Steve Jobs famously misquoted Picasso when he said, “Good artists copy; great artists steal.”

What Picasso really said was, “Art is theft.”

T.S. Eliot said something far closer, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.”

I learned all of this from Austin Kleon, bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, a guide I recommend to all writers seeking insights for tapping into your endless reserves of creativity and innovation.

As a noted speaker, and prolific blogger, Mr. Kleon offers timeless wisdom on the secrets of borrowing inspiration from your heroes to remix it into your own work in order to create something fresh and original.

Writers aren’t born, they are made. ~ Austin Kleon

In this installment of The Writer Files, Austin shares his method of “productive procrastination,” the difference between little writing and Big Writing, the importance of finding the right readers, and his secret of productivity.

Join me as we study the dossier of Austin Kleon, writer …

About the writer …

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m a writer who draws. I’ve written two books: Steal Like An Artist, a manifesto for creativity in the digital age, and Newspaper Blackout, a poetry collection made by redacting newspaper articles with a permanent marker.

What is your area of expertise as a writer or online publisher?

The Venn diagram of my career is pictures, words, and the web.

Where can we find your writing?

Your local bookstore, or www.austinkleon.com.

The writer’s productivity …

How much time, per day, do you spend reading or doing research?

1-3 hours.

Before you begin to write, do you have any pre-game rituals or practices?

Sadly, no. I’m sure if I did, I’d write more.

What’s your best advice for overcoming procrastination?

Practice productive procrastination — have 2 or 3 projects going at one time, so if you get sick of one, you can jump over to the other.

What time of day is most productive for your writing?

I like to write when the world is sleeping — in the morning or at night — but I have a six-month-old son that I take care of, a wife who works in the mornings, and an 8-hours-a-night sleep habit, so I’m pretty much doomed to the afternoon. As Dickens said, “I detest this mongrel time, neither day nor night.”

Do you generally adhere to a rigid or flexible writing system?

So flexible you could say it’s limp.

How many hours a day do you spend actually writing (excluding email, social media etc.)?

I sort of resent the distinction. It’s all writing. It’s all typing into boxes. The thing is, I don’t know what writing is going to really get me somewhere — I’ve typed tweets that have turned into blog posts that have turned into book chapters.

I don’t make a distinction between little writing and Big Writing. It’s all part of the same process. So, I’ll say: I spend at least 2 hours a day typing into boxes.

Do you write every day?

Larry David, after accepting the accepting the Paddy Chayefsky Award from the Writers Guild, said: “I hate writing. Nothing puts me to sleep faster than picking up a pen. I not only hate writing the shows, I hate all kinds of writing. Recommendations, thank you notes, excusing my daughter from school, condolence letters … oh, those are the worst.”

I’m with Larry: I hate writing. What I really like to do is read. Writing lets me be a professional reader, so I do as little of it as I can get away with.

(When I have a deadline, I’ll write every day.)

The writer’s creativity …

Define creativity.

Taking what’s in front of you and everybody else and making something new out of it.

Who are your favorite authors, online or off?

My favorite three authors are Midwesterners who wrote/write funny, sad books with pictures and words, together: Lynda Barry, Kurt Vonnegut, and Charles Schulz.

Can you share a best-loved quote?

Currently, it belongs to John Cleese:

Creativity is not a talent, it’s a way of operating.

Do you prefer a particular type of music (or silence) when you write?

Different music for different modes. When I’m just freewriting or researching, I like to listen to my favorite stuff, mostly old 60s soul and garage rock.

When I’m on deadline and I absolutely have to finish something ASAP, I put on the most meat-headed, loud rock and roll I can: AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, or Black Sabbath.

How would you personally like to grow creatively as a writer?

I’d like to get better at storytelling.

Do you believe in “writer’s block”? If so, how do you avoid it?

For me, block is usually just laziness. I’m a really big fan of timers — just set a timer for 90 minutes, tape yourself to a chair, and turn off the internet. Something will happen.

Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment (i.e. specific creative inspirations)?

Reading obituaries. I find that thinking about death every morning makes me happy to be alive and guilty that I’m not up making something.

Would you consider yourself someone who likes to “take risks?”

No. I like to quote Flaubert:

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.

What makes a writer great?

The right readers.

The writer’s workflow …

What hardware or typewriter model are you presently using?

I suppose at this point I should mention that I have two desks in my office [see: photo below]: one is digital, one is analog. The digital one has my computer, my scanner, etc.

Except for the pencil sharpener, no electronics are allowed on my analog desk — just newspapers, paper, pens, etc. I do a lot of my drafting and drawing at the analog desk, and then I do all my editing and publishing from the digital desk. It works.

As far as gear goes, I have a 3-year-old 15″ Macbook Pro. To bribe myself to finish this next book, I just bought a shiny new 27″ iMac, but so far I’ve only used it for watching Sesame Street videos with my son.

What software are you using for writing and general workflow?

Nothing fancy. I use Evernote for research, and Google Docs and Pages for writing.

Have you run into any serious challenges or obstacles to getting words onto the page?

Yes. Every single one of them was about fear or laziness, and every single one of them was about forcing myself to sit still and move my fingers.

How do you stay organized (methods, systems, or “mad science”)?

I keep a lot of lists in my notebooks and I write little thoughts on index cards and tack them up around my desk. If I’m working on a big project, I’ll get a calendar and break the project up into little doable daily chunks.

How do you relax at the end of a hard day?

I drink whiskey and watch television.

A few questions just for the fun of it …

Who (or what) has been your greatest teacher?

I had a really great writing professor in undergrad named Steven Bauer. He paid way more attention to me and my writing than I deserved, and he also gave me the invaluable advice to not go to graduate school right after undergrad.

What’s your biggest aggravation or pet peeve at the moment (writing related or otherwise)?

Using the word “creative” as a noun.

Choose one author, living or dead, that you would like to have dinner with.

Montaigne! In his castle.

Do you have a motto, credo or general slogan that you live by?

To quote Lynda Barry:

The key to eternal happiness is low overhead and no debt.

What do you see as your greatest success in life?

