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.
express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..There are many ancient writings, which dive into the importance... Read More
Write articles, be recognized as an expert, drive a surge... Read More
When you frequently post articles on ezines, you might be... Read More
People love to hear stories. They'll identify with what you... Read More
What's the quickest, easiest way to get exposure for your... Read More
Online PR in the form of website and ezine article... Read More
Is Putting your Articles in the Public Domain really a... Read More
A recent debate started me thinking about how some marketing... Read More
All of us, the authors, know that to enhance our... Read More
Do you know one of the most powerful marketing techniques... Read More
It's not enough to scatter your articles across the internet... Read More
This has to be the number one thing that most... Read More
There are two primary factors in creating a successful reference... Read More
What should be in your article summary? It's otherwise known... Read More
1) Don't use all capitals in your title:People don't like... Read More
Article marketing has become very popular of late, especially with... Read More
Increase your ezine subscribers by submitting articles once or twice... Read More
Having an article published is one of the fastest and... Read More
Never before in the history of the business of writing... Read More
Are you ready to become an internet marketing expert? Are... Read More
Understanding the rules of correct formatting for online articles will... Read More
It is pretty obvious that content is king online. It... Read More
As we prepared to move our 12,000 article database from... Read More
The name of the game as far as Internet marketing... Read More
"When you provide good information from which readers can learn... Read More
tidy up service Arlington Heights ..There's one key rule that every writer should understand before... Read More
Are you looking for a better way to promote your... Read More
I was asked to write an article on a short... Read More
MS: John, you must be one of the most prolific... Read More
We all know that article writing is a great way... Read More
***What is the Resource box?'Resource box' is an information box... Read More
Feeling uninspired? Like you're stuck in a rut with your... Read More
Find definitions from A to G! ~~~~~~~~~~~ A ~~~~~~~~~~~ About... Read More
Every field or discipline has its own specialized vocabulary and... Read More
Rule number one - You must write ezine articles and... Read More
When you create your articles in TextPad format, something like... Read More
Publishers and webmasters can spend massive amounts of time just... Read More
Do you know one of the most powerful marketing techniques... Read More
One of the most effective (and free!) ways to get... Read More
You pick a pen, grab a piece of paper and... Read More
Understanding the rules of correct formatting for online articles will... Read More
This is a perennial question among writers and wannabe's. Many... Read More
A recent debate started me thinking about how some marketing... Read More
A lot of great ideas happen when two or more... Read More
As of July 1st, the year was half over! July... Read More
It is pretty obvious that content is king online. It... Read More
Writers talk about rejection all the time ? just part... Read More
The biggest challenge facing any online business today is how... Read More
Ever read one of those web articles written by an... Read More
SEO writing is very different from content writing, article writing,... Read More
Article Writing |