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7 Ways the iPad Can Bring Back Your Writing Mojo

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The iPad is here. And it’s here to stay. There is a sea change going on within the mobile computing industry. And despite the cool, slick look of these devices, it’s not the hardware that makes them useful. It’s the applications (apps). Apps are little engines of innovation driving the current (and future) trends in computing, publishing, print, and media. There are apps for everything you can imagine. In fact, the latest count shows there are more than 250,000. But did you know that there are even apps that can help you get your mojo back if you need some writing inspiration? Before you read on, note that there are some great non-mobile device tips here on Copyblogger for getting inspired to write . Ready to get your mojo back? Great, let’s hit the apps. 1. Web Roulette To find some writing inspiration, take a spin on Web Roulette. This app has a number of categories (humor, blogs, technology, bizarre, comics, entertainment, art/photos, opinion, Wikipedia), which pull up random sites as you “spin” the wheel. When you sit down with this app, it’s best to have a little bit of time and a way to capture your ideas as you explore. The blogs category is an obvious place to start, but consider sources like opinions and art/photos . Web Roulette gets you out of your usual reading ruts. You can check out Web Roulette here . 2. 23,000 Great Quotes HD The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not. ~ Mark Twain Ever read some really good quotes to give you some writing inspiration ? It works. You probably won’t be tempted to read all 23,000 in one sitting (unless you’re on deadline, of course), but you can spend a few minutes reading others’ words of wisdom with this app and see how quickly your mojo starts to creep back. This app is more than just a bunch of quotes thrown on a page. It is organized into more than 20 categories, with quotes from 7,000 authors, and you don’t need an internet connection to enjoy it. Check out 23,000 Great Quotes here . 3. Popplet Sometimes a good brainstorming session is really all you need to do to get a little inspiration flowing. With the iPad, you have a ton of options, but one of the best options is a good app for some non-restrictive idea generation. Popplet is a brainstorming app that is both serious and fun. Go find a place away from distractions. Then use Popplet to visually organize your thoughts and ideas. Typical uses are for task lists, brainstorming, concept planning, and free-form idea generation. It is full of great features but the point here is to explore and spend some time using your iPad to think outside of the box for inspiration. You can check out Popplet here . 4. iThoughts HD Mindmapping is a powerful way to visually organize your thoughts, ideas, and information. It is also a great way to overcome a mojo slump and get some inspiration back. Mindmapping is different from brainstorming. With a brainstorming session you typically write ideas and thoughts without worrying about structure or form. With mindmapping, you get a little more organized and structured. Mindmaps start with a seed concept and then branch out from there. They can be used for all sorts of things from task lists to idea generation. This particular iPad app is one of the better mindmapping tools. It supports a wide range of features including varying shapes, colors, relationships, text styles, and the ability to use an external monitor. To get the most out of mindmapping, though, don’t worry too much about the structure of the sample mindmaps. Just feel free to create your own structure. After all, it’s your mind. Check out iThoughtsHD here . 5. MovieVault Sometimes getting your mojo back means you need to take a break from the tools and simply escape into someone else’s world. Your iPad can help here too. MovieVault is an iPad app that connects you to an entire library of classic movies. For the single price of the app ($4.99) you get to watch as many classic movies as you want to. I reviewed MovieVault a few weeks ago and was amazed at the fact that I could stream these movies so quickly and easily (even over a 3G connection). But how does this help you get inspired to write? Believe it or not, escaping with a great story helps you think of your own stories. It puts you in story mode. It lets your brain take a break from your current loss of mojo and it gets your creative mind going again. It’s like adding spark to a spark plug. You can check out MovieVault here . 6. Let’s Create Pottery HD From the title, you might be imagining your iPad spinning around with a lump of clay. Not quite. But this app is pretty darn close without the mess. Truly an engaging experience, you can clear your mind and experience something unique. Getting back your inspiration can sometimes happen when you are willing to let go of whatever it is you are stuck on and take a different path for awhile. As it turns out, your iPad can take you down that other path. Let’s Create Pottery makes use of the iPad’s touch and motion sensors as it gives you a virtual lump of spinning clay in hi-res graphics and lets you create a pottery piece just as if you were sitting at a real wheel. Then you get to glaze, save it, and share it with others if you choose. Now I don’t know about you, but anytime you can use your hands and mind to create, it has this additive effect on your mojo. Check out Let’s Create Pottery HD here . 7. Zinio Did you know that there are hundreds of traditional print magazines that have gone digital? And your iPad can be a great way to experience them. Grab the free Zinio app and gain access to an entire newsstand of digital content from mainstream to independent print and media publications. The Zinio app is free but most of the magazines you will have to pay for before downloading. There are a few samples, however, so you see what you are getting before you buy any. Don’t just read magazines in your topic — take the opportunity to explore some new subjects, new areas of interest, and new approaches you haven’t seen before. Mojo loves novelty! Check out Zinio here . There you have it, seven effective ways to get your writing mojo back using the iPad. It’s great that you can do all this on one single device. But remember, as Jon Morrow points out in his getting inspired to write article, sometimes it’s smart to put everything down, including your iPad, and get out in the fresh air. About the Author: Shane uses his Tablet Computer Geeks blog to deliver the latest and best iPad information , including accessory reviews, app reviews, and industry updates. Follow him on twitter at tc_geeks .