My family. The rest is gravy.

If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go (cost or responsibilities are no object)?

I’d fly to Paris with my wife and we’d hire a French nanny to take care of the kiddo, and then Meg and I would walk around all day and sit in cafes and smoke cigarettes (neither of us smoke) and drink coffee and watch people and eat food and then switch to wine and eat some more.

What would you like to do more of in the coming year?

I’d like to take more naps.

Can you offer any advice to writers and content producers that you might offer yourself, if you could go back in time and “do it all over?”

I wrote a whole book of advice I wish I’d known when I was 19 (Steal Like An Artist), but the one piece of advice that’s the most valuable to me is “marry well.” Choose your partner wisely, because that’s the person who will influence you the most. I got incredibly lucky — my partner chose me.

Please tell our readers where they can connect with you online.

My home online is www.austinkleon.com and I spend way too much on Twitter: @austinkleon.

And finally, the writer’s desk …

One of the bullet points of Austin’s talk “Steal Like a Writer” is:

Step Away from the Screen.

The division of his office space reflects this, offering a refuge from the Digital Desk with an Analog one (he is also a talented artist).

I’m a firm believer in taking the time to sort out your thoughts on some notecards, an old-fashioned piece of notebook paper, or any medium that helps your mind switch gears.

The kinesthetic practice of scribbling notes freehand does something different for my own headspace, even if it’s simply copying something great someone else has written. Give it a try.

Thank you for giving us a glimpse into your mad genius Austin!

Photograph courtesy of Workman Publishing, New York.


Thank you for tuning in to The Writer Files …

We have more inspiring Q&As on the way from our favorite writers.

If you’ve already subscribed to Copyblogger via email or RSS, the next installment will be delivered to you just like the rest of our daily content.

If not, go ahead and subscribe right now so you don’t miss a thing.

Now tape yourself to a chair and turn off the internet!

About the Author: Kelton Reid is Director of Multimedia Production for Copyblogger Media, and an independent screenwriter, and novelist. Get more from Kelton on Twitter and Google+.

Inbox 0: in a bad way.

Has your brilliant content still not scored you that dream writing position, lucrative business partnership, or sweet recognition among your peers and target audience?

If you think your articles are top-notch, but there’s a lonely tumbleweed blowing through your barren website, it may be because you’re just a writer.

You heard me, Gloria.

If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody calling? Once you create a blog or email newsletter, you need to also actively take part in its evolution.

While keeping diligent focus on your content production, you must also review your past choices, looking for ways to allow more readers to engage with your writing.

In other words, to take advantage of the year of the writer, you may need to think more like an editor.

Here are 30 editing tips that will help you become a more effective editor-in-chief of the content you create.

Fall in love with your website:

1. Forget “like.” No one will be head-over-heels about your online space if you’re not thoroughly impressed with your presentation. Commit to making your site a masterpiece before you even think about your next post topic.
2. Sit down; stay awhile. “Web furniture” sets the tone for visitors. These elements include your headshot, logo, and layout. Does your design welcome people into your hub and make them want to find out more?
3. Turn the spotlight outward. Remember that a good About page is as much about your audience as it is about you.
4. Highlight a reason to subscribe. Since your story continually unfolds, encourage visitors to stay in the loop and get your fresh content as soon as it’s published.
5. Have discerning taste. Thoughtfully select the media that complements your writing. Stock photos can be used memorably, or they can look generic and bland.
6. Break the rules for a good cause. If the latest and greatest widget, post formula, or social media app won’t benefit your readers, don’t use them.
7. Don’t call it Google Minus. Claim Google Authorship and claim the authority that’s due you.
8. Check your WordPress before you wreck your WordPress. Secure your website so that you feel confident about growing your web presence and readership.
9. Tell them what you want. When someone arrives on your site, what do you want him to do next? Subscribe? Hire you? Collaborate? Explicitly state your website’s purpose as if it were a physical storefront.
10. Say no to “yes men.” Friends and family will say “looks great!” without even clicking on your URL. Get objective feedback from professionals.

Vamp up your editorial strategy

11. Water the plant. Each edit you make to your content should directly contribute to the goal you’d like to accomplish.
12. Prepare; don’t plan. Structure your editorial calendar in a way that allows you to adjust your posts if you naturally think of new ideas as you write.
13. Take yourself out of the equation. If you’re preoccupied with “writing well” to impress others, you may feel pressure and get stuck. Concentrate on helping your audience instead.
14. Research what’s hot. Get the right visitors to your blog by finding and using the keywords they use when they search online.
15. Seduce your audience. Educate and entertain in equal measure.
16. Diversify your topics. If you’re tired of your posts, it shows. You may need to switch topics completely or expand your approach to keep yourself motivated and readers enthusiastic.
17. Look in nooks and crannies. Can you provide additional information in new posts that enhances content you’ve already published?
18. Tighten up. Instead of writing many mediocre posts, dedicate your efforts to one powerful piece of content per week.
19. Walk the line. Strike a balance between your passions and your audience’s dilemmas that positions you to provide practical relief.
20. Log out and mute. Respect your blog and block distractions until you’re finished with your writing sessions.

Make your words irresistible:

21. Try the Fat Ass Fudge diet. Fat Ass Fudge says it all. Do your descriptions also convey a precise message?
22. Divide and conquer. If you truly serve a specific niche, you will exclude another group. It’s necessary. There should be certain people who hate your writing.
23. Use concise language. When you name your blog, develop a tagline, or craft a headline, pick three easy words that differentiate your business.
24. Outline major points. You’ll flesh out the details of your content when you write, but ensure posts are cohesive before you begin.
25. Write one compelling line. The stress of writing a blog post, landing page, or ebook is imaginary. Each line you write is the only reality. Put your head down; do the work.
26. Learn language rules. Grammar and usage can be boring, but what’s worse than boring? Losing readers because they don’t understand your writing. Your blog posts won’t be useful unless they’re clear.
27. Avoid word choice mistakes. Don’t carelessly write “effect” when you mean “affect.” Do you know the difference?
28. Examine each letter. Proofreading is different from writing and editing. Each final read-through should be a slow inspection that catches errors.
29. Leave time. Write in multiple rounds so you have more time to reflect. It sounds counterintuitive, but planned breaks can help you make significant progress.
30. Regard everything as practice. Be proud of the work you’ve already completed and aim to get better. Don’t take anything you read or write for granted. It’s all a lesson.

