My Ezine Articles video for those who missed it back in May. This was for a contest for EzineArticles and I discuss how anyone can be an EzineArticles Expert Author.
Why Article Writing Can Help Any Business
July 30, 2010
Associated Content, EzineArticles, HAHD, Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, freelance writing, writing, writing tips article marketing, business article marketing, article marketing campaign Leave a comment
If you are in the world of online business, it’s possible you’ve heard that article writing can help you. Maybe you are asking yourself what articles have to do with your business. Is this just another one of those things some so-called expert is trying to tell you that you need to have to boost your business so that they can get more money out of you?
Actually, you might be surprised to know that there are some real benefits to article writing, no matter what type of business you operate. Once you learn what these things are, you might wonder why you never gave it a try sooner. While the more experience you have, the better your articles will be, anyone can write articles. This means that you have the opportunity to do this for yourself and have a direct hand in helping your business grow.
Here are some reasons why article writing can help any business:
- They can help inform the reader about the product or services that you provide
- They can help establish you as an expert in your field which will help to boost your business
- You can use them for backlinks to your site
- Article marketing is an effective form of free advertising
- Writing articles shows the reader that you care about the topic or niche
- How to’s and other helpful content bring readers to your site
- Articles can be an opportunity to answer client/customer questions
- You can cover your FAQs in articles
- Draw in attention from people who might not otherwise see your website
- Give content for you to market on social media sites
- Help you to provide useful information on your niche to the readers
Now that you know these reasons why article writing can help any business, you can make an informed decision about whether or not you need articles for your business. You can write them yourself, hire someone to write for you or buy articles in pre-written packages. With so many different options available, you just don’t have any excuse for saying you can’t get articles.
Article writing can help any business because there is always something to learn, something to say and something to share about any niche or topic that exists. This is an excellent tool to help bring in traffic and spread the word about who you are and what you do. There is no better time than now to see what articles can do for you.
If you are looking for an article marketing campaign but are unable to write and submit the articles yourself, consider my article marketing package service offered on my website.
Celebrating the Small Goals in Your Writing Career
July 29, 2010
Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, freelance writing, fun stuff, writing, writing tips how to write articles, tips for writing, writer's marketing, writers ideas, writers post, writing, writing bids, writing jobs, writing tips 4 Comments
Working as a writer can be a very demanding career. If you work freelance or mostly freelance, it can also be a stressful career. This is because you don’t always know where the next dollar is coming from or how a project will pan out. This uncertainty adds a great deal of pressure that can also affect your work. This is because writing, unless some other career choices, requires you to be able to think clearly and positively in order to write properly.
This is why one of the most important things you can learn about being a writer is how to celebrate your small goals. If you’re not making small, obtainable goals, then your first step is to correct this. While having large goals is important, it is equally necessary to have smaller goals that you can more easily reach so that you can see the progress that you are making on a regular basis.
It is this progress that keeps you motivated and keeps you going as a writer. Since writers need to be self-disciplined, it’s often necessary to take this motivation wherever you can get it. Your small goals may include monthly, weekly, daily and even hourly goals and it’s important that you find ways to celebrate this.
For example, if you reach your weekly writing goals, you might celebrate with a date with your partner or a trip to the movies. You may buy that cute new purse you’ve been looking at before it goes out of season and leaves the store for good. Or maybe you want to pack up the kids and go to an amusement park. Whatever fits into your budget and schedule and is something that you consider to be a fun reward will qualify.
You might reward daily goals met by taking an early lunch or splurging and having your favorite meal for lunch, regardless of any diets you may be on. It could also mean cutting the work day short and spending some quiet time in the garden or curled up reading a good book. Or maybe you want to veg out with some video games or take the four-wheeler muddin’ in the hills. Again, it’s all about what works for you and celebrating these small victories and accomplishments make it all worthwhile.
When you have to be your own taskmaster, it’s often easy to forget to give yourself a pat on the back now and then. Celebrating the small goals in your writing career will help you continue to set and reach new goals and strive for bigger and better things all the time.
