Lisa Angelettie

Bestselling Amazon Author

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Top 25 Power Words For Your Articles

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When I sit down to write articles, ebooks, and other content in my business — while I always strive to teach or show my reader a major concept related to writing, marketing, etc. I always want to make sure that I am also reaching the reader through powerful words.

Using powerful words in your content is a great way to motivate  customers and clients to take action. Here is list of the Top 25 Power Words that I like to use in my articles and that I see make a difference in conversion (clicks).

  1. accelerate
  2. action
  3. align
  4. bridge
  5. build
  6. connect
  7. conquer
  8. design
  9. dominate
  10. establish
  11. explore
  12. fundamentals
  13. gain
  14. generate
  15. ignite
  16. manage
  17. master
  18. penetrate
  19. plan
  20. position
  21. rank
  22. realize
  23. succeed
  24. transform
  25. urgent

When You Hate Your Own Writing

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What To Do When You Hate Your Own Writing

1. Stop Judging Yourself.
How do you know your writing is bad? Isn’t much of that relative to who is reading what you wrote? Some will hate it but some will love it. You never know who your writing is going to resonate with – so judging your writing too harshly would be a self-destructive mistake.

2. Practice Writing Anything.
I know you may be in business selling insurance, but if you want to write about how your mother-in-law is driving you crazy – then write it. Just get into the practice of putting your thoughts down on paper. Start writing more crazy family stories and you might find your business writing voice as well. It’s in there you just have to exercise the muscles!

3. Find A Writing Buddy.
I have a writing pal who sends me over her work and vice-versa and we give each other quick and we offer each other suggestions about what may be missing from an article, or just praise when one of us has written something really good. A writing pal will give you added support and encouragement when you desperately need it. It’s kind of like having an exercise buddy. Who wants to go to the gym alone.

4. Try Not To Outsource.
You may be really tempted to outsource your article writing when you hate everything you’ve written, but I’m asking you not to do that at this point. You will never fall in “like” with what you write if you become dependent on another person’s voice.

5. Accept The Average.
Listen, not everyone is going to write a masterpiece. It’s just not in everyone’s DNA to write really engaging articles. And that’s fine. Your an average writer, and that’s okay.

While there are many marketers out there who will scare you into believing that you must have wonderfully distinctive content, blah blah blah, the truth is – is that you just need to be able to hold potential clients/customers attention for a few seconds. Enough for them to click on your call to action link. And you can do that without all the bells and whistles. All you have to do is to make sure that you answer a question, provide a resource, or meet a need.  That’s how most people make money. Not by being the most “clever” writer.

Will People Read Long Articles On The Web?

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Will people read long or lengthy articles on the web? This is a frequently asked article marketing question that I have decided to finally answer today because of a little inspiration from the Blog Tyrant and his well-written, oversized articles.

Q: Hi Lisa. I want to know if it’s really true that people will not read really long articles on the web (like 1000, 1200 words). I am an experienced writer and I want to start making money by writing online, but I don’t know how to dumb down or shorten my work. I give lots of details and examples that make total sense for my articles and I don’t want to stop doing that just because there is some “unwritten” rule about how long an article on the web should be.

cut long articles

A: Whew! That was a great question from one of my more regular readers. In fact, when I asked some of my readers to help review a report for me – I was surprised to see that many of them were very seasoned writers. Phd’s in writing. So I completely understand where a lot of you are coming from. Many of you are experienced and talented writers who understand that the form of popular media is changing – moving towards a digital format – especially with all the eReaders now available. You want to capitalize on this new movement and make a little money on the web or even make a living on the web with your writing. But you need to do it your way.

I understand that –and there are folks out there who absolutely do write 900, 1000, 1400 word articles which do very well. So you could write long articles if you want, if that’s what you need to do, and do fine in the search engines and do fine with your readers. There is are no hard rules around writing on the web – just guidelines. So to make the case for writing long articles, I’ll say that:

1. Your readers may love that you have given them SO MUCH information in one article that they subscribe to your list and become devoted fans.

2. You will have given a new visitor a true sample of your writing and your talent, that makes them want to come back for more.

3. Long articles can give the reader the impression that you are very knowledgable on your topic and so they view you as an expert.

