* Are you trying to promote a web site or online store? * Are you a consultant or small business owner looking for new customers? * Do you have an e-zine and want new subscribers?Writing articles and sharing them online can be a great way to meet all of these goals!
What to write about: ------------------
Before you actually begin writing, get out a piece of paper and write down your goals for
articles. Are you trying to bring business to your online store? Do you want to locate new customers for an offline business? Write down specifically what you hope to accomplish.
Next, write down type of people who you are seeking. What type of people are most likely to buy from your store, for example? Are they male or female, young or old, parents or single? Write down as many characteristics of your ideal customer as possible.
Then, look at combination of your objective and your desired customer, and figure out some article topics that would be of interest to a person in your target group.
Heres an example to give you a feel for what Im talking about:
* Goal: bring customers to my online store, which sells birthday items * Ideal Customer: a mother with children between 1 and 10 who is planning a birthday party for her children in next few months. * Topics:
- How to plan a first birthday party - How to plan a childs birthday party - Kids parties on a budget - Unique party ideas for children - How to have a _ birthday party (dressup, zoo animal, etc etc)Write it: ------------------
Now, start writing your articles!
Pick one of your topics to start. Develop an outline of topics you want to cover. Dont pick too many; ideally your article will be only about a page in length.
Write it! Keep it to point, share as much information as you can, and keep paragraphs fairly short. When youre finished, have someone else proofread it if possible.
Finally, develop a short resource box to place at bottom of all of your articles. This is only 4 - 5 lines, and tells a little about you plus has a link to your web site, an email address, or whatever else you want. If you include some sort of free gift or report for people who click through that will increase your click-through rate.
