11 Ways to Write an Irresistible Intro to Your Blog Post

By Mary Jaksch

Imagine that you’ve been invited to a party where you don’t know anyone. You’ve come through the door, grab a drink, and stand there feeling like a pony with five legs.

Nobody seems to pay any attention to you. After a while you start sidling to the door in order to escape. Or maybe you tough it out and start ‘making conversation’.

Ok, so  this scenario isn’t much fun.

Here’s another scenario: You go to the same party. But this time the host spots you hovering on the doorstep, guides you into the room, hands you a drink and shows you around, introducing you to the other guests. That would feel a lot better, right?

The difference lies in the introduction.

In the first scenario, you didn’t feel welcome. Whereas in the second scenario, your host connected with you. When you think of visiting a blog and reading a post, the experience is quite similar. If there is no introduction to the post you’re about to read, you may feel unwelcome and leave. Why? Because the headline promised a wonderful experience, but the start of the post didn’t match up.

What makes the introduction to your blog post irresistible?

1. Invite the reader in
The reader will feel at home if he or she feels that their concerns will be met here. And that your blog is a friendly place to visit. One way is to address the reader directly.

Example 1:
What motivates you? Do you respond best to intrinsic motivation, or to extrinsic motivation?
From: How Motivation Works |Goodlife ZEN

Example 2:
Do you sometimes feel like you’re in a rut with writing? We all do from time to time.
From: Energize Your Writing |Copyblogger

2. State a commonality.
When you state something that you have in common with your readers, you create an immediate bond.

Example 1:
We all seem to be waiting for something to come to us before we can move on in life: ‘Waiting for a perfect partner before I can be truly happy’.
From: Sitting in Life’s Waiting lounge |Steve Aitchison Blog

Example 2:
Everyone agrees that fitness is good. It boosts your health, brightens your soul, calms your mind, and allows you to do more with your life.
From: Want to Be Fit – or Even Ultra-Fit? |Goodlife ZEN

3. Be personal.
Address your reader like a friend. A great way to do this is to tell a personal story.

Example 1:
When I was a young girl, I climbed trees, built forts, and swam fast. I didn’t shave my legs, wear make-up, sit on the sidelines or wait to lead the charge over a snowbank.
From: How to Be a Girl| Momentum Gathering

Example 2:
I’m a big subscriber to using whatever you can find to work out: pullups on trees, throw big boulders, flip logs or big tires, jump over things, sprint up hills.
From: Minimalist Gym| Zen Habits

4. Be exciting.
Create a mystery in your introduction that then unfolds in the main part. When you use this strategy, you create a bridge from the headline (which should offer a promise) to the middle part – which delivers the promise. The key is to intimate to your readers in the introduction what are you going to reveal to them in the rest of the article.

Example:
Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a compelling promise that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist. So, from a copywriting and content marketing standpoint, writing great headlines is a critical skill. Here are some interesting statistics:
From: How to Write Magnetic Headlines | CopyBlogger

5. Offer the ‘why’ of your post.
Write about what triggered this topic in your mind, or in your life.

Example:
When I started the 8-Week Fitness Challenge, I had no idea what the response might be. I was amazed when about 100 people joined the Challenge! It seems that there is a quiet revolution in progress.
From: Fitness: 5 Things that Make Exercise Enjoyable| Goodlife ZEN

6. Lead in with a personal story.
A personal story can be a great way to draw your readers into a post. Of course the personal story needs to focus on the key issue of your post.

Example:
Today, my mom was telling me about her life as a young married mother of two in the mid 70s. She worked full-time, cooked all the meals, did all the shopping, homework help, vacuumed, dusted, swept, mopped, made homemade bread, weeded an immense garden, cleaned the bathrooms, did the laundry and dishes. We begrudgingly helped a bit.
From: Do You Have a Chair of Your Own| Momentum Gathering

7. Ask questions.
A question that is unanswered feels incomplete. Questions intensify the reader’s curiosity. The key is to ask questions that the reader can’t answer without further information.

