Six Writing Traits for Success

Writing Traits - This article is based on an article in "Teaching That Makes Sense." Although the article was geared for teaching students, the tips that are included are great for bloggers and adult writers as well.

I am an avid blogger and write at least three posts a day. My style is rapid involves rapid communication of ideas. Because, I am such an analytical person, I find myself self censoring quite a bit. I find that rapid writing (what I call power blogging) allows me to get out my best ideas before my analytical mind shuts down the creative process.

However, there are challenges with this style because it puts me at risk of not communicating ideas succinctly or in a way where an audience will be able to easily identify what is being communicated. You may be a rapid writer or a methodical writer and there are pros and cons to each style.

The tips listed below will provide a general guideline of what you should look for in your writing and the writing of others.

Ideas that are interesting and important. Ideas are the heart of the piece - what the writer is writing about and the information he or she chooses to write about it.

Organization that is logical and effective. Organization refers to the order of ideas and the way the writer moves from one idea to the next.

Voice that is individual and appropriate. Voice is how the writing feels to someone when they read it. Is it formal or casual? Is it friendly and inviting or reserved and standoffish? Voice is the expression of the writer's personality through words.

Word Choice that is specific and memorable. Good writing uses just the right words to say just the right things.

Sentence Fluency that is smooth and expressive. Fluent sentences are easy to understand and fun to read with expression.

Conventions that are correct and communicative. Conventions are the ways we all agree to use punctuation, spelling, grammar, and other things that make writing consistent and easy to read.

Now like anything else, you can focus on these traits while you are planning your writing and in the review process. I would suggest reading through the traits before you start each writing session. Do not worry about committing it to memory.

You can even verbalize the traits and say something like - During this writing session, my writing will include the following traits. After a while, your subconscious mind will actually take over and start improving your writing to include these traits.

After your writing is done, when you can detach from the writing, go through and rank yourself based on each of the traits. The rankings do not need to be perfect but if you commit them to paper, you can see which areas may need more attention and which areas are improving over a period of time. This will allow for an objective evaluation of what you are writing.

Work on improving on the six writing traits that are listed and you will find that you are getting a much greater response to what you are committing to paper.

Breaking All of the Rules With Your Writing

This is about hanging out on the skinny branches with your writing and your writing efforts. Now, if you have spent anytime online you know that one of the best ways to get traffic is through search engine optimization.
The formula is pretty simple -
1. Create great content.
2. Create on page optimization.
3. Get links to your site.
4. Support people in commenting on your site.
However, this model is becoming less and less important as we move forward. The search engines are getting smarter and smarter and are picking up when people are gaming the system.
All that is going to matter in the future is 1 and 4, or at least that is where I am putting my money.
This article is not being typed by somebody that I paid and I have paid for a lot of articles in the past. You land on those articles and they are not only useless but they are also not real and are not created with care. This article comes from the heart.
The things that I share are things that matter to me and they are completely real and come from my perspective in the moment. Now, the truth of the matter is that I have no idea if this will work or if this will be worth reading.
Even if people read what I have to say, will it make a difference for them? I really do not know and am not sure. However, what I do believe is that natural expression always wins out in the end.
Now, the truth is that I will not read this article after it is written and I do not even know if the ideas in this article makes sense, but I am imagining the day where I can earn a fulltime living just sharing about the things that I care about.
You see, I can take other ideas and write on a keyword. However, I really do not enjoy doing and do not think that this will make a difference for me or for somebody else.
Who knows, this experiment could be a complete failure but if it is not a complete failure and is a success, then life as we know it will change.
All I do is pull out my laptop whenever I can and I start to rage on the keyboard. I get the sentences out as quickly as I can because there is always another one right behind that is great.
Could I slow down and think through what I am doing? I guess but I have spent too much time (or should I say) wasted too much time thinking.
I am not talking about the deep pondering that causes great results. I am talking about the thinking that takes in circles and back again. That stuff is not fun and really does not make a difference for people.
Break all of the rules with your writing. You may fail and you may not get what you want but you will know that you brought yourself to the game and that is what really matters in the end.
Please start to rage on your keyboard. We can play together.

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Writer's Block Is a Scourge - How to Get Rid of It

In the world of writing, nothing seems to get in the way of a good writer. Everything they write is just flowing through their fingertips at the speed of light, and pure genius is born in the form of words!

Well that is not always the case when it comes to the dreaded writers block. If you're a writer that might be all to familiar to you.

Here are some tips for writing, to avoid that awful experience known as "the writer's block."

1. Let the Words Flow

Writing in general, is a long process that takes a couple of hours or more just to generate ideas. Sometimes it's a good idea just to let the words flow, whether on paper or on a keyboard. The best way to do this is to get a pencil and paper, and write down whatever comes to mind.

2. Make an Outline

Starting off with a plan can be helpful. Making an outline is a good way get the main ideas of your paper, such as characters, plot twist, and a general idea of what the main theme of the paper is going be (this can be very helpful for science fiction writers).

3. Research Your Favorite Book

Inspiration can come at any time, even reading. Try taking notes of your favorite books and get a general idea of how it was constructed. For instance, if you're a science fiction writer, try reading your favorite Steven King novel to generate some ideas.

4. Local Library

What better place to go for books then the library. You can find books on the subject you are most passionate about. Books even on the subject of writing. The library also contains a wide verity of periodicals, and research material for any writer writing on subjects like history, science. For non-fiction writers, the library is a good place to start.

5. Take a Break

It's a good idea to just take a break from writing. Try another activity; take at least a 10 minutes to do something else or relax. If you have been working an hour take a break.

Remember writing takes time, concentration, and everything in between. Don't let writers block discourage you! If you have to, go outside and write about trees, write about how they look. Go with what you know, do a basic free-write. Like any profession, writing takes time and dedication.

Tips To Faster Writing

One thing to keep in mind when writing articles is that only about 10% of it is the actual content on your main points and the other 90% is filler words. So essentially in a 400 word article about 40 words are the main or essential points. The other 360 are filler words. Knowing the main points will put you at about having 90% of your article already written. The only work that generally needs to be done is to find and research your main and supporting points. Everything else will be to "fill in the gaps." Even with practice researching your topic you can be done in about 5 or 10 minutes.

How Do You Research a Topic

Well there are any some ways to finding a topic to write about but from my research the best way is to pull your topic and supporting points from multiple sites. You can do this by, heading to any search engine typing in an idea you want to write about, attempt to grab the first 3 or 4 results you get from your search and pull your main and supporting points from there. Once your finished, your about 90% percent finished with your research, the rest is just creating a template that you can use for future use, find 90% percent of filler words and your article is complete. The hardest part of this is getting started and disciplining yourself to write from a template as oppose to all from conscious thought. Mastering this will allow you to write an article in 5 minutes instead of spending hours trying to write your next "compelling" article.

Why People Struggle To Write

For most experienced and novice writers, we often hear the phrase "writers block." It's a state of mind in which we mentally block ourselves from writing because the information we want to put on paper is not there. The best way to get over writers block is to simply write. Write about anything that comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense. Why you ask? Because what will begin to happen is that you'll start to realize that as writers we can't completely depend on conscious thought alone to write. We have to use our intuition and then can we truly have the ability to write compelling articles in about half the time which will save us hours of frustration and it can produce work that we are proud of.

When to Edit, and When to Proofread

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from editors and book layout people is that authors don't understand what proofreading means.

As a simple definition, proofreading is reading an already finished and polished manuscript to look for any last errors that might have been missed when editing. If a manuscript is ready for proofreading, then the errors found should be fairly minor and probably not more than one per page, hopefully far less. Proofreading does not include editing or rewriting.

Many an editor has had an author approach him with a manuscript that is said to need proofreading but really needs editing. Editing is far more substantial than proofreading-it can involve rewriting sentences, deleting unnecessary content, writing in new content, moving around sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters, and also fixing grammatical and punctuation errors. Many editors will differentiate between copyediting, developmental editing, or other types of editing. A good editor hopefully will do all of them for you, but remember that not all editors are the same. You might find a great editor who can do a developmental edit to improve your book's content, to develop your characters or help to strengthen your plot, but he might not be so great at knowing comma rules, how to catch split infinitives, or at fixing subject-pronoun agreement issues.

Every book needs editing. If an author says a book needs proofreading, it most likely needs editing unless the author has already had someone else edit the book, and even then, only if that person is qualified as an editor.

