Ezine Article Writing In 10 Easy Steps

1. Choose A Topic.

You need to choose either a hot topic or a topic about which you are passionate. If you can find a topic which is both these things, you have a winning combination. Think about what people are talking about on forums and in ezine articles that you have read recently. Check with Google to find recent popular search topics. Your task will be easier if your article covers a subject people currently find interesting. If you are interested in the subject, this will show in your writing and enthusiasm can be infectious.

2. Research Your Subject.

Remember that people will read your article to obtain information. The type and extent of your research will depend upon the type of article you intend to write. If you are writing an article about your own experience or viewpoint, you probably won't need to do much in the way of research unless you want to add in references to some contrasting views which have been published by other people. Obviously, if you are writing an article which includes statistical information, you need to make sure your facts and figures are correct.

3. Invent a Title.

The title can make or break your article. A title for an article is just as important as a headline for an ad. The first 3-5 words of your title are the most important ones so don't waste them by using words like "The Ten Best Ways To?". Put your keyword in the first 3-5 words and make sure your title is relevant to the article content. If your title doesn't grab people's attention they will never read the rest of the article. If they don't read the article, they won't see your resource box. You get the picture?

4. Write In Sections.

Write 3-5 major points on your topic. If you find you need more points, it is probably better to split the information into two (or even more) separate articles. Make sure that each section really is a fresh point and not a continuation of something you covered a couple of paragraphs back. The key to making your writing easy to do and easy to read is dividing up the content so that it is logically organised and does not jump backwards and forwards.

5. Count Your Words.

Between 700 - 1200 words is the best size for an ezine article. If you write less than 500 words, your article is unlikely to be taken seriously and anything much over 1000 words might demand more space than an Ezine publisher wants to allocate. Few ezines will accept any article over 1200 words long. If you write an article amounting to over 1200 words, first of all check that your writing is not sloppy, repetitive or unnecessarily long-winded. If your writing is "tight" and every word is informative, split the work into two articles and call them Part 1 and Part 2. Add an additional paragraph mentioning that the article is one in a series and point the reader in the direction of the url for the other article. You also get double the number of resource boxes that way!

6. Create Your Resource Box.

This is your advertisement. Most ezines demand that a resource box is limited to about 5 lines. Some insist on as low as 3 lines but 5 is a good average to work on. You need to fit into those 5 lines your name, your website url and a couple of promotional phrases designed to attract the reader's interest so that he will click through to your website. You will get the best results if your promotional phrases relate to your article content. If you only ever write articles about one subject and your website is only about one thing, you can keep to just the one resource box. If the subject matter of your articles varies, revise your resource box to suit each new article instead of just having a standard resource box telling your readers they should visit your homepage.

7. Proofread And Edit.

Never send off an article immediately you finish writing it. Leave it overnight, sleep on it, then come back to it the next day to proofread and edit it. If yesterday's work of art seems less appealing in cold daylight, rewrite it until you are satisfied with the improvement and then leave it another day. Do a spellcheck but don't just rely on your pc's spell checking software, read the article carefully yourself (if you visit my website, you will find a poem dedicated to the pc spellchecker which will illustrate why this is important). It is amazing what a short rest will do for the creative process: you will probably find yourself making many small alterations which will result in a polished piece of work. Sometimes you will find yourself in possession of a completely unsatisfactory article which has to be rewritten numerous times but that is preferable to submitting a substandard article.

8. Send To Ezine Publishers.

Find a large section of ezine publishers and list their name and contact emails. Send your article to them with a short personalized cover paragraph at the top. Personalization is important since most ezine publishers receive hundreds of these emails every day. Make sure you format your email by making a hard carriage return at the end of each line. Keep your lines down to 60 - 65 characters so that your article will be displayed correctly by email servers. If you neglect the hard carriage returns, your article can end up with breaks in strange places, the general effect will be messy and the article will be difficult to read. The result will be that the busy publisher will skip your email in favour of ones that are easy to read.

9. Submit To Article Directories.

There are hundreds of article directory sites where you can submit your articles. You can easily find these sites by searching with any major search engine. The submission process can be very time-consuming and there are services which, for a fee, will submit your articles to the directories for you. If you are operating with a limited budget, these services might be prohibitively expensive but automation is desirable as your time is precious. When submitting online to article directories, read the site instructions. Submission is normally done by way of an online form where hard carriage returns (except at the end of paragraphs) are to be avoided as the site's own software will deal with correct formatting.

