The Cheap Internet Marketer

What will you write about in your articles?  That is the biggest questions most people who want to break into article writing have when they begin.  The field is wide open when it comes to what information you offer on the Internet.

The first thing to consider is — what do you like to write about?  All of us have hobbies and likes as well as dislikes — write about them from your perspective.  Write enough articles on a topic and you might qualify as an expert in your area within online communities.

The Reason for the Articles –  Why are you writing the articles? If you are starting a blog and want to draw attention to your site, you’ll want to choose topics that will be interesting to fellow readers on the Internet.  Surf the Web and research what topics are hot right now.  Some topics that are always popular: fashion, celebrity news, new products and services and health issues.  These categories will help you to generate a list of possible article topics.

When writing to draw traffic and attention to you, it is important to write articles about a topic that people are talking about.  If you are researching and see that there are not be a lot of articles on the Internet about pygmy animals, don’t get all excited until you do a bit more research – find out if people are searching for information on this subject.  You can write the most wonderful articles in the world on pygmy animals, but if there is not an interest in the subject, your articles will go unread.

Are You Creative? – There is very little that is new under the sun and there’s an almost unlimited amount of information available on the internet.  Chances are you will have to write about topics that have been written about before.  This is fine, but put a new spin on the subject, write about it from your unique perspective.  By using your unique voice and adding basic examples, you can recycle a topic to your advantage.

Brainstorm your topics.  Start by looking at your personal interests.  Then, move on to your job for ideas.  Finally, what is your family up to?  All of these people and interests make a good base for your article writing.

What are you curious about? — Maybe you want to know why the sky is blue.  Take some time and look up information about the sky and its color on the Internet or at your local library.  Now, you can write an article that people will want to read.  Whatever fascinates you can turn into a new avenue to find article topics.

Use Your Experiences – All of us have a story to tell, and your stories may be interesting to others.  Use both positive and negative situations as a tool – create how-to articles and give advice on a variety of topics. 

What are you going to write about in your articles?  The possibilities are infinite if you keep an open mind and use all of the resources at your disposal.

If you’d like a good ebook on writing articles and article marketing, I recommend “Article Marketing SuperHero” (see the link to the right, or Click Here.)  It covers a lot of topics, including how to get ideas, how to actually write the artices, how to use PLR for your articles, posting to article directories, outsourcing articlles, and more.   I’ll be covering most of this in upcoming messages, but if you want to get started NOW, this book will get you going.

Article Marketing

However, there is a knack to writing a successful article.  After all, if it was simple, every article would be a hit.  If you fine tune your articles to reach their intended targets each and every time, you’ll have amazing results.

 The Basics

If you break article creation down to the basics, each article has a general structure.  First there’s the title, which is used to grab the reader’s attention.  When you read the Table of Contents in a magazine, you skim the titles of the articles to see if any grab your interest.  The title tells what the article is about, but with a twist, so the reader will be intrigued and want to read it.

 The article is divided into paragraphs.  On web sites, paragraphs are kept fairly short, usually just a couple of sentences, to make the information easier to read and absorb.  A paragraph that has too many sentences is  difficult to read and will lose more than one reader.

 The first paragraph is the introduction.  It states the reason for the article, and needs to be interesting.  If it leaves the readers scratching their heads, they won’t continue to read.

The next few paragraphs are the body of the article.  This is where you state your case and give examples to illustrate your subject.  Try to always give useful information, and make sure your examples make the subject clearer to the reader. 

The last paragraph sums up the main points of the article.  Always be sure your aticles have a conclusion — an article without a conclusion ends abruptly and doesn’t reiterate what you want the reader to remember. 

 Skills You Didn’t Learn in School

 Each article has a purpose.  If you don’t know that purpose, your article won’t reach anyone.  Know your target audience — if you are trying to reach gardeners, then the article shouldn’t be about cars.  That’s an obvious point, but some articles can be about gardening and still miss their target.  Why?  It could be lack of understanding of the topic or lack of the skills needed to convey your thoughts successfully to the audience.

Know your writing style and give it a convincing voice.  Trying to write humorous articles when you do not have a funny bone in your body will not work for someone trying to instruct potential comedians on breaking into stand-up comedy.  You may need to pass on that assignment.  Writing styles that are not compatible with your voice will come across as insincere to the reader.  They need to hear and feel your passion and expertise through your work.

Make your writing format easy to read.  Use bullet points and numbered lists when possible.  Both of these techniques break up the look of the article and make it easier on the eyes.  Readers can digest an article faster with changes in text like this, and they can skim the bullet points and numbered text to see if the article meets their needs.

Use numbers in your title whenever possible. Which title do you think will get more attention:  How to Sew a Pillow  or  5 Steps to the Perfect Pillow? Numbers let the reader know exactly what they are getting and in how many parts.

Try to incorporate these tips in your articles, and be sure you are creating articles that reach their audience.  A successful article can drive traffic to your site or an affiliate site as well as increase your sales.