Author: C111

I have a hard time when people tell me they aren’t good at writing. It makes me very sad that they haven’t recognized yet that everyone is a writer. We all write daily. There is hardly a person out there who doesn’t grab a pen and paper every day. You may be asking, “If I write a note from a phone call, like an address, am I a writer?” Yes, you are. Writers write. Plain and simple.

The entire point of writing is to make a note of something. You wish to make it permanent and to serve a purpose. That address serves a purpose to help you in the future when you need to mail something to it or visit it. Just like a blog has a purpose of telling a story or offering tips. There’s a reason you wrote it. That makes you a writer.

To be good at writing isn’t even real. Being bad just means that you didn’t write with purpose or connection from point A to point B. In other words, you didn’t take a step back to analyze how your writing flows together from a reader’s point of view. That isn’t even bad, it’s just incomplete. To be good, then, means you complete your piece. You’ve thoroughly spent time on it, and time away for your brain’s rest, and you made it all make sense.

I think people think they have a hard time with writing. That sounds common. I even go through that. I know there are authors out there who scoff at the phrase “Writer’s Block”, but it does happen. Most of my pieces come from personal experiences and sometimes I don’t have any more left to talk about.

What To Do if You Have Writer’s Block

Go out for a moment. Sometimes this can be a walk, a long walk. That usually gets creative juices flowing. But for me, what usually works is socializing. A writer finds inspiration by listening, not by talking. When we go to the stores and talk to our cashiers with open-ended questions, we get inspiration. When we hang out with our friends or visit family members, we get inspiration. You can even eavesdrop and get a lot of info that way.

One way to really beat Writer’s Block is to go to a bookstore. Talk to anyone you can, pick their brain, and get a book that can inspire you, too. Not to mention, being around all those books on different topics is more inspiration than you’ll ever know what to do with. That’s a double win and can cure your Writer’s Block for a long while.

What Makes You a Writer

Because you write. Seriously, that automatically means you meet the criteria. To humor those who say “good” and “bad”, to be a good writer you just need to sit back and read what you wrote. See how it stands out from an outside perspective. Have others read it.

Also, take a mini break from writing on a particular piece. Sometimes we reread and edit to the point that we make more mistakes and things just get messy. When we take time off, we come back with fresh eyes and a refreshed brain. This is when we catch the truth of how our piece flows for a reader. It makes you the reader, too. And with that perspective, you can create a masterpiece.

You’re also a writer because you talk. Those who can talk, even in sign language, even those who are deaf, all tell a story. We’ve all told stories before. If you can say it, however way that may be, then you can write it.

How to Be a Good Writer

1. Get inspired
2. Just write with no editing
3. Take a break
4. Return to editing
5. Publish it

By publishing it you make its purpose known. You put it out there for others to read.

Next time you think you aren’t good at writing, please reframe your thoughts. It isn’t true at all. I know writers out there are going to get angry with me. We writers like to pretend no one can do this as good as us. Sure, it is a skill, and some can do it more easily than others. However, it’s not like no one can do it. We all have a unique voice and think in different ways. Some things are the same, but still, we’re different. When we’re the same, that just makes our writing relatable and moving to the reader. Our voice out loud, like when we tell stories, is the same voice that reads when we write. So again, if you talk, you write.

You may know by now that I am a copywriter by trade; it’s what I’ve done for many years. I won’t give away my age, but I will give away some tips on how to find the best copywriter for your business.

Three Traits for a Good Copywriter

1. They never use AI.
   • Can AI really write better than a human? “But AI writes me really good SEO content.” What is SEO content? Stuffed with keywords? Linking to fake data and resources that don’t exist? A bland monotoned voice saying the same thing in every article they write on the same topic they give your competition? Competitors are taking the shortcut by using AI, which means you should not. Find yourself a real person who writes as themselves. Better yet, have them be your ghost writer. You know your business better than anyone, so rather than your writer going into AI for inspiration of topics to write about, you give them those topics.
2. They read.
   • No, they don’t always have to read self-help books or non-fiction. Not everything they read needs to be about business. But, reading in general and about anything is going to mean they are well-versed. They can even watch videos. I should rewrite this subtitle as “They research” because research can come in all shapes and sizes:
     • Interviews
     • Casual conversations
     • Social media (the study of social behavior, that is)
     • People watching
     • Movies
   • In other words, a good copywriter is someone who is observant and always learning. What information and where they get it from does not matter. What matters is that they are educated on all viewpoints and open enough to learn about different perspectives. All writing is a form of journalism – you may not travel, but you are still getting feedback from the world and taking note.
3. They listen.
   • Writers are known to have a lot to say on paper (or text, like me). In person, a good copywriter listens more than they speak. This coincides with point #2 because to learn means to keep your mouth shut. If a writer is doing all the talking, how are they learning anything new?