Stay on Task with Writing and Write More Each Day
July 28, 2010
Associated Content, Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, freelance writing, writing, writing tips 100 articles in 100 days, article marketing, 100 articles 100 days, 100 articles challenge, writer's marketing, writing tips, tips for writing, writers ideas, writers post, articles, writer tips, article tip, article writing tips Leave a comment
Here are some practical tips for writing more each day and staying on task with your writing goals. I often get asked how I write so many articles each day or how other writers can learn to write more or write faster. Here is a sample question asked to me recently by another writer and the answers that I gave to assist. The writer asking had cats and a spouse at home that often demand time which is taken away from writing or can become a distraction. I have four kids of my own so I fully understand distractions but anyone can learn to work around them.
I want to be more focused in actually staying on task, rather than giving way to distractions.
I completely understand how that goes. I have a full house myself and a husband home all day with me. One way that I combat this is to take hourly breaks. The kids and husband all know they can wait to ask me questions for one of my breaks. And me and the hubby schedule time together every day (go for walks, spend time in the evenings) so this lets us get our time together so I can be less interrupted when working. I have a lot of articles and blog posts on my blog and on the Internet that can help with this.
One tip I use myself and personally enjoy is to keep a daily diary of what you do. Mark it in 15 minute increments and track your progress for a couple of days. Then read over this and see how many opportunities of wasted time you have. This helps you be accountable to yourself for what you’re really doing all day.
When you get off balance with your schedule, everything suffers. You may feel like you’re staring at a computer screen all day and never really finishing anything and still not getting time with family or for the fun things you want to do. When you learn to stay on task, you can be more productive with your writing and then get back to the other things you want to be doing.
Another way to reach that 10 article a day goal is to time yourself on writing the articles. How long is your average? Can you shave 1 minute off each article? Could you maybe shave 2? This is how you learn to write faster and discipline yourself so that writing 10 is a breeze and you still have time left in your day for doing other things.
Do you cats roam free in the room you work in? Can you shut them out or is it an open room? If it’s possible to shut them out, you could start your morning making sure they are cared for, then give yourself an hour. Set a timer and say “I’m going to do x number of articles in this hour”. When that hour is up, whether you are finished or not, take a break, open the door, let the cats in. Play with them, tend to their needs, maybe get a drink or snack or walk around the house and then come back and set your timer again. Set a new mini-goal for the next hour such as “I am going to write x more articles” or “I am going to edit the ones I have written” or maybe “I am going to research for these articles I need to write next”.
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t always meet your goals for that hour but the more you do it, the easier it will become and you will find yourself exceeding your goals.
Article Writing Tips to Help You Succeed
July 27, 2010
Associated Content, Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, freelance writing, fun stuff, writing, writing tips HAHD, 100 articles in 100 days, article marketing, freelance writing article marketing, social networking, 100 articles 100 days, 100 articles challenge, writer's marketing, writing tips, tips for writing, writer interview, HAHD Tips, article tips, article writing tips, associated content writers Leave a comment
If you are an article writer, you probably already know that there are many other people out there trying to do the very same thing that you are doing. If you want to have success on your own, you need to know some tips and tricks to help you succeed and stand out from the many other people who are trying to do the very same thing as you.
Here are some article writing tips to help you succeed:
- Set yourself apart from the crowd by writing about different topics or in a style that is unique to you.
- Don’t write about the exact same topics as your competitors all the time but explore new or less talked about topics.
- Share your knowledge with your audience. Be open about how you resolved a problem or overcame an obstacle and tell them how they can do the same.
- Keep each article tight and concise. Your reader is coming to you for answers and information- not for fluff.
- Avoid passive voice, fillers, fluff and introductions that are too long. Keep it simple and to the point.
- Stay on topic and avoid branching off the main idea. If your article starts to go astray, pinch these pieces off and save them for another article.
- Your title is a promise; make sure your article fulfills that promise.
- Don’t be afraid to give insider tips and trade secrets now and then.
- Ask for feedback from your readers. Find out what they like, don’t like and want to see more of.