Most editors will do a free sample edit of a few pages of a manuscript so the author can see what needs to be done in terms of editing-sentence structure, organization, grammar, and punctuation-and after the sample edit is done, the author will generally agree it is editing, not simply proofreading that needs to be done, if the editor knows what he's doing. It doesn't hurt to get a few editing samples before choosing an editor to make sure you find an editor who will give the book the full attention to detail that it needs.

After the editor finishes editing the manuscript and the author is happy with the edits, it's important to find a third party who is really good at proofreading to go through the manuscript to catch those few errors the author and editor did not catch; your editor might proofread for you, but a third set of eyes is never a bad idea. Just make sure the person is a qualified proofread-your wife or best friend are most likely not.

Once the proofreading is finished, the manuscript is done and ready for layout. Here is where "proofreading" again becomes a term that authors fail to understand and that can frustrate both the editor/proofreader and the layout person.

It's been said many times that no book is ever finished. We simply choose at some point to abandon it-which often means we believe it is ready for publication. No book that has ever been written has been perfect, and no book has ever suited everyone's tastes. You might produce a beautifully written, grammatically correct, perfectly punctuated book, but it could still have some rewriting done to make it better. The problem is, once the book is sent to the layout person, the author must restrain himself from rewriting. An author should be absolutely confident that the book is ready for publication when it is sent to the layout person. If it's not, then keep editing and proofreading. Just don't do it after the book is laid out.

Layout people do not read the books they lay out; they are not editors or proofreaders, and they will not fix your typos and other errors unless you find them and ask for them to be fixed.

The layout process includes converting the manuscript into a new program. Today, authors generally write books in Microsoft Word or some other word processing program, and editors will edit the book in the same program. But when the book goes to the layout person, the text is converted into a design file, such as InDesign, a program made specifically to design a book.

The layout person will send the proofs-the completed laid out book in pdf format (or occasionally paper)-to the author to approve. At this point, only proofreading should be done. The pdf is not the book but a copy of the book, and it cannot be edited directly. I know many editors and layout people who have been extremely frustrated with authors who decide at this point that they need to insert sentences and paragraphs, reword phrases, and flip around chapters. Once the author receives the proofs, whether as a pdf or in paper form, the author should only look for typos, and every change should be deemed absolutely necessary. Only the layout person, not the editor, can make any changes the author wants, although any changes should be run by the editor to make sure grammatical errors, of which the author might be unaware, will not be introduced into the text.

It can be very time-consuming for everyone involved if the author decides to make changes to the proofs beyond fixing a few typos; a paper printout of the laid out book must be marked up, or a separate document created in which are written down all the requested changes with page number and page placement for easy reference. The more corrections requested and more extensive they are, the more likelihood that further errors will be introduced into the book. Stylistic preferences do not count as corrections and should not be made at this point-only the correction of serious errors. In short, after the book is laid out is not the time to rewrite.

Many layout people, and especially the print-on-demand subsidy publishing houses, will charge authors for any changes they make to the book because so many authors have failed to understand that once a book is laid out, rewriting is not appropriate. Other layout people will allow a set number, such as twenty-five or fifty, corrections for free, and anything over that will be charged by the hour or by the individual correction. Some layout people will even request the author make the changes in the Word document if major rewriting is needed, and then the book will need to be laid out again, and the author will be charged accordingly since it may well be less time-consuming for the layout person to lay out the entire book again than individually have to insert a couple of hundred small changes-and again, don't forget that each correction made has the potential for introducing a new typo.

Authors, make your life easier and your layout person and editor's lives easier. Learn the difference between proofreading and editing and when one or the other is needed. When you sign off on that manuscript as finished and send it to the layout person, make sure it is as perfect as it's going to be to save everyone time, money, and frustration. Then the last stage of the book's production will go easily and the book can quickly be sent to the printer.

How to Start Freelancing in 2012

I've been Freelancing. Yes I have. I mentioned this several days ago in my post Ah, Here we Go Again, that I have begun to write stuffs for moneys. For years I've wanted to know to do this; I've searched through writing forums, read books, and queried, queried, queried! For a nineteen year old with no Freelance credits behind me-the path wasn't even. I've found that there are 5 necessary things for the aspiring freelance writer to do in order to secure some job offers and further build their portfolio.

Warning! I am not a super rich professional nor am I someone who has built up a massive portfolio- I have been freelancing for the past month and have secured several clients throwing a couple hundred bucks in my bank. Here we go!)

1. Assemble your Resume'

Before I began to look up job offers I knew within myself that I needed to have something to show. I had one or two publishing credits, but I knew this wouldn't matter and I had a resume`, but I bet that wouldn't do either. I started from scratch. I assembled a resume` listing my blogging experience, my current degree pursuit in college (Creative Writing), and an article I had published at Bookkus Publishing and a guest post. I tooted my own horn at my blog and it's audience, picked a sweet template from Google Docs (I guess Google Drive now bleh), and saved it as a.doc file ready to send it out to any one I thought would be a good fit.

2. Samples of Your Work

This is the one step that troubled me when I first started. How can I send samples of my work if I've never written any content for a client? See the general rules of thumb for samples of your work are broad: I generally use a nice guest post I've written, or a single article on publishing I've written, or even some of my better blog posts. Granted each of these gets a fresh edit and is assembled at its finest. Granted for a themed publication, the best bet is to show work on something similar, but I've noticed that some just wish to see your ability to write. If they require a link rather than an attachment direct them to your blog or even E-zine Articles. Remember the prize is in the pudding.

3. Finding the Gigs

Where do you find these gigs? Below I'll leave a list of places where the majority of work may be found, but remember this is a business. You may find prospective clients on the internet, at your local coffee shop, or through friends and family.

Elance (High paying jobs, but you will be competing with top notch professionals)
Guru (Same as Elance. Just remember persistence is key).
Text Broker (Just started using this, seems promising; haven't landed a client yet).
Craigslist (Some may find it slightly sketchy, but I've landed 3 clients and one ongoing one $$)
Loads and loads of others! Just Google it!
Remember that if something seems odd, don't continue. This is the internet and of course, sometimes people don't have your best interest in mind.

4. Research your Assignments

For my ongoing client I write about online slot games and occasionally I review online casinos. Now prior to this gig I had no idea about this! I can't even legally gamble! However, through loads and loads and loads of research I have become quite knowledgeable in this field and I knock out assignments with ease. To make things easier for myself I use Evernote to clip information from the web and then I refer to that throughout my writing. Trust me- this will save you tons of time and frustration!

5. Stick to a Deadline

Remember time is money and so is each of your assignments. Upon receiving your assignments get to work! Nothing is worse than being dropped by your client because you can't stick to deadline. Of course things in life come up and a well placed email can easily ask for more time and if applicable you may just as well receive that! As of right now I have three assignments sitting in my mailbox and will get to work on them the second this post is published. Don't hesitate. Your best bet is to set a side a certain part of the day to complete your assignments- mine is in the morning after my daily walk and as I drink down my coffee. Sticking to deadline will relieve stress and assure you complete your assignments. Remember this is business.

Well here are just five tips to get you Freelancing in 2012. Depending on how this post does and how you readers like this, I will post more on freelancing.

Farewell everyone and good.

How To Write a Product Review

The reviews for products are a major part of internet writing, as webmasters and other internet investors are always looking to sell something. For this, product reviews are needed. In a land-based store, the client could actually see the characteristics of a product, but in the online world, the same user would want to examine the photos of the product, to read the reviews made by other people, and to compare it with other similar products. For this, the internet article writing services produce reviews for their clients, reviews that are now common even on Amazon or eBay.
Internet writing for products
If you want to write a good product review, you should put yourself in the shoes of the reader. What would you expect from the product? What are its advantages or disadvantages? Would you buy it? Is the price affordable? By answering those questions for you, it is also possible to answer those questions for the reader, and you will have a good article in your hands.
However, the majority of article writing jobs for product reviews are requested by clients which want positive reviews about the respective products, and they want it written from the perspective of a person that have already used the product. If you don't want to cheat the reader, you can refuse the project, bout you should know that many of the reviews on the internet are made in the same way, and that the internet article writing business for product reviews is strongly developed now.
You can also read the reviews made by other users of the same product. This way, you will be able to determine the positive and negative characteristics of the product. A product review that talks only with superlatives for the respective item can't be trusted, and even if a client asks for positive reviews from the article writing service, the writing company must be able to write some articles where the disadvantages of the item are presented a little, but not so much. Usually, a negative opinion must contain a "But".
"It is true that this MP3 player is a little more expensive than other players on the market, BUT the characteristics of this product recommend it as a good acquisition".
Good internet writing means to put the product in a favorable light, but most importantly, to present the negative aspects of a product as being good, or at least negligible.
If you are looking for article writing jobs, you will have to know how to write product reviews, as an important part of the job of the article writing services is composed of reviews. We are also talking about relatively cheap articles, as those are not creative, therefore they can be written by writers with less experience.

