how to write | No Passive Income https://nopassiveincome.com Take Action, Build Your Business! Fri, 04 Oct 2024 08:47:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://nopassiveincome.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/favicon.ico how to write | No Passive Income https://nopassiveincome.com 32 32 How to Write an Effective Twitter Bio : 7 Essential Ingredients to Use https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-twitter-bio/ https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-twitter-bio/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:14:59 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=3116 Building a good reputation online is not an easy task: it requires constant work since every aspect, even the smallest, can have an enormous influence. For example, the biography of your Twitter profile: an abstract of only 140 characters, essential to get an idea of the user on the first shot. Whether you are a […]

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Building a good reputation online is not an easy task: it requires constant work since every aspect, even the smallest, can have an enormous influence.

For example, the biography of your Twitter profile: an abstract of only 140 characters, essential to get an idea of the user on the first shot.

Whether you are a novice or a professional on social media, these are some tips you should follow for writing an effective bio on Twitter.

 

You Just Have 160 Characters

Well, these are 20 characters more than a tweet, but with your Twitter bio you have to make the world understand who you are, what you do, what you love.

The challenge is formidable!

 

Your Twitter Bio Appearing in Search Results

When someone searches you on Google, they will find your Twitter profile among the results .

Including the description of it, in other words your Bio.

Just keep in mind that it’s the most visible across the internet (with no intention to create anxiety!).

 

Being Predictable is Easy

If you’ve read a dozen Twitter bios, then you have read them all.

In principle, everyone loves something, have a passion for something else or have a favorite food.

You need just a little originality on Twitter to be noticed.

 

Do Not Be Anonymous

If you have an anonymous profile, many will think that you have a fake profile, especially if you still have an egg as a profile picture.

The profile picture is, in short, an integral part of your bio on Twitter: do not neglect this aspect!

Example of a Twitter anonymous profile

 

You Do Not Need to Be Funny

Someone manages to be funny, but you don’t have to necessarily focus on the smile to arouse interest.

Furthermore, the results are worse when you try desperately to “be nice” and this simply does not work.

It’s true in life, but this is worth double on Twitter : also because you have very little space available in your bio!

 

Being Creative is Not Easy

Often you believe you had a brilliant idea, but you end up being terribly predictable.

Just avoid the banality, especially when you are talking about yourself!

Do you need a little help?

I’ve found this tool, Twitter Bio Generator.

Try it, it’s funny!

Twitter Bio Generator screenshot

 

7 Ingredients to Write an Effective Bio

Here are 7 ingredients to write a good profile.

Remember, an effective Twitter bio is:

 

1. Accurate : it says who you are or what you do

On Twitter you should use your real identity.

Even if you have a passion for Game of Thrones, there is no need that you refer to yourself as “Mother of Dragons” or “The Tyrion of the Outer World”.

Some might find it funny, but it’s better to focus on who you really are and what you do.

 

2. Exciting : make it sound cool

On Twitter you need to be original and make your bio exciting.

If you consider yourself boring, this is not the right place to show it to the world.

Use an upbeat and positive tone.

 

3. Targeted : attract people like you

On Twitter you interact primarily with people like you.

In other words, in your niche.

The people who choose to follow you are doing it because they see you share the same interests and they realize that you have something in common.

Use specific keywords that describe your position and your role.

 

You should read : 4 Awesome Free Tools to Increase Your Twitter Exposure + 7 Useful Tips

 

4. Flattering : talk about your achievements

Think of your description such a curriculum.

A great resume makes you get a job.

A catchy Twitter bio allows you to attract many followers.

You should explain your achievements.

What have you done?

  • If you are a parent, “mom” or “dad” are important achievements
  • If you open a business, call yourself “entrepreneur
  • If you are a jogging addicted, you are surely a “fitness guru

 

5. Human : prove that you are authentic

Do not risk of being taken for one of those fake profiles.

