From Now On We Are Taking Active ANTI-Racist Actions

Hey, Ashley here, Liesaboutparenting.com founder and the editor responsible for the content LAP publishes. 

If your email inbox looks like mine, you have what feels like a gazillion emails from brands, blogs, companies, and influencers about the Black Lives Matters movement. 

It’s about damn time. 

You likely found LiesAboutParenting.com a while back because you were looking for answers to hard parenting or mental health questions. We’ve never shied away from discussing topics that make people uncomfortable, and we’re certainly not going to start now. 

But we also need to do more. 

What ANTI-Racist Actions Are

No, this is not enough, but I want to share my anti-racist actions, not just thoughts. In the past week, here are just (the baby beginning) steps I’ve taken to address the change that needs to happen in the USA:

Recent Actions

But the one thing I’m doing that’s feels like it’s making real difference? 

I’m having hard, often-loud, emotional conversations with family and friends about systemic and ingrained racism, social injustice, and white privilege. These talks are LONG overdue. I’m not staying silent or moving on to a more comfortable subject. 

No, it doesn’t make Sunday family dinner super fun. But my child doesn’t have to worry about being killed by a cop or systemically punished by the government that is supposed to protect her. 

So yeah, uncomfortable family talks continue. 

The Good News

The good news is I see friends and family members shifting to a higher stage of awareness. Friends are changing their social media commentary from racist to admitting how much they don’t understand. I hear people starting conversations.

People around me are turning in a new direction. It’s a start. But more anti-racist actions are needed. We’re in this to change the world – for good.

What Can I Do As A White Woman?

As a white woman, this is where I can – I think – best help dismantle a system designed to punish and fail anyone that doesn’t look like me.

Because here’s the thing: Most of the white people I know don’t think they’re racist. They acknowledge injustice exists but feel like nothing is going to change in our lifetime. They’re wrong. 

And THAT’S where I am investing my time and energies going forward. 

I encourage you to join me. Stand up to Uncle Fred’s racist comment, call your friend out on her “they don’t need to destroy property” comments, and don’t let Mom or Dad use the “everyone has the same opportunity” line.

Donate to funds helping fight racism, support a BIPOC business, and SPEAK UP.

From here on out, you have two choices.

You can be actively ANTI-racist.

Or you can be racist. 

I’m working to make myself and LiesAboutParenting.com actively ANTI-racist. As Rachel Rodgers puts it, if you’re fighting against racism isn’t making you uncomfortable, you’re not trying hard enough. 

We Need To Try Harder. Do More. And Not Stop.

We can do this. Start a conversation today. 

Our Next Actions:

Our next action steps, in addition to continuing donating and amplifying BIPOC voices, is an email series that will guide you through contacting local officials and demanding change. Because change at the local level is key to fixing gross inequalities and systemic racism in the USA. 

Have a better idea? Drop it in the comments. I’m listening. 

Stay open. And stay silent no more.

In solidarity and action,

Ashley Trexler

LiesAboutParenting.com founder and editor-in-chief

The post Anti-Racist Actions We Are Taking appeared first on Lies About Parenting.

I have to tell you, blogging did not come naturally to me. I became a blogger through sheer luck, stubbornness, and hard work. 

​Even with experience in website design and marketing, my journey to learn to blog was full of twists and turns!

​My previous work helped me understand what I could do with blogging, but I didn’t know what to do.

• What do I talk about?
• What do I write about?
• How much do I share?
• Do people even care?

The questions kept coming.

• Could blogging be a real job for someone like me?
• Would anyone actually read what I wrote?
• Can I write? (The hardest question!)

What I Knew

I knew I wanted to:

1. Work from home
2. Work for me
3. Make my own schedule
4. Make a difference

After the birth of my daughter, going back into sales full-time was no longer an option for me. The hours were horrible–my busiest times were after-hours and weekends–and buying houses seems to bring out the worst in so many people (kind of like anonymous blog commenters!).