Example:
When a young Turkish boy named Celal Kapan first began to speak, almost the first thing he said was:
“What am I doing here? I was at the port.”
Later he told his parents that he had been a dockworker who had fallen asleep in the hold of a ship when a heavy oil drum fell on him and killed him instantly. Was he remembering a previous life?
From: Is there Life After Death?| Goodlife ZEN

8. State facts.
Details increase the value of your post, and boost your credibility. Use exact numbers if you can. Readers tend to trust numbers.

Example:
Sex may be a common topic in the US, but there are some facts about sex that most of the American population is unaware of. For instance, cold feet is probably the reason for a lack of orgasm. A UK study found that 80% of couples wearing socks during intercourse were able to reach orgasm, but 50% of those who were sockless weren’t able to reach orgasm.
From: Interesting Facts About Sex | Medical Billing and Coding

9. Use quotes.
Quotes are a great way to lead into your post. Everyone loves quotes. They are usually by well-known authors and through using their quotes, you are borrowing their authority. If you use quotes supporting the main points of your post, this will increase the reader’s trust in you.

Example 1:
In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.
~Albert Camus
About ten years ago, I stopped sleeping. It started on a vacation. The first night in this lovely beach rental, I couldn’t fall asleep and stayed wide awake all night. Of course I was a mess the next day, and the following night I was panicky that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again.
From: Just a Bad Mood or Are You Coming Unglued?| Live Bold and Bloom

Example 2:
What unites us as human beings is an urge for happiness which at heart is a yearning for union.
~ Sharon Salzberg
Have you ever looked into the mirror and wondered who is staring back at you? Or longed to unite the many parts within you? The friendly one, the angry one, the resentful one, the sad one, the calm one, the impatient one, the confused one – that are all jumbled up behind a public persona that’s buffed and glossed – but tends to crack when you’re angry or upset.
From: Unraveled? Here’s How to Knit Yourself and the World Together| Zen Habits

10. Anecdotes.
If you can find good anecdotes, the introduction is a great place to place them. Anecdotes are short, punchy stories. Speech writers often lead in with an anecdote because it help the audience to pay attention.

Example:
Google just introduced customizable background images on their site.
Here’s what happened:
“I need to search for someth…. wait, huh? What is Google celebrating today, the guy who invented transparency? A background image, oh weird, it’s like a mountain view. Oh I get it… Mountain View! I wonder who that woman on the dock is? Not a huge fan of big, busy images… too distracting. What other pictures are there? Yuck. Yuck. Nice for a photo album, but too busy for this page. Meh, the colored background is ok, red… no, gray, yeah, gray. Actually, maybe I want—Wait, I was supposed to be searching, how do I turn this off? Wait, why does clicking remove background image just return the original picture of the woman on the dock, I just want nothing to be there. Argh!”
From: A Google Background Image Anecdote| Plastic Mind

11. Moral stories
Since the dawn of mankind, people have told stories to illustrate and inspire. There are some great collections, such as Aesop’s fables. If you can find a story that exemplifies the core of your post message, then it may be something you can offer in your introduction.
Example:
The Hare and the Tortoise

Conclusion

The introduction is a crucial part of a blog post. It’s a chance to connect with readers and encourage them to read your post.

You may think that it’s common knowledge how to write a good introduction, but about 60% of all guest posts that land on my desk lack an introduction. It’s not a difficult skill to learn; it just takes practice. A great way to learn how to write good intros is to try out all of the eleven ways above in turn.

If you have some more tips on writing an intro, or if you have some interesting examples, please share them in the comments.

Mary Jaksch is the Chief Editor of Write to Done. You can enjoy more of her posts on Goodlife ZEN . Together with Leo Babauta, Mary runs A-list Blogging Bootcamps

A quick heads-up

Leo Babauta and I have just opened registrations for our new A-List Blogging Bootcamp, The Art of Blog Seduction: How to Draw Subscribers to Your Awesome Blog. Join the Bootcamp now and grab your Early-Bird Bonus!

Categories: Blogwriting

How to Earn Money as a Writer

By Mary Jaksch

Do you want to earn money as a writer? If you love writing, then I’m sure the answer is ‘yes!’ Because if we can earn a crust whilst doing what we love – that’s pretty optimal. Agreed?

But how to do it?