Now the last time I wrote and published one 1400 word article was probably for a magazine I was freelancing for, or maybe in the old days I wrote really long articles on my first website. I have written 1200-1500 word articles since then as well, but I always break them into three pieces and this is why…

1. I get three articles for the “time-spent” price of one. I can do more things with three articles than I can with one. I can turn them into an article series which has a higher perceived info-value then one article. Even one very long article:)

2. I feel that writing more often and consistently is more important than writing a very long article when the mood strikes. It’s better for the writer because it creates momentum — you are in a continuous flow of research and writing. It’s better for your traffic because the search engines see that you are publishing on a regular basis – so they crawl your site more often.

I haven’t seen a lot of writers (on the web) be able to write really long, in-depth articles on a consistent basis. There are some, but they typically are people who were writing very long articles in the print media arena and so they are use to producing at that level on a regular basis.

3. It’s been researched and tested that due to the nature of how we read information on the web (computers, hand-held PDA’s, iPads, Kindles, etc.), that people can only tolerate to digest “chunks” of information at a time while looking at a screen. In fact, that’s even been proven in print as well. Which is why so many of the younger generations get their news from television or from blogs and websites that deliver very short chunks of news. Especially in people under 50 years old. So you have to also think about your demographic…

4. Does my ideal customer who is a working, 35-year-old, mother of two have time to read a 1500 word article from me everyday? How about once a week? Does she even want to? Or does she want an answer to a question – and be able to move on to the next thing. While I’m not 35 anymore:), I can tell you that I don’t even have time for that and this is what I do for a living!

Conclusion
This article just ran into about 900 words which I’m fine with today, because there are no specific “rules” around what you must do. Write in the format that you feel most comfortable with and in a way that your demographic dictates, because ultimately you don’t want to only write for yourself – you want other folks to read what you write! Make sure to leave a comment if you have any other questions or think I overlooked something about writing long articles for the web, I’d love to get a sustainable conversation going on over here about it.

Online Writing Courses

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Online Writing Courses For The Web

Article Marketing: Online Writing Courses For The Web

Articlology: Article Marketing Course For Beginners
Learn how to write & publish articles that attract traffic to your site, and help you build credibility and visibility on the web.
Learn More About Articology

Fiction Writing: Online Writing Courses For The Web

Writers Digest University Online Courses
Take fundamental courses in fiction from Writer’s Digest University.
Learn More About Writer’s Digest Courses

Non-Fiction Writing: Online Writing Courses For The Web

The New York Times Knowledge Network Online Courses
A variety of non-fiction courses offered by the The New York Times adult learning and continuing education department called the Knowledge Network.
Learn More About The NYT Online Non-Fiction Courses

CopyWriting: Online Writing Courses For The Web

Marcia Yudkin’s Six Weeks To Masterful Copywriting
Marcia is a fabulous writer and writing coach. She has been teaching writing for years
Learn More About Marcia’s Copywriting Course (and her other writing courses)

Article Marketing Research

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Effective Article Marketing Research

article marketing research

When you are designing content for people in your marketplace, there are topics that you are going to be able to write about with great ease, because that’s your forte. You know your niche!

But then there will be other times when you know just “a little something” about a topic you want to write on, but need to do a little article marketing research to be completely accurate and informative for the reader.

So article marketing research doesn’t have to be painful for you. In fact, you can conduct article marketing research quickly if you know how to approach it. No worries, this works in almost any niche…

1. Choose a target keyword or keyword phrase for your article

2. Conduct a Google search for that term

3. Research the top site for that term

4. Research the first social media site, hubpage, or squidoo page that comes up for that term (Don’t just look for Twitter and Facebook, there are many other social media sites out there. You are going to have to click and learn:)

5. Search Wikipedia. With tighter rules on adding and editing content, content is quite accurate.

6. Conduct a Google “News” search for your phrase.

7. Conduct a Twitter search for your term or topic. See what questions people are asking. What statements they are making. Search features are directly in Twitter or you can third party tools such as Hootsuite.

8. Always have a go-to source in your niche .Who knows more than you? Who’s been around a lot longer and maintained in your marketplace. Ask that person questions. Get to know that person. One day you may be in his or her place:)

9. Check the forums for Q&A on your topic.

10. Ask an expert a question on sites such as Ask.com. I get inquiries about writing and e-publishing all the time on this site.

Use these tips in your article marketing research and watch how quickly your articles fill up with text!