Start by removing the egg and placing a real photo as your profile picture.

At this point you can go crazy with love for beer, computers, music, sports or porcelain dolls.

As we have already said, people want to follow you for what you really are and your passions are a great way to be authentic.

 

6. Intriguing : invite people to follow you

Try to arouse the interest of those who read your description focusing on curiosity.

If you are a traveler, for example, people will wonder if at this time you are somewhere in the world.

 

7. Connected : use hashtag, tags, and links

Your bio can be connected to something that represents you outside of your profile.

  • Hashtag : for example, if you deal with SEO, you can just write #SEO to connect your bio to be mentioned within your niche.
  • @ : if you work in a company or are in some way connected to any other account, connect your profile with these
  • Link : you can also insert links in your description. If you have more than a website to mention (one can be added in your profile settings), you may use this space to recommend it. Beware, however, of the number of characters it takes.

 

Conclusion

Finally, keep in mind a few things:

  • You don’t have necessarily to use all 160 characters
  • Even if you are shy, do not feel guilty to talk about yourself : it’s the purpose of a bio
  • Do not follow the conventions

It will take a few attempts, before being able to meet all of these parameters.

And take into consideration that the description is one of those parts of your Twitter profile that you can – and over time you have to – change.

 

And you, how is your bio?

Do you have any other hints to share?

Please let me have your thoughts in the comments below, thanks!

Ah! And be sure to follow me on Twitter here! 😉

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Do you lack Creativity in your writing? Here’s what to do https://nopassiveincome.com/creative-writing/ https://nopassiveincome.com/creative-writing/#comments Mon, 16 Dec 2013 10:24:49 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=2279 Being creative is difficult, especially being creative on a daily basis is very difficult. 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 […]

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Being creative is difficult, especially being creative on a daily basis is very difficult.

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.

Businesswoman Drawing A Cloud Computing

 

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.

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How to Write an Article – Writing Tips from a Professional Writer https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-an-article/ https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-an-article/#comments Mon, 27 May 2013 06:00:10 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=1695 If you went to school and received at least some basic kind of education, you will know how to write. But it is not that type of writing that I am discussing about in this post. Writing can be of various types, but when you intend to do it professionally you need to take care […]

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If you went to school and received at least some basic kind of education, you will know how to write. But it is not that type of writing that I am discussing about in this post.

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.

how to write an article

 

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!

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I’ll Never Read Your Posts Again, You Know Why? https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-blog-post/ https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-blog-post/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:38 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=1644 Erik offered a post in his blog and I truly appreciate this opportunity. As I was planning for this post, I shared the title in Facebook to asked my friend’s views in it. Nishant said, “It little looks arrogant. Some people will reply who cares 😛 “. Yes, not only the title but the post […]

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Erik offered a post in his blog and I truly appreciate this opportunity.

As I was planning for this post, I shared the title in Facebook to asked my friend’s views in it. Nishant said, “It little looks arrogant.

Some people will reply who cares 😛 “. Yes, not only the title but the post itself is little arrogant, but my intention is fair and hope you’ll enjoy it.

The ‘I’ in the post is any blogger who loves to reader other’s blog posts and ‘You’ in the post is any blogger who can’t meet the expectations.

 

I’ll Never Read Your Posts Again, You Know Why?

No offense, but your blog posts really sucks! I’ll never come back, never ever again!

Why do I always look for new posts and hop into them to share and comment? Being a blogger, can you stay away from recent ideas and happenings over the blogosphere? But I’ll not read your post again, you know why?

Everyday, there are a dozen blog posts in my reading list and I really love reading new content. I love building relationship with great bloggers, intermediates as well as newbies.

It’s really fun and hugely beneficial to interact with other bloggers. That’s the sole reason Bivori started commentDX group in Facebook and enjoy the ‘helping each other‘ kind of community feeling.

I truly love to read the posts that makes me little smarter than a few minutes ago and I like to share that post who might find it helpful.