If you’re a novelist, a poet, or a story writer – you may have to wait for the big break-through. But if you’re  ‘faction’ writer – I mean, if you write non-fiction – you have a lot more options.

Freelancing

There are many different kinds of freelancing jobs. You can write for magazines or other print media, for business, or for the Internet. As Carol Tice wrote in her post How to Start Earning From Your Blog Right Away , a blog is a great platform from which to launch a career as a freelancer.

Blogging also teaches you how to write well for magazines. Because the optimal structure of blog posts, as well as the crafting of headlines,  is similar to what you need to do in order to write well for magazines.

Writing and selling eBooks

Traditional print media are heading for a collapse. This is a great opportunity for web-savvy writers! A good way to create an online income is to write and self-publish books and reports. Or to create products, such as podcasts, videos, webinars, or courses. Those kinds of products may seem a far cry from an eBook, but in reality they are based upon written material. The content is just presented in a different medium.

The new wave of ‘pay for content’

There is a lot of discussion in the Blogosphere about how bloggers could offer premium content for modest subscriptions. For example, professional blogger David Risley asked in a recent post Is the Future of Blogging Paid Access? This is all very new, but I think it’s worth watching this movement closely.

In view of this, it’s a great time to build an attractive blog with a strong readership in order to make the most of this new direction when it gains traction.

Freelancing opportunities

Here at WTD, we’re keen to see you succeed. I’m mindful of the fact that many of us need to find a way to make our passion for writing pay the bills. That’s why I’ve jumped at a new opportunity that could benefit all of you. I’ve joined a network that collects and publishes freelance opportunities for writers.

For now, I’ve placed a widget with the job board in the sidebar. But I could also display a larger amount of jobs on a separate page. Leo Babauta and I would earn a small amount from the job provider when a WTD reader gets a job (but not enough to buy a pony …) More importantly – this may turn out to be a good source of potential jobs for you, our readers. Please tell us in the comments what you think of the Write to Done Job Board. Should we have a page of freelance jobs for writers on this blog?

Talking of opportunities, here’s a quick heads-up: Leo and I are closing access to the A-list Blogger Club this Thursday at midnight (Eastern). We’ll re-open the doors after our upcoming 4-week  Bootcamp The Art of Blog Seduction – How to Draw Subscribers to Your Awesome Blog. If you are keen to jump aboard the A-List Blogger Club, click here. (A Club member wrote recently: ‘You couldn’t pay me to unsubscribe!’)

Oh, and if you’d like to watch a video where I talk about how to blog Like an A-lister, please complete a 2-minute survey in order to get the video link. Click here for the survey.

As to our topic of how to earn money as a writer: if you have some good tip, please share them in the comments.


Mary Jaksch is the Chief Editor of Write to Done. You can enjoy more of her posts on Goodlife ZEN . Together with Leo Babauta, Mary runs A-list Blogging Bootcamps and the A-List Blogger Club.


Joining the A-List Blogger Club is like pouring accelerant on your blogging career. I know I’ve cut YEARS off my journey to monetizing my blog by belonging here.
~ Carol Tice of Make a Living Writing

Categories: Blogwriting, Business, Freelancing

4 Ways to Beat the Feast-or-Famine Cycle

A guest post by Linda Formichelli of The Renegade Writer

If you’ve been a freelance writer for more than a couple of months, you’re probably familiar with the feast-or-famine lifestyle. For two months you have nothing, and then suddenly you’re so slammed that you don’t have time to eat, sleep, or shower. Your bank account goes up and down like a yo-yo. And with every feast, you wonder if it will be your last.

I’ve been going through the cycle for almost 14 years, and have learned how to smooth out the bumps.

1. Market when you’re busiest. It seems counterintuitive — why try to carve time for marketing out of a week that’s crammed with assignments? You have work. Duh.

The smart freelancer knows that the marketing she does now is what’s going to supply her income three or more months down the line. It takes time for marketing to turn into sales, so waiting for the assignments to dry up before pounding the pavement isn’t the best tactic. Even when I’m on deadline, I’ll be sending out article queries, direct mail to copywriting prospects, and letters of introduction — not to mention touching base with all my clients and following up on queries and letters of intro that are more than two or three weeks old.