A Guide in Writing 5 Articles A Day

The art of writing online articles is certainly effective to market your products and services on the internet. Well, while this may seem simple, there are a few important aspects. For instance, it is imperative to create quality and rich content daily. Many individuals struggle with this aspect. You should not blame someone else or come up with excuses. Instead, how about opting for an easy and effective method? Become familiar with every theme and get going. Read on to find out a simple "formula" that will allow you to write 5 articles daily minimum.

1. Select a topic. If you are a newbie, your article topic could be your own niche. Of course, this theme must contain potential for at least 5 articles. It is certainly a fabulous starting point.


2. Proceed by listing around 5 sub-themes, characteristics, sub-topics, or specific concepts that are related to that theme in particular. Below is a good example: Training a dog is a common topic. Thus, how many dog activities exist? How can you feed your dog? How can you motivate your dog to obey? What about vaccines? How to feed your dog properly'? If you feel dubious, do not panic. Look around, gather data, venture onto your library and browse online. Do not forget the original goal. Avoid distractions by any means. Stay focused and move onto the next step.


3. Decide on specific points that you wish to develop. You can easily expand on every theme. Yet, it is up to you! The sky is never the limit. Think ahead, prepare a fun theme and opt for the perfect approach. It is recommended to go for 5 or 7, but, it is possible to write less. Remember that rich content is a must, thus do not compromise quality. Limit the article to a single topic and do not forget to focus on your niche. Your audience will be delighted!


4. Once you have your mind clear, create a detailed outline for every article. Several individuals believe that this is worthless. They fail to understand how it works. They actually believe that outlines are just for kids. But, this could not be further from the truth. It is never too late to learn. Implement the best techniques! Truth is the fastest writers consider an impeccable outline. Most often, the fastest online writers are those that organize every fact and care to analyze relevant information.


5. Last but not least, you must connect every dot. How? This is not hard. You need to place all the points together. Make sure you focus on every sentence relationship. How is everything intertwined? Thus, as soon as you identify the main connection, move onto the next one and proceed carefully. Your goal is to show your current expertise while writing an interesting and cohesive piece explaining your original idea.

Unleash your maximum potential. Combine the above points and impress your clients. Increase your profit and get to know the latest writing techniques. If you want to climb to the top, you cannot ignore any key aspect.

How To Write Content For Publication Online

#EANF#

Repackage, Repurpose And Reinvent To Get The Most Mileage From Your Content

It took some time but you managed to put together the feature article for your upcoming newsletter and you're pleased with the results. It's a shame this great information will just be filed away on your computer or left to collect dust on your bookshelf with the rest of your valuable content.

Does this sound like you? Did you know that most business owners just write for their blog or newsletter and never do anything further with it?

Let's look at some ways you can repackage, repurpose and reinvent your articles, blog posts, videos and more to get the most mileage from your content producing efforts.

Here's what you can do:

1. Post your newsletter article to your blog.
2. Add a link to your newest blog post from your Facebook account.
3. Submit your newsletter article to the article directories.
4. Combine several similar themed articles to build an information product or e-course.
5. Compile articles with related topics to create an e-book.
6. Compile articles with related topics to create a book.
7. Record an audio or video of your article.
8. Transcribe an audio or video into a special report.
9. Restructure an informative or instructional email reply to a client into an article, blog post or training teleclass.
10. Rework chapters of a book or e-book you have written into several shorter articles.
11. Transform your e-course into a live in-person workshop.
12. Record a live workshop or online training to deliver as a self-study course.

To be most effective you will have to do some editing to restructure to the new format. Otherwise, you are only limited by your imagination and creativity.

It can be challenging to constantly create brand new information but you can break down the bigger pieces or combine the smaller pieces of content you already have to develop new and valuable information. When you're coming up with ideas for articles, blog posts, videos and other content think about how you can repurpose the information from one format or method of delivery to another later.

Not only are you preventing your content from going to waste, there are other reasons why you should repackage and repurpose your content:

1. To build a source of passive income by selling the e-products that you create.
2. To grow your list of prospects by offering a free giveaway to visitors to your website in exchange for them giving you their name and email address.
3. To create visibility and catch the attention of your market.
4. To establish your credibility and expert status.
5. To reach a larger audience by providing various ways for someone to work with you, if not one-on-one. For example one client may prefer to learn independently through your self-study course while another would rather absorb the information by attending a live in-person workshop.

Choose your packaging based on your strengths and how your market likes to receive their information to create multiple products from one set of content. If you're trying to grow your business and you're at full capacity with clients, repurposing content is a great way to increase your income stream.

How to Turn a Dull Article Into a Blockbuster

They say the internet, being what it is, is an information superhighway. And if you want a piece of the action you're going to want to feed the search engines with information relevant to your niche so people can find you, your website, and your products. How? You'll want to go back to basics. Write! And in order to keep them on that page and reading your articles, you'll need to ensure that your articles are interesting and most importantly, readable. This article will offer tips on how to turn a dull and bland article into a more interesting piece; how to rewrite your articles with a fresh and more interesting angle; and how to research for fresh and current content to boost your search engine traffic.

Let's say you've written a bunch of articles and want to rewrite them. To begin with, check to see if your previous articles contain outdated information and topics that will not pull in traffic from the search engines at this present time. So instead of re-writing by simply doing a quick clean up job, why not go a little deeper by scouting for hot news websites like Google Hot Trends and pulling related article topics and content from there, and broadening your new piece using a content angle from these hot topics? Then, you should attempt to re-write the article (to the best of your ability) using correct grammar and spelling.

Rewriting Tips: if the previous title lacked oomph, re-title it! And then run a search on Wikipedia.org to dig up some more facts and some background. Without going too heavy on fact - this isn't an encyclopedia, it's only an article. You'll want your new article to flow well, and most importantly, have your reader come away with something. Take a look at the following example in which a badly written paragraph gets a serious rewrite.

Example of a badly written paragraph:

"Buying gemstones in wholesale need not be a headache. These precious stones have for many years been held in high esteem due to their color, clarity, symbolic meanings and durability. The diamonds, sapphires and rubies all come in many different shapes, hues and sizes. The colors too cannot miss the attention of whoever might come across them. Buying gemstones in wholesale will demand that you get high quality stones from wholesale chains at a price good enough to be lower than the retail prices. The following simple steps will assist you when buying gemstones in wholesale."

My Remarks: Everything about the above paragraph leaves much to be desired. Not only is the grammar bad - it's quite obvious English isn't the writer's first language - but to top it all off, the article lacks purpose. However, whilst looking on the bright side, I managed to pick up a few angles to run with. See how I reconstructed the paragraph below.

Example of the above paragraph rewritten:

"If you could purchase high quality gemstones at wholesale prices, wouldn't that be a relief? The less headache involved in procuring your precious stones the better, right? No-matter what you want to buy, be they diamonds, sapphire, ruby; in all shapes, sizes, colour or clarity, believe it or not, there will be someone, somewhere selling them at a much lower price than you would ever find on the high street. How? Because you can buy them on wholesale... if you know where to look! In this article, I share some simple yet powerful tips to help you buy gemstones on wholesale."

In summary: badly written articles can be quite easily given a fresh look with a new angle that is readable and that draws in the reader to want to find out more. Your first paragraph is the most important, not only because it introduces the article, but because it is intended to help lure your reader in so that they read on to the next paragraph and so forth. Look to Google Hot Trends for fresh angles that are current and weave that into your piece. So the next time you want to liven up a dull article, get creative with the pointers outlined in this article.

It's Not What You Write, It's the Way That You Write It - Well, I Disagree Completely

Not long ago, I had an online article author contact me, someone who had a bit of writing experience. I mean he could really turn a phrase, and it was obvious he went to writing school, was intelligent, and quite articulate. He explained to me that credibility online is extremely important, and thus, perhaps I ought to hire him to write and/or edit my work, as he had noted that my writing is not all it could or should be.

True enough, he's right, but then again I never considered myself a writer in the first place. I know that sounds funny coming from someone with over 28,000 online articles and 289 e-Books, but it's true, I know it and anyone who reads my articles - well, they know it too. I am not a first class writer, just a writer perhaps still in training. As he was explaining his knowledge of writing and public relations to me, I kept singing that song in the back of my head; "it's not what you do, it's the way that you do it," which is an HP jingle for rebranding their copier, printer, scanner, and fax line of peripherals.