However, there are a couple of blogs that’s just doing nothing for me. They simply suck my time and I’ll never visit them again. Make sure your blog is not in that list.

If you don’t want me to run away from your blog and help me to keep up with your content, you should know why I won’t read your posts again.

 

A Very Bad Beginning

You write about the same old topic that I’ve read a millions of times and you’ve not even presented your own view points? Oh! Common, why would I read that?

Do you plan your titles properly? Often I land to your blog through BlogEngage, Blokube, BizSugar or similar blogging networks and all I see there is the title and a little of first paragraph.

I may land to your blog from Facebook, Scoopit.it or Pinterest and so on. What can I see there? Your post title and a short snippet. Did you optimize them enough to welcome me to your post?

Is your first paragraph able to convince me that reading the post is worth my time? Does it tell what the post is about and ensures that I’ll get what I was looking for?

Sometimes, I’m interested to see an impressive and relevant image. Did you care to create or choose the best images for your post?

a Woman struggling in front of a laptop

 

No More Textbooks Anymore!

Ahh! I’ve already studied in schools and collages, a huge pile of text books. I’ve also studied lecture notes and presentations.

I’m too much with them. Already!

Yes, you must provide information, you’ll teach me something through your post, but please, change your tone. Don’t remind me of those class room days.

Your correct grammar, sentence structure and thematic divisions can be awesome to get maximum marks in exam but dude, this is a blog post.

Be present in your post and let me feel you. Let me know about you and let’s have a conversation.

 

Failed by Wider Scope

I’ve seen some posts ‘How to Build successful blog’! OMG! As if it was ‘How to root your android phone’.

Any topic is related to many others and that does not mean you should write about everything. If you go wide apart, there will hardly be any depth.

I land on a blog post with my little time and a specific problem to solve. Writing a very wide post, you are testing my patience!

Regarding your blog also, if it includes every topic under the sun, you simply confuse me rather than helping in any respect.

When you really want to write everything about a subject, write an ebook, why blog post?

 

Pleasing to my eyes

Its not a paper book and will not increase number of pages, so, you are free to extend below the first fold. Make it comfortable to read and pleasing to my eyes.

Choose nice font, make it easy reading size, keep some space between lines, make shorter paragraphs and use sub headings where suitable.

I can read your posts only if you make me easier!

 

I’m Often on Smartphone

This is virtually impossible to read your post zooming and pinching. Why you’ve not yet made your blog mobile-ready?

Don’t you know we have some good plugins like WPTouch? Even better, you could use responsive theme that takes care of every screen sizes.

Bivori has an awesome responsive theme to offer – Isquar – which has page speed 92+% and Sandip offered it for FREE!

Believe me, you are losing many readers like me if your blog is not yet mobile-ready.

Trying to sell me some stuff

That’s nothing bad, but it’s enough.

What turns you off to read a new blog post?

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How To Write a Great Text When You Have No Inspiration https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-a-great-text-when-you-have-no-inspiration/ https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-a-great-text-when-you-have-no-inspiration/#comments Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:00:45 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=1305 Some people write wonderful texts in an inspired moment. Are you one of them? So you act like artists do. They lock themselves in their own world for some time, work very intensively without much thinking or planning and they create outstanding works. Such moments happen to every writer, but … rather occasionally. So what […]

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Some people write wonderful texts in an inspired moment. Are you one of them? So you act like artists do. They lock themselves in their own world for some time, work very intensively without much thinking or planning and they create outstanding works. Such moments happen to every writer, but … rather occasionally.

So what to do if you are run out of inspiration?

In that case you have to act like a craftsman. Instead of INSPIRATION you should use a WRITING TECHNIQUE. A set of useful methods guarantee that you will be successful in completing the writing task.

No inspiration...