You control your draft

Drafts aren’t only rough versions of documents and manuscripts. Most creations are ongoing works in progress.

The professional writer says, ‘It is almost certain that most of what I write will not resonate with most people who read it, but over time, I will gain an audience who trusts me to, at the very least, be interesting.’ ~ Seth Godin

Prioritize the changes you need to make, and then wrap a pair of 
horn-rimmed glasses around your face. It’s time to grab your virtual red pens, my Editing Friends.

How will you make your blog more valuable? What types of revisions usually give you the best results?

Brainstorm and discuss in the comments below!

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman is the creator of Revision Fairy and author of the new painkiller, "How to Overcome Heartbreak Without Projectile Vomiting: A Guide for Cynical Hopeless Romantics." Get more from @RevisionFairy on Twitter and Google+.

The opening four notes to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony are the most popular notes in Western music.

Dun dun dun dum …

They are stormy. Heroic. Disorienting. Short enough to be remembered. Portentous enough to be memorable.

Today you’ll find those notes everywhere. In movies, commercials, and songs when the dramatic and foreboding are needed … And we hardly bat an eye.

We recognize them, we know them, and we love those first four notes. Not so for Beethoven’s opening night at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien in 1808.

One contemporary composer of Beethoven — one who represented the consensus — said, “That sort of music should not be written.”

But it was, and Beethoven has been well rewarded for his courage to create the remarkable.

In fact, when it comes to creating a blog post that opens with a bang, that’s exactly what you need … the remarkable.

Brian has already told you how to get there by using these five methods:

1. Ask a question.
2. Share an anecdote or quote.
3. Invoke the mind’s eye.
4. Use an analogy, metaphor or simile
5. Cite a shocking statistic.

Now I’d like to give you ten examples of those five methods in practice … and why they work.

10 examples of blog posts that nailed their openings …

A Real Simple Solution to the Death of Google Reader
What makes this post work so well is that Jerod Morris hijacks the Pope’s resignation to talk about the impending death of Google Reader … tying both together with a plume of smoke. It’s a dramatic, vivid opening.

What’s Your Excuse for Not Achieving Your Goals?
Robert Bruce opens up with a headline that hits you in the gut. After you’ve taken a breath, you are then hit with the definition of the word “excuse” … complete with the pronunciation. After that he rolls out, staccato-style, a litany of typical excuses we’ve all been guilty of saying. It’s hard to pull yourself away. He completes it with the one-word question that makes us all keep reading.

How Three Drag Queens in a Bus Lead to Better Blogging
The headline is irresistible (and one of the best examples I can find of the fascination hook), and the first sentence is an enticing question. Then James Chartrand introduces the benefit  to keep reading. Furthermore, this headline and opening is equally delicious for the inside joke … what we didn’t know about James when this post was published. And you can read that story here.

The #1 Conversion Killer in Your Copy (And How to Beat It)
Sonia Simone opens with the benefit first, asks a series of questions meant to identify a problem you can relate to, and then amplifies that problem with the next two sentences. Next, she anchors the problem with a vivid metaphor (the troll under the bridge), and finally proceeds to tell a story about her life … which  is really about the jaded consumer.

8 Bad Habits that Crush Your Creativity And Stifle Your Success
That’s a great headline to begin with: creativity and success … and what you can do to enhance either … are bona fide attention getters for a mass audience. The 2,500 plus tweets and nearly 3,000 Facebook likes prove this. Dean Rieck then keeps the momentum going with a comical quote from Robert Frost … and launches into the science of intelligence and creativity.

The Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words
You can’t go wrong with a reference to one of the world’s best-loved movies: The Princess Bride. Talk about finding a cultural hook that will resonate! Brian Clark then hits our insecurities of looking dumb when it comes to misspelling words, making this opening irresistible, so we keep reading.

The Glass Ceiling, the Inner Circle, and the Key to Building a Popular Blog
Read any of Jon Morrow’s blog posts and you’ll encounter a killer opening. But this one is his best because he tells a story about himself that we ultimately all see ourselves in. And the cool part is you don’t even know it’s happening. You are just with Jon … his story … and falling down the page in a dream-like state.

The Eminem Guide to Becoming a Writing and Marketing Machine
This is another example of a personal story that works. And here’s why it works. Sean Platt, in less than ten paragraphs, makes an about turn on a topic he was utterly convinced about. And that he chose a controversial figure … one whom everyone in the world snubbed at one time. But, as Sean explains, you’ll change your mind as you discover the true quality of Eminem’s content.

8 Strange Rituals of Productive Writers
Writers love learning about other writers. Even the boring stuff like what they do when they wake up. But mention that these routines are strange, we strain our necks like were passing twisted wreckage on the side of the road. That’s what this headline accomplishes. In six plain words. But Kelton Reid doesn’t stop there. He then unfolds a yarn about baseball player Ichiro Suzuki’s odd care of his baseball bat … and it’s equally odd how Kelton even got that story.

How to Become an Exceptional Writer
Leave it to me to include my own article on a post about best openings, but I think this opening does one thing very well … it slowly leaks out a story that pulls the reader along … enhancing the story with concrete details, an international rock star, and concluding the opening with a short dialog that  encourages the reader to keep reading.

Over to you …

Granted, while these blog posts are great, none of them will ever achieve the status of Beethoven’s dun dun dun dum … but that’s okay, because with a blog post all you need to do is get the attention of your reader, and keep it. And that’s why these blog  post openings are truly remarkable.

Can you share other articles that open with a bang? On Copyblogger or elsewhere? Post in the comments below …

About the Author: Demian Farnworth is Chief Copywriter for Copyblogger Media. Follow him on Twitter or Google+. Then visit his blog to read his Education of a Writer series.

