Writing tips Archives - Red Platypus

The books that inspire me to keep going

April 26, 2015

Inspiring books are vitally important to me. Yet I’m reminded that the great writer Somerset Maugham once said something to the tune of “I write only when inspiration strikes… fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” As much as I try to ape old mechanical Maugham, I’m still very much an amateur and need inspiration to get kick me along, though I do follow the spirit of his advice. A hard slog to a glowing achievement I finished…

Is your blog share worthy?

October 4, 2014

Carmen

Writing tips

You’ve spent a good portion of your day researching and writing up what you believe is the perfect blog post. You publish it, share it on your regular social media channels and wait. Surely this is going to get picked up by your audience and passed along in no time. But nothing happens. Sound familiar? The problem is, there are millions of blogs on the web. It’s hard to stand out. You have to make sure your content is exceptional…

How to create a media kit that rocks

August 22, 2014

Carmen

Blog, Business tips, Writing tips

It’s that time of the year again – many travel blogging conferences are fast approaching and bloggers are preparing to woo tourism boards and travel companies into working with them. There’s BlogHer in Silicon Valley next week, TBEX Europe in Athens in October, and PTBA in Sri Lanka in November. There’s also a bunch more… really too many to list. Personally, we’re going to TBEX Cancun next month in Mexico, so we’re frantically getting more business cards printed before we…

What not to do when crafting an e-newsletter

June 12, 2014

Carmen

Writing tips

So, you’ve finally got some subscribers for your company newsletter. Problem is, you haven’t actually created an e-newsletter before and you have no idea where to begin. It’s important that you give a lot of consideration to what you’re going to put into your e-newsletter, as research shows a great e-newsletter can lead to sales. In 2013, 44% of email recipients bought at least one item because of a promotional email they received. So the pressure is on to get…

How to get more blogging ideas

June 9, 2014

Carmen

Writing tips

We’ve all had those days… you’re staring blankly at the computer screen and a few minutes pass. You simply cannot think of a single thing to write. And you know you have to post something on your blog before people start to think your company has gone out of business, so infrequent are your updates. But what to write about? It can be a challenge figuring out an interesting topic that will be good grounds for further conversation. Finding something…

4 of the best inspirational blogs

June 5, 2014

David

Writing tips

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ Charles Dickens’ immortal opening line of his novel A Tale of Two Cities is as applicable to our modern times as it was describing the turbulent times of London and Paris during the French Revolution. Bang – In comes the iPhone. Out goes the land line. Bang – in comes Facebook. Out goes the high school yearbook. Bang – in comes Twitter. Out goes the gossip column. Information…