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Article Writing Tricks & Tips
We are going to give you some great tricks and tips on how to write effective articles and do it in at least 1/2 the time, and with an automated method it will save about 1/4 of the time.
We will show you two primary ways to help save you time writing your articles, but allow you to write effective articles and not leaving out important content.
The methods we will show you can be used for our Content Article Writing, Blog Article Writing, "Revenue Sharing Articles, Response Typing, and submitting your blogs to article directories. We will explain how to use any of the methods for each of these programs.
There are two ways we will show you on creating articles in a short amount of time.
One way we will show you is using an automated software programs we found. This will do articles in as few as a five minutes for an article that may normally take thirty minutes by conventional writing methods. This software is provided by a third-party source, so there is an additional charge if you want to use it. This OPTIONAL, so don't pay for it if you feel you don't want to invest any money.
We will provide a complete step-by-step manual method which is 100% free to do, and will still save you time on creating your articles. Usually when perfected, the manual method will save you about half the time on average over conventional writing.
Here is what we will show you:
General Article Writing Tips
In this section we go over the simple things to take into consideration that will help you create articles for what ever program you are doing. We will go over general rules of article writing, what to write about if you are looking to start a new article, and even tips on how to overcome writer's block. These tips are compiled from several professional article writers.
Automated Article Creating Software (Optional)
We have an optional way you can create and spin your articles using a special software program. This software will help you create articles in as little as 8 minutes or less. This software is an additional charge and is why we mention it is optional. We will provide two manual methods to create articles in as little as 10 minutes that are completely free to use.
Manual Method #1 - Save Time Creating Articles Using Articles Directories
This manual method of saving time creating articles is the same way the automated software will use. The only difference is it will take you a little longer to manually get the needed article content. This is a great way to save you time and still create good professional articles.
Manual Method #2 - 10 Minute Article Creating System
We will suggest to use method 2 when a publishing company or website is looking for 100% original content. What this means is you will be creating articles from scratch using 100% of your own writing. Even doing this you can create articles in as little as 10 minutes using this this system.
General Article Writing Tips
We are going to give a generalization of how to create web articles by knowing how to write a good basic articles, choose content and format articles to post to the web. We will show you how to create articles from recently published articles with out violating copyrights. So even if you have never created an article you can use the methods we will show you to become an expert article writer.
You can use everything we show you in this tutorial for all of the programs we will show you such as: Blogs, Revenue Sharing, and Content Articles and even response typing.
Important Note: In our Content Article Writing program articles will need to be formatted in a particular way as mentioned in that training. Also as a content article writer your assignments will give you the subject that needs to be written. Using what is mentioned here will be more for general article writing, but can give you ideas for creating SEO content articles as well.
Most web-marketing experts tout the power of articles for their ability to create enhanced credibility for Web sites. But what they don’t tell you is… how the heck do you write an article?
Web articles can be about almost anything under the sun, and what may not seem interesting to you will be interesting to others. As you know there are Web sites on the Internet about almost every subject matter you can think of, and these Web sites are always looking for subject articles for their Web sites. This creates content that search engines want to see. This is why many companies are willing to pay top dollar for original content articles which is what we are going to teach you how to create.
You need two important elements for a great article: something to say and the means to say it. First let’s discuss "something to say", otherwise known as content.
It is impossible to write something of interest to others without good, meaty content. Content comes from your interests and experiences. To generate content you need to look at yourself and your life in a new way. Look for situations in your day which "hit home" in some way. If you are intrigued, frustrated, thrilled, challenged or otherwise awakened, then pursue the topic in greater depth.
As you work and play, have an extra mental circuit running which observes your life. Let’s pretend this circuit is a separate person, the Observer. Now when you go along your way, occasionally become the Observer and try to cultivate a new point of view. The Observer is not mired in your day-to-day struggles. Instead, the Observer watches you struggling, with clear unemotional vision yet with humor and an interest in patterns and themes.
Becoming the Observer will help you discover the interesting parts of your life which you can then bring to your reader. You can develop your golden nuggets of experience further by expressing them aloud to others (or even just to yourself). Through verbalization, you will find additional points of view and experiences of others to enrich your topic.
Then, research your topic by word-searching on your favorite search engine.
Eventually a theme or pattern will emerge. Go a step further and try to create a solution, position or attitude with regard to the theme. This will become your unique "take" on the subject.
Example: A consultant hired by a customer was irritating the customer by getting visibly excited whenever a small problem or issue appeared on the mutual project. The customer could have developed an article on their experience into a more universal theme and wrote "Beware the Chicken Little Consultant".
The theme is consultants who use fear tactics. The position taken in the article is that such consultants should be dismissed and their users should educate themselves from less emotional sources. The attitude of the article is lightly humorous and mocking. Calling the consultant "Chicken Little" in the title is an example of this.
So far we have covered how to find and develop content, including arriving at a position and an attitude about the central theme. When you have come this far, start writing immediately.
First, jot down a few sample titles which will help guide you in your writing. Write some key points you want to be sure to cover. Then, get started writing the article.
When you write, imagine that you are sitting by a campfire with a smart and interested friend. You are comfortable and lighthearted. Your unique personality is shining through. You have a lot to share and this excites you. Tell that friend your story. What is the first thing she needs to know? Lay the groundwork step by step. Toss in a wry comment or two but don’t lose the central path.
Tell your story in an order which would be most understandable to your listener. The order might be chronological or logical, building from one point to the next. Keep going until you bring it to a satisfying endpoint.
During this part of the writing, which we call "let go", try to refrain from second-guessing your words. You spent much time filling yourself with ideas. Now is the time to "let go" all of the ideas you have compiled. There should be a feeling of "flow". The words should want to come out. Let them. You will feel empty and good when you are finished.
