Writing A Decent, Quality Article...

Ok, I apologise. I know as Johns pointed out that some small articles often do work and in your case it clearly has. My point was never against short articles not working. So let me explain to you a little bit about forum etiquette and why I reacted as I did. Had you not said this first....

...I would not have reacted as I did.

That statement, after the OP, Howie, Alexa and myself had just been discussing longer articles, is hardly a good way of saying it. Had you just omitted "so go figure" I would have responded with something along the lines of an agreement, short articles can work.

My point being, if you come into a amicable discussion where people are talking about long articles and then you come in and tell them short articles are better for you, perhaps, if you don't want a reaction, you shouldn't end your point with "So go figure". :rolleyes:

That was the only point I was making and I shouldn't have reacted to it, for that I apologise.

If it doesn't apply to writing articles for the express purpose of syndication, what does it apply to then? I am super excited about learning how to write such articles so quickly.

Yes.

But this is an average writing time, based on techniques to improve the quality of your research and how to organize your research.

On one article in a topic, it may take 30 minutes to put it all together. But as you write more articles on the base research, your average writing time is always getting smaller.

Charlotte Jay said using the methods that I described that she was able to write 20 articles in just over two hours.

The articles created using this process are generally "researched articles", written in volume.



The methodology does help in the writing time for articles that I want to syndicate to newsletters, depending on the structure of the article I intend to write.

But it is like when I sit down to write one of the forum posts. Since I am generally answering specific questions, the output won't always fit into the templates that I use for the 20-minute articles.

Most researched articles only need one or two edits. These articles will generally find publication in newsletters and on websites reliably.

As I will explain in greater detail in just a minute, I write most articles that will get published in newsletters reliably, and I can do those articles in 20-minutes or less. But sometimes I sit down to write with the hope and intent of being published in a very "specific newsletter", and when I do that, my writing time is increased considerably.



When I am writing for syndication, with the express interest of getting published in specific newsletters, I am never satisfied with one or two edits.

Simply put, the reward-potential is too great to leave things to chance.

You got to understand that I am a perfectionist.

When I am writing a specific article for a specific newsletter, I have to focus my energy differently.

For those articles that are aimed at a specific publisher, I will contemplate my specific strategy for several days before I sit to write.

I have to find the angle that is going to allow me to create the interest needed to lead the reader to buy what I want them to buy, while keeping in mind the specific requirements of the publisher whose audience I want to reach.

Once I understand my angle, I can write the article in 15 minutes. But being the perfectionist that I usually am, I may do 15-20 edits before I am satisfied with the article.

Then I will sit on the finished article for 24 hours, then make one final read to make sure I hit on all cylinders.

I know my regular 20-minute articles are good quality and they will find publication in many newsletters and on many websites.

But sometimes I aim for the larger specific publications when I write. When I sit to write one of those articles, I have a target newsletter in mind. I know what that publisher wants, and I work hard to give him exactly what he wants to see.

You learn what publishers want by getting one or two of your general-audience, 20-minute articles published in their publication. When I notice the sales coming from their audience, I write to the publisher and ask them what they want specifically in future articles. This knowledge is worth a lot of money to the right person.

I have about one dozen publications in my mind when I sit to write one of those articles.

The direction of the article will allow me to narrow my focus from a dozen publications to one or two editors.

For example, when I write an article about SEO, the target publication for that article is always much different than an article about article marketing, forum marketing or traffic generation.

Another example is when I write an article about improving gas mileage in a car, the target publication for that is very different than an article about the new cars that have good gas mileage. One newsletter publisher is focused on helping consumers save money, while the other is focused on helping the reader buy new products.

I know from experience what individual editors want in an article, so I have to write the article for one and many. I have to write for the editor's audience and get them to take the action I want them to take upon conclusion of the article, but I have to write for the one person who will make the decision about whether he or she will publish my article -- the editor / gatekeeper.

When I am writing with a general audience in mind, I write 20-minute articles.

When I am writing with one editor in the forefront of my mind, I spend as much time as I feel is necessary to hit all requirements for the editor and his audience, with a certain level of confidence.

In a nutshell, if I am writing for an anonymous publisher, I spend 20 minutes writing the article. But when I am writing for a specific publisher, I may spend several hours writing that article.

Until you understand which specific publishers you will want to target with your articles, 20-minute articles will get the job done. But once you have started seeing big sales coming from one specific publication, you will find yourself spending more time to write some of your articles with that publication in your mind.