12,000 Posts

Steven Wagenheim · 04-21-2009, 06:23 PM

I wanted to come up with something that would give something
back to a forum that has been very good to me over the last
2 1/2 years.

Quite a few folks are looking for ways to drive traffic to
their sites without having to spend a lot of money. Article
marketing is probably the best way to do this. Problem is,
not everybody can write. So this post is going to contain 12
important things I've learned about article writing for the
purpose of marketing products, which, believe it or not, is
different from article writing for the purpose of simply
informing readers of the facts. Some of these you may have
heard before. Others I think will be a first time smack on
the head for you. In either case, I hope you find them
helpful.

1. Be yourself. Don't try to write like Dean Shainen or Tim
Gross or any of the other great article marketers out there.
I have found that when you try to copy somebody's style, it
comes out forced and doesn't read well. When something
doesn't read well, your reader won't finish reading it,
which means they won't get down to your resource box and
ultimately go to your site. You don't have to write like
Hemingway. I don't. I write simply and plainly. It gets the
point across and makes me money. That's all that matters.

2. Article directories have minimum word requirements. Some
are more demanding than others. The reason I am bringing
this up is because some subjects are more difficult to write
a lot on than others. That's when you have to learn how to
"enhance" your article. Some people call it padding. I
hate that word because it makes the article sound like it's
just a lot of words thrown in. No, enhancing is something
different.

Let me give you an example using just one sentence.

"I am going to show you how to write an article."

That's the simple non enhanced sentence. Now, here is the
enhanced one.

"I am gong to briefly show you how to write an article that
will get your reader to read all the way through and
ultimately down to your resource box where, if it does it's
job correctly, will have them clicking through to your web
site or sales page and buying your product."

See the difference? Learn how to say the same thing in more
words that actually mean something. This will make meeting
the minimum word requirement for your articles a breeze.

3. Plan out your article ahead of time. Some people start
writing their article right off the cuff and have no idea
where they're going with it. So they end up rambling. This
usually leads to a badly written article that the reader
abandons. So before you start writing, make an outline and
stick to it.

4. Come up with a title that knocks your reader's eyeballs
out. Your article isn't going to get read, no matter how
good it is, if the title sucks. That's about as bluntly as
I can put it.

Now, there are tons of ways to come up with great titles.
Two methods that I use a lot are mystery and benefits.

For example.

Mystery

"Is Nitro Marketing Blueprint All It's Cracked Up To Be?"

Somebody interested in the product is going to be curious as
to what I have to say. The title suggests that maybe it
isn't. See, you really can't be sure because I've asked a
question. The question can be answered yes or no. So the
only way to find out is to read the article.

Benefit

"Discover How Nitro Marketing Blueprint Can Turn You Into A
6 Figure Earner"

Here I am making a claim or stating a benefit...the benefit
being that if you get this, you'll become a 6 figure
earner. Your benefit can be anything from curing warts to
losing 50 pounds of ugly fat.

I can't stress this enough. If your title sucks, you won't
get readers. My most widely viewed articles are the ones
where I really worked on the titles.

5. Be clear. Nothing kills an article more than when you're
not clear about what you're saying. This is why I tend to
write simply. I don't want readers to misunderstand
anything I am saying. So I will emphasize things if I feel
it's necessary. You want your reader coming away from the
article with NO questions about what you've told
them...which leads to tip 6.

6. Don't tell them everything. Look, if your ultimate goal
is to sell them something, you can't tell them everything
that they need to know. If you do, there is NO reason for
them to go to your sales page. So you have to hold something
back. If possible, hold back the key ingredient. For
example, if you are writing an article on selling your house
in a buyers market, you might talk about how to get a
realtor who will help you, how to clean up your house first,
how to make a good impression and so on. But leave out the
key thing that will actually sell the house...the listing
and exactly how to word it. That info will come in your
product. The title of the article could be something like,
"3 Key Tips For Selling Your Home In A Buyers Market".
This way, using what I've illustrated above, you've given
them what you've promised but you haven't given away the
whole store.

