Article Writing Blog

Earlier, I published part 1 of this series, which contained a number of methods for building your site using other people’s content. Now, I’ve come up with a few more ways that you can do this that I wanted to share with you.

It’s important to note however that you never want to build your entire site with other people’s content. You’ll keep visitors on your site–and keep them coming back–by building a relationship with them. To do that, much of your copy must be in your “voice,” with your personality. There will be no cohesive voice in your site if you ONLY use other people’s content. So be sure to make it a mix.

Now, here are those new methods…

PUT A REQUEST FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S CONTENT RIGHT ON YOUR SITE

Post a form on your site (or at least a page) that asks people to submit content for your site, whether it’s an article, a personal story, tips, or even photographs. It all depends on your niche as to what type of content you want.

But the bottom line is that most people love to see their name in print and will jump at the opportunity to make a contribution. Also, if another website owner comes to your site and sees your invitation, they may take you up on it just to add an incoming link into their site (and to market their site, of course).

MINE PRESS RELEASES FOR NICHE-RELATED INFORMATION

Press releases come out every day that may contain newsworthy content you can post on your site. The people who send out press releases WANT them to be posted on other sites, because it gives them the publicity they seek.

You can get started by visiting PRWeb.com and searching their archives. Here’s how:

1. Visit www.prweb.com & click on their Search Archives tab.

2. Type your keywords into the box and click the Search button.

3. Review the many press releases until you find a few that fit your niche and your needs for your site.

Cut and paste the press release into a web page for your site. Be sure to include the contact details in clickable format.

ASK AUTHORS YOU LIKE FOR MORE ARTICLES

In the last article, we discussed finding articles you like in various article banks, such as EzineArticles.com. Take that one step further. When you find an author whose work you like, write to the author and ask them if they have any other articles you might use on your site.

The author will often be thrilled to have an opportunity to be published on your site, and may even send you a whole series of articles on your niche topic.

That’s it for this time!

Kathi MacNaughton is a web entrepreneur and freelance writer, as well as a mentor for the Nitro Incubator program. To learn more, visit http://www.powerful-sample-resume-formats.com/how-this-site-came-to-be.html

How are you marketing your articles? As a writer prospecting potential clients, your query letter is your marketing tool. What does it tell the editor about you?

Show me… the Market

Show the editor that you know his magazine. Jeff Peck, the editor of Insider’s Journal, recently wrote, “…I end up rejecting fully 90 percent or more of the submissions because would-be authors simply don’t take the time to understand what our publication is about.” Are you sending out random queries shotgun style or are you using laser targeting to pinpoint your target magazine? As published authors, it should be the latter. Most editors recommend reading several back issues. Sending an article on living like a tightwad to an affluent parenting magazine won’t work. If you think a few hours learning about your market is a waste of time, then sending out queries wastes both the editor’s time and your time.

Show me… the Readers

Show the editor that you know who her readers are. Your query needs to show that you understand who will be reading your article. The Christian Librarian caters to librarians at Christian academic centers. Christian Library Journal meets the needs of academic librarians, but is also read by homeschooling parents, church librarians, school librarians, and public librarians. These two magazines have similar topics, but address very different needs. Be specific when stating the planned content of your article. When the information in your article matches the interests of the readers, the editor will give you a “go”.

Show me… the Perspective

Show the editor that you know his magazine’s perspective. This is similar to understanding the readership. Focus on the Family provides articles to help families live out their Christian faith. Many other Christian magazines publish similar articles. What makes this magazine unique is their focus on offering only this type of article. From interviews to humorous anecdotes to serious topics, Focus on the Family only publishes articles that provide distinct methods families can follow to grow closer to Christ together. Every magazine has a unique perspective and focus. Many publications place mission statements on their website on the “About Us” page. Some even include it in the writer’s guidelines. Make sure that your query reflects the fact that your article will mesh with the editor’s goals.

Show me… the Theology

Show the editor that you understand the theology of her magazine, whether or not you are a member of her denomination. Joan Alexander, an editor at Regular Baptist Press, states, “We hear from many writers who are not appropriate for our readership. We prefer that our contributors be well acquainted with our church customers and their theological and cultural perspective.” If you are a member of an affiliated church, be sure to let the editor know. If not, you can find the information about the denomination’s theology on the internet, books, or people you know in that denomination. In your query, give the editor specific examples of what you intend to put into the article that show her that you understand the unique religious views of her readers.

Show me… the Style

Show the editor that you can write in his magazine’s style. Whether scholarly, educated, or conversational, your introductory paragraph (which should be vivid enough to be the first paragraph of your article) should be written in the magazine’s style. Scholarly articles offer research driven theses and specialized vocabulary. Conversational pieces often begin with anecdotes or questions and continue in a chatty way. Other stylistic items are more specific. Living Light News always includes the ages of interviewees, contains locations specific to where an edition appears, and almost every news story begins with a testimony of God’s goodness. Reading and analyzing back issues reveals these nuggets of information. Show the editor that you understand the style and make a sale.

As an experienced, professional writer, you analyze back issues of the magazines you want to write for. You know their readers and their perspectives. You write in the correct style. Does your query letter show your competence?

