Whether you’re a seasoned graphic designer, an innovative web developer, or a passionate blogger, mastering typography can elevate your work to new heights.

The Basics: What is Typography?

Typography is the craft of designing, arranging, and choosing type to make written language legible, readable, and visually appealing.

It encompasses various elements such as typefaces, font sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and letter-spacing (tracking).

Key Components of Typography

• Typefaces vs. Fonts: A typeface is a family of related fonts, while a font is a specific weight, width, and style within that typeface family. For example, Arial is a typeface, and Arial Bold 12pt is a font.
• Serif vs. Sans-Serif: Serif fonts have small lines or strokes attached to the end of larger strokes in letters (e.g., Times New Roman), while sans-serif fonts do not (e.g., Helvetica).
• Kerning: The spacing between individual characters in a font. Proper kerning ensures that text is visually balanced.
• Leading: The vertical spacing between lines of text. Appropriate leading enhances readability by preventing text from appearing too cramped or too spread out.
• Tracking: The overall spacing between characters in a block of text, affecting the text’s density and readability.

The Importance of Typography in Design

Typography is vital in design because it impacts the user’s experience. Good typography:

1. Enhances Readability: Clear and well-structured type makes content easier to read and understand.
2. Sets the Tone: Different typefaces evoke different emotions and tones (e.g., a formal serif font vs. a casual sans-serif font).
3. Establishes Hierarchy: Typography helps guide the reader’s eye, emphasizing the most important parts of the content.
4. Strengthens Brand Identity: Consistent use of particular typefaces can reinforce brand recognition.

Choosing the Right Typeface

Selecting the right typeface involves several considerations:

Purpose and Context

Ask yourself what the primary function of your text is. Is it for a formal document, an engaging website, or a creative blog? Each of these contexts may require a different approach to typeface selection.

Readability Across Devices

With content being consumed on various devices, ensuring readability across screens is crucial. Opt for web-safe fonts and test how they look on multiple devices.

Emotional Impact

Fonts convey emotions. A whimsical script font might be perfect for a children’s book cover but unsuitable for a business report.

Best Practices in Typography Design

Limit the Number of Typefaces

Using too many typefaces can make your design appear chaotic. Stick to two or three complementary typefaces to maintain visual harmony.

Use Hierarchy to Guide Readers

Employ different font weights, sizes, and styles to create a clear hierarchy. Headings should stand out from body text, and key information should be highlighted effectively.

Pay Attention to Alignment

Proper alignment ensures that your text looks organized and professional. Common alignments include left-aligned, right-aligned, centered, and justified text.

Balance Line Length and Leading

The ideal line length for readability is typically 50-75 characters. Adjust leading to ensure that lines of text are neither too close together nor too far apart.

Consider Accessibility

Ensure your typography is accessible to all users by considering contrast ratios, font sizes, and legibility. Tools like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) can help guide your choices.

Tools and Resources for Typography Design

Typography Tools

• Google Fonts: A comprehensive library of free, open-source fonts optimized for the web.
• Adobe Fonts: A premium font service offering a vast selection of typefaces for any project.
• Font Squirrel: A collection of free fonts for commercial use, complete with embedding options.

Educational Resources

• “Thinking with Type” by Ellen Lupton: A foundational book on typography principles and practices.
• “The Elements of Typographic Style” by Robert Bringhurst: An in-depth guide to the art and craft of typography.
• Coursera and Udemy Courses: Online courses that provide comprehensive learning experiences in typography design.

Conclusion

Typography is a powerful tool in the arsenal of graphic designers, web developers, and bloggers. By understanding and applying the principles of good typography, you can create visually appealing, effective, and engaging content. Remember, the goal is to make your text not only beautiful but also functional. The typefaces you choose, how you arrange them, and the attention you pay to detail can significantly impact your audience’s experience and perception of your work.

Ready to enhance your typography skills? Dive into the resources mentioned, experiment with different typefaces, and don’t be afraid to iteratively refine your designs. Mastering typography is a journey, and every step you take brings you closer to creating truly exceptional content.

A grant proposal is a request to a potential funder or a sponsor to join the nonprofit business on the behalf of a partner. This is a so-called call to action. A person develops a certain plan to achieve specific results. This paper contains everything that is possible. It is the main course of the project, potential problems, possible ways of development, investments, and a concrete profit. This document should be persuasive and logical. It consists of a cover letter, a brief summary of the project, and money needed to breathe life in it.

As you can see, it is a little bit complex. One should make in-depth research and take into account multiple factors. Not all students are able to cope with it even if their project is really prospective. In this situation, one may turn for help to a professional grant proposal writer.

Online writers may provide you with lots of benefits and will surely complete a real masterpiece. All you need is to find a really dependable expert. Why is it better to ask a professional to complete this complex project? Make allowances for the following points:

• The high-quality content;
• Individual approach;
• Adaptability;
• Quick delivery;
• Original ideas;

Let’s highlight these great advantages to provide you with a clearer understanding of the potential dividends.

