4 Recommended Content Writing Apps for the Home Business

Here are my recommended writing apps for the home-based business. There are many good writing apps available for creating good content. In this article, I want to emphasize that I am writing with a home-based business in mind. If you have a home-based business, the odds are that you are the only employee. You are owner, CEO, CFO, copywriter, secretary, to name a few of your titles. The point is that writing content may not be one of your primary skills. But content writing is a must for any business. Writing website content, promoting products, or writing proposals are all examples of this. And yet, if you are like me, writing clear and grammatically correct sentences is not in the skill set.

So what are you to do? No doubt you will do as I did – go looking for help. So I am sharing with you some of the fruit of my effort. Two of the apps I’m recommending in this blog are apps found in my toolbelt of necessary apps. Others come from research results.

Grammarly:

Grammarly is my primary writing tool. As its name suggests, it monitors grammar. The free version scans grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you step up to the Premium version, for $12 per month, you will also get:

• Clarity-focused sentence rewrites – Automatically rewrite hard-to-read sentences.
• Tone adjustments– Eliminates unnecessary qualifiers to sound more confident
• Inclusive language – Assure your words are respectful and current
• Word choice – Find vivid words to enliven each message
• Formality level – Write with the appropriate tone (formal, informal, casual, and so on)
• Fluency – Ensure your word choice sounds natural and fluent

My writing puts each of these features to work. Giving Grammarly a whirl was a no-brainer for me. I started with the free version and soon recognized I needed extra help. So I upgraded to Premium.

You can work online with Grammarly or install the desktop version. The desktop version will work inside your writing apps. As you use your word processors, or email clients, Grammarly is there to help.

The Premium version uses a browser plugin known as the editor. The editor gives a more comprehensive experience. I will use the desktop version in my first draft when I’m writing a publication. Next, I copy and paste the content into the editor to check clarity, engagement, and plagiarism.

If content writing is not a natural skill for you, this is hard work. But the outcome will be worth it. The more you use it, the more you begin to recognize your errors on your own.

As a disclaimer, I should add that Grammarly will not create engaging content. That is on you.

Check Out Grammarly

Hemingway App:

Some think of Hemingway App as a competitor to Grammarly. I have seen some reviews arguing about which is best. Such approaches miss the point of each app, though. Whether one app is better than the other depends more on the user’s needs. Each app has different emphases. I have already described Grammarly as having grammar, spelling, and punctuation emphases. The Premium version expands to include clarity, tone, word choice, and other features.

In contrast, Hemingway App concentrates on readability. It will rate your use of adverbs, passive voice, and simple phrases and sentences. Since I need considerable help in writing, I use Hemingway App alongside Grammarly. So I start by writing a draft in Evernote using Grammarly. I allow it to check my grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Then I copy the draft into Grammarly Editor to pick up on clarity, tone, word choice, and fluency. Before I found Hemingway App, my writing task was complete at that point.

I copied a finished text into the editor when I first tried Hemingway. Remember, this text had already been through two drafts with Grammarly. The result shocked me. My writing masterpiece was full of adverbs, passive voice, and complex sentences. I had some hard work ahead determining how to reword these complex sentences. How was I to remove the unwanted wording? At a one-time cost of only $19.99, adding Hemingway Desktop to my toolbelt was well worth the price.

Hemingway includes more than writing features. It also has HTML formatting such as bold, italic, H1, H2, quote, bullets, and links. So after cleaning up your content, you can prepare it for viewing in four different formats. Or you can publish it to WordPress.

What are your writing needs? Is it related to grammar or readability? Knowing this will help you know which app is best for you. Both apps are available for use without cost. You can take trial runs without making a commitment.

I hope this information will help you in choosing.

Check Out Hemingway App

Verblio:

Another content writing resource for you is Verblio. It is a much different alternative from the two already discussed. Verblio’s self-description says, “On-demand content creation to power digital marketing and SEO.” As this description suggests, Verblio is an on-demand service that provides content creation. This on-demand service can be an excellent solution for the home-based business owner. If you don’t have the time or don’t like to write, you can have a writer on retainer at less cost.

So how does this work? There is a monthly fee based on the size and number of content pieces you want each month. First, decide the length of content pieces you want. Do you want a microblog post or website content with no more than 300 words per piece? Your cost per piece will be $34.95. But what if you wish to have content for short blog posts, newsletters, or website Content? You could need as many as 600 words at $69.95 per piece. Should your need be for Blog Posts, eBook Chapters, or even more Website content, you could be up to 1,000 words per piece. Your cost will be $119.95 per piece.

Verblio has content categories of up to 2,000 words per piece and beyond that, check for custom lengths. You get the point. It is more affordable than having a content writer on staff.