September Article Ideas

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September Article Ideas

September 11

September Article Ideas

With the kids back at school or college, it’s time to kick your writing up a notch. Let’s crank out some great articles for September. Here are some article ideas to get your juices flowing…

September 11th

Write about the survivors of September 11th. What are they doing now? Have their lives changed in a significant way. For better. For worse. Write about the current political controversies surrounding the continued rebuilding of the area. Write about how this event affected people outside of New York, how it changed the way we view our “safety” as a nation.

Baby Safety Month Article Ideas

Write about topics such as high chairs, car seats, booster seats, toys, national recalls, fast food meal toy safety, dangerous things in the home, cleaning supplies, safety gates, SIDS, etc.

Better Breakfast Month Article Ideas

Write about the importance of a breakfast. Include statistics on school or work performance with and without eating breakfast. Also include menus and suggestions for breakfasts that are healthier, that taste better, and that are quick to make.

Cable TV Month Article Ideas

Write a piece on the history of Cable TV. Life with and without it. The cost of Cable television. You could write about lack of real competition for cable tv dollars.

Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month Article Ideas

My cousin was just diagnosed with some sort of fungus of the cornea. Both eyes. He wears contacts and if it isn’t addressed right away he could lose the sight of one of his eyes. We only have two! So you could write about children getting exams outside of school, safety when playing sports, possible eye diseases etc.

Classical Music Month Article Ideas

It’s important that we share the joy of classical music with the younger generations. Write about great composers, etc.

Library Card Sign-Up Month Article Ideas

If you write a few articles about the economy and tie it in with “escape reading” THEN add how can spend zero dollars for this by signing up at your local library – you’ll have a great article there!

National Chicken Month

Chicken recipes. Need I say more. Who doesn’t eat chicken?

National Courtesy Month Article Ideas

Let’s be a little nicer to each other. That’s what I told my daughter just today when we were shopping in Whole Foods. On the other hand, one of my other kids went on a playdate and the mother returned saying that she was well-mannered and a joy to be around. There’s something to be said about being courteous. Being kind. Being helpful and thankful. Write about it this month.

National Honey Month Article Ideas

Allergies are about to kick in strongly again. I take a spoonful of local honey to help build my immune system. Health benefits of honey! Types of honey. How honey is harvested from bees.

National Pediculosis Prevention Month Article Ideas

First of all, write an article defining what Pediculosis is. (Lice Infestation). This is the time of year that lice infestation kicks up – so write about traditional and alternative treatments. Write articles that debunk myths (only dirty people get lice), etc. Or simply write about what lice are, what they do, and why they do it to us!

National Piano Month Article Ideas

I’m about to rent a piano for my daughter to practice her lessons. The electronic keyboard doesn’t have all the keys. I sold my baby grand when we moved here. Big mistake! Pianos are pieces of art. Make sure to include lots of pics with your piano articles: making of piano, history of piano, types of pianos, etc. Famous people who play the piano: Elton John, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder

National Rice Month Article Ideas

Types of rices. Countries popular for rice crops. Rice recipes.

National School Success Month Article Ideas

This is a great time of year to write about schools who have “figured it out” and have amazing success stories. Innovative charter school stories. Everyday student stories. Articles in this niche that always do well are “Top Schools” in whatever city.

National Sewing Month Article Ideas

My daughter signed up for a two hour sewing class this month. The classes were not full which was fine by me, BUT it let’s me know that sewing is an art and a craft that has lost it’s popular appeal. It may soon be a lost art to the common man.

So it’s a great time to talk about sewing. Compare and contrast sewing in the home of yesteryear to how often we sew today — or rather who sews are garments today.

You could also write light stories about sewing the latest fashions. Sewing tips. Sewing for children. How to buy a sewing machine.

Read-A-New-Book Month Article Ideas

Sometimes my kids just don’t know what book to read next. This is a great topic to feature new authors, local authors, the hottest books on the shelves, etc. Talk about libraries and how it is so cost-efficient to borrow a book than buy one from the big local chains. Write about book groups and clubs. Write about how children are swapping books for fun.

Women of Achievement Month Article Ideas

Pick a woman you admire – write about her. Pick a woman in your community who is actually out there doing something – write about her. Pick a woman from the past who was an unsung hero for whatever reason – write about her. Write about the most powerful women in the media, entertainment, politics, etc.

Have any other September article ideas for your fellow writers? Share them with us in the comments section below.

