Get My Business Article Published (Distributed) for Free

How to Write an Article that Publishers WANT to Publish

Plan your article well.

Let us start with a plan, plan our work, and then work our plan. Take out a notebook or notepad or use the back sides of these pages and begin answering the following questions:

1) What do I want my article to do for me? Do I want it to advertise my business? Educate my customers? Take care of some customer service issues? Do I want it to sell products, services or information for me?

2) How do I want people to find my article? Do I want them to find it through search engines when people are searching for keywords related to my products and/or services? Do I just want people to find it through other conventional advertising, such as business cards, brochures, newspaper and magazine advertising, radio and etc.?

3) What is my budget for my article writing, hosting and promotion? Are you planning on doing it all yourself, or do you plan to hire a professional to do it for you?

How much should you budget? It is hard to say, because you can get the exact same article created by two different companies and the prices could be dramatically different.

The sky is the limit when it comes to distribution.  Write a great article to take advantage of as much free distribution as you can muster.

What You Say and How You Say it Makes a Big Difference

Do you want your article to have a significant impact upon its readers?

We have learned that WHAT you say and HOW you say it makes a big difference. Following is a list of six trios of little words that should ALWAYS be used in your copy if you are trying to convince people to "buy in to your idea or literally "buy" a product or service.

These are words to consider including in your article's subheadings down your page.

Confidence Words

• Guarantee
• Warranty
• Money Back

Choice Words

• All
• Every
• Each

Convenience Words

• Easy
• Just
• Simple

This second 3 sets of words impact the mind, heart and will of the audience.

Words that Arrest Attention (Mind)

• You
• Stop
• Don’t

Words of Excite Emotion (Heart)

• Free
• Sale
• Special

Words that Demand Decision (Will)

• Now
• Hurry
• Limited

A-Z Power Words

Alert, Amazing, Announcing, Attention, Approved, Astonishing, Authentic

Bargain, Beautiful, Best, Better, Big, Breakthrough, Bonanza

Challenge, Chance, Cheap, Colorful, Colossal, Compare, Complete, Confidential

Daring, Delighted, Delivered, Depend, Direct, Discount, Discover, Destiny, Download

Easy, Edge, Emerging, Endorsed, Energy, Enhance, Enormous, Excellent, Exciting, Extraordinary, Expert, Exciting

Fabulous, Famous, Fantastic, Fascinating, Fundamentals, Focus, Fortune, Free, Full

Genuine, Gigantic, Gift, Glad, Greatest, Growth, Guaranteed

Happy, Helpful, Hidden, Highest, Hottest, Huge, Hurry

Imagine, Immediately, Important, Improved, Incredible, Informative, Innovative, Insider, Interesting, Introducing, Instructive

Jealous

King Sized

Largest, Last, Latest, Launching, Lavishly, Learn, Liberal, Lifetime, Limited, Love, Lowest, Luscious, Luxurious

Magic, Mammoth, Master, Miracle, Modern, Monumental, Money

Never, New, Noted, Notice, Now

Offer, Opportunity, Outstanding, Over

Perfect, Personal, Pioneering, Pizzazz, Popular, Powerful, Practical, Priceless, Private, Profits, Professional, Promising, Proven

Quality, Quickly

Rare, Reduced, Refundable, Reliable, Remarkable, Results, Revealed, Revisited, Revolutionary, Rewarding

Safe, Sale, Sampler, Save, Scarce, Scientific, Scintillating, Secret, Selected, Secure, Sensational, Shrewd, Shocking, Simple, Sizable, Skillfully, Soar, Special, Spotlight, Startling, Strong, Sturdy, Successful, Suddenly, Superior, Surging, Surprising, Survival,

Terrific, Technology, Tested, Timely, Tremendous, Tricks, Tried, True

Ultimate, Unbelievable, Unconditional, Uncovered, Unlimited, Unlock, Unparalleled, Unsurpassed, Unusual, Urgent, Useful, Unique

Valuable

Wanted, Wealth, Willpower, Wonderful

X -

Yes, You

Z -

When Writing for Ad Copy

Ad Copy Must Answer These Three Questions While Accomplishing These Three Things

How long the ad copy should be is determined by the media and the target reading, hearing, or watching, but these elements that follow are the three MUSTS in creating an ad that results in CONVERSIONS.