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7 Ways the iPad Can Bring Back Your Writing Mojo

3 Reasons to Tell Readers Why

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You know you’re right, right? Everyone should fall in line and accept what you know in your heart to be true. Sorry, that’s not how people work. So much of persuasive writing comes down to proof . And so many people fail at persuasion because they offer assertions without giving people reasons . So persuasive writers know to give reasons for everything. Here are the three most important reasons to tell readers why . 1. A Reason to Read This begins with your headline , and that’s why headlines are so important. You can be cutesy or clever to satisfy your ego, or you can get you ideas absorbed and acted upon. Busy people need a reason to invest attention. Do you have one? 2. A Reason You’re Different Why you and not the other options? If your product or service is better, say specifically why. Your winning difference in the minds of the people you’re aiming at has to be distinct, clear, and believably better. Are you leading, or following? 3. A Reason to Believe Specific examples. Compelling case studies. Legitimate testimonials. Interesting facts and figures. A confident guarantee. Authenticity. Authority. Likeability. Most of all, demonstrate, don’t pontificate. What reasons work for you? What other reasons are you giving that work? About the Author : Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Twitter .

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3 Reasons to Tell Readers Why

The Freakonomics Guide to Making Boring Content Sexy

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It’s easy to write about certain topics, like celebrities, or technology, or even social media. Everybody wants a piece of it. But what if your passion is botany, supply chain logistics, or cognitive psychology? How do you get noticed with a compelling story when your subject is … well … boring? In the summer of 2006, an economics book was on the New York Time Bestseller list. The title was provocative and promised to be anything but a boring read. Even my hero Malcolm Gladwell said, “Prepare to be dazzled.” Since I really can’t stand economics (hated it ever since college), I skeptically handed over my $25 and took Freakonomics home. From the very first page, I was treated to a wild ride through the most bizarre stories I’d ever encountered. I learned about cheating schoolteachers and self-sacrificing sumo wrestlers. Why drug dealers still live with their moms and how the KKK is like a real estate agent. Every story taught a boring economic principle in a way that made me want more. I realized that Freakonomics was an instruction manual for transforming boring blog posts into sexy must-read masterpieces. Check it out: People love “dot connectors” Our world is getting more complicated by the second. Every day your readers are trying to get a handle on what happened yesterday, what’s happening now, and what will happen tomorrow. If you connect the dots for them, you can get popular in a hurry. Freakonomics is built around connecting dots in an interesting way. For example, it’s long been an economic principle that almost every choice we make is connected to incentives. Pretty boring stuff — until author Steven Levitt used a story about daycare centers to show how some incentives backfire. Since parents were showing up late frequently, the daycare center started a policy of a $3 fine to incentivize parents to show up on time. Unfortunately, the fine wound up incentivizing parents to pay $3 for an hour of babysitting and not feel guilty for showing up late! Giving your reader’s these “aha” moments is a great way to keep them reading a so-called boring topic and have them asking for more. Headlines still matter Even with all of our shiny social media tools, good ol’ standby skills like writing a great headline still matter. You can be a