Then I thought, well, what he is really saying to me is that; "it's not what you write, it's the way that you write it," but, you know what - I think I disagree and let me tell you why. You see, if you are writing on a topic you don't know anything about, sure it might be great to make the article cute, fun to read, and turn a nifty phrase, but what about the expertise, knowledge, know-how, or experience behind it? I can't tell you how many articles I read in the news each day that are shallow, uneventful, and often just plain wrong. Why does this happen? It happens because writers think that it's more important to write well, than to have great content - I disagree with that thought process.

Now then, whereas, I am not the world's best writer, I do believe I have a hell of a lot of experience and knowledge. I'd also say it is more important the content than the writing style. Yes, in a perfect world you'd have both, but I think content trumps style, thus, "it is what you write" which is important, and while it is important to write well, aka "the way that you write it," that's not the deal breaker for me as a reader. Give me the good stuff anyway you can, and develop your writing skills as you go. That's what I did, and that's what I believe. Please consider all this and think on it.

SEO Friendly Content for Websites

You are done with creating your website, you have paid the web developer for the services, and now you are looking for web content articles? Many people all over the World Wide Web have done this thing and now they are in search of quality content for web sites. Web site content is something that is the prerequisite of each website because it has the power to persuade people and make them buy the product or service offered by your business.

You need to frequently generate articles for website content so that people may not get bored from your content and they keep of coming back to learn new stuff. Web site content needs to be informative and it should be complete. It must be created according to the preference of the customers. If it will not then it will never make a customer get attracted towards it. Many websites have such great content that visitors after reading get convinced to buy the product and service being offered.

In order to generate articles for website content you will need the services of a quality writer. The writer should be well familiar with the standards for writing articles. As the trend of making websites has increased, the scope of internet writing has enlarged to a great level. The websites are paying a significant amount of money to the writers for producing web content as well as articles for the websites. The writer should know how to produce SEO friendly content. If the content will be SEO friendly then it will be found in the search engine results more often.

When writing SEO friendly content, you will have to use certain set of keywords that are searched by the customers more often. The content produced should not be flooded with keywords. Rather, keywords should be placed in such a way that the flow seems natural. The content should also be informative and it must have something that is new for the customers to learn. Such things attract people a lot. Furthermore, the content should be original there must not be any copied content.

Finding the writers who can write articles for website content is not a difficult task these days. You can find many freelancing websites that have accounts of various writers. That is not all; many of the writers have posted ads for offering their content writing services. If you need one, then you can easily find one through the internet. If you want to judge the quality and writing skills of the writer, then you can ask the person to write a sample. You can check the originality of the article in various software programs, and read it to see whether it is written perfectly or not. If you are satisfied with the work then you can hire that person. Content generation sure can make a writer earn a lot of money.

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing By Writing Articles

Affiliate marketing is my favorite technique for earning extra money from home. This is because it is easy to connect people with the products they are looking to purchase. In this article, I will discuss how to make money with affiliate marketing by writing informative articles. Do you love to write? If so, you can probably do REALLY well with this method. So what do you have to do?

First, you need to research your market effectively. What is it that people want to learn from you? Do they problems that you can help them solve? Understanding your target market is the first step. Let's say that I want to make money with the dog training market and I've decided on a product to promote. Would I then promote this product to people who want information on small animal care?

The trick is to match your product with the market. If you are promoting a product that teaches people how to stop their do from chewing, then you would want to write articles about that. Teach people simple techniques to stop dog chewing problems. Then, link to the product that can help them solve that problem. That's the secret. So many people forget to match the product with the people who want it.

After you have established which people would be interested in learning more information about a topic, write down all the different questions that these people might be asking. Then, write an article that helps them with each question.

This is a powerful way to attract people to your affiliate products. At the end of the day, it's all about getting people to visit your affiliate links. If you are consistently writing articles about all the different topics in your niche, people will believe that you are the authority in your niche. They will come to you for answers. They will buy your products.

A great place that you can find affiliate products to promote is ClickBank. They have been around for over 10 years. Once you join their affiliate network, you will be able to browse their marketplace and locate the best converting products to sell to people. Remember, you are not doing the selling. It's the vendor's job to sell the product and it's your job to get people to the sales page.

Here's what I suggest for article marketing:

Write as many articles as you can in one day. I know this might sound hard but the fact is people are looking for the information you have. So write LOTS of articles each day and focus on targeting all the best keywords in your market. Affiliate marketing can truly be a great source of income if done correctly.

Have English Teachers and Journalist Majors Overplayed Their Hands In An Attempt to Control?

As an online writer, I've sure noticed that us newbies are not liked that well by journalist majors and professional writers. But, I am okay with that, after all, they see as a threat to their future employment. I've also witnessed some attempts by English Teachers to somehow proclaim that those who can't or won't write well -- perfect grammar and spelling -- are somehow to be considered incompetent, unintelligent, or uneducated, therefore what we say or write shouldn't be taken at face value, that somehow we don't have credibility.

Really, because in the real world (outside of the fake world of the mass media where most of the stuff is embellished to create the sound and fury of the day or push an agenda) it's not what you say or write, it's what you do that matters, performance counts. Those who spend all day writing are not doers, they can't be, they write about what "We Do" out here in the real world. Now that the online venues, blog, and social networks are allowing everyone to have their say of course 'the professionals' want to be heard and diminish and minimize the rest. I get that, I understand, but it doesn't make their attempts to pull rank over the dialogue or attempt to control the narrative with their grammar rules.

Do online writers abuse proper English Grammar Rules? Oh, certainly, some meaningfully, others simply because they are not sure exactly what they are. Indeed, I think what I am noticing is the when folks use speech recognition software they tend to do this more, so, they end up with long run-on sentences, which eventually stop making any sense, and then become shallow - even if there is at least some good information within - it just gets drowned out.

Still, personally, as a reader, I am much more concerned with important information and content, than perfect diction, grammar, and spelling from a skilled and educated writer. For the simple reason that those in the real world make it happen and those who teach, well, they teach and guard the rule book - just like lawyers often do. So, if someone has excellent knowledge and wisdom, bathed in actual experience that's what I look for, now if their grammar is perfect to boot, all the better, but not a criteria for me as a reader, it's just a bonus in my opinion.

Still, even if my above paragraph is not perfectly grammatically correct, so what, I mean you got the message right? Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

For the Love of Words: Introducing Articles

Good gracious, the day has come for a deep spooky eyed, surgical strike at the depth of writing an article. Is it easy as some people make it or difficult like learning Italian over a week. It is time for me to take a little mystery out of article development and break it down into sections. Article writing is a learned skill and it must be polished over the course of the river that we know as time. Article writers will vary on their ability and style to developing the core elements to their topics. Is there a wrong way?

Article writing is an art that expands into other writing arenas. Most article writers may cover up the truth of the matter, that constantly developing unique articles is not a strain to the old muse. They would be further from the truth or less experienced in denying the fact that article writing is a ghost that plagues the creative soul sphere in all of us. Article writers that say it is an easy task to do are either using spinning software or outsourcing to a foreign team.

Can article writing be easier if you are prepared? Yes, like most skills in life that you have or are acquiring, your particular knowledge will help develop and nourish the infant. We can find mentors that can harbor the passions within us to overcome the difficulties of developing the content that we so desire for our websites and business use. Once we overcome the initial fear or destructive elements in our path to developing a successful article, we can embrace the warm cup of coffee and tea and congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

Wait! Sit back and contemplate on the last time you had to write an article describing a particular endeavor in business marketing, product overview or creative lay into the unknown with a high-profile blog post of cross-corporate culture vs. social media downgrades of the small business growth on the mainstream scene. If you are a writer or writing firm like me, then it is almost a constant stress of developing the perfect balance of information and tone.

Is article writing a state of mind? To some degree, it is and to some degree, it is not. If you are constantly developing dozens of articles than yes it is, but the creative aspect is keeping you sane. If you only develop a few articles a month, then the answer is no. The mind is not always ready to find, search and trash information as you write the article for yourself or the client that is overseas. The cold truth of article writing lies within the writer itself and rather if they can push the envelope to challenge themselves in keeping in step with truth and de facto information.

How to Make Money Writing Articles

Make Money Writing Articles - In this article, we are going to talk about a strategy that you can employ and that I am already beginning to employ on making money writing articles. In this article, we will share specific places where you can go and make money writing articles and, more importantly, a strategy for being successful.

Writing has been one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done online. I have always wanted to create passive income. I loved the idea of not doing a lot of work and getting paid. I started out investing in rental properties. The concept is great. I put up some money, borrow some money and somebody else pays off the mortgage.

