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Why Write Articles?

May 16, 2006

This is the first in a series of postings about writing articles and content for the Internet.  Today we’ll cover why you need to learn to write for the Internet world.  Some people hate writing…and I understand that type of thinking perfectly.  In school, my best subjects were math and science.  English and Speech were two of my most hated classes, yet those are now the skills I use the most in my business. 

Sure, you can hire out the job of writing to freelancers or you can join websites which offer you private label articles, but both of those options cost money and don’t build the same level of relationship with your subscribers.  Although you don’t have to write the majority of your content, you should at least produce some of of your own. 

Here is a short list of the benefits of producing content for your websites and your business…

  • Produce content and build relationships with your opt-in subscribers.
  • Create a regular blog series for traffic and community.
  • Submit your articles to article submission sites for free traffic generation.
  • Compile a group of your articles together for an ebook or physical book.
  • Use the articles for search engine “fuel” by optimizing them for search engine rankings. 
  • Provide content for affiliates to use in promotion of your products and services.

The last four benefits can easily be reproduced by hiring outside writers.  The first two are much more difficult to accomplish without producing at least some of your own writing.  People buy from those who they like and trust…and for small businesses, it’s very difficult to build strong relationships with your customers without regular contact with them.  In fact, blogs have become such a part of online marketing that many large corporations now have their own blog writers to deal with this marketing medium. 

What I’ve found throughout my business is that nothing I’ve ever done has produced the same level of value to me as writing to my prospects and clients has done.  For example, I once wrote an article called, “The Internet Lifestyle.”  This article was published in hundreds of email newsletters and reproduced on thousands of web sites.  It generated viral traffic for me for years…and it is still making it’s rounds even though it has been close to six years since I originally created it.  An article which took me around 30 minutes to write…has produced tens of thousands of visitors and has continued producing for six years. 

What free promotion have you ever done that equals that amount of results with so little time invested?

This article wasn’t about some new revolution in Internet marketing or some new strategy no one had ever heard about.  It was simply about what I call the Internet lifestyle….and how I can live and work anywhere I want.  When you run an Internet based business, you can do it at home from your home in your underwear if you want.  You can do it in a big city if that’s what you like.  You can do it out in the middle of nowhere like I do if that’s your choice.  I live in rural Indiana on a street where there are only three other houses in a one mile stretch of road.

The “Internet Lifestyle” article talked about a cow named Oscar which lived next door to me.  This has to be one of the most well known cows in existance as I’ve been asked by email, on the phone, and even in conference about how Oscar was doing.  In fact, just last week someone asked me that question again.  I had to simply respond, “I’m sorry, but Oscar was eaten a long time ago.”  Don’t look at me!  I didn’t do it.  Oscar just lived next door.  It is kind of funny that as long as the article has been out there…no one mentioned the fact that Oscar was really a bull, not a cow (I was wondering if anyone would mention it and they never have).

Anyway, the point of this is the power of one interesting article.  It builds relationships.  It drives traffic.  It’s totally free promotion, and most people simply don’t know how to do it correctly.  In the next couple of postings I’ll be teaching you a few aspects of the article writing system I’ve always used to get you started fast. 

 

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Written by Terry · Filed Under Content 

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