I knew I needed something more–and knew there was something out there for me.  You know that feeling? I hope you do. It’s optimistic and pessimistic, exciting and scary, all at the same time.

“Just Keeping Swimming…”

I kept researching career alternatives. I kept swimming in new careers, looking for the perfect job.  Back into sales? Or, maybe I should try being a professional organizer, Etsy seller, freelance writer, student…nothing seemed quite right.  But I couldn’t shake the urge to learnt to blog. Whatever that meant. When I voiced my interest, people told me blogging wasn’t a real job and not to do it.  I decided to do it. My family made a lot of sacrifices to launch my blogging career. My partner pulled extra hours to make more and we had limited spending money. I even resold the clothes we no longer wore, but we did what we had to. If I can take the leap into blogging, so can you. But first…

Why Choose Blogging?

Deciding I was going to learn to blog wasn’t easy. But I chose to blog because:

1. I always wanted to write but didn’t have the courage to call myself a writer
2. I figured that worst case, I could always take new online skills back into my old job.
3. I wanted to create a platform where I could collect and share great ideas.
4. I loved being online.

So I went for it.  Now I had a career choice, but I needed to start a blog. Preferably one that could earn an income.

How I Became A Blogger

I spent months researching ways to start blogs, how to monetize blogs and ways to build successful blogs. In the end, I discovered three things that changed my life.

1. Treat Blogging Like A Real Job

Ever wonder how all these bloggers make thousands of dollars a month and roll out new posts and products at an insane rate?

I wondered. I wanted to know exactly what they were doing that made them so successful.And after watching and learning from some of the best bloggers, I figured out their secret.It’s simple. So simple I feel stupid saying it aloud.The treat blogging like a real job–and it became one.That’s it. There’s no secret sauce, no magic trick, to blogging. I learned to blog by imitating what successful bloggers were doing.And the main thing I noticed?

Blogging for profit is a serious business I have only just started to learn.

2. I Learned To Write

This one is short and simple:

You have to learn to write for an online audience.That’s it.

No, it’s not easy and most people don’t know how to do it.

But that’s the beauty of blogging. You don’t need a journalism or English degree to succeed.

You just need to learn how to write for online readers.

More on how I learned below.

3. I’m A Copycat

Learn from the best. Copy what works and discard the rest. 

It’s a strategy I’ve used, without fail, over the years. Focus on the long-term results you want, and find people doing what you want to one day be doing.

Blog Launch Formula (now SmartBlogger.com) was an expert website I found while reading about starting a blog. If you’re serious about blogging, you’ve likely been on it.I liked what I was reading; the tips and tricks were helpful and actionable. The website’s founder was uber successful and seemed like exactly the type of person I needed in my life.

PSA: Get SmartBlogger.com’s free Headline Hacks: A Cheatsheet to Writing Posts That Go Viral. That’s what got me started on this path.

4. Go To Blogging School

I enrolled in Blog Launch Formula, a year-long course for wannabe bloggers launching their first blog, after loving every email and post that Smart Blogger published. Over the course of 12 months, they promised to help you grow my audience from 0 to 1,000 email subscribers.Oh, and the 1,000 email subscribers was before you published your first blog post.The course wasn’t cheap, but my gut screamed, “Do not pass this by!I split the course fee into as many payments as possible, emptying my savings account and borrowing funds to pay for it.

I promised myself two things: I would take my blogging seriously, and I would complete the course.

And I did.Because taking your work seriously and enrolling in a course from one of the top bloggers in the world turns out to be the secret formula for success.

Within four months of signing up for the course, I hit the course’s goal of 1k subscribers.

• My first piece of writing was accepted by The Washington Post, and I gained 50 new email subscribers to my unlaunched blog.
• My second piece got me 250 new email subscribers and thousands of shares.
• My third piece went viral, with over a million likes and around 1k email subscribers.

