Successful Blog

How Love Inspires Us to Write

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By Tiffany Matthews

I had come to write about truth, beauty, freedom and that which I believed above all things, love. But there was only one problem…..I’ve never been in love!

This opening monologue in the movie Moulin Rouge, follows young writer Christian, who is faced with a serious dilemma. How can he write about love without even experiencing what it feels like to fall in love?

Love Acts Like a Muse…

For writers and artists, love is a muse that inspires them in their craft, be it through literary works or through masterpieces in art. Have you ever noticed how the words seem to flow easier when you’re in love? Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a fine example of how love can inspire us to write. She immortalized her love for her husband, Robert Browning in How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways, one of the most famous love sonnets of all time.

Lack of Love or Heartbreak…

Love, or lack of it, inspires us to write about our free flowing emotions that lift us up to cloud nine or bring us crashing down to reality when our illusions of love are shattered. Some writers thrive in loving relationships while others relish the angst of unrequited love. Yes, we need angst to write. Some writers, however, would choose not to fall in love because they don’t want to be brokenhearted. But even a broken heart can be a dark muse, as proven by some of musicians whose albums were inspired by their heartbreak.

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Adele penned her best selling album, 21, which earned her six Grammy Awards last year, including Album of the year. Taylor Swift is another example of how heartbreak can be transformed into words or in her case, songs.

Falling in Love…

Some writers may not be part of the talkative lot, but when they fall in love, expect pages or letters filled with sweet nothings and lovely verse–the only way they know how to articulate their feelings. When you are in a relationship with a writer, expect to be immortalized in poems, stories and songs.

David Levithan’s book, Every Day, has this quote that perfectly describes what love does to us writers, “This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world.”

Stephen King contributes his own thoughts on love in his profession as an author. “Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to makes speeches. Just believing is usually enough.” This line of course, speaks of his wife Tabitha, the loving constant throughout the ups and downs of his writing career.

Even with our increasingly digital and mobile world, writers will still take the time to write you a letter or dedicate a poem to you. Neil Gaiman is one of the more vocal authors, who is not ashamed to speak about his love for his wife, Amanda Palmer, on Twitter. The more bashful wordsmiths will send you notes coming from a supposed secret admirer. The more courageous ones will wear their hearts on their sleeve and declare their love on every social media around. In fact, writers can use online tools, to help them update their social networks and emails simultaneously in one place.

Love in any form–not just the romantic kind–will always inspire us to write. Open your heart and don’t be afraid to fall love. If you do get your heart broken, cry and let your written words speak for you. But don’t ever be afraid of finding love again. Just as Christian in Moulin Rouge learned, “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.

Who Is Your Marketing Content Written For?

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By James Ellis

Content marketers love to talk about the power of content. It slices, it dices, it makes unsightly blemishes disappear. Mix some with water to make a paste and it will polish the silver. Content is the cheat code of marketing

But when they talk about content, they usually focus on content that increases lead generation. That’s not a bad thing. We all love new leads. But content can do a number of different things. Content that excites and interests isn’t the same as content that convinces and assures.

So if content works at every level of the sales funnel (and I’m convinced that it can), you need some intentionality.

What do you want this content to do?

Break your sales cycle into stages. Everyone’s funnel is different depending on what book they’re reading at the time, but list every stage. What kind of content will speak to people at each and every single stage?

You might be concerned that your targets won’t know how to find the content for their stage, consider that people in each stage will be looking for different content and will use different terms depending on if they don’t know who you are and if they are trying to validate that you are the correct solution provider. At the awareness stage, their search terms will be about “how to fix…” while their validation stage might be “product name reviews.”

Having killer content at each stage in the sales funnel isn’t an accident. You need to be intentional and build for each stage.

Author’s Bio: James Ellis is a digital strategist, mad scientist, lover, fighter, drummer and blogger living in Chicago. You can reach out to him or just argue with his premise at saltlab.com.

Writers’ Resolutions for the New Year

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By Tiffany Matthews

One of the things that resonated with me as a writer during the new year is a wish that one of my favorite authors shared:

It’s a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world.

So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we’re faking them.

And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it’s joy we’re looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation.

So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.

If you are familiar with this, then you know I’m talking about Neil Gaiman’s New Year’s wish. This is a wish that I feel resonates with every writer who is shaped by his or her experiences.

Bravery is a mantra that I think everyone should embrace this year, especially when we’ve been given a reprieve on doomsday last December. This is the year to make things happen and here are some resolutions that will help you achieve your writing goals.