After we "let go", We do a few quick re-reads and fix obvious problems such as reorganizing the order of certain paragraphs, or making the "person" consistent. This article is written in first (I) and second (you) person. In it, we are talking to you. It could have also been written in third (they) person. Example: "Experienced writers organize their ideas chronologically or logically".
You can mix the "person" for a lively article. Just be sure it’s not awkward.
Look also for time consistency. Is your story written in the present? This article is written in the present. Things are happening right now. In one portion we refer to an article we wrote in the past, however the analysis of the article was written in the present, because the article still exists.
You can mix past, present and future in your article. Drawing from the past and projecting into the future are powerful presentation methods. In your re-read, make sure that this is being done correctly. Inform your readers without confusing them.
Check to make sure you are consistent with regard to singular and plural. Example of doing it wrong: "We want to inform our readers without confusing her".
Make sure each idea has its own paragraph. When writing for the web, remember that your article may be displayed in narrow newspaper-like columns. Paragraphs should be short. Avoid paragraphs with more than six sentences (Don't Use Our Program Tutorials as and Example :)) Keep sentences short. If you must have a long sentence, follow it with a short one to perk up the reader and keep her motivated to continue reading.
Here is a big one: cut out all extraneous words. Don’t repeat. Pretend each word is worth $5 and you are paying the tab. When you finish slashing words, go back and do it again. You will be surprised that you had so much filler.
When giving a list of points, do your reader a favor and write the points in a list with numbering or bullets. Don’t make the reader cherry-pick your ideas out of a blob of text.
Check your spelling!
Now that you have done your re-reads, save your work. Leave it alone for a day or two. You need this time to forget what you wrote. Next time when you edit, you will read with fresh eyes. Weaknesses in your article will jump out. Time to clean again.
Now read the article out loud. Speak every word clearly and not too fast. A good article should not only look good on the page, but it should also sound great when performed.
After a few days of checking, if you can’t find anything else to fix, you will submit the article for syndication and publishing rights to the publishing companies. This is the point of no return. Once the article is out there will be no more fixing.
Writers write because they feel a need. When they write, they feel fulfilled. It’s possible that you could be a writer. With effort you can experience the gratification of seeing your words in print and your ideas spread across the Internet.
What To Write Articles About
There really are not any guidelines for what to write your articles about. You can actually write about subjects you may have experience with; you may be an expert and not even know it. As an example, if you have children you deal with on a daily basis, you might be an expert on how to manage them and the everyday interactions you have with them. Write an article on some tips you have learned about how to manage your children.
You might know everything about carpooling, time management, or making quick meals in a crunch, etc. You might have had a bad day dealing with a certain situation; you can actually vent that through many of the article writing programs we will show you.
You DO NOT want to write articles about negative subjects such as racism, hate or pornographic material. You cannot use profanity or defamation. Just keep it clean and you will be fine.
Do You Have Writers Block?
How can you overcome writer’s block?
Answer: We feel your pain. Writer’s block is related to
procrastination, but is much more serious. It stops us dead
in our tracks and strikes fear in our hearts. It doesn’t
have to be that way. If you follow the same writing plan
every time you write, it will eliminate stress and help you
avoid the dreaded Writers Block.Here is a step-by-step plan you can use to avoid writer’s block. Here are some techniques you can use to start your fingers flying over the keyboard:
You Are The Boss: If you are having a tough time with a certain part of your article, delete it and go in a different direction. Replace it with something you feel better able to concentrate on.
Switch Things Up: If you can’t write your introduction, write your conclusion!
Google It: Use a search engine to read what others have written on your topic. Don’t copy them but do use their points to stimulate your own creativity.
Take A Walk: Get away from your computer and get a fresh perspective. Or, take your laptop outside and let the sun warm you up.
Just Do It: If you can’t write on your topic, just write about anything that comes into your head. Write about how you have writer’s block, write anything you can think of.
Sometimes, just getting your fingers moving is enough to get your creative juices flowing.
Whatever you decide to do, don’t give up. Only those who give up have no chance to succeed. Sit back, relax and read some articles written by someone you admire or the article sites we will give you to research. When you least expect it, the clouds will part and your writer’s block will fade away.
ARTICLE CREATOR SOFTWARE (OPTIONAL)
You will then add in some of your own content to keep from copyright issues to create a unique article to be posted and/or published to the Internet. If you only use portions of articles such as sentences or parts of sentences this will also help you get past writers block and get you on your way to creating unique top notch articles for SEO content articles, publishing, revenue sharing articles, and for your blog articles posts.
IMPORTANT: The "Article Creator Software" does cost additional money to purchase. It is a cost of $77 per year. They do offer a seven-day trial for $7 to see if you like it before committing to the $77 per year which can also be canceled at anytime as well.
Just to clarify YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE the Article Creator Software as this is optional. We do provide a FREE manual method to create articles below that works as effectively but will take a little more time. The choice is yours. The software is is optional and not required.
We have kept our word that this program will not cost you any additional money if you choose. We just thought that this is such a great software program that can make the money back you spend on your first few articles you create with it.
