8 Ways to Make Your Articles Go the Extra Mile

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TITLE: 8 Ways to Make Your Articles Go the Extra Mile AUTHOR: Earma Brown CONTACT: earma@... COPYRIGHT: C2006 by Earma Brown. All rights reserved WORD COUNT: 850 FORMAT: 65 Characters per line __________________________________________________________

8 Ways to Make Your Articles Go the Extra Mile, p2

Are you ready for your business to be noticed by hundreds even thousands daily? It's true more and more online newsletter publishers and website owners are looking for fresh original articles. They need your insightful information. Even so, the group of article marketers is also growing.

Glenn Murray, popular website copywriter of DivineWrite.com wrote in recent SiteProNews article, "As a result of its newfound mainstream popularity, the number of articles being written and submitted has increased by between 100% - 600% in the past year!"

With all this growth there is a need to distinguish yourself in the group. My best advice is to write articles that solve a problem for your targeted audience. Write the solution. Write each article with a theme, problem and solution.

For example, there are other marketers like you and me who need a solution-an easy way to get free traffic, become an expert in their field, get free publicity, reach thousands at a time, promote their book, business or service. These marketers are looking for ways to make their information easy to digest and easy to apply. Here are eight more formats to write your easy articles and make them go the extra mile:

1. Short, Short Article. This article has gained popularity among article marketers because it delivers bite-sized information. A lot of directories have added a category for the 500 word article. Get and keep the attention of web readers by delivering short messages. You put effort into gaining your web reader's attention; now make their click worthwhile with brief compelling copy in bite sizes.

Start with the conclusion. Your readers may not make it to the end of your piece the point early and use the rest of your article to support that main point.

2. Action Oriented Article. I used to not like watching most talk-shows. I complained that they did a good job with presenting the problem but no one offered solutions. Times have changed for most talk-shows present the problem then present some form of solution. Yeah!

The same goes for articles. Make it a practice to present the problem then seek to engage your reader with an action toward the solution. For example, a client of mine wrote an article about time management. One of her main points was set a schedule. To engage her readers she included a one line fill in the blank schedule M___T___W___.

3. Command Tip Article. Most will say they don't like being told what to do. But our human psyche seems to respond in spite of what we like. The command has an immediate effect. Why? It connects with the "Yes, I want that" spot within us all. Commands reassure us that helpful advice will follow. Advice that helps us get what we want. It tells the readers it's possible to achieve the benefit the author is claiming. Start each tip with a command such as 'Do this', Write this, Implement that. Then direct them to put the tip into action.

4. Mistake Tip. Wise people love to be warned of the mistakes and pitfalls in any field so they don't have to learn them the hard way. In college days, the smart students were not necessarily the most popular. The popular ones were those who gave out tips freely. I had a college friend that was popular for this reason.

She tipped you about what professor to sign-up for in a hurry because their classes filled up fast. She tipped you about the class and the professor to try to avoid. She tipped you where to go eat cheap. So create popularity for your business write a Top 5 Mistakes in your field. One of my website client's most popular articles includes "Top 5 Site Mistakes That Drive Your Customers Away in Less Than 2 Minutes."

5. Interview Article. Choose a reputable expert to interview and offer their best problem/solution tips. Do this format in the question and answer format via email. Choose specific questions that will give your audience specific solutions to their problems. Don't forget to make this format go the extra mile for you by using the content on your website, blog and/or ezine.

6. Review Article. Find your favorite resource, product or website that helps accomplish something in your field. Do a review of that resource. Does it make life easier? Does it enable you to complete faster. For example, you could review a product on a scale of one to ten. Does it rate a ten, eight or seven in your book? Rate the product in your article then explain the glowing things it has done for you through experience. Don't forget to include any downsides of the product. Your audience will appreciate your honest appraisal.

7. Favorite Resource Article. I love this format. It can be similar to the Top ten cds or the Top 20. You know at the end of each year many television shows will air their top 10, 20 even top 50. Well in the case of your article, you can schedule it around the holidays or some other special occasion. I've seen some web developers publish a top 20 to celebrate their birthday. Choose your celebration and write a top ten list of resources in your field. List the resource and a mini-review including why it made your top 20 list.

8. Success Story Article. Success stories are always great for sales. Why? Because results move people. Nothing that I know of will get people to pull out their card better than a success story. Your audience will instantly say, "If he can do it then I can do it." Gather some success stories and publish them as a case study article. Or better yet write your own success story with details that will cause your sales to soar. Your audience wants to gleam encouragement from your success. For example, a client's website jumped from a mere $20 to $1500 in just 3 months. Even with a modest success, his readers would love to know what he did so they can do it too.

Don't wait any longer! If you wait to choose an article format your traffic may never increase. Choose a format for your insightful information and write your article today. Remember, there's an Information Revolution raging online. Why not jump in before it's too late. Start with writing a short, short article to promote your ezine, website, product or service. Your readers have been waiting for your expertise. Now just do it. Best wishes for your greatest success yet.

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© Earma Brown, 11-year author, entrepreneur, web developer eBk: How to Put Your Articles on the Speedway to Sales Helps Service Businesses, Writers and Infopreneurs create effective articles that get more traffic, subscribers and sales. Send any email to easyarticles@writetowin.org and receive free mini-course "Putting Your Articles on the Speedway to Success" or visit www.articlespeedway.com for more article writing help.