“5 Steps to Writing Your First Article”

For many people, the idea of actually sitting down and writing an article stops them cold. You may wonder if you have anything worth saying, or if your writing is "good" enough for publication. If it makes you feel any better, virtually every writer – even the professionals – start out with the same fears. Really, the only way out is through. But once you have one article under your belt, the next ones become much easier. Here’s a five-step plan to have you on your way to your first article:

1. Brainstorm topics.

What questions do you get about your topic area? What are the sticking points for newbies to your field? What equipment or specialized knowledge do people need to get started? Make a list of the most common questions you are asked about your business.

For instance, if your niche is freezer cooking, people might want to know:

*How will freezer cooking benefit me?
*What equipment will I need?
*What are the problems I might encounter?
*How much money will it cost to get started?
*What are some basic recipes?

In five minutes, you can have topics for your first dozen articles.

2. Choose one to begin with.

Pick one of your topics to start with. Forget about choosing the "perfect" topic – there is no such thing. With a pen and a piece of paper (or a computer, if that is more comfortable), set the timer for 10 minutes and jot down everything you can think of related to that topic. Don't worry about complete sentences, formatting, or spelling, just get the ideas down.

For instance, if my topic is "How freezer cooking can benefit you," I might write,

*Save money
*Healthier diet
*Lose weight
*Fun
*Social – can do with friends
*Helps you be prepared and organized
*Less stress

Some people like to use mind maps to create these lists. If you'd like more information on that process, I suggest googling "mindmap software."

3. Organize it and flesh it out.

The next step is to take the outline you created in Step 2 and organize it into common themes. You're aiming for an article about 400-700 words, so three to five main points is ideal. If you have more than that, never fear! You can turn that information into another article.

Then take your outline and build on it. If this is where you start feeling butterflies in your stomach, relax. Imagine you're writing an email to a friend to explain to him or her the topic of your article. Again, don't get stuck on grammar, spelling, etc. Just get the info on the page – you can always go back and edit it (professional writers often create several drafts of their work. Very few people get it right the first time!).

4. Proofread.

Now's the time when you can go back through the article and edit and polish, making each sentence say what you want it to. Be sure it’s cohesive, that the statements flow together, and that it makes sense. Also be on the lookout for places where you can tighten your writing – where you use three words when just one will do, or where there are redundancies. Let each word, each sentence, each paragraph have purpose.

When you think your article is finished, walk away from it for an hour or even a day. Then go back and read through again. By giving yourself some time away from your article, you will pick up previously missed errors or ones that spell check didn’t catch.

5. Submit!

After you’ve written your article and polished it until it shines, it’s time to submit it. Most article marketers submit to online directories – clearinghouses where experts post articles and editors find content to publish. While there are hundreds of online article directories, there’s no need to submit to more than a few. Each has its own pluses and minuses, so take some time to pick the best for your niche. A quick search on Google for "article directory" will bring up dozens of options. If you know of large circulation newsletters or ezines in your niche, submit directly to those publishers as well.

Make sure you follow their guidelines exactly, as some have minimum and maximum word lengths, as well as other requirements.

Article marketing is a valuable free marketing strategy, but it must be used consistently— and often — for the best results. So once you've finished one article, go back to the beginning and start writing your next. Keep the content flowing, and soon you'll see the results of your hard work. You can’t buy better promotion than that!

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“Five Tips to Marketing Your Articles to Get Them More Exposure”

Once you've written and submitted a few articles – hopefully several – it's time to start promoting them. While it's wonderful that you've got your articles out there for people to read and publish, to make the most of them, you have to do a little promotion. There are five main steps you should take to make sure you get the most mileage from your articles:

1. Tweet about your article.

Let people know when you have a new article listed in a directory by tweeting a link to your followers.  Letting them know about new information available from you is a quick and easy way to spread the word. A simple tweet should include the topic and the link. Stick to under 120 characters so people have room to retweet your message without having it get cut off.

2. Post it on your blog.

While you don't want to post the whole article, you can allude to it at the end of another post. For instance, "Want to read more about how to train your parakeet in a week or less? Check out my new article, "Tricks and Treats for Parakeets," and then link to the page.