masterful storyteller and write killer posts, but you still lose if no one reads them. Titles are the closest thing us writers have to a “silver bullet.” Don’t waste ‘em. Do you think that Freakonomics would have been a New York Times Bestseller with the title Aberrational Behavior and the Causal Effect of Incentives ? The quickest way to give your boring blog a facelift is to put some eye-hijacking power into your headlines. In fact, write your headline first , before you even start the rest of the post. It’s that important. Numbers are a blogger’s best friend One common complaint of blogs is that they can’t be taken seriously. We are accused of playing fast and loose with the facts and being weak on proof. It’s easy to avoid hard numbers and focus on writing the soft stuff, but Freakonomics shows that this is a mistake. Many bloggers are afraid that statistics, equations, and hard facts will scare away our readers, but that’s not giving our readers enough credit. The problem isn’t the numbers — it’s that we stick numbers out there without a story. Freakonomics uses numbers to reveal a hidden story. Levitt looked up the numbers on standardized tests for Chicago students. On the face of it, this was pretty boring data. This district got such-and-such a score, this district got such-and-such a score. Yawn. Until those numbers revealed that teachers were cheating. In some districts, teachers received salary boosts when their students performed better on standardized tests — motivating them to fill in a few additional correct answers for their students. The story makes the numbers interesting. The numbers make the story credible. Give it a try. Everyone loves a mystery Why would a successful sumo wrestler throw a match? The obvious answer would be that he’s getting paid to do so, but Levitt quickly discovered there was a much more mysterious motivation that drove who won and who lost in Japan’s sumo contests. The answer is buried in psychology, probability, and incentives, but the only thing that I care about is that there’s a mystery. Any mystery begs for gumshoe detective work. We can’t leave well enough alone and we want to know why — especially if someone else is going to do the legwork of figuring out the answer for us. That’s why the CSI series has spun off more offspring than a jackrabbit. You can use this quirk of human nature to make your topic enticing. Look closely at your topic and uncover some old-fashioned mysteries. Now write a post that presents the mystery and leads your reader through the investigation to its incredibly satisfying conclusion. Provide a better way to solve common problems Freakonomics uses a powerful set of tools to explain the way the world works. By the end of the book, you can’t help but think that every problem imaginable can be solved with the right incentive, data analysis, or storytelling. When you’re finished you feel that there is a better way to tackle your problems. This is what “added value” means. Simply restating a problem is boring. Offering new tools and perspectives to solve problems helps your reader get closer to their goals — and that makes you someone whose content they’ll want to read every time you come out with something new. Freakonomics: The Movie is coming out soon, and I’ll be first in line — because reading the book was so valuable to me I can’t wait to see what else the authors have to offer. To get devoted fans who’ll anticipate your every output with the same enthusiasm, give them some solutions. Time to get freaky Have you ever used any of these techniques to make your content sexier? Can you see how to apply some of them to your own blog? And if you read Freakonomics yourself, tell us in the comments about any other blog-enhancing tips you picked up! Stanford obsesses about how to get passionate people’s blogs noticed and promoted at Pushing Social , except when he’s fishing with his boys. Follow him to get the latest about his new ebook “Get Noticed.”

