Not having a website or blog to call their own is one of the biggest mistakes a modern writer can make.

It’s shocking how many writers make it anyway.

Perhaps it’s the abundance of free solutions that lull writers into the false belief that they’re building something with long term, sustainable value, when the truth is they own nothing at all.

From social media hot spots such as Twitter and Facebook, to Web 2.0 properties like Tumblr and Posterous, writers can easily find free solutions that will allow them to easily hop online and get noticed. Unfortunately, those “free “ solutions carry the ridiculously high cost of holding those writers back.

Any writer who says they don’t need a website is wrong.

You don’t need a website to succeed at a baseline level, but if you expect to mine the maximum potential from the time you spend online, and nurture the writing career that’s in your head, then a website is non-negotiable.

A website is a MUST, but that website must also be built on a quality framework that is easy to install, simple to manage, and will help you get your work noticed by the greatest number of possible readers.

That makes the WordPress CMS the best possible choice for your website’s underlying structure.

You may think of WordPress as blogging software, since that’s precisely what it is. Yet WordPress also has everything needed to build a robust website that offers everything a modern writer needs to grow a healthy business and a lucrative writing career.

Best of all, WordPress is 100% free.

Here are 5 reasons why every modern writer MUST have a blog:

Blogs Are Prime Real Estate For Audience Bonding

You need readers.

Visitors mean nothing. It’s readers who will help you grow by buying or spreading your work, opting into your lists, telling their friends about who you are and what you do, leaving reviews of your work, and doing much of your marketing for you.

But you must turn your visitors into readers first.

Blogs simplify the process.

The most powerful element to blogging isn’t the ease of the software; it’s the human element that allows you to grow closer to your readers, and them to you.

Your blog is a place for your readers to get to know and like you. Since people like to do business with people they like, a blog makes that easier, whether your business is selling books or selling services.

Your Blog Makes List Building Easy

No matter what your business model, or your personal reasons for blogging, the key to maximizing the effectiveness of your time spent online is to concentrate on gaining and retaining subscribers.

If list building sounds too clinical or markety, think of building a list as building your fan club. This is a massively rewarding strategy, both because of the tangible direct response nature of having a list with fans who will respond to your emails, and with what you can learn from your market by paying attention to your list.

List, or “fan” building can work with any market.

My list at Ghostwriter Dad offers a free eCourse that teaches people how to make more money writing in less time. There is never anything to buy and there is about 75,000 words worth of free information. Whenever I have a new book about writing or social media, those subscribers are the first to know.

I have another list for my serialized fiction series, Yesterday’s Gone. This list is filled with “Goners,” or fans of the book. They get special chapters and exclusive content not available on Kindle. Whenever I have a new fiction book or short story, those readers are the first to know.

Two very different lists, both extremely helpful in nurturing my writing career.

Either list would be extremely difficult to build without a blog.

Your Website Will Give You a Place to Build and Store Your Written Assets

You’re a writer, with magic to be envied. You possess the rare skill of being able to create something from the depths of nothing. You can alter thinking, sway emotions, and paint pictures in your readers’ minds.

You can manufacture money from thin air and the assets you build, simply by moving your fingers across the keyboard.

But you must create your content first, then make sure you dock it in a safe harbor.

A blog gives you reason to create great content. Blog posts, newsletters, special reports, landing pages, viral videos, interviews, sample chapters for your books — you have no limit to what you can create.

A blog, more than any other tool, free or paid, will give you a reason to create content, and a place to keep it safe, visible, and easy to share.

Create enough content over a consistent period, and you will be able to repurpose and package those assets to establish streams of steady passive income.

Your Website Makes it Easy For Publishers, Readers and Clients to Find You

While there are some people who get bitten by the blogging bug and get a burning desire to start sharing every element of their lives, that’s not you.

You started out online because you wanted to build a writing career, and were smart enough to see that the digital trends were undeniable.

Mostly, you wanted to get noticed.

Whether you’re looking to get discovered so you can land a traditional publishing contract, establish an audience of readers who will be eager to buy whatever you write, or establish a stable of steady clients for your growing freelance business, a website makes it much easier for publishers, readers and clients to find you.

More importantly, an increasing number of publishers, readers and clients now expect writers to have a website or blog. If you don’t, you risk being seen as out of touch from word one.

Your Website Provides a Central Hub For Your Writing Career

Whatever else you do, or wherever else you might spend your time online, a website offers a central hub to your writing career.

Your Facebook is important, as is your time on Twitter. And of course, that author’s profile on Amazon has tremendous weight, but you’re only a digital sharecropper if you don’t own your own domain.

The common denominator for an overwhelming number of successful writers is this simple formula: they own their own domain and have established a blog.

Your blog is the sun; everything else in your online world should orbit around it.

You don’t have to be great to get going, but you must get going if you expect to be great. Without a website, you’re only cheating yourself, and your career potential. If the thought of managing your own domain seems overwhelming, you can start with a free solution at WordPress.Com. It isn’t what’s best, but you can do it today with a few clicks, so you have no reason not to dip your toe.

Read more by Sean Platt at GhostWriterDad.com. Get his free report “9 Website Building Mistakes You Should Avoid.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you want to become an outstanding blogger? We’ll show you how. Join the most comprehensive training for bloggers on the Net, the A-List Blogger Club. Click below to find out more:

Writing a book is a big challenge. But there is another hurdle at the end: you have to launch your book. Danny Iny of  Firepole Marketing came up with a radical strategy of creating and launching a book when he created Engagement from Scratch. Read about his new strategy in this no-holds-barred interview with Mary Jaksch:

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the book, “Engagement from Scratch”?

