The Five Habits Of Highly Effective Copywriters

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In the age of the internet, copywriting is an essential business skill. Yet, it’s still something that many people shy away from, because they don’t feel they are ‘good enough’ writers. You can hire a professional copywriter to work on your website, but the impact of having copywriting skills stretches further than your sales page. Your writing skills influence your social media presence, and the emails you send to colleagues, current clients and prospective customers. Poor grammar or spelling can look unprofessional, so it’s in the best interests of your business to develop your writing skills and maintain your company’s reputation.

If you want to learn to write effectively, you can do so without taking a professional training course, or spending money on a tutor. Here are five habits that will help you improve your writing skills in your own time.

Write something every day

Practice is the best way to improve your copywriting skills, so make time to write something every day. This could be a blog post, a long email, half a chapter of a book, or a certain number of words – the target is your decision. What’s important is that you stick to this. Not only will it help you develop your skills but it will also make you more familiar and comfortable with your writing style, something that’s important if you’re going to be showing off your writing work in public. Michelle from href="http://www.wicked-whimsy.com/" target="_blank"> Wicked Whimsy advises href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2010/12/26/why-writing-every-day-isnt-enough/" target="_blank"> Problogger readers not just to write every day, but to write something for other people every day.

Writing every day is hard – not because we don’t have time (we always have time) – but because we might feel a lot of resistance to it, especially if it’s something we don’t enjoy, or if we don’t feel very confident in our abilities.

Read something every day

Reading something every day is another important way to improve your copywriting skills, second only to a daily writing practice. What you read doesn’t matter, as long as it’s the kind of quality that you want to emulate. As well as general reading material, try to read publications that are relevant to the type of writing you want to improve. For example, if you have to write advertising copy for your business, try to read one or more advertisements every day; if you’re writing blog posts, find and follow several blogs whose style you admire.

As well as reading works inside your head, it can also be useful to read them out loud too. Email marketer href="http://bensettle.com/" target="_blank"> Ben Settle recommends reading passages aloud to process the vocabulary and sentence construction more thoroughly than you could if you were just reading the words in your head.

Study your art

While you might not want to commit to taking a copywriting course, reading up on the subject is helpful for improving your href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/web-copy-writing/20-grammar-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/">grammar and style.

Many grammar books are better for curing insomnia than improving writing skills. It’s helpful, however, to take a deep breath and plunge into a few short books on writing that contain helpful tips for improving your prose. Notable books that discuss the art of non-fiction writing include href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Style-4th-Edition/dp/0205313426/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337201002&sr=8-1" target="_blank"> Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0060891548/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337201089&sr=1-1" target="_blank"> On Writing Well by William Zinsser, and href="http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337201128&sr=1-1" target="_blank"> On Writing by Stephen King. All these books are brief, provide helpful tips and tricks for improving your writing skills, and are easy to reference if you need help in the future.

Edit, edit, edit

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Editing is the second-most important skill to have after writing. Many people find that, no matter how much practice they get, the first draft of whatever they’re composing is always clumsy – it’s the self-editing process that makes the difference.

You should watch for several key points when self-editing. The first is the length of your sentences. As a general copywriting rule, try to say what you want to say with as few words as possible. If you have superfluous words in the sentence, take them out. The usual culprits involve modifiers (for example, “quite” or “very”), and describing words. Only use adverbs or adjectives when you have to, otherwise they lose their impact and your writing becomes verbose.

Avoid using passive sentences like “Amazing products are constructed by our staff” and replace them with active sentences: “Our staff construct amazing products”. You should also remove repeated ideas, and start identifying your own personal writing quirks. Everyone has words or phrases that they tend to overuse, so try to become more conscious of those and edit unnecessary elements from your writing.

If you struggle with self-editing, try changing the way you go about the process. Print off a hard copy of your work and edit on paper instead of using a screen. Beth Hill, a freelance fiction writer and author of “href="http://theeditorsblog.net/" target="_blank"> The Editor’s Blog” suggests having a change of scene; for example, if you usually work at home, try working in a library or cafe. This can help you look at you work with fresh eyes and spot errors or alterations you might not otherwise have found. href="http://ijnet.org/stories/self-editing-tips-journalists" target="_blank"> Ex-BBC journalist Phil Harding suggests reading your work aloud to help you edit the flow of the piece.