All that, and I hadn’t even launched my blog!

Instead, through guest posting (writing for other people’s websites), I built a strong portfolio of published work and worked on my writing voice at the same time.It worked. Because if you can’t connect, you can’t blog. If you want to learn to blog, learn to connect. Simple as that. The best bloggers connect with you. You feel like they know you. The technical stuff comes AFTER the writing, never before.

Not all my writing was a hit, but when I followed the formula, my posts found success.

5 Requirements For Successful Blogging:

1. Treat blogging like a business, from the start.
2. Enroll in a killer course and do exactly what the instructors tell you.
3. Listen to only ONE expert at a time. The temptation to learn an easier or faster way is hard to resist, but you end up going in too many directions.
4. Finish your courses and training. Follow-through is the key to success. 
5. Listen to feedback.

Personally, my stumbling blocks didn’t come until much later, once I had launched the blog. Then I had to decide what to write about, where to share, and what to sell.I’ll write more about that later, but my advice is: don’t try to be everything to everyone.

It doesn’t work.

Lessons Learned

Looking back, I should have monetized my blog way sooner. (Monetized means your blog earns money.)

I should have published the book I wrote on how to get your writing paid and published in the parenting niche.

But I didn’t feel ready to put myself out there as an expert. I still don’t.Because the truth is, I’m not an expert. I’m confident that how I learned to blog has worked for me, and I’m convinced it’s the best way for you, too.

And by you, I mean college professor to college dropout.

Honestly, it seemed like the more college degrees my fellow bloggers had, the harder it was for them to find success in connecting with an online audience. Not to say they couldn’t, but it was harder for them to change their writing style and vision. 

Learning and Dedication Make It Work

My three biggest takeaways on learning how to blog:

1. Learn–really learn–how to write for an online audience. (Don’t brush this one off, or I will say I told you so.)
2. Treat your dreams like a job.
3. Successful blogging is about attracting the right kind of attention.

Start with learning the basics and build on them. That’s how you learn to blog. 

And don’t make the mistake I made, of assuming that blogging is about learning how to blog.

Blogging is about:

1. Learning how to write
2. Learning how to help others
3. Learning how to connect

It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.So that’s my story about how I learned to blog! There are more courses and specifics that came after my initial course, but that’s how I learned to blog.

​Basically, I signed up for the right course at the right time and treated it like a real job.

​Anyone can learn to blog for profit with the right teachers and mentors. 

​If you’re already a blogger, the following courses will take your website and income to the next level. I’ve listed them in the order I would take them in, if I could do it all over:

1. Better Branding Course: This course helps you connect with your readers by branding your site to be you. Caroline helps you own your origin story, promote your self and products, and settle on a design and brand that’s all about you and your readers. This seems counter-intuitive to recommend design and before writing, but it puts you on the right path and identifies your ideal audience. 
2.  Jon Morrow’s Guest Blogging courses. It will change your life. Learn what to write, how to write, and how to get published every time. Life-changing. I went from no blog to 1k+ email subscribers in four months… and all I had was one-page landing site and no content!
3. Elite Blogging Academy Course. 
4. Carolina King’s Affiliate Marketing. Now you now how and what to write, it’s time to make some money.

Just want to freelance write and not run a website as a business? Take the Guest Blogging Course and Gina Horkey’s 30 Days or Less To Freelance Writing Success Course. A magical combination. Jon teaches you how to write and Gina trains you how to earn. I earned my highest rate per word after just 5 days of Gina’s freelancing course. 

Oh, and if you’re looking for someone that has all the answers to all your questions, you’ll have to go somewhere else. But if you’re looking for someone who wants to help you succeed and is willing to share what works –and more importantly, what doesn’t work– then stick around.We’ve got lots more to talk about.

If you have experience blogging, how did you learn to blog? Let me know in the comments; I’m curious!

Your List Title

1.

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The post Want To Learn To Blog? Here’s What I Did. appeared first on Lies About Parenting.

