So You Think You Can Write?: The Definitive Guide to Successful Online Writing

If you've been wondering how to drive meaningful traffic to your web site and build an audience that will genuinely engage with you because you've built their trust, this book is a terrific guide. As Julia McCoy, the author, notes in this book, "warm selling" (i.e. - "storytelling" as opposed to direct advertising or "cold selling") is increasingly becoming the go-to style for online writing and she's absolutely correct. What inspires you to purchase a product or service? Probably your friends, family, or trusted experts/experienced users, right? How did you purchase your last Amazon order, for example? A well-written product review more than likely. My favorite aspect of this book is that she hits the key points without going into exhausting detail. Want to know more about a specific style of writing or a more comprehensive understanding of SEO? She gives you the resources in the appendix to do so without muddying the main takeaways. Before I knew it, I was 80 pages into the book in the blink of an eye. It's an easy to understand yet informative book. Efficient is the best way I can describe it. This book gives you the basics you need to understand content marketing and SEO, why they're big factors in your company's online success, and what you can do TODAY to start using it to your advantage. I liken it to how I see success in fitness; if you started a new routine at the gym tomorrow, you won't be "swole" by the end of the week. However, after months of disciplined training, proper diet, hydration, and some trial and error, you'll see some serious results. If you heed Julia's advice about content and SEO, produce quality content (that she comprehensively defines and outlines), and genuinely engage/attract your audience, you WILL see success. She also has a great section for aspiring freelance writers and how to get started from scratch to gain experience with the goal in mind to get paid in a part-time or even full-time basis. Even if you're an experienced content marketer, you can appreciate the knowledge Julia dispenses in this book. I feel like I can more easily convey what content marketing and SEO are to absolute beginners because of it (like my Dad!). To writers of all levels, you won't regret purchasing this book.

In Julia McCoy’s book So You Think You Can Write? The Definitive Guide to Successful Online Writing, the author begins by giving the reader a background of her history. This was interesting to me and very admirable that McCoy began her business at a relatively young age. As technology has advanced, so have her processes and successes. I really appreciated that McCoy broke up the different types of online writing, i.e., blogging, social media, creative writing, etc. It made each task appear less daunting when looked at separately. I also really liked McCoy’s visuals and helpful links at the end of her book. This aided in breaking up the monotony, and gave me a better idea of what she was talking about. One complaint I have about McCoy’s book is that although it offers some excellent advice, it doesn’t delve into the complexity of online writing. Rather, McCoy seems to give the reader a good starting point, but a lot of her points have been ones I have come across on my own while researching online. Overall, McCoy’s book was a good purchase and it will be utilized for my online writing. It is a comprehensive reference that I believe will prove to be valuable. The most beneficial tips I learned were how to optimize keywords so you, as a writer, can become more “readable” and desirable to an online community that may have many similar choices to pick from. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

“So You Think You Can Blog” is a step by step guide for blog design, driving traffic to your blog, and building content on the web. The book provides many examples and step-by-step directions from learning the basics to more in-depth procedures. Julia McCoy shows the reader the ins and outs of producing online content in an engaging voice that surely won’t bore or go over your head. I found the author's style to be entertaining and insightful as well as practical. The book is not so much a writing manual but rather a book on online marketing strategy. The book has some excellent tips for write content that uses keywords for maximum search engine optimization. Loaded with actionable ideas, the book also comes chock full of links to incredible resources and examples you can clone. This is a no nonsense book with some very important messages for new and established bloggers who are serious about what they do. McCoy very effectively conveys how to monetize one’s blog by finding the right voice for one’s web audience and articulating which common pitfalls should be avoided at all cost. This guide is a great cash course in basic knowledge on html, java, and the business aspect of running websites. Purchasing three separate books on these subjects is definitely costlier than just buying this comprehensive, easy to read text. I highly recommend “So You Think You Can Blog” to anyone considering creating a blog and taking it to the next level.

The world of online content producing is growing now more than ever. Hundreds of thousands of people and businesses not only indulge in the writing of content to attract people to their websites, but can also now perform these writing tasks as a valid form of income. Julia McCoy dives into her story on her involvement in the online in the writing community in a superb fashion. Charming, funny, brilliant; these words and many more can be used to describe this book. McCoy focuses in on the key idea behind success in the online writing community and that is: storytelling. Julia does just that and more. She not only tells the amazing and triumphant story of her early nursing career turning into the prosperous and thriving businesses she has started in writing, but also of the story of the internet and how writing on the internet for, even for average Joe’s like me, is a phenomenon that is taking over the “world marker”. The author tells of her love for writing from a young age as well as her passion for technology and the internet as it was, ironically, made available to the population of the world commercially in the same year she was born in. Dive into the rich history of the internet with major players like Google and their impact on the writing community by refining the internet to provide only quality content when your curious fingers hit the keyboard to fill in the search bar. McCoy makes the story of the internet come alive and helps the reader to connect with not only the writer in all of us, but also the success stories of dozens of other companies and how they reached where they are, or will reach their maximum potential beyond what all though possible, because of their skills in online writing, marketing, and original, but connecting and touching, content making. The likes of this can be seen with an enjoyable interlude about the success of Poo-Pourri, a rotten-scent trapping perfume that prevents the smell of whatever comes out of our bodies. As a reader, I absolutely loved the author’s passion, knowledge on the subject, brilliant writing skills that clearly show how she has become successful, and encouraging help for aspiring writers on the internet like myself. If anyone has the chance to read this book, stop reading my review and just go and buy the book already because it’s the best read I’ve had all year.

