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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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Sep 17, 2025
Starting a blog or website? Here are 4 tips to make it easy and FUN
If you don’t yet have a blog or website, you may be uncertain where to start. If you already have an online home, you may be unsure how to grow it.
All that uncertainty breeds fear and procrastination … as well as money, tech, overwhelm, and time frustrations.
But what if your website or blog were a source of creativity and fun?
It can be. I promise! Mine are.
These 4 tips help you get past the frustration so you can enjoy your online home. And build a following with it...
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Sep 16, 2025
Have plenty of content stories at your fingertips when you ...
Using anecdotes breathes life into your content. Readers are energized when they hear how your biz or your organization makes a difference in the lives of people you serve.
But you know what happens when the deadline for your next article or newsletter looms ...
You have to trudge through all kinds of phone calls and dead ends to find an exciting anecdote to include as the centerpiece...
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Sep 15, 2025
How to write a call to action in 3 words or less
When it’s time to write a call to action, you may hit a writing roadblock.
Because it's awkward.
Your call to action (CTA) tells your reader what to do as a result of reading your post, letter, or email. You ask her for money or time or permission to invade her personal space and you may be stumped about what to say.
For many of us ...
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Sep 14, 2025
Here's how to organize your book
A table of contents (TOC) lists sections and chapters at the beginning of a book or other piece of writing to guide the reader to where he needs to be.
Today, writers can use software to create a table of contents.
But before technology came on the scene ...
Sep 13, 2025
One non-writing skill all successful writers have
One indispensable copywriting skill you must have has little to do with writing at all.
It’s empathy.
“It’s your job to be Chief Empathy Officer for your audience,” says Copyblogger co-founder Sonia Simone.
When I read that quip from Sonia, I wanted to ...
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Sep 12, 2025
Test your book idea with these 4 questions
You’ve got a book idea. You’re gung-ho to get writing. But should you proceed?
Given the potential mine fields to writing a book and getting into the hands of readers, you want to make sure your idea is book-worthy. You’ll invest a significant amount of your time in writing the book. And once you start, you want to finish it rather than let your first pages languish in your uncompleted projects file.
But how can you know that the sweat and tears invested in this book will yield readers? You want to know that there’s an audience for your book idea...
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Sep 11, 2025
3 appeal letter writing formulas that pull gifts
Do copywriting formulas help you write an effective appeal letter?
On the surface, a formulaic approach may seem counterintuitive to telling the story of your organization in a unique voice. Yet what may be disguised as a mechanical tactic can actually provide a proven framework to make your case …
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Sep 10, 2025
Don't be a writer for everyone. Find your "people."
When I first started writing seriously, I cast my net wide and pumped out content for a telecommunications firm … a carpentry products business … a community athletic organization.
But the projects that gave me the most satisfaction were ...
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Sep 09, 2025
When to use much, many, and most
Writers use the words like much, many or most to indicate amounts. These words are quantifiers.
And you’d think that since measures or amounts are involved with these words, then using them makes your writing clearer...
Sep 08, 2025
How to write better bullet points
Lists simplify a reader’s experience. When you write better bullet points in bulleted lists, you make today’s information overload manageable for readers. “Good business writing seeks to make information easy to understand,” says business writing trainer Mary Cullen.
The indented, short phrases, preceded by small dots or numbers, were originally confined to web pages, sidebars, and PowerPoint presentations. But these days bulleted lists are everywhere ...
Sep 07, 2025
The REAL cause of writer's block
The real reason you face the blank page? It may surprise you.
Writer's block is not caused by a lack of creativity. It’s rooted in ...
Sep 06, 2025
How to write your mission statement
Apostle Paul’s mission statement was clear: “I proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles” (Galatians 1:16).
He defined a clear ...
Sep 05, 2025
Build your blog 20 minutes at a time
A blog is a powerful way to reach more users and build your business. But like many writers, once you’ve started a blog you may struggle to sustain it and consistently add posts.
You get frustrated and discouraged because you know you’re missing out on this opportunity to reach more readers.
I wrote The 20-Minute Blogger after I learned to write in bursts. My children were young, I was working full time, but I wanted to ...
