What Do
You Mean You Don't Have Anything To Write About?
by: Heather Jacobson
One of the questions I'm repeatedly asked is how to use article
marketing when you're not a writer and don't have anything to write
about. If you say you have nothing to write about, I think you're
wrong. I'm willing to bet you have more topics to write about than you
have time. But, here are a few suggestions to help you get over that
writers block.
First, don't stare at a blank computer screen waiting for an idea to
come to you. You're probably putting too much pressure on yourself.
What I want you to do is first think of your target market. What do
they want to know? Take a blank piece of paper or that blank Word
document and just start brainstorming. List topics that you think your
target market wants to know about. Just keep writing them down.
Here are some examples for you:
If you are a dog trainer, you're going to want to talk about how to
housebreak a dog, how to teach a dog to sit, stay, fetch, etc. There
are at least four article topics.
If you're a virtual assistant, your target market probably wants to
know how a VA will benefit them, the cost savings of a virtual
assistant or the various tasks that a business owner can delegate to a
VA. There are at least three topics for a virtual assistant.
Next, I want you to think of business related books that you've read,
services you've subscribed to, or informational products you've
bought. Were they beneficial to you? Yes? Write a review! Do you use
http://Stamps.com?" target="_blank">http://Stamps.com?
How does it work for you? What are the benefits? Is it worth the
monthly fees?
On a separate sheet of paper I want you to list all of the products
that have helped you succeed in business, either by increasing your
knowledge or helping you to run an effective and efficient business.
Keep writing until you're all out of ideas, but keep the sheet handy,
because I guarantee you that you're going to think of another one
while you're trying to fall asleep tonight.
Do you still feel like you need some more ideas to write articles?
Ok, here we go.
Visit every forum and message board that you are a member of. Yes,
every single one of them. Look at the posts that you've written. Have
you taken time to post a lengthy response to someone else's question?
Great! You now have the start of an article. Flesh it out and use it
to market your knowledge and expertise.
Here's the last idea for you and it's by far one of my favorites.
Interview someone. That's right, I said interview someone. If you're a
virtual assistant, ask your clients if they would mind taking 15
minutes out of their day so that you can interview them. Ask them
about how they use a VA. Ask them how a VA benefits their business.
Come up with some additional questions to ask. When you're done, draft
it in to an article and use it!
If you have 10 clients, you've got 10 articles! (Even better, you
could put it together for potential clients to download from your site
as a bonus for signing up for your newsletter.)
There are many more ideas on how to come up with article content and
then how to recycle your content so that you get the most out of it!
For the record, this article started out as a response to one of my
subscribers. Before you knew it, I had an article. See how simple that
was?
About The Author
Heather Jacobson doesn't pay for advertising or marketing if she
doesn't have to and uses the power of article marketing to her
advantage. To learn how she does it and to sign up for a free 5-day
ecourse on Article Marketing
visit http://www.valleyva.net/article-ecourse.html" target="
_blank">http://www.valleyva.net/article-ecourse.html.
|