A: It started with my own experience building Firepole Marketing, which I started really working on about a year ago, in January 2011.I read and studied everything that I could, and everything that I found about building and growing an audience seemed to assume that you’ve already got one; if you were starting from scratch, there really wasn’t a place for you to go and be pointed in the right direction.

Further down the line, as Firepole Marketing was starting to get some real traction, I wanted to create that sort of “jumping off point” for people who are getting started, but I noticed something interesting – there were a lot of successful people doing what I was doing, and we were all getting good results, so clearly our way worked – but then there were lots of other successful people who were doing different things, and also getting results, so clearly their way worked, too.

I realized that this isn’t a “one path up the mountain” sort of endeavor, and the only way that I could do it justice would be with input from a wide array of audience-builders, which is what I ended up doing with the book.

Q: The book is a great collection of individual articles. What’s your experience of putting together a multi-author book? Do you have tips or warnings?

A: Putting the book together was an amazing experience – I was really blown away by how helpful and considerate the contributors were, and by how much I learned from the the contributions that they sent me. At the same time, I learned that it’s a lot more work than it looks.

For this sort of book to be really good, each contribution has to be “meaty”, which means that you’re going to have to push back with the contributors asking for more content and more information. It also takes a lot of editorial and organization work to make it really flow, and that’s something that I hadn’t really accounted for in my initial timelines and projections.

Q: You’ve come up with a great mind map of how to create a book. Your first step includes writing a great book – and building relationships. Why is it important to build relationships?

A: Well, I should clarify that I came up with the content, strategies and ideas, but the actual map was designed by my friend Matt Tanguay at Fluent Brain. But yeah, the first step is to write a great book, and building relationships. The relationships are important because they drive everything else; for one, without relationships, this book would never have happened, because nobody would have agreed to contribute.

I didn’t build relationships with the intention of asking for something in return, but I did invest a lot in building relationships, right from the start (for example, with Guy Kawasaki – and having him on-board made a huge difference!). Even if I was writing a book on my own, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the exposure, or resulting traction, if I didn’t have great people backing me every step of the way.

Q: Your second step is ‘Learn from others”. I’m especially interested in your strategy of research engineering other book projects. Can you please say more about how you went about that?

A: There’s a story about a disciple who goes to a Zen master and asks him to write down some advice for success in life. The Zen master takes a piece of paper, and writes the word “Attention”. The disciple says that he was hoping for a little more, so the Zen master takes the page, and expands the text to read “Attention! Attention! Attention!”

There’s a lot of wisdom in that, particularly in this day and age when so much happens in public; the first and most important step is to just pay attention to what people are doing, what you’re finding impressive or persuasive and why, and what results they’re seeing. The rest is reverse engineering, but honestly, that’s the easy part – the hardest part is to just pay attention in the first place.

Q: What was the one most critical thing you learned from others?

A: That there is no single insight or trick or strategy to success; rather, building something real is about learning, absorbing, integrating and synthesizing a lot of different insights.

Jim Collins explains this very well with the metaphor of a flywheel; you push the wheel and push the wheel, and each push adds a bit of momentum, until it’s spinning quickly and powerfully. You can’t point to a single push, though, that made the difference. It all comes down to committing yourself to buckle down and do an enormous amount of work – that’s the only way to really get substantial results in the big picture.

Q: Your third step is choosing your launch plan. What worked and what flopped in your launch?

A: It’s hard to answer that question with certainty, because it’s hard to say that results came from this tactic and not that one – they all kind of blend together. I can definitely point to some things that feel more successful and less successful (i.e. I fumbled them), though.

On the more successful side, I think having close to 30 guest posts on major blogs around the launch made a huge difference in terms of the initial spike of traction, and giving the book away for free was of course a cornerstone as well. I also had a very structured follow-up sequence in place that solicited feedback, shares, and reviews from people who had read the book, and I think that worked pretty well, too.<

In terms of stuff that I goofed, the top of the list would be my video trailers (I copied Tim Ferriss’s tactics instead of reverse engineering the strategy), and my Nominate Your Engagement Superstar contest (I live in Canada, and goofed by scheduling the contest for American Thanksgiving weekend). Oh well, live and learn. ;-)

Q: Step number four is to give yourself a lot more time than you think. The mind map mentions the Gantt chart in order to organize a project. What tips can you share?

A: The thing is that well experience a sort of Doppler effect with regards to our projections for how long things will take, the further into the future we’re expecting to do them.

There are lots of things that we have to take care of day in and day out, that don’t really get scheduled far in advance; there’s this doctor’s appointment, that meeting with the accountant, these phone meetings, that client engagement, and so forth. They add up to a big chunk of your week, and if I ask you how much time you have to work on a project next week, you’ll be able to tell me fairly accurately, because you know more or less what’s coming.

Looking a few months out, though, we don’t think of these things, and expect to get a lot more done than is probably realistic. We also don’t realize how many different things we may be planning to do in a given month, so creating a Gantt chart helps to visualize the timeline and see where there might be bottlenecks that could trip us up along the way.

Q: What about the actual launch week? What are your suggestions or warnings?

A: Heh, all I can say is that if you’ve done a good job of laying the groundwork, it’s going to be intense. Clear your schedule, don’t plan anything for that week that you don’t have to, and expect to spend your days answering commenters, fixing problems, and hitting refresh to see your stats go up. ;-)

Q: You offer the digital version of the book for free. What’s the rationale behind this strategy?

