Here are some basic article marketing tips to help show you how to write a successful article…

Article Writing Basics

In its most basic form, every article has a general structure. First you have the title which is used to grab the reader’s attention. The title informs the reader about the subject the article will cover in a manner that engages the reader’s interest so they are compelled to continue reading.

Following the title, the article is then divided into paragraphs. Paragraphs should be kept short enough to remain easy to read, yet long enough to flesh out the thought it is attempting to convey to the reader.

Even a single thought can be broken down into several paragraphs to maintain the readability of the article, as long as each paragraph that follows maintains the flow of the thought. A rule of thumb is a limit of 3 to 4 sentences per paragraph. Preview your article or post to see if it has visual appeal from this perspective.

Generally, the first paragraph will introduce the reader to the topic to be discussed and gives the reader the basic reasoning behind the stance that the author is taking. If the reader is confused by the way the first paragraph is written, chances are good that he or she will stop reading and move on to something else.

The final paragraph is used to sum up the main points that were covered in the body of the article. Without this summation, the article will appear to be cut off abruptly and will fail to restate the points that the author wishes the reader to take away with him or her.

5 More Basic Writing Tips

1. Every article needs to have a focused purpose that is directed at its intended audience. If you don’t know the purpose of you article, it is unlikely that the people you are trying to reach will find it, so, it is important that you know the audience you intend to target before you sit down to write.

2. Every article needs to be related to the interests of the intended audience. While writing an article on a day at the Speedway may be of immediate interest to you, it is unlikely to impress your intended audience if your audience happens to be in the gardening niche.

Even some articles written directly on your niche topic may miss your audience at times. Why? Generally this happens when the reader is unable to understand the content provided or the author has failed to successfully convey his or her thoughts.

3. Know which writer’s voice works best for you. Let’s face it. If in your everyday life your jokes tend to be missed or fall flat, chances are that you will not do well using a writer’s voice that is intended to be humorous.

Using a writing style that is incompatible with your writing voice will make you appear as insincere to the reader and consequently, you will lose their interest.

Your reader needs to feel the passion you have for your subject as they read. The ability to write sincerely in the voice of another is a specialized talent that very few writers possess.

4. Keep the format of your writing easy to read. Short paragraphs, bulleted points and numbering all play a part in making your article easy to skim and read as well as adding to its visual appeal. Your article marketing strategy will suffer if your articles appear to be to difficult to read.

These methods give the reader the opportunity to first skim the article and take in the main points and then decide if they would like to read the article more fully. An article that has short paragraphs and is broken up using numbering and bullets has proven to be easier to absorb by readers.

5. Wherever possible, use numbers in your titles. Numbers tend to catch a reader’s eye more efficiently. A title containing numbers informs the reader of the content to be found within and in how many parts it will be presented.

The task your article is meant to perform is to assist you in reaching your intended audience and in turn, increase the amount of traffic to your site. Review the basic article marketing tips above which show you how to write a successful article and keep your articles on task every time.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

Some of you may even awaken in the dead of night as a thought or solution to something you’ve been working on suddenly needs to be expressed. For some unknown reason, your brain has finished chewing on an idea it has kept on the backburner and decides that there is room in the chaos of thoughts that you have during the day or in the downtime of the night to now present it’s conclusions.

When this happens, capturing your thoughts with pen and paper may not always be convenient, and yet, if you don’t, it may be lost in the time it takes for it to become convenient.

Great writers know that inspiration is random and fleeting. They know that when inspiration hits, they must immediately take action and record it’s message. Your writing will also benefit if you have prepared yourself to be able to record these thoughts as they arrive.

Basic Article Writing Tips To Help You With Capturing Your Thoughts And Ideas

1. Always carry a notepad and a working pen or mechanical pencil with you. A small notepad will fit easily into a pant pocket or a compartment of a purse. Then, when something inspires you, irritates you or gives you a good feeling, you have somewhere to capture creative ideas that form as a result.

Some people carry a miniature flashlight to ensure they are able to see and write. It definitely comes in handy if you awaken in the night with a burst of inspiration.

2. Use a voice recorder. Regardless of where you are or what you happen to be doing, a voice recorder is a simple and easy way of recording your ideas and the emotion that inspired it as well. A tape recorder, mp3 player or even cell phone that has the ability to record your voice will work in this situation and can be used just about anywhere.