Terri Pilcher is the author of MONEY Markets 101: 101 Markets That Pay Writers in 6 Weeks or Less and the editor of a searchable online database of writer’s guidelines and theme lists (2-day FREE trial). Both are available at http://www.powerpenmarketsearch.com.

She also publishes a FREE weekly markets e-zine for writers; sign up at http://www.terripilcher.com.

Making your articles available for reprints by other ezine publishers and webmasters is the cornerstone strategy in building an avalanche of pre-qualified visitors to your website.

If you want your articles to be picked up and massively distributed by others, here are 7 common mistakes to avoid:

Article Mistake #1 Too many grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

In addition to having your article proofed by others, you may also want to be sure that you have clearly defined paragraphs. Nothing is worse than a big blob of text with 20 run-on sentences.

Readers no longer read articles in depth and often only ’scan’ your article. They want small bites of information that can be easily digested? also known as “info-snacking.”

Keep your “voice” in the same person throughout the entire article. If you are using the first person voice (I, me) or the second person (you, we, us) or the third person (they, them, he, she)?be consistent by staying in one voice for the entire article.

Article Mistake #2 Too much hype, bragging and self-promotion.

If you are as good as you know you are, there is no reason to fill the body of the article with hype, gratuitous links to your site or blatant self-promotion. Readers are smart and will see right through your “hype-veil.”

Better to only sell or pitch your company in the RESOURCE BOX below the body of the article. Research I’ve done indicates that the resource box often gets a 3% CTR (Click Through Rate). Be sure you take advantage of that by not selling hard in the body of the article.

Article Mistake #3 Content based on what you need to learn, not what your reader needs.

Put yourself in your reader’s shoes and ask yourself, “What does this article offer me?” Research what your reader wants to read by doing survey’s with your own audience or do keyword search engine research to find what people are looking for.

Article Mistake #4 Making your article broad or superficial in content.

It’s better to go in-depth on a narrow topic. Define it. Explain it. Relate to it. Use bullet points or numbered lists. Offer a secret or expertise that you have around the topic. Be original in covering your topic as narrowly as possible in a way that has not been done by others. Brevity is golden.

Article Mistake #5 Headline and article summary does not grab readers’ attention.

The headline is often ~95% of the initial reason why someone might read your article or pass it over for another article. Don’t bore your audience out of the gate with a dull headline or worse, a boring introduction to the article.

If you have to use two sentences to make your headline, you’re thinking too hard. Keep it simple and make it brief. Use keyword research tools to optimize your article title.

Article Mistake #6 Plagiarizing or ‘buying articles’…

It’s ok to research the Internet for article ideas, but it’s not ok to copy word-for-word of any article. Paraphrasing can also be classified as plagiarism. Be original. Let the words flow from your mind into your article. You will sleep better at night and your articles will have a higher value in the marketplace.

Buying articles is not a great idea?especially if you do not get an exclusive license to use them. What good is the same article if thousands of people call it their own? If you do outsource your article writing to ghost writers, make sure you have an exclusive right or license to the works.

Article Mistake #7 Don’t burn out the RESOURCE BOX by overloading it.

The RESOURCE BOX is your pay-off for giving your article up for free reprints, but don’t abuse the welcome mat by including a dozen website addresses. Stick with one website URL or two at the most and you’ll find your article may find a higher distribution rate.

If you want to be really tacky, include an affiliate link in the RESOURCE BOX. A better strategy is to have a domain name registered for every affiliate program that you pitch and include the domain name that rewrites or refreshes to your affiliate link. This is much less tacky and looks more professional.

About The Author:

Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic EzineArticles.com directory. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links in tact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/

Sometimes when I am communicating with other webmasters and I bring up the subject of writing articles, I often get a response like “I’d rather have a root canal, I just can’t write”, or “my spelling is horrible and my grammar is not much better”. In my view, the first excuse is just a matter of attitude. The latter excuse falls on deaf ears because the major word processing programs have good spelling and grammar checking capabilities.

We’re not talking about something that would qualify for the Pulitzer prize in literature, just articles dealing with a topic that may be of interest to a group of people that also may happen to have an interest in your particular business proposition or activity.

While not as dramatic as the college professor’s dilemma of “publish or perish”, many Internet marketers have found that the publicity and traffic that articles can bring to their websites is second only in importance to actually making sales.

When writing articles, start out by clearly defining what you want to write about. Focus on the topic and the general message that you want to communicate. Sometimes you will start with a title and expand from there and other times the title will be the last thing you develop.

Organize your material (be it knowledge, thoughts, or opinions) into a logical sequence or order. Don’t try for the finished product in the first draft. Just let your mind, and words, flow and get some stuff down on paper. This may occur in a single session or, for longer articles, it may be done in several rough draft sessions perhaps broken into logical sections of what will eventually become your finished article.

Once you’ve completed the rough stuff, it’s time to make your corrections, smooth out the rough edges, and perhaps do a little juggling in terms of organization. Run your text through the spelling/grammar checking tool of your word processor and make the appropriate adjustments/corrections.

