Even if you sell software or more tangible goods, you still need to write ads and articles to promote your product or service.

When I started out in this business some 2 years ago, I was overwhelmed at all the “new” things I needed to learn.  Web  Design, graphics, info product writing, to name a few of the more intimidating aspects of Internet Marketing.  But I was (still am) determined to get a good grasp on the various skills necessary, at least at first till I can outsource the work.

So, I have become fairly efficient at making graphics.  I have learned how to poke my way around WordPress.  I have written and finished a dozen ebooks or reports.  I can make an OK sales letter with a Paypal button!  I even mastered the Aweber thing.

So, what have I lacked?  Article Writing or more specifically article marketing.  Sure, I post to this blog and my other blogs but somehow I have either put off or neglected the aspect of publishing articles to the ezine directories.  What this amounts to is that all this past two years I have built several substantial lemonade stands complete with cookies and air conditioning on a deserted road in the middle of the desert!

Ever hear of Wall Drug?  Anyone who has driven I-90 across the northern states has been entertained by these huge billboard signs along a relatively deserted stretch of highway from Montana to Minnesota.  These billboards pop up every 5 – 10 miles all along the route.  It is frankly the only thing on the landscape for hundreds of miles.

Perhaps you have seen these bumper stickers that say, “I’ve Been to Wall Drug”.  They never made sense to me till I actually drove that lonely track.  It seems that Wall, South Dakota is just another dot on the map.  Like any other town along an interstate, it hoped to attract visitors to their various businesses.   But they were smack dab in the middle of no-where land.  Cars and trucks streamed by day and night on I-90.  So how do you grab some of that traffic?

It seems the proprietor of Wall Drug was an entrepreneur at heart.  What did he do?  He offered free ice water.  Free ice water??  Yup. He decided what these long haul truckers and automobile drivers needed was an excuse to stop by his shop and ice water was a novelty back then.

He invested in billboards which to this day dot the highway.  They still bring visitors in from all over who have read these quirky even annoying messages.  Now Wall, South Dakota – which could have been a no-name town in the middle of no where – gets regular visitors, LOTS of visitors all because a smart businessman decided to offer a freebie and then put out signs pointing the way to his store.

The moral of this story is that you need to get together a valuable freebie on your site and then post your signs on the highway – i. e. write useful articles!!  Then submit them to the ezine directories with a bio box that points folks to your lemonade stand or free ice water!!

If you don’t feel comfortable writing, you have two options.  Learn to write.  I like to write, now.  But I used to be all thumbs at it.  It takes practice but really once you get the hang of it, it is no sweat.  Andrew Hansen’s report on “Article Speed Writing” was the one report I have bought that moved me from challenged to “expert” in a matter of no time.  I have bought a whole slew of “how to write articles” type reports and they all work OK, but Andrew’s report probably made the biggest impact on my writing success.

[Edit: 9/10/2008 :  Take a look at my post on "48 Hour Report" by Jason Fladlien for another option.  "48 Hour" has video instructions and is far more detailed and includes bonuses that are worth the price of the package alone!  Article Speed Writing is a great basic course.  They are both still the best!]

But if writing isn’t your bag, have someone do it for you.  It will come to a point where it actually makes sense to pay someone else to write for you (that’s the topic of another article!).  I write articles to make a little extra money.  And I write for someone else who writes for someone else!  So, why not get those articles written for you if you don’t have the talent.  Ghostwriting goes for anywhere from $5 a page on up to $20+ for the top writers.

Any way you go about it, get your signs out on the highway.  Write those articles and pay someone to do it for you!  Next thing you know, you will be the “go to” website for your expertise.  Ever been to Wall Drug?

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1. Find a quiet place with no interruptions.  Moms and Dads, this is important for you.  Wait till the little kids are in bed or at least happily entertained.  The rest of you – turn off the cell phone, turn down the “bing” for checking your email, and such.  Once those creative juices get flowing all it takes is a “Mommy, I need to go potty!” to stop it in it’s tracks (ask me how I know).
2. Research – keep it short. Really this isn’t a college term paper, folks. We are talking about going to Google or your favorite search engine and typing in the keyword(s) and then opening and scanning the top entries. Take brief notes about 3 – 5 things that concern your keyword topic. I say brief as you DON’T want to copy. This process shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. If you are taking longer it is because you are reading, not scanning. 
3. Stay on track.  And don’t get off topic – it is easy to follow links all over the place.   Sure that link that goes to “How to Write Cash Sucking Sales Letters” is pulling you away.  Nope.  Get back on track.  Then walk away and get some tea or go for a walk.  Let that new info sort of soak into your brain cells.
4. Write a suitable keyword-rich headline.  This article is not about teaching how to write eye catching headlines – there are lots of sources for that elsewhere.  But they say and it is true that once you have that headline nailed down, the article practically writes itself!  Titles should be keyword rich, not some cute poetic thing that makes you feel proud.  Stick to what works - ”Three Mom Tested Tips to Stop Your Toddler From Biting for Good!” works better than “How to Stop Your Kid from biting”.
5. Write like a maniac  I read this somewhere and it is so true.  Write like nothing else matters.  Don’t stop for grammar or spelling – Nothing!  Just write/type like your life depended on it.  There will be plenty of time later to edit and fix up.  Just get all those thoughts down – organize later.
6. Focus  Some call it being in the “zone” like Olympic and professional athletes and other writers do.  When in the zone, your mind is focused on one thing – seeing the end result in advance.  That article is written and published just like Tiger Woods would see the ball in the hole, just before he wallops it toward the green.  It’s a done deal.  Just a matter of doing the action to make it so.
7. Article length and quality- This depends on where you are submitting or what you are trying to accomplish.  Blog articles can be as short as 200 words on up to a regular epistle.  But this is where you want your best, most meaningful articles.  Pure solid gold info and advice here.  Ezine submissions would be from 300 -700 words and really shouldn’t be too informative.  You want to write briefly on your subject but leave your reader wanting more.  You want to show you know what you are talking about but only enough to lead them to your website where you have the “whole story”   Kind of like tasting samples at Costco, right?  If it’s any good, you make a beeline to the shelf to get more!
8. Write to your sister.  Writing articles used to give me the heebee jeebies.  It comes naturally now.  Like talking to a friend which is my most important advice.  Stop thinking you need to impress your high school English teacher.  Write to your best friend!  Some have even gone so far as to invent a friend to write to, right down to giving her a face and personality.  Write like you were telling your aunt about your lastest interest.  Somehow, it all starts to flow and sound natural.  As a matter of fact, I wrote this article to my son, since he is learning the ropes of blogging for profit.
9. Clean up time.  Read through your work.  Edit the boo-boos.  I don’t know about you but it seems to me that if you have the time to write an article you should take the time to fix it, too.  Now, even I let a few faux pas get past me, but really, use the spell checker.  And remember this in not Nobel Prize stuff.  Articles are on one topic.  Books are for multiple topics under one main topic.  Know when to cut the fluff and stay on topic.  Write your book later.

Enjoy the process.  I used to think article writing was to be avoided – that I should pay others who are more qualified to write.  I say, just do it!  Jump in, the water’s fine!!  Before you know it you will be swimming/writing like a pro.

Product Recommendation

Article Speed Writing Review

I have bought and read nearly all there is out there about writing profitable traffic pulling articles and I can say unreservedly that Article Speed Writing by Andrew Hansen beats them all.   It served to kick me upside the head a dozen times or more as he frankly reveals the simple tricks of the trade.  To top it off, I know the “big guys” praise his work.  Check out his webiste here

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