Five Ways to Wake up the Creative Writer in you

Writing an article doesn’t just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and give them a reason to keep reading. You have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity. Here are five ways you can get creative.

The main ingredient in writing an article is creativity. While creativity may come natural to many people, some of us get writers block. It can be a hair pulling ordeal just to get your creative juices flowing.

Putting words into images in the readers mind is an art. A clear and crisp depiction requires a certain flair that only creativity can provide. Similes and metaphors help a lot, but the way an article gets entwined word for word, sentence by sentence then paragraph by paragraph into a whole article develops the essence of the article.

So just what do you have to do when nothing comes to mind? That’s a fair question but unfortunately, there’s no surefire ways to get those perfect ideas to pop into your head. But, there are easy ways to get your creative juices flowing and put you into a perfect mindset and state of mind. Here are five of them.

1) Keep a diary or a journal in your pocket or with you at all times. You just never know when an idea is triggered by something you may hear, see, or smell. Your senses are your radar in finding great ideas. Write all of them into a journal and keep it with you for future reference. You may also write down anything that you have read or heard, someone’s ideas could be used to develop your own ideas and this is not stealing. Remember that ideas and creativity can come from anywhere; it’s the development of the idea that makes it unique.

2) Relax and take time to sort things out. You need a clear head. A jumbled mind cannot create any space for new ideas. If you are bothered by something, give yourself permission to get rid of it for awhile. Put it in the closet for a few minutes. Try closing your eyes and allowing yourself some quiet time. Block out all the sights sounds and smells around you. Turn your focus inward and breathe.

Try to relax every time that you can and think about your experiences and interactions with others. Your experiences are what shape your mindset and your opinions which could be reflected on your writings. Try to discover yourself, find out what triggers your emotions. Discover what inspires you and what ticks you off. You can use these emotions to help you in expressing yourself and your ideas, with this you can grow creatively.

3) Create a working place that can inspire your creativeness.

Creativity comes from being in a good state of mind and a messed up workplace that causes distraction won’t be conducive in firing up your creative flow.

Surround your working place with objects that makes you happy and relaxed. You may put up pictures, or scents, plants or anything that can to inspire you, relax you and get your creativeness cranking.

4) Set the mood. Setting the mood requires you to just go with the moment or to induce yourself to feeling what makes your mind works best. Finding out what makes you tick could help you find ways to get your creative juices flowing. Set the pace and tempo for your mood and everything else will follow.

There are many ways to set the mood. Some writers have been known to have a little sip of wine to stir up the imagination. Some use mood music while others let the lighting of the environment create the mood. You decide what sets your mood.

5) Go on a vacation and just do something crazy and out of the norm for you. Letting yourself go and have fun produces adrenaline which can make your imagination run wild. If your day is usually a busy one, take an quiet adventure or a solemn hike. Whatever it is that is unusual from your daily routine can take the rut out of your schedule.

In no time at all, your imagination will make use of that experience and get your creativeness to start working in overdrive.

Freelance Writer: Find One Today!

Finding a freelance writer can be a daunting task, especially for the person who requires the skills of a capable writer, but does not know where to begin to look for one. Not everyone who says they are a freelance writer is one either. Sure, they may work freelance, but they are not skilled as a writer. Let’s explore some ways you can find a freelance writer who meets your exact specifications.

Internet Search — Using internet search engine Google you can enter a few key words and see what shows up in your search results. Within your search parameters, enter “freelance writer” in quotes. Between the ads that show up marketing freelance writers [above and to the right of your search results] and the first ten or so search results, you should locate some decent choices. Click on the ads and the search results to be redirected to each freelance writer’s web site. From there, you should be able to determine if this person is right for you.

Article Directories – Several of the major article directories on the internet feature articles submitted by freelancers. Freelance writers will typically showcase some of their finest works in hopes that you will read several of their articles and select them for an upcoming project. Visit Ezine Articles, Article Directories – Several of the major article directories on the internet feature articles submitted by freelancers. Freelance writers will typically showcase some of their finest works in hopes that you will read several of their articles and select them for an upcoming project. Visit Ezine Articles, ZapContent.com, Article Sphere, and Go Articles to name a few, to peruse the works of each site’s high performing authors.

