Write
articles for Reprint as part of your Internet Marketing
Strategy
14
Tips for Getting Your Articles Published More Often
By
Bill Platt
The Phantom Writers
http://thePhantomWriters.com
The
writers who have learned the value of using free reprint
articles as a promotional tool, go back to the well
time and time again because it generates real results.
Some writers have ended using all other methods of
promotion because reprint articles work so very well.
It
is a beautiful thing when one of my clients tell me
that they need to stop article distributions for a
spell because they are swamped with new business and
need to have time to catch up. Of course, that is
less money for now, but they will be back.
TIPS THAT WILL HELP YOU GET GREAT RESULTS
WITH YOUR ARTICLES TOO
1.
Teach, Don't Sell -
Article
writers who generate a 1000 word sales pitch will
not get the results they expect, if any at all. Publishers
do not want to reprint sales pitches. They want to
reprint articles that will teach or entertain their
readers.
2. Tell an Interesting Story -
Just
the other day, I saw an article in the lists that
flat put
me to sleep after two paragraphs. Did I finish the
article? No.
Do you think the article got republished? I doubt
it. Did the
article generate any traffic or sales? Not likely.
If
you can capture the interest of readers and keep their
interest through your whole message, you will have
overcome the greatest challenge all writers face.
3.
Trim Excessive Words -
Even
I occasionally put together an article that should
have had the excess baggage trimmed from it. One of
my most printed articles ran 200 words longer on its
first publication. On the first run, I received zero
reprints. Trimmed and resent, the article has been
published hundreds of times.
4. Select a Good Title -
A
title should always catch the eye and tell the reader
that it is an article they want to read. An article
that is written well can fail to produce results if
the title does not match the quality of the article.
5. White Space Management -
In
newspapers and books, white space is not as important
as it is when you are writing for the web. Short paragraphs
are vitally important to keeping the interest of the
reader. And extra white space to break up the ideas
in an article are just as important.
Unless
you can manage white space properly, reading on the
web can be extremely difficult. The reasons for this
are the smaller viewing area in electronic print,
AND the eye strain that comes from looking at a monitor.
6. Highlighting Ideas in the Copy -
Some
writers use a Numbered List like I am using here.
This can generally produce good results. Better than
a Numbered List is a Bulleted List with stars or dashes
defining the different ideas.
Yes,
I considered using a Bulleted List, but thought a
Numbered List would be better for this particular
article.
7. Highlighting Subtitles in the Copy -
Most
articles I write do not fit the Numbered or Bulleted
List scenarios. In those cases, I always use subtitles
to
differentiate my ideas. With subtitles, I either use
ALL CAPS or Title Case for the subtitle. In most cases,
I prefer using all caps for the subtitle to ensure
that the title case subtitle is not mistook as standard
body text.
8.
Write an Effective Resource Box -
The
Resource Box is otherwise referred to as your About
the Author Information. When your reader reaches the
end of the article, if you have done a good job in
the body of the article, the reader will be interested
in who you are and what you do.
Your
goal is not to sell a product or service in your Resource
Box. Your goal is to provide an intriguing biography
that will entice the reader to actually visit your
website URL.
9. Keep Your Resource Box Short -
The
basic length restriction for your Resource Box is
9 lines by 65 characters.
Sure,
you can put out a larger Resource Box, but the chances
of getting published is greatly dimished if you spent
too many words talking about yourself.
10. Leave Your Site URL's in the Resource
Box -
You
should always try to leave links to your website in
the
Resource Box and not in the body of the article. The
only links that should appear in the body of your
article are links to URL's where the reader can find
additional documentation to support the basis of your
article or where the reader can find additional tools
or resources associated to the context of your article.
Your
site URL is expected to be seen in your Resource Box.
That is where it belongs.
11. Rules Governing Links to Your Site in
an Article -
Many
publishers and distribution list moderators believe
that if
you put your own links in the body of your article,
then your article is simply an advertisement disguising
itself as an article. Most publishers and distribution
list moderators reject this type of offense out of
hand without any recourse.
The
only exception to this rule is when you are linking
to a
related resource on your website or providing a shorter-url
redirect for another website.
Most
publishers and distribution list moderators will check
your on-site links to verify where they go.
12. End With a Solid Conclusion -
It
is always good to conclude your article and wind everything
up nicely. Sometimes we see bulleted list articles
that would have done well, had they only told us that
the article was over. When
your reader gets to the end of the article and wonders
where the ending is, then you will know that you have
failed to reach your true potential.
13.
Get Wide Distribution for the Articles You Publish
-
Over
time, you might be able to search out all of the resources
available for distributing your article for free.
There are literally thousands of them out there.
Figure
out which ones have the widest possible reach and
use those. Some places will never actually generate
any reprints, so do be careful of your time. Make
your assessments of a resource's value over several
uses, since not all articles will appeal to all publishers.
There
are also services available that will help you to
distribute your articles. If you search them out and
use them, they can help you to spend more time writing
and less time doing the tedious and time-consuming
tasks of submission.
14. Persistance Is Your Most Valuable Tool
-
A
single article may not have the pulling power that
either you or I think it will have. The marketplace
is very fickle. Put yourself on a schedule to write
one article a month or one article per week, and then
follow through with your plans.
Four
articles in the marketplace are more valuable than
one. And, fifty articles are more valuable four.
The
more articles you have in circulation, the more links
you will have to your websites, and the greater a
chance you will have to be reprinted and to generate
new sales.
If
you keep it up, in a few years you will find that
you have
become a household name and that people will seek
you out to offer you new opportunities for real success.
IN CONCLUSION...
If
you follow these tips and utilize them in your own
articles,
you will find that you will get published more often
and gain
greater results from the articles that you do write.
Good
luck in your article writing endeavors.
Through
his article distribution services, Bill Platt can
deliver your articles to 17,000+ publishers & webmasters
eager for fresh, good quality content. http://thePhantomWriters.com
-
When you visit, be sure to use our contact form to ask
about the possibility of having us Edit or Write your
articles for you.
--- 1400+ articles archived for easy reprint.
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