Point #1

You can count on a professional grant proposal of outstanding quality. If it’s written by a real expert, it will be perfect. There will be no grammar mistakes, the language will suit the main purpose (formal style), all the concepts will be clearly explained and illustrated. There would be hardly a single weak point.

Of course, the author will include the main writing sections – introduction, main plot, and conclusion. They will fully discover the main purpose of your project. The text will be readable and plain to understand.

Point #2

Every order is taken individually. It means that your grant proposal helper will be attentive with the slightest details. It’s of great importance because such documents operate with a great variety of facts and factors. Your helper will make an in-depth study to identify all the necessary influencers related to your proposal.

Your personal grant proposal writer will take into account all the details necessary to compose a really convincing proposal. Of course, he or she will be always available.

Just determine the active hours to reach him/her when you wish to discuss or change something in your project. Ask for regular notifications concerning the progress of your order. Thus, you will be sure that your helper follows the plan.

Point #3

It goes beyond all doubt that you need a quick-minded writer. Such papers as a grant proposal are pretty tricky. Oftentimes, they require some sudden changes, adjustments, and improvements.

A professional writer should be flexible and easily adapt to unexpected changes and new demands. If you hire such an expert, you have nothing to worry about. Just determine how to get in touch with your helper if the urgency appears.

Point #4

Flexibility is one of the most important qualities of professional grant proposal writers you can hire online. The speed of execution is likewise essential.

A competent and experienced helper is able to beat the most urgent deadline. He/she possesses advanced writing skills and smart strategies that help to adapt to any changes and new requirements. If the terms are realistic, your order will be completed and delivered to you on time.

It’s remarkable that the high speed of writing doesn’t affect the quality of your proposal. It will remain high enough.

Point #5

You may not worry about the uniqueness of your project. It will satisfy the most freakish sponsor.

Your personal helper will implement original ideas, which will be supported by effective and likewise unique examples. He/she won’t repeat the concepts that are well-known. Your ideas are new and promising. Thus, every potential investor would like to join your project.

Other Dividends to Your Advantage

When one hires a professional writer, one commonly uses services of a certain writing agency. This is a more dependable method because you can easily verify the status of an agency. It’s more complicated to define whether a private freelancer can be trusted. A highly reputed agency provides various conditions and services. You already know about several great dividends you can enjoy. Consider some additional advantages:

• Refunding. Your investments are ensured. After your agency discusses and agrees on your terms, an assigned writer is obliged to complete them as you wish. If your order is of poor quality or delivered too late, your investments will be returned.
• Private data protection. Your personal data is protected by a dependable anti-virus program. Nobody will learn a single detail about you.
• Customers’ support. In case, something is unclear to you there is a chance to ask competent technicians. A team of support consists of well-trained experts. They can clarify any issue concerning their organization, its main rules, restrictions, and policies. Get in touch 24 hours round the clock.

If your agency secures the mentioned above conditions, you can trust it. Your grant proposal will be written in accordance with the official demands and on time.

This is a guest contributor by Sergey.

You desire to be one of the smartest writers of your time.

You want to be a creative wordsmith, crafting out contents so good that Forbes yarns for more.

But it’s not happening.

Your writing is dumb, lame and lifeless.

So you fear you’ll never be remembered.

You fear you’ll never succeed. You fear all you’ve labored for would come crashing right before you.

It sucks.

Watching others succeed, writing so smart with thousands of shares, tweets and subscribers.

But you? Nothing.

It’s troubling because, you’ve implemented everything you know would make you stand out, yet nothing.

The worst part?

No one is willing to help you, no one is truly ready to share what they know. No one is ready to turn on the light and point you in the right direction.

The point is: No one cares.

Writing is your thing, it’s your craft, you know it’s your calling, but you wonder why everyone else is leaving you behind.

The truth?

You don’t even know what you are doing wrong. You don’t know where you are missing it.. You just discover you aren’t getting ahead.

It’s as though you hidden in the grave of silence.

It’s a painful thought indeed.

But don’t worry. In this post you’ll discover the hidden truth why you’ll never succeed and how to win.

Yes, you’ll learn the greatest writing lessons ever.
You‘ll discover the only reasons why you’ve stumbled around in the dark.

Here is the thing:

You are making some critical mistakes that are striping your content of its powers.

Lets show exactly what they are.

Why You’ll Never Succeed As A Writer

Don’t pretend about this:

You are struggling to write clear, concise and entertaining content.

You are trying your best.

But listen; you’ll continue to fail if you keep doing the dumb things everyone else is doing. The
fact is, million of bloggers exist, writers are everywhere and many more are kiting up to join the writers wagon.

All in the quest for one thing:

Attention

So how do you win the game of popularity. How do you win and cross the valley of noise?

It’s difficult.

