Anyone engaged in writing articles for offline publications or online business has occasionally struggled with the question of \”What to write?\”

Methods To Help The Average Person To Start Writing

Maybe I am just an overly optimistic person. I have always believed that anyone committed to writing an article can write an article. The problem is that most individuals simply do not have the belief in their own skills and insight. That is the reason why we ghost writing lot will always have a job. As long as there are people who doubt their own skills or insights, I will always have a job.

One of my good friends, Clinton Douglas IV, learned the lesson of understanding that he had his own abilities and skills that he could utilize to write his own articles. He learned that he could turn his insight into literature worth reading, by simply calling his favorite ghost writer on the phone (me) and sharing his thoughts on a topic. He was always amazed how it seemed like I could read his thoughts and mind and put his thoughts to paper, even the thoughts that he did not mention specifically to me.

Most people simply don’t have a favorite ghost writer on the other end of a telephone call. For them, they should sit down to the computer and type and type and type, with little to no regard for proper spelling, grammar, or storytelling. The first draft should always be used to get one’s thoughts out of the brain and down on paper. Spelling, grammar and wording can be fixed during the editing process.

My friend Clinton utilizes this technique on occasion too. He wrote an article one time, by just spilling his brain onto the page. He wrote from his heart and got his thoughts all out of his head. When done, he sent me his final draft for editing. Sure, there were many words that were fixed, a lot of bad grammar that was corrected, and wording that was massaged, before we found the final product. Once written by him and edited, we put his \”3:10 to Yuma\” article out on the World Wide Web. Almost immediately, my friend Clinton started receiving compliments for his story. Many said it was very inspirational.

I believe in your ability to write your own articles, even if you do not.

Even if you can never bring yourself to write your own articles, that is fine, since we professional ghost writers are happy to write for you.

How Professional Writers Find Inspiration

When it is time to sit down to write an article, we professionals sit down and start reading. Inspiration is a thought that comes to our mind while we are reading information on our target topic. Our thought is never to rewrite what other writers are talking about. Instead, our inspired thought is often an extension of the words we read that were penned by our peers.

How many times have you been reading something written by someone else, and you felt that the author should have ventured off on a tangent that he or she left hanging? Inspiration often occurs right here in this moment, at that very intersection of this thought.

Once you know the question left unanswered by another writer, then you will have found your own direction and inspiration for writing your next article.

Answer The Unanswered Question and More…

When you want to use articles to promote your online business, it is not enough to answer the unanswered question. You actually need to venture a bit further afield and to ask yourself one very important question: Is the person most likely to buy your product or service also interested in having this question answered?

When you write for promotion purposes, you should always try to speak to the hearts and minds of the people most likely to buy what you are selling. If your potential clients are asking the same questions as you are, then you know what questions you need to answer for your readers. It is in answering questions important to your customers, where you will begin to find real success using promotional articles to promote your business.

Help your customers answer questions they want answered, and they will help you to earn the sales you need to keep your doors open to others.

Final Note About Inspiration and The Writing Process

This article began as a blog post, written in a blog I contribute to weekly (the Article Marketing Tips Blog).

I often write a blog post as my first draft of an idea. Then I massage the message to make it worthy as a promotional article, an article to be read by a larger audience.

Sometimes my first draft is an answer to someone who asked me a question about my service. I answer his or her question from the hip, then I copy-and-paste my answer to a word document and massage the copy for a public audience.

Many times, this first-draft, second-draft process has helped me to create some of the very best articles I have written. Due to the fact that my original article draft is put together as an answer to a question that one of my potential clients had, it permits me to write an article that answers a question that many of my other potential customers may also be thinking.

In answering questions for the larger audience, I have found great success for myself in article marketing. Given a little bit of motivation and commitment, you can make my processes work for you too, to build your own success online.

About The Author:
Bill Platt has been providing article distribution to his clients since 2001 at: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ He offers ghost writing and article marketing services. With lots of experience writing articles that attract publishers, readers, traffic and sales to his website, Bill wrote an ebook to share the secrets of his article writing success that can be found at: http://thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/article-marketing-traffic.html

Book publishing, information publishing, however it’s called. It can create a wealth of fortune for you.