You may get some people looking at you in a funny manner, but don’t let that bother you. You are being creative and also doing what is best for you and your business.

3. Use Text Messaging or Email. Many newcomers to the online marketing field also hold down full time jobs as they work to build their online businesses. Most companies that you will be working for will require you to make use of a computer and email.

When inspiration hits, open a new email to your personal email address and use it as a means of recording your ideas. Make sure you flag the email with a subject line that gives you a clue later on as to what it is about or you may end up skipping it.

4. Use Google Docs. If you have a free Gmail account, you also have access to Google Docs. This program is located in the upper left-hand corner of the screen when you open your Gmail account online. Simply click on the link that is named Documents and a new tab or window will open.

Google has included a program here that allows you to create simple word or excel type documents that are accessible by you from anywhere that you have access to a computer and the Internet. This is a great tool, particularly if you have ideas or work that you want to record, but do not want them to appear on the computer that you are using at the time.

Inspiration rarely strikes at times that are convenient and if you have not prepared yourself in advance with a means of capturing your thoughts and ideas, they may be forever lost to you.

Read through the basic article writing tips above to give yourself ideas on how to capture creative ideas as they occur, even if you are in the middle of rush hour traffic or awakened in the dead of night.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

If the article will be submitted for public use online, it will be given to an editor there for approval before it is approved for publication.

Basic Article Marketing Tips For Writing and Editing Articles:

Composing a good article is generally done in stages. First and foremost is the research stage where you are learning and adding to your knowledge of the subject of the article, as well as finding the keywords that will provide the SEO factor in the article.

Next will come the draft stage. An article can have several drafts, not unlike any other published work.

The first draft is the creative draft. This is the stage where you simply sit down and write. There may be little rhyme or reason too much of what is written. The purpose is to release all of your creative knowledge of a subject. Some liken this stage to a toddler coloring outside the lines and this stage can be a bit of a problem for A type personalities like myself, who have an inherent need to correct as they go.

One way that I get around this is to work with Notepad instead of Word so that the editor in Word is not constantly prompting with spelling and grammatical errors. It is very hard to concentrate on the free style type of writing that the first draft represents when Word is shaking its grammatical finger.

As the purpose of the first draft stage is to spew out as much information as is possible without regard for correction, I find Notepad to be the most effective program in which to work.

A second consideration that many are unaware of is that some of the characterization that Word uses is unacceptable to systems used by article directories.

If you have ever come across an article with weird looking characters in the typing, most likely that article was originally written in Word. Notepad does not add this type of characterization to the body of your work and will look better when pasted in for publishing. Either way you will want to preview the article or blog post before hitting the publish button.

Once you have squeezed out every ounce of inspiration you have on your subject, it is time for editing your draft. This may in fact be more than one draft. It is important that you retain your first draft as you work through this stage as mistakes can occur and you may inadvertently remove something that you could use at another point in the article.

The easiest way to do this is to save the original draft under a name such as articleone-draftone.txt. Then use the Save As option to resave your work as articleone-editone.txt.

This gives you two distinct copies, one copy to edit and the original copy to refer to. Repeat the “Save As” as often as is needed. You can always go back and delete the copies you no longer need later when you are finished. You may even end up retaining more than one copy if you find that the creative stage produced enough material to inspire more than one article.

The editing stage has an art to it of its own. From your research of what is expected in the way of article length by the directory to which you are submitting, you will have a length in mind for your article. However, you do not want to slash and cut at will.

Ensure that the main points of the article are covered. A good way to do this is to have a basic outline of the points you want to cover. Re-arrange this information and follow this outline as you begin editing your draft.

Final Stages For Editing Your Draft

1. Grammar Check

This is where the Word program can help you out. Once you have the basic article written, copy and paste it into Word and use Word’s spellchecker and grammar editor to identify problem areas. Make changes to your copy in notepad as they are identified in Word.

For the most part, this grammatical check will catch the majority of mistakes that are made. It will not, however, catch mistakes like the replacement of words that sound alike but are spelt differently such as replacing the word sun with the word son. So, it is important that you don’t rely completely on this check and use your own eyes to read through the material to ensure it makes sense.

2. Read The Article Out Loud

It is amazing really how different an article can sound when it is read out loud. Suddenly, sentences that looked perfectly fine on paper come across as disjointed or stilted. You will notice that you will automatically correct in your head as you read.