7. Know your audience. You're not going to write an article
for old folks looking for healthcare the same way you'd
write an article for teens interested in the latest MMORP.
I'm not just talking about content here. I am talking about
the voice you use, the style of writing. And let me tell you
up front, if you can't relate to 18 year old kids, don't
write for them. You'll be laughed off the planet. Stick to
your strengths. There are some niches I would never write
for (like the rapper crowd) because I don't know their
lingo and can't relate to the genre. Write what you know
and for who you can write for.

8. Have fun. Writing can be a real drag if you're not
enjoying what you're doing. Trust me on this. As much as I
love to write (can you tell?) there are things I wouldn't
even attempt to write about, like an analysis of the mating
habits of earthworms. Think I'm kidding? Go look up
"mating habits of the earthworm" and see how many results
you get at Google. I'd rather put a gun to my head than
have to write on that subject. So have fun with what you're
doing because if you don't, it becomes just another job.

9. Don't cheat your reader. I know that I said not to tell
them everything. By the same token, you don't want them to
feel cheated after they've read your article. There is so
much trash out there that should have never been written in
the first place. It's nothing but fluff and gives no useful
information. I can guarantee you that the only thing those
articles at EZA managed to do was get the reader to click on
their Adsense ads. Give your reader something real to chew
on so that after they've finished reading, they walk away
saying "thank you."

10. Be honest. Do not write fiction. Trust me, your reader
will find out. If you don't know something about a subject,
leave it out. Only write what you know and don't lie. If
you're writing an opinion piece, that's different.
Opinions are just that. However, if you ARE going to write
an opinion piece, back up your opinions with "this is why I
think this way." Give examples of things that have happened
to you. Make the reader believe that you truly feel this
way. In other words, be passionate about what you're
writing. Yes, you can be passionate and honest at the same
time.

11. Writing Multiple Articles. Simple. If you want to write
an article and spin it, the easiest way to do it, without
having to use a spinner, which most are crap anyway, is to
write an article that is basically a number of tips. For
example, let's say you have 10 killer tips on gardening.
What you could do is break them up into articles of three
tips each.

Now, look how many articles you could write by doing this.

Article 1 - Tips 1,2,3 Article 2 - Tips 1,2,4 Article 3 -
Tips 1,2,5

And so on. If you do the math, it's 720 different articles.
Just make each tip a paragraph and then copy and paste them
into your article which you'll add an intro and summary to.

12. Resource Box - Resource Box - Resource Box

This is the ballgame, the ninth inning, the last minute of
play. You screw this up and you can forget about everything
you've done prior to this point.

There is no one single way to write a resource box. Dean
Shainen has his style, Tim Gross has his and so on. I'm
going to share mine. But you know what? Go to EZA and look
up the top authors and see what they're doing. That's
going to be your best education.

Okay, here is what works for me.

I break up my resource box into 3 parts.

Part 1 - Remind them of their problem Part 2 - Give them
the site where the problem is fixed Part 3 - Tell them what
benefit they get from going to the site.

For example, if I was writing a resource box for an acne
cure, it might go something like this.

"Tired of looking at yourself in the mirror and finding all
those zits covering your puss? Go to my site at <URL> and
get my FREE report on how to clear up your acne in 3
days...naturally"

When you write a resource box, think about what their
problem is and how you can solve it. Nobody cares who you
are. So save the "John Doe is a blah, blah, blah."

Okay, there have been quite a few excellent article writing
threads that have popped up here in the general discussion
area. I've picked out a few of my favorites that I think
will help you a lot.

