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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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Nov 14, 2025
Create a 2026 content strategy you can stick with
If you’re a writer or freelancer or solopreneur or small biz owner, you need a content strategy.
No, it needn’t be complicated.
But you must have one if you want to make the best use of your time and build a following.
Don’t get put off by the marketing experts that say a content strategy is ...
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Nov 13, 2025
[Fr*ee Download} Use this simple fundraising letter template for year end
If you’re a copywriter, ministry writer, or content writer (or want to be one), then writing appeal letters can be part of your bread and butter.
Even if you’re a general freelancer, then there’s a good chance you’ve been asked (or will be asked) to write a fundraising letter, whether for a client or for an organization that you support.
Naturally, you want to write a good one...
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Nov 12, 2025
What is free content and why should you offer it?
Free content includes articles, downloads, white papers, reports, and fillers packed with practical information about your niche, offered at no charge, like this article, for instance.
It's information you offer users at no cost.
These days, information is everywhere ...
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Nov 11, 2025
The PAS writing formula: ideal for short-form 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 orProblem-Agitate-Solution
The PAS framework is straightforward...
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Nov 10, 2025
Writing a book: find your book's unique niche
Once you’ve identified the problem your book will solve and identified who will read you’re book, you want to drill down what makes your book one-of-a-kind.
What makes your book unique?
This step takes some detective work because ...
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Nov 09, 2025
Must you be brash to be a successful blogger?
In the late 1990s, Blogger.com and other hosting blog tools became widely available to users. Soon, anyone could start a blog – a “web log.” A blog is an online record of information, activities, or thoughts.
Many bloggers are, in large part, unknowns.
Record-keeping by unknowns has been around through the ages.
For instance, eighteen times in ...
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Nov 08, 2025
Writing an appeal campaign? Follow Paul's model
Scott Morton, international funding coach for The Navigators, knows a thing or two about writing a fundraising campaign.
He has guided hundreds of ministry workers through the process of raising support ...
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Nov 07, 2025
101 practical tips and encouragement for writers
Writers need encouragement. And we need tools to equip us. Both of those are found in one very special place.
That's the principle behind ...
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Nov 06, 2025
Ditch these 10 freelance writing myths
When I started writing, I bought into some widely-held freelance writing myths.
I had naively accepted these false assumptions without much thought, largely because of my fears.
Fortunately, during my early writing days I had access to a couple of freelance writers communities. Members of those communities shared the truth behind the freelance writing myths and served up encouragement backed up with ...
Nov 05, 2025
Branding basics for writers (esp non-marketers)
Whether you’re a new writer or a New York Times bestselling author, you need to understand branding basics.
I've found 2 branding basics have helped me immensely.
1. A personal brand isn’t about creating a persona. It’s about expressing your true self with clarity and confidence so you can connect with your target readers — and offer them value.
2. Branding is a series of choices. One way or another, you’ll build a ...
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Nov 04, 2025
10 tips for writing good tweets
Millions use Twitter (X), but with wide degrees of success.
How you write matters, even on Twitter. Tweeting is a unique form of short-form writing. You’ve got short bursts ...
Nov 03, 2025
Use this power word to get readers to respond
Readers have dozens or even hundreds of actionable messages that scream for their attention each day. A deadline eliminates their option to wait.
But with no deadline, then your offer or your application or your note moves to a lower priority. Readers simply have too many other ...
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Nov 02, 2025
Why bother to give away free content?
A lead magnet is a free piece of content.
During the first days of online marketing, a lead magnet – then, usually an eBook or a PDF download – was a novelty. People were used to paying ...
Nov 01, 2025
King Solomon's model for writer's research
The 5W’s and H: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?
These six questions are the basis for research skills and information gathering. They’re used by anyone focused on fact-based writing, including journalists, researchers, law enforcement officials, bloggers, and more.
But did you know this approach was modeled by King Solomon in ...
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Oct 31, 2025
Use this easy strategic planning guide to get ready for 2026
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.
Yes, you can DIY your strategic plan when you ...
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Oct 30, 2025
Top tip for writing an Ask
There’s no way to dance around the "fundraising ask" in an effective fundraising appeal.
You must ask readers to relinquish their hard-earned dollars to your cause in a way that makes them thrilled to do so.
First, in terms of technique, the fundraising ask always includes some important elements ...
Oct 29, 2025
What's your email marketing strategy? FAQs
What's your email marketing strategy?
Whether you’re a solopreneuer or small biz or nonprofit organization, consider the numbers alone. Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $35-$40 for every $1 spent.
But if you've not yet dipped your toe into sending email campaigns -- or if you've got a lot of questions -- read on ...
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Oct 28, 2025
4 tips to help you write persuasively
When you need to write persuasively, use the 4 Ps.
It is a writing formula – a series of four writing tasks that you complete in your copy or your content as a way to persuade your reader to understand your point of view.
Each task begins with the letter "P"...
Oct 27, 2025
How to get to know your reader before you write one word
Who is your audience? You must answer that question before you write.
A client had just invested considerable resources in developing a package for one segment of his mailing list – his advertisers. The piece was gorgeous: a full color, glossy magazine, with excellent content directed at people who provide services to teenagers.
“Let’s send it to our whole mailing list!” he said excitedly. “It’s so impressive!”
Unfortunately, the other ...
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Oct 26, 2025
Which writing rules should you follow - and which can you break?
Your language arts teacher taught writing rules so that you’d learn to communicate clearly on paper. Rules like:
"Each sentence needs a verb. Especially one-liners..."
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Oct 25, 2025
Are sequels dead?
A sequel is the next installment of a story.
In literature, J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit (1937) launched The Lord of the Rings sequels. During the 1960s and 1970s, film sequels became popular in James Bond movies, the Jaws series, and The Godfather franchise.
A successful sequel ...
Oct 24, 2025
Great gift idea for the girls you know
If you've got a young girl in your life, you know how much she may struggle with making friends ... keeping friends .. being a good friend.
Enter this book ...
Oct 23, 2025
5 opening lines for powerful fundraising letters
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 a different approach. You needn’t even ask for a financial gift or a donation. Put money out of your mind.
Instead, just ...
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Oct 22, 2025
How to write adn use 3-sentence stories
3-sentence stories: they're one of the most helpful tools in your writing arsenal. And once you learn this hidden formula, you can sprinkle powerful stories throughout your content.
But writers aren’t widely taught storytelling under the 3-sentence label. You master character profiles, dialogue, point of view …
Oct 21, 2025
Try these templates for writing takeaways
Writers use formulas and templates because they work. So why not use templates for takeaways?
The devotional’s takeaway, also called the “application,“ is the third element in the 3-part structure. (A devotional’s 3-part structure explained.) The takeaway gives the reader an action step she can take in order to apply the devotional point.
If you aren’t sure how to go about writing this element, try using a writing template to ...
Continue reading "Try these templates for writing takeaways"
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