Solicit feedback

If you’re lacking confidence in your abilities as a wordsmith, showing your writing to others can feel incredibly exposing. Allowing other people to critique your work, however, is an important tool for improving your copywriting skills, and doing this on a regular basis will help you improve grammatical and stylistic errors that you might not spot yourself. If the idea of showing your work to others feels too excruciating right now, you can also try to critique your old work. Choose work from at least six months ago, so enough time has passed that you can take a new look at the work from a distance.

The href="http://writingcenter.cos.edu/2011/11/how-to-ask-for-and-get-good-feedback/" target="_blank"> Writing Center at College of the Sequoias suggests asking for specific feedback, rather than “What do you think?” This might include asking your test readers to pay attention to your grammar, your sentence structure, the flow of your writing, or the clarity of the content. When deciding what to ask for regarding feedback, start with the aspect of your writing that leaves you feeling least comfortable. You can also ask broader questions that require the reader to give an in-depth answer, for example “What do you think I’m writing about here?” This type of feedback will help you understand how your writing impacts others, and will

Page 24 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

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I am sure you read before that over 95% of blogs that are created are abandoned. This statistic could be skewed due to the fact that most people who create a blog do not have any plans on doing it long term. That is, this figure probably incorporates people who are simply trying blogging out. Still, there is no denying that the overwhelming majority of people who try blogging do not stick at it.

Everyone starts blogging enthusiastically. It is not uncommon for some new bloggers to update their blog every day for the first few weeks due to how much they enjoy it; though it soon becomes clear to them that blogging is a lot of hard work. It can take months or even years before a blog acquires a good readership and when this becomes apparent, most people become discouraged. They simply do not have the time, patience or desire to stay in for the long haul.

Even those with experience with making money online have struggled to build a successful blog. I have seen many successful internet marketers dismiss the power of blogging after they failed to develop a blog they launched. They went into it thinking that if beginners can create a blog and make it successful, surely someone with a proven track record of making money online can do it? Sadly, that is not the case. They wrongly assumed that blogging was easy and that their prior success with other websites ensured they would be successful with it. Rather that admit their own failures with their blog, they dismiss the medium as not giving a good return for your investment.

Many do persevere with blogging and go on to make their blog’s a success. Those who do have qualities that others did not. Today I would like to talk about the habits that effective bloggers have and how it helped them succeed.

1. They Are Highly Motivated

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People get motivated in many ways. Some work hard out of necessity whilst others are driven by the fact that they have not achieved what they wanted in life. Whatever their source of their motivation, it is clear that all successful bloggers are highly motivated in making their blog a success.

They are willing to to make sacrifices to ensure that their blog reaches its potential. Without doubt, the biggest sacrifice anyone can make is with their time. So if you want to develop a successful blog, you must be prepared to reduce your leisure time in order to get things finished.

“Motivation will almost always beat mere talent” – Norman Ralph Augustine

2. They Stay Up To Date

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6570 border" alt="Get up to date" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/calender.jpg" width="750" height="450" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/calender.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/calender-300x180.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

Knowing your subject matter is essential to blogging. Top bloggers all stay up to date with the latest news and views surrounding their topic. It simply is not possible to write with conviction if you do not know what you are talking about. Therefore, it is important that you stay up to date with the latest news and events.

“Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power” – Horace Mann

3. They Plan Ahead

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6574 border" style="line-height: 1.5em;" alt="Plan and be flexible" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/rubberband-ball.jpg" width="750" height="482" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/rubberband-ball.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/rubberband-ball-300x192.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

Planning will help you define your long term goals and push you to take the steps necessary to reach them. Being content to simply plod along one day at a time is unlikely to lead to great things. By planning ahead you can break down what needs to be done and then commit yourself to doing them.

“One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals” – Michael Korda

4. They Treat Their Blog Like a Business

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6569 border" alt="Treat your blog like business" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/business.jpg" width="750" height="499" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/business.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/business-300x199.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

If you treat blogging like a hobby, you will likely see hobby results. You need to give blogging the respect it deserves. Don’t worry; treating your blog like a business does not mean that you will no longer have fun updating your blog. What it does mean is that you need to take blogging seriously and title="Successful blogging: How? " href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/how-to-create-a-successful-blog/">have a purpose in everything you do with your blog.