3. Create a reprints page.

Create a list of your articles on a separate page on your blog or website. Link to it from the main page with a sentence that says, "Want more information on parakeet training, or would you like to reprint my work on your site? Click here for more information." Then include links to all your articles, as well as how interested parties can contact you for more information.

4. Link 'em up.

Tell your audience about the information you have available every chance you get. This is why it's great to have multiple articles out there – you can mention a different one in your newsletter, on your Facebook page, in your signature line on your emails, in forums, etc. If you've created targeted, useful content, people are going to want to know about it!

5. Combine them.

After you've authored 10 or 20 articles on a similar theme, combine them and edit them into an e-book, a special report, or an e-course. Add more information, create transitions, throw in a resource or two, and you've got a product to give away or sell.

Writing and publishing your first few articles is just the beginning of the marketing cycle. Think creatively about who would like the information you've written, and how you can get it to them, and you're on your way to creating a steady stream of traffic to your site.

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“How to Write a Killer Resource Box”

Article directories clearly state that when reprinting an article, the resource box must remain intact including the link. The resource box is one of the most important pieces of your article marketing strategy. It is what will draw a person to your site, increase your traffic and ultimately your sales. 

Your resource box should include enough information to pique readers’ interest, and have a strong call to action that will encourage them to click on your link for more information. No matter how good your article is, if your resource box does not compel the reader to visit your site and find out more, you have lost an opportunity to earn a customer.

Tips for writing an effective resource box:

1.Don't start your resource box off with your bio. This signals to the reader that your article is complete and that they can stop reading. It’s not all about you.  Instead, begin with a question or statement that will entice them to read more. Example: "Want fourteen more ways to make money from home?"

2.Do not include a full bio. Most people are not interested in your full bio or every degree and accolade you have received. In fact, most people will skim over it and you will lose their interest before they get to your link and call to action.

3.Include at least one link, more if allowed. Look at the resource box guidelines for each directory to find out what you are allowed to include. Most allow one link, some two. Be sure to include as many links as you are allowed.

4.A strong call to action is an absolute requirement. Include a statement which informs the reader what they will receive when they click on your link and how it will benefit their lives. For instance, "Download Joe's free report today for more ways to make money in your sleep!" Offering something for free always works well.

5.Answer the burning question. When crafting your resource box, consider the question all readers ask (if only subconsciously)... “What’s In It For Me?” (WIIFM).

6.Draft a different resource box to fit every article that you create. If the article is about home improvement, then draft your resource box to tie into that with an appropriate offer and link. If the next article is specific to tool selection, steer your resource box in that direction. Start a file of resource boxes so you can add an appropriate one without recreating it each time.

The resource box is your opportunity to tell the reader what you have to offer and what they should do next. If you can show a reader what they will gain by clicking on your link, you’re almost guaranteed to build your website traffic with the articles you write.

Additional Resources:

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“Offline Article Marketing Secrets”

While most people associate article marketing strictly with online promotion, you can get even more bang for your article buck by promoting your articles – and your business! – offline. Here's how you can turn your online articles into offline marketing engines:

1. Submit articles to local papers and newsletters.

Many local newspapers, neighborhood associations or local organization newsletters will accept contributed articles. By submitting your articles on a hot and timely topic, you can increase your exposure and potentially gain new subscribers or customers.

To find local sources for your articles, you can do a simple Google search. Enter “CITY newspaper” or “CITY shopper” (quotes included) with CITY being your location, or nearest major metropolitan city, in the Google search bar. For instance, “Tallahassee newspaper” or “Seattle shopper”.

You are highly likely to find multiple small publications in your area. Don't overlook neighborhood associations, as well as schools, daycares, gyms, community centers, churches, and clubs and organizations that create newsletters for their members. If their readership matches your target market, getting featured in these is free and can help you to grow your online business.

Make a list of publication names and contact information, and then either email them a link to your articles, or print out a copy and send it to their mailing address.

2. Share your content with associates and potential clients.

Print one of your favorite articles and mail it to prospective clients, business associates and others who might find the content useful. Include a sticky note that says “Thought you might find this helpful,” and sign your name. Be sure your website address or contact information and a business card are included as well. Then hand-address the envelope, include your name and return address, and drop it in the mail. If you make it a practice to send out a few every week, it can pay off in added readers, website visitors and customers.