A:  They are low ticket items with terrible margins, so unless you’re in a position to sell tens of thousands of them, there isn’t a real financial up-side to selling a book. And realistically speaking, unless you have a significant platform already, you can’t count on sales figures like that.

At the same time, the relationship with the reader (and their opting in to an email list) is more valuable than the few dollars I’d get on a book sale, especially since I can probably get 15-20 people to download it for free for every one person that I could get to buy the book (selling a few hundred or even thousand copies is nice, but not that valuable ultimately, whereas having 5,000-10,000 people download it and subscribe to my list is worth a lot more to me).

Ultimately, my goal for this book is more to grow my audience than to sell lots of copies (though I think people who download it and like it are more likely to buy a copy – who wants to read 240 pages in a PDF?). That being said, if it were just an e-book, it wouldn’t be perceived as being as valuable. Also, the physical book just feels different, and I think that makes a difference for contributors, and for reviewers.

That’s my thinking behind it – I’m pretty sure that it will turn out to be either smart strategic thinking, or a gross error in judgment – one or the other. ;) The bottom line is that the business model of traditional book publishing is fundamentally broken, and this is just one example of authors getting creative about publishing.

Q: What was the most important thing you learned from creating and launching ‘Engagement from Scratch”?

A: Any big project is a marathon, not a sprint. Things will get difficult at times, and that’s okay. You’ll stumble and fall from time to time, and that’s okay, too – you just pick yourself up and keep on going. It’s the cumulative energy and momentum that you invest in the project that will ultimately determine its legacy.

Q: What are three main things that writers can learn from reading “Engagement from Scratch”?

A: If I had to boil the book down to three main takeaways that could each fit on a fortune cookie, I’d say that they are (1) Know your audience, (2) Create epic stuff, and (3) Get to work. :-)

Dany Iny is a co-founder of Firepole Marketing. You can read more great stuff by Iny on the Firepole Marketing blog. Click here to download the free version of Engagement from Scratch.

________________________________________________________________________________
Do you want to become an outstanding blogger? We’ll show you how. Join the most comprehensive training for bloggers, the A-List Blogger Club. Click below to find out more:

As a writer looking forward to using the internet to grow your business, you’d probably have come across several articles telling you to start a blog, update it regularly, give the best of your content and expect results to come.

Times are changing, and it is important to face the reality that new times call for new measures. Creating great content alone, even if it is the best in world, won’t help your blog grow for one simple reason; anything multiplied by zero will always be zero. While great content is important, it will hardly help you get in the spotlight without you taking any other action.

While there have been people who were lucky and suddenly went viral online, those are only one in a million, and as the average person you probably won’t experience the same kind of success. Instead of waiting to be hit by a stroke of luck, you can start taking active measures to put yourself into the spotlight, and you can do your “audience” a favor by letting them know about your existence.

As a writer who has been blogging for almost 2 years now, I’ve had my struggles with building an audience (I still do), and I have learned a lot of lessons along the way; some of these lessons I learned the hard way, and some of them I learned by studying very successful people in my field. In this article, I will be giving you 5 unique tips to help you bring your writer blog into the spotlight.

1. Have a Clearly Defined Point of Difference

This is probably the most important lesson I’ve learned in my entire blogging career, and it took me so long to learn it.

Take a look at your blog and ask yourself one simple question; what is the first thing I want my readers to think about after landing on my blog? Take a look at your blog and ask yourself the same question. Can you come up with an answer for this right away, or is it taking you so long to determine what really makes your blog different from the others?

Sometimes, you will notice that your blog is just so lost that you have to start again, but you should also know that it is better not to have an audience than to have an audience without a purpose. It is one thing for readers to visit your blog, and it is another thing for them to have a purpose for visiting your blog.

The first step you should take to bring your blog into the spotlight is to have a clearly defined USP that makes your blog different from every other blog online; without this your blog will hardly move forward, but with the right USP you will be able to go places.

2. Develop a Strategy to Help Fuel Your Blog Growth

How do you actually get people to visit your blog? Guest blogging? Article marketing? Doing interviews?

Actually, those are just tactics, and without the right strategy to back them up you will be lost.

A major mistake most writers make when it comes to marketing their blog is running after tactics such as guest blogging and SEO, but what I have realized over time is that the best way to get results is by making those tactics a part of your overall strategy.

While using tactics like guest blogging to build your blog is important, what makes tactics like that work is the strategy behind them. In fact, I suggest you don’t come up with tactics until you have a strategy; instead, create a strategy first, and start using tactics you think will favor your overall strategy.

Examples:

So that you get what I mean by developing a strategy in comparison to just using tactics, I’ll be giving an example below.

Tactic: Everybody is using guest blogging and they say it works; let me start writing a few guest posts every once in a while and see how my traffic improves.

Strategy: What I want is to create a  blog that is visited by thousands every day. I want to achieve this in a span of 1 – 2 years, and my strategy is to use focus on building a strong subscriber base that ends up seeing my content repeatedly. My approach is to create a landing page focused on getting people to subscribe, publish around 5-10 guest posts on big blogs in my niche every month, and nourish the relationship with my subscribers to make them consistently engage with my brand.

In other words, a strategy is your long term approach aided with tactics; a strategy is a goal with a system designed to help achieve that goal. When it comes to tactics, most people just do what others are saying works and ignore it over time, but with a strategy you already know what you want to achieve and how to go about it, and you already have a long-term system designed to help you achieve your goals; your tactics will be a part of this system.

