It's no secret that writing and publishing helpful articles is one of the best ways to promote your business. Writing articles can:
Writing articles for local business publications, trade magazines, newsletters, and Web sites that reach your target audience can be a powerful piece of your marketing plan. But following through can be more difficult than it sounds, as many people hate writing or have a hard time just figuring out where to begin. Plenty of business owners and marketers hire outside firms or freelance writers (like The WriteShop, www.writeshoponline.com) to write articles for them, which can be a time-saving solution. But if you want to write your own articles, it can be tough to know where to begin. These five tips may help you stay focused and get the job done.
1. Narrow your topic. In each article, be sure to address only one main idea -maybe you focus on one problem your readers have, or one solution that may work for them. Trying to cover too many topics in one article just causes confusion. Whenever you find yourself going off on an unrelated tangent, turn that tangent into another, separate article for future use.
2. Write in conversational style. Keep your audience in mind and try to write for them the way you'd speak to them. For most business writing, an informal, conversational style is preferable, especially if your article will be published on the Web. Remember that you want your article to be accessible and understandable for your target audience. Shorter sentences and language that is easy to grasp quickly will have better results than long diatribes full of words that require a dictionary.
3. Offer genuine, helpful information. While your articles are tools to help market your business, they are not advertisements. Don't fill your articles with promotional material about your company, or your readers will quickly lose interest. Instead, offer them real insight, tips, or advice that shows them you know what you're talking about. Their interest in your company and what you can do for them will come; but for the sake of your article, focus on providing information they can use.
4. Be brief. Especially when writing for the Web, brevity is crucial. Before sending any article for publication, read through it several times and cut out any unnecessary words. For instance, the word "that" can be eliminated in most cases. Make sure every word counts, and every sentence is meaningful and helpful for communicating your main idea.
5. Distribute, distribute, distribute. Finally, writing an article doesn't do any good unless you get it in front of your target audience. In addition to publishing your articles on your own Web site or in your newsletter, consider sending them to publishers of print and electronic newsletters, and submit them to Web sites that publish articles on your topic. See the Resource Box below for ideas of specific Web sites where you may want to submit your articles. And remember to always include your contact information so that readers will know how to reach you.
Hopefully, these tips will get you on your way to publishing plenty of articles that will get noticed and yield results. But if you'd like even more direction to get you started, contact The WriteShop for information about our inexpensive special report, "Article Starter: A Resource Guide to Writing Business Articles That Get Results." E-mail us today at info@writeshoponline.com.
Nancy Jackson, owner of The WriteShop, helps companies better market their products and services with powerful written communications including Web content, newsletters, brochures and publications. Subscribe to her free monthly newsletter at info@writeshoponline.com.
Airbnb cleaning service Arlington Heights ..Recently I interviewed Kevin Bidwell of All-In-One-Business.com on some of... Read More
A revolutionary marketing device that I call article marketing I... Read More
"When you provide good information from which readers can learn... Read More
Much has been touted about the effectiveness of article writing... Read More
Publicity?you're business can survive without it, but it certainly won't... Read More
Adsense is a program designed by Google to help publishers... Read More
We all know that article writing is a great way... Read More
What's the most powerful marketing technique on the Web? Search... Read More
SEO writing is very different from content writing, article writing,... Read More
Did you realize that writing and publishing articles online represents... Read More
Publishers and webmasters can spend massive amounts of time just... Read More
One question I get asked all the time is how... Read More
Online readers love information, but be sure your information is... Read More
I've been able to distinguish 3 main categories that people... Read More
The Shortest Distance to Your Home Town Enterprise is Over... Read More
The Most Economical Way to Advertise online is to Submit... Read More
Would it be worth it to master a technique that... Read More
Submitting well planned articles on-line will increase traffic and can... Read More
IntroductionThere are two ways to submit to magazine editors.One is... Read More
When you have to share what you've created, where do... Read More
Writing articles for magazines, the Internet or the local community... Read More
Many online marketers have crowed about the value of writing... Read More
1. Choose A Topic.You need to choose either a hot... Read More
"But I've only been on the Internet 3 months! How... Read More
Still following along on the Copywriter's Crash Course in article... Read More
reliable maid service Winnetka ..Sometimes when I am communicating with other webmasters and I... Read More
If you want to really make your article "SELL" then... Read More
It's not enough to scatter your articles across the internet... Read More
Submitting Articles for redistribution is the best way to get... Read More
I recently became aware that promoting your web site in... Read More
Article writing can be such an intimate act as you're... Read More
Why do so many internet marketers waste their time on... Read More
If you write web content, it may be a mystery... Read More
1. Choose A Topic.You need to choose either a hot... Read More
Currently many online writers and would-be online writers, feel very... Read More
It is no secret among internet marketers that writing articles... Read More
Writing articles that are available for reprint is an excellent... Read More
It is a well-known fact that a key to obtaining... Read More
The goal of free publicity is to get your name... Read More
Writing for websites -- content, as it is called --... Read More
Adsense is a program designed by Google to help publishers... Read More
It's no secret that writing and publishing helpful articles is... Read More
Gathering information from interviews is really simple. You ask the... Read More
Everyone that publishes a newsletter or ezine knows that the... Read More
Find definitions from Q to Z... ~~~~~~~~~~~ Q ~~~~~~~~~~~ Query... Read More
Increase your ezine subscribers by submitting articles once or twice... Read More
A large portion of your business relies on your ability... Read More
Writing effectively on the internet is the most effective way... Read More
Writing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of articles and making... Read More
There are many ancient writings, which dive into the importance... Read More
Article Writing |