Notice how I did not put anything about them being great at grammar and writing styles? That’s because it does not matter. In a world where AI is used for mostly everything we read, it’s apparent that writing styles and text tone means nothing. The fact that your copywriter is writing from their own person and not with artificial intelligence means that you are getting a unique voice and their writing will read out like a song with a harmonious melody. It’s a breath of fresh air. Readers all over are craving real writers.

Where Can You Find a Good Copywriter

Most SEO agencies out there will have a copywriter, or two, or three. But I’d be very careful when scoping out these companies. If they’re big and take on hundreds of clients, I can almost bet you that their writing uses AI about 99% of the time – copy and pasted verbatim. Finding an enterprise seo agency requires a lot of interviewing on your part. You’re going to want to vet them out as much as they vet you out. If they talk way more than you, that’s not usually a problem as they ‘re in sales, but they need to listen to you too. Ask them about their copywriters. Ask them if they use AI.

I used to work for some seo agencies and there’s a handful I trust because I did interview them well enough to see if they cared enough to pay me for my style of writing. I knew I wouldn’t be appreciated or paid well if they didn’t care. While I do contract work for companies, I am selective. I want to work with reputable agencies because I care about my reputation.

In the end, I write for fun. Why else did I start this random blog about copywriting? You want to find someone who either works privately or from a professional marketing group. Take your time, too. Ask for samples. Just take this home with you today:

No one knows your business better than you, most certainly not AI, and what you really need is an ally in a copywriter who will work beside you and put out your story the way you want it to be told to your audience. They’re out there, like diamonds in the ruff, granted, but they are still out there.

One of the hardest parts about being a writer is that because I’ve done it for a living, I can forget to do it for healing purposes. Those who write as their skill chose it because they love it. But they don’t just love it, they need it. We journal, we don’t vent. We text, we don’t call. We email, we don’t… call. We still keep up writing letters, greeting cards, and list out our grocery lists on paper.

The part I want to talk about is journaling. I forget to do it. Rather, I don’t forget, I instead feel too tired to. After a long day of writing for work I need a rest from my own thoughts. And that, my friends, is where things get difficult.

Writing is a huge outlet for me and helpful for my mental well-being. When I’ve used most of my words for this blog or other blogs I write for, I get wiped. That’s actually one reason I like this blog I’m doing for fun because it is a creative source for me and feels like I’m journaling. But what I’m talking about is true meditative journaling. The kind where I sit with my Zen music, light a candle or incense or both, and just write my heart out. Sometimes I cry. Many times, I just ramble and think on paper. If I’ve got a problem, which I usually do, then writing about it helps me find a solution.

Lately I have not done this. I get so used to writing all day on work-related projects that I don’t have anything left in me to write for my own self, in freedom with a flow of thoughts. So I’ve been caught in some unresolved binds as of late. Why? Because I’ve neglected writing them out and finding solutions to my problems. That’s why. I usually have success with this, but not recently. My journal has been collecting dust.

What can I recommend to anyone going through this? Well, do what I’m going to do:

Set the mood and make it a ritual.

That’s one thing I haven’t tried yet. I haven’t actually done a dedicated ritual. Sure, I have my warm light and music, sometimes over coffee, but usually I just open up my journal and write in silence. I do this randomly. Most times I wait until I have a problem I can’t stand before I start writing. What I’m advising here is to make it a non-negotiable practice. Whether you have something to write about or not, don’t wait for a problem to arise. Just show up every day for however many minutes. See what comes up. Keep the cleansing going. Because that’s what it is after all, a cleanse.