But that’s not all. You can also sign on for extra services. It breaks down like this:

• Basic – This level of service is for content only. There is no regular monthly fee. You are paying for each content piece.
• Photo – Photo service adds $19.95 to the cost of your content piece. For this, you receive two hand-selected stock photos per content piece.
• Optimize – Optimize gives you proofreading, CMS formatting, and SEO optimization. This service costs $39.95, and the cost of your content piece.
• Verblio Complete – Verblio Complete moves you into a completely new dimension. You will pay $149.95 for this service and the cost of your piece. The bottom line is that Verblio will pair you with a “Hubspot,” who is your account manager. This person will manage the whole project for you.

There is one more option. The list above is for pay-by-the-piece services. But if you need regular monthly content of a more lengthy nature, you can choose to pay a monthly fee. Fohttps://www.verblio.com/r instance, you can get four 1,000 word pieces with optimization included. This cost is $639.60 per month. Pay by the year, and you will save over $1,200.

Check Out Verblio

Sqribble:

As I introduce you to Sqribble, I will take you in another direction from where I started in this blog. We haven’t left the topic of content writing. But we are no longer suggesting apps or services that help you write with clarity or to use correct grammar. Sqribble is about how to deliver your content. This app is an eBook creator. As a home-based business owner, you may have never considered producing an eBook. So I should start with why you might want to do so.

As business owners, we are always trying to expand our customer base. Why do you create content even though you may not enjoy it?

Is it not because of your need to reach out to new and old customers? Publishing an eBook is another way to do this with effectiveness. Here are a few reasons why:

• You might want to publish an ebook because it is an effective way to promote your product(s). How are you doing it now? An attractive flyer? A brochure? A webpage? Email? An eBook can contain the same content, be as attractive, and you can share it with ease. Offer it with a link in an email promotion or on a webpage. Once it is in the hands of a potential customer, they can open it on any mobile device for viewing.
• eBooks can help attract new leads. Offer it in an email or website as a free item in exchange for a person’s email address. Besides building your contact list, you add contacts interested in what you sell.
• An eBook can be a marketable product. Add it to your products for sale. The use of eBooks is on the rise.

In the world of eBook creation, I am recommending Sqribble. If you do an internet search for eBook designers, you will get many results. A large number of these will say they are free. But when you go to their website, you will see a menu tab for pricing – a good clue that they are not free. Sure enough, they are not. A free version is available but with limited options. Then there will be 3-4 paid versions with monthly charges. Often a free version of an app will give you all you need for a particular tool. You must ask yourself if a free version of one of these eBook designers will provide all you need.

Next, you will want to check out what end product you will be getting with a particular designer. Often the ‘designer’ converts your PDF file to a flipbook or EPUB file. Is this what you want? And is it the outcome for which you are paying?

In your internet search results you will see comparisons between Designrr and Sqribble. Why these two? Designrr has been the leading eBook designer for the past 2 to 3 years. Sqribble has arrived on the scene with competing features and value. In these comparison articles or videos, writers have drawn different conclusions. Some prefer Designrr and others prefer Sqribble. Here are the main reasons I recommend Sqribble:

• Better template design choices: Designrr and Sqribble use templates for their eBook designs. Select a template, import your content, click create and your eBook is born. It is a simple, straightforward approach. I find Sqribble’s templates to  offer a wider variety and more attractive selection.
• Free Content: Both eBook creators give several options to import content. These include file upload, copy/paste, and import from web page. Only Sqribble has the option to provide ready-made content. This content comes from a wide variety of topics and is free for use without copyright issues. They have done the research for you.
• Better Value: The reason I find most compelling in favor of Sqribble is its value. Designrr has four plans starting at $29 per month and going up to $99 per month. Each has a seven-day free trial period. Sqribble offers a one-time fee of $67. While there is no trial period, the risk is low. You can find sale prices for less. Once you sign up for Sqribble, you will see extra features, but each will have a one-time cost. After a year of Designrr on the $29 plan, you will have paid $348. You may not need to design an eBook every month, but you still pay for the service.

Check Out Sqribble

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My Best Productivity Apps

These are my personal best productivity apps. Although they might What is a productivity app or software? A common understanding of productivity software assigns them to such tasks as the production of documents, worksheets, and similar tasks. Not all the apps I am discussing fit that definition. Regardless, they all contribute to my personal productivity. Though the tasks I undertake vary, each of these apps contributes to my productivity.

My five best productivity apps:

Ditto Clipboard

Ditto Clipboard is a Windows clipboard manager with advantages over Windows Clipboard. A key difference is the ability to store copied or cut content, saving as many items as you wish. You can then paste any copied content wherever you want at any point in the future. If you do many copy and paste functions, you will recognize how this can speed up your work.