Lover of Learning

The Big Mistake

• Blog Launch Formula (original course no longer offered, but this one was excellent and part of it: Guest Blogging)
• 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success
• Better Branding Course
• Pinterest 2 Profits
• Was mentored by Doug Cunnington on how to find success in Affiliate (Amazon) Marketing
• Hired a coach to launch my parenting writing course

Burned Out Blogger

1. Redefine my blog’s vision
2. Make money (this was my career, after all!)
3. Plan a strategy for success

I signed up for a course, of course.

My Blogging Mantra

Tell me, what mistakes did you make when you started your blogging career? I’m curious!

The post My Biggest Blogging Mistake appeared first on Lies About Parenting.

The best guest posts are clear, organized, and offer uplifting, actionable ideas. The best house guests smell nice, clean up after themselves, and know how to get along with everyone.

You want both of them around.

So what’s the trick to making sure your writing is as neat and engaging as the best house guest?

Guest Post Formatting. Yes, it’s a thing.

The Honest Truth

I’m going to be straight-up, evil honest here: I reject guest posts way too often. It’s because the submissions have great ideas, but sub-par writing. I can tell the writer is talented. I also know when she has pounded out a post on her smartphone and hit send, just as the kids are getting in the car at school pickup.

The great idea is there, but it’s lost in the noise of long paragraphs and unedited sentences.

I’m not judging; I’ve been there. I know how that little high feels when you get a post submitted before you head back to the kids. But I also know how frustrating it is to turn away post after post over formatting problems.

I’ll admit it: I’ve submitted plenty of ill-prepared posts.

And one or twice, it even worked. I got my work published.

But it didn’t leave a very satisfying taste in my mouth.

Guest Post Formatting Strategies

Here are six guest post formatting strategies you need to nail before you sit down to write, so don’t even think about hitting ‘send’ yet.

Don’t worry, I got your back.

1. Choose your publisher before writing your post.

   Unless you have extensive knowledge in formal writing styles (as in you can churn out a professional newspaper column with your eyes closed), then you need to decide where you want to see your work published. Take your guest post idea and find its Happy Place. Is this a message you could picture reading on Mamalode? HuffPost? Forbes? Scary Mommy? Which audience can you help the most with this piece?

   PRO TIP: If you’re serious about making money or publishing regularly, create a spreadsheet of sites and editorial preferences (download a copy of mine at the end of this post). Enter your research results, and you won’t have to do the same work twice.

2. Confirm your delivery will be on point.

   The editor of Jane or XO is looking for a very different piece than the editor of The Washington Post. Is there a hidden message in your laugh-out-loud story? Think it through. What about the site itself? Is it right wing, left wing, no wing?

   PRO TIP: If you’ve got a post with touchy language or topics, please visit the site you’re submitting to and look to find the same words you’re using on the site! My blog, liesaboutparenting.com, covers some pretty controversial topics that incite foul language, but we keep it pretty clean. Still, swear words fill my inbox on a daily basis. Delivery matters.

3. Choose your tones.

   The tone is how the post feels, and helps to convey your message. I find there are two major parts: Feeling and Style. The feeling is literally how you feel reading it and style is how you approach the way your words are laid out on the page.

   Is the feeling funny, light-hearted, serious, inspirational, warning, or practical?

   Is the style conversational, essay, simple how-to, detailed how-to, persuasive, revealing, or something else?

   Make a commitment to feeling and style at the beginning. And remember, never try to force funny!

4. Reading Level is super-duper important.

   Too simple and readers will either be a) bored or b) assume you’re patronizing them.

   Either way, too simple and your readers leave unless you’re writing a Wiki-How. Too high of a reading level and the audiences get lost, bored, or feels like you can’t connect with them. So, too difficult and your readers will leave, too. Ugh.

   For general writing, aim to write at a 4th-6th-grade reading level, as this helps readers digest and retain the information you’re offering. If you’re an expert in your field, pretend like you’re writing to someone who’s just discovered your topic.