Outstanding! Julia McCoy has crammed a treasure trove of online marketing advice into 188 pages of thoughtful insights, great recommendations for tools, reference sources, and strategies do drive customer growth! As well as pearls of wisdom about personal development and success! Perhaps most misleading is the tittle of the book -- which is actually a cryptic teaser that there is more to writing than simply putting words on the page. Nor is it a book just for budding writers. Entrepreneurs will garner a wealth of information to grow their business. McCoy provides expert insights into online marketing, including guidance on writing quality copy for webpages, blogs, social media and advertisements. How to write a headline that will grab your audience’s attention; the use and placement key words; and the use of infographics. In today's connected world, even traditional bricks and mortar business prosper through their online presence. No matter how informative and aesthetically pleasing an online presence may be, it is of little value if it does not drive qualified traffic to the business. The key is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which McCoy does an outstanding job explaining. Online content that is correctly optimized will capture the attention of search engines such as Google, resulting in higher search engine rankings, more and better qualified people seeing the online content, thus increasing the number of viewers converting to paying customers. In response to the reviewer who wrote, "Most of this information in this book is already online. Don't waste your money and time reading". Virtually all knowledge is now available online. Yes, you can search it out for yourself using Google; evaluate and the quality of all the information returned by the search -- to distill the good advice from the bad or even the scams. How long will this take you: days, weeks, months? The book cost $14.99 or $6.99 for the Kindle version. How highly do you value each hour of your precious time... $15, $30, $45, $90, $300, $450 per hour, or more? At just $15 per hour you could spend just one hour doing the research yourself before the book becomes a more economic option. At $45 per hour, just 20 minutes; $90 per hour 10 minutes; and at $300 per hour, no more than 3 minutes! This book provides an excellent and valuable foundation that will guide you; whether you intend to do the work yourself or hire an expert to do it for you! A must for every entrepreneur’s library!

So You Think You Can Write is a good book for anyone who wants to venture in the current online marketing atmosphere. This book is a valuable resource. It was interested to read the author's journey because I can relate in many ways. Since her journey resonated with me, it made it even more interesting to read. Like the author, I have written countless keyword stuffed articles(some clients wanted articles with tons of keywords) and I thought it was a terrible way to write those articles. However, unlike the author of the book, I have still come across clients who demand too many keywords in articles. It really ruins the articles. I liked some of the examples in the book like the Poo-Pourri one. That was a great example of how storytelling in marketing can work if done right. The author makes the point that content needs to reach the reader to peak their interest. Even I have seen too many examples of horrible copy(I have also been asked to write bad copy) which is a complete waste of time. If you don't engage the audience's interest than you might as well focus your energy elsewhere. Good copy really does help sell various products. Take time to learn more about this if your business is struggling. Most people are online and see many types of content. Make your content stick out in a good way. The author is right about how to learn copy writing. You don't necessarily need a degree in English.

First, my initial concerns of the material and strategies being outdated is most likely true, because this was written in 2016, and things can change drastically from year-to-year online. Anyway, there's no doubt the Author has a deep passion for writing, which I appreciate. However, the book comes off as a bit snobby and therefore a waste of time for anybody that doesn't share her passion. Moreover, not everybody wants to be a full-time Writer. In fact, I'll venture to say, that most people probably just want to gain some tips and insights to better their understanding and acumen on the subject. Lastly, the content itself is solid. It's a short, easy read, put together nicely. The book doesn't really cover how to improve your writing, which the title clearly indicates. It's more of a guideline for people to follow, assuming they all want to be Writers, which is disappointing and exclusionary.

I intern as a social media coordinator for a boutique artist management firm in SJ, California I learned a lot from this book. The author starts with the premise that you already know how to write, so the book isn't about that, which I wanted. It has some great tips for search engine optimization, how to write content that uses keywords but isn't a slave to them, and what good vs great content looks like. Truly a great book, jam packed with intelligent values for today’s content world, a must read! Julia’s approach makes learning the industry simple, fun and engaging! Her humble story is an inspiration and makes her lesson far more digestible - something about starting from the bottom and reaching such success. It shows that blood, sweat, and tears can really help with your work I feel it's a great read for anyone interested in pursuing freelance writing with the help of the internet. In this relatively early era of the Digital Age, there's a lot about the internet that needs to be explained. There are different rules to follow when writing for an online audience, which is growing exponentially every year. McCoy goes into detail on how to choose the best tags for your articles, how to find the best headline that will attract the most viewers, specific websites to go to, and how to get started as a freelancer. She tells you just about everything a beginner needs to know when it comes to online writing. There's been a lot of changes in today's advertisement strategies, so it's best to keep up with the source material that you need to know. This book will definitely help someone get started. So if you're looking to try and become a successful freelance writer online, then this will no doubt give you good tips.

A useful guide for those who want to write online successfully. Highly recommended!

This book, So You Think You Can Write?: The Definitive Guide to Successful Online Writing is excellent for beginners or those who are just starting out creating content and should be high on the must read list. Even experienced content writers will find lots of useful tips in the book. Highly recommended.

As someone just beginning my journey into online writing after a life of writing elsewhere, I couldn't have asked for a better book. The author provides insightful knowledge into the modern industry, based on her personal rise from writing blogs to running a huge company. The book ends with links to tools for writing and the author even includes a link from which to apply to her company. These alone are worth the price of the book, though I may give it some time before I apply for the job. If you, like me, have a passion for writing but don't know where to begin. If the idea of just starting a blog and hoping someone will even find it is a bit too daunting. Then this is the book for you. (As in it literally tells you how to get people to view your blog.)

Great book! Highly recommend!!!

A little bit short but very useful book. It is ok for those who don't know where to start. You can read it rapidly then search for more specific guides.