Here they are:

3 Ways to Fully Make Use of Each And Every Article You Submitted to EzineArticles
200th Post - Something For Everyone !!
While You Were Sleeping: Another Look At Article Marketing You May Want To Consider

I hope you find this thread, as well as the ones I listed,
helpful.

korypearman · 04-21-2009, 06:25 PM

Excellent 12,000th post

CurtisN · 04-21-2009, 06:29 PM

Thanks for the informative post Steven, here's to another 12000

Curtis

Pat-Graham · 04-21-2009, 06:30 PM

Great tips. I am a ghostwriter and learned a thing or two while reading your post.

korypearman · 04-21-2009, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morten_Madsen

You must be a quick reader... You replied after 2 minutes... I wish I had your reading-skills m8.

Morten

I skipped and read the 12 tips

Actually there wasn't much to skip.. Yes I'm a fast reader

DirectoryKing · 04-22-2009, 01:15 AM

Thanks for the post. Quite informative.

saintsguy · 04-22-2009, 11:13 PM

I loved your tip about mystery and benefit when it comes to writing headlines. Now I have a foundation on which I can improve my article clickthroughs.

Samsmiles · 04-23-2009, 01:10 PM

Hi Steven
thanks for sharing those useful tips. I'm going to print your post right now and slot it in to my "ideas" book.

Prosperity to us all!
samsmiles

Chris Hunter · 04-23-2009, 11:21 PM

Steven,

Thanks for the link to the post that I made.

I was very interested in what I learned. The power of article marketing is unreal.