Writing Rituals

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There is a technique that most productive writers consciously use to get more writing done and that is called using writing rituals. This is an advanced article writing strategy that the pros use, but is an important enough strategy that even those of you just writing your first article should implement them in your daily routine.

So What Is A Writing Ritual?
A writing ritual is a repetitive but deliberate and conscious behavior that has a deeper meaning. You hopefully already perform some sort of writing rituals before you write something for the day.

Writing rituals are much different than writing habits. For instance, when I was younger I had a habit of always playing in my hair when I wrote. It was not conscious. It was not deliberate. And it sure didn’t help me write better. I think what it did was subconsciously soothe my anxiety when I got stuck writing under pressure (tests, deadlines, etc.)

As I grew older though, a ritual I developed was to always pour myself a icy glass of juice, water, or something right before I would sit down and write my first sentence. I developed this one out of working in the newspaper business. The ritual of pouring my drink, placing it on my coaster, to the right hand side of my computer before I sat down to write marked the beginning of my writing session. It means to me that I am ready to get down to business. Or that I’m going to at least write 250 words before I get up again.

What’s The Point Of Writing Rituals?
The point of using rituals in your writing is to basically allow yourself to become more creative and productive. They increase productivity and help banish writer’s block. If you establish good rituals in your daily life – you will be amazed at how much more content you can produce. Content that you actually are proud of:)

Examples of Writing Rituals
You can come up with so many different ideas for writing rituals. There is no steadfast rule. It just needs to be deliberate, conscious, and something that really means something to you, like:

1. Sharpening your favorite pencil before you begin.

2. Clearing your desk before you start.

3. Working at the same time every day.

4. Checking your favorite 3 news sites for story ideas before you write.

5. Not moving onto anything else in your business until you’ve written 250 words.

6. Setting a timer so that you can write for a specific amount of time everyday.

Whatever rituals you decide to incorporate in your daily routine, know that once you establish just a few positive ones and stick to them – you should see your output increase and your creativity soar.

Related Websites

Article Writing: How To Create An Ideal Writing Workspace

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woman cooling offIt is quite unusual for me to not have completed any article writing on my own blog for days like I have this week. My only excuse – I am so HOT! We are having a heat wave over here on the East Coast of the United States – especially in my area (PA, NY, NJ). When I relocated to Pennsylvania, I bought a big ‘ole 8 bedroom colonial. No central air. I thought I would be fine, because while it does get hot in the summers here, it usually doesn’t get this hot for this long.

So it made me think, unknowingly I have created a less than ideal writing condition for myself — which is a little “crazy” when this is my livelihood. Next thing I knew, I looked up and the week was almost over. So how about you? Have you created an ideal writing workspace? Or have you sabotaged yourself?

1. Is the temperature in the room you write in ideal depending on the season? (I put a small air conditioner in my office now:)

2. Is your writing area clean? (Uh, that’s a work in progress:)

3. Are there distractions when you attempt to write articles? TV. Kids. Etc. (I do have a TV in my office, but watching the news often helps me generate article ideas)

4. Do you have things within arms reach in your writing area such as a cool or hot drink, tissues, telephone, writing pad, pen/sharpie/sticky notes, etc. (If you have to get up all the time for little things you can lose focus easily)

5. Is your seating comfortable? Are you working from a desk or comfortable kitchen table? Or are you sunk low on a couch? Remember that you can create or aggravate carpal tunnel symptoms if you are not seated correctly and your hands and wrists are typing at an incorrect angle. If your back is aching because you use an old folding chair from 20 years ago, you may want to consider upgrading to a better chair. You cannot possibly be creative if you sitting for short periods of time is too uncomfortable.

6. Does your computer and internet work well? If you are still using dial-up, you cannot possibly be effectively submitting and/or publishing articles on the web. It’s just too slow. Also, while I know that computers are not cheap, if you are working on a seriously outdated, slow, unreliable computer, you will be frustrated and produce less. If you are going to treat your business as a real business and not a hobby, it is essential that you have a reliable and updated computer.

7. Add touches of motivation and inspiration. In my workspace I must have a scented candle, a big plant, pictures of my family, and any awards or certificates etc. that I have earned. Now that’s my home office. But if you are in a smaller space or your kitchen etc., then think about what inspirational elements you could temporarily add when writing.

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