What do you really know about your prospect?

Their age range perhaps? Where they live? What they do for a living?

Useful definitely, but not enough to create copy that rouses emotion and compels action.

For that we need to take a journey much deeper into the dark recesses of our customers’ minds …

Want to join me?

Today’s article is inspired by someone who understood that in writing, how well you knew your ‘characters’ made the difference between captivating an audience, or boring them.

In 1946 The Art of Dramatic Writing, (now regarded as one of the best works on the subject of playwriting), was published.

The author, Lajos Egri, had a simple rule: know your characters and you’ll know your story.

And the same principle works in copywriting. Before you can write content that gets and grips your reader’s attention, you have to get to know them … intimately.

Fortunately, Egri has some advice to help us do just that.

The one thing your reader wants most is …

… to be important.

According to Egri, this is the number one desire that motivates all characters.

Even small actions are attempts to increase our importance in the world. Whether it’s going for a promotion, dressing up for a date, or making sure your children are healthy and happy. These actions are influenced by our goals to be well-respected, noticed, or loved. And if we succeed, we have a measure of how important we are to others.

So how do companies make their customers feel important?

A business owner wants a better looking website to be more important to prospects. A web designer wants better tools to offer a high-quality service, and be more important to her customers. A blogger wants to produce epic content to be important to readers so they keep coming back.

When you know what makes your customer wants to feel important, you can ensure it is one of the leading benefits in your copy.

But this is just the beginning, because when you stir the murky waters of the desire for importance, you’re just a few steps away from another piece of the puzzle that helps you understand your customer.

Your customer is insecure (but do you know why?)

According to Egri, no-one is wholly satisfied with themselves, because if people were satisfied and happy, no-one would ever do anything.

Apparently, insecurities cause dissatisfaction which then motivates us to pursue activities to make us feel more important.

And the angle of your copywriting can change dramatically when you’re targeting different insecurities, even if the product is the same.

For example, not everyone who decides to get fit is motivated by the same reasons.

One guy might be embarrassed about his body and decide once and for all to get buff for the ladies. Another guy might have a chronic condition that he fears will cause him to miss out on life unless he can gain strength by increasing his fitness.

While the same fitness product might work for both people, the same approach to writing copy may not. And if you want to write copy that resonates deeply with your customer, you have to tackle their fears as well as their goals.

You can find vital clues in their past

Most customer profile templates focus on the present-day. Where does your customer live now? What problems do they have today?

Egri understood that if you really wanted to understand a character you had to go back in time and know the events that made your ‘character’ who they are today.

So what about your own customer? What events turned them into your target market?

If you help small business owners, how did they get there? Were they always self-employed? Have they been in business long? Have they always ‘gone their own way’ or are they more used to conforming and being told what to do?

Taking this journey through your target market’s history helps you build a better view of your customer’s values. And again, this helps you shape your content and pick themes that appeal specifically to your customer.

Consider the following target market divided by different histories:

• Business owners … forced into self-employment after the recession
• Business owners … starting up fresh out of university

How might you change the theme of your copy for each group?

The conflict reveals your customer’s true character

Egri suggested that in conflict, people’s true characteristics are revealed … but what conflict is your customer really facing?

Some conflicts are obvious. It’s an action that causes a problem that needs to be solved by a reaction: your car breaks down, you need to be somewhere — you call a mechanic.

Your pipes burst, you don’t want water damage, you call a plumber.

Other conflicts are more subtle but no less worrying to your customer.

A business owner wants a polished looking website to look important to her customers.

No real conflict there.

Looking a little bit closer, we discover that maintaining a professional appearance is something she worries about.

Okay, we know more about her insecurity, but still there’s no real conflict.

Do a bit more digging and we find out it’s likely to be a start-up business and she’s probably new to online technology. She doesn’t have the funds to hire a design company, but she doesn’t know enough about technology to do her own design.

The business that solves this problem and understands this conflict can plan content to reach this customer much better than the business that simply advertises affordable web design.

Now, you don’t have to know the individual story for each and every customer you may have, but without an idea of the conflict faced by the majority of your target market, understanding their real character (and writing copy to appeal to them) will be a challenge.

Okay, we know what makes our customer feel important, what makes them secure, what their past is, and their conflict.

Finally, you need to know …

How far are they willing to go?

In fiction, you need to know if your characters are prepared to go bankrupt, embark on an adventure, commit a crime, or declare love to achieve their dreams.

And you need to know the same about your customer.

Okay, you don’t need to know if your customer will go to Mordor for new computer software, but it does help to know what they’re willing to do to resolve their particular conflict.

• What price are they willing to pay?
• Are they willing to shop around or is it more of an impulse purchase?
• How desperate are they to solve the problem?
• Do they need to solve it quickly or can a solution take time?
• How much do they want to work with you compared to another company?

Your research might lead you to try new approaches in the way you present your offer to prospects. If you discover your customer likes to shop around, and reads lots of information before making a buying decision, you can create content to cater to this need.

Getting to know your customer isn’t a quick, cursory task. Egri would spend hours plotting question and answer scenarios with characters, thinking of a range of different back-stories and visualizing how they might react with different events and opposing personalities.

Now granted, your customers aren’t imaginary but you can use the same inquisitive approach to build a clearer profile of your customer.

How do you get to know your customers?

What do you find helps gain a better understanding of your reader?

How does this affect the copy you write?

Let us know in the comments below …

About the Author: Amy Harrison helps business owners take simple content marketing steps. For a free, easy-to-use customer profile download (and a slightly bizarre video) click here.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Google+.

This week on The Lede …

• How A Copywriter Evaluates A Great Website
• The Unexpected Antidote to Procrastination
• The Daily Rituals of the World’s Most Creative People
• 4 Things That Lead to Success (or Failure) with Email Signup Forms
• How to Do More By Planning Less: The Power of the Anti-Plan

Want to grab even more useful links (beyond those that make The Lede)? Follow @copyblogger on Twitter.

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The Unexpected Antidote to Procrastination
Procrastination: that merciless thief of our time, creative output, and potential reward. Mr. Bergman delivers a unique — but convincing — argument on how we can put an end to it for good.