Downloading Software
1) Start by purchasing and downloading the Article Creator Software by CLICKING HERE
(Save this file to your desktop for easy downloading access)
2) After you have downloaded software and installed to your computer you will need to use the user name and password provided to access the program:
SEE A VIDEO ON HOW THIS PROGRAM CAN CREATE ARTICLES
CLICK HERE
Here are some important features of the software
| A. Keywords |
Select a keyword that would best describe your articles subject; e.g. if you |
| B. Keywords Displayed | After you select a keyword that describes your article subject then click on "RESEARCH" and you will get a list of keywords displayed here. The first selections will be "Introduction" and "Conclusion." These are the best sentences for the first and last parts of your articles. The other keywords can be used at any points in your articles. |
| C. Article Sentences | After you select any of the topics from section B, a list of sentences will be displayed in this area. To use any of the sentences for you article, click on the sentence and it will be highlighted. |
| D. Select Sentences | After you have highlighted the sentence to use, click on this button to select that sentence. |
| E. Sentences You Selected | This is where the selected sentence will be displayed for further editing and adding you own content. Remember these sentences are to get you started, and it will be important to add your own content to these sentences. |
| F. Sentences Up or Down | After you have selected all of the sentences you want to use in your article, you can move them up or down to format them into creating your article. |
| G. Delete Selected Sentences | If you have selected a sentence and no longer want it, click this button to delete the highlighted sentence. |
| H. Create Paragraph | You can create paragraphs in your articles by click this button on selected sentences to create a break between sentences. |
To create a new article project, click on the "FILE" button, then select "NEW PROJECT."
To save your article after creating, click on the "FILE" button, then select "SAVE PROJECT." You will want to name your project what ever you choose and to a location on your computer for easy access.
SEE A VIDEO ON HOW AN ARTICLE WAS CREATED IN 8 MINUTES CLICK HERE
If you are not wanting to invest any money for the software above you can use the manual methods below:
MANUAL METHOD #1 - Save Time Creating Articles Using Article Directories
Using Articles Directories to Spin Articles
The first method will a simple way to create articles for all the article-writing programs we offer. What you will be doing is referred to as "spinning
the articles" and is a simple way to take existing articles, spin the
content and the end result will be your own articles with fresh content.
The way you will spin articles will be identical to the software method we have shown you above. The only difference is that you will manual search the directories we show you for sentences to place in your articles instead of using the Article Creator software.
The advantage of using the manual method to spin articles is that you can find better sentences by doing a manual search in the article directories as the software program sometimes will not pick out the best sentences for your articles. The manual method will take a little longer to search the articles, but when it comes to creating good articles the manual method will have it's advantage.
This is completely legal and is a well known practice among seasoned article writers. The important thing to remember is spinning the articles enough so it does actually create it's own fresh content.
Both Article-Creating Methods Will Work For All the Article Programs We Offer
How you create your articles, as well as the length of article, and the content of your articles will more than likely be determined on which of our article writing programs you are using.
Both these methods will work for all of the programs we offer. Whether your creating a SEO content article to be published, an article for your blog, or an article post for the revenue-sharing program, or even the response typing program. These two methods can really help you create the needed articles in a short amount of time.
Method #1 - How to Use the Articles Directories to Spin Articles
Usage: Great for all the article writing programs we offer.
We will provide you with three large article directories that you will be able to search, locate, and spin articles as you need them. Once you locate the articles in any of the three article data bases you will spin the articles to meet your content requirements.
We will show you a how to spin articles you will find in these directories.
1st: Click on any of the three article directories we list below, then either type a keyword in the site's search box that best describes the subject of your article you are wanting to create, or use their categories to begin looking for the content articles based on a particular niche category. A list of hundreds and probably thousands of articles pertaining to the keyword you searched will be displayed.
2nd: Read the title of the searched articles, this usually will give you a good idea of the main content of the article, use this as a guideline to research the article further.
An example of looking for the best title may be let's say you are writing an article on "Apple Pie Recipes" you do a search for "apple pie," then you see titles such as "Where to buy the best apple pie" and then you see titles such as "Step-by-Step Apple Pie Recipes." You would want to select the "Step-by-step Apple Pie Recipes" because your article is not about where to buy apple pies. bit how to make apple pies.
3rd: We will suggest to select at least five different articles from the article directories pertaining to the article you are wanting to create. Copy an paste the all the complete articles to a Word Pad, or Word Processing program. Make sure you keep the articles separated so the articles don't run into each other.
4th: Now, open a second Word pad or Word processing program. Start copying some of the best sentences from all the articles and place on to the second Word Pad, or Word Processor. It is okay if the sentences don't flow together at this point, you are just needing the content from each of the articles.
You will want to create at least 500 words from your gathering of sentences, and the reason is by the time you spin the articles it will more than likely be less than what you have gathered. So going over 500 word is fine, and by the time you spin the article it will be in the 300 to 500 word range.
Keep in mind if you are doing SEO content articles then you will want to copy and paste keyword phrases. For example if you were doing a SEO content article for a publisher, recipe website or blog wanting an article on "Apple Pie Recipes," then you would want to copy as sentences from the articles with the keyword "Apple Pie," and/or "Apple Pie Recipes."
By doing this it will create the needed keyword phrases the publishers, websites, or blogs are wanting to see in the SEO content articles, and will make you look like a professional SEO content writer.
Important: Make sure that you do
change the sentences you copied enough so they are not plagiarized.
Usually just moving a few words around will do fine.
To give you an example of what we are talking about changing the
sentence, take a look at this copied sentence from an article site on
ceiling fans:
"In the rooms with the most traffic, if you want to circulate air, use ceiling fans."
Here is what it looks like after we move around the sentence:
"If you want to circulate air in rooms with the most traffic, use ceiling fans."
Not
all sentences need to be moved around. With the millions of articles,
and billions of sentences written there is bound to be some duplicate
content on common sentences. Just use your own judgement if you think
you need to move around a sentence.
5th: After you have the article sentences gathered, you will now spin the article content, and this is actually easy to do once you have the content. Here is what you will want to do:
Put the article in chronological order if possible. What this means is you will want to put the article in order of relevance.
You would start off by explaining an overview or opening paragraph.
For example, if you are writing an article about an apple pie recipe, you might explain all the different types of apple pies, the best apples to use, gathering what is needed to create an apple pie.
Next, you will want to give introduction and benefits.
So you would then in the case of the apple pie recipe explain what the apple pie will look like, taste like when it is done, or the benefits of eating a healthy apple pie.
