Beth Hayden says, “You know the old adage: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. That maxim is certainly true in the email marketing world. Your email welcome message is the first message new subscribers receive when they register for a free account with your site or subscribe to your email list. A well-crafted welcome message creates an initial connection with a new subscriber. It’s the first step toward establishing a solid long-term relationship with that person. But all too often, content marketers treat their email welcome messages as afterthoughts — notes they... [...]

Stefanie Flaxman says, “Restorative yoga is a gentle, passive practice that promotes relaxation in the body. The other day at the start of my weekly restorative yoga class, our instructor asked us which areas of the body we’d like to focus on that day. A few other regular students shouted out, “Shoulders! … Lower back! … Psoas!” However, I stayed quiet because I started writing this article in my head. Class that day wasn’t going to be restorative for me because I viewed my yoga instructor as a content marketer and her students as her audience members. While she likely already... [...]

Brian Clark says, “In this day and age, substance matters. What you say must be meaningful to the people you’re trying to attract. Your content must solve real problems and satisfy real desires. So why should it matter how you say it? The reality is, how you say it has always mattered, and it matters even more today. For content marketing, it’s basically the difference between success and failure. You’re in a battle for attention. A headline that doesn’t specifically convey a compelling promise results in content that is too often simply ignored. Beyond that, your copy has to hold... [...]

Pamela Wilson reports, “Content marketing is exploding right now — and we’re working hard to meet the needs of the market. We create new educational content each week here on Copyblogger. And we offer advanced content marketing training in our Authority program. But for an elite group of professional writers, we offer our most advanced training: the Copyblogger Content Marketer Certification program. This program offers writers the opportunity to submit their content for review by a member of the Copyblogger editorial team. Those who pass the application process are featured on our Copyblogger... [...]

Pamela Wilson says, “We love writers around here. Have you noticed? Professional writers. Aspiring writers. Struggling writers. Successful writers. Writers of all kinds! To show our appreciation, we put together a free ebook for writers called WORD. Because in our experience, writers are also readers, so an ebook seemed like the perfect delivery system for our information. We gathered our best articles-written-for-writers from people like Sonia Simone, Brian Clark, Stefanie Flaxman, Beth Hayden, and this other writer you may know. 😉 Download WORD: Writers Offer Reliable Direction word-ebook Here’s... [...]

Kelly Exeter says, “Sales copy, web copy, de-jargonized annual reports, useful blog posts, engaging email newsletters, podcast scripts, ghost-written business books … when it comes to content that writers are paid money for these days, the list is long. But is no one knocking down your door asking for your expertise? Are prospects unaware of how you’re able to help them clearly and concisely communicate their thoughts? Why would that be the case? Most likely it’s because your online presence doesn’t actually sell your writing services. If potential clients don’t know you’re a... [...]

Chris Munch says there’s a simple solution to the low traffic and low sales many marketers experience; he says it can mean ” the difference between getting 10 visitors or 10,000″. What is it? A Great Headline. Your headline is what makes readers want to find out what you have to say. Newspapers have learned this lesson long ago. Their best writers write the headlines. Good headlines are the key to profitable, low cost-per-click PPC and paid traffic campaigns. The more clicks you get, the lower your cost per click will be. And the more attention your links in the search results... [...]

Pamela Wilson says, “If you aspire to make a comfortable income from your writing, you’ll find inspiration in the stories of the three people we’re featuring in today’s Certified Stories article. This group comes direct from our Certified Content Marketer page here on Copyblogger. You know what I liked best about their answers? That they were pleasantly surprised that writers can indeed make a healthy living doing what they do best. I love hearing stories like that — they make our efforts here at Copyblogger worthwhile. By the way, don’t miss the WORD ebook we developed specifically... [...]

Pamela Wilson says, “In today’s world, the writer runs the show. Not just any writer, of course. The pennies-a-word scribe may barely scrape by. But the quality professional writer — the writer who demonstrates high value and trust from the moment of first contact all the way through to delivery of the final word — that person writes his own ticket to success. Quality professional writers command attention online, whether they do it for themselves or for the businesses they represent. Writers influence behavior, help form opinions, and drive people to take action. Great writers are... [...]

Wendy Keller says, “There are just 3 simple principles to writing good copy. “Copy” in this instance means anything written by you or your company which is meant to attract customers to your business. The same 3 principles apply whether you are trying to increase donations to your non-profit, trying to convince people you are the best doctor in town, or working hard to sell someone your product. To help you remember the 3 principles most easily, here they are in A-B-C format: A is for Always. Always think about the other person when you’re writing copy. What does the reader... [...]