2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The June Prompts

By Sonia Simone

2017 Content Excellence Challenge: June Prompts

There’s something about June … maybe that it’s the sixth month, so you have that reminder that the year is half over. Or maybe it’s the June sunshine (at least in my hemisphere) that makes you want to be ultra productive so you can sneak out for a before-dinner walk.

In any event, I’m feeling rather conquer-the-worldish at the moment, and I hope you are, too. To help with that, here are our community prompts for June.

Each month in 2017, we’re giving you a pair of prompts — one to make you more productive and one to improve your creativity or …read more      

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How to Become a Highly-Rated User on Quora

By Neil Patel

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I’m a curious person by nature.

I find myself constantly doing research on nearly every topic under the sun.

If I’m chilling at a restaurant with friends and someone wonders about a current event or mentions a fact, I’m Googling it on my phone.

(Yeah, I’m that guy.)

A lot of my Google searches begin with “what is,” “why is,” and “how to”…

And there’s a trend I’ve noticed when I Google a lot of these questions.

A sizable percentage of the results I get are from Quora.

Here’s a good example:

Here it is, chillin’ at a solid number three spot for this particular keyword phrase.

And this …read more      

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It’s ‘We Love the Writer’ Week on Copyblogger

By Sonia Simone

It's 'We Love the Writer' Week on Copyblogger

Actually every week is “We love the writer” week on Copyblogger. :) But this one is special, because we’re about to open up the Certified Content Marketer program to a new group of students.

This is a program that turns talented writers into well-paid talented writers. The key pieces are a content marketing strategy course (Brian Clark and I teach that one together), ongoing education to make sure you stay on top of best practices, and — for those who pass the application process — inclusion on our page of recommended writers and content strategists.

If you’re a …read more      

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Writers: Here’s Why You Aren’t Getting More Great Clients

By Sonia Simone

We’ve been saying it for years — writers run the web.

The internet depends on a wealth of content that’s worth reading, watching, and listening to.

And writers are the ones who put those words together. Who create and shape ideas, who teach us, who move us to action … while making all of it interesting and engaging.

It’s difficult work, and it’s necessary work if we want to attract and persuade the people who will become our customers.

So why do so many writers have a hard time making a living?

There are two ugly problems that keep writers from making what they’re …read more      

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How to Become the Most Persuasive Copywriter on the Planet

By Neil Patel

Copywriting, when compared to other forms of writing, is a different kind of animal.

It’s not necessarily about writing well.

It’s about writing persuasively.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a world-class wordsmith or a literary genius.

If you can’t effectively move readers through the proper sequence of steps and ultimately convince them to buy, your conversions are going to suffer.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the world’s greatest writer.

You probably won’t see me publishing a novel anytime soon.

But I’d like to think I’m good at copywriting, which, in its simplest form, is “the act of writing text …read more      

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