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Shoemoney - Skills To Pay The Bills

Shoemoney - Skills To Pay The Bills

Link to ShoeMoney Internet Marketing Blog

How does your story go

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 10:37 AM PDT

There is only so many stories out there movie wise. I think something like 5 original stories.

We always know how they will end… The good guy always wins.

But it’s the little things that a movie throws at me that makes me wonder how in the hell is the hero going to get out of this and get to that end result.

The Hunger Games for instance was a movie I thought was boring. Sure it had neat effects and what not but there was really never any twists that led me to think the end, that we all knew was going to happen, happened.

A good example of a movie I enjoyed is called the Lincoln Lawyer. That is one of my favorite movies of all time. That thing thew me until the end.

When I think about it… this relates to many things. Everyone knows how your life ends. You die. But what you do during your life is what makes it interesting and maybe a story someone would want to share someday.

And of course this also relates to marketing. Take the crockpot for example. 8 companies had made that product and failed. But one hit. Why? We all knew they were trying to sell us something. But it was the story they told, or rather the story we told ourselves about that product that made it so successful.

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Four Quick Ways to Improve Any Blog Post - DailyBlogTips

Four Quick Ways to Improve Any Blog Post - DailyBlogTips

Four Quick Ways to Improve Any Blog Post

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 06:46 AM PDT


Do your blog posts lack something? Perhaps you're trying hard, but you never seem to get more than a couple of comments – and you only have a handful of subscribers. The problem is, you don't have hours to spend on perfecting every post – you've got a busy life.

Here are four simple, quick ways to improve any blog post:

#1: Add a Great Image

I'm sure you've heard this advice time and time again! Most blog posts, particularly longer ones, benefit from at least one great image. You can use images to:

  • Catch the reader's eye, typically at the top of the post
  • Break up a long post, typically between paragraphs
  • Help the reader understand key points, perhaps with screenshots or photos alongside paragraphs of text

Where can you find images for your blog posts? I use Flickr – making sure to search for Creative Commons images licensed for commercial use. (You can do that with the advanced search here.) Remember to cite the artist/photographer, and link back to their Flickr page.

#2: Edit Your Introduction

After the title, the most crucial part of your blog post is the introduction. Your first couple of paragraphs – even your first couple of sentences – have to hook the reader and convince them to read on. Otherwise, there's not much point you writing the rest of the post!

If you only have a few minutes for editing, spend them on the introduction. Make sure that the first line grabs the reader's attention (perhaps with a question, or a provocative statement) and that the rest of the introduction clearly sets up the topic of the post.

#3: Add Formatting

However great your writing is, readers aren't likely to have the patience to read long, unbroken paragraphs online. They want short paragraphs, bullet-pointed lists, bold text and subheadings, which break up your post and make it easier to understand.

By spending just a couple of minutes adding formatting – perhaps putting in subheadings, or finding a few key sentences to highlight with bold text – you make your post much more engaging and easy to read.

#4: Check Your Call to Action

A "call to action" is when you give the reader a specific prompt to do something. Usually, the best place for this is at the end of your post. Your call to action might be:

  • Leave a comment below and let me know what you think
  • If you enjoyed these post, please tweet it, or share it on Facebook
  • Click here to get the blog feed by RSS, so you never miss a post

… and so on.

Think hard about what actions would be most helpful to you. For instance, if you're keen to increase readers' engagement with your blog, ask them to comment; if you want more traffic, ask them to share your post on social media.

Today, try putting into practice at least one of these tips: that might be on a post-in-progress, or on a previously-published post that you want to enhance. Leave a comment below and tell us how you get on!

Bio: Ali Luke writes a weekly column on content creation for DailyBlogTips. She has several free blogging/writing ebooks (and other goodies!) available for download from her site, including Ten Powerful Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Stronger.

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Original Post: Four Quick Ways to Improve Any Blog Post
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