In all of your advertising, be sure that these following three questions are answered with clarity and brevity. If your advertisement is an infomercial, then be sure to repeat these three things throughout.

1. The What?

What are you Offering ME?

What exactly and precisely is the offer? This sounds so simple, but if you are a business owner (and not a trained, professional copywriter), you need to review your advertising to make sure the what of the offer comes through with a clarion voice.

Even if you are paying for someone else to develop your ad, keep in mind that the definition of someone who gets paid for what they do is “a professional”.

Someone can be a professional and a novice at the same time.

Review your ad copy regularly. Are the what of your offers abundantly clear? It may help to have someone that is not so close to your business review these for you.

It is amazing, -- no it is simply stunning the number of ads that are used by small business owners that do nothing more than give an impotent announcement of their company’s name and services.

Your company is NOT an offer. Promote something!

2. The Why?

Why Do I Need it?

Once you have nailed down what it is that you are offering, you need to tell them why they need what you are offering and be convincing.

Emphasize the benefits of your offer, not the features.

• Features are boring.
• Benefits are exciting.

Your hope is not simply to engage the mind, but to effect the emotions.

People purchase from emotional impulses, which is why so many sales letters have such long copy.

If the copywriters are able to arrest the attention of the readers with their headlines and bring them into their copy, they work on the emotions of the readers more than the intellect.

If you were able to get my attention with your headline copy for your ad, you have still got the job of convincing me that I need it.

You must make me feel a NEED. If your ad copy does not make me feel like I am missing something that I need, I am not going to respond to it.

3. The How?

How Can I Get it Now?

OK. You have told them about the offer and why they need it—now tell them how to get it and make it easy!

Be sure that this is clear and uncomplicated. Make it an easy action step. If your ad copy is for radio or TV, repeat this several times. If you are writing copy for a website, list the 1-2-3 at the top of your ad copy, rehearse it throughout in outline form, and then repeat it at the bottom.

Ok, you’ve got my attention. I KNOW what your offer is, and you’ve really convinced me that I NEED it, but if you don’t COMPEL me to act on it now, I will probably forget about it.

It’s gotta’ be easy and my felt need must be urgent.
Not only must your ad copy answer the three questions of What?, Why? and How?, but it must always accomplish the following ABC’s.

Arresting Attention.

A. It must ARREST my ATTENTION.

There are lots of things out there to distract your prospects from your ads. At any given time, you are competing against any number of conflicting sounds and images.

You need to get their attention. This is priority number 1.

If your copy does not cause them to STOP, you have no hope of getting a conversion from your ad.

Your copy needs to get the special attention of a very special segment of consumers—your target audience.

Are the words you are using and associated imagery (visual or audible) going to catch the attention of your target?

When do you want to get their attention? You want their attention at the very lead of your ad. Your HEADLINE, whether in print or on radio or video, whether printed, spoken or seen, needs to do this job.

Forge your headline, leading copy to capture the attention of your target!

Building Your Brand.

B. It must BUILD your BRAND.

Advertising as you should means that each ad is fashioned with your target in mind and has been specifically crafted for the media that is carrying the message, and that your ad is consistent with your company’s marketing message and is faithfully carrying your brand.

Never miss an opportunity to deepen and broaden awareness for your brand.

Keep in mind that the brand itself doesn’t sell—it is your ad copy that does that, but always include your brand in all of your advertising—in print, radio, internet and television.

Having a catchy jingle is a great way to SINK your brand into the sub consciousness of your target (and even those that are not your target).

Communicating Clearly.

C. It must CLEARLY COMMUNICATE the message.

Your copy needs to be both clear and concise. General ambiguity will generate more suspicion than curiosity. Your ad needs to start the saliva flowing to taste your product or service and include something that creates a feeling of urgency.

You need to make it clear why they should act now. Offer limits is one popular way of doing this, either by date or by number.

• Put in the extra effort to communicate BENEFITS, not FEATURES.

What comes to my mind now is an old Sizzler Steakhouse ad that I heard years ago. The ad did not go into how the cows or fed or transported or butchered or cured or seasoned … it just had the sound of sizzling steak behind it, and then the words at the end whispered, “Sizzler.”

Remember the O’Cedar broom jingle? “O’Cedar makes your life easier!” It is a benefit, not a feature.

People buy benefits.