3. Turn an article into a press release.

Newspapers are always looking for interesting news and stories they can use for their broadcast or print media. If your article has a strong news hook related to a recent event or season, you may be able to pitch a story as a press release. First, do some research to find out who your best contact at the newspaper is. For instance, if you're a landscaping company, identify who covers home and garden, then read several of their past articles to observe what topics they cover. Next, email or call them. Introduce yourself and ask what type of stories and news releases they want to receive and how (via email, fax, phone or mail).

Once you know what the reporters are looking for, you can direct appropriate stories their way. If your article topic fits, format your article as a press release and send it to them as they requested. Keep in mind that reporters and newspapers receive hundreds of releases, many of which were written and sent by people who haven’t taken any time to get to know the reporters or what they are looking for. By doing your homework and developing a relationship with them, you stand a much higher chance of getting your information published.

4. Create print booklets of your articles.

Take a few of your favorite articles and compile them into a booklet.

Here's how:

1.Lay out the articles in a word processing program (OpenOffice.org is free) or desktop publishing software.
2.Add an “About Us” page and contact information.
3.Include a free offer inside the book, if the reader joins your email list.
4.Print one sample booklet.
5.Copy the booklets at home or at your local print shop.

Then, it's time to distribute the booklets.

Mail them to prospective clients.
Include them with all physical purchases.
Offer them as a free gift to subscribers.
Bring them to networking events and leave at information tables or booths.

There are many ways to use offline article marketing strategies to enhance your results. Be creative and search for new places to display articles and locate readers and subscribers. By offering them your well-written articles, you can establish yourself as a local expert and go-to person when they need your services or products.

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“So What Kind of Articles Work Best?”

Image via Wikipedia

There are limitless topics that you could write about. But to make the biggest positive impact on your business, the articles that work the best are those that  match the interests of your niche market.

If your business is selling information products to stay-at-home moms who want to start their own at-home business, then you want to write articles that demonstrate your expertise in that area. When those readers get to your resource box at the end of your article, they’ll click on the link expecting more of the same great content. Writing articles for dog lovers, for instance, when your target market is aspiring work-at-home moms just doesn’t make sense.

The best explanation I've ever heard of this was by Jimmy D. Brown who coined the term “useful but incomplete”.  What he meant was that your articles should be “useful” to your target audience, but “incomplete” in that they should lead the reader hungrily to seek more information from you. They'll turn to your resource box in search of more.

Quality is also a key ingredient to successful articles. While anyone can throw together a few sentences, combine a few paragraphs, paste on a resource box and call it an article, this slap-dash method is not likely to produce the results you desire. Quite simply, quality content is the key for any kind of success in article marketing.

Online article directories are filled with articles written by non-native language writers who don’t understand grammar or sentence structure, or by those who have simply copied what someone else wrote and plugged it into an article spinner without thought for the value of the finished article. Using such shoddy marketing methods will never help your article marketing efforts, and will likely brand you as unprofessional and harm your reputation as a business owner.

Most editors in search of content would rather find an expert on EzineArticles.com or LadyPens.com with 10 high-quality articles, than one with 500 junk articles. When editors and readers see junk articles, they assume that everything that person does is junk. Not a great way to build a business!

When you offer well-written, relevant content that helps your reader answer a question or gain new knowledge and understanding of a subject matter they're interested in, you'll establish yourself as an expert and advance your article marketing efforts and, ultimately, your business.

Helpful Resources:

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“Who Can Benefit from Article Marketing?”

Article marketing is one of the most popular methods of promoting a business online. Not only is it easy and low-cost, it works and anyone can do it! I’ve been doing it for years, and it’s my number one way of increasing page rank to my websites, and increasing traffic.

By writing articles on your areas of expertise and offering this content free of charge to online and offline publishers, you can:

spread the word to your target market

demonstrate your professional know-how, and

create a body of work that continues to "sell" you and your website long after the initial article creation

Other website owners, bloggers, and newsletter publishers are constantly looking for quality content to provide to their readers. You help them out by providing your well-written, targeted articles. In return they include a plug about you and your business, called the "author resource box," at the bottom of the piece. The resource box includes a link to your site. So, they get free content, and you get free publicity. It's a win-win!