Sep 03, 2025
Nonprofits: year-end is coming - here's how to get your content done by then
A simple year-end appeal timeline can help you stay on schedule in communicating with partners and prospects and asking them for gifts at year's end.
This is particularly important for nonprofits as the calendar turns over from August to September, and then creeps closer to December. About 40% individual gifts are given to nonprofits during the last quarter of the calendar year. Clearly, this is the time to ...
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Sep 02, 2025
How to get your website noticed
You've got a website or blog. And you want readers to notice it.
When people notice your website, you get traffic. And traffic means more potential customers, clients, and partners … more followers … more subscribers … and ultimately, higher sales or conversions. A well-visited website builds your brand and your authority.
But notoriety and sales are just two benefits of building traffic to your website. Once your website gets noticed, you experience an interesting phenomenon: more web traffic feeds on itself.
Here’s how it works ...
Sep 01, 2025
Why your illustration is a must-have in a devotional
A devotional illustration is sometimes called the body, the narrative, or even the “devotional” itself. It is one of three of the parts of the standard devotional structure:
1. Scripture2. Illustration3. Takeaway
The illustration is the longest section of the three. It does the “heavy lifting” in the devotional by ...
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Aug 31, 2025
The real cost of writing a blog
“How much does it cost to write a blog?” That’s a question I hear a lot from writers.
They’re not talking about writing the content. They’re asking about the cash layout, which can be really, really cheap. As in about ...
Aug 30, 2025
The key to successful brainstorming is ...
During a brainstorm session, your purpose is to gather as many content writing ideas as possible about a particular topic.
After brainstorming, you can drill down your topic to a specific truth.
But as you brainstorm, the key is ...
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Aug 29, 2025
Before you start writing that grant proposal ...
A grant proposal is a lengthy project with lots of elements. Before you invest your time in writing a grant application, you want to know that you’ve maximized your chances.
One of the easiest ways to increase your odds is to ...
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Aug 28, 2025
Write a 1-page business plan
Writing a business plan is a key step when starting your business or nonprofit. Thereafter, it is also a very helpful annual exercise.
Creating a business plan is different than creating a strategic plan, which outlines your ...
Aug 27, 2025
Do you limit your reach by writing just 1 type of content?
In the video, the doctor placed special headphones on a baby with a hearing deficit — and the baby heard his mother’s voice for the first time. Smiles, giggles, and laughter punctuated the soundtrack. I leaned over and shared the video with my husband. He grinned.
I’d just consumed a piece of inspiration. It’s one of the 4 types of content in a magic mix that transforms strangers into loyal readers (and loyal clients and loyal customers).
Successful writers publish all four...
Continue reading "Do you limit your reach by writing just 1 type of content?"
Aug 26, 2025
How to write an email subject line that gets the open
Email subject lines are a type of headline.
And there are additional headline-writing specifics that go with writing a subject line: keep it short, be specific, write with urgency, and use your name in the “From” line rather than the name of your organization.
But you need to have a bit of fun, too, so that your email subject lines get the “Open” click...
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Aug 25, 2025
Content Writer vs. Copywriter: What's the Difference?
Content writer vs copywriter: the two terms are often used interchangeably.
And to be fair, the two specialties have much in common. Both content writing and copywriting are forms of persuasive writing.
At issue isn’t the persuasive nature that permeates articles, posts, emails, ads, direct mail, eBook, social media, podcasts — nearly all forms of web writing. Both a content writer and a copywriter use ...
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Aug 24, 2025
How to chose your domain name
In Bible times, parents often waited a year or more to name a baby.
Time revealed a child’s temperament. Parents observed a child to gain insights into his nature before choosing what to call him. A child’s name reflected an element of his character or destiny.
A name, in those days, became synonymous with an individual’s reputation.
Just as a child’s main character traits helped to determine his name, your website’s ...
Aug 23, 2025
Don't miss this first crucial step in a successful grant propposal
It was the third year I’d been writing grant proposals to this particular funder – unsuccessfully.
For the past two years, I had prepared a letter of inquiry (LOI), but I had not been invited to submit a full application.
What had I missed in the past two tries that had failed to ...
Continue reading "Don't miss this first crucial step in a successful grant propposal"
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