One of my goals last year was to become a better blogger. When I made that goal, I failed to be specific as you’re normally supposed to be when setting goals. The result? I have become a better blogger in that I now blog much more often than I used to. However, I tend to forget about finicky little details such as:

• Adding tags and categories (though they don’t necessarily improve blog writing, they do help for SEO and organization)
• Using keyword phrases in titles and headings
• Formatting for readers who like to scan for tidbits and tips (blog and online readers like lists such as this one)

It’s funny because I know better. When I write for my clients, I pay attention to these details. So, I have a new goal: Improve blog writing by scoring blog posts in over 60 different areas. A few weeks ago, I purchased ProBlogger’s The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers which really drove home the importance of better blogging as well as provides a detailed scorecard designed to improve blog posts.

My Experience Using ProBlogger’s Blog Writing Advice

It’s rare for me to print out an eBook, scribble notes in it, and read it several times but that’s what I did with this one. I love workbooks that make you think and then prompt you to act. The first blog post I did using the scorecard scored a 75 out of a possible 100.

I lost points for several reasons:

• I should have told a story
• I should have indicated that I understood the reader’s situation
• I should have linked using active language

After that initial score, I went back and looked at all areas where I lost points and changed the post. End result: a better post and a score of 96 out of 100. I don’t really agree on some of the scoring points such as using sentence case for subheadings and I’m not one who uses metaphors a lot, so I left some parts alone. I liked the changes and I think the blog post (it’s on a different blog than this one) is much better for all of ProBlogger’s tips.

Improve Blog Traffic and Interactivity 

The eBook goes beyond how to improve blog writing, too. It covers SEO as well as writing. In addition, it discusses making your blog more interactive for readers. For example, have you ever wondered why your blog readers don’t comment? Same here. And so did the eBook’s authors Darren Rowse and Glenn Murray. Their discovery makes sense: Have you asked people to comment? Duh! It’s like asking for the sale in sales (Can I schedule that for you today?).

Recommendation: Improve Blog Writing Along with Me

I found this eBook to be extraordinarily useful and recommend it wholeheartedly. For about $30, I received the motivation and information I need and a nifty little scorecard to quantify my efforts. I know this eBook will improve my blog writing and am so impressed that not only did I sign up to be an affiliate, I plan on buying ProBlogger’s other eBook (31 Days to a Better Blog) in a few days. By the way, on this blog post, my initial draft scored a 77; this version right now is a 91.

So if you’re like me and want to improve blog writing or want a blogging system that can lead to a more consistent style and better traffic, purchase the Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. I’d love a blogging buddy to take turns scoring each other’s blog posts as well.

Have you used the Scorecard for Bloggers to improve your blog writing? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

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For example, let’s say you’ve determined that the auto insurance niche is hot based on your research indicating that bloggers and Internet marketers need articles about car insurance to support the “get a free quote” ads that they are hosting on their sites. Wonderful! You have a niche and you’re inspired to write about car insurance. Before you begin, consider this: Unless the site is brand new, it likely already has plenty of “how to save money on premiums” and “what is an insurance deductible” articles.

Go ahead a write a few of those if the mood strikes, but don’t stop there. Think beyond the niche. How about writing about who should pay for a teen’s insurance policy? Now, not only do you have an article that appeals to the niche sites, you have an article that appeals to parenting sites, personal finance sites, and even women’s lifestyle sites.

The other day a newcomer to Constant-Content asked me to look at his articles and make suggestions. One of the articles, which is perfectly fine, tells British citizens how to research their family histories. It’s market is limited to the U.K. However, a minor tweak (researching your British ancestors) could easily open up that article to a U.S. audience as well. After all, many U.S. citizens have British ancestors.

Another writer mentioned on the Constant-Content forum that she was considering writing articles about how to read music. I hope she thinks beyond the narrow audience of people trying to learn how to read music and writes articles that could appeal to parents, teachers, and lifestyle publishers. For example, an article illustrating how learning to read music improves math skills could have broader appeal than an article about musical scales. 

So, find your niche and broaden it so that your Constant-Content article has several possible homes.

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If you choose to display only a portion of your article, make sure that you make it obvious that the sample is an excerpt. Otherwise, customers may think that what they see is what they get. They could think your article is choppy (because you selected bits and pieces), extremely thin on substance (because you cut off the article before any key points were discussed), or that it just ends without a clean conclusion (because you didn’t display the final few paragraphs). If customers think any of these thoughts, do you think that they’ll be compelled to click the Buy Now button?

Avoid this problem by telling customers that the text continues. Type in phrases such as:

• (End of excerpt. . .)
• (End of sample. . .)
• (Article continues. . .)
• (Discussion continues. . .)
• (Article goes on to discuss ____, ____, and ___ before concluding with ____.)

What do you usually do? (I post the full article most of the time.) Please share your thoughts below.

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For example, what if you’re still using Word 2003 and your colleagues and clients keep sending you .docx files made in Word 2007 or 2010? Instead of being annoyed that you can’t open these documents, a little research will reveal how you can update Word 2003 to be compatible with the newer .docx format. Use this information to solve your annoying problem as well as help other users in similar situation solve theirs.

Post your finished article on Constant-Content.com or one of the revenue-sharing sites and profit from your pet peeve.