Paid Sites – Some freelance writers have registered with paid referral sites such as Guru. As an employer, you can register on Guru too and place the specifications of your project online, and receive bids for your work. Make certain that the all the terms of your project are agreed upon before rewarding the project to a writer.

Unpaid Sites – The most popular site for finding freelance writers is Craig’s List or craigslist as it is commonly spelled. Not just freelance writers, but graphic artists, web designers, you name it. Craig’s List is a high impact site typically ranking in the top 100 of all internet destinations!

Of course, any freelance writer worth their salt will list their own web site featuring samples of some of their best work. Spend a little time getting a feel for their style and ask for a quote before rewarding your project. If you need references, just ask.

Finding a good freelance writer can take some time and effort on your part, but by carefully choosing a freelancer you can find someone eager to give to you their best work. It may first take completing several projects together before you both are able to determine that your business relationship is a “fit.” Regardless, once you have a writer who “works magic” on your part, stick with him or her and you won’t be disappointed.

From Blog to Article

As a writer, do you sometimes/often/always find yourself at a loss as to what to write next? No, I am not talking about topics or subjects you already have nailed down. Rather, the simple desire to get started with something, anything to break the brain logjam. It could be a personal project or something you want to develop to show to a potential client the stuff that you are made of. Whatever, I have been there myself and have found that some of my sources of inspiration have come from blogs. You got it…sites that have sparked my creative juices and allowed me to take a concept and bring it to fruition.

Typically, I come across a blog geared toward a particular topic &ndash let’s say aviation &ndash and find something within that blog that catches my attention. It may be a trend, company news, even simple speculation. Oftentimes, what I read becomes the inspiration for a fresh article so I take that idea, do some additional research, and create my own new work.

No, I don’t cut and paste someone else’s writings. Instead, their pithy work becomes the seed that I germinate to produce a unique and compelling article of my own. The key here is this: it is my own voice, not someone else’s work.

We all have our favorite blogs, you can be certain of that. Spend some time on those particular blogs and see what inspires you. Who knows, but a sentence or a paragraph you read may gel your brain into producing a 500-750 word article that you can include in your vast repository of interesting and relevant work.

Gosh, I think that I may be on to something!

Get More Sales With These 5 Proven Headlines

It’s important to realize that headlines work best when they appeal to your reader’s interests (not yours). And not only can they *grab attention*, they can also make your message easy to read, convey your main selling points, and lead your customer to a sale.

Over the years copywriting pros have used several headline formulas that always work well. Here are my fab five:

1. The Question: “Are You Worried About Your Financial Future?”

A question headline automatically gets your readers involved in your message, because they answer it in their minds. Many people will read further into your letter, ad, or Web site copy just to find out what answer or solution you provide. Again, make sure the question focuses on the reader’s interest, not yours. A bad example would be: “Do You Know What New Product We’ve Created This Year?” (No one cares but you!)

2. The How-to: “How to Get Thinner Thighs in 30 Days.”

How-to headlines work very well, because people love information that shows them how to do something. (Thousands of book titles begin with “How to….”) Think of the benefits your product/service offers and then try creating some “how to” headlines email newsletter.

3. The Testimonial: “Jane Smith’s Consulting Is Pure Magic — Our Sales Have Increased by 30%!”

Why not let your clients do the selling for you? Their commendations can go a long way in convincing others to use your services. Tip: To appear credible, always include your clients’ full names and the cities they live in.

4. The Command: “Boost Your Business Today!”

Turn your most important benefit into a commanding headline, such as “Make More Time for Your Family,” “Look Younger Instantly!” and “Get 7 New Clients This Month.” (By the way, throwing a number into your headline is another good tactic. And readers seem to like odd numbers as opposed to even.)

5. The News: “Introducing Our New ‘Rest-Assured’ Tax Service!”

Caution: This only works if you truly have something big to announce that is of interest to the reader. (Something that will make her life or business better.) Don’t try to make news out of something that’s not.