And many more would never succeed, but honestly, it’s better to analyze your strength. It’s better to quit if you’re certain blogging or writing has nothing to do with your destiny.

It’s wise to get yourself another job else, you’ll only be fighting against the wind.

You? You are a born and gifted writer and noting can change that fate, so how do you escape the dark side of the board?

It’s simple:

Chances are you are making some grievous mistakes and honestly, those are keeping you from being the writer you were destined to be.

Correct them and you’ll be one of the best.

So lets look at those evil mistakes.

MISTAKE #1. Not Connecting To The People Who Matter

It’s not easy to write inspiring, heart touching articles, and its bad trying to do it all by yourself.

What you should try to avoid is breaking connectivity.

Imagine you’re communicating with a prominent client and the mobile network isn’t friendly.

You keep trying to get the vital information, but it’s not forthcoming.

It’s annoying.

But that’s what we writers do and it sucks.

Our responsibilities as writers is to make things easier for readers, to bring about clarity and show them the way.

Clear every form of uncertainty. You know how it feels like to drive in the rain and the wiper isn’t working. That moist or haste like substance in the glass that needs to be cleared?

The idea?

If you must stand out as a writer, You must find a way to keep molding cutting and pasting until it’s ready.

The problem is that most writers are lazy, maybe you are one of them. But you must stop. You must stop the crazy thing everyone else is doing.

Connect with your readers personally and engage meaningfully with power users.

How?

Change your perspective and shift your focus, instead of using “I” or “me”, Bryan Clark of copy blogger gave the two most important words to use. “You” and “Because”.

Let every article you write be about your readers and experts. Not even for the search engines.

The bottom line?

Keep connectivity alive.

MISTAKE #2. The Fear Of Breaking The Law Of Gravity

The law is simple, it’s all about pulling of a thrown object to the center of the earth.

It’s called a gravitational force and it’s a constant principle that what goes up must come down.

That’s the law.

But what about plans that gets missed in the air.

In the blogosphere, they say content is king but guess what.

That’s the biggest lie that could be thrown at you and I’ll explain why.

I stood against this principle, though it wasn’t easy to come to terms with this reality. But that was the beginning of my breakthrough as a blogger. To hell with what they believe, to hell with the so-called gurus and their philosophies.

The wisest way to fail is to believe everything you thrown at you.

Everyone is entitled to his opinion, right? Create your own path and shun every traditional gibberish so you stand out and bid mediocrity blogging farewell.

For example, they tell you to write more contents, create infographics, YouTube videos, SEO and blog design.

Sound like a good advice right? But am sorry its not.

At least not at the beginning of your blogging career. All those are a complete waste of time for newbie bloggers.

If you really want to succeed blogging, you should focus on building relationship with experts, study marketing, learning to create mouth watering articles, building a responsive list and then making passive income. (If that’s what you desire).

MISTAKE #3. Not Calling The Emotional Elephant In The Living Room

Something else hurting productivity is your inability to address obvious truths. Simply put, its obvious truth unaddressed.

You’re saying what everyone else is saying. Clanging and running in the valley of sameness. No wonder you’re hidden and no one cares.

Metaphor, granted.

But that is the only way to stand out in the sea of sameness. If you want to succeed, then you must be ready to be brutally honest. Honest about your readers situation, honest about their failures honest about their fears and fate.

You must be ready to face reality, unveil the mask and tell your readers the truth about blogging, the truth about themselves.

The only problem?

You’re a coward, faint heart-ed and scared about hurting the world.

And that is where you fail. If you must win,then you should go the extra mile.

Put on your helmet of truth, the belt of honesty and the breastplate of courage.

Let your readers know the reasons why everything sucks.

The world is full of lies, Bloggers aren’t willing to help and share their secret to success.

But you?

You should be different.

It’s difficult granted.

Point it out to them and guess what?

They would respect and believe everything you say from that point forward.

Not because you are smarter than the rest but because you were brutally honest and that means you care for them.

You’ve won them and that means they’ll stick to you till the end.

MISTAKE #4. Not Using Evocative Headlines

That’s were your writing begins and in fact that’s were your readers are drawn in.

Headlines are one of the most important element of your post and without a solid headline, your post is
doomed.

Your headlines are very important.

The question is? How do you create headlines that goes viral? How do you write headlines that pulls readers in?

So you need a form of creativity to craft out spell binding headlines right? Yes you do but for most bloggers, the creative well doesn’t flow all of the time. How do you stay afloat churning out mouth
watering headlines?

Its simple and here’s the answer..

You don’t need to be original with headline structures.

“One of the worst ways you can torture yourself as a writer is to believe everything you do has to be original.” – Jon Morrow

Controversial right? Yes but that’s the truth.

If you want to succeed quickly in the blogosphere, avoid trying to be original (At least at the beginning).

And here’s why: You are just starting out on your new blogging career but others have gone ahead of you. The best you can do is copy their structures. Look deep into their strategies.

Confusing right?