3. Create a System to Help Bring Visitors Back to Your Blog Again

The next step is to have a system.

Your system could vary depending on exactly what you want to achieve, but its main purpose will always be to drive visitors back to your blog again.

It is one thing to market your blog to people, and it is another thing to get them to visit your blog consistently. The system designed to bring visitors back to your blog could be an email list, it could be an active RSS subscriber base, and it could be a huge following on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. One thing is important, though; don’t just direct visitors to your blog and leave than hanging. Let your main aim be to convert them and make them repeat visitors.

4. Focus on Building Connections with People that Matter in Your Field

While it’s cool to have huge social media followings and a large subscriber count, one thing you need to realize is that the effectiveness of mediums like these diminish every day, and the only one thing that will always be profitable is relationships. Mind you, I’m not saying you should rush into relationships with other writers and expect them to send some traffic your way. Instead, focus on contributing value to them and gaining their trust, and they will be there for you when you need them

New tactics will always evolve, and strategies will gradually become obsolete; but, over time, quality connections will prevail even over sound tactics. The reason for this is simple, people will always adapt to the times, and by building the right relationship you won’t have to worry about starting from scratch; you just need to start utilizing your relationships.

5. Be Everywhere

Don’t just stick with one approach; use a combination of 2, 3, 4 or more – if people start to see you on every blog, on every forum, on every portal, and on various social media sites in your field they can’t help but pay attention.

The previous 4 tips are like the foundation you need to develop for your blog to ensure you achieve your desired results. The main thing that drives results is being everywhere. Use as many tactics you can use effectively, and try to be everywhere your audience can be found. The more of your work people see in various places they frequent, the more likely they will want to know more about you, and the more likely they will convert to be your fans.

Getting Into the Spotlight Isn’t that Difficult…

It just requires you to be smart, and it also requires you to be willing to put in the hard work needed. The first 4 points in this article are like the foundation your blog needs, and the real results starts to happen once you start appearing everywhere.

The most important thing, however, is that you take action. Implement the tips in this article and you will start to reap the results over time.

Bamidele Onibalusi is a finalist of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest. He’s a young blogger and writer with one main aim; helping writers get traffic and income online. If you’re a freelance writer looking to grow your income, make sure you checkout his 7 series freelance writing eCourse.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you want to be an outstanding blogger? We’ll show you how. Join our spectacular training for bloggers, the A-List Blogger Club. Click below to find out more:

We ended up with 20 finalists.

Check out here how the finalists and winner were determined.

It was great to see some new faces in the group of finalists. Yes, writing blogs are alive and well! We look forward to seeing how each of the finalists and winners develop their blog in the coming year.

And the winners are …

Jeff Goins Writer
The Write Practice
Jane Friedman
Creative Penn
Bookshelf Muse
Romance University
Courage2 Create
Terrible minds
Artist’s Road
Word Play

Congratulations to all the winners. Well done!

Readers, be sure to check out these awesome blogs!

And please help spread the word! Please click the retweet button to share this post with friends and fans.

The badge of distinction: If you are a winner, please post the image you see here on your blog. Please link the badge back to this page.

We’ll be inviting the winners and also many of the finalists to guest post on WTD so that all our readers can get to know and enjoy these top writing bloggers.

Mary Jaksch & Leo Babauta

Registrations for our spectacular training environment for bloggers, the A-List Blogger Club, have re-opened. Join the winning team and create a brilliant blog. Click below to find out more:

Three weeks ago we asked you to nominate your favorite blog for writers. We got over 2,100 comments and nominations! Thanks to everyone who put in a nomination.

Here are the 20 finalists in alphabetical order

Artist’s Road
Bookshelf Muse
Courage2 Create
Creative Penn
Ghost Writer Dad
Jane Friedman
Jeff Goins Writer
Men with Pens
The Other Side
Pen & Prosper
Renegade Writer
Romance University
Story Fix
Terrible minds
Victoria Mixon
Word Play
Write Practice
Writer’s Inner Journey
Writing Happiness
YoungPrePro

How were the finalists selected?

1. Initial qualification: A site must have been nominated more than once by multiple individuals. If someone nominated more than one blog, only the first nomination was counted. Valid nominations needed to include the URL and give a reason why the nominated blog should be considered.
2. Contest criteria: In order to be considered, a blog needed to be a writing blog. In order to qualify, at least 5 out of the 10 posts written prior 22 November 2011 (when the call for nominations went out) needed to be about writing and not not about freelancing, business, publishing, etc.
3. Blog-based analysis: Factors taken into account  included: Frequency of posts: the blogging frequency accounted for 15% of the total score; Reader involvement: comment numbers per posts accounted for 15% of the total score. The number of nominations accounted for 15% of the total score. These three blog-based factors make up 45% of the final score.
4. Quality of posts: Educational, useful, engaging, and discussion-creating posts were rated higher than self-promotional posts. The quality of posts accounts for 55% of the final score.

Click here to see the Top 10 winners.

Chief Editor WTD

Registrations for our spectacular training environment for bloggers, the A-List Blogger Club, have re-opened. Join the winning team and create an unforgettable blog. Click below to find out more:

It’s time to open up nominations for the 6th annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest—the blogosphere’s biggest contest for writing blogs.

How to Nominate Your Favorite Writing Blog:

→ Nominate your favorite blog in the comment section.
→ You have only one vote (only your first will be counted).
→ Please include the web address of the blog.
→ Explain why you think the blog is worthy of winning this year’s award.