Finally, you will give all the descriptive details, such as step-by-steps product details, service details, etc. In the descriptive details you can use subtitles for different sections you are explaining. If you are using keyword phrases you could put these in the subtitle sentence and bold the sentence.
In the case of the apple pie recipe you would explain all the needed steps to create and bake the apple pie. This is usually the longest part of your article, because this is what the reader is usually looking for the details.
After you have placed the article in chronological order, you will then want to remove any duplicate content. Start reading your article and look for sentences duplicating each other in their descriptions. Remove any words from the sentences that sound like you are repeating yourself.
Now, start reading your article from start to finish. Add words as needed to make the articles make sense, as well as providing your own touch to the content where you feel it may need it.
By the time you are done you should have an article that sounds good, makes sense, and will be your own created content.
Keyword Density and Word Count: If you are creating SEO content articles using this method #1, you need to keep in mind the keyword density. As shown in the Content Article Training you will want to keep the keyword density between 3 - 5%. You also will need to keep track of the word count.
We have a free online tool you can use which will give you the keyword density, and you word count.
Get keyword density and word count at this site
- http://www.textalyser.net
How to use the keyword density tool from Textalyser:
First Step: Copy and paste your article in the "Enter your text to analyze here" box as shown above.
Second Step: Click the "Analyze the text" button and you will get a word count and list of words where you can see word counts for every word used.
If you are not worried about word count such as maybe using for a blog post, then don't worry about counting the words.
We suggest to take 6 to 7 different sentences from each article at most. You will then add your own content to these sentences to create a good article to be published, or posted to the Internet by blog, revenue sharing, etc. By doing this it will always show as a unique article and not a copied article.
Based on these numbers just mentioned, you would probably need to copy four to six different articles to get to the 300 to 500 word count.
The following article websites have thousands of articles for you to research and get content from. You can use parts of sentences for some of your articles and then you can expand on them from there. Use parts of sentences will keep you safe from copyrights violations and to assure original content you will send to be published for SEO content, or posted through your blogs, or revenue sharing programs.
Here are the FREE article Web sites for you to research
 Advantage: Large Data Base - Great Articles Disadvantage: More Spinning of Articles Needed Because Many Writers Use These Articles. Article City is a great place to get your articles to spin. Many times you will just need to change a few words in the articles and you will be fine. This article site was set up for this reason, to allow you to use more content with out needing to worry about copyright issues, and original content. As a matter of fact you can use the entire articles with out changing a word if you want, the only thing you would need to do is give the original author credit. If you change a few words, then you don't need to give any credit. Great for Blog Article Content This article site is great to help provide blog content, so all you need to do is search and locate an article that meets your blog content, copy and paste the article to your blog, add the authors name at bottom of post and you are done.
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 Advantage: Largest Data Base on The Internet - Great Articles Disadvantage: More Spinning of Articles Needed Because Many Writers Use These Articles. Ezine Articles is a great place to get your articles to spin. Many times you will just need to change a few words in the articles and you will be fine. This article site was set up for this reason, to allow you to use more content with out needing to worry about copyright issues, and original content. As a matter of fact you can use the entire articles with out changing a word if you want, the only thing you would need to do is give the original author credit. If you change a few words, then you don't need to give any credit. Great for Blog Article Content This article site is great to help provide blog content, so all you need to do is search and locate an article that meets your blog content, copy and paste the article to your blog, add the authors name at bottom of post and you are done.
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 Advantage: No Spinning is Needed in Some Cases - Use Complete Articles Disadvantage: Smaller Data Base of Articles. Article Trader is a great place to get your articles to spin. Many times you will just need to change a few words in the articles and you will be fine. This article site was set up for this reason, to allow you to use more content with out needing to worry about copyright issues, and original content. As a matter of fact you can use the entire articles with out changing a word if you want, the only thing you would need to do is give the original author credit. If you change a few words, then you don't need to give any credit. Great for Blog Article Content This article site is great to help provide blog content, so all you need to do is search and locate an article that meets your blog content, copy and paste the article to your blog, add the authors name at bottom of post and you are done.
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MANUAL METHOD #2 - 10 Minute Article Creating System
Usage: Great for creating complete new article content + articles for your blog article submissions
Creating 10 Minute Article System
The second method we will show you is great for creating original article content, as well as learning how to submit articles about your blogs you may have created to article directory site. The second option will take a little more time than the first, but will create the absolute best articles and you can still do a 300 to 500 word article in as little as 10 minutes using this method.
As we will show you the 10 Minute article system can be boiled down into six simple steps: Brainstorming, Title, Points, Writing, Editing, and Finishing Touches. Doing this method the first time through will probably not create your articles in 10 minutes, but with a bit of practice, you can probably do it in less than 10 minutes!
With this method we will show you how you can create articles in as little as 10 minutes using some methods we will show you. This method will allow you to create more articles of your own original content.
This article creating system can be boiled down into six simple steps: Brainstorming, Title, Points, Writing, Editing, and
Finishing Touches. With a bit of practice, you can probably do it in less than 10 minutes!
Here are the steps you will master with this system:
Brainstorming - 30 seconds
Title - 30 seconds
Three Points - 1 minute
Write Article (2 minutes per point) - 6 minutes
Editing (Read it ONCE only!) - 1 minute
Finishing Touches (Keywords, Excerpt, Resource) - 1 minute
Total = 10 Minutes!
Step 1: Brainstorming
The first thing to do whether you’re planning on writing 10 articles or a hundred is to brainstorm. By getting this out of the way at the beginning, it will help you develop a clear action plan for where you’re headed, thus helping you stay on track and motivated later on. If you don’t have a specific destination in mind then any road can take you there; if you don’t have a list of topics you’re going to write about, then it becomes very easy to get distracted and/or de-motivated after a few articles. It also makes it hard to keep within your 10 minute budget if you constantly have to stop and think.