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How A Copywriter Evaluates A Great Website Like Square
Some websites immediately grab your attention with impeccable design. But without equally skillful copy, the reader drifts away. Mr. Robisch deconstructs the copy of one particularly good website to show us how it’s done.

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The Daily Rituals of the World’s Most Creative People
This headline’s a little much for my taste, so if you don’t feel like clicking it, here’s the tl;dr … cigarettes, showers, coffee, and walking. Though you’ll have to handle these creative tools at your own risk, I would generally vouch for their effectiveness. Sometimes.

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4 Things That Lead to Success (or Failure) with Email Signup Forms
We’d respectfully suggest that email marketing might just be the content producer’s most powerful weapon. But if you don’t get the permission-based opt-in, you can’t deliver the rest of your message. Mr. Crestodina illustrates the four factors that make the difference between success and failure in email marketing.

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How to Do More By Planning Less: The Power of the Anti-Plan
Mr. Newport is a reliable source of counterintuitive but thoughtful ways to get more done. If you find that traditional productivity planning hasn’t served you well, consider his “anti-method” instead.

Miss anything on Copyblogger this week?

• How to Become a Content Marketing Expert
• 11 Compound Word Errors that Might Make You Look like a Numbskull
• Could Mobile Responsive Website Design Hurt Your SEO?
• 5 Ways to Bond with Your Blog’s Audience
• Why We Still Need to Write, Even When We’re Scared

About the Author: Robert Bruce is VP of Marketing for Copyblogger Media. In the off hours, he files unusually short stories to the Internet.

You hear everyone talking about online content marketing, because with today’s Internet-empowered prospect, content marketing is what works.

And yet, you may be struggling with creating content that works for your business or your clients. Or maybe you’re just trying to take your game to the next level.

There’s a lot to learn, and even then you’re left asking potentially expensive and time-consuming questions:

• How do I apply this particular strategy for my business?
• Is this a solid idea, and how should I execute it?
• Has anyone taken this approach before, and what were the results?

Let’s face it, online content marketing — whether as a consultant, entrepreneur, small business owner, or in-house content creator — is as tough as it is rewarding.

We know. Copyblogger Media was built with online content and smart copywriting — and without venture capital, advertising, or an outbound sales team — into a thriving company with over 100,000 customers.

There’s something to be said for purely practicing what we teach. But we’ve also had to first figure things out for ourselves, making a bunch of mistakes and missteps along the way. It’s taken me 15 years to get to this point, because frankly I was one of those who was making it up as I went along.

What if you could become a content marketing authority, and avoid all that uncertainty, time, and expense? Is there a more efficient and less expensive way to learn and accelerate your efforts?

Well, there is now.

Introducing Authority

Let us take you behind the scenes for a closer look and a deeper education that gets you on the fast track. One that will pull back the curtain on the topics, tactics, and strategies that don’t show up in public blog posts.

Authority is a content marketing training and networking community designed to accelerate your skills and success. Even beyond your instant access to over 60 hours of high-impact education – plus many additional hours of advanced training every month – there’s something much more valuable happening.

Getting your specific questions answers. Networking and sharing ideas with like-minded professionals. Forming new alliances and partnerships.

All of this, plus much more – without breaking the bank. In fact, you can work toward becoming a content marketing expert and make those game-changing connections for less than a dollar a day.

Here’s What You Get:

• Ongoing monthly seminars, video presentations, and action guides
• Instant access to over 60 hours of online marketing education
• Monthly Q&A sessions with Copyblogger staff and outside experts
• Interactive forum for networking and personal answers to your questions
• Exclusive discounts on the tools you need to succeed
• Members-only opportunities for paid consulting work
• Members-only resale program for Copyblogger tools
• Guest writing opportunities on Copyblogger
• Discounted access to upcoming live training events
• Certification opportunity for content marketing professional designation

Don’t fight Authority … achieve it. Get started today.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Google+.

Writing is scary.

Sometimes when we publish something, it makes us feel like our insides are hanging out, for all the world to see. We feel vulnerable. We feel naked. We feel … terrified.

But here’s the thing — we have to keep writing, in spite of the fear. If we let fear stop us, our content will have no spark, no life. And everything we write will be completely unremarkable.

Right now, I’m working on a blog post (on a different topic) that scares the living heck out of me. I am afraid of the strong opinions and passion that are rising from some long-buried place inside me. I’m worried that I won’t write well enough to clearly communicate what I need to say. I’m worried about what people will say when I publish this piece.

Bottom line — I’m scared.

And it got me thinking — if I feel scared, I’ll bet you do, too. And maybe together, we can come up with a way to get through the fear and keep ourselves on the path to continually creating amazing work — even when we’re scared.

Meet Brené Brown …

Everywhere you look, people seem to be talking about sociologist and researcher Brené Brown. You may have seen her powerful TED talk — it’s a featured talk on the TED website, and it’s been seen nearly 9 million times.

Since that video went viral, Ms. Brown has been featured on Oprah’s prime time show, Super Soul Sunday, and she’s published a bestselling book called Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.

Brené Brown’s area of expertise is connection, vulnerability, and shame. If you haven’t heard her TED talk, take 20 minutes now to absorb her extraordinary advice about what it takes to create deep, meaningful connections.

Here’s the short, short version:

We are put on this earth to connect with one another. Connection is what gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

But if we want connection, we have to be willing to be vulnerable. Even though vulnerability is often hard — sometimes even excruciating — we’ve got to put ourselves out there in order to experience connection.

And here’s what very few people are talking about in the field of content marketing — vulnerability not only makes us better human beings, it also makes us better writers, and better content marketers.

We have to be willing to put our ideas, opinions, and deepest fears out there, so we can truly connect with our audiences. Content that isn’t vulnerable — that doesn’t scare us, just a little bit — isn’t necessarily going to draw a huge audience of raving fans. It’s not going to get shared on social networking sites thousands of times. It’s not going to really impact the world.

Vulnerability is the missing piece in content marketing.