This is because what is written does not fit with how you would speak. If it doesn’t make sense to you, chances are high that it will not flow well for your readers either.

3. Cut Out the Big Words

It is recommended that when writing for public use, you simplify the way you write in a manner that would be appropriate for someone with a third or fourth grade education. The use of complicated words and explanations will only serve to be impressive to you if the reader is unfamiliar with the terminology you are using.

There really is no point to writing something that no one but you is able to understand. The result will be a reader that moves on quickly to someone else’s work. Wherever possible, simplify, and where it is not possible, provide adequate explanation so that the reader is able to follow along easily.

4. Slim It Down Or Build It Up

If the article directory that you are targeting has a limit on the size of the article and the number of words that can be used, now is the time to slim the article down even further. On the other hand, if you find that you are not quite meeting the expected word count, this is also the time to add to your article so that it meets any word count requirements.

Make sure that as you go through this process you are also taking the time to read through the article to determine that it still makes sense and continues to flow well following any additions or cuts.

5. Keyword Check

Now that you have the basic article completed and you are reaching the final stages of editing your article, it is time to review your article with SEO in mind. Have you added in the keywords that the article was to target? What is the keyword density within the article?

Do you need to rephrase any sentences to fit the keyword or keyword phrase into the article in a more natural manner? Does your title contain your keywords or keyword phrase and does it make sense as written?

6. Take A Break

This is something that I personally find to be of significant help. Once you have completed your article, walk away from it for several hours at least, if not a day or more. It really is amazing how well this works to allow you to see the article with fresh eyes. What made perfect sense when you finished may now sound a bit off and will prompt you to make additional changes.

Whenever you find this happening, once again put the article aside for a period of time and come back to it later. This process of looking at your article with fresh eyes will save you from having to make corrections once the article or posting has been published.

Writing and editing articles is an important skill used by online marketers in their efforts to become known in their niche market and their efforts to increase traffic to their site.

While it is important to develop your own process for producing articles, be sure that you include both the creative and the editing phases. The basic article marketing tips provided above can be used as a guide to get you started with the process of composing and editing your article.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

Even though it is a written format that we are dealing with, every writer has a style with which he or she expresses his or her self. It is this style that is referred to when speaking of a writer’s voice.

Finding your writing voice will be a key component of your writing style. Finding one that not only allows you to express your thoughts, but also attracts readers on a variety of subjects will bring you success.

Take a moment to think about articles that you have read. Have you ever run across an article that put you off from the beginning? While it may be difficult to do in hindsight, think about what it was about the writing that put you off.

Possibly it was that you did not agree with the author’s viewpoint or the subject was one that you felt strongly about. However innocent the author’s remarks were, he or she failed to score points with you.

Every writer has a style of his or her own. This style is the voice in which they write and is what gives uniqueness to their material. Just as not everyone is a fan of eating liver, different people will be attracted to different writing styles.

The question you need to answer and the dilemma that you face is whether or not your particular writing style or voice works for the area of your niche market that your intended audience comes from.

If you’ve never written anything it would be pretty difficult to identify what type of writing voice you have. Back in grade school when writing was being taught, you were given writing formulas to follow. They probably went something like this:

• Each paragraph will contain four sentences
• The first sentence will contain the topic
• The following sentences will support the topic sentence
• The concluding sentence of a paragraph will lead into the topic of the next paragraph

While formulas such as these were given as guides to how to structure your writing, they produce a style of writing that is very matter-of-fact. This style type may be fine for a school situation, but it won’t fly in the real world. It will only make you sound stuffy and uninteresting.

Here are some basic article marketing tips to help you with finding your writer’s voice:

To begin with, most people come across as pretty stilted, at least for their first few attempts at writing, so do not be concerned if this happens with you. Instead, find a topic that you are genuinely interested in and start writing. Try writing the same information in different styles so that it comes across as serious in the first, casual in the second and light-hearted in the last attempt.

Now take some time to look at the way other writers are talking about a similar subject. Some writers are funny, while others come across as serious, sarcastic, stilted or even carefree.

Within those classifications come many shades so to speak. It is those shades that characterize the writer’s style. The writer’s voice will determine the manner in which the words are chosen the order they are written and how they come across to the reader.

Let’s take the example of someone who uses a humorous writer’s voice to understand this concept better. A writer can use an instructional voice and throw in bits of humor from time to time to lighten the material. Or a writer could write in a more casual manner that relays a story in a humorous light.