2. Be the ant. Remember the fable of the ant and the grasshopper? The ant spends the warm months gathering food while the grasshopper has fun singing and hanging out with lady grasshoppers. Come winter, the grasshopper has no food and the ant, who’s rolling in goodies, tells the grasshopper to get lost.

The moral of the story for freelancers? No, it’s not that ants are jerks. It’s that you need to save money from the feast times to get you through the famines. It’s tempting, when you’ve just deposited thousands of dollars worth of writing checks, to splurge on a vacation or a new wardrobe. You feel like the good times will last forever. But take my word for it: There will be a famine period and you’ll wish you’d saved some of your cash. Try to build a cushion so you don’t have to beg an ant for money when you have no work.

3. Space out (your deadlines, that is). This is something that affects your schedule — and your sanity — more than your income. Until recently I had a problem where I’d have five articles due in one week, and then the next week (which of course had zero deadlines) I’d spend recuperating from exhaustion. Now I know to negotiate deadlines so that they’re more spread out. Just yesterday, in fact, an editor asked me to turn in an article on March 14. I already have an article due on that day, so I asked my editor for more time. She immediately agreed.

Don’t be afraid to ask for more time on a deadline when you’re offered an assignment. Editors and clients often build in extra time on projects so they’re not stuck in a crunch if the writer flakes out. And I promise, they won’t yank away an assignment just because you asked (well in advance) for a few extra days.

4. Trust. When you’re going through a famine, it seems like you’ll never have work again. This is it, you think. The end of the line. You start scouring the want ads for minimum-wage temp jobs.

I’ve felt that way myself — many times since I began freelancing full-time in 1997. But the more years that went by without my having to search for a 9-to-5, the more I began to trust that even the scariest famine would end. For example, when my husband and I adopted our son two years ago, I planned to take a month’s maternity leave and get back to work in February. But February passed with hardly any work. And March. And April. Things looked dire at the time (though we did have money thanks to tip #2 above), but when I did my taxes at the end of the year I realized that I earned the same amount as I had the year before, even with the four-month famine. The assignments did come back.

Even the best writer goes through the feast-or-famine cycle. It can be a scary ride, but if you plan right — and trust that there’s always work out there for a good freelancer — you’ll be just fine.

Linda Formichelli runs the Renegade Writer Blog, one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers, where she dishes out advice and offers an e-course on breaking into magazines, phone mentoring for freelance writers, and a free packet of 10 sample query letters.

Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in the A-List Blogger Club. We have 6 different training tracks for you, and offer over 400 articles, training videos, and podcasts -  from newbie to advanced. Enjoy being part of a supportive community.
Click below to find out more:

Categories: Freelancing - Tags: , ,

The Second Golden Rule of Writing

A guest post by Eric Cummings of On Violence

What one writing rule applies to every writer?

Last year–technically 14 months ago, but you know what I mean–I tried to answer this riddle. I called it my Golden Rule of Writing. Since then, I’ve discovered that one rule wasn’t enough; it needs a twin brother.

Some background. In my first creative writing class, the professor made something clear: there were no rules to writing. He explained that every writer writes for different reasons, for a different audience. What one rule could apply to every writer? The professor then proceeded to ask us the same questions as we read our stories in class, “What do you mean here?” “Why did you use this word?” “Why did you write it this way?”

From these Socratic interrogations, I divined the one rule of writing. “Intend every word you write.” Know the meaning and intention of every word you write. Know why you used a comma instead of a period, active voice over passive voice, this word over that word, exposition over narration. You and your intentions govern your writing. There are millions of mediums and styles to write in, but this rule unites them all. Every other rule is really a tip.

But like I said earlier, this rule isn’t enough.

As I’m wont to do, I’ve been reading books on writing and style, and recently I came across Ben Yagoda’s The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing. As I was reading it, I realized, I’m missing half of the equation. In his book, Yagoda introduces the concept of a “Pretty Good Reader”, his idealization of the audience, the person he writes for.

It got me to thinking. My “Golden Rule” doesn’t address the audience. The writer alone doesn’t determine what is on the page; your audience also gets a say. So, my second rule of writing:

Write for you reader(s).