When you follow these steps, you are respecting the reader’s time by giving them something useful and valuable in each article. This is what keeps the reader coming back again and again and establishes you as a successful article writer. If these steps are new to you, it will take some time to establish them as habit but once you do, it will become easier and easier to write better. You will find that you begin to do most of these things without really thinking about it at all.
Now that you have these article writing tips to succeed, you have no more excuses as to why you are not getting started today. You can make the changes needed to improve your article writing and achieve the results you want, whether that is more articles written, more readers or more money for your articles. You can find success for yourself today!
Guaranteed Ways to Make Money Writing Online
July 26, 2010
Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, writing, writing tips article marketing, 100 articles 100 days, 100 articles challenge, writing, writing tips, writing bids, writers ideas, writers post, writer tips, article writing tips, AC writer of the day, earn with writing, earn more writing, earn more today, increase writing earnings 2 Comments
You may have heard that you can make money online with writing. Maybe you have always wanted to be a writer or maybe you are just a stay at home mom, retiree or other unemployed person looking for a way to make a few extra bucks. Writing online could be just the thing for you. However, you need to know how to go about it the right way.
There are a lot of people out there willing to talk about making money writing online. They make it sound like a fine, luxurious lifestyle. However, not very many will tell you how to make money with it yourself. They treat it as some elite club and if you haven’t paid your dues, don’t even try to sneak in.
I have worked my entire adult life as a freelance writer and I know there is money to be made. I support a family of six on it and I’m not afraid to share with others how it can be done. Writing online is a great way to make a full or part time living online. You just need to know how and where to find the money.
Are you looking for a method of finding steady writing opportunities that never dry up? Here are some guaranteed ways to make money writing online:
- Apply for freelance outsourcer sites- Websites like Elance or Get a Freelancer allow you to set up an account and bid on projects that you like at the pricing you choose. It also gives buyers the chance to invite you to their projects based on your profile information.
- Start a free blog with ads- If you want to have more control over where your content goes, you can set up your own free blog sites and place advertising such as Google Adsense on it. If you write quality content that is popular and bring in a lot of traffic, the earning potential is high.
- Write for a paid media company-You can also write for a media company that assigns titles or pays for submissions. Some pay upfront per article or assignment and some pay page views. Others pay both.
- Set up a website and freelance your services- You can also start an independent site to sell your services as a writer. Most often you will get clients who want ghostwriting or Web copy. This means that you will write content for them with no byline and according to their guidelines. You should typically charge more for this and always ask permission to use them as a reference.
- Send queries to magazines, newspapers and other media outlets- You can also send direct queries to on and offline publications that suit your writing tastes. Sometimes the income is a little slower when taking this route but it pays more which makes a great idea for dispersing into the other types of writing jobs you take.
Now that you know where the opportunities are, the power is in your hands to do something about it. There will be an investment of time that is required if you want to earn money writing and you will also want to be sure you have the basic skills needed to take on these jobs but with the right tools and skills, you can make a living writing online.
Is Writing a Gift or a Skill?
July 25, 2010
Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, writing, writing tips writer's marketing, market freelance, writing tips, writing ideas, tips for writing, writing jobs, writing bids, writers ideas, writers post, writer tips, how to write articles, hire a writer, writing news 8 Comments
We’ve heard it said before and chances are, you have probably heard it argued before as well. Some people believe writing is a gift, where others believe it is a skill. This is a highly debatable topic because if writing is indeed a gift, then that means that you are either born with it, or you’re not. What hope does that leave for people who want to be writers but maybe were not born with the natural gift to write?
But then if we say writing is a skill that anyone can acquire, are we shunning those who believe they may have been born gifted with abilities that make them better capable of writing? If we look at history and some of the greatest and most notable writers, there were no books or workshops and classes on how to write back then. This evidence seems to suggest that writing is indeed, an art that some are born gifted in.
However, there is just as much evidence to show that your writing can improve when you study, learn and practice. So does this mean that writing is a skill that can be taught and developed over time? The experts will disagree and if you ask writers themselves, you’ll find that they will often disagree as well.