If I do well, I would put some money back into the pocket each month. The problem with this strategy is that one bad investment can be an emotional and financial wipeout. I am speaking from experience on this one. Then, I decided to move online and do lead generation for people looking to make money online.

I used paid traffic because it was fast. The challenge that I had with this strategy was that it became very expensive to invest in the traffic while I was learning and getting good. Although I could be profitable one day, the next day I may lose my shirt.

Then I moved into outsourcing content creation. I figured that content would be there forever and I could pay for something once and get paid on it forever. This worked and was profitable but was not very fulfilling.

Although I was learning the passive income models, it was not a passive experience. That is when I read the book, Accidental Genius and I learned about free writing. You see, I have a mind, probably like a lot of you that goes 10,000 miles an hour.

I have a lot of good ideas but my mind would not slow down long enough for me to implement any of those ideas. I found that writing would allow me to get those ideas out on paper. Even better, I could share those ideas with other people and could make money doing so.

Now, I write and I write and I write and I get compensated pretty well for it.

Below are some lessons that you may want to consider if you are attempting to make money writing articles -

Do not be stingy with your ideas - I used to have the feeling that I should not put my best work into each article and should save my best ideas for future work. This became stressful and difficult to manage. Now, I share the best ideas that are on my mind and give 100% to each article. what I find happens in this case is that as soon as I get done sharing about one idea, a new idea pops into my head immediately. There are no shortage of ideas so don't be stingy in sharing your ideas and putting your best work forward.

Learn how to re-purpose content - Write something once and you can reuse it for other purposes later. Here are a couple of ways to re-purpose content -

- Make a video based on an article that you wrote.

- Take one idea from the article and expand on that and make a completely new complementary article.

Post your content in multiple places - If you want to get a lot of eyeballs on your work, post it in many places so there is a greater chance that more people will find it. (Note: If you sell your articles to other, then do not do this. That person paid you a fair price to do work and that content is theirs and should only be theirs.)

Don't take yourself too seriously - People like to read work that is done by human beings. They would much rather be entertained and surprised and deal with a few simple errors, then to read a perfect peace of content. Have one with your work, regardless of the topic and you will find that you get better responses from those who are reading your work.

Follow the three tips above and you will be in the right state of mind to make money writing articles.

Writing Articles: Putting It All Together

You've gathered your research, interviewed a knowledgeable person if appropriate, and scribbled lots of other notes. You want to now merge all this material into an article - but how do you do it?

You can have three approaches:

· Just start writing, in whatever order appeals, and fix it all up later

· Use the outline you've already written, and follow it closely. (If you haven't already written an outline, you can create one at this stage).

· A combination of the two.

The third option I have here may seem strange. After all - if you've written an outline, why would you want to write as if you don't?

I personally find the third option can work well. I like outlines, but I don't usually have an outline that is so thorough it leaves no room for a freer approach within each section. Outlines also may get changed from when they are first written, because you find new information, or an interviewee tells you unexpected but relevant news or opinions.

Here are some guidelines for getting all your notes ready to put into a suitable piece of writing:

· Assemble the information, (including quotes, comments, opinions, and facts) into sections. If you've got your information on your computer, (as most people do these days), then create a new document, and copy and paste - rather than move - information into each section. You'll probably only want 3 - 5 sections. Be sure to keep your original notes for reference.

· Within each section, further break down the information into as many sections as are needed to fit it all; though again, 3 -5 is probably a good guideline. The desired length of your article, editorial requirements and the amount of information for each section will determine how much you do here.

· Rearrange the information into sensible order; realising that you'll also need to re-check this order in the editing stage.

Start writing. Here's where you can and should do some freer writing, because you really don't want your article to sound like a list of facts. In order to get good, conversational and easily read text, you want to step back from the facts a bit, and write them in your own words.

Quotes should be left alone where they are concise and appropriate. However, if they are long - and especially if they are filled with incomplete sentences, repeated phrases, or the inevitable 'ums' and 'ahs' - they're going to need some editing.

I usually find I need to do several drafts of the article at this stage, depending on how long it is and how familiar I am with the information.

Each time I look at the draft, and especially for the final check, I also consider how well it flows. Does the information lead logically and seamlessly from one section to the next? If you find it difficult to 'see the wood for the trees', try using Print Preview (or similar) on your computer word program, as it enables you to see several pages at once. Although the writing is much smaller as a result, it will better enable you to take a wider view of the overall article.

When you've done your final edits for writing quality, and checked your facts are right, you're good to go.

Make Money Online Article Writing

If you would like to make money online article writing, you will find yourself creating articles quickly on an almost daily schedule. Writing quickly doesn't mean comprising on quality. As a rule I try not to spend more than 20 minutes a day on an article. Although I do believe that "content is king" I have a business to run and a schedule to keep.

Short and Sweet
Keeping your article short, 500 words or less, will keep you in that 20 minute time frame. You don't have to scrimp on quality if you make every word count. Writing articles for the web is almost a form of shorthand and can be a little tricky in the beginning, but soon becomes very easy, and if you can write them quickly it can be extremely profitable.

Everyone needs web articles, I know you've heard the internet is a big "information highway". Maybe you have thought about making money by providing web articles, well there is money to be made once you learn the system.

Brainstorm Ideas
Do you have an idea list, well if your like me you have more than you need to start with. Start combining some of those ideas to round out your article. If they fit use them as bullet points, readers love bullet points and lists, their easier on the eyes. Make sure your article answers five "w" and one "h" questions: who, why, where, when, what and how.

Sometimes I use who, why, where, when, what and how as my outline. That keeps me focused, I may need to do research. Just writing one small article a day and submitting to EzineArticles and providing a link back to your site is a great way to get noticed. The web consists of millions of articles so it should come as no surprise that there's money to be made from writing and marketing articles.

Keep Readers Interested
We need to arouse interest and keep our readers with us from the very beginning. Each sentence needs to be snappy and offer the reader a small benefit. This could be simply a smile, which by the way is a great ice breaker. We don't have to supply the entire benefit right away. If we just make the promise to deliver it later, making sure each taste will be tempting enough to keep them reading.

Reader Benefit and Call to Action
Every article has a call to action which is usually in the resource box at the end, if we keep our article short and on track our reader will likely stay to the end and read our call to action. If they like what you have written and can see some benefit to their lives they will likely answer your call.

Article Marketing Master Plan Unveiled

Effective headline strategies:

Your title must always contain your main keyword phrase, otherwise people will not be able to find it via EzineArticles' internal search or through the search engines. Ideally, you'll want to have more than one keyword appear in your title.

Example of a good title:

"Weight Loss Secrets - 3 Easy Steps to Lose That Weight"

I literally just made that up. In my opinion, it's good because it is keyword rich and contains the magic words "easy" and "secret".

People don't like to do things the hard way.

People don't like learning things.

People DO like taking shortcuts.

People DO like discovering things.

Magic words to spice up your titles:

Easy - Secret/Secrets - Discover - How to - Deadly

A note on "how-to's"... you're going to want to convey a benefit with your how-to's. Your reader should find out exactly what they're getting by reading your title. "How to lose weight" isn't a benefit because it is too general. "How to write a killer article in 10 minutes" is a benefit. Other words you should consider using in your titles: Dos and don'ts - Strategies - The truth about - Revealed - Mistakes - Essential. Again, those lists aren't exhaustive, but I just wanted to give you a general idea of what you should strive for in your titles.

The Body:

A common mistake when doing article marketing is to write a very informative article. There's nothing wrong with providing information and value in an article, but remember, the goal of your article should be to make your reader want to learn more, not to get the whole picture from your article. I'm not saying you should write articles full of fluff, I'm just saying that you don't need to pack your articles with information. If your reader satisfies their curiosity or thirst for knowledge after reading your article, there will not be any motivation to click through to your site.

Article Length:

Your article should be between 300 and 600 words long. Between 300 and 400 would be perfect because readers tend to lose interest or focus rather quickly unless an article is superbly written. 300 word articles are extremely easy to write because they are so short. Think about it: your intro for the article should already take up a good 50 to 100 words. Then you have a conclusion which should be another 50 to 100 words. Easy peasy.

Article Layout:

If your article is on the short side (~300 words), then you have a bit of freedom with how you present your article. You can either have a few paragraphs, or you could have bullet points sandwiched by an intro and a conclusion. Conclusions aren't always necessary, but intros are, for obvious reasons.

