Is your content created simply to market your site, or to actually inform your readers?

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books in libraryAll too often we create content simply for the purpose of marketing our website or blog.

We are driven by the knowledge that the creation of content is a powerful means to attract new visitors.

In other words, we use content as bait.

But when we do this, are we really giving our readers what they really want?

Another way to look at it would be to view your website or blog as a library.

For a moment, imagine your site as a physical library, built with bricks and mortar, and stocked with hardbound volumes.

Now think about what kinds of books you would buy for your library.

In the real world of bricks and mortar you would buy and display books according to what the public wanted to find there. You would cater to their tastes, and have yards of reference books on the shelves that might be rather mundane in their subject matter, but are nevertheless what your readers want to find.

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Monday Spark: In awe of nature.

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The feeling of awe is a powerful thing. We can feel it when watching a gymnast performing some incredible feat, or at the birth of a child, or in nature.

That moment of awe has a profound effect on us. It’s a little like a reset button, allowing us to view everything afresh. All the jumbled up worries and thoughts in our minds are swept away.

For myself – perhaps because I don’t have easy access to gymnasts, and have just the right number of children already – I find awe in nature.

This isn’t my video, but I bet if I had been in that canoe, I would have felt a profound sense of awe. Even watching the video, I feel a sense of quiet amazement, and peace.

Take a moment, and enjoy.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

NOTE: If you want help in moving your business forward, or launching it, check out my coaching service for freelancers.

About the author: Nick Usborne is an online writer, copywriter, author and coach.

Opportunities for online copywriters in 2012 [VIDEO]

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online copywriting opportunityI put this video together for anyone who is thinking about specializing in online copywriting.

I was inspired to make the video by a few people who had approached me and asked whether or not there was still a viable opportunity for online copywriters, or whether the market was already saturated.

That’s a reasonable question – and I think and hope this short video answers it.

As you will see, I actually think the opportunity is bigger than ever, and for 4 specific reasons.

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Monday Spark: Checking items off your To-Do list makes you feel good.

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to do listTo give yourself a daily lift in spirits, get into the habit of using to-do lists.

I have an ongoing list of things I need to get done, and the days by which they are due.

When I get up in the morning, I can immediately see my tasks for the day.

As each item is completed, I check a box next to the item.

As the day progresses, more and more items get checked off.

At the end of the day I can look at my list – at all the items with check marks against them – and I feel good.

I feel good because I can see what I have done with my day. I can see I have had a productive day. I can see that I have made progress and am moving forward.

Funny thing – I used to simply delete items from the list as I progressed through each day. But…

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On your web content pages, reveal your core message slowly.

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mystery in the box revealedOften when I arrive at a content page online, I read the first few lines and find the answer or information I was looking for. Or I at least get the gist of it. I then stop reading and hit the back button.

In other words, the writer has revealed the good stuff at the top of the page, and has given me little or no reason to keep reading.

In fact, I have made the same error with this post. You have already finished reading the short version of what I plan to say and – if you were in a hurry – you could pretty much move on at this point.

(That said, the good stuff is yet to come…I just didn’t flag it in the intro.)

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Monday Spark: Stretch Yourself.

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Here is a story from when I was about 11 years old.

At my school, in England, we used to put on a full-length play by Shakespeare once a year.

I was a hopelessly timid kid, but somehow landed the part of Cassius in the play, Julius Caesar. I didn’t think I could learn hundreds of lines for the play, and I didn’t think I could get up on the stage in front of an audience.

But I did. And playing that part changed my life.

My teacher gave me the opportunity to really stretch myself, and to discover what I was truly capable of.

Now we fast-forward a generation to when my children were at school at about the same age. When I went to see their school “plays”, my kids were asked to learn maybe ten lines.

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