   PRO TIP: You can check your work for free on HemingwayApp.com, just copy and paste your work and modify as needed.

5. Size matters

   It does, I swear. In this case, we’re talking about *ahem* length. 500 is the absolute minimum. 700 is a sweet spot. 1200 is a sigh-worthy informative post or story. A good rule of thumb is personal stories should stay in the 500-800 word range, and more informative posts can go longer, but check the site you’re submitting to for a better idea of what they want. 1500+ words need extra special care.

   PRO TIP: Check how long the average post seems to be on the website.

   P.S. See how I wrote that without using any foul language? I knew you’d get it!

6. Pace yourself.

   How quickly do you move through the post? Are there lots of single sentences and white space, or longer paragraphs and detailed accounts? Does the pace match your submission site? Most blogs will take white space or dense paragraphs every time, but tastes vary.

   PRO TIP: Check out the blog’s top posts from an artist’s point of view. Look at the big “picture” of text. Is there a lot of white space? How many images? Maybe numbers or lists at the end of every post?

Your message matters.

Help your message get across. Spend the time on guest post formatting and you’ll see increased acceptance rates and better reader interaction.

Who you want to write for is a decision you should make right after finding inspiration for a topic. Craft your message to resonate with readers on an individual site. Check your writing’s tone, message, length, pacing, and reading level. Save a copy of the Editorial Preferences Spreadsheet and continue to add any sites where you want your work published.

Remember, always put your work through an editing process before submitting. I use the free HemingwayApp and Grammarly Pro (affiliate link, since I would be a wordy mess without it and use it all the stinking time).

These immediate guest post formatting changes will make your message bigger, brighter, and published.

At the end of the day, make it easy for an editor or submission manager to say yes (or at least damn hard to say no) by formatting your guest posts.

Share your guest post formatting tips with us; we’d love to hear them!

The post 6 Guest Post Formatting Strategies That Will Make You Every Editor’s Favorite Writer appeared first on Lies About Parenting.

Rejected guest posts make you feel like giving up.

Step 1: Review Your Rejected Guest Post

• Question #1: Did you submit your work to the right publication?
• Question #2: Does the post need to reworking or rewriting?

The post How to Revive and Rework Rejected Guest Posts appeared first on Lies About Parenting.

I do. I’ve usually got ideas for posts and articles flying around my head when I’m in exactly the wrong place. In a meeting, in the school pickup line, at the playground, in bed when I don’t want to get up.

No matter how hard I try, my most interesting thoughts always seem to disappear by the time I sit down at the computer to actually write them down.

Remembering all those ideas is impossible for me. And let’s face it: I’m never going to be the person who remembers to write those new thoughts down.

So here’s a blogging exercise I use, when I need to jog my brain for bright new ideas, beliefs, and actions. I call it The Flip Side Blogging Exercise.

Full disclosure: I always do my best to credit where I learned my writing tips and tricks. The original idea for this exercise was from Jon Morrow’s Blog Launch Formula course. Sadly, the course is no longer offered, but I took his Guest Blogging Course and that changed my life, too! I’ve modified it a bit to make it my own over the years.

Total sidenote: Be sure to grab Jon Morrow’s Headline Hacks: A Cheatsheat To Writing Posts That Go Viral. It’s a gamechanger, even if you’re an experienced blogger or writer!

How The Flip Side Blogging Exercise Works

Okay, so you have a deadline and no brilliant idea(s). Or you finally have some time to write, but when you sit down at the keyboard, all you can think of are points that have already been made. Everything you go to write is just too obvious.

Here’s what to do, so you don’t fall into the trap of writing the same old thing as everyone else. You can choose to blog with a fresh perspective by using this blogging exercise. 

Easy Does It

No lie, this exercise is so simple that I’m not sure I need an entire post about it. But I want you to understand that this method works.

