Writing articles can be one of the most effective ways of promoting yourself and your business, establishing yourself as THE expert in your industry, and even generating more revenue. This happens when you start to use articles as Information Products and create a strategy around exactly how to use them (see this Special Report on the most effective ways to use your articles).
Using articles as Info Products in this way has proved to be successful time and time again. This is also one of the easiest, most affordable ways to market your business, yet many people hesitate because they think they can’t write or they don’t know what to write. In my opinion, if you can talk about your business, what you do and how you help people, then you can write about it. If you’ve been hesitant to start writing, here are some tips that might help.
Get someone to write for you
There are many writers out there and it although this can be an expensive option, it certainly doesn’t have to be. You can find writers at elance.com. You submit the project and they will bid on it. You get the opportunity to review work that they’ve done before and each time someone on e-lance does a project for someone their work is rated. You can also look for writer forums or groups, such as LinkedIn for a writer to work with. The most important thing is that you’re clear about what you want them to do for you. For example, do you want them to research the topic and then write it? This will be the most expensive option, since it will take more time. Ideally, you would tell them what you want the article(s) to be about and provide all the information that they need.
One method that I have used that works well is to ask for someone who can take an audio file of a tele-seminar, interview or presentation that I’ve done, listen to it and then create articles from it. This is a very effective way to get several articles from something that you’ve already done. You’re providing them with the information that they need to write the articles and it’s a great way of leveraging your time and expertise. Not all writers will want to work in this way, so it’s important to find someone who would enjoy doing it. You also want to find someone who has an interest in your subject – that makes it easier for them to write about it.
Get help with editing
This is another strategy that I used for years before I became more confident in my writing ability. I would simply write what I wanted to say – like doing a ‘brain dump’ really. I would put it all down and then hand it over to a professional writer and she would write the article for me based on what I’d written. Getting someone to edit for you works well, particularly when you are submitting articles to publications because you really want them to read well and be grammatically correct. Some people specialize in editing and some writers will do editing as well as writing. Again, search on sites like elance or ask in the forums or writer’s groups about how to find the best person for you to work with.
Use what you already do
You probably already have lots of things you’ve already done that you can resurrect and turn into articles. If you’ve put together a presentation or educational program or if you’ve ever been interviewed, for example. You could even take your brochure that describes your products and services and create articles from that. Just look around to see what you already have that you can turn into articles.
Finding content
If you’re still having trouble knowing what to write about, it can be a good idea to find out what others are talking or writing about related to your topic. Do a search for forums and groups related to a specific topic and then subscribe to the RSS Feeds. Also, give Google Reader a try, if you haven’t already. With Google Reader you can enter subjects that you’re interested in, such as Vegetable Gardening or Cat Behavior and Google Reader will collect information for you to look at on those subjects. It’s very easy to use and organizes everything very nicely so it can be very quick for you to go in and find things of interest. Seeing what others are writing and talking about may spark some ideas of your own. One word of warning – never, ever take someone else’s content and claim that it is your own. What you can do, if you see something you like is to quote and reference somebody else’s work (making sure you provide full information about who wrote it, and even a link to their article) and write your thoughts about it – add your spin to it.
You could even write about a book that you’ve read, or a seminar that you went to or a presentation that you heard, and what you got out of it, how you applied the information you learned, etc. Just be sure that if you’re talking about somebody else’s work that you reference that person and their work.
One method I like to use that works very well for me is to post a question in groups or on forums. I tell people that I’m writing an article and ask how they feel or what they think about a certain thing. I always get some fabulous responses – but you must make sure that you’re genuinely interested in hearing other people’s thoughts and opinions and then thank them for responding and use their input. If you want to use someone’s name be sure to ask them first. Not everyone wants to be directly quoted.
It’s always a good idea to get someone to review your articles once you’ve written them. They may pick up errors that you don’t see. I used to be very hesitant about writing but now I actually really enjoy it and where before I used to think I needed someone to write my articles for me, now I write them myself. I’m sure that a professional writer will find grammatical errors and I know that from that perspective my articles are not perfect. But I get far more feedback from articles I’ve written myself – and that’s because when you write it yourself, it comes from the heart, and people feel that.
Most articles only need to be 300 – 500 words – that’s not a lot. As you can see, I have trouble keeping to that limit! What you do want to do is ensure that you provide valuable information in your articles. Don’t just write fluff. Give people something that they can use, and make it easy, keep the language simple – particularly if yours is a subject that may be difficult for some to understand.
If you would like more information, help and guidance on creating Information Products, go to Fast Start Information Products and sign up for more helpful tips.