How social networking misses the mark

We might feel like posting short updates on Facebook or Twitter about our day-to-day lives makes us vulnerable. I’m not sure it does.

Sometimes social networking sites lead to true, honest-to-goodness human connection. But more often than not, I believe it gives us a way to feel like we’re being vulnerable … without actually having to truly put ourselves out there. And it allows us a way to numb ourselves and stay small.

I think one of the things that makes us vulnerable is being willing to sit down and write a detailed article about something that really matters to us, then finding the courage to publish that post.

And to do that, we need to keep writing, even when we feel afraid. Especially when we feel afraid.

If we’re willing to write what we truly believe — the stuff that scares us — we get to experience true vulnerability and connection with our readers. And I believe that connection will not only make our lives better, but will also make us successful beyond our wildest dreams.

What to do next

I don’t have a bulleted list of tips to help you break through fear. I believe we all battle fear in our own way.

I do think that being aware of how we feel afraid (and how it slows our writing down) will help us break through when we get stuck, and help us get to the other side.

It’s important to stay awake, to stop being numb when we sit down to create. We need to lean into our fear in order to create our best possible work.

One last thought on fear and writing, from master fear-fighter and writing coach, Natalie Goldberg. In her book, Writing Down the Bones, Goldberg says:

Go for the jugular. If something scary comes up, go for it. That’s where the energy is . Otherwise you’ll spend all your time writing around whatever makes you nervous. It will probably be abstract, bland writing because you’re avoiding the truth. Hemingway said, ‘Write hard and clear about what hurts.’ Don’t avoid it. It has all the energy. Don’t worry, no one ever died of it. You might cry or laugh, but not die.

In the meantime, I’m going to turn back to that post that is scaring the heck out of me. Because turning back — time after time — to the stuff that scares me is the path I have chosen as a writer.

It might not be a popular path, or a particularly comfortable one, but I think it’s the best one we can choose in this wild, crazy life we’ve chosen as writers and content creators.

About the Author: Beth Hayden is a Senior Staff Writer for Copyblogger Media. Get more from Beth on Twitter and Pinterest.

You’re smart.

You know you need to be helpful on your blog in order to grow your audience. You share useful tips. You give away free tutorials.

But somehow you’re not connecting with your readers. Your blog seems a little quiet.

Sure, you’re getting some traffic. But a certain spark is missing. It’s not the enjoyable party you’d imagined it to be.

Is it getting you down?

Today I’m sharing five tips to engage with your readers, make them feel at home, and to turn your blog into a nice and warm get-together.

Sound good?

1. Write conversationally

Nobody gossips with a company. Nobody connects with a robot. Nobody bonds with a corporation.

To engage your readers, you need to sound human. Write as if you’re talking with an imaginary friend. Start a conversation.

Imagine the questions your friend would ask you, and answer these questions. Consider the challenges your friend is facing and help him (or her) with sound advice.

Avoid sounding robotic or corporate:

• Use everyday words and exclamations like Yep or Hell no!
• Skip gobbledygook. Words like market-leading, innovative, and best-in-class make your writing stilted.
• Use short sentences. Feel free to start your sentences with And, But, Because, or Or.
• Address your reader directly. Use the word you, because it’s one of the most powerful words in the English language.
• Use the word I. Just like in a face-to-face conversation.
• Pose questions in your text.
• Cut down on adjectives and adverbs. Don’t sound like a flowery, pompous press release.

Blogging isn’t like essay writing. Let your personality shine through. Add distinctive phrases. Include a few quirky words. Use phrases that only you would use.

Read your blog post aloud. Does the blog post sound like you? Do you stumble at certain points?

2. Use metaphors to engage your audience

Metaphors can be used to explain abstract ideas or to make complex issues simple. That’s true. But metaphors can do so much more.

Metaphors automatically make your blog posts more vivid and engaging. Metaphors use imagery so readers can see, feel, hear, taste, or even smell what you’re talking about.

The more specific and sensory your metaphors are, the easier it becomes for readers to experience your words. That’s how your writing makes an impact. That’s how you become more memorable, more engaging, and more persuasive.

You can add an extra dose of personality by drawing metaphor inspiration from your hobbies or personal experiences. For instance, Srinivas Rao often uses surfing metaphors on his blog The Skool of Life.

I use cycling or travelling metaphors on my blog. It gives my readers a glimpse of my life and helps them connect with me. It creates another opportunity to interact. Rather than being asked How’s business?, I sometimes get asked What cycling trips do you have planned?

Metaphors inspired by personal hobbies hint at who you are: whether you like football or soccer; whether you prefer a classical to a rock concert; whether you enjoy gardening or cooking.

You can also use metaphors as a theme for a blog post. Pick a theme — such as cooking, bowling, or travelling — and associate freely to find connections with your blog topic.

For instance, let’s say your blog is about content marketing, and you pick cycling as your theme:

• You can draw analogies between setting your cycling and content marketing goals.
• You can tell your readers to stop comparing their content marketing efforts unfavourably with marketing gurus — just like you can’t compare your cycling efforts with Tour de France winners.
• You can mention that the best way to survive a content marketing journey is to love what you’re doing. Just like the best way to improve your fitness is to pick a sport you enjoy doing. If you hate writing, don’t force yourself to write blog posts. Do video instead, or hire a writer.

When working on your metaphor theme, try to get away from your computer. Creative juices often flow better when you’re relaxing. So have a swim, wash the dishes, or stay in bed for a few minutes just after you wake up in the morning.

Engage your readers by sharing personal experiences.

Surprise your readers with unusual metaphors.

3. Inspire your readers

Content marketing isn’t only about teaching. You also need to inspire your readers to change their beliefs, or to take action.

How do you inspire?

• Empathize with your readers in your opening paragraph. Show you understand your reader’s problems. Because that makes them listen to your solutions.
• Share cookie content. Create tasty tips that are easy to implement and that make your readers feel better.
• Conclude with an inspirational paragraph. Don’t allow your blog posts to fizzle out. Galvanize your readers. Re-ignite their passion. Make them get up and take action.