zeasondesign · 05-03-2009, 11:41 PM

I still can't believe it.. but that's awesome

04-21-2009, 06:23 PM	#1
Steven Wagenheim Article Marketing Wiz War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Roselle, NJ, USA Posts: 13,262 Blog Entries: 11 Thanks: 515 Thanked 2,888 Times in 904 Posts Social Networking	12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips I wanted to come up with something that would give something back to a forum that has been very good to me over the last 2 1/2 years. Quite a few folks are looking for ways to drive traffic to their sites without having to spend a lot of money. Article marketing is probably the best way to do this. Problem is, not everybody can write. So this post is going to contain 12 important things I've learned about article writing for the purpose of marketing products, which, believe it or not, is different from article writing for the purpose of simply informing readers of the facts. Some of these you may have heard before. Others I think will be a first time smack on the head for you. In either case, I hope you find them helpful. 1. Be yourself. Don't try to write like Dean Shainen or Tim Gross or any of the other great article marketers out there. I have found that when you try to copy somebody's style, it comes out forced and doesn't read well. When something doesn't read well, your reader won't finish reading it, which means they won't get down to your resource box and ultimately go to your site. You don't have to write like Hemingway. I don't. I write simply and plainly. It gets the point across and makes me money. That's all that matters. 2. Article directories have minimum word requirements. Some are more demanding than others. The reason I am bringing this up is because some subjects are more difficult to write a lot on than others. That's when you have to learn how to "enhance" your article. Some people call it padding. I hate that word because it makes the article sound like it's just a lot of words thrown in. No, enhancing is something different. Let me give you an example using just one sentence. "I am going to show you how to write an article." That's the simple non enhanced sentence. Now, here is the enhanced one. "I am gong to briefly show you how to write an article that will get your reader to read all the way through and ultimately down to your resource box where, if it does it's job correctly, will have them clicking through to your web site or sales page and buying your product." See the difference? Learn how to say the same thing in more words that actually mean something. This will make meeting the minimum word requirement for your articles a breeze. 3. Plan out your article ahead of time. Some people start writing their article right off the cuff and have no idea where they're going with it. So they end up rambling. This usually leads to a badly written article that the reader abandons. So before you start writing, make an outline and stick to it. 4. Come up with a title that knocks your reader's eyeballs out. Your article isn't going to get read, no matter how good it is, if the title sucks. That's about as bluntly as I can put it. Now, there are tons of ways to come up with great titles. Two methods that I use a lot are mystery and benefits. For example. Mystery "Is Nitro Marketing Blueprint All It's Cracked Up To Be?" Somebody interested in the product is going to be curious as to what I have to say. The title suggests that maybe it isn't. See, you really can't be sure because I've asked a question. The question can be answered yes or no. So the only way to find out is to read the article. Benefit "Discover How Nitro Marketing Blueprint Can Turn You Into A 6 Figure Earner" Here I am making a claim or stating a benefit...the benefit being that if you get this, you'll become a 6 figure earner. Your benefit can be anything from curing warts to losing 50 pounds of ugly fat. I can't stress this enough. If your title sucks, you won't get readers. My most widely viewed articles are the ones where I really worked on the titles. 5. Be clear. Nothing kills an article more than when you're not clear about what you're saying. This is why I tend to write simply. I don't want readers to misunderstand anything I am saying. So I will emphasize things if I feel it's necessary. You want your reader coming away from the article with NO questions about what you've told them...which leads to tip 6. 6. Don't tell them everything. Look, if your ultimate goal is to sell them something, you can't tell them everything that they need to know. If you do, there is NO reason for them to go to your sales page. So you have to hold something back. If possible, hold back the key ingredient. For example, if you are writing an article on selling your house in a buyers market, you might talk about how to get a realtor who will help you, how to clean up your house first, how to make a good impression and so on. But leave out the key thing that will actually sell the house...the listing and exactly how to word it. That info will come in your product. The title of the article could be something like, "3 Key Tips For Selling Your Home In A Buyers Market". This way, using what I've illustrated above, you've given them what you've promised but you haven't given away the whole store. 7. Know your audience. You're not going to write an article for old folks looking for healthcare the same way you'd write an article for teens interested in the latest MMORP. I'm not just talking about content here. I am talking about the voice you use, the style of writing. And let me tell you up front, if you can't relate to 18 year old kids, don't write for them. You'll be laughed off the planet. Stick to your strengths. There are some niches I would never write for (like the rapper crowd) because I don't know their lingo and can't relate to the genre. Write what you know and for who you can write for. 8. Have fun. Writing can be a real drag if you're not enjoying what you're doing. Trust me on this. As much as I love to write (can you tell?) there are things I wouldn't even attempt to write about, like an analysis of the mating habits of earthworms. Think I'm kidding? Go look up "mating habits of the earthworm" and see how many results you get at Google. I'd rather put a gun to my head than have to write on that subject. So have fun with what you're doing because if you don't, it becomes just another job. 9. Don't cheat your reader. I know that I said not to tell them everything. By the same token, you don't want them to feel cheated after they've read your article. There is so much trash out there that should have never been written in the first place. It's nothing but fluff and gives no useful information. I can guarantee you that the only thing those articles at EZA managed to do was get the reader to click on their Adsense ads. Give your reader something real to chew on so that after they've finished reading, they walk away saying "thank you." 10. Be honest. Do not write fiction. Trust me, your reader will find out. If you don't know something about a subject, leave it out. Only write what you know and don't lie. If you're writing an opinion piece, that's different. Opinions are just that. However, if you ARE going to write an opinion piece, back up your opinions with "this is why I think this way." Give examples of things that have happened to you. Make the reader believe that you truly feel this way. In other words, be passionate about what you're writing. Yes, you can be passionate and honest at the same time. 11. Writing Multiple Articles. Simple. If you want to write an article and spin it, the easiest way to do it, without having to use a spinner, which most are crap anyway, is to write an article that is basically a number of tips. For example, let's say you have 10 killer tips on gardening. What you could do is break them up into articles of three tips each. Now, look how many articles you could write by doing this. Article 1 - Tips 1,2,3 Article 2 - Tips 1,2,4 Article 3 - Tips 1,2,5 And so on. If you do the math, it's 720 different articles. Just make each tip a paragraph and then copy and paste them into your article which you'll add an intro and summary to. 12. Resource Box - Resource Box - Resource Box This is the ballgame, the ninth inning, the last minute of play. You screw this up and you can forget about everything you've done prior to this point. There is no one single way to write a resource box. Dean Shainen has his style, Tim Gross has his and so on. I'm going to share mine. But you know what? Go to EZA and look up the top authors and see what they're doing. That's going to be your best education. Okay, here is what works for me. I break up my resource box into 3 parts. Part 1 - Remind them of their problem Part 2 - Give them the site where the problem is fixed Part 3 - Tell them what benefit they get from going to the site. For example, if I was writing a resource box for an acne cure, it might go something like this. "Tired of looking at yourself in the mirror and finding all those zits covering your puss? Go to my site at <URL> and get my FREE report on how to clear up your acne in 3 days...naturally" When you write a resource box, think about what their problem is and how you can solve it. Nobody cares who you are. So save the "John Doe is a blah, blah, blah." Okay, there have been quite a few excellent article writing threads that have popped up here in the general discussion area. I've picked out a few of my favorites that I think will help you a lot. Here they are: 3 Ways to Fully Make Use of Each And Every Article You Submitted to EzineArticles 200th Post - Something For Everyone !! While You Were Sleeping: Another Look At Article Marketing You May Want To Consider I hope you find this thread, as well as the ones I listed, helpful.
	NEW WSO - Bank $4,000 Monthly - 5 Niches - Only 38 Left NEW WSO - Beat The FTC Honestly And Still Rake In The $$$ Make Money TODAY Hot Trends WSO - Over 1,000 Satisfied Buyers My Greatest Warrior Specials In One Place My Personal Blog...A 6 Figure Education For FREE

