Word Wise Blog: Content Writing Made Easy
Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content , with 750K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.
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Feb 18, 2025
7 brainstorming techniques you should try
Advertising executive Alex F. Osborn was the first to invent formal brainstorming techniques. He became frustrated by his team’s ability to generate creative ideas for their campaigns.
He launched group creativity sessions that allowed team members to suggest spontaneous new ideas without criticism. Participants “used the brain to storm a problem,” and dubbed their gatherings as “brainstorming sessions.”
That was in 1939.
Since then, brainstorming has become a standard part of the creative process both for ...
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Feb 17, 2025
How to search for keywords the easy way
Your search for keywords to use in your online content can be a quick hop-skip-jump … or it can be a long, arduous journey.
I prefer the quick hop. My guess is that you do, too. Don’t you prefer to be writing a blog post or web page to getting sucked into the keyword search abyss?
Naturally, you need to know keyword basics if you write online. It’s part of the ...
Feb 16, 2025
Why you should become a subhead-writing phenom
A subhead allows readers to scan, making subheads obligatory in today’s skimmable content.
The Bible, too, offers subheads in ...
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Feb 15, 2025
Ask your readers to share
An email forward indicates success. Your reader saw a piece of information, decided that it would be valuable to a friend or colleague, and shared it.
As a user, you may hesitate to hit “email forward” because inboxes are flooded.
But as a publisher, you can help readers overcome forwarding reluctance with a simple invitation. If you doubt it, check ...
Feb 14, 2025
Why bother building your blog?
Why invest in building page after page of your blog?
After all, you've set it in motion. Then life interfered. Or you don't post nearly as much as you used to.
Is it worth building your blog after all this time?
Yes ... because your blog is an incredible way to build your online audience, extend your reach, and build your business...
Feb 13, 2025
What is copywriting?
Copywriting s a subset of content writing - text that informs. Copywriting ("copy") informs the reader by selling, promoting, marketing, or advertising.
Bottom line: copywriting is text that persuades.
And copy is everywhere. It’s part of a $2.3 trillion worldwide industry ...
Feb 12, 2025
Is my writing good enough?
“Is it good enough?” That’s a question that comes up every week in my Facebook writing groups.
These precious souls are afraid to submit their writing to a publisher or post it for the world to see. They’re uncertain about …
Feb 11, 2025
7 tips for using numbers in headlines
Numbers in headlines engage more readers.
By “engage,” I mean that a user will move beyond the headline and read the article, share the post, click a link, or make a comment.
By engage “more readers,” I mean anywhere from 15% more (in a Moz study) to 73% more (in a Conductor study) than if you don’t use numbers.
Readers like numbers in headlines because ...
Feb 10, 2025
Write conversationally: 3 starter tips ...
“My wife doesn’t understand what I write,” a ministry leader recently confessed to me. “And if I can’t get through to her – someone who appreciates my thoughts – then how will others read my work and listen to what I say? I know I need to change how I write.”
I took a peek at this precious man’s content. Sure enough, it had depth. But I had to read each sentence two or three times to make sense of it...
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Feb 09, 2025
How much time should you spend on your headline?
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 ...
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Feb 08, 2025
How to acquire an anchor client
Hiram had an anchor client – a customer who provided steady, predictable work.
His anchor client was Solomon, who hired Hiram to provide cedar and cypress to build a temple. Solomon paid Hiram for the timber with wheat and olive oil. The steady work allowed Hiram to feed his people.
This business relationship between ...
Feb 07, 2025
Build or update your resume - on your own
Whether you’re building a resume for the first time or you’re updating yours after years in the marketplace, you can gather and organize your information in one place.
The Resume Builder takes the frustration and stress out of putting together your resume. It guides you through each section of your resume and explains what information to include – no matter what job you’re seeking...
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Feb 06, 2025
What to put on the back cover of your book
What goes on the back cover of a book? I’m not talking about design. Both the front and back cover of a book need quality graphics and typography to pull in readers.
And when it comes to look and feel, the front and back cover of a book should complement one other. Hexadecimal color codes or serif fonts versus sans serif fonts are important considerations. But all that artistic mumbo-jumbo lands smack in a designer’s arena.
But what about the content on the back cover of a book? Clearly, it’s...
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Feb 05, 2025
30 kinds of letters you can get paid to write
Businesses need dozens of kinds of letters.
Even in today’s digital age, written communication is a part of daily life. A letter is a letter, whether you send it on a sheet of paper or through cyberspace.
Writing different kinds of letters is a must-have (and marketable) skill.
Whether it’s a traditional letter or well-crafted email, both you and businesses of all kinds need well-written correspondence to …
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Feb 04, 2025
38 ways you are unique
Your USP – Unique Selling Proposition or Unique Selling Point – is what makes you different from other organizations. It's also sometimes called your "Competitive Advantage."
Today’s consumer is constantly bombarded with opportunities to plunk down his hard-earned cash. Why should he hire you … buy your product … contribute to your cause over anyone else’s? Your USP distinguishes you from other groups and shows that your services are the one that fills a particular niche or meets a particular need...
Feb 03, 2025
Writing a good cover letter: a step-by-step guide
A cover letter is a sales document. Its sole purpose is to introduce a person (like you, if you’re applying for a job), a product, or an event, or a packet of information ... and entice the reader to want to find out more.
Although writing a cover letter is simple, you have to resist the temptation to be careless or even sloppy with it. Your cover letter is your introduction. It is a task in which first impressions count … big time.
This simple writing guide walks you through ...
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Feb 02, 2025
What would you do with 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 …
Feb 01, 2025
How many times should you submit a query letter?
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 ...
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Jan 31, 2025
How to find your target audience
Identifying your target audience BEFORE you write allows you to create powerful, relevant content.
You can find your unique target audience for any piece of content you create through the process of identifying …
Jan 30, 2025
Need to persuade? Try these 7 kinds of social proof
Social proof is feedback from real people about your product or service.
It is a powerful tool in your persuasive copywriting arsenal because people like to know what other people think. Readers adjust their behavior according to what other people are doing and saying...
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Jan 29, 2025
Make money as a writer when you specialize
“We’re looking for a freelancer,” explained the marketing director. “And we have plenty of work to keep you busy – even full time. We’ve seen your credentials and think you’d be a good fit.”
Music to the ears of anyone who wants to make money as a writer.
“Give me a couple of days to think about it,” I told the director. You may think I was crazy. But I had a reason for hesitating...
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Jan 28, 2025
Writing made simple
“Simple” is a power word. Power words work immediately, arouse emotion, and move a reader to act.
Let’s look at the different ways this power word resonates with readers, how it helps them, and how to use it to make content understandable ...
Jan 27, 2025
http://www.nonprofitcopywriter.com/seo-writing.html
Any wordsmith needs a basic understanding of SEO writing, whether you’re just dipping your toe into the online writing world or you’re already a seasoned web content writer. SEO writing is the process of writing and formatting a page for the web in order to return strong results in web searches.
Searching for keywords is central to the whole SEO caboodle. Just think about ...
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Jan 26, 2025
What is a niche site -- and why should I build one?
When James (aka The Savvy Backpacker) made his first solo trip to Europe, he found an absence of helpful information about backpacking on a budget.
Afterwards, friends asked him for advice. So James built a niche website.
There, he offers all kinds of useful content about trip planning, packing, where to stay, how to travel – even how to use ATMs in Europe and how to buy a SIM card on the cheap...
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