The two rules are symbiotic. Like Moray eels and Goby Fish. Or sea turtles and cleaning fish. Or twins. You must write for your audience, but you do that by calculating the meaning of every word for maximum effect. When you scour your prose to determine the effect of every word, it isn’t to affect you, it is to affect your audience. How do you write for your audience? Depends on who you are writing for…

Are you writing for Yourself?

To the guy saying, “What if I’m writing in a journal?” Well, you’re your own audience. Write for yourself then. This applies directly to journals. If you keep a journal, do it right. Include the details you’ll need or want later. Write to inform yourself. Read your old journals and ask yourself, “What do I wish I would have included?” It will make your journal even better.

Are you writing for a Teacher?

Then you better follow the prompt they give you. I’m asked, a lot, to review papers and essays for friends. My first question always is, “What’s the prompt?” and they look at me, mouth agape. Every essay and paper has a prompt, follow it. Learn what your professor wants. Every teacher has biases; gear your paper to those biases. If your professor says he thinks Shakespeare was a Marxist, don’t write a paper arguing Shakespeare was a libertarian.

Are you writing for a Writing Contest?

Like the professor, you better read and reread the contest rules. They can be specific. This applies to short story contests, screenplay contests, poetry contests, whatever.

Are you Blogging?

Write for your niche. Or don’t. Either way, think about who you are writing to on your blog, and write for them. Use your audience for feedback, find out what they like, what they share, and what they comment on. Let your audience guide you.

Are you querying a Magazine or Agent?

Go online, and figure out what the magazine wants. Or what types of books the agent sells. If they sell science fiction, don’t send in romance. Figure out who they are, then tailor your writing to them.

Are you writing for your Audience?

If you’re writing the church newsletter, the President’s State of the Union address or a children’s film, you shouldn’t use curse words. On the other hand, if you are writing hip hop lyrics or underground gonzo journalism, you probably should. If you’re writing for a news article for the general public, avoid big words. If you’re writing for academics, your prose better have four syllable words in it, or you won’t be taken seriously.

Your audience informs everything in your writing, from content to style, the size and length of your words, sentences, paragraphs and the entire thing you are writing depend on your audience. The level of vernacular, jargon, colloquial-ity, creativity and experimentation all depend on your audience. What do they want? What do they expect? How will your words affect them?

Eric Cummings writes about art and philosophy for On Violence, a blog on military and foreign affairs written by two brothers–one a soldier and the other a pacifist. Find him on Twitter, @onviolence.

Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in the A-List Blogger Club. We have 6 different training tracks for you – from newbie to advanced – and offer over 400 articles, training videos, and podcasts. Enjoy being part of a supportive learning community. Click below to find out more:

Categories: Craft

It’s Time To Finish Your Book: 9 Productivity Tips for Writers

A guest post from Joanna Penn from TheCreativePenn.com

Life is full of distractions and our writing time can be eaten away if we don’t impose some discipline. We find our work in progress or book idea has sat unfinished for too long and that’s just depressing. Well, I know how you feel. After twenty years of saying I wanted to write a novel, I finally wrote my first one in just over a year. That’s not hugely fast but I had spent so long talking about it that it felt like a breakthrough!

Here are some of my tips for being productive as a writer that will help you finally finish your book whether its fiction or non-fiction.

1. Know yourself. I first tried to write a novel years ago but spent a lot of time trying to make it sound like Umberto Eco i.e. literary and important. It wasn’t easy for me to write this way and I wasn’t enjoying it either. If you’re not enjoying the process, chances are your readers won’t enjoy the book anyway. So I looked at my bookshelves. They are full of books on psychology and religion as well as fast-paced, explosion-filled, high body count thrillers. So I decided to write a religious thriller with a female kick-ass ex-military psychologist for a protagonist. Kind of Dan Brown meets Lara Croft! I had so much fun writing it. It won’t win any literary prizes but I’m embracing the thriller genre and loving it! So be realistic. Look at what you like to read and forget what the critics think.

2. Stop reading and start writing. Most writers have shelves full of books on writing. Learning the craft is definitely important, but you will actually learn more if you put pen to paper. Definitely keep reading for pleasure and research but don’t use reading as a procrastination tactic. Write first, then go find a book that will help when you actually hit a writing problem. This also applies to courses, seminars and events which of course should be done within reason but can also be an excellent way to avoid writing.

