Learn to write effective blog posts and other content marketing pieces
How do you triple readership for your blog post? Get people to read 520% more of your story? Increase shares, likes and followers?
Attend our content-writing workshop in Durham, NC, Feb. 5-6.
Book an in-house content-writing course.
The research is out there — some good, some bad, some simply ridiculous. We’ve sifted through the best of the best to come up with dozens of proven-in-the-lab best practices for writing content marketing pieces that travel the globe instead of just staying home on the couch.
“The article I rewrote in Ann’s Master Class got nearly three times the average page views for our intranet homepage stories. It was the second-most read story of the year.”
— Michelle Esso, senior communications staff writer, Baker Law
Read more rave reviews.
If you are a content writer who would like to …
- Learn how to identify which story angles readers want to read?
- Get fill-in-the-blanks templates for building popular content marketing pieces?
- Get targets for the most effective length of blog posts, mobile headlines, paragraphs, sentences and words?
- Get your message across even to nonreaders?
… then this is the content-writing training program for you.
What you’ll learn in our content-writing courses:
Whether you’re just building your content strategy or have been working as a full-time content writer for years, you’ll learn how to:
Think Like a Friend, Fan or Follower
“There’s a lot of ME in social MEdia,” says Brian Solis. “And there’s a great big I in TwItter.”
Sadly, talking about yourself and your stuff works about as well on social channels as it does at a cocktail party. Watch your social media reach and influence grow when you deliver relevant, valuable, useful content.
Specifically, you’ll learn how to:
- Position your company as the expert in the field and draw readers in with news they can use to live their lives better.
- Make sure your status updates are welcome guests, not intrusive pests, by passing the 70-20-10 test.
- Tap the power of the most-retweeted word in the English language. And avoid the one topic nobody wants to read about.
“This workshop is especially effective for those of us who have been writing for a long time. Ann brings in the new research and new trends to keep us on our toes and to keep our writing strong and fresh.”
– Jean Kempe-Ware, owner, Kempe-Ware Public Relations
Fill In the Blanks to a Better Blog Post
Would you like to master a structure that’s been proven in the lab to:
- Attract 300% more readers (Groove HQ)
- Get more social media shares (Reuters Institute)
- Boost readership, understanding, engagement, interest, satisfaction and more (The Poynter Institute, The Readership Institute, the American Society of News Editors and the Newspaper Association of America)
You’ll learn to use this master recipe to produce some of the most popular types of blog content:
- Fill in the blanks to the best survey story you’ve ever written, using our easy template.
- Get a simple template for crafting a tipsheet that almost writes itself.
- Write a great case study: It’s easy with our annotated example.
“LOVED the recipes for different kinds of articles and focusing on the reader.”
– Megan Bultman, lead philanthropy consultant, Allstate
Cut Through the Clutter on Social Media
Bookshelves buckle under the weight of usability research showing that the less readable your status updates, the less sharing you’ll see. That the more you pack into your paragraphs, the less people will read. That the longer your sentences get, the less your readers will understand.
But how long is too long in social media? In this session, you’ll learn how to:
- Hit the right targets: What’s the most effective length of a blog post? An online paragraph? A sentence? A word?
- Get a (free!) paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of your piece to identify the best opportunities to radically increase readability.
- Entice visitors to read more of your story by hitting one key on your keyboard more often.
“Revolutionised the way my communications team and I approach writing for online consumption.”
— Nikki Van Dusen, manager, internet communications, Alberta Public Affairs Bureau
Lift Ideas Off the Screen
Most web visitors spend, on average, fewer than 15 seconds on a page, according to a study by Chartbeat. Getting your message across to skimmers, scanners and other nonreaders may be the most important marketing strategy there is.
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
- Write better listicles with our 6-step list-writing makeover.
- Bust the myth of page view time. Create a better user experience — that is, help readers understand better, remember longer and enjoy your piece more — in half the time.
- Tear down obstacles to reading your post by passing the Palm Test.
- Plus: Learn a simple search engine optimization approach that will help you get found while producing high-quality content.
“Wonderful! Loved the focus on data. This is the first class I’ve taken in which I’m likely to review my notes.”
– Caroline Kipp, senior community relations specialist, Town of Castle Rock
Formats
Choose from these formats for content writing courses:
- In-house training programs: Bring Ann in to train your whole team with on-site or online courses
- Public Master Classes: Build your own blog writing skills when you attend one of our writing workshops near you.
- Association workshops: Bring Ann to your conference or chapter for a keynote, breakout session or professional development program.
I’m ready to boost my digital marketing skills!
I’d like to:
- Book Ann for an in-house or association workshop.
- Register for Get Clicked, Read, Liked & Shared, Ann’s two-day content writing workshop in Durham, NC, on Feb. 5-6.
- Browse all writing workshops.
- Learn about our writing coach, Ann Wylie.
Questions? Contact Ann.