Word Wise Blog: Content Writing Made Easy

Apr 14, 2025

When do question headlines work?

Question headlines can be a powerful way to pull in readers.

A question raises curiosity about your reader’s problem. Your question headline — whether it’s for an article, blog post, social media caption, book title or subtitle, web page heading, or email subject line — implies there’s a solution in the content. And readers want answers...

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Apr 13, 2025

The Delete Key: Friend or Foe?

One writers' camp views the Delete key as their foe. Another group sees it as their friend.

If the Delete key is your enemy, then you view it as an adversary that will eradicate your creativity ... your ideas … your hard work ...

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Apr 12, 2025

Don't miss this opportunity to connect with your readers

Only one-third of online marketers and writers send a weekly email or email newsletter to readers. Yet more than 4 billion people in the world use email every day.

Does anyone but me see the disconnect? If you don’t publish an email newsletter, you could be missing an opportunity to ...

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Apr 11, 2025

How to test your book idea before you start writing

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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Apr 10, 2025

Top 5 web content writing tips

“Content” is the sum of all the information you create and produce. Web content copywriting – providing practical info about your nonprofit cause, but online – has developed its own notoriety, thanks to the rise in social media.

The Nonprofit Communications Trends Report cited the leading types of content which leaders plan to spend the most time producing: email newsletters, Facebook updates, event marketing, articles for websites and email appeals.

Note: none of the leaders reported plans to invest the bulk of their time producing content for print. Every item on the “Top Five” list was for an online medium.

Which tells me that knowing how to write content for the web is a pretty important priority for most businesses and nonprofits ...

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Apr 09, 2025

The 2 best ways to narrow your topic

"A blog post about everything is a blog post about nothing."

It’s a familiar principle that’s applicable not just to blogs, but to writing an article or a book even a headline.

Put another way: the best content zeroes in on one single thing.

Readers want laser-focused content. When you narrow your topic, you stand out. Proof is in the numbers ...

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Apr 08, 2025

How to avoid 5 of the biggest freelance writer mistakes

You're a freelancer - or want to be one. So far, you’ve avoided the usual freelance writer mistakes by getting plenty of advice and reading the plethora of how-to’s that are available.

And you haven’t simply accumulated information. You’ve taken appropriate actions to get started, like ...

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Apr 07, 2025

5 magic words that open doors

These 5 magic words can open doors and get readers to support your cause.

These five words empower your readers to take action. Some copywriters refer to them as the Ask or the Call to Action...

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Apr 06, 2025

What's an evergreen post - and why should I write them?

Like evergreens in my landscape, an evergreen post stays relevant long after it’s been published.

This content addresses topics that are always interesting to my readers, no matter what is going on in the world.

Just as evergreen shrubs provide a foundation in my landscape, evergreen posts act as ...

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Apr 05, 2025

Feature article vs news article: what's the difference?

A feature article is different from a news article. Both report on a topic, person, or event. But a news story sticks to the facts.

A feature article goes further. It offers analysis about the subject. And here’s a twist: two or even three (or more) writers can put together a feature article about the same topic, but ...

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Apr 04, 2025

God & Me! 3: Fun devotionals for girls ages 6-9

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.

They can get close to ...

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Apr 03, 2025

How to write a tagline for your biz or blog

“I need insight on writing a tagline,” wrote a member of my online writing group. “Does my blog really need one?” Great question.

But first, let’s get some clarity. A tagline is a short (5–10 word), descriptive phrase that ...

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Apr 02, 2025

The best formula to use in short content

The PAS copywriting formula, says millionaire-maker and business strategist Dan Kennedy, is “the most reliable sales formula ever invented.”

PAS stands for Problem-Agitate-Solve or Problem-Agitate-Solution.

The PAS framework is straightforward...

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Apr 01, 2025

Find more time to write with these 3 strategies

“How do I find time to write?”

It’s a question I hear all the time from writers and those who want to be one.

I admit it … finding time to write has been one my key struggles in the writing business.

Freelancing and writing to be published involve a whole lot more than actual writing. I have to set aside time to ...

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Mar 31, 2025

7 of the best jobs for beginning freelance writers

Just getting started as a writer?

Freelance writing jobs for beginners are out there, even if you have no paid experience. Every writer snagged her first gig. Which means you can, too.

Freelancers can be hired for all kinds of writing jobs. To get started, you simply need to find someone who is willing to let you write for them. But plenty of those folks don’t realize they need a writer. That's where you enter the picture ...

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Mar 30, 2025

What to include on your About page

Writing content for your website About page is full of surprises.

One of the biggest surprises is that this page is not about you at all. It’s the place on your website where visitors learn more about what you do for them...

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Mar 29, 2025

What should you put on the back cover of your book?

In Romans 1:1-17, Paul offers us a tidy example of content to include on a book’s back cover … even though the passage is at the beginning of the book.

Look how Paul includes each of the back cover elements ...

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Mar 28, 2025

Learn to write devotionals

Devotionals are a unique genre. And you can write them!

Writing Devotionals That Stick is a full-length, online course that walks with you step-by-step as you learn to write devotionals in a way that stays with today’s busy, distracted readers.

Leaders, entrepreneurs, students, moms, professionals, writers – or those who want to be – have learned to write devotionals by using the principles found in this course.

It’s a fun and easy-to-use guide packed with ...

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Mar 27, 2025

Is writing a blog worth it?

Is writing a blog worth it?

You can start a blog for less than the price of a cup of coffee. But is it worth your time?

Before you jump in, you want to consider the return on the investment of your precious minutes...

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Mar 26, 2025

This may be the best word to use in content

For decades, the best word to use in content — one that nearly guaranteed a click — was “free.”

Free means no risk … no effort … plenty of value. Everybody wants that.

So, writers bellied up. The internet was flooded with free offers.

That led to a strange phenomenon ...

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Mar 25, 2025

What to put in your email signature

An email signature does more than give readers your contact information. A professional email signature is a way to engage your readers. Depending what you choose to include, you can give readers the chance to follow you on social media … view one of your videos … check out your books on Amazon … or even simply pick up the phone and call you.

Here’s the kicker: an email signature is best when it’s short and simple. Best tip? Keep yours to 3 or 4 lines of text.

As a writer, you have plenty of options ...

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Mar 24, 2025

Should you build a niche website? Take the quiz to find out

“Build a niche website. You can make a lot of money.” If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard about the opportunity you can have in creating a website that caters to a small segment of readers with a common, narrow interest.

A niche site offers quality information and resources about a specific topic. It attracts visitors who ...

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Mar 23, 2025

https://www.nonprofitcopywriter.com/day-job.html

Your day job can be a launching pad for your writing ministry.

Case in point: Priscilla and Aquila.

Tent making was their family business, but it opened the door to the spread of the gospel.

Paul met this couple in Corinth while on his second missionary journey...

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Mar 22, 2025

Credentials are profo you can do the job

Credentials are a form of social proof. They demonstrate that an individual has competence in an area of expertise.

A college professor’s credentials include his degrees and publications that qualify him for a teaching position at a university. A federal agent’s credentials are a badge and an identification card that demonstrate she is qualified to represent the government in a law enforcement matter.

Your author’s credentials, too, are ...

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Mar 21, 2025

How to write your blog post in steps

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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