Some article writing tips for those looking to get started

[pioneertw]

Hi Warriors,

What I'm going to talk about in this thread is something that most of you probably already knew and I'm really writing this for the beginners looking to get started.

The points are basically derived from my own experience as a ghostwriter and an article marketer and I hope it helps. Any constructive criticism and suggestions are greatly welcomed.

1) The 5 aspects of article writing

Whether you are a ghostwriter, someone writing articles for your own campaign or a hirer of a ghostwriter, it's important to note that the key fundamentals to any article that works are:

1) Originality and quality
2) Good language and flow
3) Ideal length for your purpose
4) Speed
5) Volume

Nothing out of the ordinary here, but you may want to keep in mind that a particular point may compliment the other but compromised by another, which is why it's important to...

2) Focus on a direction from the start

I had many sleepless nights when I first started writing my own articles because I kept asking myself why I can't do 5-7min articles like some other great marketers in this forum. It was then that I realized that I missed the obvious point of not being able to have the best of both worlds with articles sometimes.

For example, speed and volume compliments each other (writing faster obviously allow you to write more) but will certainly compromise on quality and originality to some extent. I'm not encouraging rehashed content (in fact I don't really like them very much coz some of them are rewritten so badly that they don't deliver any value at all to the readers), but I'm saying if you want aim for a big volume, you need to create a system to churn out articles effectively.

The system I apply involves an in-depth research on the topic that I'm writing on and from there I derived the points that fit under a certain umbrella (the points you use for a "3 benefits of blah blah" will always tend to be similar to a "Reasons why blah blah works for you" article). Grouping similar points together enable you to save precious time that can be reinvested into writing more articles.

3) Write articles for information seekers

Unlike writing blog posts, which should strictly focus on originality and genuine value creation, marketers post articles to be picked up by search engines. If you are promoting info product especially, your prospects are mostly people who are searching for an answer to a question, so make sure your articles satisfy that need.

Personally I adopt an approach of writing with the 5Ws and 1H (why,where,who,when,what,how) relating to a single topic. I think different people ask the same question differently, so it's better to cover all angles if you want to dominate your niche well.

4) Too much or too little content can both be bad

For article marketers, you don't want to go all in with the contents of your articles on Ezinearticles as you are using them mainly to point traffic to a site that recommends a product. If I can find all the information I need from your articles, I probably won't even click your author bio-box because I've already gotten what I want.

Comparatively, too little content on your articles can actually turn a potential prospect off as well.

I spent a couple of days looking through article directories before I started writing to see how other people do it, and to my horror, a lot of articles are there for the sake of being there. These articles are either too short to be able to provide any detail, or the writers just try to max out word count by creating long sentences that provide absolutely zero information. If I'm a sales lead, I would be really turned off by the fact that I spent the past 2 minutes reading something which is totally useless and I would be too "cheated" to even show an interest on your bio box.

One example of the right balance for me, is going into reasonable depth on one point and ending off by briefly mentioning that there are 2 other important points they need to know. I will sometimes aim to finish off the bio box with something that links such as "Now that you have some idea on blah blah, find out some of the other benefits etc that will help you get a clearer picture on blah blah", something like that.

I am not a big fan of writing a half-hearted conclusion for the last paragraph, because I believe some article formats are perfect for a bio-box close, which will almost always lead to better click through rates.

A sidenote to people who hire ghostwriters, don't be under the impression that your writer is trying to be funny with you by not writing a conclusion for all your articles! You need an article that drives the most traffic to your site so sometimes your bio box is the perfect conclusion to an article.

I better end the post here before it gets too out of hand, but I'd be more than happy to continue posting some of my personal observations here if anyone finds this helpful.

Lastly, I want to emphasize that I'm not big time marketer (I'm the small fry of all small fries) and all these are based on my personal experience. I'm also not using this as an opportunity to promote my writing service, which is not available right now anyway, I'm just posting this in the hope of helping new Warriors avoid the unnecessary path which I took previously, the painful experience certainly brought about a fair bit of anguish and a lot of wasted time.

If you have any helpful criticism or opinion to add to this thread that can help more fellow Warriors with article writing, I thank you in advance sincerely.

Have a profitable day everyone!

[jimmytron]

Great thread, although I sure there are a lot that are similar to this one. Good job anyways, and Thanks Im sure some will find this useful.

[pioneertw]

Originally Posted by jimmytron

Great thread, although I sure there are a lot that are similar to this one. Good job anyways, and Thanks Im sure some will find this useful.

Thanks for your kind words! I wrote this one in case they can't find the other posts, haha

[TheCren]

I greatly disagree with your third principle. Your article still needs to attract the eyes of a buyer, not an information seeker. And you should not provide all of the information the buyer wants in the article. You need to leave just enough information for them to be enticed to click on your link in the resource box, which will lead them to your website and provide the final solution to the problem they are having.

[pioneertw]

Originally Posted by TheCren

I greatly disagree with your third principle. Your article still needs to attract the eyes of a buyer, not an information seeker. And you should not provide all of the information the buyer wants in the article. You need to leave just enough information for them to be enticed to click on your link in the resource box, which will lead them to your website and provide the final solution to the problem they are having.

Thanks!

Point noted on that, I think I didn't phrase it properly (my bad) but you certainly brought out the all important point. I don't agree with providing all the information they need as well, that is an extremely important trick in my opinion. I've seen so many articles with a great start but the key is whether the readers are still with you after the 400th word.

[pioneertw]

Ok I just realized that Mr Steve Wagenheim, who is one of the best article marketers around, had already made a brilliant post before me (I swear I just found out about this), and I think anyone who's interested in learning about article writing should take a look at that thread, it's fantastic and a must-read for me.

Here's the link:

12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips

[TMG Enterprises]

Steve's post is terrific but yours has value, too. I've saved both posts.

Thanks,
Tina G

[MarkWrites]

Nice solid writing tips. Thanks for the share.

[pioneertw]

Thanks for your encouragement and kind words I'm glad my post helped