Cruise, Drive, Fly

No matter how busy you are with writing, always set aside time for travel, to de-stress and unwind. Most writers, myself included, tend to be perfectionists and workaholics, which when combined can lead to being overworked and burned out. This is why taking a break every now and then is vital to keep your creative juices flowing.

Still not convinced? Perhaps this checklist can help shed light on why writers need to travel. Before you go on your adventure, keep in mind that travel is very unpredictable; therefore, it’s better to be prepared for the worst that could happen. Always take travel insurance with you as your backup plan.

Make a Booklist

You might wonder how a must-read list of books will help you achieve your writing goals. Author Stephen King in his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, shares this valuable piece of advice to writers:

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

The importance of reading is reiterated throughout his book, which is woven with his often humorous insights on writing as a craft. He further states, “Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot.”

One Word at a Time

Getting published is one of writers’ dearest dreams, a dream that is riddled with hurdles like trying to survive daily life. Dreams don’t come true overnight and the reality is you have to work to survive. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can just abandon your dream of becoming an author. It can still happen, if you make it happen.

Set aside time to write for yourself and not just for work. You might feel overwhelmed at the sheer volume of words needed to create your book, but it’s never really about the words. It’s the story that you’re telling. Like what a friend of mine said when he paraphrased Lao Tzu’s famous quote, “The journey of a thousand words begins with one word.”

Swallow your fear and try to be brave as you take it one word at a time. Take comfort in what Stephen King said:

“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.”

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under the sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.

Motivation on a Moment’s Notice

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By Elaine Love

How do you keep yourself motivated when inspiration seems to be hiding under the Oriental rug in your office?

A few weeks ago, Tiffany Matthews detailed suggestions to “Beat Writer’s Block with These Simple Tips.” Absolutely trips and exercise change the perspective and refresh the spirit. What if you have a pressing deadline and you need an immediate energy infusion?

Perhaps these suggestions will release your frozen fingers from the keyboard and allow the words to flow again.

Pictures of Loved Ones

When I am in word deficit and needing a quick burst of inspiration, all it takes is one glance up at the top of my roll top desk and smile at the pictures of my blond curly headed grandsons. One peek at their innocent impish grins and it is easier remember the purpose of writing is to inspire, empower and improve the lives of the readers.

Think about the fun moments with them and the lessons you both learned from your shared adventures. There is always a glimmer of inspiration in memories. It may be the brain boost you need to refresh your spirit and thus your keystrokes.

Music

Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, listens to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” and the epitome of testosterone, “The Theme from Rocky” before he delivers a major keynote speech. Music gives him energy to give his very best to the audience. Isn’t that what we do as writers, give our very best to our audiences? Many network marketers put on rousing tunes to accelerate their adrenaline before picking up the phone for morning calls.

What music frees your mind, engages your energy, and opens the door to creativity? For me it is Josh Groban or Andrea Bocelli; there is something magical about a romantic Italian with a beautiful voice.

Success CD

When my eyes open of a morning it is time to pull on the exercise tights and a sweatshirt, grab a quart of Smart water and head for the treadmill. The exercise invigorates my body. The CD player on the stand by the treadmill contains the latest CD from Success magazine or the newest Success book summary CD. There is always a wealth of inspiration packed in those audio discs.

Keep a notepad handy. Hit pause on the treadmill and jot a fast note to yourself. You may be coordinated enough to write while walking or running on the treadmill. Either my handwriting would not be legible or I would fall off the machine; jumping off to write seems to work better.

Step outside

One deep breath of fresh Colorado mountain air clears the mental cobwebs and relaxes the mind. Watching a doe with a tiny spotted fawn having lunch on my neighbor’s perfectly trimmed shrubbery can cause a smile to cross my face.

Sometimes all it takes is a tiny mental break to refresh the spirit and free the mind.

Author’s Bio: At home in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Elaine Love writes about small business and the mindset for success so essential for an entrepreneur. She is the author of Emotional Ice Water. Find her on Twitter: @elainelove44 or Elaine4Success.com.

How to Use a Google Docs Content Template

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By Andy Crestodina

Sorry, Word. We had a good run. Goodbye Word

We created hundreds of beautiful documents together over the years, but it’s time to move on. I’ve moved up, into the “cloud.” I’ve moved all of my content creation to Google Docs.

Why? There are some obvious reasons:

  • No crashes. No “Oops, forgot to save!” Google has never lost a single word I’ve typed.
  • No version control issues. Everything is easy to share. No more email attachments or wondering if I’m looking at the latest version.
  • Word was always high-maintenance. It’s kind of a resource hog and slowed down my computer. But Google Docs? I’ve got a browser open anyway. Why not use it?