Will you try this with me?

I’m going to practice it starting today. I’m going to keep in mind that every day, no matter how big or small, things attach to me that need to be purged off and out. I think we all have that. Even if you’re home most of the day, there is usually something ailing you enough to write about. There is also something you’re grateful for that is worthy of being noted. Join me in this beautiful writing life we have and let’s do it for ourselves, too, not just our jobs.

I want to talk a little about my time as a copywriter when I worked for an agency I quickly came to resent. This is a message for copywriters out there who write for the love of it and have an emotional tie to what they produce. Because we all treat our writing pieces as our babies and it hurts when someone does not like it.

I was working for this company, hired as a private contractor, for many years. I worked with the owner, but later he got an assistant. Her background was not in marketing, but she served as the outreach coordinator, which I guess meant marketing in her mind. And boy did she love to tell me what to do.

I was always open to adjusting my writing for those I worked for, but it was also my job to explain why I wrote the way I wrote – with SEO in mind. Again, there’s no such thing as seo content, but you can do seo research and gather enough intel so you can write things people want to know about. You see, writing for business has more to do with giving your client’s audience what they’re looking for in terms of answering a question and also, telling them where to buy what they want.

It’s as easy as that.

To do that, you need to do your research. And if you work for an agency who mentions things like what this seo group is talking about, they probably have the means to gather these analytics for you and keep track of clicks, traffic, and what not. In other words, someone within your team should be looking up keywords and the titles of the articles or webpages visitors are clicking. This will help you figure out what you’re going to write about or how to make things easier for visitors to navigate the site.

This assistant asked me to remove half of the articles I had written over the years. One particularly was about transportation and different ways people can get their disabled clients around… the company was about medical equipment and provided wheelchairs and other tools for transit. This article offered answers to common questions, tips to try at home, and a quick path to purchasing a product.

My article had been published, with periodic updates, for years. It brought in a lot of visitors and leads. In fact, much of what I wrote did that throughout the time working for them, however, the assistant despised this article and wanted it down before she left for work that day.

Why would she want that? Because she was getting tons of calls from people who needed transportation, like an Uber driver. I asked her, “why don’t you offer that kind of service or as a reward for buying customers?” She fired me.

You see? You can vet them, love them for years, but it’s all business. Some are good at it. Some are not. Some just look for an excuse to get rid of you, some just get bored. Just remember this as a copywriter: Don’t get attached to an article or someone you work for.

My experience here is writing self-published books. If you’re looking for an agent and to be published with a major company, then this is not the blog for you. However, if you’re experienced in your field, expert or not, then you have a message to deliver. It is your right to give people information that you have collected, tested, and succeeded with. So, how should you start?

Write Mini Books

Seriously. You don’t have to write a large novel. I’m not going to tell you that people have short attention spans so that no one wants to read a 300 page book anymore. That’s not true. I love to read all sorts of lengths in books. What matters most to me is if the message was delivered well and I got value out of it. If that only takes 100 words, then fine. That’s all I need to read. If it takes 500 words, I’ll still read it. Chances are, by the time I hit 100 words into a 500-word book, I will know if it’s value-packed and worth continuing.

Most Long Books Are a Waste of Time

There have been only two books I’ve read where I believe it was necessary to write such long content. All the other big books completely wasted my time. Have you ever seen the title of the next chapter and cringed that you needed to read it? I have. I’ve thought, “Oh boy, how many pages are in this chapter? Nine? Okay, I can get through nine pages.” No one reading your book should ever feel like any chapter is a chore.

These chapters usually go on and on about the author’s background. They say it’s to build credibility, but I just think they like to talk about themselves. First of all, I already know your credibility because:

I bought the book

I’ve read your author bio

I learned what I needed to know in the Introduction

Stop taking entire chapters to explain why you left a job or why your ex-boyfriend went to prison. That’s not adding value to my life. Talk about yourself as it makes sense, but for the sake of all us readers, we do not want to know about your experience at Oxford for the next ten pages, thank you.