I have a theory that writing can be both a skill and a gift. This is something that I talk about in my books often. I believe that some people are born with the gift of writing and that these writers are more easily capable of completing writing tasks and improving their writing. Many will say the quality of the writing produced is also better than those who have not been taught the same skills.
You can note the difference in yourself if you read something you wrote in school and something you wrote recently. Even just years of practice in between two pieces of writing can show a skill improvement. Ultimately, it’s up to you to make your own decision about whether writing is a skill or a gift.
As for me, I believe it can be both. Sometimes one writer will have the gift and another will have skill whereas some writers have both gifted talent and skill. Anyone born with natural abilities as a writer seeking to improve should also be willing to learn new skills to help them improve upon their gift.
Someone who not born with a natural gift for writing but has the desire to be a writer can learn the skills needed for success. You may be doing so with a slightly lower advantage than those who were born with the gift, but it’s still possible, especially if you really want it.
Being born with a gift for writing also doesn’t promise you will be a better writer than someone else. While it often makes it easier for you to learn new skills, it can sometimes be a hindrance as well. Some gifted writers are less open to criticism and learning new techniques needed to improve their writing. Ultimately, it’s all about finding the right balance to help you succeed.
How to Earn More with Your Article Writing
July 24, 2010
Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, writing, writing tips freelance writing article marketing, writing, writing tips, writing ideas, writing bids, make money writing, make money with articles, earn with articles, paid for articles, get paid articles 2 Comments
Article writing can be a lucrative career, especially with the many opportunities presented via the Internet. However, if you’re not yet making as much money as you would like to be, it is important that you learn how to earn more with your article writing. Here are some tips to help you do that:
- Learn to write faster. If you can shave even minutes off of each article that you write, it will allow you to write more articles in each day which means more money over time. One way to do this is by setting a timer when you write an article. See how much time it takes you and then make a goal to write your next ones 1 minute faster. Then over time, continue to take more time off each article until you are naturally writing faster.
- Raise your prices. If you have more years’ of experience, you can charge more for that experience. An article writer of one year would surely have lower rates than one of 10 years. If you have never raised your rates throughout your article writing career, you may be selling yourself short. You also need to account for changes in the economy and increases in national averages for cost of living. Prices go up; shouldn’t yours from time to time?
- Establish yourself as an expert. While it’s nice to be a Jack or Jill of all Trades, specializiing your article writing niche can help you to earn more money. When you pick a topic or two that you are most experienced in and work to establish yourself as an expert in those areas, people will pay more for your expertise. This means more money for writing about the things that you already know the most about.
- Reuse and Recycle- Another way to make more money from your article writing is to reuse and recycle whenever you have the opportunity. This refers to the actual articles themselves as well as to any notes and research that you gather while writing them. There are many situations that you probably already know of where one article will spin off into another idea and another idea. You should reuse this material whenever you can. You can also sell reprints on your non-exclusive articles to get more money for the same article.
- Earn residuals- Still another way to earn more money for your articles is by writing for sites that allow you to earn residuals for your writing. Associated Content and Examiner.com are examples of sites that pay you per page views. On Constant Content, you can sell non-exclusive per use rights to your articles and you get to control the price. A popular and well written article may sell over and over again. Finally, you can write for niche blogs and sites that have advertising on them for revenue share.
Now that you know how to earn more with your article writing, you can begin these steps today. This could be just what you need to boost your article writing income and these are all steps that you can begin today. You can take a proactive approach to your writing and earned income today with these tips.
Write 200 Articles in 100 Days Writing Challenge Coming to a Close
July 23, 2010
Associated Content, Writing articles, article marketing, article tips, article writing tips, writing, writing tips EZA, Ezine Articles, HAHD, 100 articles in 100 days, article marketing, freelance writing, freelance writing article marketing, 100 articles 100 days, 100 articles challenge, ezinearticles challenge, writing tips, HAHD Tips, articles, article tips, article writing tips 2 Comments
Earn all of this in the #HAHD Challenge
As the latest #HAHD challenge from Ezine Articles comes to a close, I have completed my 200 articles in 100 days for the bonus prizes and I am working on my personal goals for this challenge.
