-- Feature Article: Ten Steps for Writing Articles
that Inspire and Tell

-- Note from the Author: How Big Is Your Bowl?

-- Special Message: Spread the "Goose Bumps" with
Your Article Campaign

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How Big Is Your Bowl?

Did you know that a goldfish can grow in proportion to the size of the container it lives in? Its dimensions are not limited to the size of the typical pet that you used to keep in a gallon aquarium. In fact, the greater the bowl, the grander the fish. And when you think of the scale of a pond or a lake, imagine how large your goldfish can become!

Similarly, article-writing campaigns offer us an ocean of possibilities for extending our business, philanthropic, or professional influences well beyond our local "bowls." You can persuade people far and wide just through the power of your keyboard!

That's why today's newsletter stresses the importance of writing articles to spread our views of the world. With the advent of desktop publishing software and the Web, we all have the ability to share our opinions, information, stories, and ideas.

Writing articles often represents a type of marketing, such as when we use it as a way to become well-known in our areas of expertise or interest. Even though these articles are typically unpaid, they can have the power of helping us build authority, credibility, and name recognition in our local and global communities.

According to Parker J. Palmer, "Authority is granted to people who are perceived as authoring their own words, their own actions, and their own lives, rather than playing a scripted role at great remove from their own hearts."

Your articles can help you, too, become a "big fish" in whatever size pond you choose to swim. With that in mind, read on for more ideas, including inspiration from my new "Make A Difference" friends in Jean Steel's summer class!

I also hope you enjoy today's feature article, "Ten Steps for Writing Articles that Inspire and Tell." And please join the conversation by leaving your comments on my blog!

Here's to your business prosperity,

Adele Sommers, author of the "Straight Talk on Boosting Business Performance" success program

P.S. If you missed any previous issue, visit the newsletter index!

Spread the "Goose Bumps" with Your Article Campaign

A few months ago, my fabulous friend Jean Steel read one of my newsletter articles about an amazing annual project sponsored by my incredible colleague, Dr. Roya Javadpour.

Every spring, Roya teaches a Project Management course at the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). The extremely challenging hands-on assignment the students work on each time is called the "PolyHouse Project," and is currently in its sixth year.

Roya's business and technology students have little or no knowledge of home construction. Yet they succeed every time in planning and executing a total home renovation for a physically and financially disabled local family. Not only do they do a wonderful job, but they also raise all the funding first, and complete the work in only two weekends!

When Jean read my article about Roya's project, she felt goose bumps, and decided to initiate a "Make A Difference" project assignment for her Allan Hancock College Health and Wellness summer class. This summer, Jean's class members are doing fantastic things in and around the Central Coast city of Santa Maria. For example, they've started a "free hugs" campaign at the local Farmer's Market, are helping to paint and landscape people's homes, and are doing other equally important things for the homeless and elderly.

I had the privilege of visiting Jean's class to give a talk a few weeks ago. What an honor it was to meet all of those Make-A-Difference volunteers! I am planning to publish some of their articles in this newsletter in the coming months. That's one way I can help spread the "goose bumps," which is what I'm sure my readers will feel when they learn more about these inspiring projects!

Ten Steps for Writing Articles that Inspire and Tell
by Adele Sommers

How do you communicate your passion, knowledge, wisdom, and interests to the people you wish to influence? What sets you apart from others in your profession or industry? How do you create a rapport, even with people you don't know, such as community members, prospects, clients, or customers?

The answer is to give them a way to get to know, like, and trust you -- and even love what you stand for! That way, they'll feel excited about endorsing your ideas and quickly spreading the word about your story or what you have to offer.

One way to do this is via a systematic article-writing campaign. You may be surprised to learn that you don't need your own Web site or any funding whatsoever to start a viable article-publishing program.

This article explains a step-by-step, foolproof formula for writing and publishing articles on the Web. The more articles you write and publish, the better!

Follow These Steps for Writing Terrific Articles

Use these guidelines for the very best results, every time!

1. Identify the subject of your article. For example, "how-to" articles are extremely popular, and can span everything from training a pet to cultivating roses to hiring employees. In an entirely different direction, you could tell a compelling story about something you've done that will inspire others.
   
   
2. Choose a role to author your articles. For example, you could be:
   
   A subject matter expert, where you are presenting your own knowledge on a particular topic. This role is especially gratifying if you have years of experience in a profession or hobby, or if you've just completed an educational project that others can learn from, even if you're just a "newbie."
   