Sharing tips is good. But don’t forget to inspire your readers to implement your tips.

4. Create a common enemy

You’re building your authority as a blogger.

You’re passionate about your topic; and you’re well on your way to becoming a thought leader in your field.

It all sounds good. But who wants to bond with a snotty, old professor? Or a smarty-pants?

Sometimes you need to share your vulnerability. So don’t just share the lessons you’ve learned, be frank about the mistakes you’ve made, too. Show your readers you’re human — just like them.

You can also stress that you’re similar to your readers by creating a common enemy. An example:

You’re a Copyblogger reader, so I guess you hate in-your-face, yellow-highlighter sales as much as I do. You and I don’t do that. We’re not aggressive. We’re not pushy. We’re helpful. That’s how we earn business.

Be careful. Overfamiliarity can be creepy. Be certain you and your readers are on the same wavelength.

5. Be interesting and interested

It’s easy to think of blogging as one-way traffic. You’re writing, publishing, and sharing your blog posts.

But being interesting is only half the job. Being interested is maybe even more important.

Your blog is not about your successes, but about your reader’s journeys. For instance: Mark Schaefer blogs over at {grow}. He’s a best-selling author. His books have received rave reviews. As a social media consultant he’s worked with companies like Cisco, IBM, and Johnson & Johnson.

Recently Mark published his 1,000th blog post. Can you imagine what it would be like if you published your 1,000th blog post? What would you write about?

About how difficult you found it when you started your blog?

About how far you’ve got since you started?

How much you’ve learned?

Mark did something completely different. He honored the first ten readers of his blog. He explained how much he learned from these ten readers; and how he’s been inspired by them.

That’s what I mean by being interested and caring about your readers. Look to your readers for inspiration. Help them. Respect them. Treat them as your best friends. Ask questions. Find out how they’re doing. Learn how you can help.

Be interested.

The truth about building a popular blog

The next time you answer comments on your blog, don’t just leave a casual thank you. Instead, check out the commenter’s blog. Give some advice, compliment the commenter, or ask a question. Make sure they know you value them.

Next time you receive an email from a reader, don’t dash off a quick reply. See it as an opportunity to start a conversation. See it as your chance to turn a reader into a raving fan.

Forget about going viral. Don’t think about pageviews, and visits, and shares, and comments.

Just think about that one loyal reader that you’re turning into a raving fan.

That’s how you build your audience, your following, your readership (that’s also how your blog becomes a feel-good party).

Here’s what to do next …

1. Let me know in the comments how you’re nurturing a community on your blog. I’m sure you have additional tips to share.
2. Are you interested in learning more about copywriting and content marketing? Join my party at Enchanting Marketing and download your free copy of 21 Easy Tips to Turbocharge Your Web Copy and Win Customers.

About the Author: Henneke Duistermaat is a marketer and copywriter. She's on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook and to make dull companies charming. Sign up to receive free copywriting and content marketing tips at Enchanting Marketing.

Allow your jaw to become unhinged at this statistic:

There are over 1 million more mobile devices activated every day across the world than there are babies born.

Yeah, mind = blown.

Indeed, designing with a mobile-first mindset becomes more important — quite literally — by the day. As does answering burning questions related to mobile design best practices.

For example: Is mobile responsive web design good for SEO or not?

This has become a hotly debated topic, even right here in the Copyblogger comment sections, with reasonable minds making reasonable arguments on both sides.

Depending on where you look and what you read, you might come away thinking that Responsive Web Design is in perfectly fine shape regarding SEO … or that it creates a mess that’s going to destroy your search results.

Is it possible that the real answer is more complex than either of these?

What would Google do?

You might have heard that Google recommends utilizing mobile responsive design on your website. Any article you read touting the SEO benefits of responsive design typically starts here.

This is what Google says on the subject, specifically:

Google recommends webmasters follow the industry best practice of using responsive web design, namely serving the same HTML for all devices and using only CSS media queries to decide the rendering on each device.

One of the oft-cited SEO benefits of responsive design is the ability to present a single URL for a page, rather than a separate mobile URL (e.g. copyblogger.com vs. m.copyblogger.com).

Theoretically, this should help the overall SEO of your site and pages by channeling all present and potential link juice into a single URL, instead of splitting it.

Google’s recommendation above fits this premise.

But that statement from Google is just bullet point #1 of two bullets beneath the heading “Overview of Google’s recommendations.”

Bullet point number two says: “If responsive design is not the best option to serve your users, Google supports having your content being served using different HTML.”

So Google — they of the 67% search market share — recommends responsive web design first, while quickly noting that it’s okay if responsive web design is not used … if there’s a better option for serving your audience.

The bots can handle it, Google assures us, if you choose to offer different sites for desktop and mobile users, separate URLs and all.

As explained by noted responsive web design-for-SEO critic Bryson Meunier of Search Engine Land, Google provides “webmasters with the option of consolidating link equity in separate URLs with bidirectional annotations or switchboard tags.”

The level of sophistication needed just to understand that sentence suggests that Option #2 is the more complicated of the two. But hold that thought, we’ll come back to it.

What’s most important here is the big picture point, which is a vital one:

This is yet another example — straight from the horse’s mouth in this case — of how the best SEO strategy is to simply create great content and present it in the most user-friendly way possible.

Maybe that’s with a responsive design … and in certain cases maybe it’s not.

When should you not choose mobile responsive design?

The StudioPress team has been a pioneer in responsive web design, particularly as it relates to WordPress themes.

There are now a number of Genesis child themes that feature mobile responsive design, with all remaining child themes slated to be responsive as well. (See all currently responsive Genesis themes here.)

So you know that I’m eventually going to side with the responsive web design side of the equation in this article, at least as the optimal design strategy for the majority. (Sorry to kill the suspense, if there was any.)

I recently set up a new site of my own, and I threw a responsive theme on it without hesitation because responsive web design fits the content of the site and how readers will interact with it.

But what about when responsive isn’t the right choice? Such cases are out there, and the aforementioned Mr. Meunier highlighted a few of them over at Search Engine Land.