However, what most people understand about publishing means they have to do something big. They have to be really knowledgeable about the subject they want to publish. They had to be real good with writing.

But when does writing have to be a hard thing?

Here’s why: Long have we tried to write, and time after time we experience what we call writer’s block. The fact is, writer’s block can never have to be a problem at all - as you’ll learn why in a while.

Then, the world never cares whether you’re knowledgeable about something, they care when you’ve delivered to them in a value of some kind. Why do you think someone would want to buy a book from you? They wanted to learn something they can change their lives in, and further improve their quality of lives as well.

Here’s where researching comes in—but we’re not speaking about the average research. Sometimes people think research is a difficult feat requiring hours upon hours of effort, but with what you’re going to learn from me in later articles, you’ll find researching a petty little task to do, and you can create greater results from my technique!

We’ll talk about writer’s block here.

You see, the only reason why you have writer’s block is because you’re editing. It’s summed up in this one sentence.

Whether or not you’re editing doesn’t matter, but when you feel a block of your mind from writing amazing words, it’s because you’re giving yourself judgment over your writing process. It doesn’t have to always be this way.

And here’s a secret to eliminate writer’s block forever if you would but understand its true value and use it:

Write FAST. Write really, really fast.

I will teach you how to do this even clearly on the next subsequent articles I will be sharing with you which you can find on my web site, but right now here’s the most important thing you need to eliminate writer’s block forever.

To quote one of the world’s current greatest science fiction writers of all time, Isaac Asimov (featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for his prolific writing), here’s what he says when asked by a reporter what his secret is to becoming such a prolific writer: \”I guess I’m prolific because I have a simple and straightforward style.\”

Little did people really deciphered the true meaning behind his quote.

The way you can really have a simple and straightforward style is to write the way you talk… and if you want to write the way you talk, you better write fast because that’s the little trigger to unlocking your amazing writing abilities to have your readers feel as though you’re talking to them.

You know what they say? The best books in the world always makes it feel as if the reader is involved in the picture.

Well this is one of the biggest secrets to writing a book fast and publishing one you can sell on the Internet, or have them racked upon the booths of book stores you visit in the next few weeks, or months.

Believe it or not, you could publish your own book in 2 weeks and use it to change your life forever.

If you want to learn the subsequent chapters to really write fast, and how to use what you’ve written to create a multi-million information publishing business online even though you’re just an average person, be sure to wait or discover the next articles coming up for you.

About The Author:
A former college dropout, Dan Lok transformed himself from a grocery bagger in a local supermarket to an multi-millionaire. Dan came to North America with little knowledge of the English language and few contacts. If you’re ready to take your online business to the next level, go to: http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com/more.html

It is an unfortunate reality that most people who write books believe that their publisher will always put their best foot forward, to promote their book. In the real world, it does not quite work that way.

Let me put this in perspective for you.

THE PROFIT-LOSS EQUATION IN BOOK PUBLISHING

It is a financial matter of profits and losses. The book publishing world is much different than what many of us believe it is or that we believe it should be.

The average publisher will only print 1,000 copies of a book. They do this because the average book will sell an average of 400 or 500 copies.

When a publisher takes on a new title, it is a real gamble. Publishers are gambling that the books they take on will generate sales of 1,000 copies, and on rare occasions, they can hope for a book to sell a full 5,000 copies.

The book that sells 100,000 or one million copies is extremely rare.

With more than 100,000 books being printed every year, fewer than one percent of those books will see sales in the range of 5,000 or more copies. Every publisher has hopes that one of the 1,000 books every year that will sell at least 5,000 copies is one of the books sold through their publishing house. These are the books that will help the publisher to make a real profit this year.

One publisher told me that he lets his editors take care of the full book editing and development process. And, he said that he will not even pay attention to the book, until the book sells 5,000 copies. Only then will he consider reading the book himself and cranking up his marketing department to try to sell the book to a wider audience.