I have participated in many writing challenges over the years and my favorite has been the recent 100 articles in 100 days challenges from EzineArticles.com. While EzineArticles is meant mainly for article marketers, freelance writers of all types can benefit from a challenge like this as well. The most recent challenge has a new bonus prize for anyone who writes 200 articles in 100 days. You can write 200 articles in 100 days as well if you just know how to do it.
First, you can use it to market your blog or website, even if you have never previously done any article marketing. Second, it’s a great way to get disciplined to write every day, if you don’t already.
Bonus for 200 in 100 days written
A great way to improve your writing is to continue to set goals for yourself. Some of these will be large goals and they will take smaller goals to work up to them.
For example, if you want to complete 200 articles in 100 days, it might seem like a large goal. However, you then need to break that down to smaller goals of 2 articles per day, every day. This gives you a daily and realistic goal that you can actually meet.
To make it even easier, you need to determine a plan for meeting this goal. How will you write 2 articles per day? When will you write them? What will you write about? The more you can plan out ahead of time, the easier it will make it for you
to stick to your daily goals and complete the number of articles that you need to do each day.
If you miss a day, it’s important not to try to “catch up”. This is a bit like catching up on missed sleep. It just never really happens. Instead, move on with that day’s two articles and then if you complete those with extra time, go back and do the previous ones that you missed. This is the best way to stay on track without falling behind. If some days you feel inspired to do more than two, you can always write ahead in case another day comes along later that you are unable to write.
Now that you know how to get organized, committed and complete a 200 articles in 100 days writing challenge, you’re ready to begin. Whether it is a personal challenge you set for yourself or one that you are participating officially with other people, you have the confidence and skills needed to make it happen. There’s no better time than today to start writing more articles.
How to Get a Writing Mentor
July 22, 2010
Associated Content, Writing articles, article tips, article writing tips, freelance writing, writing, writing tips article marketing, how to write articles, article writing tips, Writing articles, earn money writing, get a writing mentor, writing mentors, help with writing, frind writing help, get a writing job Leave a comment
When you write to another more experienced writer on any writing venue or online and ask them to be your mentor, there are some things you can do first to help increase the chances that this person will be able to help you. Here are some steps on how to get a writing mentor.
- Know who you are asking to be your mentor. The more you can learn about your potential mentor and what experience they have in writing, the more it will help you when you ask them to help you out. This will also help you to ensure you’re asking the correct person. Just because someone is a successful writer does not mean they would be the best person to help you with your walk through the writing world.
- See if they already have articles, a blog, books or other tips and advice published that will help you. The best first step is to learn as much as you can from the information they have already put out there, especially if it is free. Don’t approach a potential mentor and ask “How do I get writing ideas” when they just wrote an article about it two days ago. Show that you have researched the info they have out there already and then ask questions or ask them to mentor you.
- Ask specific questions. When asking for help from a potential mentor, it’s important to ask specific questions that you want specific questions to. What is your most difficult aspect of learning to write? Are you having trouble getting jobs? Are you confused on how to pick a niche? Prioritize your questions and then be specific with what you ask for help on.
With these tips, you can find a writing mentor to help you exceed in your writing. Remember that the easier you can make it on your mentor, the more likely they will be willing to help and the more quickly they will be able to provide help.
When people send me vague questions like “How do I make money writing?” or “How can I be successful like you?” I try to write back but it’s difficult to find time to answer such open-ended questions like this.
I have written two books and thousands of articles on the topic of writing and earning a living from writing. My website and blog also have a great deal of information on them. I suggest to people that is the first place to look and after scanning that info, if you still have questions or specific topics you are concerned about, then feel free to ask me.
When you approach a potential mentor with organization and the knowledge that you have a foundation upon which to build, it makes it possible for them to help you. It also helps your case if you can show that you already know a little something about them before you approach them for help. All of these tips combined will help you to get a mentor and get the help you seek from other qualified writers.