To make the cut, a blog must be nominated more than once.

Nominations must be received by 10 December, 2011.

Check out the finalists here.

Click here to see the winners!

————————-

Grab your copy of the FREE WDT book The (nearly) Ultimate Guide to Better Writing! All you need to do is to enter your name and email in the form at the top of the sidebar for immediate download.

.

By Mary Jaksch

Do you want to grow your blog? Then writing guest posts is a great option. But it’s not so easy to get it right.

As the Chief Editor of Write to Done, I get a lot of pitches. Some I immediately reply to, others just get a courtesy email — and their guest post goes straight into the trash folder.

Read on to learn 21 secret tips that will enable you to become a successful guest poster.

Most bloggers focus on one main thing when they pitch: on their wish to land a guest post. Wrong! That attitude won’t get you far. Your focus needs to be on something quite different.

Tip #1: Focus on what the blogger needs.
Yes, your total focus needs to be on the blogger and his or her needs.

Compare these two pitches I got recently:

1. John: I’ve written an awesome post that your readers at Write to Done will love.
2. Ryan: Do you still have a need for a guest post at Goodlife ZEN? I know you’re busy these days with the A-List Blogging Bootcamp launch – figured might be a good time to make contact again. I could do something about the value of dreams.

Which one got the nod?

I’m sure you guessed it. Ryan got the gig.  All John (not his real name) got, was a brush-off email from me.

I’ll come back to John a little later on. But first, let me say more about why I had an immediate warm reaction to Ryan.

His email told me a couple of things about Ryan:

• He is regular reader of Goodlife ZEN.
• He is considerate.
• He knows how to follow up elegantly.
• He offers an interesting topic.

If someone ticks those particular boxes, I’ll definitely take a look at whether the blogger can write. And if they can, there’s a good chance I’ll accept their guest post – either now or in the future.

Tip #2: Make the email with which you offer a guest post a bridge to another human being
Make sure that you come across as the friendly and helpful human being that I hope you are. Personally, I dislike cold, business-like pitches. I’ll show you an example. (This one is from a blogger whose blog has only 30 subscribers.)

“I would like to have a guest post on Write to Done. I suggest coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement. Maybe we could exchange guest posts.”

Well, actually — no thank-you!

I don’t mind if a blog is small. After all, every blog starts out small. Actually, I get a real kick out of helping new bloggers get traffic to their blogs. An interesting example is blogger Janice of Sharing the Journey .

Originally, Janice wrote an interesting comment on Write to Done, and I approached her about writing a guest post. Here is her answer:

Yes, I would like you to write a guest post for Write to Done. In particular I would love to write an article about being a ‘quote hunter’. Just as well this is an email and not Skype with sound and vision – I squealed and scared one of my kids!

That made me smile! It’s so nice to get a sense of the real person behind the email.

Tip #3: Check your stance – are you submissive or superior? Or can you be natural?
Think about the tone and the stance you are taking up in your pitch email. (I’m a karate Blackbelt, so I tend to take an interest in stances…) Personally, I dislike a submissive, as well as a superior stance. Going back to John, his tone is on the superior side. He praises his post and assumes that everyone will love it. That turned me against him straight away.

Tip #4: Remember that you are an equal human being
Please remember that when you email a celebrity blogger. Even the blogging stars started small and with no experience. It’s good to acknowledge that they are more experienced and more successful than you at this moment, but they were once where you are in the past.

Tip #5: Check your tone – do you sound confident and respectful, or arrogant?
Think of yourself as a future A-list blogger. Your tone should be confident, straightforward, and respectful. Avoid toadying. For example, don’t say things like, “I’d be humbled if you would grant me…” or similar phrases. Instead, say things like, “It would give me much pleasure to write for my favorite blog”, or, “I’d be delighted to hear from you.” At the same time, don’t sound arrogant: “I’d be giving your blog a huge boost with my amazing writing.”

Tip #6: A bit of humor goes a long way.
If you can make the blogger you’re writing to laugh or smile, that’s great! I recently got an email from a new blogger. He attached his guest post and responded to my warning that his post may not appear for a few weeks like this:

“Sure, Mary, publish it whenever fits your evil masterplan blogging schedule.”

That made me laugh!

Tip #7: Get inside knowledge – it’s priceless.
It’s important to research the blogger you want to contact. Study the ‘About’ page and read his or her blog articles. What are they interested in? What topic might be of interest to them? What is their passion at the moment? What else are they involved in at the moment? Maybe you can read their Twitter stream or Facebook page to find out. Mention something they’re working on. I recently found an email I sent Leo Babauta long before he gave me half of Write to Done. You can see how I mentioned what he was engaged in:

Hi Leo, I’m wondering whether you are on overload with your Ebook? I notice that “Write to Done” hasn’t had a new post for a while. Would you like me to write a guest post or two for you?

Tip #8: Know the blog your want to write for
What kind of blogposts does it have? What’s the style? Which topics are missing? What kind of comments do readers leave? Make sure that you are part of the blog’s community and write some interesting comments before pitching to the blogger. I really like it when regular readers pitch to me. I know they appreciate the culture of the blog and have a feel for what the readers enjoy.

Tip #9: Compliment the blogger – but don’t compromise your integrity.
When you contact a blogger, say what drew you to them in the first place. Be specific and name an article that made a difference to your life. Be honest. Don’t say you like something, just to please. After all, you want to create a connection.

