2. Write way you speak.

Use your company's voice and personality in your copy. Make it sound like a written conversation between your company's personality and your customer. Every company will have its own style and tone, depending on what you sell.

2. Write in second person point of view.

Remember to write that conversation as if it were you and one customer speaking. Be sure to use "you" and "me" a lot - companies don't sell products, people do. Here are a few examples to keep you on track:

"You will feel ... " "You'll learn hat ..." "...brings you ... " "As you know,... "

4. Provide a call to action.

No, you're not ordering customers around when you tell them what to do -- but without spelling out specific actions to take, you'll risk losing their response.

Tell them exactly what you want them to do, and be specific. If you don't ask for sale, you may not get it. For example:

"Please fill out form and mail it to ..." "Enter by December 13 for your chance to win ..." "Call toll-free today 1-800-..." "Click blue box to read more ..."

Follow these tips when communicating features and benefits and be sure your customers are hearing message you want them to hear. That way, they will also respond to your call to action way you want them to, and you make sale!

Linda Elizabeth Alexander writes marketing copy for nonprofits and other businesses. Contact her today to get your free consultation! http://www.write2thepointcom.com mailto:lalexander@write2thepointcom.com

~~ Send it to right place ~~

Be sure you send your article to right address, with right subject line. Most people filter their email. If your article does not make its way to "articles to read" (or whatever) folder, possibility is that it will never be read at all.

The other not-so-important-but-nice-to-do thing is formatting. I take me more time to read and publish an unformatted article. It might not get published by a publisher who is busier than I am.

~~ Format your article ~~

To be safe, do it 55 characters per line (press ENTER button at end of every line). I do not know any publisher who publishes less than 55 chars/line. It is a good idea to put summary of article together with word/line counts with your submission as well.

Each publisher has his/her rule about format. You have to follw it. Make it easy to read. Put more white spaces. And use common language. The article should not be too long or too short. I think 500 words is a nice length.

Last but not least...

How would you feel when you receive this message "Hey... you... need some money? here's my article" Well, I can use some money, but I just hate you for saying so. I normally reply to these people with information of how to order a solo ad in my ezine.

~~ Make offer with respect ~~

If you are offering a profit sharing program, or any kind of partnership to a publisher, do it with respect. Use terms like "please consider...", "if you would like to...", or such. Make publishers feel you are proposing a win-win partnership. Do not write as if you were giving them a favor because you actually are not! Do you need your article published, by way?

Consider these. Send your article again. This time be more thougthful. Now rest is up to content of your works.

Good Luck, and Have Fun Writing