The first example would be a style appropriate for a teaching venue. The second, more suited to a discussion with a friend. The voice or style that you use most naturally will be your writing voice.

Adapting Your Writing Style To Different Settings

Your writing voice is part of you the same as your speaking voice is. That having been said, we all speak differently in different situations. Therefore we adapt our voice so that it is appropriate to the situation.

There are times that a writer may be required to speak seriously, even though their typical style is one of humor or even sarcasm. If you have found your normal writing voice, then adapting your writing style to meet new situations will come easier.

But why, you might ask, would you even want to change your writing voice? Well, just as in life, where we find that we speak differently for different situations, so too might a writer run across a subject or material that requires a different style of writing to bring the point across effectively.

Another situation where a writer might be required to change his or her writing voice would be if they were contracted to write material for someone else or for a publication of some sort.

In the first instance, the writer may try to imitate the writing voice of the person they were writing for. In the second instance, there may be guidelines setout by the publication that is being written for and the writer may have to alter his or her voice to meet those guidelines.

Writers find their writer’s voice and style by writing. The more you write, the more defined and unique your writing voice becomes. Read over some of your own writing and also ask for the opinion of others to help clarify in your mind the voice that you use best. Finding your writing voice is the first step to becoming comfortable with your writing.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

We all remember those times way back in our school years when we were asked to write a paper on something we knew very little or nothing about. It was tough to get started, wasn’t it? Especially when you had no clue as to what you were going to write. If writing for a living and making money at it is your goal, that is not how you want to get started.

A far easier way to get started is to write about topics that you are already familiar with. The majority of online businesses are developed around a niche for a hobby or specific interests that people have. Because of this, they are able to write intelligently on their area of expertise. The passion they have for this topic will come through in their writing, drawing readers in so they are better able to understand and accept what is being said.

Still having a problem focusing on what you know? Here are some basic article writing tips to help you out:

1. Ask yourself these questions:

• What do I like to do?
• What don’t I like to do?
• What hobbies do I enjoy?
• What talents do I have?
• What areas do I have training in?

Use these questions to begin forming a list of topics to focus your articles on. If you already have a niche you are working with, the list is a bit easier to create. If you don’t, then the formation of this list may help you to identify a niche with which to work. It will also leave open the possibility of writing for others in similar niches.

2. Flesh Out Your Area Of Interest:

Now that you have found a niche to focus on, make a list of possible topics related to that niche. Include points of interest and points of concern. Look at both the good and the bad points as well as solutions you have used to avoid various problems and steps you have taken that had successful outcomes.

Possibly you have found a way to increase the survival of your rose bushes in colder climates or you are a fishing enthusiast that can take a big old Pike and turn him into a delicious batch of lazy man’s lobster. Let’s continue before I start getting hungry.

3. Article Writing Research:

No matter how much you think you know on a subject, there is always new ways being thought of and old ways that have never been told. Use your article writing research to delve into the history of your subject to find interesting facts and stories. There may even be a few tall tales kicking about that your readers will enjoy.

Your job as a writer is to inform the reader. The deeper your own knowledge on a subject, the better articles you will be able to write and the greater the chance you will have of developing a reader following.

4. Find Out What Your Readers Want to Know:

Join in on conversations related to your niche and use your experience and expertise to answer questions other people have.

5. Writing About What You Know Has Several Advantages:

• The more you know about a product, the more convincing your promotion will be
• Informational articles allow the use of an Author’s bio where you are able to also inform others about your website or blog
• Articles can help establish you as an expert, which can lead to increased sales and other writing opportunities

Developing and honing your writing skills using subjects you are familiar with will help you to build a credibility base in the article writing arena. The effort you put into it can pay off generously by helping you to build a business that you enjoy operating. So, read through the basic article marketing tips above once again, follow the steps outlined, and write about your areas of expertise.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

The first paragraph in your article is of vital importance. It is here that many win or lose their readers. It must accomplish 3 tasks to be successful.

First, it informs the reader about the subject that will be discussed. Second, it needs to give the reader a reason as to why he or she should be interested. And third, it needs to do both of these in a manner that will keep the reader glued to the article until they have read every last word of it.

Your opening paragraph is generally three to four sentences in length. This is enough to inform the reader of the highlights of what will be covered and gain their interest in continuing to read the more detailed information on each highlight. You don’t want to give away the whole story here. Instead you simply want to peak their interest in continuing to read what you have to say.