Break Up Your Topic

Some of my favorite authors deliver one book around 100-400 pages in variation about one specific topic. The next book will be on a related topic that requires more depth. Then the next book will do the same.
What I encourage you to do is to make a bubble chart. In the center bubble, add in your main topic, or business/goal. Then branch out other bubbles on all the topics that are involved with this main bubble. Under those branched out bubbles, write the points you’ll want to make with each. If you have only one point, then see where you can add it to another bubble. If you have one bubble with a lot of points, well, that’d be its own book, right?

Each of those bubbles branching out are your mini books. They are the topics you will stick to, in how ever many words, and they will be powerfully valuable to your readers.

Who cares if your book is long or short? Are you delivering the message? You are? Good. Then go and publish more of them because I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.

Everyone is a writer. Writers all over the world say the same thing. It does not matter if you write well, with perfect grammar, or if you write sloppily. Are the words your own? Then you are a writer.

I have spent years avoiding putting content out there because I was afraid I wasn’t a great writer. Before starting my first blog, I researched the best practices for blogging. I got super discouraged because article after article all told me the same thing.

They all said, “If you don’t read a lot, then you’re not a good writer.”
I was at school when I began my first blog. I also ran a business growing food for my community. I was very busy. I hardly had time to read, leisurely. Because I was in school, I had a lot of books to read but that wasn’t what these articles had in mind. They wanted me to read business books or any book on my blog topic.

All I wanted to do was blog about my philosophy. Did that mean I needed to review Marcus Aurelius’ interpretations called Meditations? I mean, I did, eventually. But no! That’s not true! All that would do is influence my writing to be more aligned with Marcus than my very own thought processes.

Best Advice on Blogging

Don’t research blogging tips – except this one, of course. I regret doing that. If I were to start over again, I’d just go in and learn as I kept writing. Bloggers out there are mostly arrogant. In fact, writers are arrogant.

True story, I was volunteering for a political campaign in Washington, D.C. On my first evening settling into my hotel, a group of us went over to the bar lounge to get more acquainted. There was a Writer’s Convention happening at the same time and many writers were also at this lounge. I can’t tell you how many people I saw in Dark Academia outfits – black newsboy caps galore – who walked around with the same smug attitude. I couldn’t help but chuckle inside. I got to talking to one guy sitting next to me, black turtleneck, John Lenon glasses, and a stopwatch… yes, an old-fashioned stopwatch hooked to his belt loop. I told him I was a writer, too. He looked me up and down, laughed, then turned his head and ignored me for the rest of the evening.

Stop researching. Stop hesitating and just get into it. You are special in your own way. Write with broken English. Write with commas in the wrong places. Read when you want to and what you want to. Write 1300-word blogs. Do whatever you want to do.

It’s one thing to look like a “writer”, whatever that means, but it’s another to be a writer.

You already are one.

Many SEO agencies love to boast how great they are at writing SEO copy, but this comes with a few problems. I’m going to talk about those problems, but first I need to explain a little bit about what SEO is and how it relates to blogging or any written content. The key here is that you are prepared with some knowledge before you go and hire someone to write your content for you.

What is SEO?

The entire purpose of SEO is to get your website at the top of search results.

That’s the answer. There is no other reason to do search engine optimization but for the sake of being number one when someone searches for a keyword you are trying to rank for.

Does Content Matter?

You can easily test this yourself, but there are low-quality websites and even lower quality articles that seem to outrank beautiful and well-written websites. If content really mattered, then those lower quality blogs would never get seen. Seriously, search this up yourself. I’ll wait.

Then What the Heck is an SEO Blog?

It’s a scam. Anyone who tells you they are writing you content with SEO work, they are lying to you or very confused as to how SEO works. Meta descriptions, title tags, image file sizes, and helpful content are all important, but not ranking factors.

If you need someone to help you write blogs, go right ahead. Writing is a process that not many have the time to do. However, don’t just fall for some marketing scheme that your website will be at the top of search results just because someone shoved a bunch of keywords in your blog post.

Have You Ever Heard of Keyword Stuffing?

Here’s where your website can get into trouble with search engines. If you hire someone that produces you an SEO blog, they are going to put related keywords in the article everywhere they possibly can. They may use one keyword over and over again, or they may use multiple keywords spread throughout.