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How to Build Credibility with Your Sales Copy

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When visitors are making a decision about whether or not to buy, their “shields are up.” They’re watching carefully for any sign you might be a jerk, a crook, or just not able to deliver on your promises. They need you to soothe their unspoken anxieties and objections . This doesn’t have to be a daunting task. In fact, a powerful way to make this happen is something you’re probably already doing on your blog. The key is to show your prospect the person (or people) standing behind the offer. Put a human face and some credibility-based context on that sales message. Readers want to know who they’re dealing with — and why they should trust that person. It’s up to you to communicate it in an effective and engaging way. Let’s talk about three strategies for building sales-driving credibility into your copy. 1. The “about me” approach This is probably the most recognizable credibility-building tool, because you see it everywhere. Blogs have an “About” page, and many sales pages have some variation of the Who Am I And Why Should You Listen To Me? theme. But you can also use a little more subtlety when introducing yourself to your buyers. Using a “Why I created this product” approach, you can weave your own story into your sales material, by combining details about your experience and credentials with benefit-driven copy that reduces your readers’ resistance to buying. Explain what you’re doing for clients, how your approach addresses the results you deliver to those clients, and then segue into your sales message. For example, a copywriting course sales page could build credibility like this: After spending a decade building a reputation for writing high-conversion copy for clients like (name) and (name), I decided to start teaching my evergreen copywriting strategies to others so they could grow their own businesses … You’d then lead into a brief story about how you have effectively served your copywriting customers. You can see how the credibility factors (10 years of experience, name dropping of high-profile clients) merge with the desired outcomes (evergreen strategies, high conversion), and let you build trust without feeling like a hype machine. By involving the reader in a bit of history (or even what’s happening with present customers), you can satisfy the “about me” section by wrapping it in details that are really about them and the outcome they’re looking for. It seems like they’re getting a story about you. But what they’re really getting is confirmation that you can meet their needs. 2. The “reluctant hero” approach Another strategy is the story of the “unintentional product.” This works by setting up a backstory where the product producer starts gaining a reputation for creating results … and then other people begin clamoring to know how to make it happen for themselves. The reluctant hero is a storytelling archetype, and you may think that makes this approach formulaic or contrived. But assuming your story is both compelling and true (yes, it needs to be both), the reluctant hero story is an extremely effective credibility generator. Here’s an example from my own past: I started out as a personal development coach who began learning how to create and launch my own information products, Third-Tribe style before there was a name for that way of doing things. After a while, my blogging friends began asking me how I was making such strong sales with my products. As I showed them, they started telling people about it. Word got around, and I started getting more calls and emails about launching products than I did about personal development. I decided to create a training manual on how to write and sell ebooks … and the rest is history. The “reluctant hero” approach lets you humanize your accomplishments, weave a story that creates a connection with your audience, and gets readers to see you as a natural fit for what they need. 3. The customer-as-proof approach A third (and highly effective) strategy is to make successful customers the focus of your credibility-building story. After all, why talk about yourself when you can talk about the stunning results your customers have created … and generate credibility by association? You see this all the time when people say things like “using this system, my client generated $5 million in sales in a down economy.” By pointing to the successful results other people have experienced, the product (as well as the creator) gains instant credibility without having to overtly claim “I’m qualified.” When example is stacked upon example, the sense of credibility is continually heightened. Every time you receive a results-based testimonial, consider weaving it into your sales message as more than just a yellow box with a picture in it. Make it part of the story around what your product can truly do. The more examples you have for your reader to see your product’s results, the less “selling” you’ll have to do, because each story reinforces your credibility. And you take advantage of another copywriting cornerstone — making it easy for your prospect to visualize herself as a customer. What’s your favorite credibility builder? These aren’t the only ways to establish credibility in a sales page, but for the aspiring copywriter, they’re a great start. If you’ve got another strategy that’s a personal favorite, please share it in the comments below and let us get to know a little more about you and your story. About the Author : Dave Navarro is a product launch manager who can’t wait for you to join the 7,000+ people using his free workbooks in the Launch Coach Library (a crowd favorite in the Third Tribe forums).