Yes, but that’s one truth you might not get to hear anywhere else.

The best part?

Others have done the hard job for you.
They’ve created the path, the formulas, and laid down strategies for us to follow.

For instance, buzzfeed.com are experts in creating viral headlines. Look at their structures and copy them (Not word for word though).

You can also download the headline hacks by Jon Morrow and another by James Johnson.

The truth is, traffic fame and exposure don’t just happen. Maybe right now you are fed up, sick and tired of this whole blogging thing because you’ve done your very best but no one cared.

Why not start by tweaking your headlines?

The bottom line:

Headlines are important to your writing success. They are key to your survival. Everyone is shouting “notice me”.. But what draws readers in is your headline.

“The headline is the first part of your blog article that a person reads, which acts as the gatekeeper, fully responsible for whether the visitor continues on and reads the
entire article, or at least scans it, or scurries off looking for more entertaining subject matter”__Yaro Starek

And also

“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”__ Brian Clark

So be careful with your headlines because they can make or break your post.

MISTAKE #5. Neglecting the Power of Empathy

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When writing has become part of your dear life, you’ll help people discover their true potential, you’ll help to give solid advice.

But hey, there is something even bigger…

Bringing about true change in the life of your readers and here’s what I mean:

Have you ever read an article and you felt the writer addressing you in person? It seems as though those other writers have some magical ability and so you are tuned and glued. Sometimes you even feel you are gossiped about right?

Well, that’s not the case.

The ugly truth is, those people are not sorcerers or witches. They don’t even belong to any mind reading club.No, they don’t.

They are only experts in the use of empathy.

So the question is, what is empathy?

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. And mind you, it’s different from sympathy.

You really desire to be unforgettable, keeping your readers awake all night reading every sentence, word and paragraph?

Then empathy is the key.

And here’s the thing:

People want to know if you understand them.
They want to be certain they are not listening to the wrong person. So, when they read you, a cord is struck inside of them. So they’ll read your post with great enthusiasm.

And with eyes wide open, they want to ask “how the hell does he knows I have this problem ?”.

Not just that, they’ll be ready to listen to everything you have to say.

The bottom line?

Speak to peoples problems,
feelings and fears back to Them. Let them know you understand and written just for them.

If you want to succeed, you shouldn’t just post here and there, Facebook today, forums the next day and expect to be popular?

Like a real business, you must strategically plan for success. If you are committed to the task, you could end up not as a any sleazy blogger but a well respected author.

Truly speaking, You’ll be ushered into the world of fame and popularity.

You have an opportunity to create a passive income stream. Yes, you could also become a celebrity, a public speaker or a well respected author.

But it all begins with how you treat the craft. Not just for fun or pleasure, but strictly business or rather a job.

And you know as a job, you can be fired (when your creative tank dries up). Business requires consistency. If you must write, you should always appear ready to
work.So at the end of everything you’ll be proud,

Proud of whom you’ve become.

Not that forum posting Jack. Not that Facebook or twitter obsessed fool.But you.The CEO of your blogging corporation.It’s fun and that’s why you shouldn’t treat your writing a hobby but a real business. You want to know how?

• Invest in a viable host and a memorable domain (register your corporation legally)
• Get a sweet looking theme (genesis) (building your facilities)
• Learn the act of writing valuable, unforgettable content (branding)
• Set out time to learn daily, so you can hone your skill (training) Start making investment on auto-responders to build your list (customer base)
• Relate to other experts in your niche and let them help you succeed (positive interaction)
• Sell what you know to those who care (product and services)
• Create more contents on other blogs, build your list and establish your brand(Marketing)
  

That’s the deal. Writing and blogging is no joke. If you treat it like a real business, it would treat you like a real boss.

MISTAKE #7: Not Creating Value

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Sometimes I visit blogs and can’t stand the bullshit going on over there.

Imagine you paid $10,000 for a couching whose sales page promises heaven.

But admit it, you’ve seen such ads before haven’t you? And because you want to be super rich, you gave up all your savings to attend.

You walked into the hall and indeed the show began Initially captured by graphics and slides, and then it dawns on you that all they were presenting are outdated and stupid ideas.

The worst part?

The presenters are people who have little or no real knowledge of the subject matter.

You want to walk away, but what happens to your $10,000?

It’s painful because the organizers or speakers have no proof of what they are saying. You can’t help but walk out of the door disappointed and feeling cheated.

Blogging is the same, if you don’t provide an extremely valuable resource, you leave your readers’ with no choice but walk away never to return.

The way out?

Create insanely valuable articles, include quotes, powerful introduction, list, proofs and solutions to your readers’ problem.

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Create loops, tension and transitions using such subheads.

Your readers would dive in to find closure and satisfaction.

That’s the idea.

So begin today by creating evocative and mouth watering subheads so you’ll stand out and win the game.

Bonus Point:

To go a step forward, write contents with evocative metaphors and include power words.