Creativity takes time, and if you get stuck you get writer's block. When you use a system, you don't need to get creative, thus you won't get writer's block.
While it is easy enough to brainstorm for 30 seconds and generate an idea for a single article, I recommend actually taking 10-15 minutes separately for brainstorming, thus providing you with an ongoing supply of ideas for all of your future articles.
You need to start with a topic. For the sake of an example, let’s pick digital picture frames. Get a blank sheet of paper and write your topic at the top. Below that, write the seven universal questions: who, what, when, where, why, how, what-if.
Now brainstorm a bit, filling out these different categories as they relate to your topic. If you're absolutely stuck, you can do a quick search in forums, Yahoo Answers, on Google, or Wikipedia, making note of any common ideas, questions, or problems that show up. Add these into your framework.
BRAINSTORM EXAMPLE: DIGITAL PICTURE FRAMES
• WHO: (buys / gives / uses them)
• Friends (boyfriends, girlfriends, school friends etc)
• Relatives (Uncles, aunts, grandparents, grandchildren, parents etc)
• People wanting to decorate their houses (home decorators, moms, home makers, etc)
• Photographers (amateur photographers, pros, nature lovers, scenic photographers etc)
• Business owners (restaurant owners, offices, doctor’s offices,
(chiropractor/massage/physiotherapy etc), retail stores, caterer’s, camera stores etc.
• WHAT: (is the product? Think of different features and characteristics)
• Big digital frames, small ones, medium ones, tiny ones, portable ones, wireless ones, etc
• WHEN: (do people buy them?)
• Christmas, birthdays, graduations, weddings, celebrations, births, Valentine’s day etc... you
can use pretty much any special occasion as a reason to buy your product. Just get
creative.
• WHERE: (do people use them?)
• Living room, family room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, workshop, office, waiting room,
reception area, hotels, restaurants, etc.
• WHY: (should they buy them?)
• Can customize with pictures, show someone you care, way to stay in touch, advertising for
business, customer or employee appreciation, etc.
• HOW: (to use them, think of “how to’s” here)
• How to install one, how to setup a wireless one, how to update one over the internet, how
to customize one for: pet lovers, sport lovers, mechanics, businesses, cooks, etc.
• WHAT-IF: (what happens if you buy one or use it?)
• Your house looks nicer, you’ve given a great gift, shown someone you cared, strengthen
the bonds with grandparents, etc.
If you’re familiar with your niche, you should be able to do this in 10 to 15 minutes, if not quicker. If you’re really stuck, ask your friends or family for ideas, but the key is to write something down! At this stage, there are no bad ideas!
We could have expanded these sub-lists much further, especially the WHO category, and we encourage you to put down all the possibilities you can think of. Be specific! The more items you have in each category, the more combinations you’ll start seeing. 10 minutes and I already have the basis for hundreds of articles.
Making Combinations
As we just mentioned, the next step is to start making combinations from your categories. By doing this you can create a nearly endless list of possible article ideas. For instance:
1. What kind of frame should you buy your girlfriend for Valentine’s Day?All we did is create combinations from the different categories. If you want a truly exhaustive list of topic ideas, then go through each of these methodically, starting with each item you’ve written in the WHO field, and create a list combining it with one of the items in each of the fields below it. Go through the list until you’ve made all the combinations possible. Even if you’ve only put down 3 items in each question you’ll have 2187 combinations! (3x3x3x3x3x3x3).
2. How can a small restaurant use a frame to advertise?
3. How to setup a wireless frame to stay in touch with grandparents?
Now, please don’t write an article on ALL of those! Many will be quite similar to each other, and many will be pointless (boyfriend buying one for bathroom to advertise!). The point is that you should easily be able to cull 100 or even 500 decent topic ideas from this mixture.
Don’t worry if you write an article on buying something for your girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, and it contains essentially the same information as the article for Christmas. The point is to be relevant to the people who find your article, and if they’re searching for Christmas gifts, then your Christmas article (even though it is similar to your Valentine's one) will be perfect for them. The chances are 1 in a million that they’ll ever read your Valentine's article as well, and make the connection. Besides, who cares if they do?
Step 2: The Title
Okay, so you’ve got your master list of topic ideas. Pick a topic, because now we're going to turn it into an
attention grabbing title. Depending on your topic, pick one of the following 5 techniques and use it:
1. Make it a Question.
o Can I Keep Squirrels Out Of My Bird Feeder?; What Is The Best Way To Cook Dandelions?2. Make it a “How to........?”
o Throwing a question mark on the end of a title can often improve click through.
o How To Lose 10 lbs In 10 Days? How To Have a Flea-Free Dog in 48 Hours?
3. Base it on Numbers or Statistics.
o Ever read the tabloid headlines at the supermarket? Do what they do, it works!
o 165 Ways to Feel Sexy; 19 Reasons To Wear Purple; Flat Abs in 21 Days; 78% of Celebrities Use
This Fat Loss Technique; Improve Your Car's Fuel Efficiency by 17%!
4. Make it Negative: use words like avoid, don’t miss, mistakes, don’t do this.
o 7 Tax Mistakes to Avoid At All Costs; Want to Lose Weight? Don’t Use Aspartame.
5. Make it a List. People love top 10’s!
o Top 10 Dating Mistakes; Top 10 Ways to Waste Time At The Office; 5 Biggest Dog Training
Mistakes; Top 10 Ways to Make Money On The Internet; 3 Habits of Highly Successful People;
5 Steps To Being Famous.
We should also mention that according to EzineArticles, the first 3-4 words of your title should include the keyword, for best performance. You might need to rearrange the title to make it work in this fashion, though it isn’t a requirement.
