Ray Manley, top freelance writer, content creator and marketer

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How to write poorly in under five minutes

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I expect politicians to use a lot of words and not say anything. But when I read

Never Make These Mistakes. Ever!

These things drive me crazy: Two spaces after a period, and Tabs used to

Make Headlines Dance at Your Command

Ugh. Space didn’t allow me to say everything I had on my mind about headlines when

The Headline Writing Trick You Can’t Afford to Ignore!

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If you’re reading this, my headline worked. If not, then why am I typing this? The

Blogging Tips for People Who Think They Can’t Write: #1

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Writing isn’t brain surgery, which is good because if it were, I’d have bodies

Clip ‘n Save These 4 Steps to Edit Your Own Copy!

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All writers struggle with editing or proofreading their own work. We tend to be blind

How to get started writing for the Internet

While the web is full of "earn money on the Internet" scams, one avenue that is not

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4 Best Geofencing Marketing Strategies For 2019 https://t.co/4ECQ3qdA8F

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How to budget on an unpredictable income, via @BizMattersmag https://t.co/cuM1FQ4GLN #finance #freelance #digitalnomad #solopreneur

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PHD Presents…. What did we learn as a marketing and communications agency? AKA great tip... https://t.co/f5EK8nmJIT

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I've been using #quickbooks for self-employed for a long time. I let it track expenses, send invoices, alert me at tax time, watch my mileage and more. Explore it. Quickbooks affiliate link: https://t.co/9jB2fBjwKy

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RT @EricProfits The Ultimate Guide to Being the Most Efficient #Freelancer You Can Be, by @joshmedeski https://t.co/2oga34MY4v #productivity #digitalnomad #solopreneur

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How to Use Quora and Reddit to Fuel Your Content Marketing Needs

Sites with user-generated content like Quora and Reddit can be gold mines for referring traffic to your website, boosting brand authority, and reaching niche audiences for your business. But you better respect what is and is not allowed on these powerful channels for distributing your content and increasing engagement.

13 Fresh Ideas to Get More Content Marketing Zing From Employees

Involving employees in the company’s content marketing strategy isn’t a new idea. Employees already are asked to share content on their social channels. C-suite and subject matter experts often collaborate on thought leadership content. And you likely know the value of connecting with your sales and/or customer service teams to

Grand Theft Content: Steal These 6 Ideas From Award Finalists

So many good ideas get published on this blog in a year that it’s nearly impossible for one person to absorb them all. Examples from 2018 Content Marketer of the Year finalists were so inspiring they stayed with me. When it came time to offer up our latest batch of

Dump the Sales Funnel in Favor of Lifecycle Marketing

The sales funnel is obsolete. In fact, it has been obsolete for a long time. Bold statement? Yes, but when you look at the facts, it’s obvious. The sales funnel doesn’t help predict anything about buyers: Not their mentality, not their movement through the buyer’s journey, and not when they

How to Use Scrum for Content Marketing

Certain Agile concepts and ideas have been part of the content marketing conversation for some time now. Scrum is one concept that’s often part of these conversations. But bundling it with Agile causes all kinds of confusion. This article focuses on how a Scrum-based approach to content marketing could

Opportunities for AI in Content Marketing Easily Explained

Until recently, the closest I’ve come to understanding artificial intelligence is knowing that it powered tools in my martech stack (e.g., marketing automation, predictive lead scoring, etc.). Beyond that, I found the concept hard to grasp until Chris Penn’s presentation at Content Marketing World, How to Use AI to

These 7 Visual Tactics Can Boost Landing Page Conversions

Creating visuals for a landing page is kind of like dressing for a job interview. Job candidates want the interviewers to see them as well prepared and a good fit for the company. You want the visuals on your landing pages to communicate to visitors that you’re delivering what

3 Tools to Optimize Your Old Content to Build More Organic Search Traffic

You spent hours (and maybe days) creating that content. It enjoyed solid exposure when it first went live but, months later, it’s neglected and almost ignored. How can you put that old content to better use? Reoptimize it. Reoptimizing your old content has two important benefits: Accumulated backlinks

Rock Your Content With These 7 Songwriting Secrets

Songwriters are storytellers. And if you’re a content marketer, you’re also a storyteller. We’re trying to do the same thing – to capture the most elusive thing we can with words: a feeling. Here are seven songwriting secrets that will help you make your content stronger. 1. Storytelling

How to Create a Good Brief for Better Content Marketing

Every editor knows what it feels like to sit exasperated in front of the computer, screaming internally, “It would have been easier if I’d done it myself.” If your role involves commissioning and approving content, you probably know that same sinking feeling: You’re 10 seconds into reviewing a piece