Choose a Topic and Collect a Background Material

Before starting, you should be absolutely sure what exactly you are going to write about. That seems to be obvious, but finding an interesting topic for the post or article is not easy. If you have a problem like that, search for posts which give you some smart tips how to find ideas for new content.

Whatever you decide to write about, it would be helpful to collect information and data concerning the topic. See what has been told about it up to now. You might discover some unusual facts that make your content fascinating and valuable. It is also recommended to have a look for charts, graphics and photos, which will supplement your text.

 

Find The Proposition Of Title

Don’t try to think up the perfect title before you are finish your post or article. The text should match perfectly the content you are going to produce – and the content does not exist yet! So it’s more reasonable to come up with a title later, when the whole text is ready.

However you should give to your “project” a provisional title. It will be helpful, because you won’t stray away from the chosen subject.

You may be interested in reading: How to Write an Article in Less Than One Hour – 10 Useful Tips

 

Plan and Organize

First of all, answer the question: Which ideas do you want to include? Prepare key words or headings concerning each point you want to write about. Than you can decide how many paragraphs you need.

The next step is to plan in what order the paragraphs will follow. They should be organized in logical order. Prepare a detailed draft of your text.

 

Fill Each Paragraph With Text

The opening paragraph is the most crucial to the whole post or article. The beginning should catch yours readers’ attention. Lively, appealing tone is the best to achieve this goal.

Than go to the next paragraphs according to your plan. Try to deliver good content including a range of vocabulary and structures for interest and variety. To connect the ideas use linking words and phrases. If you are not sure about some details, leave them out. You can fill the gaps later, when you come to the end.

As a reader I prefer moderately long paragraphs. If they contain too much text I become a little discouraged from reading. It can cause eyestrain!

 

Read Your Text and Make Improvements

When the text is complete, read it. Imagine you are one of your reader and you see the text for the first time! Imagine you have to find weak points of the content – as many as possible. Make a list of them.

The next step is to eliminate the weaknesses from your text according to the list.

 

Take a Break

At this stage of your work you can feel exhausted and your efficiency is low. The brain needs to have a break. Leave your article and do something else. It depends on you how many time it takes.  I suggest coming back to the article not later than on the next day. So much time is long enough to gain fresh mind.

 

Decide What The Title Will Be

Let’s discuss again the title issue. Now, when you have got the whole text, it is the right time to think of that. The title should grab reader’s attention and give them a clue what they can expect.  A good, catchy title for your text is half the battle.

You may be interested in reading: 7 Things You Should Avoid in Your Posts and Articles

 

Correct Errors

There is no doubt. It is necessary to read over the text before you publish it. Some of mistakes like spelling and grammar errors or missing words can be easily avoided if you have a look at what you have written.

And what are your tips?

 

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How to Write in English – Mary’s Top 10 List of Common Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Mistakes https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-in-english-marys-top-10-list-of-common-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation-mistakes/ https://nopassiveincome.com/how-to-write-in-english-marys-top-10-list-of-common-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation-mistakes/#comments Mon, 25 Jun 2012 01:00:42 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=640 These are what we call the “ouch” mistakes… the ones that make anyone with an editing background cringe or close the window or put down the book. These are the one that will lose you business, writing or blogging credibility. These are the ones that will sabotage even your best efforts to brand yourself or […]

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These are what we call the “ouch” mistakes… the ones that make anyone with an editing background cringe or close the window or put down the book. These are the one that will lose you business, writing or blogging credibility. These are the ones that will sabotage even your best efforts to brand yourself or your business.

 

Mary’s Top 10 List of Common Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Mistakes

How to Write in English?

10. “Fewer” vs. “Less”

If you can count the items, use ‘fewer’: If I eat fewer calories, I will lose weight. With fewer employees, we will not be able to provide good customer service.

If you can’t count the items, use ‘less’: We need to concentrate on less expired inventory.

 

9. “Their own”; “My own”

If it’s already yours, then adding the word ‘own’ is redundant (i.e. you’re using two words to say the same thing), for example:

Incorrect: It was my own idea.

