Over the next few weeks, in addition to the weekly grammar lesson, we will also have a series of posts that will help you publicize your Inman articles. We want you to get the most out of our relationship, and we'd like to help you with that.
Also, I know that we have mentioned this before, but we ask for first-use privilege. That just means that we ask to publish your work before you publish it on your blog or elsewhere. In exchange for you agreeing to do that, we offer you editing. You are always welcome to request your edited piece and then publish that on your site. Never hesitate to ask me for the edited draft -- that's what I'm here for, and I truly love to help. Thanks guys.
MACRO LESSON
I just wanted to share with y'all what it is we are looking for in posts. The general criteria I evaluate your articles on is a two-point question of usefulness. First, I ask myself, what will the reader take away from this article? Once I have determined that answer, I ask myself, how can they apply this to their business?
These two questions are vital. If I can't answer them on my own, I usually reach out to the author and either ask those questions or ask the author to answer additional questions that will help me determine usefulness.
To make this an easier and quicker process (not to mention, save yourself work, edits and back-and-forth emails) please take time in the article-planning phase to ask yourself:
The other thing I want to mention is that we are looking for shorter, more concise posts. Something we often encounter is a buried lead, meaning that it takes a while to get to the point of what the article will be about in the intro. If you can answer the two questions above at the beginning of your article, you will accomplish both establishing usefulness and keeping your lead where it should be -- at the beginning.
In the past we have said that articles should be between 400-800 words; more recently, we are shooting for around 500 words. I'm not saying that because we have a huge expectation that all articles must be that length, but more so that you know what's going on, and why we are making cuts and splitting longer posts into two parts.
You guys are doing a great job. I'm so proud of you all. You have been amazing at rewrites, edits and generally stepping up your game.
One of my goals for the contributor program is to work on being more concise. Amber often looks at it this way: our articles are sort of an interruption to the reader's day, in that, they are taking time out of their busy schedules to read our content.
We want to give them great content, and we don't want to bog them down in unnecessary prose and verbose explanations. We want to offer them our topic and allow them to read it and get back to their day.
To accomplish the task of being more concise, I have a few strategies for us to work on as a group:
Thanks for all of your hard work and your dedication to being better writers. You are amazing, and I'm constantly in awe.
Also, I know that we have mentioned this before, but we ask for first-use privilege. That just means that we ask to publish your work before you publish it on your blog or elsewhere. In exchange for you agreeing to do that, we offer you editing. You are always welcome to request your edited piece and then publish that on your site. Never hesitate to ask me for the edited draft -- that's what I'm here for, and I truly love to help. Thanks guys.
MACRO LESSON
I just wanted to share with y'all what it is we are looking for in posts. The general criteria I evaluate your articles on is a two-point question of usefulness. First, I ask myself, what will the reader take away from this article? Once I have determined that answer, I ask myself, how can they apply this to their business?
These two questions are vital. If I can't answer them on my own, I usually reach out to the author and either ask those questions or ask the author to answer additional questions that will help me determine usefulness.
To make this an easier and quicker process (not to mention, save yourself work, edits and back-and-forth emails) please take time in the article-planning phase to ask yourself:
- What is the take-away for the reader? (Always keep in mind that our audience is primarily made up of real estate professionals -- audience matters.)
- How can my readers use this in their business or life?
The other thing I want to mention is that we are looking for shorter, more concise posts. Something we often encounter is a buried lead, meaning that it takes a while to get to the point of what the article will be about in the intro. If you can answer the two questions above at the beginning of your article, you will accomplish both establishing usefulness and keeping your lead where it should be -- at the beginning.
In the past we have said that articles should be between 400-800 words; more recently, we are shooting for around 500 words. I'm not saying that because we have a huge expectation that all articles must be that length, but more so that you know what's going on, and why we are making cuts and splitting longer posts into two parts.
You guys are doing a great job. I'm so proud of you all. You have been amazing at rewrites, edits and generally stepping up your game.
One of my goals for the contributor program is to work on being more concise. Amber often looks at it this way: our articles are sort of an interruption to the reader's day, in that, they are taking time out of their busy schedules to read our content.
We want to give them great content, and we don't want to bog them down in unnecessary prose and verbose explanations. We want to offer them our topic and allow them to read it and get back to their day.
To accomplish the task of being more concise, I have a few strategies for us to work on as a group:
- Write more conversationally. Everyone gets into the practice of writing formally at some point, but really, a reader just wants something easy and enjoyable to read. And let's be honest, the more conversational the tone, the more fun it is to read something and with ease.
- Use fewer words. A lot of times we use way to many words to say something simple. For example, what sounds better, "In order to procure funding, one must travel to a financial institution and reduce the amount of savings in one's account," or "To get money, you need to go to the bank and withdraw cash"? The second one is more conversational and concise plus it flows better -- you don't have to think about the implications of complex words.
- Back to basics. I think grammar is a "use it or lose it" skill. So, in the coming weeks, I will revert back to the basic building blocks of language, which will also help us write more concisely. Next week's lesson will discuss the wonders of language that are nouns.
Thanks for all of your hard work and your dedication to being better writers. You are amazing, and I'm constantly in awe.