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Archive for the ‘Article Writing’ Category

By Peter Paulus

(Ed Note: This is a rather lengthy one but if you take the time (or have the time to read this, it might be useful)

When people are asked a question concerning what they like or dislike, or when they are asked to state what they think about a given topic, the answer will be their opinion. An opinion is their view or impression, their thoughts, feelings or conclusions on a particular topic. An opinion does not deal with the idea of right and wrong, correct or incorrect; rather, it deals with people’s reasons for thinking that way and how they came to their conclusions. Hence, the name: personal opinion essay.

As the writer, you are looking for agreement from the reader, and the reader is looking for something with which to agree. This is not a research paper based on scientific evidence and statistical facts. It is a relationship built between the author and reader, based on personal understanding.

Desired Outcome

The desired outcome is that you develop your ability to write clearly and make your opinions understood. You are also expected to reach a certain standard of quality in your writing. Your goal is to express yourself effectively and within the accepted parameters of the English language. This personal opinion essay is the first type of essay you need to master in writing; after all, the word essay embodies the concept behind personal expression.

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Any writer can tell you that they can start off writing one thing and then they end up with something completely off-track. Don’t worry, beginners, it is a very common problem with writers. To control this problem, what we do over here is to spend a few minutes researching the web for good content, write out in point form and then form a skeleton of the article.

The skeleton of the article will serve as a guide – like the railway tracks for a train, it keeps you from derailing and moving in the right direction.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to write out a skeleton, trust me. All it takes is a few minutes and you don’t have to spend too much time editing.

And oh, the editing process is the most hated exercise in the whole writing process.

By writing out a skeleton for your article, you know where you are going and what you are writing. When you are done with the article, you are left with a more-or-less intact one that requires little or not editing.

Some people ask, ‘Do you write the title first or write it last?’

There is no right or wrong answer but here’s what we, web content writers at www.contentmagician.com do. We…

• start out with a title,

• write the skeleton of the article,

• write the article,

• edit the article

• and then we rewrite the title.

Five simple steps to writing an article easily. The same way we are doing for this article, anyway and it took us less than ten minutes to write this.

Suggestion: give it a try now. Find a topic…OK, let me help you jumpstart this. Start writing about what you did in the morning and why you did what you did.

Author: Dmytro Fodoreyev

Article marketing is one of the most powerful tools used for product/website promotions. This technique attracts many new readers to your blog/website and definitely it increases your sales as well. Article marketing is one of the best strategies to make money online. Read the following paragraph to know more about article marketing and get some tips as well.

The basic thing for article marketing is to have an article. You must have a strong knowledge in English to write an article or you can also outsource the job. Submit the article to article directories which have high page rank. Some of the best directories are ezine, articlesbase, articledashboard etc. The editors of these sites will review your article and if it meets their editorial guidelines then your article will be published in these sites. The first and best thing about article marketing is that it gives you one-way backlinks. These one-way backlinks gives your blog/website a better page rank and good search engine positions as well.

· Do not promote anything inside the article as this may reduce the chances of approval in the directories.

· Give only the factual information in your article as this may help in attracting readers.

· Always do more research for the content and do not just rewrite the things.

· Give an eye catching title to your articles as this helps in attracting readers

· Make short and sweet sentences.

· Insert your keywords inside the body at appropriate places and do not stuff it.

· Use bulleted points and make the article neat.

· Always have a very good resource box when you are submitting and add your URL for your keyword.

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About The Author
http://www.articleSubmitedge.com offers you complete article submission service. Using our article submit, you can boost your link popularity and get top ranking. Article submission is a powerful service for website promotion.

Author: Marsha Maung

Written the wrong article. And with a looming deadline too. Nothing could be worse. Things are bad. This could be the end of everything. I am going to have to burn a few midnight oils for this mistake.

