By Jessica Albon
One of the things I really love about writing a weekly newsletter is that it reminds me to stop and reflect on the previous week each Friday. Whether I write about one of my accomplishments (or mishaps) in the feature article or in the Editor’s Note or not, this weekly ritual has made me much more aware of how I’ve spent my time.
Most of the time, at least some portion of my reflection does make its way into this newsletter, and even when it doesn’t, the time is never wasted.
Today I’d like to share the five questions I ask that lead to great newsletter content.
- What am I especially happy about learning this week?
A week is a long time when you’re looking at what you’ve learned, so instead of reviewing everything that could go on that list, I focus on the things that were especially rewarding. Shortcuts,
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By Jessica Albon
Photo by Kriss Szkurlatowski
Is your newsletter languishing because you don’t have time to write new articles? Has your blog gone un-updated for months on end? Are you tired of feeling completely guilty because you’re not generating as much content as you’re “supposed” to?
If you’re not contributing to the hourly doubling of Internet content, it’s time to change that. But when you’ve already got too much to do in a day, how do you become more prolific? Here’s what works for my clients.
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Write more. It may be self-evident, but the simple act of writing more *is* an idea sparker in and of itself. See, if you decide you’re going to write one article a day for the next month, you’re going to have to let go of the idea that each of those articles needs to be a masterpiece. In fact, most of those articles might
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By Jessica Albon
Image by woodsy
This weekend, I finally started my tomato seeds–a little behind schedule, but fortunately we have a long growing season here in North Carolina. Before buying my seeds, I knew the types of tomatoes I’d plant, but there was one that was a surprise… Though I’d never heard of it before, the story on the back of the package intrigued me and before I knew it, seeds for tomatoes I’d never heard of were in my cart.
On the other hand, I also spent a half hour this weekend searching for a great coffee mug on Etsy, and came away empty handed. The mugs that I liked all suffered from one (or both) of two fatal flaws–no story, or no details. For me, one of the most important things to know about a coffee mug is … how much coffee it’ll hold, and yet click after click, …
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By Jessica Albon
Jessica’s note: I wrote this article originally in October of 2007, but it felt especially relevant to share today. Enjoy!
There’s a virus afoot. No, not a computer virus. Or a bird flu virus. But rather a Sameness Virus.
See, most of the articles that wind up on websites, in ezines, and being circulated at sites like EzineArticles.com are very much the same.
In fact, if you spend a lot of time browsing through content, you might just start to feel like the article writers took the old Sesame Street song a little too much to heart–and avoid standing out at all costs.
You probably think you’re immune. After all, you can see all the things that set your articles apart from other articles out there. But, here’s the thing: just because you know that your articles stand head and shoulders above the rest doesn’t mean your readers can …
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