Open up with a bang and load up with short transitions (so, but, therefore and others) Finally, close up with strong encouragement and a call to action.

Help them see the light in the tunnel.

That’s exactly what you should do for every article you write from now forward.

You can succeed like the rest.

Mistakes are not real until repeated.

It’s time to stand, to clear up things and create a runway for perfection.

Writing and blogging is easy if you are committed to doing it right. The fact that you read this post to this point means you are determined to succeed.

You might think “Well Charles, what’s in it for me? After all, millions of bloggers exist”

But you see, you can start today and be one of the most successful writers in the world.

Yes, you can succeed.

It all begins with with building or re-building connections, breaking the laws of gravity, doing or saying what others are scared of. Being courageous and calling the emotional elephants in the room.

Using powerful headlines to draw your readers in.

Not just that..

But also injecting the power of empathy, treating your writing like a real job and giving your it unbeatable value.

Plus.. Being true to yourself and using subheads along the way.

And that’s the way to win.
That’s the way to overcome and be an expert at what you do.

I know with crystal certainty that you can do it.

Yes you can,

I know you will.

Just do it.

Drop your comments.

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As bloggers, we need to be creative; we can’t afford to write the same thing every time, we had to come up with unique creative ideas.

Creativity is a god gifted talent, and not everyone has it. However, you still can find the way to be creative in your writing.

According to Wikipedia:

“creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created such as ideas, jokes, literary work, a solution, an invention etc.”

As the definition says, creativity is the process of an invention.

In writing, we bloggers can proudly say – we invent Ideas, Words and Sentences.

So, how to be creative at writing?

Brainstorm Ideas before you start writing

You can’t just sit in front of your computer and think what to write next, just trying to type something on your computer won’t work and your writing will definitely lack creativeness.

This is why you need to brainstorm ideas before you start writing.

Brainstorming creative ideas isn’t that easy, you need to find the creative juice.

How to find it?

Do creative tasks like reading interesting books, solving puzzles, tweeting (tweeting helps you to play with words), etc.

Initially, find a topic which you want to write, and then brainstorm the ideas.

Once you find the title, brainstorm the certain combination of subheadings that can match your title.

Then list out those points in your notepad or something – having a notebook or notepad is essential thing for writers, you must learn to take notes while brainstorming ideas.

In case you can’t find new ideas, there are some online ideas generating tools such as Tweakyourbiz.com/tools/title-generator.

Use these tools to brainstorm new ideas.

Personalize your writing

When you write blogs, give some personal touch to it because when you try to make it look too professional, it’ll definitely lack some creative spark.

So when you’re writing a copy, add your personality or perspective to it.

And you’ll be surprised to see how your copy will be different from others.

Another way to write creatively is by telling stories; write your own story, your thoughts, your experience, it’ll definitely look unique and creative because it is exclusive.

Stories draw your audience into their own imagination and make them feel like they are in your character; same thing happens while we watch movies, we unconsciously feel like we are the heroes.

Story telling also helps you to build a good relationship with your audience. Audience will start trusting you.

See how Pat Flynn used his story to build a successful brand like SmartPassiveIncome.

Story telling also helps you to build a personal brand.

Tips for personalizing your writing

• Write what you know
• Don’t feel shy to express
• Don’t bother about what will others think
• Always be real

Have the right mindset

Before you start writing, make sure you are distraction free.

If you’re tired or not active while writing, then forget about creativity. Your writing always reflects your mood.

So you have to be enthusiastic, for that you need to have a healthy mindset while writing.

Nowadays, everyone is busy with their exhaustive lives, but as a writer you can’t be like that; you had to find a peace of mind before you start writing.

Major things to do. . .

• Learn to Relax before you write
• Eliminate distractions
• Select a silent place to write
• Don’t bother about the outcome of your copy while drafting
• Just go through flow and don’t stop
• Don’t work overtime, you’ll get burned out

If you get angry and frustrated a lot, then it’ll be very difficult to be creative at writing.

Try to build passion for writing and enjoy; then you’ll get a lot of creative ideas flowing.

Draft it, add, and proofread

First draft of your post will never be perfect.

So, draft it and take a little break. Once you take a break and comeback later to edit, you’ll find a lot of errors and mistakes.

You’ll also realize how terrible your first draft was. Don’t delete it, just tweak, it’ll look good.

After that you can add as much as content you want.

And finally, proofread it.

No matter how good writer you are, you can’t skip this proofreading process.

Ask every top blogger/writer, they’ll all agree that proofreading is the important and Must do task.

So, proofread it for minimum 2-3 times before publishing.

Conclusion

Since blogosphere is getting highly competitive, having a creative style of writing will definitely help you to stand out from the crowd.

You can adopt Creativity in your writing by following the above points.

It is not necessary that you should follow the same steps to be creative; creativity is something that YOU invent.

So, you can be creative if you just write what you know.