Tip #10: Introduce yourself, but don’t make a meal of it
The blogger wants to know who you are. Tell him or her, but don’t make a meal of it. A pitch is no place for a CV! Here’s how I do it: I tend to put my personal details in brackets like this: (I’m a Zen master, psychotherapist, and published author.)

Tip #11: Show off your writing
When someone pitches to me and I like their email, I want to know if they can actually write. Make it easy: offer the blogger links to the best posts you’ve written. You can say something like, “Here are three posts of mine you might enjoy.”

Tip #12: Name-drop

You want to make sure that your recipient knows that he or she is in good company. Have you had a guest post published in a well-known blogs? The way you do that is important. Make it personal. Instead of saying, “My guest post (link) was recently published at SevenSands.com” you could say, “John MacDonald recently asked me to write a guest post (link) at SevenSands.com and it was well received by his readers.” It’s a good idea to name-drop. One of our students in the A-List Blogger Club recently pitched a big blog and wrote, “I’m in a mentoring program with Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch.” He got the gig.

Tip #13: Ask yourself, “What can I do to help?”
That’s the main question you need to ask! Is the blogger going on holiday and might need guest posts? Are they expanding their business and might need new staff members? Would their blog benefit from your proposed theme? Have they written a book that you could promote?

Tip no# 14: Sell your proposed post with sizzle.

Let the blogger know exactly what you’re offering. You might want to say, for example, “I’d like to offer you an in-depth guest post, called ‘10 Secrets of Innovative Writers ’. It would cover the following points…”

Then list the main points of the proposed article in bullet form.

Tip no# 15: Specify what’s in it for the readers.

If the blogger accepts your guest post, what’s the benefit for their readers? Will the readers will be inspired? Or learn something new? Or acquire a new skill? Make it clear to the blogger what the benefits are.

Sometimes it can be difficult to come up with something. When I wanted to interview Steve Pavlina for Goodlife Zen, I couldn’t think of anything. So I wrote, “What’s in it for you? Well, maybe just the sheer thrill of it!” It worked!

Tip #16: Be audacious.

You can’t lose by asking for what you want. I always say to myself, “If you don’t ask, you’ll get an automatic no.”

Tip #17: Expect success.

A positive frame of mind will give you a strong voice. If you believe in yourself, the other person will believe in you too. After all, confidence is infectious.

Tip #18: Make it easy for the blogger.

Imagine that you are a busy blogger. You need a guest post to fill a hole. But which one are you going to choose: the post that needs a lot of editing and formatting, or the one that slips into your blog without any work? No question – you would use the easy one first.

Tip #19: Write your guest post in html

The trick is to write your guest post in html. To do this, all you need is to write and format the post on your own blog and then copy the html version and save it as a text file. This means that the guest post is ready formatted and can be immediately placed into a blog. It’s a great mistake to offer a guest post in Word or just in the body of an email. It should always be attached in a .txt or .rtf file.

What I like best is if a blogger inserts the post in an email so that I can read it, as well as attaching the HTML as a text file.

Tip #20: Choose a fitting image

Offer a couple of images. Research your target blog. What kind of images does the blogger prefer? What is the size and format of images on the blog? Check out whether the images he or she uses are in landscape (wider than high) or in portrait format (higher than wide). A good source for images is Flickr. Just make sure you choose images with a Creative Commons License and add the reference to your covering email. It’s a good idea to send three or four images to the blogger.

Tip #21: Failure is a step closer to success
There is no failure. Each ‘failure’ is a learning opportunity. You may find that not all pitches get accepted. Move on and focus on your next opportunity. The more pitches you write, the higher your chances are of landing your dream gig.

Your best chance of landing guest post is to be a kind, considerate and helpful human being. And a good writer.
Please share your thoughts or experiences in the comments below.

Mary Jaksch is the Editor in Chief of Write to Done
Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in their spectacular training environment for bloggers: the A-List Blogger Club.

By Mary Jaksch

What are you working on right now?

A blog post? A novel? Your best article ever? A poem? A film script? An Ebook?

Maybe you’ve just finished something you’re really proud of? Or you just can’t tell whether it should get a Pulitzer or be thrown into the trash?

Or maybe you’re noticing some barriers that are getting in the way of your creativity?

Here’s your chance to share and discuss with each other what you are writing about. And how it’s going.

Whet our appetite with the opening paragraph of your future bestseller, give us a link to your best article, or tell us what you are writing at the moment.

Who knows, your piece might even attract the notice of a major publishing house!

Here are some guidelines:

A. Writers:

• State what aspect you’re working on. For example, you might want to say, “Here’s a link to my article “The Role of Rabbits in Nuclear Science”. I’m currently working on eliminating superfluous words.”

B. Commenters:

• When commenting, first list everything you really like about a piece.
• Only then offer careful suggestions.
• Treat each other with respect, friendliness, care, and honesty.
• Remember that we are all still learning.

Now it’s over to you. Take a deep breath. Then jump into the comment section and bring out your treasures!

Mary Jaksch is the Editor in Chief of Write to Done
Join Mary Jaksch and Leo Babauta in their spectacular training environment for bloggers: the A-List Blogger Club.

I’m so impressed with your dedication to top-notch quality info for your members. – Marta DeGraw

Market Samurai

By Mary Jaksch, Chief Editor of WTD

So let’s say you want to write a piece that will knock the socks off your readers.

How can you find out if they’ll be interested in the topic you’re keen to write about?

Here’s a quick quiz: Which way works best?