Not only does this read horribly to those who visit your website, search engines don’t like this. It screams manipulation which can penalize your website. And if your website gets penalized, you’re dealing with low ranking, if at all.

“We will post 20 SEO blog posts a month for your website!”

Really? That sounds great, sign me up! If you catch that I’m being sarcastic here, you’re correct. What good is paying someone 20 blogs per month that are stuffed with keywords? Save your time and money. You do not need that many, unless your competitor has, say, 15, then sure, you will want a little more on your website to show off more expertise. However, this brings two problems:

Problem #1: They are probably using AI

Okay, there’s no problem using AI. The problem with it is that most articles read fake and are not helpful to a reader at all. Information can most always be incorrect and the moment one of your site visitors detects this phony content, they will leave your site and move on.
You’re better off paying someone to handwrite an article that actually provides value and is unique. Because AI is giving the same information to everyone else which just looks duplicated and is annoying. Do you want to look like everyone else on the Internet in your industry? Stand out.

Problem #2: 20 blogs isn’t any better than 2.

Pumping out that many blogs all at once is spammy, especially when they come with too many keywords – too many meaning more than one per blog. What you can do is get 20, then schedule their posting date ahead of time. This way you can spread them out and not tell search engines that you are trying to manipulate the system.

And on that note, you don’t want to just stop at 20. You will need to keep content updated and continuously post. You don’t have to do it as often, but you want to show that you’re there and you care enough for your readers to provide something for them.

It’s not natural for someone to post that many blogs then suddenly stop. Who writes 20 blogs in one sitting?

This tells search engines that the content produced was done easily, which means it was done with AI or very poorly, and that also means it lacks value. Search engines will not rank any content that lacks value or isn’t helpful, especially if people go to the article and quickly bounce because it reads terribly.

Content is important but it isn’t the main factor in ranking.

How Does It Help?

If it’s good, and reads well, then people are more likely to stay on your site which can help tell search engines that you’ve got something special going on. And if you’re a good business owner or website owner, you’ll want to make sure your content helps people. Believe us, visitors know when they’re reading something fake or scammy. You do not want to lose that kind of trust in those who come to your website.

What you want to look for in a writer is someone who can realistically write you great content in a normal amount of time. The moment they tell you they’re writing a blog strictly to rank you, be concerned. There is SEO and there are blogs. But there is a dangerous risk to SEO blogs.

One reason I know I am a writer is because I transcribe every educational book I read. Do you? Why do we do that?

I read an article, maybe last year, that mentioned how people who write notes when they read something are more likely to retain knowledge. I wish I can remember where I read it so I can source it well, but a simple search online will give you all the data to validate this. With my own research, evidently we can still miss information even if we transcribe. Because of this, there are strategies to maximize your transcriptions. I’ll get into my method, but first, I want to explain why I take notes in case you can relate.

Why I Take Notes When Reading

To be clear, I don’t keep a journal for fictional books. Although, when I read my favorite book, The Alchemist by Pablo Cuelho, I do write personal notes in the margins, with dates, because I always learn something new each time I pick it up. It comes with life lessons, so in a way, that’s a type of book that still teaches. But I’m not writing books to The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein.

For those nonfictional books, like business books or textbooks for school, I get this deep desire to capture the important ah-ha moments I read. In a sense, I think we take notes so we can have a quick reference available to remind ourselves of “life-changing” or career-changing quotes. It’s like we’re writing our very own Cliffsnotes. I hope people still know what Cliffsnotes are and I’m not aging myself here, but they are shortened versions of major books (usually books that schools refer their students to read). It helps you get the main points without reading the entire book – time saver but not necessarily favored by professors.

But it works! I have journals upon days of notes from amazing books.

What I Do with Notes

Naturally, I do not publish them or sell them. That’s plagiarism and I’m not looking for a lawsuit. Sometimes, if it’s a how-to book, I review all the notes and grab a pack of notecards. Yes, there is more writing, but we’re writers so we love this, right?

On these notecards I will write down the actual how-to steps – one step on its own card. Many times, I write summaries from the book and quick tips, but these captions are not steps so they stay in my journal and don’t make it on to a notecard.