Disney’s responsive site is one of the examples he discusses.

The site is visited often via mobile devices by people wanting to play one of the number of games they make available. Unfortunately, the games cannot be played on small screens, which is going to disappoint the 30,000 users each month who wind up on the site by searching for “Disney games” from their mobile device.

The negative SEO impact of this is obvious: a poor experience will lead to a quick bounce by mobile users. For related keywords, this will likely harm the site’s mobile SEO.

Does this mean that Disney is necessarily wrong to have gone with a responsive site? No. This example just highlights one area of the site where being responsive is not as beneficial as having a separate mobile site — for its games — might be. For all we know, going responsive has had a net positive impact on Disney.com’s SEO strategy.

The point is that there is much more to take into account when deciding if a site should be responsive than cherry-picked anecdotes suggesting an isolated negative SEO impact caused by a responsive design.

Among factors that can tilt a publisher’s decision away from responsive web design:

1. Features.

As with Disney’s videos, responsive design may not be for you if your site has features that will not be able to load without being handled by a mobile-specific site.

2. Content Relevancy.

This is rare, but do your mobile users look for a significantly different experience than desktop users? A mobile-specific site may be better if highlighting specific mobile-preferred content is necessary, as opposed to just rearranging the normal site content.

3. eCommerce.

If mobile commerce occurs frequently on your site, you may want a mobile-specific solution for browsing products as well as a shopping cart.

And now, a quick word on keywords …

The ability to target mobile-specific keywords is an oft-cited benefit of mobile-only over responsive web design. But no less an SEO expert than Greg Boser explained to me that the devil is in the details, and the details are not always as simple as the mobile-only backers make it seem.

There are so many factors beyond keyword targeting that determine how pages will rank on mobile devices … the biggest being location.

So, while having a separate mobile site that can serve up different mobile keywords for a page may be beneficial, it is far from the silver bullet many make it out to be.

The point here is to not think of this question — to deploy responsive web design or not — in terms of SEO impact first. It’s to think of it in terms of content and audience-friendliness first (which, by the way, is just good SEO … and which, ahem, is how Google wants you to do it anyway).

Think about your content and think about your readers. What’s the best way to display the content? What will your audience expect and enjoy the most? Committing to deliver the best experience possible for the greatest number of site visitors is going to be the most beneficial long-term SEO strategy.

And in most cases the way to do that is with mobile responsive web design.

When should you choose mobile responsive design?

Brian Gardner, founder of StudioPress and the man who spearheaded the initiative to begin making Genesis themes mobile responsive, believes that thinking of responsive web design as being necessarily “good” or “bad” for SEO is misguided.

The reality, as Gardner explains it, is that it’s subjective, that a site’s SEO is impacted by so much more than just the design strategy.

“Responsive design is more about readability than it is about SEO,” Gardner told me. “It is about how elements on a page are arranged and delivered to the user based on the device being used to access it.”

He summed it up this way:

What design best fits your content and your readers?

And for the majority of content creators, going with a responsive design — especially an out-of-the-box theme that is built to be responsive — is the most prudent decision.

Here’s why:

1. Cost

A mobile-specific site, or even just a series of mobile-specific URLs, may be deemed the best bet for users, and thus, for SEO. But can you afford the development cost? The answer depends on your situation. (And you better be sure that the bang for your buck will truly be there.)

What doesn’t depend on the situation is whether a responsive site will provide a better, cleaner experience for mobile users. It will. It may not be ideal in all situations, but 99 times out of 100, it will be better.

2. Convenience

Creating a mobile-specific site also takes time. If being mobile-specific is worth the cost and the time, and your content demands it, go for it. But in the absence of this specific criteria, why not spend way less to make your theme responsive in a matter of minutes?

Installing a responsive child theme on the Genesis framework will allow you to do just that.

3. Consistency

You want your content to be shared. And when it is, you want the visitors who reach your site to have the same pleasing experience the original sharer had. This is much more likely to happen with a mobile responsive design than a mobile site with separate URLs.

Consider the case of The Guardian.

One of many large media sites that probably cannot go straight responsive — because of issues like ad serving — The Guardian’s website shows the problems that can arise without proper multi-direction device detection protocols in place. (Something you don’t have to worry about with responsive design.)

If someone is reading a story on a mobile device and then shares that URL on Twitter, the mobile URL is what gets distributed. Then, when another person clicks on the link from his or her 27-inch iMac, that person will have to try and read the story on the tiny mobile layout.

Do you think that might have on impact, even if subconscious, on the reader’s willingness to stay on the page, let alone share the page again or link to it? You bet. And any factor that decreases time on site or the likelihood of social sharing and linking has a negative SEO impact. On that, we can all agree.

4. Conversion.

The heart of the entire question this post is addressing is this: do you need a separate mobile site to convert?

We covered the exceptions above; but for most of you, the answer is no.

What you need is to give your mobile users as clean and convenient an experience as your desktop users so that your content can shine and your conversion strategy can go to work. That is exactly what responsive design enables you to do.

Easily.

And at a minimal additional cost.

So … is mobile responsive design good for SEO or not?

In a word, yes.

In a few more words:

Yes, because it’s good for users. Mobile responsive design gives your audience a better mobile experience than a non-responsive design that simply serves up a bloated desktop view.

A better experience equals happy readers … which equals on-page engagement, linking, and sharing … which equals better SEO.

The only question you might need to ask is whether, in your specific case, your site fits within the minority of sites for whom a separate mobile site would bring important benefits.

Just remember to frame the question properly: ask not whether your design is good for SEO; ask whether your design is good for your content and your readers. The latter is what has the greatest impact on the former in the long run.

If you are in the small group of sites with stringent content display needs — and you’ve got a fat wallet — consider a mobile-specific site.

But if you’re like the rest of us, mobile responsive design is your best bet.

Choose wisely.

Note: Statistic about babies born vs. mobile devices activated worldwide is courtesy of lukew.com

About the Author: Jerod Morris is a copywriter, blogger, and founding member of the Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting team. Get more from Jerod on Twitter and Google+.