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How Eminem Stayed Relevant (And Why it Can Save Your Blog)

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It’s been eight years since Marshall Mathers released The Eminem Show , the best-selling album of 2002. It was followed later that year by the semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile , which earned Em an Oscar. And of course, earlier this year, Eminem hit a career milestone when I wrote about him on Copyblogger . He stood at the edge of something truly amazing. And then the other shoe dropped. His next album Encore was lazy, kicked off by an embarrassing single and followed up with songs that merely echoed what he’d accomplished with The Eminem Show . Even the frivolous songs were missing the deviant humor present in previous singles. Not one song had the gnarled roots of anger or brazen honesty that drenched the best of Em’s first three albums. When Relapse finally dropped last year after a half-decade disappearing act, fans were famished. Eminem was pushing 40. He’d lost his closest friend and confidant to a couple of bullets. Surely, now he would have a lot more to say than adolescent one-liners aimed at the women who made him angry. This was the album everyone was waiting for But they were let down once again. Relapse was good, but not great. His skills were there, but Em had lost his relevance. Even fans who defended the album did so in a wavering voice. Maybe he was just done. Maybe this was it. Then, just under a year after the release of Relapse , he dropped the first single to a new album, “I’m Not Afraid.” And to the fans, I’ll never let you down again, I’m back I promise to never go back on that promise, in fact Let’s be honest, that last Relapse CD was “ehhh.” And there it was. The honesty was back and so was Eminem. You don’t have to be a fan of hip-hop or dirty rotten rhymers to appreciate what Eminem accomplished. He had been phoning it in and he knew it. But rather than skating along on just okay , he went back to the lab and delivered a sonic apology. If you’ve been phoning it in, it’s okay You’re a human being, not a machine. You hit a slow spell. You lost your unique voice . But understand that it’s not a life sentence. Even if your audience is losing interest, it’s never too late to deliver your best and become more relevant than ever. Here are some things I learned about staying relevant from Eminem’s Recovery : Be honest Recovery is a refreshing return to form, mostly because of its stark honesty and humility. Em fesses to letting fans down with his previous releases, but the disclosures run deeper, from suicide to self-loathing. Be honest with your audience , and you might find them especially forgiving. Though Em wears iron armor of bravado, he has no difficulty letting genuine fragility bleed through the verses. This heart-on-his-sleeve honesty connects him to his audience in a way that can’t be manufactured. If you’ve screwed up in the past, own up to it. You’ll be surprised how willing your audience is to embrace honesty. Evolve or die Heavy repetition and little innovation lead directly to diminishing returns. Whether you’re an artist, entrepreneur, or both, it’s important to groom your game and keep growing creatively . Em dropped quite a few of his fallback themes from Recovery , including lyrical tirades aimed at his mother and estranged wife, and the skits that had always showed his boisterous, playful side. Cutting those elements was a risk. They were tried and true, and fans had always liked them. But by doing so, Em gave himself room to create something new and different to embrace. If you aren’t growing, you’re dying, no matter how good you are at what you do. Em confronted this truth and recorded an album crackling with newfound creativity. Bring your A-game Eminem brings all his verbal virtuosity to Recovery , weaving in and out of wordplay, as though a single misstep or broken syllable would crush his credibility. At the end of “No Love,” Em declares he’s going to spit the “greatest verse of all time,” and though that particular verse may not be it, it is an impressive spitting of 300 words delivered in perfect pentameter, all in under a minute. Always deliver your best, and remember that whether your audience is spending time or money on the products you create, you owe them the best in the exchange. Be the best You, not the You it’s easiest to be. Embrace your fears Em made fear of irrelevancy his muse, and the result is a harder-driving album than one would expect after a decade of success. The best aspect of Recovery is it’s the first time Em blends the lessons of his career into a cocktail of his psyche. More than ever before, he accepts responsibility for his life and actions, rather than laying blame on a negligent mom or a savage ghetto. Never before has Eminem made himself so vulnerable. Which, ironically, made him stronger. Recovery is the resurrection that proves any artist can overcome fear and reclaim their relevance. How do you stay relevant? What ugly truths have you faced and how have you turned them around to pull the best from your work? About the Author: Sean Platt is a ghostwriter and Creative Director at REV Media Marketing . Follow him on Twitter .

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How Eminem Stayed Relevant (And Why it Can Save Your Blog)