Writing can be of various types, but when you intend to do it professionally you need to take care of certain facts and play by the rules of the game.

A professional writer is QUITE different than a regular blogger or author or a poet. While all of these professions focus on writing, a professional writer has a huge responsibility on his / her shoulders. They have to adapt themselves to the needs of the clients whom they cater to.

I am a professional writer engaged in freelance writing since the past 5+ years, during which I worked with a plethora of clients on multitude of projects in varied niches.

Here are a handful of tips from my personal experience that will make your article writing look flawless and add finesse to your work.

Title your Content Well

Your content is like a gift that your readers are excitedly waiting to open and read. But what fun is a gift without a great gift wrap?

I am sure every one of us knows how easy it is to transform a dull and boring gift into something quite cool and exciting by a simple act. Just wrap it and dress it up in a funky looking package, right?

I am not saying to fool your readers with a funky title to disguise boring content. A great title will help in fueling the interest of your readers and will make them want to click on it and read more.

Warm Up with Your Introduction

Writing an introduction for your article is a lot like a first date; you should not and will not ask for a kiss before getting comfortable with each other.

Your introduction is meant to do exactly that- get comfortable with your reader and let them get comfortable with you!

What goes into your introduction? It could be anything that is guaranteed to attract your reader’s attention and interest. Try playing around with different things like a shocking statement, a popular quote, a pertinent question and so on.

But remember whatever you do, DO NOT exceed beyond 200 words here.

Plan Your Article Body Systematically

The body of your article is the most important part for your message that you are trying to get across to your readers.

If you have managed to get your reader to stick with you even after they read your title and your introduction, then you should give yourself a pat on your back. Bravo, you sure did a good job until now.

But if you mess up with your article body, you will lose your reader very quickly. So, make sure that you plan your article body and divide it into many different sections with appropriate sub-titles.

Doing this achieves three things: first it makes it easy for your reader to digest the information, secondly it helps them to quickly skim through your article and still get the message and finally it is pleasing and comforting to their eyes.

Polish Your Grammar Please

This one tip itself is worth a million dollars, because no matter how well you package your article in a funky title, use a great introduction to snuggle up to your reader and hook them in with systematic subtitles and sectioned content, they will still see through your BLUFF if your article is ridden with grammar errors.

Please do yourself a favor and on your poor readers too and polish your language and grammar before attempting at professional writing.

Confirm Your Facts

Beware, this is a huge land mine that can blow up your both your hard work and your dreams of becoming a professional writer if not paid the attention due to it.

As a professional writer, you may be hired by clients to write articles on a variety of topics that you necessarily do not know much about.

But that does not mean that you should write only on one topic which you posses a qualification in. You are free to write on any subject matter, provided that you have got your facts 100% correct.

Confirm and re-confirm by using more than a few references when you mention technical, medical, scientific or any sort of facts.

Wrap Up Your Article Smoothly

Just like you made your reader comfortable at the beginning of your article, please make sure that your readers leave with a good feeling in their hearts.

Do not end your article abruptly without warning; it leaves the readers stranded and with a very bad impression of the writer.

Wrap up your article with a summary or synopsis that need not be more than a sentence or two in length.

Synopsis

The tips that I have discussed here, about how to write an article should be implemented each time you attempt at writing one.

As the popular saying goes, “Practice makes man (and woman) perfect”. So, keep practicing and you should be perfect in no time.

Good luck with your professional writing career!

Surely, that’s not news anymore, is it?

If for any reason you think guest posts are not your thing, then you need help as blogger.

Now we have disbelief out of the way, it is appropriate to ask: Have you written your first guest post?

In writing this post I had two kinds of bloggers in mind. The first, those bloggers who know guest posts are an important but never got around to doing it.  Second, those die hard conservative bloggers who believe their best posts are best served to their local audience.

I know part of what is keeping you away from that first guest post may be mental laziness or just plain selfishness.

You may be surprised at how many bloggers linger over the send button after writing a great guest post.

It should have been published on their site, they ponder.

Well, I have come today to burst your bubble.

And just in case you are still in need of excuses, I have more bad news: I will show you how to come up with a guest post strategy, locate top blogs, pitch your guest post ideas and finally, how to write the greatest guest posts you can dream of!

What are we waiting for?

Developing a Guest Blogging Strategy That Works

It all begins with quality content. The thing is, quality content does not just happen. That is why you need a strategy that works. Posting one or two posts per month may not be sufficient to give you the kind of results you desire.

Put differently, guest posting involves hard work.

1. Drip-Fed Guest Posting: In this approach you target a couple of blogs and slowly build reputation in those communities by and cut your teeth in the field. While most bloggers can survive with this method, the results may take a longer time period to be evident.
2. Rapid Guest Posting: This is the short-gun approach to guest posting writing. Here you write as many guest posts as you can as fast as you can. Wondering about where you will get to publish them? That should not be a problem. Just announce to your audience that you are on a guest posting marathon. You will be surprised how many persons will accept content from you! Bloggers need content and as far as you’re your blog is rich, they will be glad in hosting you for some days.