Correct: It was my idea.

 

8. “Irregardless

No such word! Adding “ir” in front of “regardless” is completely redundant. “Regardless” is the correct word and the only correct word.

 

7. “I.e.” vs. “E.g.”

This applies primarily to academic, business or formal writing; rarely to fiction. But, it’s important to know the difference if you really want your writing to shine.

I.E. means “that is”. If you use ‘i.e.’ it means you are referring to something specific and unique: There were only two possibilities (i.e. house arrest or imprisonment). If there are any other possibilities, you cannot use ‘i.e.’ and should use ‘e.g.’.

E.G. means “for example”. This is for giving examples to support your statement: There were a number of possibilities (e.g. house arrest, suspended sentence, probation or imprisonment). If you use ‘e.g.’ NEVER put ‘etc.’ at the end of the list. Putting ‘etc.’ at the end is redundant when you’ve already used e.g.

 

6. “Which” vs. “That”

Without getting into the details of grammatical constructions, the simplest rule is this: If you have a phrase that uses ‘which’, it must be preceded by a comma. For example:

Correct:  The Himalayas, which feature the tallest mountain peaks in the world, have killed many an ill-prepared climber.

Incorrect: This was a time which he barely remembered.

Correct: This was a time that he barely remembered.

(Note: Many writers no longer include ‘that’, as a way of smoothing the flow of the sentence (i.e. the way we talk). But, American English still clings to ‘that’, so it pays to know the difference, depending on which market you are writing for.)

Comment: Are we having fun with English yet??

 

For more information: Spanisch lernen in Havanna, Kuba

Little child reading a book

 

5. “Your” vs. “You’re”

Now we’re getting to the teeth-grinding errors; the ones that just drive me away from a website or blog and on to better reading pastures!

“Your” is a possessive. Period. It is your book, your blog, your web site.

“You’re” is a contraction of “You are”: You’re right; You’re certain it’s true?

 

4. “Lead” vs. “Led”

Thanks to automated spellcheckers, many people believe that ‘lead’ is the past tense of the verb ‘to lead’. The correct past tense is ‘led’. I know, the past tense of ‘to read’ is ‘read’. Welcome to English rules/counter-rules!

 

3. “Their” and “They’re”

“Their” is a possessive: Rick and Chantal love their new car.

“They’re” is a contraction of ‘they are’: They’re both worried about their son’s grades.

 

2. “Too” and “To”

“Too” means ‘as well’. I want to come, too. I’d like a cookie, too.

“To” is a verb. I want to do this. I’d like to read this, too.

Not all writers add a comma before ‘too’ but in novel writing, it is often the case, depending on your copy editor.

 

1. “Its” vs. “It’s”

And this is the game changer… if you don’t get this, I don’t read your blog or your book, let alone buy it:

“It’s” a no-brainer! “It’s” is short for “it is”. If you read a sentence out loud and ‘it is’ is the way it should be spoken… guess what? It’s an it’s!

“Its” is a possessive: The company president is concerned that its annual report won’t be popular with the shareholders.

 

These days, there has been an exponential increase in the number of web sites and blogs trying to attract traffic and volume. People with great ideas and products can quickly fall by the wayside if they’re not paying attention to their spelling, grammar, punctuation and what I would call ‘flow’.

 

Big hint? When you’re writing that one-hour 500-word article, take three extra minutes and read it out loud. You will catch awkward wording, incorrect spelling, etc. very quickly and it could make a world of difference to building your image and reputation online. JMHO.

 

Note from Chris: Mary made a comment below one of my posts, and thanks to her help, my article “How to Write an Article in Less Than One Hour – 10 Useful Tips” is corrected and written in proper English. What’s more, she agreed to write this helpful article for us.