When writing your resource box try to entice people to click by offering something of value if they stop by for a visit. Use good copy writing skills to get the reader to take action.

You may be wondering if article marketing will work for your niche or industry. The short answer is yes! There are blogs and newsletters and ezines and websites on just about every topic under the sun, from accounting to Zoroastrianism.

Here's a short list of businesses that can benefit from article marketing:

Service providers.
Bloggers.
Affiliate marketers.
Ebook Authors.
Infoproduct sellers.
Online Store owners.
Coaches and consultants.
Realtors.
Podcasters.
Membership site owners.
Authors.
Speakers.
Network marketers.

In short, if you're selling something or trying to drive traffic to your website or blog, article marketing is for you. It's one of the most efficient ways to attract targeted visitors, to build trust among your readers, and to gain new customers or clients.

Here are some broad examples:

Bloggers can use article marketing to attract readers to their blogs and increase their subscriber base.

Webmasters can use article marketing to create valuable backlinks, and increase website traffic.

Writers can use article marketing to exhibit their writing skills, educate readers, and attract clients.

Hairstylists can use article marketing to share hair care tips, showcase their expertise, and attract business to their salons.

Dog trainers can use article marketing to share dog training lessons, and inform the public about the needs at a local shelter.

Whatever your passion, article marketing can benefit you and your business. When used correctly, it can successfully attract targeted traffic to your website or blog, grow your mailing list, help you become an expert in your field, build trust with your readers, make your website more popular, spread your name and website across the Web, add backlinks to your site, allow you to "advertise" free, brand yourself and your business, and generate sales.

As you can see, the benefits of article marketing are numerous.

Who can benefit from article marketing? You! And, it starts with just one article. So what are you waiting for, get busy!

Additional Resources to help:

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“9 Article Marketing Tips”

Article marketing can do a lot for your business. You just have to know a few things and here are some tips to help you out.

1. First, you have to make sure that whatever you are writing about is relevant. If you know for a fact that your product could be very useful, then do some research about it and then end the article with a link to your website.  Spell check and proof read it when finished or have someone else do it for you.

2. Just like what you read in the newspaper or see on television, the article must be both timely and newsworthy. This will allow you stay in touch with what is happening in the world. One good way to stay up on current events is signing up with a site that gives you alerts with regards to the latest happenings online. Google Alerts works well for this http://www.google.com/alerts

3. Make writing a regular activity.  It’s best to write one or two articles per week if you can. Make writing a weekly task on your promotional schedule.

4. You should also make your articles viral. What this simply means is allowing other people to publish your article just as long as nothing is changed and you are given credit for it. Another way of doing this is offering your writing services to others which could mean more revenue for you.  It’s easy to compile a list of ezine publishers and article directories where you can submit to on a regular basis.

5. Each article you write must be short and simple. It must be short so that it will not bore the reader. Simple so that they will be able to understand the message you are trying to convey. Less then 600 words is usually best if you want to see it published. If longer then that you can break it up into a article series.

6. Just how many articles must your write to increase traffic? The good news is that you only need 2 to get things started. A good title will be “ how to do something” and “ x number of tips for something.” If this catches their interest, that person will most likely click on the link to your site and then buy something.

7. If you have multiple websites, you can write more articles and then use different resource boxes at the end of each one  to drive traffic to those sites too. 

8. Aside from posting your written work in other websites, don’t forget to also put these in your own. If you have written 10 or more about the same topic, put these together to what is known as an e-book and then pass this along for free. Again, if people like what is written there then people wouldn’t remind reading it several times.  PDF format is generally best for ebooks as it works on Mac or PC. Repackage your articles to get the most mileage out of them.

9. Aside from posting in websites, make use of RSS feeds. There are plenty of them around so make good use of them.

There are two ways to get into article marketing. The first is to write it yourself and just hope that people will appreciate your writing style. The other is to hire someone to do it. Some charge by the hour while others charge per word. It may be worth it if this increases traffic to your site. Another options is PLR, private label rights. This is content you can purchase or sometimes get for free and edit it and use it as you wish. If you need help there’s also software that will help with the writing process.

When article marketing is done as part of a weekly promotional schedule you’ll be surprised at the amount of free traffic you’ll pick up on a regular basis.

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