You can write the best email, ad, article or blog post ever and no one will read it if you have a horrid headline. Your headline is the first impression, which must entice the reader to take the next step. By the way, did you enter our headline writing contest ?). Now, let’s take a look at our top 7 rules for crafting compelling headlines. Keep It Short & Simple. The best headlines are less than 15 words in length and typically use simple words and concepts that convey your message quickly. Readers prefer simplicity. If your headline is long or confusing, they’ll move on to something else. MORE >>

THINKing has been focusing recently on developing compelling content for your blog. Below is a simple-to-navigate digest of our posts. Five Key Elements To Creating Compelling Blog Content – I have been thinking a lot recently about creating compelling blog content, and at first blush, there seem to be a lot of barriers. But like getting over a barbed wire fence, you just have to step back for a minute and think through your approach so that you don’t catch something important on a barb. If you can’t, then you need to become a better writer. WIIFM? MORE >>

Sometimes I have to really put on the thinking cap to come up with a blog idea. Are you struggling with this, too? I’ve put together this post with the tips that have most helped me come up with solid ideas, as well as provided a few related articles you may want to peruse. Take A Hint. I’m going to develop a post soon about website design based on a question I received from a reader at our Facebook fan page. Start A Fight. Is there someone in your business who has opinions with which you disagree vehemently? Passion makes great posts. Talk To The Expert. Interview him or her. MORE >>

Content marketing has been all the rage for a couple of years now. But now it is time to change the game. No longer is it enough to market your own content. You need to become a content curator if you plan to stay ahead of the slavering pack. Why curate content? Because your target audience is overwhelmed by the deluge of information and entertainment coming at it 24/7. As a benefit of your brand, you can cut through the clutter to serve up the best choices for your particular audience. This pays off for the curator as well. Curating content is not new for us. Aggregation requires no thought. MORE >>

We’re examining the ways to make your blog more compelling.  A number of Twitterati responded to my request for their ideas. The quality of writing was on their minds: As we heard from Jim Dietzel , a Fortune 1000 blogger for Rubbermaid , “Hire a good writer. Seriously.&#. Colleague Tom Pick of Webbiquity tells us we must do a better job in naming our posts, using compelling headlines like “Common Myths of…&# or “Mistakes to Avoid in…&#. Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer thinks we need to consider the way we approach the content. It’s entertaining. MORE >>