Writing articles
How to Get Started Writing Articles for the Internet
by Susan Dunn
Writing articles for the Internet is one of the best ways to
promote your practice and products. It works better than
advertising and doesn’t cost a cent.
HOW DO YOU GET STARTED?
The most popular articles are "how to" articles, but you can
also think "topical." Publishers look for articles relating
to holidays, tax time, spring, etc. Work about 6 weeks ahead.
A business coach will have things for readers at tax time, and
a florist can make use of Valentine’s Day.
USE DIFFERENT ANGLES
Use different angles to reach different audiences.
My specialty is emotional intelligence and here are some of
the different angles I've used: "Marketing with Emotional
Intelligence," (business), "How to Have an Emotionally
Intelligent Valentine's Day," (holiday), "Raising an
Emotionally Intelligent Child," (parents), "What is Emotional
Intelligence?" (general), Managers with Emotional
Intelligence Succeed," (management), "All Coaching is
About Emotional Intelligence," (coaches).
HOW TO SUBMIT
Look on a search engine for submission sites.
You can start with ww.digital-women.com>
digital-women.com for business-related articles. For
general articles, try
ideamarketers.com (self help, coaching, Internet marketing, web design, management, family, Christian themes).
Some sites require some html coding. You just need the basics, and A href= http://www.web-source.net/html_codes_explorer1.htm>here's a primer. Don't be intimidated. You can practice on topten.org where you can write it out, submit it and see what it looks like, then go back and correct if need be.
If the word count is needed look under “Tools.”
Another way to submit is yahoogroups. These you submit via email in a special format. The number of characters across each line must be 65 or less, including spaces. Use Notepad on your computer, or go notepad.com for a FREE program that allows you to format your text and also convert it to html.
Or format your article online here.
Go here to read about yahoogroups. You must join them the group in order to submit articles but it only takes a minute.
RESOURCE BOX
In exchange for all this free writing you do for editors and Web publishers, you get about 6 lines of copy at the bottom of your article where you can talk about yourself, what you do and what you have to sell. Use it for all its worth, and you'll find its well worth your time to write and submit articles on the Internet.
SHORTEN THE LEARNING CURVE
Work with a coach who does a lot of Internet writing. Paying for one informational phone session can cover a lot of territory, give you confidence, and get you going quickly. I often walk people through the different sites and software, show them the ropes, and get them jumpstarted with creative ideas.
LET SOMEONE WRITE ARTICLES FOR YOU
There are individuals who will ghost-write articles for you, and also individuals who offer article-writing services. The article goes out under their name, with citations to you and your products and services in the article and also in the byline (which must be kept as-is) and this amounts to 3rd-party endorsement, as well as allowing you to piggy-back on the reputation of a known Internet writer and be presented by someone who knows how to write for the Internet.
RESULTS?
Does it work? I have gotten 100% of my clients through articles I've written on the Internet!
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