04-21-2009, 06:25 PM	#2
korypearman Little Man Livin Big War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 260 Thanks: 27 Thanked 6 Times in 6 Posts Contact Info	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips Excellent 12,000th post
	I'm a secret Hannah Montana fan.

04-21-2009, 06:29 PM	#3
CurtisN Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada. Posts: 836 Thanks: 66 Thanked 90 Times in 81 Posts Social Networking	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips Thanks for the informative post Steven, here's to another 12000 Curtis
	Ebook Creation - $13/page - 1 SPOT LEFT Twitter Me\| Keep your stick on the ice - ancient Canadian proverb

04-21-2009, 06:30 PM	#4
Pat-Graham Active Warrior Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Noble, Oklahoma USA Posts: 32 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Social Networking	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips Great tips. I am a ghostwriter and learned a thing or two while reading your post.
	Pat Graham admin@ghostwriter-x.com Need high quality, original articles? www.MyNichePLR.com *"Don't believe everything you think!"*

04-22-2009, 01:15 AM	#6
DirectoryKing HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: USA Posts: 102 Thanks: 19 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Social Networking Contact Info	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips Thanks for the post. Quite informative.
	Arthur Donald - <<<How To Get Good Quality Original Content Article for $2 Only >>> 100% Unique Content,ANY Topic or Keyword Phrase,Fast Turnaround,Low or High Volume Services,400 Words Per Article

04-22-2009, 11:13 PM	#7
saintsguy Active Warrior Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: USA. Posts: 50 Thanks: 7 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips I loved your tip about mystery and benefit when it comes to writing headlines. Now I have a foundation on which I can improve my article clickthroughs.

04-23-2009, 01:10 PM	#8
Samsmiles HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: , , United Kingdom. Posts: 131 Thanks: 64 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips Hi Steven thanks for sharing those useful tips. I'm going to print your post right now and slot it in to my "ideas" book. Prosperity to us all! samsmiles
	Get FREE Hypnosis MP3's here http://www.samsmiles-selfhelp.com/helpnow

04-23-2009, 11:21 PM	#9
Chris Hunter Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Shreveport, LA - the crotch of the world! Posts: 860 Thanks: 9 Thanked 40 Times in 21 Posts	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips Steven, Thanks for the link to the post that I made. I was very interested in what I learned. The power of article marketing is unreal.
	Ok, sure. You can follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Chris_Hunter ;)

05-03-2009, 11:41 PM	#10
zeasondesign Active Warrior Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 50 Thanks: 10 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: 12,000 Posts - 12 Killer Article Writing Tips I still can't believe it.. but that's awesome
	$35 logo l $24 Graphic Design l $21 eCover http://www.zeasondesign.com