So, here it is in a nutshell. If you are a new book author, and you would like to see your book get some serious attention from your publisher and the public, then you need to step up to the plate and promote your book in such a way, as you can ensure that your book will sell 5,000 copies or more.

These days, most publishers will put up single webpages offering each of their books to the public. As a writer of the book, you should not believe that this page will be a well-written, well-optimized page on the internet.

Don’t fool yourself… The webpage where your book is offered generally will not get great rankings in the search engines for the keywords relevent to the topic of your book. Additionally, the sales copy will not be set up in such a way as to give much confidence to your potential buyers.

Print book publishers don’t do a good job building online promotional materials for a book, until they put their best people on the job. And, the publisher will not put their best people on the job until they believe that they have a winner in their stable.

As a writer, if you want your book to be anything more than a dust-catcher on your own shelf, you need to learn to be a book promoter also.

HOW TO SELL YOUR FIRST 5,000 BOOKS

As a book author, there are three basic steps that you will want to undertake to promote your book online.

1. Set up a domain website,

>2. Promote your book with articles,

3. Promote your book with press releases.

In this article, I am going to take a look at how and why you will want to consider each of these steps.

1. SET UP A DOMAIN WEBSITE

Yes, you need a \”domain\” website. A free page on Geocities.com or Freeservers.com will not instill confidence with your potential customers. Let’s face it, the most important marketing consideration for any product or service to be sold on the internet today is to build the \”trust factor\”.

A person, who is being asked to take out their wallet, wants to know that they will get what they have paid for. Free sites cannot be traced to anyone in particular, and commercial websites on the free servers are considered in general to be owned by the fly-by-night outfits on the internet.

We have to give our potential customers the confidence they need to buy products and services from us. And, in order to give our potential customers confidence, we must be willing to spend a few of our own dollars to set up a website.

You can actually register a domain for less than $20 in most cases. Hosting for that domain can be picked up from hundreds of web hosting companies for as little as $10-$20 per month.

On your website, you want to tell readers about your book and why your reader might want to buy your book. On your website, be certain to also ask your reader for the sale, and give them a link where they can buy your book.

Including testimonials and book reviews on your website, will also help you to build interest and trust with your readers.

Sometimes, it can pay dividends to hire a web designer to design the visual template for your website, and to hire a sales copywriter to write your sales copy for the book.

One thing to keep in mind is that not all web designers can write good salescopy, and few copywriters make good web designers.

When you can afford to do so, you should seriously consider hiring a professional to do the tasks necessary to build a nice website and to put good salescopy onto your website. Great web designers will also help you by building your e-commerce system, so that your readers can buy directly from your website.

The professionals do not have to be really expensive. Both can usually be found for a couple hundred dollars. Of course, you could pay more, but you can still find some good people at these rates.

2. PROMOTE YOUR BOOK WITH FREE-REPRINT ARTICLES

Free-Reprint Articles are informational pieces designed to educate the reader about something of interest to the reader.

In an article, your goal is to talk about some topic that is related to the topic of your book. You don’t actually want to sell your book inside the body of the article. Instead, you want to use your article to introduce your readers to concepts that might be covered in your book.

When you reach the end of the article, you want to include your About The Author information (often referred to as your Resource Box). Keep your sales material in your Resource Box, but keep in mind that your goal is not to sell your book in your Resource Box. Instead, your goal is to use your Resource Box to get the reader to your website, then use your website to sell your book.

Many people ask if article promotion will work for them. This is what I tell them.

The ability of an article to produce results for you will depend on your article. The internet is still a democracy in that people will make the choice for themselves whether or not they want to use your article.

Some articles get lots of reprints, some do not. The average outcome is about 40-50 backlinks and multiple publications in ezines.

Poor articles still get an average of ten reprints. Exceptional articles generate in excess of thousands of reprints. The results really do rely upon the article.

(One client of mine has one article that generated more than 5,000 reprints in two years time. This same client has written more than 100 articles. He is a well-known article writer and this fact does help his ability to generate more mileage from a single article.)