If your article is around 500 words, then it wouldn't hurt to make your article easier to read by having bullets or sections which are separated by bolded sub-headlines (like I'm doing in this ebook). If you choose not to use bolded sub-heads or bullets, then make sure you have short paragraphs. Let's say your article is 600 words long. You should have an intro which is about 100 words long and a conclusion (which leads into your bio box) which is also about 100 words long. You have 400 words to play with, so you should have 3-4 paragraphs to ensure easy reading.

Keyword Density:

Keyword density is how often a keyword shows up per 100 words. In your articles, you'll want a 2-4% keyword density so that Google gives your articles a lot of love. Any more than that and you will get penalized.

Article Tone:

It can be tough to write with personality about a subject which you have no interest in, but doing so will make your articles more pleasant to read. Present your info, but do so in a way that doesn't remind your reader of lectures in their college days. Would you rather listen to a prof that drones on and on and on for two hours, or a prof that engages the audience and provokes intelligent thought and discussion?

Cardinal Rules of Article Writing:

1. Thou shalt have perfect spelling.

2. Thou shalt have perfect grammar.

I cannot stress these two rules enough. If your article has "spelling" errors or grammatical errors, it will not only look unprofessional, but It'll also make it tough to read.

If you intend to write all your articles, then make sure you proofread your article before submitting it. EzineArticles (I'm singling out EZA because it is the biggest article directory) has a strict policy about the quality of the articles that authors submit to them. If you do not adhere to their editorial guidelines, then your articles will not be accepted.

The Bio Box (aka The Resource Box):

The bio box, also known as the resource box, is where authors stick a little information about themselves and links to external sites. Even though it is short, what you put in your bio box is almost as important as the article that precedes it. If you do not have an appropriate call to action in your bio box, then your conversion rates will not be as good as they can be.

Example of a boring bio box:

"Joe Shmoe is a full-time Internet marketer from the US who has been online since 1996. He has an MBA from XYZ University. For more information on Internet marketing, click here."

Let's be very clear. When I'm looking for info online, I couldn't care less about who the author is or how many pet cats he/she has. I don't want to know where you're from, I don't want to know your level of education, and I don't want to know what your hobbies or passions are.

It's not that I don't care about you (I really do!), it's just that I don't want to

be hearing about you at the end of your articles.

What I do want to hear about at the end of your articles is what I'll get if I click on your link.

Example of a decent bio box:

"Would you like to get instant access to over 9000+ tools and resources right now? Then check out ABC Product located at mysite.com and start downloading them all immediately!"

The above example communicates a clear benefit: you are letting the reader know that if they click on your link, they will get instant access to over 9000+ tools and resources today. Remember, readers don't want to "find out more about" anything; they want to "get" stuff.

So their you have it! - You can stay a hope article marketer and hope that your articles bring you traffic and sales.

OR...

You can follow these few simple rules above in the Article Marketing Master Plan Unvailed and finally eliminate all the guesswork and stop hoping for sales.

Article Writing Tips to Help You Get Noticed in Today's Network Marketing World

I have learned very quickly that diving into article writing for marketing purposes has somewhat turned into a science. Writing articles on various informational topics have become common practice for online marketers to leverage traffic to their websites or blogs, and even various affiliate marketing trends.

I have found that there are a number of key items needing attention for a successful integration of writing articles to drive your current marketing model. These elements include the websites you submit your articles to, the demographic the articles are written for, and the overall quality of the content.

As an online marketer, identifying ways to protect your hard earned reputation and attraction as a leader in your Network marketing venture is an important practice. Additionally, juggling attractive content that provides information that holds value so that your targeted traffic continues and grows, being aware of some of these mistakes can relieve possible future frustration. Learning to avoid some of these mistakes and creating a profitable business from article marketing are some of the most important skills that we will be discussing in this article.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

At times article writers will often limit themselves to only submitting their work to one or two directories. This results in limiting the traffic that will see the valuable work and information provided by the article. There are many other directories to consider and submit your work. Make every attempt to publish your articles in as many directories that you can. There are many free directories available and a few searches with your favorite search engine help you determine where to go. The main reason here is information duplication. You want your article to spread and to be available for key words within your article to flow and drive your home business. Article writing to market your MLM is a superb way to leverage the Internet and drive the appropriate traffic and potential leads. Take the time to list your articles in as many places as you can and build your online presence by building your brand.

Get involved in your MLM community

Aside from free general type directories you can find many directories and online communities dedicated specifically to the success of networking of Network marketers and MLM business opportunities. Typically the people browsing these areas within the MLM community have interest in your subject and using these as places to nest your articles can be a huge asset to generating increased traffic to your site or blog. Not to mention you then start to become a valuable and recognized contributor to the community.

Know the results

Don't forget to track the results of your articles. It may be a great practice to ask a generated lead where they heard about you or received your contact information. Know what is working for you by tracking what is working best for you. Even if it's just a simple spreadsheet, recording the directories and dates of your published content will help you keep up with what is where. Learning what has drawn people to your business and what hasn't is a huge area to be studied closely to maximize your efforts.

By following the traffic driven by your articles and the keywords being used, this will provide great insight as to what is generating the traffic and allow you to tailor the rest of your articles. I highly recommend article marketing to build your brand online and increase your marketing efforts. You can continue to enjoy writing at your own leisure while gaining a reputation as a leader and authority in your home business venture. Well thought out and relevant information being shared on various topics from leadership, development, to communication are huge wins for you and those looking to expand their knowledge.

Darin McCall

How To Write a Press Release

The web content services are now assaulted with requests from companies to write good articles. In an informational world where people want to be announced about every new product or service that appears in the market it is important for any writer that wants to offer complete and quality web content service to know how to write this kind of articles. Even if the title "press release" might make you think about a journalistic article, you should know that those articles are in fact marketing and promotional materials.

The companies want releases for numerous reasons. A new product, but also the financial results can be announced with news of this kind. However, the concept was adapted a little, considering the appetite of clients for this kind of web content services and now, those are some of the most important website contents.

The title and the lead

Usually, a press release talks about financial results and the evolution of profits. This is why the title must contain the idea of this evolution.

The lead of the press release must be clear, describing the initial idea from the title. For example, from the lead, you can say that the first semester brought a significant growth of profits. You can also mention that the value of the company has grown on the Stock Market,

The content

In the body of the article, you can offer other details of public interest. For example, you might say that the companies consolidated their position compared with other companies, or that the respective company reached an important market share.

It is important for a press statement to have the testimonial of an important figure of the company. Therefore, it is a good idea to offer a quote of the general manager or of the CEO of the company. In the body of the press statement, you will also have to talk about the future plans of the company: the preoccupation to find new opportunities, investments and expansion.

Then, you will have to offer general information about the market, about the value of the market, and about the incomes of the consumers. Those details must be inserted somewhere at the end of the press release, before the final paragraph.

The final paragraph must be about the company, followed by contact details and links. This type of press release is usually addressed to the specialists of the respective niche, meaning that it has to contain certain technical notions. Moreover, it might not be interesting for a large category of visitors. A good content writer is the one that is able to write an article of this kind with many technical details, but also a press release that is interesting for the average reader.

Making Good Money With Web Content Writing

Internet is full of content. Where does this content come from? Whatever website we open, it has content and that content is updated from time after time. Generating website contents is what many people are doing these days. It is a good way of earning a large amount of money and many people are into this business.

We are talking about website content here but do you know what web content actually is? It can be anything starting from blog posts, articles, videos and even the comments of the fans. Every business now has a website that needs content. That content is commonly a persuasive writing about the products and services of the company, about the company itself and similar other stuff. Creation of a number of business websites has led to the creation of the web content services. Many people having great writing capabilities are working as article writers and they are earning a significant amount of money because of this. All you have to do is to know where to look for the work and then you can easily make money with this opportunity. Article or web content writing requires thorough research, proper command on language and using simple words that are persuasive enough to grab the attention of the readers. Website owners need such web content services that can make the visitors potential buyers.

Other than content, the website owners also need writers for writing articles. There is a lot of demand of web content services indeed. Therefore, those who want to start a web content business can do that easily without investing much money. There are many free advertising sites where you can make your portfolio as a writer. Other than this, you can also find many of the freelancing sites where writers have made their accounts and clients post their projects for writing articles and producing web content. The writers post bids and the one with the highest bids is selected for writing the content. Some of the clients even ask the writers to write a sample for judging their writing skills.

Providing web content service is not an easy thing. However, everyone can write but not all have the perfect writing skills and the knowledge to make use of the persuasive language and creating the right flow of keywords. The websites that need content also demand that the content should be original so there will not be any option of copy pasting stuff from various websites.