Example: I was writing an article on anti-bullying. I had thought of one point that I wanted to share (gossiping in front of kids promotes bullying). It’s why I wanted to write the article, but I knew that to get published in a major media publication I needed more. More points, more information, more interesting tidbits.

I focused on my reader’s reason for reading: What causes bullying behavior that I might not know about, as a parent? Am I doing something that might be raising a bully?

Everything I thought of was too obvious. We all know that bullies grow into bigger bullies by being perceived as more powerful. Everything I came up with was boring and repetitive.

Enter the blogging exercise. I split my paper into two columns: Expected Advice and Flip Side Advice.

Expected vs. Unexpected

On the Expected side, I listed out everything that the readers expected me to say:

• spoiled kids become bullies
• bullies become bullies through exerting their power,
• kids with bad homes are more likely to bully (not true, btw)
• bully parents raise bully kids (not true either)

Blah, blah, blah…

Now Flip It Around!

The other column was Flip Side Advice, and this is where things got interesting. I listed the craziest, most out-there ways I could think of to encourage bullying, like:

• Talking on the phone
• Watching My Little Pony
• Ignoring your child
• Overscheduling
• Boredom
• Fatigue
• Sadness
• Feeling powerless

The Flip Side list contained a lot of behaviors that you would not associate with a bully.

Most of the ideas were ridiculous and scratched out immediately. But by sifting through each idea, I discovered solid gold hidden underneath. 

For example:

• Talking on the phone—>gossiping—->verbal bullying and power manipulation
• Overscheduled kid—->feels like he has no control over his life—–>takes it out on others
• “Funny” YouTube videos—->routine exposure—–>compassion fatigue

Do you see? By listing out what people expect to read, you can set those ideas aside. Then you have room to make room for what readers want to read: new information that you can blog with a fresh perspective. 

All with a simple little blogging exercise.

The Flip Side Blogging Exercise:

1. Select a topic (Remember only one message per post)
2. Make two columns on a sheet of paper
3. In the first column, list out everything your reader thinks you’re going to say.
4. In the second column, start brainstorming! What crazy, seemingly unjustifiable ideas pop into your head? Write ‘em down.
5. Examine the second column and search for the best connections!

A word of warning: Not all ideas are good ideas. Most ideas are bad ideas. Be sure to take time for a reality check. What Flip Side Advice best helps your readers? More importantly, what is true?

It’s All About A Fresh Perspective

Give your readers something new, interesting, or different, and you’ll have readers for life. Use the Flip Side Blogging Exercise to grab readers and pull them in. List out what readers expect you to say about a topic, then make a list of all the unexpected points you could make. The points that can be backed up are keepers!

Choose the points that are unexpected and helpful. You’ll find yourself writing refreshing posts, no matter what the subject.

Because the last thing you expect to read is the first thing you’ll remember.

Pass it on.

The post How To Blog With Fresh Perspective On Popular Topics: Flip Side Blogging Exercise appeared first on Lies About Parenting.

Would it surprise you to find out that a writer with almost no experience had her first-ever article published by The Washington Post?

It sure surprised me, especially since I was that writer.

I pitched my first post to The Washington Post’s parenting section because a blogging course I was enrolled instructed us to aim high. A brand new writer getting published by an award-winning publication seemed like pretty high aim to me, so I wrote the goal down and got to work.

I won’t lie. I worked my butt off creating that first piece and it’s still one of the posts I am proudest of, even 3 years later. The blogging course helped me learn the difference between a good post and a bad one.

Still, how did an inexperienced, newbie writer like myself craft a killer post that The Washington Post jumped to publish? What exactly did I do?

Was It Luck?

I bet you’re thinking maybe I just have a knack for writing or got lucky.

Being published had nothing to do with luck or innate talent. I just paid attention to what was working for others. Some people seemed to easily get ahead while others couldn’t get past go. Wanting to get ahead, I paid attention to the writers who were routinely publishing popular posts that resonated with readers.

