Don't let overwhelm hold you back- follow this expert advice and start writing your promotional article today.
In Part 1, I talked about the importance of planning and structuring your article. Here are three more essential steps to help you make sure your article is ready to go.
4. Avoid clich?s (like the plague). As in, clich?d language, clich?d advice, and clich?d topics. To refresh your memory, a clich? is anything that's over-used, banal, or tired. It's anything we've all heard 1,000 times before and hoped we'd never hear again.
Some typical examples of overworked expressions (and there are thousands):
... bring you up to speed, at the end of the day, since time immemorial, chilled to the bone, a gleam in his eye, her heart leapt into her mouth, a level playing field, when all is said and done, on the same page ...
Clich?d language can be fixed with a good edit. First, determine whether you really need that phrase. If you do, express the concepts in ordinary terms. So, for "see if we're on the same page", substitute "see if we all agree".
Clich?d advice and topics might include:
"Achieve your goals"
"Build the life you want"
"Don't worry, be happy"
"Empower yourself"
and, my personal fave, sent to me in an e-mail newsletter: "Take a bubble bath".
I include in this category any concept that's corny and sentimental, or writing that attempts to express the inexpressible: all those fluttering leaves, vibrant sunsets, and yearning sighs.
It's really tough to write about intense emotions or universal experiences in a way that's original and subtle. Great novelists and poets spend their lives struggling to do this. If you're not careful, it's easy to end up sounding like a 50-cent greeting card.
Fixing clich?d ideas is more challenging than fixing clich?d language. You need to ask tough questions:
"What does this phrase mean? What am I really saying here? What situations illustrate this? What do I want people to get? What value am I adding here?"
Remember that people are looking for straight talk and solutions to problems. Your solutions. They want your ideas, expressed with your urgency and importance.
So don't give your readers hackneyed ideas expressed in stale language. Don't fob them off with a bubble bath, try shoving them into a brisk, eye-opening cold shower instead.
5. Proofread Your article has to be 100% perfect in grammar, spelling and punctuation before the public gets to see it. The public means anyone visiting your Web site, and anyone you submit your article to for feedback or possible publication.
I confess, I did work as a professional proofreader for a time. And when you spend your life looking for missing periods and dots over i's, you tend to get a little demanding. But there's a reason for my concern.
Your article isn't like a casual e-mail that you zap off without reviewing or editing: It's more permanent and public. Your article is you, and people are going to assess your value by how you present it.
Think of it this way. If you're fortunate, hundreds, even thousands of people may read your piece. You're probably hoping to get lots of new clients from this exposure. Posting or submitting your article is, in a sense, like going for a job interview.
Dot your i's, cross your t's. Make sure there are periods at the end of sentences. Make sure you know how to use commas correctly, that you haven't made any common errors (for example, it's instead of its; there instead of their; your instead of you're). Check for missing words; check the spelling of any unusual words.
If you have even the slightest doubt about your English skills, have a professional proofreader or editor review your article. At the very least, give it to a friend to read. Mistakes are very hard to catch in your own work.
6. Be brilliantly unoriginal. Your promotional article is almost guaranteed to fall into one of these five categories:
Sex
Love
Health
Finance
Career
What I want you to understand is that you don't have to have the greatest, most never-thought-of-before idea in the history of the universe before you write your article. In fact, you can't. It's all been done.
That's the unoriginal part.
Yet people are always itching to read, again and again, how they can improve in one of these areas (or about what a terrible time someone else is having in these areas, and thank heaven it's not them this time).
So please, just get over your fear and give us your unique take on the eternal topics. Your unique take - that's the brilliant part.
Brilliant doesn't have to be big. It can be:
We're talking soft innovations that flaunt your particular expertise.
Your brilliance could be in how you package your experiences. Have you been through a messy relationship, learned how to talk better to your teenaged kids, survived a life-threatening illness, started up a successful small business? Chances are, there are people out there just waiting to hear how you did it. This information is gold.
There is brilliance in your own communication style. Are you kind and patient, buzzy and edgy, witty and ironic? Are you more like a kindly grandfather or more like a visionary CEO? Whatever your qualities, be utterly yourself.
Your brilliance can be the simplicity and clarity with which you give your advice-the way you get your idea across so well, it's like we're hearing it for the first time. The way you inspire. The passion with which you speak.
So don't worry that they've heard it all before. Of course they have. But they've never heard it all from you.
About The Author
David Roddis, The Writers' Coach, helps independent professionals write killer marketing copy, promotional articles and information products that attract more clients. Go to http://www.coachdavid.ca/fasttrack1 to join his mailing list and receive a free copy of "12 questions to fast-track your article". For more information, visit http://www.coachdavid.ca/fasttrack1.
bathroom cleaning service Lincolnshire ..Most writers I talk with who experience "writer's block" do... Read More
What is Anchor Text Optimization?Anchor text optimization consists of the... Read More
Many writers struggle with the decision of whether or not... Read More
If you've spent any time online trying to promote your... Read More
Strategically developing online content helps to ensure a small-business owner's... Read More
Okay, I admit it: I'm a keen people-watcher. (Most writers... Read More
There is some wisdom in saying that when you are... Read More
By default, Microsoft Word automatically changes straight quotation marks (... Read More
Article marketing works like this. The majority of webmasters are... Read More
Chances are good that the next article or book you... Read More
Many people which in online business world find difficulties in... Read More
Thanks to recent information that leaked by Google within their... Read More
Rejection is part of a writer's life. You must cope... Read More
Online readers love information, but be sure your information is... Read More
When you create your articles in TextPad format, something like... Read More
The sources of inspiration are all around us, in the... Read More
Marketing on a budget is tough. This is a universal... Read More
Yesterday I met a 13-year old boy with a devilish... Read More
Ease of Submission With so many article distribution sites out... Read More
Jim was working hard to grow his business. Long hours... Read More
There are many ancient writings, which dive into the importance... Read More
Most all ezine publishers need fresh content. Article writing is... Read More
You know that writing articles is the best free way... Read More
Making your articles available for reprints by other ezine publishers... Read More
How is it possible to turn an idea into the... Read More
recurring housekeeping Des Plaines ..Every field or discipline has its own specialized vocabulary and... Read More
We all know that article writing is a great way... Read More
It's all the rage. It's what everyone is talking about.... Read More
Who remembers the 1979 movie, The Jerk with Steve Martin?... Read More
A huge problem for many people who are working on... Read More
Selling books online means that you need to get interested... Read More
The key to selling reprints to parenting publications is the... Read More
This is Part 2 of a 2 part article -... Read More
"But I've only been on the Internet 3 months! How... Read More
Frequently when I am communicating with other webmasters and I... Read More
Inspirational articles were once limited to self-help and religious publications,... Read More
If your business has a website, you're probably searching for... Read More
You've already agreed that putting some of your best articles... Read More
It's no secret-link exchanges are dying a painful death. And... Read More
Hey! Who's that I see, typing feverishly as brilliant ideas... Read More
One of the most common blunders by those using article... Read More
Here's a really simple way... to promote your online business... Read More
Everyone focuses their web marketing efforts on search engines, and... Read More
The Shortest Distance to Your Home Town Enterprise is Over... Read More
A Consultant could be an expert about absolutely anything.Calling yourself... Read More
Writing articles, and promoting them for publication, is one of... Read More
This is the "real" Money Maker in the Mail Order... Read More
Online publishers, ezine subscribers, and Web visitors want short, useful... Read More
Article marketing-the simple act of writing one 400 word article... Read More
Do you have problems finding ideas for articles and speeches?I... Read More
Article Writing |