Think about the end result of everything you do. If something is not going to increase your readership or increase your bottom line, perhaps you need to evaluate whether it is worthwhile.

“The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell” – Confucius

5. They Analyse What They Do

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6578 border" alt="Analyse your blog" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/analysis.jpg" width="750" height="480" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/analysis.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/analysis-300x192.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

Being analytical does not always mean checking Google Analytics several times a day (though for some bloggers it does). Successful bloggers are always reviewing what works and what doesn’t. To do this effectively you need to be able to look at your own work objectively and say whether your previous decision was right or not.

Has your decision to write longer more in-depth posts proved worthwhile? Is your lack of interaction with readers effecting your blog’s growth? Examine everything you do with your blog, from how you are using your time to how you are investing your money.

“Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good” – Plato

6. They are Doers

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Having a clear vision of what needs to be done is obviously important, however it means nothing if steps are not taken to actually make that vision a reality. All successful bloggers have a track record of actually getting things done. Great ideas are worthless without execution.

Becoming a successful blogger is less about what you have done in the past and more about what you are prepared to do in the future. Your dreams will not become true unless you make them so.

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other” – Walter Elliot

7. They Do Not Let Setbacks Keep Them Down

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You need to be willing to take risks and try out things that you have no previous experience with. Sometimes this works out well, sometimes it does not. To be an effective blogger, you need to be able to accept that everything will not go to plan. The issue is not whether you will experience setbacks – you will. Traffic and income targets may be missed and articles may not be well received. The key thing is to not let these setbacks discourage you from moving forward.

“Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward” – Victor Kiam

By looking at the working habits of top bloggers and examining what drives them to do what they do, you can learn a lot about what is required of you to reach the same heights. What makes some bloggers successful and others not is a subject I find fascinating and something which I discussed in great detail in my free eBook title="The Traits & Habits of Successful Bloggers" href="http://www.kevinmuldoon.com/books/traits-habits-successful-bloggers/">The Traits & Habits of Successful Bloggers.

I would like to leave you with some questions that I hope makes you think about your own situation:

• What drives you to become successful?
• What are you willing to sacrifice in order to become a success?
• Is your blog going in the direction you want it to?

Thanks for reading, Kevin

Photo credit: href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyefruit/179553810/">(michelle), href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23912576@N05/2962194797/">laverrue, href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36821100@N04/5417281120/">Aristocrats-hat, href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffen_ramsaier/8351116782/">sramses177, href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasticbrain/9239853121/">bicycle thief, href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/safari_vacation/5961260280/">SalFalko, and href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marinadelcastell/9429495502/">MaRiNa.

Page 18 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

My Blog Writing Tips – How Building the Right Habits and Using the Right Tools could Save Your Blog

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style="line-height: 1.5em;">The single most important reason for people to visit your blog again and again is your content.

style="line-height: 1.5em;">People do not come in to view your advertisements; href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/is-sponsorship-killing-your-blog/" target="_blank">they come in to read your posts. Your writing therefore, is the most important thing on your blog. The time spent on writing high quality and engaging posts should be your top priority. Here’s how to write kickass post on your blog, consistently.

Writing Habits

Focus

class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11250" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/stay-focus.jpg" alt="stay focus" width="750" height="363" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/stay-focus.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/stay-focus-300x145.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

Stay away from distractions.

Shut off that TV, turn off email notifications, log out from your social media, and switch your phone into silent mode.

Try to set up a conducive area where you can write in peace and without disturbances. Let your family or roommate know not to disturb you when you are here. In certain cases, writing at the same time each day helps. When are you at your creative best? Some people can get the best writing done in the shortest amount of time in the early morning. For some, it is late at night. Find your best time by experimenting a little.

Read and write something every day

Practice is the best way to href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/web-copy-writing/25-rules-for-writing-crazy-good-sentences/" target="_blank">improve your copywriting skills. Write something every day.

This could be a blog post, a long email, half a chapter of a book, or a certain number of words – the target is your decision. What’s important is that you stick to this. Reading something every day is another important way to improve your copywriting skills, second only to a daily writing practice. What you read doesn’t matter, as long as it’s the kind of quality that you want to emulate.

id="attachment_11247" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright">class="size-full wp-image-11247" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/evernote.jpg" alt="Snapshot of my notes in Evernote." width="300" height="243" />class="wp-caption-text">Snapshot of my notes in Evernote.