Just as important as the article itself, is the author resource box. The article is the vehicle to get your resource box seen. A good resource box offers just enough information to inspire the reader to visit your website to learn more about your book. A good resource box also offers a strong call-to-action to get the reader to your website. Let your website do the selling, but use the resource box to get the reader to your website.

Also, you really should consider doing more than one article over a longer period of time. For example, six articles over six months. Each subsequent article puts your name in front of the publishers who will use your articles. Name recognition will help your overall ability for getting published.

3. PROMOTE YOUR BOOK WITH PRESS RELEASES

I always recommend a two-fold approach to any book promotion. 1) reprint articles related to the topic of the book. 2) Press releases distributed through a system such as http://www.prweb.com.

Press releases are different from an article. A good article will have an educational or informational slant to them. A good press release will be designed more as a news story. A good press release has the most noteworthy news in the first paragraph, the second most noteworthy information in the second paragraph, etc.

Additonally, the press release will provide a telephone number for news reporters to contact you for more information concerning your story, so that they can build their own news story from your information.

Although the premise of a press release is so that a reporter can learn enough to build their own news story, you have to remember that their schedule is tight as well. Build your press release in such a way that it can be used as THE news story. Many people will take your press release verbatum for their own use. They might take only the first paragraph, and then they might take the whole thing.

Build your press release with the hope that it will be used in full. Build your press release with the thought that the reporter may only use the first paragraph.

Be prepared to receive phone calls to answer questions about your topic. And, be prepared when no one calls.

I have sent out more than a dozen press releases myself. I have seen those press releases read thousands of times and used hundreds of times. And yet, no one has ever called me for more information.

IN CONCLUSION…

Book promotion should not be viewed as a one-time event. If you take the idea that I will try this once to see if it works, then you might as well save your time and money and not even try at all.

Promotion is an ongoing process. Nothing will happen until you do something. And then you will need to keep doing something to keep open the possibility of something happening to your benefit.

You need to build up a momentum, and then just keep on running.

You are more likely to get published and to sell books if people recognize your name. And, one-time out will not allow anyone to get to know you.

Book authors who can build up a promotional momentum for their book are very likely to find their first 5,000 sales. And as a general rule, once you have crossed that threshold, your publisher will be more than happy to help you to keep that momentum going.

About The Author:
Bill Platt is the owner of the Phantom Writers at: http://thePhantomWriters.com He specializes in distributing free-reprint articles to help his clients to promote their online businesses or their books. Bill can be reached by phone at (405)780-7327, from 9:30am to 6pm, Monday through Friday.

Children are fond of copying almost anything they see, especially if it’s performed by an adult. Most kids now are familiar with the computer, and the many features of this amazing thing. But copying is not always interpreted with its literal meaning. There’s this process which is considered an art in itself that only well-experienced and dedicated persons can do, and this is called copy writing.

What then is copy writing? Since the birth of the internet, there have been a lot of opportunities for people who want to earn money. And copy writing is just one of them. Copy writing is defined as the art or process which involves writing marketing and sales related materials. Its primary objective is to promote a certain person, opinion, business, or idea. Different areas of business like business plans, sales letters, advertising, and other media are using copy writing. Through this process, the business is able to persuade readers or listeners to act.

Copy writing can’t be done effectively by just any individual. The person responsible for carrying out this work must follow certain principles, like:

Information, much of it in the form of written content, is what drives the Internet. As a result, article writing is extremely important to Internet entrepreneurs who wish to succeed. But sometimes circumstances arise when the articles just aren’t coming.

Writer’s block happens to the best of us. I have cases of it all the time. I’ll be sitting at my keyboard, staring into a blank screen, just hoping that a decent thought will jump into my head and I can start typing again. One minute goes by, then two, then ten, and nothing happens. Drat!

If this has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating it can be. In my personal experience, writer’s block usually occurs when I have not adequately prepared myself to write at the particular time at which I’m trying to write. What I mean is, I have ideas for articles all the time. Unfortunately, they usually show up when I’m in the shower, driving down the highway, in the middle of trying to complete ten other things and something just \”pops into my head\”, or lying in bed at 3:00am. But, when it’s time to recapture my thoughts, when I’m sitting down and ready to write, nothing.

