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 | How to write catchy email headlines Tell the story, keep them to 1 line, & more Heads up on e-zine headlines: Write email newsletter headlines that are clear, short and don’t get cut off on mobile. October 21, 2021 |
 | How to get paragraphs read on mobile Can you read me now? Readers struggle to read long paragraphs on smartphones. October 14, 2021 |
 | Feature structure outperforms traditional news format What organizing structure would make the best foundation for your message? Not the inverted pyramid. October 07, 2021 |
 | Technical terminology hurts SEO, social, PR Jargon makes your website harder to find, reduces media coverage — even slashes your social-media influence. September 30, 2021 |
 | How to optimize for voice search SEO guidelines for content writers Can you find me now? Some 50% of searches are voice search these days, according to comScore. Here’s how to optimize for voice search. September 23, 2021 |
 | 3 tips for personalizing email What’s in a name? Not much. Go beyond name-calling to tailor your message to your readers’ best interests. September 16, 2021 |
 | They’re ‘the most important thing you can do’ online Piece of cake: Readers go for the frosting — aka the subheads — online. That makes it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. September 09, 2021 |
 | 3 ways to reframe the data Bring numbers to life: Make statistics more emotional by turning them into individuals. September 02, 2021 |
 | Web readability by the numbers People read 20% to 30% slower online In a flash: Attention spans are half as long on mobile devices. Shouldn’t your content be shorter, too? August 26, 2021 |
 | Get opened with brilliant preheader text 24% of recipients consider this element first when deciding whether to open Are you skipping a key element that helps recipients determine whether to open? Preheader text works with the subject line to entice recipients to read your email. August 19, 2021 |
 | Use snappy synthesis, stakeholder benefits & more Web content’s not a newspaper story. So instead of news leads, try these four types of web leads. August 12, 2021 |
 | What’s the average time spent reading [statistics!]? Americans spend 16.2 minutes a day reading for fun Tick tock: People spend 48 minutes a day reading for work, 16 minutes a day reading for fun. How much of that time are they devoting to your message? August 05, 2021 |
 | Get content above the fold on mobile Put the hot stuff up top with the 1-2-3-4 test Four’s a charm: To reach mobile visitors, get the gist of your message across in the first four elements of your web page. July 29, 2021 |
 | Get open, clicked and shared on mobile [statistics!] Email recipients click less often, unsubscribe more often on smartphones Get clicked: When reading emails on mobile, recipients click 40% less often, find it 48% harder to understand content and are more likely to unsubscribe. Now what? July 22, 2021 |
 | How does screen reading affect your readers? Reading online hurts people’s eyes, bodies, brains Is your web content a pain in the neck? Screen reading causes nausea, vision problems and cognitive issues. July 15, 2021 |
 | Focus on outcome, not input We had a party, and you weren’t invited: Don’t tell me about your event. Tell me what I’ll be able to do at your event. Or focus on the outcome of past events. July 08, 2021 |
 | Are your news release headlines really paragraphs? Keep yours short, like The New York Times A head for business: Want to influence editors and journalists? Why not model your headlines after theirs? July 01, 2021 |
 | Journalists spend less than one minute reading releases Gone in 60 seconds: If your release is longer than 200 words, seven out of 10 journalists won’t finish it. June 24, 2021 |
 | Why CEO press release quotes suck Reporters hate PR quotes Say it ain’t so: If it doesn’t sound conversational and substantive, don’t expect journalists to pick it up. June 17, 2021 |
 | Lead with the readers’ needs in news releases ‘I’m not interested in “new and improved”’ — Editor Hit the target: To grab editors’ attention, steal a tip from these Silver Anvil winners. Lead with the readers’ needs — not with your products, services, programs or ideas. June 10, 2021 |
 | Why is PR writing so important? Because fewer than 50% of releases actually get the word out Fewer than 50% of releases get covered. So how can you write media relations pieces that get actually the word out? June 03, 2021 |
 | Go with the flow with freewriting Get words on paper faster in the second step of the writing process Watch your fingers fly across the keyboard: Fill the page with better copy faster when you freewrite. May 25, 2021 |
 | Try WBHA, or writing by hanging around Observational research brings your message to life Just looking: Firsthand observation brings your message to life. So go to the scene and observe. May 20, 2021 |
 | Feature headlines easier to understand, more memorable Readers prefer clever headlines. Feature headlines may convince readers to read stories. May 13, 2021 |
 | Templates more effective than brainstorming, free association Template creativity: Just a handful of techniques accounted for all of the ideas behind 200 top performing ads, found a team of Israeli researchers. May 06, 2021 |
 | Find mentors among your favorite writers Reverse-engineer it: After reading good writing, you can improve your writing by figuring out how the writer wrote it. April 29, 2021 |
 | People learn through metaphor Baby, you can drive my car: Grandpa didn’t know from automobiles; he called this a horseless carriage. Analogies help people understand new ideas by linking them to familiar ones. April 22, 2021 |
 | Master the 5-step creative process Develop more creative ideas with this system Bright ideas: Need some creative juice? Come up with brilliant solutions to real-life problems when you use a creative process that works with — not against — your brain. April 15, 2021 |
 | Excuse me, are those your neurons flashing? Like being there: When you read a vivid story, your brain lights up as if you are performing the character’s actions yourself. April 08, 2021 |
 | 3 ways to polish your traditional heads Break the news: Tell the story, don’t tell about the story, in your news head. April 01, 2021 |
 | Why creative content writing is important Grab attention, keep it longer, communicate better & more EnLightening: Creative material enhances credibility, gets shared, gets people to read longer — even slashes burnout and boosts performance. March 25, 2021 |
 | Why worry about your readability level? Save money, make money and more with readable messages That’s ROI: Get your message read and shared by boosting your readability level. March 18, 2021 |
 | 3 ways to find balance, or parallelism Take a tip from Charles Dickens It was the best of times; it was the worst of times: Repeat and reverse, add and or so and other ways to bring balance to your message. March 11, 2021 |
 | Don’t start with the blah blah blah Background — also known as the blah blah blah — is no way to draw readers into a piece. Instead, leave the definitions, history lessons and broader context for the third paragraph. March 04, 2021 |
 | What’s the best length for a blog post? Are you writing about Brussels sprouts or brain surgery? How long should your blog post be? Experts recommend 1,500 words, 2,000 words, 2,500 words and longer content. The right answer: It depends. Feb. 25, 2021 |
 | How to hunt down numerical comparisons Apples to apples: Find the numerical comparisons you need to help readers understand your stats. Feb. 18, 2021 |
 | How can you get readers to read? Increase expectation of reward; reduce effort required Follow me: How do you catch readers’ attention and persuade readers to read? Tap Wilbur Schramm’s Fraction of Selection model. Feb. 11, 2021 |
 | Invite readers in with the imperative voice Let people know what they can do with your Whatsit Just do it: Imperative voice gets clicked, opened, read and shared. Feb. 04, 2021 |
 | How to use acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms Avoid drowning readers in alphabet soup NNCBTPSNBRTASTSAFW: “Names not commonly before the public should not be reduced to acronyms solely to save a few words.” Jan. 28, 2021 |
 | Focus on the findings in survey stories Don’t lead with study— or the methodology The results are in: The best survey results press releases and blog posts focus on the results, not on the survey itself. Jan. 21, 2021 |
 | Measure readability with STORYToolz Get 33 metrics about your clarity The right readability tool for the job: Input a chunk of copy, click “Check Readability,” and STORYtoolz will run 7 readability tests on your message. Jan. 15, 2021 |
 | 3 email newsletter formats that work Lists, headlines & blurbs, single stories most valuable Format for attention: Choose an email newsletter format that’s short and focused, and stick with it issue after issue. Jan. 07, 2021 |
 | Ring in the New Year with these approaches Want to write better? Start with these top 8 tips. Dec. 31, 2020 |
 | 8 of my favorite writing quotes Enjoy these on your holiday break Here are eight other favorite quotes about writing. I hope you enjoy them with your cocoa and kugel this holiday season. Dec. 24, 2020 |