10. Target Your Market

Don't Spray and pray: avoid the temptation to be lazy and send every article you write to every ezine publisher and article directory you find, this is spamming. Take a little time to check what sort of articles the various sites want. If you consistently bombard a site with unsuitable material, you can find yourself blacklisted by a potentially valuable source of free publicity. Remember, there are real people at those sites who have to read the articles before they are accepted, so don't annoy them by wasting their time.

Copyright 2005 Elaine Currie

Elaine Currie publishes articles at her Plug-in Profit Site at: http://www.huntingvenus.com/plug-in_profi t_site.htm

To see more about article writing go to: http://www.huntingven us.com/Ezine_Article_Writing_In_Ten_Easy_Steps.htm

---

Every Writers Dilemma: How Do You Decide What to Write About?

The sources of inspiration are all around us, in the... Read More

50,000 Articles Indeed

How is it possible to turn an idea into the... Read More

Finding Your Way Through Online Articles

For me, to decide to start a home business was... Read More

Personal Promotion Through Publishing

One of the best ways to build credibility and promote... Read More

How Article Marketing Will Make You a Fortune

Article marketing-the simple act of writing one 400 word article... Read More

Getting Your Foot in the Door (Or How I Finally Got Published)

This has to be the number one thing that most... Read More

Why You Should Write Articles or At Least Get a Ghostwriter to Write for You

Overture reports over 1 million queries for article keyword related... Read More

Visibility, Credibility and Position Through Articles and Celebrity Testimonials

A huge problem for many people who are working on... Read More

How to Be An Expert In Your Field

One of the most tried and true methods of self-promotion... Read More

Do You Have the Characteristics of an Article Writer?

In order to answer the question I've just asked in... Read More

8 Surefire Methods to Create an Article Title That Will Get Your Article Read More Often

Often all the Web Surfer will see is your title,... Read More

10 Tips For Getting More Traffic From Your Articles

Here's a depressing fact if you sell anything on the... Read More

Financial Planners Publicity - Increase Your Search Engine Ranking with Web Articles

The goal of free publicity is to get your name... Read More

Top Ten Tips to Write Articles that Will Get Published

This free way to promote or publicize your book or... Read More

Promoting Your Affiliate Programs with Articles

If you are not creating articles for your website and... Read More

Website Promotion ? Writing Articles May Be Better Than Hiring SEO Firms

It is a well-known fact that a key to obtaining... Read More

Writers Block - Find an Article Topic in Minutes Anytime Anywhere with These 7 Tips Guaranteed!

One question I get asked all the time is how... Read More

How to Write an Effective Article

Writing a great deal of articles myself, I see a... Read More

Internet Marketing: Secrets of Writing Keyword Rich Articles in Six Easy Steps

Determining keywords is a critical step in writing articles online... Read More

Promote Your Home Business with Keyword Rich Articles

Do you wonder what easy, cheap, and fast way you... Read More

Increase Your Visitors By Writing Articles

If you want to increase the amount of visitors to... Read More

3 Reasons You Should Be Writing Articles To Promote Your Website

Articles are a fantastic source of links and additional traffic... Read More

How An Online Writer Can Easily Self-publish Their Way To A Fortune

Online writing is really self-publishing made easier and potentially much... Read More

You Can Also Write

I am sure that there would have been a moment... Read More

Turn Words Into Traffic

A large portion of your business relies on your ability... Read More

Article Content Sources For Article Writers - 7 Quick Strategies You Can Use Immediately

As an article author, sometimes you can only pull so... Read More

1000 Ways to Improve Your Business

One of the best things you can do for your... Read More

Write From Home: Lessons From The Editors

Writers talk about rejection all the time ? just part... Read More

You Are Losing Customers By Not Doing This

Not doing what, you ask.Writing and submitting articles.Writing articles is... Read More

Writing Articles Sells Books

Are you a reluctant marketer for your book? Do you... Read More

Jump From Unknown to Widely Quoted in One Week

Start by Being QuotableIt's tough to stand out online. With... Read More

Free Articles = Free Publicity (Or, How To Get Free Publicity For Your Business)

Publicity?you're business can survive without it, but it certainly won't... Read More

There is an Article Deep Down Inside of You Just Looking to Bust Out

The Most Economical Way to Advertise online is to Submit... Read More