If you’ve ever written an article, you’ve probably felt overwhelmed by a blank sensation -
not knowing where to start.
…I’ll bet you have!
This is one of the biggest reasons why most people simply don’t write articles.
They just simply don’t know where to start.
If you’ve been in this situation, here’s a checklist that should help you eliminate
some of the most common problems in writing articles so that you can ramp up
your online business to the next level.
1. Have a specific purpose in mind.
Always have a specific purpose in mind before you begin
writing. You should be crystal clear about what you are
hoping to accomplish by writing your article. Is it an
article solving a problem for your customers, to attract
prospects and build your list, to improve your link
popularity for your website or to make a sale?
2. Know your target audience.
Before writing an article, conduct research on your target
audience. What pain or problem do they face or try to avoid?
3. Develop a detailed outline that stress the benefits.
Now that you have a purpose and a target, organize your
article so that scanning it quickly will show immediately
to your reader how they will benefit from it and what are
the most important points.
4. Stop your reader in his tracks with your title.
Your title should grab the reader’s attention and ‘force’
him to read your first paragraph. Using your most important
benefit usually does it. Your title should also contain
keywords that are highly related to your content.
5. Start your article with the most important benefit.
Again, do not keep your most important information for the
conclusion. You need to give it up immediately to grab your
readers attention and then further expand on this in the
following paragraphs.
6. Keep your sentences simple and short.
If possible, avoid jargon that may confuse your readers.
In other words, write your article and keep it simple so
that even a child can understand it. Using short and simple
sentences will allow a fluid and easy reading, preventing
your reader from getting bored.
7. Make your article warm and personal.
Speak direct to the reader and in a tone as if you were
talking face to face with a friend. Use a lot of ‘you’
and very little “I or me”. Reading your article, the
reader should feel warmth and empathy, knowing that you
have the same problems and goals as him.
8. Spend more time rewriting than writing.
Besides formatting your article for easy reading, be sure
to use spellcheck tools or an external editor to
carefully proofread your writing for grammatical and
spelling errors.
Remember that the more writing you do, the better you will
get. Believe me, there will come a time when article
writing will not seem as difficult as it may be now and
you will be kicking yourself for not going it earlier.