Here are some basic article marketing tips to help you grab their attention with your opening paragraph

The article’s opening paragraph is a statement that the balance of the article will discuss. Your title will have drawn the reader’s eye to the article to see if it relates to information that they are looking for. Now, you need to use the first paragraph to convince the reader that it is indeed what they were looking for or even something in addition to what they were seeking that they had not considered. Let’s take an article on the safety of planes as an example.

1. What Is Your Article About?

Here is an opening line that you might write. You are ten times more likely to be involved in an automobile accident than in a plane crash. Do you think that would catch a reader’s interest?

There is a lot of information in that one line. It tells the reader that yes, planes do crash and it also conveys the fact that even though they do crash, it doesn’t happen nearly as often as some would believe. The reader now knows what position you are taking in your article and has a pretty good idea of what the balance of the article will cover.

2. Give Readers A Reason As To Why They Should Care About This Topic

Given your first sentence, people are aware that this article is about the safety of planes. But why should they care enough to invest their time learning more? The second sentence should give them a reason to care enough to read on.

Airline pilots must go through extensive testing and training before they are licensed to fly a plane, while automobile drivers do not always receive training from an expert source before they are given a license to hit the road.

This line tells people why they should care about your first sentence by emphasizing that pilots are highly trained and that while there may be issues with air travel, there is a far greater danger posed by inexperienced drivers on the road.

The second line is used to get the reader thinking by using a though provoking argument that draws the reader towards your way of thinking. Even if the reader does not necessarily agree with your viewpoint, it will encourage them to continue reading what you have to say in support of the position you have taken.

The article’s opening paragraph is the reader’s introduction to your article. It gives the reader all of the information that they need to decide if they want to continue reading the rest of the article. Your ability to grab the reader’s interest and make them care about learning more will determine if they read on or click away to something else.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com

Product promotion is a key element of Affiliate marketing. It is your job, as an affiliate, to promote the products for others that you believe in and represent. Having links to these products on your site is not enough. You must also provide potential customers with the information they need to trust their decision to buy from you.

Writers are a valuable part of the buying process. Their well-written product reviews that are sought out and well read across the Internet. Many people find that it is much faster and easier to use the Internet to find several opinions in regards to a specific product than phoning around to friends would be.

After all, it is quite possible those friends have never had any experience with the product in question. This makes writing product reviews in articles an excellent means with which to make a profit from your blog.

Well-written product reviews will contain more than a brief opinion of a product. A structured article that seeks to answer questions buyers may have is required. Here are a few basic article marketing tips to help you with writing great product reviews that get noticed.

1. It is not enough to have a catchy title for your review. You must include the name of the product in the title as well. Something like, “The Only Web Hosting Account You Will Ever Need,” will likely get passed over as it does not mention the name of the hosting company being reviewed. A title like “SuperHosting, The Only Web Hosting You Will Ever Need” will tell your reader up front that this article is about a hosting company called SuperHosting.

It also adds a bit of curiosity at the same time as they will want to know just why you think it is the only one they will ever need. This is particularly true if they have already narrowed down their search to a few specific hosting providers and are in the process of comparing them.

2. Use the opening paragraph to immediately capture the attention of the reader. Outline the key benefits of using this particular hosting provider in the first paragraph so that your readers will be aware of what will be discussed further into the body of the article. Mention the product name again and if you have used it, what it has done for you.

3. Give both sides of the story by listing the pro and the cons associated with using this product using a neutral tone. Be open and honest about what the product can and can not do for the reader. Avoid any tendency to hype up the content. A reader can spot a puffed up endorsement a mile away.

4. If you have additional tips for using the product that will help someone who buys it get better value from its use, by all means, add those tips in your article.

Tips of this nature let the reader know that you or someone you know has used the product successfully and that you are familiar with ways to make the use of the product of even greater benefit to the reader than they may have originally been aware of. It isn’t possible to do that in a brief snippet of an opinion.

5. Remember the FTC regulations. If you are writing a review just because you like the product this does not apply. If, however, you are an affiliate for a product or have been given a free trial for the product or have been compensated in any way concerning the product being reviewed, it should be revealed in your review.

Now that you know more about writing great product reviews, put these basic article marketing tips to work for you by writing great product reviews on products you are promoting.

To Your Success,

SherryD
http://www.wbobr.com