Quality of the content also counts a lot. There are people who have made their own blogs where they share useful information with the internet users on various novel topics. You will see that many people interact with them. This is another good way to enhance your exposure as a writer. If you have the power of influencing people then you can do anything with your writing skills. You can learn the success stories of many writers who started with a scratch but their great writing skills gave them plenty of success.

How To Start Blogging - Some Effective Tips

If you are also trying to make an online presence here are some effective tips that can lead you to success.

Select a Consistent domain name

The domain name represents the address of your blog and hence it is necessary that you select a unique name that holds resemblance with the topic discussed in your blog. The URL of the blog is the main component through which the visitors can reach you. Hence it is necessary to pay proper attention while selecting the domain name and URL. Make sure, you never change it as changing it often might require more work in order to popularize the same blog with different name between the visitors.

Choose a topic for your blog

Selecting a topic for the blog requires attention and consideration. If you are into a business you can start a blog discussing about the industry you are operating in or the products and services offered by your company. Always prefer to select a topic that can be presented by you in an impressive manner. Make sure, you have in-depth knowledge of the topic selected by you so that you can provide the best to the readers and more visitors towards your blog.

Add high quality content on a regular basis

The major attraction for the customers is quality and informative content. Therefore, it is necessary to update your blog with unique, original and informative content and keep the readers engaged. An impressive content compels them to visit your blog again and again.

Use related keywords

You must be aware of the fact that keywords are the basic tool that helps the visitors in searching your blog. Therefore, search the keywords that are most suitable for the topics discussed in your blog. You can use Google AdWords tool for searching the most appropriate keyword for your blog.

Market your blog

Marketing the blog plays an important role in making the blog visible to a large number of people. You need to adopt the best marketing techniques in order to make your blog appear on the top in the search engine results. The best to publicize your blog is to promote through social networking sites. Building links can also be a great technique to direct individuals towards your blog.

Have access to technical technologies

Having the know-how of web technologies helps the user in adopting effective steps to make the blog more creative and impressive. Adopting various techniques can help you in creating a user-friendly and interactive platform that would effectively engage the visitors. This can help you in acquiring the top most ranking in the search engine and generating more traffic on your blog.

These are some of the effective tips implementing which you can start a blog and generate huge traffic in a smaller time period.

5 Tips for Freelancers: My Personal Experiences and Recommendations

I started my freelancing career in late 2009 due to lack of job opportunities for fresh business graduates in the market. I had been extremely tensed about the ups and downs of the job market at the time when I started my career.

I had no idea that I could become a freelance writer after graduating with a BBA degree from reputable university. My experiences have been varying throughout all those 3 years. I had been thinking quite a lot of times in sharing freelance experience with all of my readers. Finally, after a few weeks of brainwashing, I managed to sit down and write this article for you. I list down herein my personal recommendations to future freelancers:

1.Never delay any project -My personal experience shows that delaying a project often has direct relationship with delayed payments. I have been suffering with delayed payments because some projects had not been delivered on time. If you think that the project can take more than expected time, inform the client in advance.

2. Always communicate regularly with the client - Miscommunication is often the leading cause of project failures. If you have any issues with the project regarding deadline, project descriptions or anything else, make sure to communicate with the client on time.

3. Never promise something that you cannot do - Many freelancers make a big mistake of getting a big project that they are just unable to complete due to lack of skills. Never lie to any client in a desperate attempt to win projects because this would lead to loss of trust in your services.

4. Be fair in your pricing - It is common for new freelancers to adopt "market penetration pricing strategy" whereby they charge rates less than what other experienced freelancers charge. However if you are a skilled writer, developer or designer, make sure to charge market rates. If a project can be completed at the cost of $200, your rate should be somewhat near to $200 with maximum 5% price variations.

5. Provide complete copyrights to clients - Clients demand 100% copyright ownership. Even if you have written an excellent eBook for a client and get paid for it, you are not legally allowed to show that work as your own. The client is paying you for your writing skills. This does not mean that you are entitled to write and market the book under your own name. Be ready to face serious legal challenges if your work is found to contain copyright issues.

If Editing Takes You Longer Than Writing Perhaps It's Time to Readjust Your Strategy?

Not long ago, I was talking to a fellow writer and they noted that their toughest job was editing. Well, as a very prolific online article writer I completely concur. In fact, when I'm using speech recognition software I can put out an article, one about every 5 minutes, especially if it is a topic that I'm very fluent in and have a lot of experience. However, the editing takes me at least that long or longer. If I do a quick read through and catch the obvious errors, I can do that with a 400 word article in about 4 to 5 minutes.

However, if I want to ensure it is perfect, that means I need to go and work on the grammar, change some wording, and next thing I know I'm into that article for 30 minutes. You see, what would have been very quick, is now taking a tremendous amount of time. My acquaintance noted that; "if your editing is taking you longer than the actual writing, then perhaps it's time that you readjust your strategy." Now then, if I'm not using speech recognition software and I am busy typing away, I will make fewer mistakes, and therefore spend less time on the "once-through editing" that is to say a simple read through catching the most obvious mistakes.

The challenge is editing your own work right after you've just done it. It's very easy to read right through something that you wrote, because you seem to be talking to yourself inside your head as you're reading it, and since you already know what it says, you read right through your own mistakes. However, if you put your writing down, and come back to it later, any blatant mistake will jump right out at you. Just as if you were reading someone else's work, you will find mistakes that they missed while rereading it.

Now then, taking my acquaintance's advice it surely makes sense to write perhaps 10 articles, and then come back and edit those 10, and then start on a new batch. This will increase your productivity, and prevent you from spending so much time editing without fixing all the mistakes. You will basically become a secondary person editing your own work, because it will no longer be fresh in your mind. It may take you a little longer to read through it, but you will catch all the mistakes, or at least 99% of them, and that's the important thing with online article writing. Please consider all this and think on it.

How to Write an Article for Article Directories

The article presents your thought process. It can be a hobby of providing information to people. A person can teach a lot through various informative articles. We are living in an information age where all the information is at one click of our finger. Either you are using a laptop or Smartphone; you can easily gain much information about any subject. Today I like to share some information about the method of writing an article for Article Directories. There are many free article directories, which allow you to submit your article.

Topic: First, write on your topic instead of searching a hot topic on the internet. Find the topic in which you can think and write from your heart. If you write on any topic, it will not give you much pleasure. There are many categories available in Article Directories; you can choose one of them and start to think over it.

Title: After selecting a topic, you have to keep a title for an article. The title should have a brief message about the content. A catchy title always attracts people.The title of your article must not contain too much character. Keep in mind that you are not writing a precise sentence but a line that describes your intention and thought. You can search for a keyword that has a high-ranking in search engines.

Body: Now concentrate on the body part of your article, which is the most important part of your article. Here, you have to write about your feelings and thoughts. What you have understood about the topic, and you are going to describe at this point. Generally, Your article should contain 400 words. Therefore, divide your thoughts into three or four paragraphs; it will be easy for a reader to understand the article.

Consistency: Keep control of your emotions, your content should have a continue flowing. Do not break a link while writing an article. Never start a new discussion or point without completing a previous point. When you do not maintain consistency in your writing, it will confuse your reader. Always stick to your topic and do not criticize anyone for any fault. It will give a negative impact on your article.

Language: There is no use to write your articles in a jargon language. Use simple language with short sentences so that readers can easily understand them. You can easily write your thoughts with small but effective sentences.

Guidelines: Before writing any article, understand the guidelines of article directories. We see many articles were rejected due to not following a proper editorial guideline. It will give you a perfect image about keywords, grammar, spelling, format, content, and author bio.

Summary: After completing the body part, write three or four lines about the summary of an article. Precise lines about the article will add a touch to your article.

Author-Bio: Here, you can write about yourself. You can also give your website link for your publicity or promotion. It should be not more than two or three lines. It will give you recognition as a writer. After all, we all love recognition.

SEO Best Practices for Ghost Writers

The content of every article found on the internet is very important in acquiring search engine optimization for the site that houses it. It enables the various search engines to determine how informative and significant the article is to the readers and researchers. As such, there are several SEO best practices, which creates significance to the search engine as well as the readers who visit the sites.

The most important element in writing articles for search engine optimization is the keywords. When following SEO best practices while formulating the article, the keywords should be strategically located in various paragraphs for search engines to see the main relevance of its content.

These keywords should be very closely related and should not go beyond four percent keyword density. Keyword Density or KWD should be around one percent to four percent of the body of an article. Including far too many keywords will simply confuse the search engine.