Of course, the approach you choose would depend on whether you price quantity over quality.

Being socially active won’t hurt you

Bloggers love it when guest post offers don’t come from the blues.

Building a relationship with bloggers you want to pitch first before asking to guest post will significantly reduce the number of rejections you receive. So, it is smart to create an excel document with at least five fields: Blog URL, Blogger Name, Email, Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus profiles. Start following them on social media.

It is critical that you actually interact with them.

Do not make the mistake of adding them and leaving the rest to chance. The best way to do this is to start following him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ and interact with him. Here are some other things you must do:

Here are some other tasks you can perform to leverage your social gusto:

• Comments: Now you have a shortlist of bloggers you hope to write for, start leaving thoughtful comments on their blogs. By thoughtful comments I mean you should engage with the author by asking questions are bringing perspectives that move the conversation forward. Of course, if you have the opportunity, answer questions left by other readers. That is a good way to demonstrate your expertise before the blogger and inject yourself as a member of the community. The benefit of doing this will come in two ways:

1. The blogger will be very pleased that you are taking some burden off his shoulders.
2. When your guest post goes live, the community will already know who you are and would be comfortable commenting and sharing your post.

• Join his newsletter: If the blogger has a newsletter, join in. After a couple of emails, it is smart to let the blogger know you are on his list by responding to one of his mails, preferably one that publishes a smart tip. Make sure your email contains your signature, which by the way should include your blog address. Most bloggers would click on that link and give you a look over, further breaking the ice for you.
• Email: At this time sending a direct email to the blogger is a good idea. Note that it does not have to be about a guest post. Remember, you want to build that relationship. Compliment their writing, make an enquiry or ask for advice. I have had bloggers who asked me to send in a guest post after exchanging a couple of emails.

Note that some of the top bloggers have guest post guidelines. If you find one on a blog then you may focus on the guidelines given instead of these tips.

Do you think going through all of this is just too much for just a guest post opportunity? It depends on how far into the future you are looking. Relationships you establish with bloggers for the purpose of guest posting will have value that goes beyond that guest post.

It helps to keep things in perspective by thinking long-term.

Wrapping it Up

So now you have it. You can be sure that if you follow these steps, you will have more guest post opportunities in a month than you would care to handle. Now all that is left is for you to start the actual pitching.

It is important for you to realize that guest post pitching is a numbers game. If you can write twenty guest posts, pitch 40 bloggers, remembering that not all bloggers will say yes.

You may notice that I have not gone much into the actual writing of the perfect guest post in this post. That is because that subject is a full-length topic of its own and I will be doing a post dedicated to that alone in the weeks to come.

Have I left out a magic tip that works wonders for you?

You are welcome to share in the comments!

Image courtesy of Graeme Weatherston at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Below I’ll give you some features that can ruin your prestige if you include them constantly to your articles. So what should you avoid?

1. Errors and Mistakes

Most bloggers are not English native speakers, so it is common and some way acceptable that they sometimes use wrong grammar structures or irrelevant vocabulary. It is very hard to avoid a number of such mistakes if your mother tongue is not English. However you can reduce misspelling. Mostly spelling errors are corrected automatically by Word. The biggest problem is words which sound similar e.g. “food” and “foot” or have the same pronunciation e.g. “two” and “too” . Their meaning is different, so if you confuse them they can disturb your text. To be on the safe side, use your dictionary whenever you are in doubt.

You may be interested in reading: How to Write in English – Mary’s Top 10 List of Common Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Mistakes

2. Omissions

It doesn’t look good if some valuable details are missing. Especially in an article referring to news. Your readers might have the impression, they know more about the topic than you do. Before starting writing about a certain subject try to do some research to find out as much as possible.

3. Inaccuracies

Make your text reliable. Don’t put the information, you are not sure of.  Confusing people’s names, event’s dates or just publishing the out-of-date stuff is the best way to ruin your reputation as a credible author.

4. Ambiguities

Make sure your readers can understand exactly, what you are  trying to tell them. Don’t waste their time. You should take care of your audience and present clear and directly what you have to say, and what is your own point of view. So should be all the messages you want to share – clear.  I believe the absolute clarity helps you to enhance the value of your blog and gain respect of the readers.

5. Misinterpretations

Don’t manipulate facts. Some people have a bad habit   to generalize and that might be very harmful to their writing. If you write for example “all the old people…” or ” most of the divorced people …” try at least to support the statement with relevant research or add the source of your knowing. The best advice is to give the factual percentage value.

Misinterpretations are very common in sites referring to celebrities’ lives. The authors have got actually only one insider piece of information and then they use it to come up with more “facts”. How is it called? Speculations? Gossiping?