When I’ve gone through all transcriptions in my journal, and wrote down all important steps on to notecards, I then categorize the notecards.

Let’s go through an example. Say I just read a book on how to operate my business using the 80/20 Principle. I’d categorize my notecards like this:

Category One: Team Management

Category Two: Financial Management

Under each category, I’d add the notecards that fit:

Category One:

-Find out which team members make up 20% who deliver 80% of the work; and identify the 80% who deliver 20% of the work

-Speak to team members who do 20% of the work and find out if they need a change up: training, more supervision/micro-management, or any other kind of support.

Category Two:

-Identify which expenses make up 20% but bring 80% of the profits

-Identify what we spend 80% on that only bring 20% of the profits

-Figure out which items need to be cancelled and/or have more of an investment

Taking Action on Your Notes

At this point, I’d take one of two options:

If I have a step-by-step guide, I’d simply transcribe it again as a list, in order of priority, and will print it out and laminate it. I’d post it where I can see it until it becomes second nature. Or, I’d simply add the steps in my planner by priority.

Prioritizing is easy. You’d just see which notecards in each category are more important than the other. For instance, if I spent 80% on employees who earned the company 20% of profits, I’d prioritize the shifts with the employee that I need to make. Meaning, I’d first learn if they are worth training and growing or if they simply hate their job and strongly want to quit one day unless things go their way – which may not be a financial benefit to the company. In this case, first I’d act on the employee and get an overview from their perspective. Next, I’d take financial action.

This isn’t an article on business advice. What I’m trying to explain here is that transcribing notes is a filtering process that can get your brain to lock in what you read. A book can come with hundreds of words and you’re not going to remember everything. Perhaps you’ll only remember 10% as time goes by.

Having notes with the actionable steps and most important how-to’s is going to help you grow and use what you learned to your advantage. That’s what the author wants anyway. What’s the point of reading nonfiction if you’re not going to learn? Learning is one thing, but doing the work and having firsthand experience is going to be the true way you learn. Transcribe, transcribe even more, then transcribe again. There’s no better way to have knowledge retention.

The advice, “write what you know”, came from Mark Twain to encourage people to embody their own personal experiences in their writing. Is this bad advice or was he spot on? To answer this question immediately, I’d say he was one hundred percent correct.

There’s a but, here.

You may be limiting yourself to an audience that can benefit from your writing. What does that mean? It’s simple, really. If you have writer’s block, you’ll feel better after you’re done reading this.

What Writing What You Know Means

It means that you don’t dabble in writing about how to be a heart surgeon if you’re a dentist. It means not writing about how to care for someone with Parkinson’s disease if you have only cared for those with Alzheimer’s disease. It means not writing about how to get a cat to love you when you’ve only ever known dogs.

Okay, that last one was stupid, but you get the point.

What we write needs to come with some form of expertise or experience. For instance, if I have owned cats my entire life domestically, but hardly ever cared for a stray cat outside my house, I could still write about how I accomplished getting a tiny feral beast to rub its head across my hand in less than two weeks.

How Writing What You Know Limits You

Mark Twain wasn’t wrong in his advice, so that alone isn’t what is limiting you. You, yourself, are limiting you. You could run out of ideas quickly if you only wrote what you knew because you would think you couldn’t expand a little. You’d stick to a tiny niche.

Let’s say you love to cook and you focus on American cuisine with a gourmet touch. You’ve been practicing this style of cooking for decades and only once or twice have cooked recipes from El Salvador. You’d be selling yourself short not to include dishes like pupusas in your mix.
The entire concept is that you know cooking. That doesn’t just have to be American cooking, you can cook anything you want and broaden your practice and expertise! Chances are that cooking is relatable throughout the world with little hacks here or there. Teach your audience about leveling up their American homemade recipes with a little tip from the Middle East – like adding Za’Atar to their common scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast.

You Don’t Have to Leave Your Niche

As you can see with the example above, you’re not writing about how to use Za’Atar in Middle Eastern dishes, you’re writing about how to add this delicious spice to American dishes. You see the connection? You’re still on topic but with a little flare added in. This makes you unique.