Nah. Don’t have to. You see, here I am writing this article for myself after all. Want to know how it was done? Repurposing the article, of course! This is a learned art that one can only make use of through experience. You know, come to think of it, even if you don’t have the experience of writing tons and tons of articles every day, you can do it if you put your mind to it because it is nothing miraculous. You don’t need to know Karate to know how to whack this out.

Here’s what repurposing an article mean. It means saving the article from going completely into the waste bin, that’s what. As mentioned, I wrote the wrong article…two, in fact (yes, yes, as stupid as it sounds) and I need to save both. Here’s what needs to be done. I need to either find a new twist to it and fit it into a new genre or save some, lose some, add more. You know what you have written in your article, so you are in the best position to decide what stays so, give the article a quick scan and see what you can save from the whole thing and still present it to your client without having to rewrite the entire piece.

Admittedly, you probably can’t keep everything in there if it is a completely different topic altogether, so, you compile the information you need to ‘thrash’ and save it for later use. You can expand that into another article for another client later on. Then scan the web for new information that you can insert to ‘fill in the blanks’ for the current article. Find them and write them.

Most of the time, we write multiple articles for the same client so you must have written a fair amount in the past for this client. Re-use the previous information for this article and write it in a new way.

Switch on your torch lights and look inside your head to see if you have further information that you can INSTANTLY add from a previous article that you have written for another client too If you have it, add a few words in there. One of the biggest tool for a freelance writer is to know how to find multiple angles to write about the same thing. If you’re writing about wine bar, can you write it from a kid’s point of view (not the kids drinking but the how to make wine bars kid-friendly)? Can you write it from the wine maker’s point of view? Can you write it from a collector’s point of view? There are so many ways to write on one topic.

This, fellow writers, is called repurposing (I call it rescuing for very obvious reasons – for me, at least) the article so that you can maximize your income writing on the same topic. For some of us, it comes in handy when we stupidly write the wrong topic for the wrong client looking at the wrong deadline.

If you have anything to add to this, please comment. I am sure I could use another few tricks up my sleeves. We, freelance writers, are a pretty friendly bunch of people, aren’t we?

AUTHOR: Marsha Maung

If not for the internet, many of us would never have made it as writers. Some of us would probably be stuck in a boring job in a kitchen or driving trucks from state to state or teaching in a kindergarten. Whilst there is nothing wrong with those professions, it’s wrong when deep inside, there’s a dire need to write and share what we know or a story with everyone else through the written word. Writing is like an itch. It needs to be scratched.

With the internet, writers get the chance to test-drive their skills, practice and get advice, promote ourselves, express our feelings and also start a business. Many writers can’t imagine what life would be like without the internet.

Of course, there are many other ways to promote oneself without the internet but let’s face it, it would be far less effective. And of course, photographers get quite a bit of help from the internet as with many other types of businesses.

But because the internet is a world where the written word is the leading reason why people can find you online, suffice to say that writers have the upper hand. If you could write a decent piece of work, you can use it to promote yourself via various methods. Almost everything is reliant on the written word.

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written by Marsha Maung

It’s lucky for some of us who started out with the whole web content writing thing when it was still raw out of the fridge.We’re lucky because we see how NOT to do things now.

Back in those days, web content writers were rare and we didn’t really know how to capture the audience we wanted, so we wrote rubbish and planted them everywhere. Then we frantically plugged words together and combine them in random order with keywords we wanted to rank highly with. We sent them out and the spider-bots picked them up and thought dumbly, ‘Wow, lookie here….this page here, lots of ‘making money online’ keyword. Must be really important. Let’s rank it on first page.’

As if it’s of any surprise at all, people found out how dumb we were trying to do things and caught on. It’s easy to do, so, this is no-brainer stuff.

Soon, everyone was doing it and the search engines were buggered up.

It’s amazing because the search engines have gotten smarter – the sad part is, some folks have not. They’re still adopting the old-school SEO techniques and they’ve got to realize that the web content writing style is not only out-of-date, it’s disrespectful of the readers and the audience.

