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.
recurring cleaning service Wilmette .."When you provide good information from which readers can learn... Read More
Find definitions from H to P... ~~~~~~~~~~~ H ~~~~~~~~~~~ Haiku... Read More
Writing quality articles is time consuming for the very best... Read More
By default, Microsoft Word automatically changes straight quotation marks (... Read More
Online readers love information, but be sure your information is... Read More
Evaluation of a Home-Run ArticleI've been writing articles and posting... Read More
If you are an article writer, you may have been... Read More
This has to be the number one thing that most... Read More
This is Part 2 of a 2 part article -... Read More
How would you like to have your name and web... Read More
You want your business to be noticed by thousands daily.... Read More
The name of the game as far as Internet marketing... Read More
There are two primary factors in creating a successful reference... Read More
1. What is the single most compelling subject from your... Read More
I get tons of emails from people who want to... Read More
This is a perennial question among writers and wannabe's. Many... Read More
By now you probably understand how important writing for trade... Read More
We all know that online publishers earn revenue from our... Read More
Heard about article marketing but not sure why you'd need... Read More
Every successful website needs to be, what the experts consider,... Read More
One question I get asked all the time is how... Read More
Writing articles is one of the best and most effective... Read More
This is precisely what I am doing here today (and... Read More
If you want to increase the amount of visitors to... Read More
The biggest challenge facing any online business today is how... Read More
reliable maid service Morton Grove ..Writing a great deal of articles myself, I see a... Read More
Start by Being QuotableIt's tough to stand out online. With... Read More
Looking to build your freelance writing career but don't know... Read More
Writing articles is one of the best and most effective... Read More
Find definitions from Q to Z... ~~~~~~~~~~~ Q ~~~~~~~~~~~ Query... Read More
Writing articles that are available for reprint is an excellent... Read More
I've noticed a disturbing trend recently of articles suggesting that... Read More
Being an Internet Article Author is far and away the... Read More
Do you know one of the most powerful marketing techniques... Read More
People who have an idea for a website sometimes require... Read More
I've been blogging occasionally over the last two months about... Read More
Ever read one of those web articles written by an... Read More
Yesterday I met a 13-year old boy with a devilish... Read More
If you are using articles to promote your business then... Read More
1. Participate in chat rooms related to your targeted audience.... Read More
This has to be the number one thing that most... Read More
Knowing exactly what an editor wants.Unfortunately, many new writers struggle... Read More
By now most entrepreneurs realize that the most cost effective... Read More
It's stunning sometimes how far article marketing has come over... Read More
One of the best things you can do for your... Read More
Take a look around the Web and you'll find thousands... Read More
A lot of great ideas happen when two or more... Read More
There is probably no easier way of earning extra money... Read More
Still following along on the Copywriter's Crash Course in article... Read More
Writing articles for online newsletters and websites can be a... Read More
Article Writing |