Here is a small example of this functionality gain is to log onto an online account. Using Windows Clipboard, you copy the username and then switch to the webpage to paste it. Next, you go back to copy the password and then change again to the webpage to paste the password. Using Ditto, you can complete this task in one step. Copy both username and password, then switch to the webpage and paste both to log in.

But another feature of Ditto speeds my work even more. Have you ever pasted content into a document and then had a big reformatting job? What a huge loss of time? With Ditto, there is little if any needed reformatting.

The best part yet may be that Ditto is a free app.  While Ditto is a Windows app, Mac has a similar app called Clipmenu. You can use the buttons below to check them out.

Ditto Download for Windows

Clipmenu Download for Mac

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Evernote

Evernote gives a description of itself as a way to: “Tame your work, organize your life.” Note-taking is fundamental to what Evernote is about. You can install the app on any of your devices and will sync with all your other devices. This is helpful for me when doing a presentation. I can write the presentation notes in Evernote using my computer. When I give the presentation I can view the notes on my tablet.

So far, what I have described I could also say about any number of apps. But the feature I like best with Evernote is one I know of no other app that provides. Using the Evernote browser plugin, I can capture the content of any web page I wish to save.

Three formats are available for saving content from most web pages:

• Full page
• Just the article displayed on the page
• A simplified version of the article

Capturing the article will reduce the page to the article plus graphics. Choosing the simplified article option will reduce it to text only. I most often use either the second or third option.

This web-clipping feature is a huge time saver for research. I clip an article on a web page and choose within the browser plugin the folder to which I want to save it. When ready to compile the research findings, they are ready and waiting for me in the saved folder. I can access them on any of my devices. They will all be in editable Evernote pages with powerful editing tools at my fingertips.

Besides taking notes, Evernote will also allow audio recordings and hand sketches. Further options include tasks and calendar features.

The last feature I will highlight is one with which I only recently became acquainted. This feature allows me to connect Evernote with my WordPress website. Now I can write my posts in Evernote and they will appear in my WordPress posts.

Go to Evernote

Snagit

Number three among my five best productivity apps is Snagit from Techsmith. Snagit is a screen capture app, but it will do much more than screen captures. It will also do a video capture of my actions on the screen. This makes it an excellent tool for creating ‘how-to’ videos. I like to use this feature for help videos on websites. I have also used it as a support tool I can use with clients. It will record my voice so I can include audio with these helpful videos.

Snagit has elementary video editing tools to use in cleaning up your videos. If you need a more robust video editor, Techsmith offers Camtasia.

Snagit has four selection options for screenshots:

• Full Screen
• An open window
• Drag over an area to select
• Scrolling a document

A feature not to be overlooked is converting Captured graphics to animated GIFs.

Check Out Snagit

Todoists

Todoist is what the name implies – A To-Do List. I use Todoist to keep me organized. I recommend choosing an organizational app that will allow us to work in a way that is most efficient for us. Todoist is that tool for me. The screenshot below illustrates how it works. Notice the options in the left column. Select “Today” to view tasks for the current day. Select the “Upcoming” option to display the view shown to the right.

Using the “Upcoming” view, you can select a particular date and add tasks for completion on that date. The default view is the current week, listing scheduled duties for each day that week. Do you have a project to manage with many tasks? Todoist can handle it. Todoist also allows the scheduling of recurring tasks.

Each day there will be a list of uncompleted tasks from previous days, which you can reschedule. Reschedule these to the next available date. You can schedule your tasks for a specific time of day and also assign them a priority.

As for any such app, it takes time to discover how it might work best for you or whether it will work at all. A free version is available to allow this experimentation before buying. Or, you can stay with the free version and work without the benefit of certain features.

Go to Todoist

Keeper Security

The last of my best productivity apps is Keeper Security – an app without which I cannot function. Not only does it manage my passwords, but also my:

• software keys
• credit cards
• driver’s license
• health insurance cards
• and much more

Keeper Security is another app that crosses over to all my devices. So I can access passwords from any device. And, if I am on a computer that does not have the apps, I can always use the browser for access.

I need my passwords when online more than any other time. So the browser plugin is my most used Keeper app. If I have stored the web page URL in Keeper along with the password, Keeper will pop up ready to do its thing. Entry of my credentials will be automatic when I give permission. But I can also choose to allow automatic entry and the procedure happens without any further action on my part.

What about security? Keeper Security has a high level of encryption and security measures in place. As a user, though, I need to use good sense. To help with this, Keeper apps will all time out after a few minutes of inactivity. Use of the master password is then required to regain access. An exception to this will be the browser plugin. It is wise to close the browser when leaving the computer or other device for any length of time.

I don’t like creating passwords. So I am glad for Keeper to create a password when signing up for a new account online. I can set the perimeters of the password to meet the need of any website.

Go to Keeper Security

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