The audience have grown smarter now that even dogs have blogs. If they could bark their way to promote their blogs, they would. So, we need to evolve with that. The moment readers find out how you’re making use of them to get traffic from them, they’re never coming back. Once they realize you’re committed to publishing utter rubbish, they’ll keep their wallets as far away from you as possible.

Is THAT what you want?

If you want success in your business and you want to provide good web content for your readers so that they learn how to respect you, you need to add true value to the stuff that you publish for them. Otherwise, it’s simply adieus and they’re never coming back.

Whenever I fall for fake links and pages, bear in mind that I take a good, long look at the web URL. I try my best to remember the name (there are too many, however) so that I know where NOT to click the next time the link comes up. Feed the readers and fool the search engines with links that are merely filled with ads, publish rubbish reviews and something will happen….it’s only a matter of time.

In conclusion, I honestly wish that more people realize that the readers are getting far too smart for us to fool the way we used to fool them now.

But that’s just me.

Note: Photo credit

Most people concur that writing is not always easy – especially when you’re not wired that way. Most people would imagine TALKING a much better, more convenient form of communication. It takes effort to write. But for strange, weird people like me, writing is easier. That is….before this whole online social networking thing took it a few steps deeper.

Writing, for most writers today, is a form of promotion for ourselves. The more we write, the more we get out there, the more people we reach, the more people get to know about it. If you do a credible job, you invariably will attract a few fans and followers as time goes on.

With the online social networking phenomenon, it’s no longer the case.

Writing is the easy part….the physical part of typing the article out, editing and proofing them. And THEN comes the hard part. I know some people are thinking, ‘That’s it, right? You’re done! You get it published or send it out or something, right?’ WRONG.

I said ‘promotion’ up there and an article does not promote itself. You need to push it out there, hence, the work AFTER the writing is done. First, you’ll post it up, of course, then you put it up on your Facebook account to let all your friends and family members know that you’ve just written some masterpiece. And you get on Twitter and tweet about it to your followers so that they can get a read of it too. It’s not a prerequisite but some people repeat their tweets (RT – ReTweet) the same link with different write-up….just in case someone missed it. Some people do it up to 8, 9, 10 times a day. Sometimes they do it the next day, next week…well, it’s up to you how much you want to annoy your followers, really.

Done? No. Don’t forget to plug the story into article directories too and that’ll take a bit of time but you’ll chill while waiting. And of course, you’re going to have to place some links in your Facebook group walls and also in your blog to let readers know the article is there.

Done? No. Don’t forget the online bookmarking sites because lots of people go through them and an extra link can’t be a bad thing. So, you go into your digg.com, stumbleupon, Yahoo! buzz, propeller.com, delicious.com, furl.net…and stick the link up there with a short write-up to….yes, to let people know the article is there.

See? One article and tons of work after that. You see why writing is the easy part now? I might just start thinking that talking is way faster some day.

Here’s a note for a crazy Thursday. Tomorrow is Labor’s Day and I ain’t giving myself a holiday. I know I am such a hard-assed boss!In order to determine whether an article is a good one or not, let’s take a look at it from the reader’s point of view.

For future reference, it’s always a ’step-into-the-readers’-shoes’ tactic that works best. It works in a website, it works in a blog and it works in article directories.I am assuming you’ve heard about how contributing articles to web content sites or article directories for promotional purposes.

If you’ve not, head over to www.ezinearticles.com, www.goarticles.com and www.articlesdashboard.com for more information. They should have sufficient information in there to help you understand what that is all about. 

Anyway, the point of writing this note here today is to ask you a question. When you’re writing your article marketing articles, if you were another website or blog owner, do you think you will publish those articles? I’ve seen some really FANTASTIC ones in there but I just can’t help but keep reminding all of you out there that the articles need to be publish-worthy! 

Otherwise, you’re not maximizing on the potential result of those articles.Write useful (amusing, if possible) articles that makes others want to publish it. Not just whack out a few words with a link at the bottom.