The SEO content of each article should be highly relevant to the keywords that are utilized. When a search engine lead the readers to the article written, it should be relevant to the topic they wish to gain information on. Creating false keywords in order to lure readers into the site will only increase Search Engine Optimization temporarily. Eventually readers will take on to the scheme and will avoid following the link.

Another important element that follows SEO best practices is to cross link the pages of the site being written on. This is initially done by having an overall singular main theme amongst the pages. The keywords should be found in the other articles of the site for readers to be able to find the other pages available.

Once the cross link process has been established, it is essential to keep the articles informative and interesting. Most readers tend to leave the site within minutes of searching for what they are looking for. To keep their attention within the site, it is important to break up the articles into simple and readable text such as headlines, sub-headlines, and highlighted words.

Readers should never be left hanging after each article. Articles that follow SEO best practices should have a sense of urgency or plan of action. There is no point to reading an article that does not give any sense of action or fulfillment.

Lastly, but equally important, is to make certain that the grammar and word spelling are correct. Having grammatically wrong statements or misspelled words can utterly change the meaning and context of the article. All in all, writers should uphold responsible copywriting for optimum and lasting Search Engine Optimization.

How to Become a Successful Ghostwriter

Ghostwriting can be defined as writing by a person who does not get the credit for writing. This writer is called a ghostwriter. The ghostwriter may write books, articles, stories, reports, speeches, blogs, and media content on behalf of the other person who takes the credit for the writings.

Ghostwriters are hired by executives, politicians, and celebrities to draft or edit their autobiographies, articles and speeches. Ghostwriters are also used in the film industry for writing lyrics and musical pieces. Ghostwriting can be a career for those who have a knack for writing. Even in the fine arts stream or commercial art such as comics, a number of assistants do the piece of work and the credit goes to the single artist.

Ghostwriting is an enjoyable and lucrative career as long as one works hard researching and has an extensive vocabulary. The ghostwriter should be mentally prepared that in spite of all the time and hard work that is put into their writing, the credit will go to somebody else. The ghostwriter will get the agreed money for the work done but no recognition of their name.

Ghostwriting or 'ghosting', as it is called now, requires a lot of hard work and patience. The ghostwriter has to do some research and gather the relevant information for the article. The ghostwriter is in a position of trust. This trust should never be broken and the person you are writing for should never be let down. Do not share or discuss any ideas or information with anyone who is not involved in the project. Remember this job is being done for an agreed amount of money. Occasionally there may be a copyright or royalty arrangement.

Ghostwriting offers one the freedom to work from home. One is not tied to the nine to five office schedules where the boss can be unhappy with the performance and one feels claustrophobic in such a work environment. With the hard financial times that all are facing right now and with the recession worsening the situation, ghostwriting is an option one can turn to.

There are various sites where one can find the job of ghostwriting. Bid for the job and begin. Initially the pay will be very low and that is more frustrating than anything else. Slowly one must build their reputation by giving high quality work and take it from there.

Soon a person will be a success with hard work and patience.

Is It OK to Post Bad Article Content?

I struggle with bad article content quite a bit. I consider myself a Power Blogger, which means I like to crank out a lot of content and crank it out quickly. I put my heart and soul into the writing that I do but sometimes I am not on top of my game and the stuff I produce is not as good as I would like.

I am writing this article right after I put something out that I did not love. The question is what do I do with it at this point...

1. Do I trash it completely? - Some pieces of content are far from being reparable. They are so bad that they should never see the light of day. If I produce one of these articles, I just strip out the best ideas and record a video. Depending on the level of passion, I have for the topic, I may rewrite the article from a new point of view.

2. Edit the work - This is the easy solution. Edit the work and make it better. This can work sometimes but I have found that many times when I edit the article, I make it worse than if I never touched it in the first place.

3. Put it down and come back the next day - The truth is we have no idea what we do well and how we perform. I find that my evaluation of my work is a better indication of my mental state, than it is of the quality of the work. Many times when I come back the next day, I do not have to make any changes or very minor changes. Things look a lot more different the next day, so go back to your work when you have the chance to review it again.

It does not matter what approach you take and the choice you make may be impacted by your end goal.

I have two goals -

1. Get better as a writer. I have two approaches - I write a lot. I study great writers.

2. Continually get compensated more for my writing - Based on this goal, I put stuff out there. I do run the risk of some of my work being criticized but I find that I am the worst judge of whether or not my work is good, especially since I lean more to the critical part

Either way, keep writing and keep working and you will see yourself getting better at an exponential pace.

All About Having a 'Lens' on Squidoo

Squidoo is a platform for those publishers who like to offer web content services and for those whom would like to share their interests publicly. Squidoo is not like any other website where people dump their work; it is a very different website that appreciates good content. A person who writes article on Squidoo has to develop a page first which is called 'Lens'. An article can also be called a 'Lens' on Squidoo. The website is named strategically, and every article writer has a nickname of 'Squid', but they are officially called 'LensMasters'.

Squidoo allows writers to publish and to add website contents by writing on various topics, but guidelines need to be followed. When a user intends to join Squidoo, the most important thing he should have is the passion to write. Your areas of interest do not matter as long as you like to write. The articles can be about anything, ranging from food to fashion. All that matters is that the article is interesting and it must offer quality website contents. Some guidelines need to be followed strictly, and spamming is not allowed. This makes the website spam free and allows readers and publishers to have a decent environment at their disposal to make money and to create valuable content.

Squidoo is useful for people whom use internet marketing. Squidoo is also recognized by many reputable search engines, such as Google, which gives a lot of help to the internet marketers. If someone posts relevant articles on Squidoo, there is a high chance that Google would rank it highly, making it available to a larger audience. Therefore, if you are trying to promote your website with Squidoo, you will probably end up at a higher rank in search engines if you write articles and you promote those appropriately. Squidoo also allows backlinks, which can help a lot if you target relevant and high quality content. Squidoo does have a marketing advantage, but that does not mean it is of use only to the internet marketers. It can also be used by people who love to write, read, and to share high quality content. Squidoo allows this all without charges and also gives an opportunity of earning some money out of it.

With Squidoo, you can also build your own page and you can give it your own customized look. You can either choose the theme of lenses to be professional, or casual as per your choices. By having your own page on Squidoo, you can easily post high quality content, and you can see your page rank higher in the search engines. The type of page you create, and the quality of content that you publish is all that will determine how much potential you have to earn from it.

Squidoo has forums that are highly active, and that contribute a lot towards the knowledge and information of the individuals. Squidoo is also active with many charity programs and contributes to them generously. You also have an option to contribute part of your earnings to charity but that is totally up to you. With a user-friendly interface, and with an easy-to-use platform, Squidoo is a great platform for writers, and it is definitely better than its competitors are.

Finding Inspiration for Freelance Articles

It's easy to get inspiration for articles when you work for a newspaper and your editor is telling you what to do, your inbox is stuffed with press releases and your voicemail is full.

But how does a freelance writer working from home stay on the ball? One of the challenging aspects about being a freelance writer is that you want to shy away from the obvious stories that might come to you through a press release or advertised event. Why? Because likely these story ideas are already being covered by staff writers in your community.

So, where can you go for inspiration?

Friends and relatives: Just about everyone we know has some unique quirk, whether it's an interesting hobby or an unusual career. Sometimes you can mine people's pasts for great stories. I once read an article about one of the first female bus drivers in a major city. Male passengers would refuse to get on the bus when she opened the door. If I was to pass this person on the street, I wouldn't give her a second glance, but I found her story fascinating.

Your own hobbies: Your hobbies may seem pretty mundane, but what attracted you to them in the first place? Do you like hobbies that emphasize risk, such as extreme sports, or creativity, such as music and art? In either case, there are a wealth of different angles you can explore, new trends, interesting personalities, insider articles relating to technique or performance, etc.

Overheard conversations: Coffee shops and buses are great places where inspiration can strike. What are the issues of the day according to the average person? Listen to what people are talking about. It may actually be different from what is on the front page of the newspaper. Often you'll hear people complaining about things that affect them in a day-to-day way - an unfair policy at the nursing home where their grandmother resides, an excessively bureaucratic insurance requirement or the high cost of outfitting kids with everything their school claims they need.

Mine your growing expertise: Freelance writers have one benefit that staff writers don't always have, and that's the ability to specialize in a certain topic or beat. If you have covered a lot of stories in one area, you may find your knowledge of the topic, the issues and the major players provides you with an endless list of ideas that you can explore and tailor to different types of publications.

Wherever you get your ideas, it's important to take notes so that brilliant idea that occurred to you while you were making breakfast doesn't get lost in the day-to-day flurry of activity. Keep a notebook handy and inspiration will always be at your fingertips.