If this sounds familiar, if you’re in a bit of a slump or can’t seem to get or hold onto a decent article writing idea, here are some tips:

1) If you get ideas frequently, but can’t seem to recall them when you need them, \”sticky notes\” and a small notepad work wonders.

I know, it seems ridiculously simple. No rocket science here, but I’m telling you if you’ve never tried this, it works. The problem is not that you don’t have ideas that can be transformed into great articles. The problem is that you’re not capturing the ideas you have.

Keeping small notepads (we don’t want to create clutter, because clutter disrupts our ability to think and act clearly; a subject for yet another article) around the house, in the car, on your desks or anywhere else you tend to frequent, helps you to record important or creative ideas as soon as you get them (or soon thereafter). By taking time to \”jot down\” your thoughts as they come, you create a means of saving them; a record and a resource. Then, when you’re in a position to do something with the ideas, or when your \”well runs dry\”, you have a great tool at your disposal. (Note: Using a personal voice recorder instead of a notepad, will work just as well.)

2) If getting ideas in the first place is your problem, here are three quick idea sources: current news (What’s going on that affects your niche?), industry news (What are the new/hot trends, what changes are occurring, what are people saying/doing?), and current problems or challenges your audience may face.

Each of these sources can be reviewed quickly without taking too much of your time or effort. They can each provide the \”seeds\” from which to generate interesting and helpful articles. In addition, don’t overlook the value of your own experience. Your challenges, successes and failures are likely very similar to those of other individuals who are involved and interested in the same things as are you. Often, just writing about a subject and offering readers a different perspective can provide a great deal of benefit to your audience.

3) My final tip…Don’t force it.

If you’re experiencing difficulty with your article writing, walk away. If you’re attempting to write an article and nothing is happening, STEP AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER (or paper or notepad).

Turn your attention elsewhere. Feed the cat, walk the dog, get some fresh air. Do something to break away from your writing. Engage yourself in activities that are completely different. Then return to your writing task with a refreshed mind and renewed energy. I believe you’ll find that you can write. If however, your \”dry spell\” lasts more than momentarily, my advice is still the same. Disengage, even for a period of a day or two if needed, and completely immerse yourself in other things. When you feel refreshed, come back to your writing and begin again.

Although there may be similarities in the actions of individuals involved in the task, article writing is somewhat different for everyone who does it. As writers, we all have different routines, different rituals, and different methodologies according to what works best for each of us. Invariably though, at some point or other, every writer comes to a point when their engine stalls.

The best advice is to keep yourself renewed and refreshed on a regular basis. Avoid getting so involved in your writing (or for you who are entrepreneurs, any of the other gazillion tasks you perform), that you exclude all else. This will help you to maintain a fresh perspective, and that \”freshness\” will certainly be reflected in your ability to write, as well as in the quality of your writing.

But when a difficult period does arise, be prepared. Have the tools in place to help you to get your article writing started and going again. Hopefully the tips included within this article will help you to do just that. Happy writing!

About The Author:
Kimberly Clay is a successful business woman with over twenty years of experience and success to her credit. She is an online entrepreneur with a passion for educating and helping others to develop online success and create wealth. For more information, visit her website at http://www.GetMyWealthNow.com or her blog at http://www.blog.GetMyWealthNow.com

When you’re writing for the Web, you answer to two masters: humans and spiders.

For your website to reach its full potential, your web writing needs to appeal to the emotional needs of your target audience as well as the logical needs of search engine spiders.

Nourish the spider

Search engines, such as Google, identify relevant web writing for their search results by sending spiders (or robots) to ‘crawl’ and index websites. Complex sets of rules called algorithms are then employed to determine how useful your site is and where it should rank in the search engine results.

Given the facts that more than 500 million world-wide searches are made daily, and search engines account for more than 85 per cent of all new visitors to a website, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is by far the single most effective marketing strategy you can use to gain online presence.

But before your webpage can be optimized, you must determine which keywords to target. This involves: