Sometimes when I am communicating with other webmasters and I
bring up the subject of writing articles, I often get a response
like "I'd rather have a root canal, I just can't write", or "my
spelling is horrible and my grammar is not much better". In my
view, the first excuse is just a matter of attitude. The latter
excuse falls on deaf ears because the major word processing
programs have good spelling and grammar checking capabilities.
We're not talking about something that would qualify for the
Pulitzer prize in literature, just articles dealing with a topic
that may be of interest to a group of people that also may
happen to have an interest in your particular business
proposition or activity.
While not as dramatic as the college professor's dilemma of
"publish or perish", many Internet marketers have found that the
publicity and traffic that articles can bring to their websites
is second only in importance to actually making sales.
When writing articles, start out by clearly defining what you
want to write about. Focus on the topic and the general message
that you want to communicate. Sometimes you will start with a
title and expand from there and other times the title will be
the last thing you develop.
Organize your material (be it knowledge, thoughts, or opinions)
into a logical sequence or order. Don't try for the finished
product in the first draft. Just let your mind, and words, flow
and get some stuff down on paper. This may occur in a single
session or, for longer articles, it may be done in several rough
draft sessions perhaps broken into logical sections of what will
eventually become your finished article.
Once you've completed the rough stuff, it's time to make your
corrections, smooth out the rough edges, and perhaps do a little
juggling in terms of organization. Run your text through the
spelling/grammar checking tool of your word processor and make
the appropriate adjustments/corrections.
Now that the body of text that you have created is "technically
clean" from a spelling/grammar standpoint and you have satisfied
yourself with the organization, its time to do the final styling
or polishing to ensure readability (that may or may not be a
word, but I'll claim poetic license and go ahead and use it).
Read your article aloud to yourself and get a feel for the
cadence or rhythm. The readability of the entire article can be
influenced by changing the order of words and/or exchanging one
like-meaning word for another. The final goal is to invite
readership.
Many entrepreneurs and professionals use their articles as a key
component in launching successful careers earning very
substantial incomes. Remember, with regard to writing articles,
you're better than you think you are...it's all about attitude.
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Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and
coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
Visit his website at Legitimate Home Based Business for more details.