That’s losing the whole point of article marketing.Now, go and write a very useful article on your industry and start using article marketing as an online marketing avenue right now! 

Boredom…..a disease that strikes just about anyone who does repetitive work for prolonged periods of time. Boredom can strike anyone and writers are no exception. Well, in short….yes, I get bored with writing too. My fingers uncharacteristically ache whenever a thought or reminder dawns on me that the time has come for me to….well, tap out, yet, another article on a subject matter that is of no concern to me as a person or individual.

But tell that to a website designer and the designer can tell you the same thing. Yeah, it gets boring.

Here’s where a writer’s sense of responsibility and capability comes in. As much as I, sometimes, feel the dislike of having to delve into a topic that is off my tangent, I remind myself that this is my job and I have the heavy responsibility of delivering whether I like it or not. My preference is of no concern to the client. They are depending on me to come up with articles or web content that makes sense…but most importantly, makes them money.

So, I counter the attack of the boredom with creative writing. A sentence at the top of my head can actually spur a lot or ignite a fire that dimmed when I am trying to fight off the feeling of jadedness.

Reading and writing outside of the scope of work is an extremely important aspect of keeping the fire of passion (for writing) alive in us. Creative work is often that demanding. The same goes for people who act, do voice-overs, perform on stage, give powerful speeches or dance.

As a writer, I sweep my boredom aside, my own personal longings into a closet or under a carpet so that I can focus. But not before I delve very fleetingly into something that I love doing. Like blogging, like now.

I write a lot of fiction as well….short stories, long stories, an inspirational paragraph or an outline of a story. For more or less twenty to thirty minutes every day, I open these up and add to them whenever I feel boredom strike.

Then after that, I close the ‘drawer’ in my mind and reconnect with my work. Let’s face it, if I were to let boredom dictate my work as a writer, I would be delivering crap to all my clients from time to time and honestly speaking, I can’t afford to do that.

No, let me rephrase that….I refuse to do that. I value my work and the integrity that I stand for more than anyone can ever imagine. I fought way too hard to establish myself to let all of that slip away. It takes but only one simple mistake to lose the trust that I have developed and earned from my clients.

So now that I’ve dealt with the issue of boredom, it’s time for me to get back to work.

Boredom, I’ll see you again tomorrow. For now, cheerios!

By Deborah Owen 

While it is true that a few people can skip protocol and begin writing for large markets without writing credits, the ordinary person cannot. Be prepared, because every publication will want to know where you have been published before, and you should have a list of publications as long as your arm.Write for ezines that pay in subscriptions, (some will pay $5). Write for your church bulletin and bulletins at work. Go to your local newspaper and ask if they need someone to cover sports and/or political meetings. (These are hard jobs to fill, and almost every paper needs someone in these positions.)

You may be asking yourself, “But if I give writing references in ezines, bulletins, and local papers, won’t the editor know I’ve been working for nothing?” Yes, they will, but they won’t care. They will admire you for your tenacity. They will know you’ve been out working and learning the market, and they’ll know that you must be some kind of a decent writer, or no one would have published you.

There is yet another way that you can get experience, and that is writing for Associated Content and other such places. You can also write for article distribution centers. Everything counts.

When you send your first piece into a magazine, don’t make the mistake of saying, “My teacher said she liked this piece,” “I’ve never been published before, but I’ll be a hard worker,” or “I belong to a writer’s club and they voted this article as the best of the month.” These are amateur remarks, and any editor will recognize them as such.

If you don’t have any publication credits, avoid the subject altogether. Give the short story on how you got into writing and what your goals are, and always thank the editor for his time in reading your submission.

In conclusion: write articles free of charge to get publishing credits (and keep dated clippings from each one in a scrap book, as you will need that information later on); present yourself well and have the audacity of a Rockefeller. Remember, you’re selling yourself. Most of the time, you’ll get the chance you’re looking for, if you bluff your way through it.

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