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10 Article Writing Tips, How To Write Killer Article https://nopassiveincome.com/10-article-writing-tips-how-to-write-killer-article/ https://nopassiveincome.com/10-article-writing-tips-how-to-write-killer-article/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:38:40 +0000 http://nopassiveincome.com/?p=132 So, you want to write an article or post, which will fall your competition into oblivion, right? Or, maybe you want to have a lot of viral backlinks to your post? It doesn’t matter, what’s your reason for doing it – if you want doing it, you have to write a killer article. Most of […]

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So, you want to write an article or post, which will fall your competition into oblivion, right?
Or, maybe you want to have a lot of viral backlinks to your post?
It doesn’t matter, what’s your reason for doing it – if you want doing it, you have to write a killer article.
Most of the bloggers persuade, that killer article should be long – I don’t agree with them.
For me killer article is something, which is as essential, as possible, and as short, as possible. Simply saying – it should be PITHY

So, what are the 10 tips for writing killer article?

1. Write for your readers.

You may think – are you joking? Of course I’m writing for them.
Are you sure? Maybe you are writing for your blog, for Google or for You itself?
I know, that writing about your monthly income is very interesting for you and for some of your readers too. But how do you think – how many bloggers or other site owners will link to your 667th report about your earnings? I assure you – I wouldn’t (but I know one “smart” blog, in which earning reports are brilliant!).

2. Carefully choose topic of your article

Please find, what people in your niche are looking for. What are they problems, what’s controversial, what’s HOT at the moment. People like reading guides, how to articles, advises for newbies, etc. Some interviews, rankings and even breaking news (but you should be the first) also may become a killer post for you

3.      Carry out a little investigation and research a competition

Maybe it sounds a little strange, but you  have to know, if someone didn’t write a killer article on almost the same topic before you. It’s important, especially if your niche is really small and bloggers knows each other.

4.      Respect time of your readers

You should write your articles as good as possible. But remember – there is so much other sites and blogs on the web, that it’s not enough for your article to be killer one. So you should save time of your readers – if you are writing about something, but you don’t have time to explain it in details – refer to it by linking for proper source. If you don’t know where it is, you should find it and share this knowledge with other. And don’t waffle!

5.      Try to make your article as a point list.

People love to read lists. Even going to shopping, they prepare a list of  goods for buying. So why don’t  make them happy? Besides, post written as a list is easier readable.

6. Plan some time for writing your powerful article.

Maybe you are a SUPER Writer – I’m not. If you also aren’t , read carefully this point. You killer article must be good or better than good. And as we all know, good things need time for preparing them – just like your article. If you don’t have at least 1 hour – don’t even try for preparing something good. Most of my articles take me about 2-4 hours. But some of them take me a little longer…

7. Use PROPER keywords in your article

It means, that you should find keywords related not only with the topic of your post, but also with the whole blog. At best, your keywords must be SEO competitive – a lot of searches in Google should be done for them and a few people should write articles using them. For finding your keywords you may use Google Keyword Tool – it’s free tool or Market Samurai – free trial you can find here

8. Add some related images, photos or videos to your article.

It liven up an article and your readers will read it more curious. There is a lot of services with free, almost free or paid stuff (Flickr.com, www.sxc.hu, www.freeimages.co.uk, fotolia.com, istockphoto.com), which you may use to illustrate your blog. One important thing, before you take a tour looking for your free image – please read copyrights carefully.

9. Link up to other articles or resources

If it’s needed, you should link to related articles or posts. It’s impossible to cover the whole topic in one short (as I wrote at the beginning – it should be short) article. So if you have something more to say – please prepare (or find) another article and link to it from your post. It’s better, than having never-ending article (who the hell will read it?).

10. Write and publish it!

A lot of people is working on something endless. I know, that in your article a lot of things may be written better. But you are THE BLOGGER – you need to write posts and share them with your readers. So – what are you waiting for – go ahead and write your killer article NOW!

Do you have another tips for killer article? Or maybe you don’t agree with mine? Please comment below

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