Now that the body of text that you have created is “technically clean” from a spelling/grammar standpoint and you have satisfied yourself with the organization, its time to do the final styling or polishing to ensure readability (that may or may not be a word, but I’ll claim poetic license and go ahead and use it). Read your article aloud to yourself and get a feel for the cadence or rhythm. The readability of the entire article can be influenced by changing the order of words and/or exchanging one like-meaning word for another. The final goal is to invite readership.

Many entrepreneurs and professionals use their articles as a key component in launching successful careers earning very substantial incomes. Remember, with regard to writing articles, you’re better than you think you are…it’s all about attitude.

This article is freely available for reprint provided that the resource box at the end of the article is left intact and the article is published complete and unaltered. If you are using this article on a website or e-book, please make sure that the link in the resource box is live or clickable.

Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.

Visit his website at Legitimate Home Based Business for more details.

Publishing content on the internet is not a hard task. But, some days it is definitely not the easiest. What do I write about today? Will my reader understand what I am trying to say? Will the reader leave with valuable and useful knowledge?

These questions can be easily answered in two words: wanted content.

The typical internet user does not just search for random keywords to pass the time. They are looking for an answer to a question that they cannot answer themselves.

Where are we going on vacation in March? How do I make homemade egg noodles? How do I tie a double-winsor knot? What band is playing in town tonight?

The job of the publisher is to simply identify, and answer, the specific question. Of course, it is impossible to answer every possible question. That is why the publisher writes what they know.

Write what you know.

“Write what you know” is quite possibly the best lesson for any aspiring writer, no matter the intent of the audience. A reader will look right through imagined material. They may know more than what you are communicating to them.

It is tempting for a content publisher to try and breeze through their articles. This will not do any good ? for you or your reader. It is important to take time to research your topic.

Don’t write above their heads.

Maybe you are the expert in your field. Therefore, they are not. It is then necessary to learn the questions of your readers. What do they want to know? How best can you describe the information? Besides knowing your content, it is equally important to be able to communicate at their level.

It is probably difficult for a reader to understand medical journal if they have only completed high school. It is probably equally as difficult for a Ph.D. to understand the writings of a sixth grader.

By researching other publications that include writings for your readers, you are able to determine what level of writing to use in your articles and content. You will sound more believable to your intended audience and they will almost certainly continue reading your piece.

What do I write?

Find out what questions your readers want answers to. There are solutions that will help you determine what they are searching for, and what pages are frequented the most. Where does your traffic come from and what links do they follow.

Taking the time to analyze this collected information will help you to better publish on your site. It is worth the time and effort to do a little research, and will eliminate wasted efforts on your part.

When it is all said and done?

When you have finished your research and writing, you will have completed a piece that is informative to your readers, easy to read and comprehend, and reassure your reader that you are a believable expert in your field. They can rely on you and your service to keep them informed of the information they desire.

Robb Ksiazek is a successful author and publisher for http://www.body-mass-index-4u.com. He has researched many topics for writings and publications, acquiring knowledge and efficiencies along the way.

Writing an article is not an easy task. You have to have an attention grabbing headline, new content and most importantly, a vision to be seen as an expert. Your knowledge of your industry can bring you the visible creditability that you have been looking. That is what being a guru is about.

Don’t expect to be paid for your work. That’s right. You have to do it for free. The rewards are greater than you can imagine. Gurus write to promote themselves, their company or their products or services. If your work is published where there is a high readership, than your company can attract business you would not otherwise of had access to.

Some careful consideration should be given to the following questions?

Who should you write for?

What type of articles should you write?

Do you already know editors that you can approach, now?

Keep in mind that each magazine or publication will have its own requirements, such as length of article, type of content and deadline.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel for every publication. You can submit the same article to several publications. However, you many need to reformat the piece to meet the requirements of each publication. You do not want to submit the same article to competitors.

You can use the wide world web to publish your article. This gives you instant gratification. Imagine viewing your article immediately after you post it. Writing articles for the internet can not only boost your expert status, but it will draw traffic to your website. If you are good, people will want to hear want you have to say.

You will not have a targeted audience, in most instances, when you post to the internet, unfortunately. It will still draw traffic and possibly potential clients. There are many sites that you can post your articles to for free. This is a low cost way to self promote.

If you decide to publish your works in magazines, you will have a targeted audience. Of course, you must do your research on the type of readership for each publication.

Your articles will take on a life of their own, over time, and it does not matter if they are published on the internet, newsletter or magazine. Once they are published they will be reprinted often and readily accessible for long periods of time.

Write quality articles and let them speak for you. Yes, it will take some time. Make writing one new article a month and getting it published one of your goals. Organize your time to make it happen. It will pay off in the end.

Elizabeth Hall, owner of Smart Office Help, Inc., offers ways for your business to save valuable time and money, by providing administrative and bookkeeping services to busy business owners. Contact Elizabeth Hall at 407-884-7755 for your personalized consultation. Sign up for your FRE*E Business Success Newsletter on our website http://www.smartofficehelp.com or subscribe by sending a blank email to PaperClip@getresonse.com