3. Model success. Ok, I know I said stop reading but I do suggest reading books in your genre and breaking them down into areas you can model. Pick one that has been successful and go through it critically. I used James Rollins’ The Judas Strain and went through every chapter, noting first and last sentences, point of view, action, length of chapter, character, dialog and exposition. It took me several days to work out how he put it all together (and Rollins is a master thriller writer!). I then took the principles and worked out how I could apply them, for example, ending every chapter with a cliff-hanger. This is modeling, not plagiarism. You can’t use other people’s plot ideas but you can look at the ‘rules’ in your genre and apply them. Some may criticize this as formulaic writing but readers have expectations and if you disappoint them, you run the risk of not selling your book.

4. Diarize your writing time. Your family, day job and health will always come before writing but there are pockets of time where you could write if you plan in advance. Go through your diary and identify blocks of at least 30 minutes where you could write. Then mark them down as if they are business appointments and treat them just as seriously. Tell people you’re busy at that time. You can’t interrupt a business meeting for a phone call, coffee with a friend or Facebook, so don’t interrupt your writing.

5. Use Write or Die for your first draft. You can’t edit a blank page and writing your first draft is just a matter of getting the words down. Write or Die is cheap and simple software where you set a time or word count limit and then you have to keep writing. If you stop for more than a few seconds, the screen starts going red and violins screech. You can even set it to kamikaze where your words start disappearing. It definitely keeps you writing and even in 15 minutes you’ll be surprised at how much you can produce. Of course, you will edit later but at least you have something to work with. This was the key to completing the first draft of my thriller Pentecost and also for writing extra scenes later. It works whether you have a rough outline or if you just want to write stream of consciousness.

6. Ditch your TV. I hear screams at this suggestion but hear me out! Four years ago, the TV was banished from our house and since then I have written four books, started a business and now have a Top 10 Blog for Writers! (as well as a day job and home life). TV is a time suck, the programs you want to watch are padded with adverts and you end up watching other shows just because they’re on. I still watch programs I enjoy (Glee, Fringe, Bones and Castle!) but I download episodes on iTunes so it takes 45 minutes instead of hours of distraction. This leaves more time to be creative or to spend time blogging/social networking.

7. Work 4 days a week. This is seriously life-changing but takes some sacrifice. Just imagine what you could achieve if you had a full day to spend on your writing instead of the day job. When I decided to really focus on blogging and writing, I moved to four days a week and dropped to 80% of my income. That extra day gave me the energy boost I needed to kick-start my writing and online business. It also meant I could schedule meetings and marketing tasks by batching them together, allowing me more concentrated time for writing at the weekends. This is the one thing I recommend to anyone wanting to start a business/write a book or achieve more in their lives.

8. Set deadlines. I always aim to have a book written for my birthday each year which continually keeps me producing. Decide on your deadline for finishing your book and then work backwards from that date and set smaller specific targets. For example, to be publishable by January, the book needs to be professionally edited in Oct/Nov to allow for rewrites, which means a decent draft needs to be finished before then. Assuming that’s the third draft, the first draft needs to be finished in August. If I write 5000 words per week in between working and real life, then I need to start the book by the beginning of June. Plan these steps out and then mark them in your calendar for tracking.

9. Be accountable. If you set a goal, you need to tell someone in order to make it real. Blogging is fantastic for accountability because you owe it to your readers to walk the talk. Authenticity is critical these days. You can also share with your writing group or a coach. At the very least, write it down in a journal or email it to yourself at FutureMe which will send an email on a specific date in the future when you should have achieved your goal.

With even some of these methods, you’ll be able to boost the speed of your writing and creation time and finally finish your book. So what are you waiting for?

Read more by Joanna on her blog TheCreativePenn.com. It’s one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers. Joanna Penn is the author of Pentecost, a thriller novel, out now on Amazon.com. Check out the trailer video below. Or click here to view the video.

Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in the A-List Blogger Club. We have 6 different training tracks for you, and offer over 400 articles, training videos, and podcasts. Click below to find out more:

Image: open Democracy

Categories: Productivity

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