A great title will increase the number of times your article is viewed. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right at the beginning. Article directories like EzineArticles.com allow you to track article views and clicks, so you can do your own testing. If you have an article that has been live for a month or two and still isn’t getting many views, try changing the title and see if it improves. The more articles you submit, the more you will see the difference in performance between good articles and poor ones.
Time to Practice!
Take two minutes right now and practice writing your own headlines.
Write two titles for each of the five title types shown above.
Don’t get too caught up in what to title your article. Familiarize yourself with these guidelines; but force yourself to make a title decision in 30 seconds or less. Use an egg timer if you have to! You’ll quickly get used to writing these and it will become second nature. Don’t get stuck; you can always change it later!
Step 3: Three Points
Now that you have a great title, it should be fairly straightforward to write a 300 word article, simply elaborating on the title. Nevertheless, we’re going to make it even easier! Ask yourself, what are three or four sub-points you can talk about briefly regarding that topic? Let’s do an example, using our topic (not the title) of “What kind of digital frame should you buy your girlfriend for Valentine’s Day?”
Sub-Points:
1. Get a keychain frame so she can carry it around.
2. Or, get a medium sized one for her dresser.
3. Definitely customize the frame with pictures of you and her.
The sub-points should only take you about 30 seconds to think up. You’ll get faster at this as you go. They can be additional questions, the points you talked about in your title (3 ways to....), or pretty much anything you want. Each point should be 3-10 words, maximum.
Time Saving Tip!
If you're planning on writing five articles in a sitting, take a piece of paper and scribble
down five topic ideas, leaving space between each one. Then in only a few
words each, quickly go through and create three points for each topic.
Now you can focus 100% on writing, no creativity required!
Now you’ve effectively built the framework for your article, and it’s time to start writing. Typists, warm up your fingers!
Step 4: Write the Article
If you’ve done everything I’ve told you so far, then the article is going to practically write itself for you; this is the easiest part!
You’ve already got a title which pretty well sums up the article you’re about to write, and you’ve also got an outline in the form of a few sub-points or questions which you are going to address. All you need to do now is address them!
We usually start with an opening sentence or two, introducing the topic and what they’re going to learn. Try to use the keyword early in the first paragraph. We then move straight into the first point. In fact, we actually type out my point as a subheading then answer it with a few sentences. As you’re practicing, use the timer again and limit yourself to 2 minutes per point.
Go through all your points then gauge how many words you’re at. I’ll nearly always throw in a conclusions sentence of some sort. Once again, make sure you put your keyword in the last paragraph. This helps with SEO. In general you only want to use your keyword once for every 100 words, so for the size of articles we’re talking about, you’re only going to mention your keyword three or four times. Feel free to use variations of your keyword though, for instance: digital frame, digital picture frame, digital photo frame can all be used interchangeably.
Some people try to make their writing style sound polished and sophisticated, however many experts agree that it is best to write as if your audience had only a grade 7 education. This is the level where most people feel comfortable reading at, so just keep it simple!
Tip: Save in Text Format
If you like writing in Microsoft Word, that's fine, but save your files in Plain Text Format.
Copying and pasting from Word doesn't usually work well with article directories because of
extra code Word leaves in there. Saving in text format looks ugly, but you can quickly paste it later.
A quick note on editing... Don’t!
This might sounds counter-intuitive, and of course you need to make sure that you’re submitting something that isn’t full of spelling and grammar mistakes (otherwise it may get rejected by the directory editors), but if your spellchecker comes up clean and it makes sense when you read it, then don’t bother polishing it!
We’re not here to grace the internet with the finest prose yet written by man; we’re here for one purpose only – to get eyeballs to our articles and on to our website where the fun stuff happens (read: sales!). That is the reason that anyone can use the 10 Minute Article System to create useful articles.
With practice I’ve learned to type an article in a single go, and I know that it is at least 80% of where we would like it to be. Going back and fixing that remaining 20% often takes more time than it took to write it initially, and it’s just not worth it! Force yourself to publish your first draft, and get used to doing it.
Pareto’s Principle says that 20% of your effort will produce 80% of your results, so the more you focus on what you’re doing in that 20% zone; the more your productivity will increase. The more you eliminate unproductive time, the more your productivity will increase.
So the editing step basically just means have a quick read back over your article, make sure it makes sense, and if it does, move on.
Step 6: Finishing Touches
To be fully prepared to submit your articles all over the internet, there are a few more quick things you need to do. These are the finishing touches on your article, and then you’ll be done, all in 10 minutes or less!
Keywords/Keyphrases
Keywords are like tags; they help the article directory and the search engines index your article and display it for relevant searches. Therefore, you can’t afford to leave this field blank, or to put only one keyword in there like many people do.
It is important for your SEO content articles to included needed keywords as described by the publisher or website in need of SEO content articles.
If submitting to article publishing sites, most article publishing sites will want to see a 3 - 5% keyword density 500-word per article, and we’d recommend taking them up on that offer. Every article you write should be specifically targeting one keyword. Make sure that keyword goes in here, but then also put any variations of it you’ve used in the article.You would use more keywords if submitting directly to publisher or website.
It is also good to do a little lateral thinking at this point. Let’s go back to the digital frames example. We could put digital frames and digital picture frames in the article about the Valentine’s Day gift, and that’s great. But chances are, people aren’t going to be searching for “digital picture frames,” in fact digital frames probably aren’t even on their mind. They’re looking for Valentine’s Day gifts, and you’re suggesting they use a digital frame to solve that problem. Therefore, you need to be putting Valentine’s Day keywords in there as well so that your article gets shown in the search results.
Keyword Density and Word Count: If you are creating SEO content articles using this method #1, you need to keep in mind the keyword density. As shown in the Content Article Training you will want to keep the keyword density between 3 - 5%. You also will need to keep track of the word count.