   An interviewer or researcher, where you're a student of the subject, and are learning about it from others. For example, you could interview some knowledgeable people to compare their viewpoints. That way, you don't need to be an expert!
   
   
3. Brainstorm your topics and subtopics. These could include tips or strategies on something you know how to do well, or the main points of a gripping story you want to tell. To get started, try jotting down your ideas on index cards or sticky notes, and then organize them into topic groupings.
   
   
4. Develop an outline for your article. Arrange the ideas from your sticky notes or cards into a topic/subtopic flow inside your word processing program.
   
   
5. Work on developing the body. Fill in details as you go. Don't worry about getting it perfect on the first try -- you can always move ideas and information around as you write! A conversational tone for most articles works best. If you can imagine having a discussion across the kitchen table from someone you know, you can explain even complex ideas in a clear and engaging way.
   
   
6. Write your lead-in paragraph. It could be just a sentence or two depending on the overall article length. For example, engage your readers' interest with a leading question, such as, "Have you ever wondered why dogs only bark?"
   
   Toward the end of the lead-in paragraph, explain what your article covers, such as, "This article covers five tips for teaching your dog to sing." That way, your readers know exactly what they're going to learn!
   
   
7. Insert subheadings in strategic places. That will make it easier for people to scan your article. Even if people don't have time to read the whole thing, they can quickly skim the subheadings to absorb a great deal.
   
   
8. Write a short summary or concluding paragraph. Your summary reinforces your ideas and reminds your readers why they read the article. For example, one of your summary sentences might be, "By using these five tips, you can turn your canine into Caruso!"
   
   
9. Hone, tweak, and polish your article. Be aware that your first drafts may be much longer than your target publication will allow. So, as you fine-tune, work on reducing the word count to the desired number.
   
   For instance, aim for just 300-500 words for very short articles, and about 600-1,000 words for longer articles. A thousand words, or about three typed pages, is often the maximum that many newsletters and article directories will accept.
   
   
10. Don't forget a compelling title! After pouring so much energy into your article, give it a snappy, memorable name. One popular approach for how-to articles is to refer to the number of topics you're sharing, such as, "Five Tips for Teaching Your Dog to Sing," or "The Ten Worst Mistakes People Make When They Do XYZ."

Next, Submit Your Articles to Online Article Directories

After writing your article, consider submitting it to one or more online directories. It's ideal to get into the habit of doing this regularly. The directories will then make your content available for others to disseminate in their own publications. In so doing, they help circulate your name and material on dozens of Web sites and blogs. Some even do their own translations! Your articles retain full copyright under your byline, regardless of where they are republished.

Be certain to include a "resource box" for the end of each article. This term refers to a few sentences that describe you, your business, or profession and contain a link back to your Web site if you have one. So, when people read your articles, their next impulse may be to follow the links back to your Web site, where they can learn much more about you.

To locate article directories, do an Internet search. Select a few that relate to your subject and sign up as an author.

A few examples of article directories include:

• EzineArticles.com (for a variety of topics)
• HowToDoThings.com (for "how-to" articles)
• BestManagementArticles.com (for business management articles)

The process of submitting articles can be time-consuming, however, so I use a very cost-effective submission service (SubmitYourArticle.com) to handle this for me.

In conclusion, writing articles for Internet publication can be a very rewarding and lucrative experience that will reap benefits for months to come. You become known by readers around the world as your content circulates, your visibility builds, and interested visitors follow your "resource box" links to back your Web site.

Copyright 2009 Adele Sommers

An Excellent Article Submission Service

I have been using SubmitYourArticle.com for over two years to publish articles and essays for my worldwide audiences. This low-cost service has done wonders for my outreach programs, so I highly recommend their time- and effort-saving system.

Instead of individually submitting articles to dozens of directories, I simply provide the content one time, and let SubmitYourArticle.com selectively format and upload each article's components to dozens of repositories and RSS feeds.

Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is the author of "Straight Talk on Boosting Business Performance" -- an award-winning Special Report and Workbook program.

If you liked today's issue, you'll love this down-to-earth overview of how 12 potent business-boosting strategies can reenergize the morale and productivity of your enterprise, tame unruly projects, and attract loyal, satisfied customers. It's accompanied by a step-by-step workbook designed to help you easily create your own success action plan. Browse the table of contents and reader reviews on the description page.

Adele also offers no-cost articles and resources to help small businesses and large organizations accelerate productivity and increase profitability. Learn more at LearnShareProsper.com.

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