As a business owner, do you find yourself needing to
write more and more? You’ve probably heard that you should be writing
articles to promote your business (and it is a great, no cost way to
promote!), but may be leery of starting. Here are 7 tips to get you
writing effective articles.
1. Select a good topic.
There’s
no sense writing an article if no one wants to read it. Before you
launch into an article, think about your target market and what their
wants and needs are. If you’re not sure, go hang out in some forums and
see what they are discussing.
If you are writing for an audience
larger than your target market, I recommend you visit some article
directories (such as www.ezinearticles.com) to see what the most read
topics are.
2. Choose your title wisely.
Once
you’ve written a good, strong article, don’t ruin it by giving it a
weak title. The title is your headline – this is the first thing people
will read and, in this day of instant decision making, could easily
turn people away if they are not hooked.
3. Think bite-size.
Online
readers have very little patience for long paragraphs, so break your
article down into various sections. Notice how this article is broken
down into small paragraphs with subheadings. It’s easier for your
reader to digest.
4. Write for your audience, not for yourself.
If
you want people to read your article, write it in a way that is easy
for your readers to understand – don’t use acronyms without explaining
them, keep the techno jargon out unless you are writing for an audience
that understands it and keep the vocabulary simple. There’s no sense
writing an article if no one is going to understand it.
5. Read, review and then read again.
You
MUST proofread your work. Do it once, go do something else and then do
it again. If possible, ask someone else to read it for you – he will
undoubtedly pick up things that you miss.
6. Tell them who you are.
You
want your readers to know who you are and how to reach you. Include a
great resource box at the end so potential clients and other e-zine
publishers know how to get in touch with you. You want them to visit
your website to learn more about you and what you do.
7. Get it out there.
Now
that you’ve done all the work to write a great article, parcel it into
pieces, proofread it and write a compelling resource box, you need to
get your article out there. I recommend Ezine Articles
(www.ezinearticles.com) yet again as well as Submit Your Article
(www.submityourarticle.com) as great article directories to submit your
article to. If you prefer to build relationships with e-zine publishers
personally, then I highly recommend Charlie Page’s Director of Ezines
at www.directoryofezines.com for a wealth of information on e-zine
publishers.
So what are you waiting for? Get writing!
Sandra P. Martini, the Automatic Business Coach ™, is creator of the “9 Simple Steps to
Creating an Automatic Business” system. To learn more about this step-by-step program for small business
success, and to receive her FREE “5 Simple Steps to Putting Your Marketing on
Autopilot” e-course/audio mini-series and how-to articles and teleseminars, please
visit www.SandraMartini.com.