We have a free online tool you can use which will give you the keyword density, and you word count.
Get keyword density and word count at this site - http://www.textalyser.net
Excerpts
Excerpts are short little blurbs that describe your article. To write a proper excerpt it is important to understand how they are used. If you go to EzineArticles.com you’ll notice all the articles on their front page. The titles are in blue, and right beside them you’ll see the excerpt.
The excerpt is what is used to describe your article, to advertise your article to potential readers. It is also used by some search engines to describe it in the search results.
With that in mind, you want your excerpt to grab the reader’s attention. Don’t make it a boring, technical sounding summary. Make it interesting enough that they want to know more. Here are three points to remember:
1. Keep it Short. You shouldn’t need more than 1 or 2 sentences to describe the article, plus
search engines only display the first 160 characters or 25-30 words.
2. Speak Simply. Save big words like antidisestablishmentarianism for the article – NEVER put
them in the excerpt. You want these as direct and easy to read as possible.
3. Write it Last, so it can properly describe and reflect the article you’ve written.
Hint at what you will tell them, or what they will learn, or grab their attention in some way so that they want to read more. Make sure you put your keyword phase in there too!
Resource Box & Call to Action
Now that you’ve completed your article, you need to write a resource box for it. Sometimes called a signature, this CAN be used as a blurb about you, the author, but that’s just boring. Smart marketers will instead use this space as a Call to Action (CTA) – forget telling people about you, tell them about your product and how it can solve their problems!
The resource box is placed right after the article. In some cases, you can write it as if it is the last paragraph for the article, thus putting a spin on the whole article. However, this doesn’t work with all directories, as some show the signature in a separate box.
We recommend customizing the resource box for each article you write; at bare minimum you should have several variations that you cycle through. Most importantly, you need to vary the anchor text that you’re using in your links. Google likes to see variations of keywords linking back to your site; they get suspicious if there is only ever one phrase that is used to link back to you, and you won’t rank as well. It is far better that you have a several different phrases that you use.
It helps to make the resource box relevant in some way to the article. There's a reason it's called a resource box! For instance, if your site sells sports shoes and you’re writing an article on tennis shoes, make your text relevant to tennis shoes in particular. Make the reader think that your site is built specifically to solve the problem they’re reading about!
If you have a free report that you give out, you should advertise it in your resource box. This could also be the place to advertise your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, in English, that’s what makes your business different (and better!) than the competition.
Resource Box Case Studies
If you look at a half dozen of the articles on the front page of EZA at any given time, you will see that people have very different ideas of what should be in a signature. Let’s look at a few that are on the front page as I’m writing this. What aspects of these make them effective? Let's look at each one:
1. Learn more about the Anchorage Alaska Real Estate market or search Anchorage AK Real Estateon Ryan
Tollefsen's Alaska Real Estate web site.
Two different anchor texts are used, which is good, and the search function on his site is probably useful to
readers, so that’s good too. However, the way the last part is written makes it sound a little amateur. Far
better to describe your site as the legitimate business it is than as someone’s personal site or hobby.
2. Brian Dennis hosts a website for golf fanatics. Feel free to visit us if you want more information on golf
products, golf news, golf equipment and everything else that is golf related. Simply click on the link below:
http://www.golf-fanatic.com
They've used “feel free” – a guaranteed way to kill your click through rate. “Feel free” is far too nice and
open ended; there is no call to action in that phrase. Far better to say “Visit ____ for more information on
______”; keep the sentence in the imperative tense (commanding). This author has also given up his
chance to use anchor text on a link, thus wasting valuable link juice. Tsk tsk.
Inserting HTML Anchor Text Links
To make a certain keyword show up as a link in your resource box,
simply paste this code before and after it, replacing it with your own information:
<a href=”http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com”>KEYWORD</a>
3. Learn much more about determining coin collecting value, and other great information about coin collecting by visiting: http://www.coinsupplyexpress.com
Note: The above is an example and not an active website.
The author used a combination of anchor text and straight URL to link back to the site, which is a great idea. Often times, good articles will get re-printed elsewhere on the internet, and depending on how they are displayed, sometimes the straight URL is the only link that will work properly in these cases. Still, the call to action is a bit weak and could be improved with an offer of a free report.
4. Have a fun and safe time on the road, and visit us to find the best deal on the insurance coverage you need. Get money-saving tips, affordable auto insurance quotes and helpful information about insuring your vehicle from Auto Insurance Rates Direct today.
Here we’re told to visit to get the best deal – a fairly strong call to action. They’ve also used two different anchor texts, all in all a pretty good signature.
5. For more easy and effective tips on how to lose body fat the right way ...
Firstly, CLICK ==> http://losebodyfat101.info/opt.html And Download $97 of F-R-E-E Fat Slashing Reports And a 6 Day eCourse.
Secondly, with the F-R-E-E REPORTS, you WON'T starve, waste hours at the gym ever, or basically do
anything that will take too much time away from you work or family.
Thirdly ... Just enjoy the F-R-E-E Reports And Discover the QUICKEST WAY TO LOSE BODY FAT without
changing much in your diet or exercise plans.
The author has gone way overboard on the call to action. This one is starting to look spam-like. Hyphenating F-R-E-E is a technique sometimes used in emails to slip past spam filters (it doesn’t work anymore), but shouldn’t be necessary on an article directory. Additionally, it carries the connotation that they’re trying to dupe you and screams cheap advertising. However, they did use both anchor text and straight URL, they did have a call to action, and additionally they took a lot more space than most people
do for the signature. Many people stop at a one line signature; however there is often far more space allowed. Blank space doesn’t sell, so use it!
6.
Now you want to have more energy, be Healthier, look Younger, lose weight, and cleanse your body, right?