6. Partiality

If you wish to get a wide range of readers of different origins, countries or social status don’t be partial, stay objective. Everyone who visits your site should feel welcome to express his or her views on life. Radical attitude might cause that a lot of visitors can feel offended by the posts on your blog.

Must read: How to Write an Article in Less Than One Hour – 10 Useful Tips

7. Mess

Disorder in your texts is very harmful for your site. Every post on your blog should be well organized and the main ideas should be presented in a logical way. Make sure you could give a topic sentence to each paragraph.

Planning before you start writing is also the most effective use of time. It requires less effort than writing the whole piece as you go without any specific plan.

And what do you think about it?

I’ll tell you one secret – writing killer articles is not enough today.  It’s especially important these days – we have a lot of bloggers and tons of blogs, which compete with others for the audience.

So, what shall I do – you may ask me.

You should arouse interest in your readers!

Each blogger must decide, how he or she wants to charm their visitors. If you don’t have any idea – below you can find 20 tips, how you can attract your posts. Of course you can choose only one or few of them.

But remember – your readers don’t like boredom.

How to Attract Your Blog Posts – 20 Tips For Normal People

 1. Use Pictures or Photos

A lot of people say, that one picture is worth more than thousand words. I agree with them – and you?

2. Use Graphs and Tables

Some type of your readers like numbers. You can help them in reading post on your blog by placing graphs or tables inside.

3. Prepare Rankings

Rankings are great both in getting more readers and in selling your own or affiliate products. You can make your rankings for almost everything – products, websites, tools

5 Most Powerful Blogs About Blogging And Making Money Online

 4. Use Videos

Videos are great both for people and for SEO. You can find a lot of videos on YouTube. Placing them in your blog post is very easy.

 5. Use Infographics

Infographics are relatively new way of showing information or knowledge. But are very informative and easy to absorb

 6. Make Interviews with Others in Your Niche

A lot of people like interviews – and it concern not only reading interviews, but also be interviewed.

 7. Prepare list(s)

People are lazy (I’m lazy too). They like lists, because lists save their time.

If your list is great, it may be even linked by others

Below you can find some examples of lists:

Top 100 Websites For Bloggers

The Entrepreneur’s Handbook: 101 Resources for First Time Entrepreneurs

Women in Blogging: 125 Fearless Female Bloggers

37 Ways a Virtual Assistant can Grow your Internet Business

8. Tell Your Own Stories

Nothing is better for your readers than telling a great story. It may be an example of how you made something or even lessons learned from the past. But there is one, very important thing in telling stories – you are not allowed to lie!

9. Give Examples

Showing examples is very similar to the previous point. But here you can describe not only your experience, but also experiences of somebody else. What’s more – in that case you can link to his/her story. It will be appreciated…

10. Use Slideshows

Power Point slideshow is great not only for executing presentation, but also for showing your readers something important. You can upload and share your presentation for example on Slideshare

 11. Be Controversial

This point may be very dangerous, if you aren’t familiar with discussed topic or made something stupid. But in most cases, you will only trigger discussion below your post or on other blogs. Great!

12. Make Reviews

People like reviews. If review is made by trusted person or company and in professional way, we will believe in it.

13. Link to Others in Your Niche

Sometimes you want mention about someone’s great post or article in your niche. Just because. After it you can contact with him or her to let them know about it. Maybe they will link back to you?  If you want to mention one or more of my posts – don’t hesitate and do it now! But remember about contacting me after it

14. Use Mind Maps

Mind maps are great for sharing your ideas in graphical way. They are simple to create, and easy to understand

 15. Answer on Questions or Resolve Someone’s Problem

Answering on questions or resolving problems is one of the greatest way for making relationships with your guests. With good reason there is a lot of services like How to or Yahoo answers

16. Ask Your Readers About Something

In contrast to answering on questions is asking them It’s also good strategy, but firstly you must be recognized as a blogger to use this tip

 17. Be “Google friendly”

This post isn’t Google friendly. First of all – title isn’t searched a lot of times. I can call this article more attractive for this search engine, but I didn’t. Why? I make some tests…

If you want to get example of competitive keyword  – no problem. For example How to use Twitter… (monthly there is about 90.500 exact searches of this phrase) is very competitive keyword. Great tool for such keyword research is Market Samurai (be careful – affiliate link inside!)

18. Be Funny with Your Content

Sometimes you must make your readers laugh. If you are making SEO – you should like this video

19. Make Your Posts Easy to Share with Others

Sometimes you can find great articles about something, and you want to share it with your friends or others (for example on Twitter, Facebook, etc.) But you couldn’t find buttons or even links for sharing. Give your readers possibility for sharing interesting articles!

20. End with Call to Action

If you want to engage your readers – just ask them to make something on your blog. You may ask the question, ask them to comment on your blog, or request about following you on Twitter.

And how about you? Do you like this post? – please tweet it! You don’t like it – please tell us about it! Or maybe you want to share with us your tips, how to attract your article? Feel free and comment it.