Persuasive Writing – Powerful Ways to Engage Your Readers - RINF: Webmaster Tips Help & Online Business, Internet Marketing News

This blogger begins by emphasizing that persuasive writing must create a "win-win situation" benefiting both readers and the writer. That focus is important for sales, the Web and blogs, he writes ( and most o other purposes too).

RNF writes:

When I first started writing sales orientated content I made some big mistakes. I tried to sell too hard and now I look back I realise this was actually putting readers off rather than drawing them in. I focused too much on the general benefits of the product itself instead of how it could benefit the reader personally. This was not persuasive in that it didn’t present a winning situation for the target audience.

RNF provides an example of how he goofed in his initial persuasion attempts but how he turned that mistake into a lesson learned.

He then describes three of his techniques "to help make my content writing more persuasive and engaging to readers": repetition, clear reasons, and consistency.  
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For more related advice, check out Garbl's Action Writing Links. It's an annotated directory of websites that can help you get people to read your writing, keep readers interested and persuade them to respond while they're reading or afterward.


Also check out Garbl's Plain English Writing Guide. The first step is Focusing on your reader and purpose.