.
Here's why email newsletters have such an impact ...
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Nov 12, 2024
6 elements of a successful appeal letter
This appeal letter writing format may appear too simple to be effective. It’s got just six elements.
Don’t be fooled. The formula may be uncomplicated, but it’s overwhelmingly successful in pulling gifts for all kinds of organizations.
There are at least 3 reasons why it works...
Nov 11, 2024
21 ways to beat writer's block
It’s happened again: I need to beat writer’s block. The cursor blinks. Fear and self-doubt strangle those first words while the page remains blank. My creative juices get jammed and I’m stuck.
You, too, I’ll bet. Writer’s block is a lapse in creativity or motivation. But what’s worse than the blank page is the lie that accompanies it.
The silence of words can cause you to wrongly believe you don’t have any ideas. When you face this lapse at the keyboard, don’t mistake it for ...
Nov 10, 2024
How to write your opening paragraph
Your writing project has its best chance for success when you write an opening paragraph that zeros in on your topic slant.
Notice I didn’t say opening paragraphs (plural). I said opening paragraph (singular). As in one paragraph – the first.
Your article, blog post, or book chapter is engaging or memorable when it...
Nov 09, 2024
Can a sci-fi writer teach you about the Christian market?
I wanted to learn to write for the Christian market.
But before I drilled down into a niche, I needed writing experience. So I enrolled in an introductory course to learn the basics about how to write articles.
Lou was my first writing instructor...
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Nov 08, 2024
Gift idea for the girls you know!
When my editor asked me to write a book of fun children devotionals for girls ages 6-9, I saw a perfect opportunity to help young ladies understand that God is their friend.
I knew that God & Me! 3 (ages 6-9) would be part of a series of children's devotionals, but didn’t know then that the book and series would become an iParenting media award winner … and a best-seller ...
Nov 07, 2024
Got a gig? Here's what to ask your new freelance writing client
Over the years, I’ve made plenty of embarrassing mistakes with freelance copywriting clients.
To be honest, most of my boo-boos stemmed from the fact that I was thinking about selling myself … rather than focusing on how I could help the client. My blunders marked me as an amateur and cost me time and frustration.
On the other side of the coin, if I’m sitting in the client’s chair, I want to be ...
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Nov 06, 2024
Why you MUST master persuasive storytelling
Persuasive storytelling is a writing technique. It uses a story to rouse a reader’s emotions and move him to act.
Once upon a time, facts and reason were headliners in persuasive writing. But no more.
Facts, by themselves, are no longer enough to persuade readers ...
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Nov 05, 2024
How to write the perfect donor thank you letter
A donor thank you letter is the perfect opportunity to cultivate a relationship with a supporter and show she’s personally important to you. Send it immediately (within 72 hours of receiving a gift).
And plan it with care and thought ...
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Nov 04, 2024
Try these 5 opening lines in your fundraising messages
Getting started can be awkward. Especially when writing fundraising messages. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a formal letter asking for donations or typing out a simple fundraising text. How do you politely ask for donations?
If you feel uncomfortable putting together fundraising messages, then try ...
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Nov 03, 2024
3 reasons you should use visuals in your content
Visual content is an image, graphic, or video.
There are plenty of reasons to use a graphic in an article, on a web page, or in a blog post.
Such as ...
A graphic breaks up your content on the page and ...
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Nov 02, 2024
How your book subtitle pulls in more readers
A good title offers a benefit. A subtitle offers an additional one.
A subtitle is a subordinate heading, added after a title, that gives additional information about the content of the book or article.
Take for example, Gary Chapman’s bestseller ...
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Nov 01, 2024
Free mini-course; Getting Started Writing Devotionals
Use this mini-course, Getting Started Writing Devotionals, and in less than an hour you’ll be writing your own devotional.
And you can enroll in this mini-course for FREE.
I created this course for several reasons. First of all, I ...
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Oct 31, 2024
Use a resume worksheet to build your own resume
“I need a resume.” A resume worksheet solves the problem of what information you need to create one.
You will likely need a resume at various junctures in your life. And if you have a way with words, then friends and family will call upon you to write theirs. Clients, too. (And you can charge them!)
A typical resume - no matter what format you use - includes six kinds of information ...
Continue reading "Use a resume worksheet to build your own resume"
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