Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

The Powerful Ingredient in ‘A Christmas Carol’ That Will Make Your Writing and Marketing Compelling

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Illustration from the first edition of A Christmas Carol | Scanned image by Philip V. Allingham via Victorianweb.org
Want to connect with other writers? Make sure to get your invitation to my private writing community on Facebook!

Every Christmas Eve, my whole family gathers around the TV to watch the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. It’s one of our favorite traditions.

(If you haven’t seen this version, you can watch it on YouTube here — I believe it’s the best film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic story.)

No matter how many times I watch it, my heart is always touched by each scene. I feel the happiness of the crowd at Fezziwig’s party. Tears come to my eyes when Bob Cratchit cries over his poor Tiny Tim.

But, most of all, I love Alastair Sim’s wonderful performance as Scrooge — how he convincingly portrays Scrooge’s change from heartless and tightfisted to kind and joyous.

You watch with delight as the once grim man can’t stop laughing and smiling and stunning all with his kindness, even while muttering to himself, “I don’t deserve to be so happy.”

What makes stories like A Christmas Carol so enthralling? Why do we love watching movies like these year after year?

In today’s post, let’s look at one ingredient that makes stories like A Christmas Carol so powerful and emotionally compelling. It’s an ingredient you can use to make any type of writing captivate your readers, whether you’re working on a short story, a blog post, or even a sales page. [Read more…]

How to Use the Four Modes of Persuasion to Make Your Writing Irresistible

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How to Use the Four Modes of Persuasion to Make Your Writing Irresistible

This is the view from my new writing desk in my new home in Raleigh, North Carolina.

My family and I are loving Raleigh. The house we’re renting is surrounded by woods that are so beautiful and peaceful. I’m torn over whether to go out exploring or stay here in my new writing space typing away.

After several weeks of not having a permanent address, I’m happy to finally have a place to call home. And to once again have a desk to write at!

As I wrote in my last post, I had to get rid of many belongings and pieces of furniture during my move from New York. My desk was one of the things that I ended up giving away, and I never could have imagined how difficult it would be to replace it.

If you’ve ever hunted for furniture before, you know that there are hundreds of decisions to make.

What’s your budget? How big of a desk can fit in your space? What type of a desk? A traditional design of solid wood or a contemporary design of metal and glass? One with a computer drawer? Or maybe you’d like to try a standing desk?

I visited several furniture stores but didn’t see anything that I liked. So my hunt for a desk ended up involving many hours of searching online. I read countless product descriptions, which are really advertisements in disguise. Each one tried to convince me that this was the perfect desk for me.

Of course, my eyes started to glaze over as I read so many product descriptions, but some stood out from all of the others. Those were the ones that had my cursor hovering over the “add to cart” button.

What made those descriptions different from all of the rest?

In a nutshell, they expertly employed four powerful rhetorical strategies known as the modes of persuasion.

These four persuasive techniques are essential for making any argument compelling.

You can use them in a blog post, in a speech, in an essay, or even on your website’s homepage – anytime you’re trying to persuade your reader to take action, form a new opinion, or take a big step that will change their life.

Read on to discover the four modes of persuasion and how you can use them to make your writing more effective. [Read more…]

The One Powerful Strategy That Will Help You Stand out Online

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Photo by Paul Dufour
Want to connect with other writers? Make sure to get your invitation to my private writing community on Facebook!

It’s a brand new year filled with opportunity. You’ve resolved to focus your energy on writing more blog posts or maybe even publishing a book. There’s only one problem. There are thousands of people out there who’ve made the exact same New Year’s resolution as you.

The Internet is a crowded place. Every day someone writes a new blog post in your niche or publishes a new book on Amazon in your genre. In a sea of content, how can you get people to pay attention to your work?

I remember a shoe store my mom used to take me to when I was a little kid. It was called Merry-Go-Round Shoes and was quite unlike any store I’d ever been to. There was a merry-go-round in the center of the store that children could ride on.
[Read more…]

I just released my new book!

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Hi, friends!

After many long nights of writing, formatting, and editing, I’m excited to announce that my new eBook How to Grow Your Email List: A Step-by-Step Guide for Writers is now available to purchase.

Go here to get your copy.

If you haven’t read the recent posts on my blog, you might be wondering, “Why is an email list so important?” [Read more…]

How to Start Building Your Email List: 3 of the Best Email Marketing Services for Writers

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How to Start Building Your Email List: The Top 3 Email Marketing Services for Writers

Want to connect with other writers? Make sure to get your invitation to my private writing community on Facebook!

Back in May, I wrote a post about how I grew this blog’s email list from 100 to 1,000 subscribers in less than a year. The email list is now nearing 2,000 subscribers (!!). To celebrate, I’m expanding on that blog post and writing an in-depth step by step guide. It’s going to share all of my tips and strategies that will help you grow your online audience too. (Update: Get the book here!)

Since I’m terrible at keeping things under wraps, I couldn’t wait to share a sneak peek of the book with you. Today’s post is from an early draft of the book’s “getting started” section where I explain why an email list is important, and I narrow down the top three email marketing services for writers who are just starting out.

If you’re overwhelmed by all of the different email marketing options out there and aren’t sure which one to choose to get started, this is the post for you.  [Read more…]

How I Grew My Email List From 100 to 1,000 Subscribers in Less Than a Year

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How I Grew My Email List From 100 to 1,000 Subscribers in Less Than a Year

Want to connect with other writers? Make sure to get your invitation to my private writing community on Facebook!

Can we throw a party?

Last month, we passed 1,000 subscribers on the blog’s email list.

One Thousand Subscribers.

I can still hardly believe it when I press send on the email newsletter and realize that it’s just landed in the inboxes of more than 1,000 amazing readers.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much to each and every one of you who has subscribed. Since starting this crazy blogging adventure last year, I’ve been overwhelmed by all of your kind comments and messages.

Growing an audience for your writing isn’t easy. At the beginning of last year, I didn’t really know how to find my audience online. My email list grew slowly, and sometimes it felt like hardly anyone was reading my work.

But in late March 2016, I won a contest for a year of blog coaching with bestselling author Jeff Goins. Thank you, Jeff! This included access to a course by email marketer Bryan Harris which I began working through in June when I had about 100 subscribers.

With Jeff’s and Bryan’s coaching and a lot of hard work, I soon discovered the most effective ways to reach a wider audience with my writing.

In today’s post, I’m looking at why every writer needs an email list, and I’m sharing the top five strategies that brought me the biggest number of subscribers.

[Read more…]