• Keep your fingers crossed as you write the piece
• Ask your Auntie Dotty whether your readers will like it
• Consult the IChing
• Ask your readers
• Find out what thousands of people want to know about

OK. So, it’s definitely uncomfortable crossing your fingers while writing (I’ve tried it) – and it may not have much effect. As to Aunt Dottie’s advice – she may not be in tune with your readers.

And the IChing is difficult to interpret. Here’s the kind of cryptic answer you get when consulting this ancient book of predictions: “To be powerful in the cheekbones brings misfortune” (honestly – I didn’t invent that!) As I said, it’s hard to interpret…or does that tell you what kind of piece to write?

The other two options work but – which one is best?

Option 1: Ask your readers

This is where the power of blogging comes into play. Because as a blogger you can consult your readers and ask them what they would like to read.

You can do that by using a free survey tool like Surveymonkey.com or you can ask them in a post. Either way, you’ll get some feedback.

Actually, you’ve already asked your readers. After all, blog comments are answers that your readers have given. If you look carefully at blog comments, you can get a good sense of the kind of topics they like and will respond favorably to.

The drawback with this method is that you’re only looking at your present pool of readers. If you want to reach out to new readers, it’s better to do some research to see what people out there really, really want to know.

Option 2: Use keyword research

What do you do if you want to know something online? Most likely, you’ll search for an answer on Google or on other search engines. That’s what most people do.

Whatever your niche is, there are a huge number of searches going on all the time.

It’s like a huge, hungry stream of traffic just waiting to find a post or video that can answer particular questions.

In the past, I’ve taken no notice at all of all this search engine activity. I would simply write what came into my head. In fact, if someone mentioned ‘keyword’ or ‘SEO’, I’d run screaming from the room.

But these days, I’ve turned into a SEO Ninja. Weird, eh?

Why is this keyword thing so important?

Because over time, more and more blog traffic arrives from Search Engines. When you start out with a new blog, there’ll only be a trickle. But over time this trickle can turn into a flood. All you need to do in order to direct huge traffic to particular blog posts, is to know the keywords that people use in order to search for posts like yours.

How to find keywords that generate huge traffic

The trick is to find keywords that many people are searching for – but where there are few competing websites.

Let’s put it to the test.

Imagine that you write a blog about health and fitness. You’re keen to write a post about fitness, but you want to make sure people really want to read it.

You’re faced with a group of possible topics that revolve around the following keywords:

• What is fitness?
• Exercises and workouts
• Exercises workout
• Health and fitness

Which do you think would be the best choice? (Quickly choose one without peeking below…)

Of course, you could ask Auntie Dotty. But you could also use a keyword tool to find the answer.

Here is a screenshot of the keyword tool I use, called Market Samurai (you can get a free version at Bestkeywordtool):

You can glean some crucial information here. If you write a post about ‘health and fitness’ you’ll be up against huge competition: over 79 million websites target this particular keyword phrase. Not good.

However, if you write about ‘what is fitness?’, or about ‘exercises workout’, the competition is a lot lower. (It may still look high at first glance, but most of the competing websites may only mention a particular keyword or keyphrase in a forum, or in some obscure place.)

The important thing is that over half a million people are searching for the phrase ‘what is fitness’ each and every day. That’s huge traffic!

Through doing some keyword research, you’ve not only found a great keyword phrase that will bring traffic to your site, you’ve also come away with inspiration. After all, “What is fitness?” is a lovely topic to write about.

You can easily see that if you had chosen, say, ‘health and fitness’ instead of ‘what is fitness’, your post would have no chance of appearing high up in the search engines. That’s why it’s important to become a bit of a keyword ninja. Your blog will thank you :-)

In order to optimize your post for a particular keyword phrase you can get a free plugin, called WordPress SEO which helps you to use the keywords you’ve found in all the right places.

For full SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you should use your keywords in the title, in subheadings, in the text itself, as well as in the image tags.

Here are an easy YouTube tutorials which explain how to do keyword research:

Tip: go to Bestkeywordtool to download a free version of Market Samurai.

Remember, I’m not a geek. So if I can learn to use a tool like this, so can you. In fact, learning how to do keyword research has been one of the major breakthroughs for me as a blogger. I just wish I’d learned how to do it when I first started out.

What’s your sense of keyword research? Should writers bother with it or not? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Mary Jaksch is the Editor of WritetoDone. She is also the blogger behind Goodlife ZEN.

Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in their spectacular training environment for bloggers: the A-List Blogger Club.

]]> http://writetodone.com/2011/10/19/find-what-people-want-to-read-through-keyword-research/feed/ 24 http://writetodone.com/2011/10/01/the-ultimate-15-point-checklist-to-make-your-writing-come-alive/ http://writetodone.com/2011/10/01/the-ultimate-15-point-checklist-to-make-your-writing-come-alive/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:25:02 +0000 guest http://writetodone.com/?p=4510

Make your writing come alive

A guest post by Marya Zainab of Writing Happiness.

So you have defeated all the noises that play havoc inside your head, and finally put down something on paper – you have written a piece.

First of all, a big congratulations to you. First drafts are often the easiest to write provided you have understood them for what they are; just the first drafts – the initial write up. You will have many of them.

According to Natalie Goldberg of Bird by Bird and Writing Down the Bones, they are almost always shitty and you don’t know what your finished piece looks like – yet. But that’s ok, because now the real work of writing starts.

Gather your draft and start editing. This is where craft and structure begin.

#1 Read Aloud

Read the text aloud to yourself. You will discover many inconsistencies in your writing that you will not be able to discover otherwise.

Sometimes, your writing will feel jittery and you may stumble over words. Make a note of it all. Aim to read it without watching it fall flat.