What made consistently successful writers different from the writers who were having trouble getting published on a regular basis?

The writers I stalked were course instructors, professional writers, hobbyists, and even people who just knew how to send good emails. When their posts and writing strategies were examined by myself and others, loads of best practices were quickly revealed.

Here are 7 of my favorite strategies that help writers publish more often and more consistently.

1. Learn Every Editor’s Dirty Little Secret. Editors don’t want to edit, at least not in the way you might think. This point really needs clearing up. Editors are there to help refine a message, story, or point. Editors are not there to help you craft your message, unless you’ve hired one or your story is so out-of-this-world amazing they can’t pass you by. What does this all mean? Never send an email, pitch, post, or article without doing everything else below first. No if, ands, or butts.
2. Focus On Format. Investigate what works for a particular publication. Find the most popular posts on the site you want to write for and get reading. What do you notice? Are all the favorite pieces list-style posts, under 800 words, with punchy sub-headings? Or maybe they’re all personal essays with in-link research links? Look at length, tone, pacing, reading level, and message. Give the readers what they want.
3. To Journal Or To Blog? A blog post or article informs the reader in some way. A journal entry events or thoughts in your life. Most blog editors want blog posts and not journal entries. This is the number one reason I have to turn down blog posts as an editor. If the post is more about you than the reader, there’s nothing to publish. Tell your story, but tell in a way that helps your audience. Surprise me, delight me, or educate me. Offer the reader a different way of seeing things, a new idea, a seldom-talked-about experience. Breastfeeding articles are the perfect example. Yes, breastfeeding is hard. What can you bring to the conversation? If it’s nothing new, then you’ve written a journal entry, not a blog. Learning the difference makes all the difference.
4. Talk About The Flip Side. Address opposing thoughts in your writing, lest people think you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t have to talk about it for long, but you do have to acknowledge conflict exists. A great example is this essay from a dying wife. She is writing a dating advertisement for her husband, whom she adores. In it, she mentions that she probably shouldn’t be writing it. That mention of an opposing view (there’s a crazy lady trying to sell her husband) helps to show the reader that she is aware of the uncomfortable situation she has created. It makes her feel real and helps us connect.
5. Believe In What You’re Writing. As an editor, I just know when someone is only in it for the money. Money-based submissions tend to lack of genuine excitement, they have too many exclamation points, and the writer is overeager to make any changes (any at all!) to see the post published and the money in their bank. I’m all for making money and believe great writers deserve great pay, but the best writers seem to have a healthy combination of genuine interest and writing ability. Okay, there’s one exception: killer copywriters, but that’s a whole different world of conversions and marketing craft.
6. Arm Your Audience. Never leave a reader hanging with negative thoughts and nowhere to go. Your reader must walk away feeling something, whether it’s happy, shocked, inspired, or informed. Supply clear answers, surprises, hopeful thinking, or productive actions.
7. The Red Pen Rule. Edit more than you write. No joke. This point should be #1, but I didn’t want to scare you away. This is the big one, folks. Every kickass writer I’ve worked with is more focused on the editing process, not the writing process. They know the words will come. It’s getting rid of all those extra words that’s the hard part. Freelance writers known for their production levels will outline a post and know exactly what they’re going to say before they even say it. Others start with their conclusion and a few bullet points to stay on topic. Want proof? I spent about 1 hour writing the first draft of this post. I put another 4 hours into editing it.

My Dream Job

I never thought I could write for a living.

Getting published consistently seemed like a dream.

Consistently successful writers are the people who pay attention. To do that, you need to stop looking at what everyone is doing and focus on who you want to write for and the reader you want to address. Pay attention to what works for the publication and what doesn’t. Do your research, edit more than you write, and craft a message worth sharing. You’ll quickly see your writing get published more often and more consistently.

I know you can do it.

Because I did it, too.

-Ash

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