In the 1890’s, two newspapers, New York World and New York Journal, were pitted against one another in a fierce competition to sell as many newspapers as possible. In an attempt to gain the advantage and sell millions of papers, New York World’s owner, William Randolph Hearst adopted two techniques. First, he created articles and headlines (especially on the front page) that featured sensationalized, exaggerated, and melodramatic information. Second, he hired an artist named Oatcault…
Have you ever met someone who can talk your ear off? They can prattle on about this or that. They like to tell you about the guy at work who took the last cup of coffee without refilling the pot. They’ll talk about their drive to work and the jerk that pulled in front of them on the freeway. They go on about their digestive issues. The principle for today’s article is simple: Talking is…
If you take an English class, whether in high school or college, while learning how to write an essay, you’ll be encouraged never to write in the first or second person. This means that you should never use words like I, me, us, we, you, or your. Instead, professional writing should be about transmitting pure information only written in the third person. However, in blogging, the opposite is true. Especially considering the current state of…
I feel like I’ve been trapped in a dark, unforgiving prison of writer’s block from which I have no hope of escape. I have writer’s block and I’ve had it for so long that it would be more appropriate to call it writer’s hiatus. I feel like the terrified damsel in a horror flick who flees her house to make a last ditch break for it. Her survival depends on her getting into her car…
Contrary to popular spam sites, becoming successful doesn’t happen overnight or at the click of a purchase of my amazing, get-rich-quick program for only $2,499.99. In fact, becoming a better writer is far more about the journey than the destination, so take your time. Let these principles become a part of who you and you’ll see rapid growth in your ability to write more effectively. Find Yourself At some point, you’ve probably heard a musician…
There are very few ways to improve your ability to blog more drastically than by improving your ability to write. And although I often hear folks talking about finding your voice, I find it more true that the best writers are those who have a diverse array of tools in their writing arsenal. Today, we’ll be looking at one of those tools: humor. The Challenge I would like to invite each of you to participate…
Post titles are drastically under rated. Most bloggers fail to realize that their post title is the number one advertisements for each of their articles. An article’s title has to put on the gloves and go head-to-head with dozens of other post titles in people’s RSS readers, email accounts, search engines, Facebook timelines and Twitter streams. It’s your job to get your post title ready to perform like the champ it has the potential to be….
Over the past week, I’ve discovered content from Site Sketch 101 being published elsewhere around the internet. I first discovered this while doing some research to see how well I was ranking for some keywords I was targeting on Google. When I typed the phrase into Google, I discovered that someone else with an article of the same title was ranking for that phrase. I decided to click through to see what they had that…
I just finished reading an amazing book by Allison Boyer. As I read Out of Thin Air, a must-read guide to successful freelancing,I was taken aback at the amazing and incredibly practical lessons that she had to share. Although Alli shares with us wisdom that comes only from years of freelance writing experience, her tone is one of humility, sharing even the mistakes she has made and urging us to learn and do better. Her lessons…
There’s a fatal flaw in the mindset of most bloggers. Far too few seem to realize that at the heart of blogging is your ability to write. The more that you develop that skill then the more that you’ll be able to draw in your audiences and the more that you’ll be able to move them with your prose. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but it’s well worth repeating: I have people ask…
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