Article Writing Tips
Article Writing Basics
If you're thinking about getting into article writing for profit, there are
a few basic things that you are going to need to know. While this article
is in no way a complete tutorial on how to write an effective article, something
that would take a book to accomplish, it should get you off on the right
foot should you decide that writing articles on the Internet is something
that you want to pursue.
The first step in writing an article is to decide what it is that you want
to write on. Because there are so many topics in the world, the list that
you have to choose from is almost limitless. So it is best to start with
writing about things that you either know about or have some familiarity
with. This will make the process a lot easier.
The next step, after you have chosen a topic, is to pick the slant you want
to use, which will ultimately lead to choosing a title. For example. Let's
say you want to write about music and the slant you choose is "History Of
Rock & Roll". This is obviously going to take a lot of research, unless
you have a built in encyclopedia inside your head. But at least you have
a starting point and a title.
The next step in writing articles is to research your topic thoroughly. This
doesn't mean to go and read one article and paraphrase it. That is technically
plagiarism and will end up getting you into a ton of hot water. You're going
to need to research at least three resources online and understand what you've
just read. You then have to take the information and put it in your OWN words.
At first, this is a little on the tricky side, but eventually it does get
easier. Your best bet is to start off with writing articles about subjects
that you know something about. That will make the task a little easier.
The next step in article writing, after you have done your research, is to
take all the information that you've compiled and organize it into sections
or paragraphs. You want to have an introduction followed by what I call the
meat of the article and then a conclusion or summary. This is the standard
form by which all articles should follow. It makes them easier to write,
easier to read and more effective for getting people to your site. The meat
section of the article is usually three or four paragraphs, depending on
how many points you bring up in the article. Each point should have its own
paragraph.
After you have organized everything and written your four or five paragraphs,
the final step is to proofread everything. Don't assume that your first draft
is going to be perfect. It won't be. You may need to do one or two revisions
before you get it just right. Of course you need to check for spelling and
grammar mistakes as well.
These are just the basics, but they should more than get you on your way
to writing articles that you'll be able to submit for profit.
Article Writing And Bum Marketing
It's no secret that Bum Marketing is one of the hottest things to hit the
Internet marketing scene in the last year. And of course, anybody who knows
anything about Bum Marketing knows that it involves the practice of writing
articles on tight niches and submitting them to article directories for the
purpose of getting readers to your site via your bio box. Or is that really
the truth? In this article, I'm going to take a really hard look at the art
of article writing and Bum Marketing and play a little devil's advocate.
Let me start off by saying that in no way am I claiming that Bum Marketing
isn't what folks claim it to be. Just making an observation.
When Travis Sago first came out with the Bum Marketing Method, I immediately
got a hold of it and read what he had to say. Basically, he claimed that
he could take a bum off the street, teach him this method of marketing and
turn him into an income earner. His premise being that even if you had no
money, were uneducated and whatever else you could tack on to a bum's persona,
you would make money.
And then I read the information. After doing so, I sat there and scratched
my head and thought to myself, what does this have to do with being a bum?
Personally, I had been doing Bum Marketing for a while without knowing what
it was. To me, it was just writing articles, submitting them to E-zine Articles
and hope that people would click on my bio links and go to my site. Having
been a writer for 30 years, I wasn't too concerned with the quality of my
articles or that my bio box wouldn't get people to click. And I certainly
am NOT a bum. I have several college degrees, earn a nice living, and only
do this as part of coordinated advertising campaign. So why tack on a label
like Bum Marketing to something like this? Was it because it was cheap? It
certainly isn't easy to write good articles, and if you're uneducated, that's
going to be a tough nut to crack.
To be honest with you, this whole issue started to drive me crazy. If it
was simply that it was a cheap way of advertising so that even if you were
a bum with no visible means of support you could do it, well heck, there
are plenty of ways to promote your business that are free that are actually
quite effective. One of them is simply by hanging out in forums and gaining
a reputation. Another is posting ads to well read message boards. Why did
Travis Sago pick article marketing of all things?
The answer, after I thought about it, was simple. Every article you write,
once posted to the Internet, is there for all time. The more articles you
write, the bigger your Internet presence. I have a friend who makes over
1.2 million a year because of articles. And he spends relatively very little
to get that money.
So whatever Travis Sago's reason for picking article marketing as his bum
method, I can honestly say that if you follow his instructions to the letter,
you WILL see results.
Are Your Articles Dull?
When I was an aspiring song writer, I went to a convention once. There were
some very big names there including the guy who discovered Bon Jovi. His
name was Steve Zuckerman. I'll never forget what he said about evaluating
our songs. He said it's impossible to look at our songs objectively because
it's impossible for us to admit that our children have cancer and are dying.
Back then, I thought he was crazy. Certainly I knew if my songs were good
or not. Well, I was obviously quite wrong because 20 years since, publishers
are still telling me that my songs have cancer. Well, the same thing can
be said about our articles. We like to think that they're the greatest things
since sliced bread, but for many of us, our articles have cancer and put
people to sleep. Well, hopefully, this article won't put you to sleep and
will give you some tips on how to keep people interested.
Tip number 1 is to do what I just did. Start your article off with a story.
People love stories. They like to be entertained. By telling them a story,
you are entertaining them. If your story is interesting enough, it should
at least get them reading long enough to actually get to the meat of your
article, such as where you are right now. See, you already learned one tip
and it wasn't dull in the least.
Tip number 2 is to think creatively when you write. I know that there are
going to be articles that you write that are going to contain a bunch of
dull boring facts. But the truth of the matter, just because the facts are
dull and boring doesn't mean that your writing has to be dull and boring.
I'm going to give you two paragraphs to read. One will be a dull and boring
presentation of the facts and the other will be a more interesting presentation
of the facts. The paragraph is on the first New York Mets World Series victory
in 1969.
Today, the New York Mets won their first world series in their history over
the Baltimore Orioles. After losing the first game of the series, they came
back to win the next four games of the series. It took the Mets 8 years to
finally win a World Series.
Okay, can you say "Put me to sleep or put me out of my misery?" I mean it
wasn't the worst written paragraph of all time, but it had absolutely no
lift to it whatsoever. Now, let's take a look at a paragraph with a little
lift to it.
Today, for a brief moment, the whole world stopped. The New York Mets, a
team mired in mediocrity at best and pitifulness at worst, beat to a pulp
in convincing fashion, the best team that baseball could throw at them, a
team with not one, but FOUR 20 game winners. It wasn't enough to beat the
Cinderella story in baseball, as the New York Mets came back after losing
game 1 to thrash the mighty Baltimore Orioles in the last 4 games of the
series and win their first championship in history.
And I could go on, but I think you get the point. The second paragraph was
much better. Could it be improved on if I really sweated over it? Maybe,
but for the purposes of this illustration, it will do.
So the next time you write an article, sit back and ask yourself if the article
you just wrote has cancer.
If it does, your article may die long before the reader does.
Save Big Time!
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