How To Write Articles To Promote Your Home Business Opportunity (Part One)

Writing articles for the internet is one of the best free promotion methods you can use to grow your home business. This is a step by step lesson on how to write your own promotional articles and what to do with them once they*ve been created.

Your article should be targeted to the typical prospect for your network marketing program. It will promote your signup page or lead capture website or free course, but must be written with your prospect in mind. Write something useful but never blatantly sell the opportunity.

Create An Outline

Before you can write an article, you have to know what you are going to write about. An outline forces you to organize your thoughts so the article flows better. Include these elements when preparing an outline:

- Headline (Gets their attention)

- Grabber (The first paragraph. Makes them want to read on)

- Main points and sub-points paragraphs

- Conclusion (Repeat overall benefits and make it short)

- Resource Box (To promote your business opportunity)

Time To Write

Once you have an outline to work with, it is time to write your first draft. The best way to get the draft *on paper* is to just sit down and write. Don*t be concerned with length, grammar or spelling. Follow your outline and don*t stop until you have finished. Write as if you are speaking to your prospect directly.

Put It Away

Once the draft is finished, put it away. Don*t look at it for a couple of days. This will allow you to look at it with *fresh eyes* when you begin to edit.

First Rewrite

Now it*s time to read over your draft and start making corrections. You may read a sentence and decide on a better way to express that idea. Watch for bad grammar, but realize that you want to write in a casual manner. Don*t use any slang or regional expressions, since foreign readers may not understand what you mean. Write as you would speak to a friend. Avoid using big words or passages that sound like you are reading a college thesis. Convey your message in easy to read, easy to understand sentences. The shorter the better, while still getting your point across to the reader.

Remove words and sentences that the article doesn*t absolutely need. Replace them with something better (and shorter) or don*t replace them at all. Organize the paragraphs so the entire article flows nicely.

Let*s Get Typing

Wait another day before typing your hand-written draft. This will give you a better perspective when editing. The key is to condense the copy. Remove more words than you add. At this point, you shouldn*t be adding words unless they*re absolutely necessary.

The Final Rewrite

Now that your article is typed and edited, it is time for another rewrite. Your goal is to make the final copy shorter than it is now. The key to writing effective web articles is to keep them as short and condensed as possible. A person*s attention span while reading on the web is much shorter than if they were reading from a book or a magazine. Don*t waste the reader*s time. Give them what they want in a quick and pleasant way. Cut out anything that is not absolutely necessary. Would you rather read an article of 1200 words, or get the same idea from one only 700 words? Shorter is better.

Formatting Your Article For Use With Email

Once you*ve finished editing, you will want to make your article as easy to read as possible by formatting it to the standard form that is accepted by ezine publishers. The accepted standard line length for promotional articles to be used in email newsletters and ezines is 65 characters per line of text.

You*ll need to use a full featured text editor to do this easily. I recommend UltraEdit32, a useful and inexpensive tool that I use daily. http://www.ultraedit.com . MS Word, WordPad and NotePad are not recommended for creating and formatting your articles.

Use short sentences and paragraphs whenever possible. This makes the article easier to read for the busy internet surfer. When the entire article is typed, it*s time to make sure it is formatted and checked for spelling mistakes. After performing a spell check, be sure to read the copy again for mistakes. If you typed *for* but really meant *four*, the spell check will not catch it, since for is a correctly spelled word.

The Resource Box

Also known as a signature file, your resource box is your chance to promote your network marketing program. You can include a short author bio (including your name is a must) and a teaser for your home business opportunity. Include a link to the opportunity*s website or to your lead capture web page. Above all, include a major benefit that the prospect would receive by joining your program.

Have Your Work Proofed

Have someone proof read your article. One way to do this is to hire a professional editor. You may not have the cash for that, so a friend or relative will do. Take their advice, then use your good judgement to make a final edit. Cut out anything that is not absolutely necessary. Polish it to a brilliant shine. This gem has YOUR name on it!

In Part Two, you will learn whom to contact and where (and how) to submit your original article for publication on websites and in ezines and newsletters.

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