Read each piece at least once, listening for crazy sentences. Rewrite more by simply saying out loud what you are really trying to say.

#2 Read for Voice

Have you found your voice yet, or are you still working on it? Either way, read your draft to see if it sounds like you.

Can your voice be heard? Does your writing resonate with the sound of your voice? Can your reader guess it might be you who have written the post? If not, rewrite to let your personality shine through.

A strong voice will add authenticity to your work. Choose your words carefully and soulfully. Readers always appreciate this quality in writing.

#3 Keep Your Readers in Mind

Who have you written this piece for? Imagine them when you are reading it again.

Is your language appropriate? Have you confused or patronized them, appeared sexist? Have you said anything that might not sit well with your audience?

You want to be considerate of your audience – neither appearing to be snobbish, nor talking to them like you would to a child. Show your respect for your readers.

Keeping their faces in mind, change any sections that you have doubts about.

#4 Is your Lead Right?

Is your lead like bait that will pull your readers in or something that would repel them?

When you are writing a narrative, you are telling a story. Your beginning needs to pull the reader in. Let your reader know what your piece is about.

Clue them in early so they know exactly what to expect. They need to go through the experience with you. If kept in the dark for long, they might lose interest quickly and drift away. Provide them with details that will invoke their interest in the topic.

#5 Is Your Conclusion Right?

What is the point to your writing?

Through your insights or your take on something, the reader can connect with the experience you write about. The ending needs to bring them some understanding and insight, or lead to a slight shift in awareness. If your writing doesn’t do anything like that, you need to revisit its purpose.

You need a beginning, a middle and an end – its that simple. Pay attention to your ending, you must get it right. If you are not happy with it, rework it.

#6 Smooth Out Changes in Tone

Your tone is your attitude towards the topic, reader and yourself. It is impossible to write without a tone – it is apparent in the selection of your words.

Your voice, tone and structure will emerge as you write. It’s impossible to do that in your head. You have to have a first draft in front of you to begin your critique. Only by writing, you will be able to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Read again to see if there are any many clashes in tone. Decide on the dominant one and keep it constant throughout. Make sure your writing maintains a consistent tone.

#7 Use Verb Contractions

If your tone allows it, if the rhythm permits it, use contractions to lighten your prose. Instead of saying ‘You were not even listening, say you weren’t even listening to me. Replace I will come with I’ll come and so on.

#8 Look at Paragraphs Again

Does your paragraph have a topic sentence that supports one point for the whole paragraph?

Each paragraph should be a series of sentences exploring one main idea. Every sentence should relate to that main point. New thought? Start another one.

Your paragraphs should connect with each other in a logical, seamless flow. Use transitions to logically connect one paragraph to another.

Vary the length of your paragraphs to make them more interesting.

#9 Vary Length of Sentences

Have you varied the length of your sentences? Give your reader’s mind and eye a rest by doing that. Split long sentences into two to make them reader friendly.

#10 Fix Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence is not necessarily one that goes on and on. It is perfectly fine to craft long sentences.

A run-on sentence is when two or more clauses (complete meanings) are joined by a comma instead of being separated by a full stop. You can also use a conjunction to connect the clauses.

I went to a party, I was really exhausted. This is a run on sentence, it has two complete ideas.
I went to a party. Afterwards, I was really exhausted. Or
I went to a party but I was really exhausted afterwards. Both are correct.

Get rid of any run-on sentences and excessive commas. Use full stops more boldly. Could you improve your sentences by restructuring them?

#11 Get Rid of Clichés

Cliches are sprinkled in to make your writing feel professional, often it does the opposite.

The only thing that your writing needs is that it is honest and specific. You don’t have to use fancy, clever or literary language.

Instead of using cliches, aim to write to surprise your reader. Say something unexpected, use humour and delight them, and enjoy yourself in the process.

#12 Use Exclamation Marks Sparingly

You need emotion in your writing: anger, grief, frustration, embarrassment, fear, love are all that makes it interesting. However, don’t try to bring attention to them by using exclamation marks. Use strong, vivid words to communicate that instead.

A sentence that falls flat without using an exclamation mark, is a flat sentence. It should have the same impact, even when you take the exclamation mark away.

#13 Check for Qualifiers

Check your use of adjectives and qualifiers (words that precede qualifiers) such as very, little, quite, rather, just, indeed etc.

Use strong words, use them with authority.

#14 Eliminate Unnecessary Words

We use thousands of unnecessary words in our writing. Go back and revise, cut everything that you can without affecting the meaning and the message in your piece. If you won’t notice its gone, remove it.

Every single word must pull its weight. Tighten your prose. Eliminate repetitious information.

#15 Proofread

Finally, proofread. Make any last minute corrections.

Give it at least twenty four hours. Its handy to change the font, size or colour when you do. The text will feel fresh, like you are reading it for the first time.

Many people still rush through this stage and inevitably end up with typos and other mistakes in their writing. Be thorough, use a spell-check.

You know you are done, when you have done the best you can. Relax, and be proud.

Which aspect of editing do you dread the most? What excites you? Share you best editing and revision tips in the comments below.

Marya is a communicator of ideas, exploring the human face of blogging. She offers quirky insights into personal development for bloggers. Catch more of her posts at Writing Happiness. For practical tips and inspiration, read Give Your Blog a Complete Makeoever – 18 Action Steps to the Path of Blogging Success.

Join Leo Babauta and Mary Jaksch in their spectacular training environment for bloggers: the A-List Blogger Club.