Why Writing Internships Are an Underrated Way to Become a Great Blogger

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A lot of people think blogging is a pretty easy gig. Think about it: you interact with other bloggers, sit around on your laptop writing about interesting topics, and don’t even need to put your pants on if you don’t want to. However, blogging is like any other job, paid or not; you need to develop certain skillsets and enter certain networks to be successful.

This is where an opportunity like a writing internship comes in – by working for a company that pushes you to create strong content and interact with professional writers, you’ll learn the tools of the trade and improve your blog before you know it. Here are some specific ways that taking a writing internship can help give your blogging a boost.

Why Writing Internships Are an Underrated Way to Become a Great Blogger Click To Tweet

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Crime Beat: How to Cover Crime Compellingly

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Writing about crime isn’t always easy, especially if you’re just getting started as a freelancer. We’ve all read newspaper features that report crime in dry monotone, yet we all know how successful a good crime novel can be. As a blogger, the trick is to strike a balance between the two. To engage readers, you need to cover crime compellingly without making it a complete work of fiction.

Here are some tips for writing great blog posts about crime, law, and justice. [Read more…]

Blogging Local: How to Find Freelancing Gigs in Your City

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Working at home is great, but it comes with a major drawback: it’s easy to start feeling isolated if you never get the chance to leave the house. It’s quite a dilemma. You love being a freelance writer for all the opportunities and freedom it provides, but sometimes you feel like you’ve been shackled to your desk for weeks.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get out there, amidst all the action, and then come home and write about it? Here’s the good news: it’s entirely possible, if you find a freelancing gig that’s local to your community.

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5 Simple Spelling & Grammar Mistakes That Cost Millions

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Editor’s Note: This post was written by Ilan Nass,  Chief Marketing Strategist at Fueled, an award winning mobile app design and development firm in New York City. He is also the founder of SEOWholesalers and Social Signifier, companies that provide white label services to marketing and advertising agencies looking to offer digital marketing to their clients.

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Selling online is not as hard as you think. Write some great copy and watch the customers come rolling in.

That is, if the quality of the writing is terrible.

Even simple spelling and grammar mistakes can cost businesses millions. So to answer your question, yes, a typo can potentially cost your business millions.

Don’t believe us at Fueled? Here are some simple spelling and grammar mistakes that cost millions.  [Read more…]

5 Signs You Should Be Taking Your Writing Seriously

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So you have been on and off at it, writing for yourself and even looking into various resources for writers. You are interested but you don’t take the plunge for whatever reason. You are somewhere in between, not knowing whether to forget about writing altogether or take it to the next level.

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Here are 5 signs that will tell you that you should be taking your writing seriously. [Read more…]

Writing for Top Blogs with Nate Swanner, Editor at Android Authority

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Writing

How did your writing career first get started?

I got started when I left a job I was terribly unhappy at. I was working myself to death, and had no respect or recognition for my efforts. I had no real goal in mind when leaving, other than I wanted to be happy again. I just wanted to live life and not feel beaten down by “the man” all the time! I started writing for a small Android gaming site for fun, and people liked my work. I was doing it for free (which anyone who is serious about blogging or writing should do), and really learning how things worked. From there, I saw that Android Authority was looking for writers. I sent my “elevator pitch” to those who are now my bosses, and the rest is really history at this point. [Read more…]

How to Find Blogs to Pitch Guest Posts

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Guest blogging can be a great way to grow your credibility and online presence (as well as giving links back to your website). Many potential clients and new acquaintances have connected with me through social media or my website after seeing a guest post I’ve written.  Besides connecting with readers that have read posts, it is also worthwhile to build strong relationships with the blog owners themselves.

By knowing several different bloggers that are in your industry, you can open yourself up to a variety of different possibilities– possible content for your own blog, sponsorship, partnerships, and more.

Finding Guest Posts

In order to find industry-specific guest posts, there are a string of search phrases you can use to find blogs. These include:

  • write for us + [industry keyword]
  • guest blogging + [industry keyword]
  • guest bloggers + [industry keyword]
  • contribute + [industry keyword]
  • guest post + [industry keyword]

These searches and related variations will help you find several different blogs that you can pitch to.

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Writing Copy that Catches your Readers Attention

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There are plenty of writers who have been studying for years and love the activity. It is definitely something that promotes a sense of intellectual stimulation and growth. But what about writing great headlines and web articles that grab even more attention?

I want to share a resource part of Depositphotos that will catch bloggers by surprise. If you have been a part of Depositphotos then it is already evident what type of resources they can offer. It is a very powerful eCommerce shop, and I have always enjoyed their useful features. Even just a basic search for writing photos can provide a starting point. You want to add graphics and tidbits into your articles that readers can tie into the content itself.

Web Copy and Graphics

The Depositphotos library of stock photography is enormous and growing every day. There are a lot of freelance photographers who are more than happy to contribute and sell their pieces on the Internet. It provides an exceptional means of quick money, plus they get paid to do what they love most. If you have never seen the photographs in Depositphotos it is definitely worth a peek.

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Some of their categories will be intermixed if you do not specify a type of search. There are both icons, vectors, graphics, and stock photos all mixed into one search engine! It goes without saying that their products catalog is expansive, but just how useful can this be to writers on the web? It depends how many articles you are writing. And how many of these articles will benefit from using a piece of stock photography.

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Using Numbers in Headlines: Is the Game Changing?

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I spent a couple of years working at FOX News where I had the opportunity to hone my headline copywriting skills.

My boss at the time would plead with us to read Reader’s Digest, claiming they had mastered the art of “catchy” headlines.

The way we digest our media has changed, but the tried and true methods of creating a powerful headline have not. Effective elements include… [Read more…]