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Think about how you can take a topic that isn’t interesting to you at first glance and apply your own unique interests to it. For example, what if you’re supposed to write about mold? Kind of unexciting, isn’t it? But what if you are a passionate foodie? How can you take your passion for food and connect it to mold? An article about moldy cheese may be in order. You could talk about edible molds versus dangerous food molds. You could write about unusual foods that are susceptible to hidden mold growth. You could talk about whether or not it’s safe to cut mold off of cheese or bread and serve the non-moldy portion to your guests.

Think about different approaches to the topic. When you do, you’ll likely come up with something truly unique and interesting to you, and by extension, to your readers or client.

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http://www.careeronestop.org/SalariesBenefits/Salary_Report.aspx?soccode=273043&stfips=&zip=&mode=

You can drill this down by state, too, as well as choose other professions.

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My preference is to write an article and sell it for full rights as it takes much longer for the article to net the same amount at the lower usage rates. That said, I certainly don’t mind the occasional residual. I’ve had a few real winners in that area, so I see the appeal.

I usually submit to Constant-Content first, hoping for a full rights sale. If the article goes for usage, then I immediately post it as a non-exclusive at Associated Content and Bukisa so that I can earn a bit based on page views. You can do the opposite of course, but doing the opposite means that the article never has a chance to sell for the higher full rights price that it otherwise might’ve been able to command. With AC’s upfronts being so low, it’s rare that I’ll offer an article to AC first unless I’m sure I want to go the usage only route.

As time goes by and articles don’t sell on Constant-Content, you can always remove the unique and full rights licenses and then start posting the article at other sites that accept non-exclusives. Again, I prefere to sell for full rights because it’s easier to sell an article once than it is to sell it several times over. While some of my usage only articles have generated more than my full rights price, most of them haven’t.

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• Writing for Constant-Content.com – Should I Wait?

First, when you submit an article to Constant-Content, there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever make a single penny. Shoot, there’s no guarantee that your article will even be accepted. Even if it is accepted, it could sit on the site for months or years and you will earn nothing until it finally sells. Even then, you’ll only receive 65 percent of the selling price.

This scares off a lot of writers. I hear comments all the time along the lines of “Why on earth would you give up 35 percent of your pay?” Or “What if you spend all that time writing and no one buys your article?”

Here’s what else scares off writers: public requests and writing on speculation. Customers can issue “public requests” which go out to all writers. Interested writers then write the article on speculation, which means that a single public request could generate dozens, potentially hundreds, of similar articles. The customer then picks the article that best meets his needs.

Let’s address some of these concerns. If you’re used to revenue share sites, then you know it’s neat to submit an article and have it generating small amounts of money every time someone views it or clicks on an ad. I like that too, though the income I’m getting from sites like Associated Content isn’t terribly impressive. Revenue share sites are relatively low risk as far as submitting articles goes. As long as an article is accepted and appears online, it will likely get some page views and generate some money for you, especially if you promote it.

With Constant-Content, the risk is high because an article may never sell. On the other hand, prices are higher than revenue share articles. I regularly sell articles in the $100 and above range on Constant-Content.

Let’s take a look at two of the most recent “on speculation” articles I have sold to Associated Content and Constant-Content as an illustration. Last month, I submitted an article How to Restore the Excel 2007 Ribbon, to Associated Content. I got a whopping $2.45 upfront payment and it has earned about ten cents in page views in the past 30 days. So, let’s just round that up to about $2.50 plus $1.20 per year (based on a dime per month). Assuming performance doesn’t change, in ten years, that article will have generated about $15.

Around the same time, I wrote an article for Constant-Content titled, The Google Wonder Wheel: A Mind Map for SEO. It has sold twice for usage rights at $30 each. After the 35 percent commission to Constant-Content, I have already earned $39. Plus, this same article can be sold over and over for usage rights, and I can also post it on revenue share sites. While it may only sell a few more times in the same ten year time period, it’s already ahead of my Associated Content article. Incidentally, it took me about 45 minutes to write The Google Wonder Wheel article, so my hourly wage comes to $52 per hour after the commission. Not bad.

About that 35 percent commission? I don’t worry about it. Simply be aware of it and mark up the price of your articles to account for it. After all, the opportunity to make over $52 per hour after commission is compelling.

About the “What if no one buys the article” question? I don’t worry about it either. If I’m willing to write an occasional article for $2.50 upfront in exchange for revenue from page views, I’m willing to risk an article never selling on Constant-Content. After all, if it doesn’t sell, I can always remove it and submit it to a revenue share site.

About writing for public requests? I wish I could do more of them! Sure, lots of writers are also submitting their articles for consideration and mine may not be selected. However, the reason I don’t have time to write more articles for public requests is because past submissions have led to loads of “private requests.” Now, I’m writing articles exclusively for customers with no competition from other writers – at decent prices.

There’s much more to how Constant-Content.com works than this blog post can possibly cover. For example, I didn’t even touch on the different license types, pricing strategies, topics that sell, or the article acceptance/rejection process.

How does Constant-Content work? I discuss it in greater detail in my inexpensive eBook, Celeste Stewart’s Secrets to Success on Constant-Content.com.

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• Constant-Content Success

and

“If you be inflicted with been around the blogging pro quite approximately calculate. . .”

and

“. . .If here are a ration of books on paper on the theme you can think you be inflicted with made a skilled scale.”

Oh my! I wish I could post the entire entry but that would simply hurt all of our heads, wouldn’t it? Or should I say: it be inflicted around our pro quite heads ongoing?

Seriously folks, I don’t make this stuff up. I suspect that this particular example is the result of spinning/forum spamming software. These excerpts appeared, briefly, on a forum and have since been deleted. All I have to say is “Huh?”

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