 | How to structure an email invitation [Example!] Sensus goes to the science museum Midnight at the museum: Focus on what people will be able to do at your event, not on the event itself. Dec. 17, 2020 |
 | Why write relevant email blasts, newsletters? Irrelevant content No. 1 reason readers unsubscribe You’ve got mail: In the battle for attention in the inbox, only the most relevant, valuable email newsletters and promotions will survive. Dec. 10, 2020 |
 | How to write clever email subject lines 72% share email because it’s entertaining Try a little cleverness: Entertainment is the No. 1 reason people share email, according to Chadwick Martin Bailey. “To get a laugh” is No. 2. Dec. 03, 2020 |
 | How to write a case study [example] Zimmer Inc. uses the P-S-R format What’s the problem? Use this story template to make your next case study, testimonial or narrative more dramatic and powerful. Nov. 25, 2020 |
 | How to write copy that’s an inch wide, a mile deep Short and sweet: One way to write short content is to polish your message. Nov. 19, 2020 |
 | Recipients have too much to read, no time to read it Some 306.4 billion emails are sent and received each day. Nov. 12, 2020 |
 | Get opened, get read — and get home early — with these techniques As we plan our upcoming Master Classes, I’ve been creating a lot of new slides. Here’s a sneak peek at some of my favorites: Nov. 05, 2020 |
 | Reach three types of web visitors Get the word out to lookers, skimmers & readers Reach all of your web visitors, whether they’ve come to your web page for a bite, meal or snack. Oct. 29, 2020 |
 | Try snappy synthesis, stakeholder benefits and more Write web leads that lead readers into your message The opening paragraph of your web page should lead readers into your piece. Oct. 22, 2020 |
 | And where is the fold, anyway? Above the fold: People spend most of their time on the first screen of a web page — in a newspaper. So put your most important content where their eyes are. Oct. 15, 2020 |
 | Overcome the obstacles of reading on mobile Reach readers on the small screen: People spend half the time with your message on a smartphone than they do with a laptop or desktop. Oct. 08, 2020 |
 | Enough already with the ‘at XX, we …’ construction It’s not about you: Can we agree to drop the ‘At xx, we …’ construction? Oct. 01, 2020 |
 | Can your message cut through the clutter? Americans receive the data equivalent of 174 newspapers a day — ads included. Sept. 24, 2020 |
 | Catch Your Readers with benefit headlines 5 ways to draw people in Heads up on benefit headlines: To write a benefit head, seduce your readers by showing how your product, service or idea will make their life better. Sept. 17, 2020 |
 | (Yes, even your audience) Thumbs up: Even highly literate people read messages faster, understand them better and enjoy them more when they’re readable, according to this Nielsen Norman Group study. Sept. 10, 2020 |
 | 5 ways to avoid flabby middles Build a better body for your content Strengthen your core: Avoid ‘the muddle in the middle’ when you create a solid structure for the body of your feature article. Sept. 03, 2020 |
 | What’s the ideal press release length? Can you get your story across in 1 minute or less? Gone in 60 seconds: If your release is longer than 200 words, seven out of 10 journalists won’t finish it. Aug. 27, 2020 |
 | Write to and about your reader Are you trying to reach your reader by writing about us and our stuff? Aug. 20, 2020 |
 | Six press release leads to avoid How many of these have found their way into your releases? Lead the way: Write press release leads that engage readers, instead of these PR 101 approaches. Aug. 13, 2020 |
 | Avoid marketing fluff and ‘pouffle dust’ 5 reasons to cut the hype from your copy Minimize modifiers: They make journalists cry ‘hype’ & more. Aug. 06, 2020 |
 | How long should your PR headline be? Keep news release headlines short PR pros: Your head is too big: Want to influence editors and journalists? Why not model your headlines after theirs? July 30, 2020 |
 | Reporters hate PR quotes; here’s what to do about it Say it ain’t so: If it doesn’t sound conversational and substantive, don’t expect journalists to pick it up. July 23, 2020 |
 | Put the reader first in news releases Lead with the reader The reader is always the topic: The best way to write attention-grabbing news release leads? Write about the reader. July 16, 2020 |
 | Get words on paper — better, easier and faster Go for the flow with freewriting Creative explosion: Fill the page with better copy faster with freewriting. July 09, 2020 |
 | 4 quick steps to Writing Better, Easier & Faster It’s all about focus: Want to spend less time on your next writing project? Start by finding your focus. July 02, 2020 |