So, let’s use Docs. Here’s how to use a Google Docs content marketing template:

1. Set it up with whatever content standards you set for your own writing.

Use the template to prompt yourself to use the formatting, length, tone, images, keywords, links, calls-to-action and author bios that you know work best for you.

If you don’t yet have a content template, here’s CMI’s own Template for Killer Website Content, which you can adapt from a PDF version into your own Google Doc. I’ve included a link to my own Google Doc content template at the end of this post.

2. Link from it to your favorite resources.

If you’re like me, you’re always referring to online tools while you write. I’m looking up keyphrases (Google Keyword Tool), finding possible experts to contribute or share with (FilterTweeps), or researching possible host blogs to pitch to (Open Site Explorer). It’s fast to get to these when you have links in the template.

3. Link to it from your other planning tools.

Since your draft articles are now online, you can link to them easily from your content calendar or other internal tools. Keep a Google Docs spreadsheet of all the articles you’re working on with links to each.

4. Collaborate with your editor, graphics person or other contributors.

Sharing a Google Doc is easy. No sending attachments. No wondering if you’re looking at the latest version.

Sharing Google Docs
Just click the blue “Share” button, decide if they can edit or just view, and Google will send them a link.

Put your own standards for length, tone and topics into the template, so when you share it with possible guest bloggers, they’ll see your guest blogger guidelines right there in the template.

5. Plan your promotion in advance.

It’s smart to think ahead about who you’ll share it with, how you’ll tweet it, what keyphrases you’ll target, and what the email subject line will be before you write something. When the template includes these aspects, it’s impossible to write without promotion in mind.

6. Access it quickly from anywhere. My template is called “Content Template – MASTER” and since I access it so often, I just need to start typing “œmaster” into my address bar and the doc shows up.

Google Docs Template
No need to wait for Word to open. It’s as easy as Evernote. But remember to make a copy of it before you start! Otherwise, you’ll overwrite your template.

Feel free to use the shared version of my own Google Doc content template. Just make a copy, and adapt it for your own content marketing. If you have questions about this template or Google Docs in general, let us know with a comment below!

Author’s Bio: Andy Crestodina is the Strategic Director of Orbit Media, a web design and ecommerce firm in Chicago, where writes about content marketing for the Orbit blog. You can find Andy on and Twitter.

How To Write Great Blog Posts – Quickly

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Successfully Working From a Home-based Office

A blog is a convenient tool that can serve many purposes. It can be used to chronicle personal events, marketing or branding. There are millions of blogs on the internet and the competition is fierce. The job of the blog writer is to write interesting posts so that it proves useful to the readers and keeps the search engines interested. The onus should on writing quality articles and not on increasing the number of articles mindlessly.

Think of blog post ideas

You should devote some time to think of blog post ideas or go into the admin section of the blog and add them in the drafts. This will save a lot of time and you can find the topics very easily. You can also think of using a timer if you take a lot of time in writing a single article. Once you are using a timer you will not be tempted to check your email or open the social networking page in the middle of writing an article. Always try to complete your articles before the deadline that you set.

Write what’s in your mind

This is the simplest way to write. Just write what’s in your brain at the moment. Choose a topic from your list, give yourself a 60 min time and start writing. Just keep writing whatever comes to your mind so that you do not lose the flow. If there are any spelling errors, you can always correct it later. Start by jotting down the facts related to the topic. Then one-by-one starts expanding on those topics and provides useful ideas. Readers are always in search of ‘benefits’ and ‘tips’. So write accordingly.

You can do your own research or just read 2 – 3 articles on the topic and summarize that information in your blog post using your own words. However, copying or duplicating information is strictly unethical. By the time your timer goes off, you should have a reasonably good content at your disposal.

Think of a good headline

All great blog posts boast of good headlines. It is prudent that you think about the headline of the article after you finished writing it. It is always easier to create a catchy and accurate headline once you have finished writing the post.

Add the final touches

Once you have completed writing the post, read through the article at least twice to ensure that there is no phrase which does not sound right. Your post should not sound like an editorial; the reader must feel that you have written the post exclusively for him/her. Talk to the individual and not to the general public.

If there are any spelling errors, correct it. Run the spell check function in MS Word to be doubly sure. If possible add photos to your post as they introduce an element of interest in the article. You can create your own photos or get them from Google but use only those photos which are not copyrighted or has watermark in it. If you follow these guidelines diligently then you can soon write great blog posts quickly.

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Author’s Bio:
About the Author-: Brianne is a freelance writer and writes about most expensive cars and Lamborghini Aventador. She has also written a number of articles for different blogs. She loves writing on technology and luxury. You can find her on Twitter as @Brianne. ”

Thank you, Brianne!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!