Do this with Oprah's Dynamic Duo of Acai Berry & Colon Cleanse by Clicking Here Now! Acai Berry is the #1 "Super Food" because it has so many different elements that help your body, so you can't go wrong with Acai Berries & Colon Cleansing.
In #6, the question should be re-phrased as a command – “Be healthier, look younger, etc with Oprah’s system...” If you ask people a question and they’re fence sitting, then they’re not going to do anything about it. If you tell them to do something for a good reason, they’re more likely to click through. Using the anchor text of “Click here now” is a COMPLETE waste of anchor text. The only good part about it is the call to action it represents; however from an SEO perspective you don’t gain anything. Finally, the last link looks like it would be better off being two separate anchor text links.
Personalized text, relevant to the article.
Call to Action. Make it a command and give them a strong reason to click through to your site.
Links. Use both your available links, one with anchor text, and the other as a straight URL.
Using a Text Template
Previously we mentioned that you can write your articles in MS Word if you want, but that it is best to save them in Plain Text format. The reason for this is that when you're pasting your articles into the submission forms, bad things sometimes happen if you paste directly from Word (extra code comes along and messes up the formatting).
To get around this we save all my articles in straight text, or copy them to a Notepad or Wordpad file before saving. To save time, we also use a template that we basically just fill in with our article. Now before you laugh at the simplicity of it, let us tell you that even though it is ugly and simple, We've found it very functional and a surprisingly useful time-saver. The whole point of using a system to create articles is to remove the creativity required, and thus the writer's block that often accompanies the need for creativity. This template helps achieve that goal.
TITLE:
{leave blank area for title}
ARTICLE:
{leave blank area for article}
EXCERPT:
{leave blank area for excerpt}
KEYWORDS:
{leave blank area for keywords}
RESOURCE BOX:
{leave blank area for resource box}
Now, this definitely isn't rocket science, but using this template has consistently saved me time on every article we written using it. Remember, saving a minute each time counts for something when you're writing 500 articles; it adds up to more than 8 hours!
Usually if you're writing a lot of articles all at once, there will be overlap between keywords and resource boxes. If your articles are all saved in this format, copy the already-complete article that is closest to the one you're about to write, quickly delete the content in the first three fields and start writing. After you're done, just modify the keywords and resource box as necessary.
This template gives me a file we can easily send to anyone else to have submitted. All the fields are neatly separated, removing all guess work from the submission task, which is sometimes important depending on who you're sending it to! Plus, we don't have to count on the outsourcer to come up with any part of the article, thus maintaining complete quality control.
Link Structure
This report isn’t about SEO, but we would be remiss not to point out to you the danger of using different URL structures on your links. Very briefly, Google sees the following links as entirely different, even though we know that they all lead back to the same place.
· http://www.domain.com
· http://www.domain.com/index.php
· http://domain.com
· http://domain.com/index.php
The moral of the story is simply to pick which link structure you’re going to use, and be consistent. There isn’t a right or a wrong in terms of which one you pick; just stick with it once you’ve chosen it. Personally we always use the full URL, without the homepage. (e.g. http://www.domain.com)
Be Your Own Drill Sergeant
The essence of the whole 10 Minute Article system is that you learn to quickly complete a series of small and simple tasks, according to a learned method. The point of systematizing something is to take the guesswork out; to remove the need for creativity and the time spent thinking that it represents.
In the beginning it can be hard to discipline yourself to stick within strict time limits for each step of the process, but we've found that using an external reminder can help greatly. You need to be your own drill sergeant and make yourself toe the line!
If you've got an egg timer, set it each time you're advancing to a new step, and force yourself to stay within the time limit (see page 6 for task times). If you don't finish in time, move on. Don't finish. After you've gone through all the steps, see how far you went over limit, then of course go back and fix your article.
However, forcing yourself to carry through each step in the required time will QUICKLY bring you up to speed, by forcing you to think of ways to do things quicker.
Here's a link to a cool desktop stopwatch program we've found that works in Windows. It's free, and it produces such an annoying beep that it is sure to keep you motivated =).
http://www.download.com/XNote-Stopwatch/3000-2350_4-10049177.html
After you're comfortable doing each of the individual steps fairly close to the recommended times, then set your alarm for 10 minutes and go through the whole thing in one shot. Again, if you overshoot, that's okay. Make note of how much you overshoot by, and aim for better next time.
By doing this, you're competing with yourself, and you'll find that you won't be satisfied until you achieve your goal – a fully complete article in 10 minutes. We can do it, so there's no reason why you can't too! Print out the handy 10 Minute Articles bonus checklist and use it as a guide as you're learning the process.
10 Minute Articles Checklist
Print out this checklist and use it with a timer. If you take too long for a step, move on to the next one. Be ruthless on yourself, and you will soon get there!
► Brainstorming 30 seconds
• Make a combination from your brainstorm session. Remember the seven universal questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, What-If.
► Title 30 seconds
• Remember: Questions, How To's, Numbers & Statistics, Negatives, and Lists
► Three Points 1 minute
• Think of 3 useful points, no more than 10 words each.
• Phrase each point as a question if you can.
► Write Article 6 minutes
• 1 or 2 introductory sentences.
• Answer each of the 3 points, using them as subheads. Max 2 minutes each.
• A conclusion sentence.
► Editing 1 minute
• Read your article, once only. Only fix MAJOR problems.
• Remember, you're aiming for an 80% grade, not 100%.
► Finishing Touches 1 minute
• Keywords (4 to 6) – include your targets, and also laterally relevant ones (e.g. Valentine's Day)
• Excerpt – Keep it short & speak simply. Hint, attract interest, and include your keyword.
• Resource Box – Personalized, relevant text. Call to Action. Links (both anchored and straight).
CLICK HERE to Print out the handy 10 Minute Articles checklist and use it as a guide as you're learning the process.