With the Internet, We All Know the Same Thing

It’s sad, really, that everyone is an “expert” on every topic. Have you ever spoken to someone who could explain the entire autobiography about an actor just because they watched one reel on social media? Have you been corrected with your own knowledge about the life expectancy for opossums only to be corrected by someone who said they asked AI and AI told them no, they don’t live only 3-5 years? Who’s right? This is what I thought I knew!

I’m on a rant here. But the point is that everyone seems to know everything about every topic on this planet just because the internet and social media exist. How are we supposed to stand out with our copywriting content? How are we supposed to be an expert in our field – in other words, how are we supposed to PROVE we’re an expert?
Go get a PhD. Just kidding. You don’t have to although that would build credibility.

Truth is, be unique. It’s a battle out there. Even still, there is a special audience who will like you and follow you. All of us have our own favorite person we listen to on a podcast. We have our favorite fitness influencer. We have our favorite news station. We have our favorite baseball team.

Seriously, you can tell me the Yankees are the best team on the planet, but I will always root for the Dodgers. Hopefully I didn’t lose you there.
Don’t be afraid to expand your writing and the topics you cover. Write what you know but also write everything you know and combine them. If you do write about cooking and you also love cats, try adding a special blog post about cooking for your cat. Seriously! I will even read it.

If you’ve read my blog posts then you know they vary away from just 500 words. That’s not a strategy; I’m literally writing as many words as it takes to get my message across. That could be 500 words, that could also be 1300 words. I don’t have a measurement, but I do keep to a flexible system.

Why Does Word Count Matter?

You can’t just write 50 words and call it a blog. A post like that will surely lack value and will teach readers nothing. Even 150 words is too little. A paragraph isn’t a blog, it’s a poem or an essay, or a short story. You can do it, sure, but if you’re writing a blog then you want to have a little more than that because you want to give the reader something to take home. Don’t waste their time, offer what you’ve got – tell them what you need to tell them.

Why There is No Secret Number for the Perfect Blog

If you write with the intention of delivering a topic, then you won’t have to worry about a word count. Only those who write pointless copy actually focus on word count.
“I need to have 500-word blogs or I’ll never keep a reader on my site!”
That’s the wrong idea.
I’m willing to bet that your blog post is going to be made up stuff with filler words just to hit that sweet spot.

Why Do People Advise 500 Words?

That’s an older concept. Years ago, blog posts were 500 words because it was thought that the attention span for readers was short. While there is evidence to prove that, yes, attention spans are short – as we’ve seen with shorts versus long-form videos on YouTube, there is still a need. If there wasn’t, why are long videos still posted? Why do people still record long episodes for their podcasts? Why do we still write novels in our Instagram posts? It’s not uncool to have longer content. Readers are not obsolete, if they were, we wouldn’t have books being published.

The most important factor is that you produce quality. If it takes you 657 words to get your point across, help a reader out, and deliver an exceptionally well-read article, then write 657 words. Don’t shave off 157 just to make it 500 words.

Same with a blog post that’s under 500 words. Why would I force out an extra 100 words if 400 is perfect enough?

The Flexible System

Too little words, what’s the point? Too many words, what’s the point? That IS the point! How many words does it take to get your point across? The only system I follow is that – am I getting my message across to my reader? I cannot do that in less than 400 words, most of the time. But if you can, do it.

My guess is that if you’re a copywriter, then you love to write. One thing I know about writers is that they LOVE to write a lot of words. I haven’t met a writer who gives me short sentences and calls it a day. You can always tell a writer in someone you’ve exchanged phone numbers with, too. Want to know how to tell? How long are their text messages. We all know someone who texts way too long of a text. I’m one of them.
Writers have trouble knowing when to stop. So, follow some form of a flexible system, like 500-1200 words if you can. Give yourself some room without restrictions. That frame gives you ample space to get your point across but also caps your addiction to words.

But get rid of the idea that is has to be 500 and only that. You wouldn’t want to let your reader down by writing them “5 Tips for Copywriting” and only giving them four. Of course, you wouldn’t do that, but don’t limit how much detail those five tips truly come with just to hit a certain word count.