Once your readers know you have something they’re interested in, they’ll take the time to read your entire article, brochure, letter, ad, e-zine, or Web page. So put some TLC into creating headlines that entice!

Get paid for typing on your keyboard.

Turn your keyboard into a money-making machine. Yes, you can now turn your keyboard into your personal Teller. How about getting paid for every word that you type, even if you type using just two fingers! You can achieve this with the help of a completely automated website where you register completely FREE! Sounds too good to be true?

Incredible as it may sound; Incomewords.com shares their profits with you, and all those who have contributed to this automated website. The great thing is that you DON’T have to:

• Buy or sell any product or services

• Buy any sophisticated software

• Read through any verbose marketing strategies

• Own any website

• Know anything about Internet marketing

• Alter your current on-line activities or programs

What you have to do is to write content. You are flexible to think of anything under the sun, a prose, a chat, a forum posting, a joke, a poetry, a travelogue or just a question that keeps cropping up in your mind &ndash simply type it and post it on the website. However, there is various point structure for every insertion that you make on the website. For example: 2 points for a joke, 1 point for posting an image, and so on.

Well, after you post the content on the automated website, a new web page gets created. Their system will then automatically optimize this page for major search engines. Once the page is properly indexed, the page written by you will bring in traffic and obviously, profit to the website. There is income plug-ins which is embedded in each page of this website, which keeps on changing to generate fresh profits. Incomewords.com generates profits from many sources, but to name a few: Google Adsense, Affiliate programs, keyword-based advertising, etc. Profits are then shared amongst those who have contributed to the website.

Incomewords.com distributes 50% of the profit generated by the website, amongst the members. The more number of points you have accumulated, the more money you could make. An additional 10% of the profit goes to the member who gathers maximum points in a month.

Once you register on Incomewords.com, this is what you get:

• Life time membership to a website that generates money for you.

• Free blog space to post whatever you wish to.

• Opportunity to earn more money through “Member gets Member” program.

• Chance to earn 10% extra of the profit by this website.

If making money for typing on your keyboard interests you, Visit .Incomewords.com

.incomewords.com

Getting Syndicated

Over the years I’ve spoken to a number of authors who say they aspire to write a syndicated column. Getting syndicated is a great idea, albeit a challenging one. If you’ve thought of this no doubt most (if not all) of your competition has too. But don’t let this discourage you; while syndication may take a while, it’s still worth pursuing.

There are a number of tried and true ways you can enter this market, there are also a few “back door” methods that might work equally as good. The first thing you’ll need to do however is get to know your competition. For this I recommend that you get a copy of The Editor & Publisher Annual Directory of Syndication. Sometimes you can get this in bookstores but I’d recommend just ordering it online at .editorandpublisher.com. Explore this book carefully and you’ll find that syndicated columns are listed by both the syndicated service that offers them as well as their topic. This will give you a good starting point in your research and since most newspapers now have on-line archives, you’ll be able to explore past articles and see how these topics differ from your own.

Once you’ve explored this, define for yourself how your topic/angle is different from the ones you found during your research. Then once you’ve defined this, you can start targeting papers or syndication services with your query letter and sample articles. This is the traditional way of entering this market. For most it can be long and tedious and you might find that without prior “clippings” to offer them, the process takes even longer. In that vein, I’d recommend that you try offering your column locally first or to one paper at a time but not in a “syndication deal” but as a filler; newspapers will be a lot quicker to take filler items than to explore syndication options with you. By offering them consistent filler content (and saving those valuable clippings) you’ll start to grow your level of experience, you’ll build a reputation with the editor or editorial staff and you’ll begin to get a sense of what does and doesn’t work with printed media. An associate of mine did this, not with a local paper but with a paper she’d been offering her articles to, and after about two years of consistent submission she may be in line to fill the shoes of their in-house syndicated columnist who is retiring.

Once you have built some exposure for yourself and gathered clippings of your work, then it’s time to start pitching your topic to syndicated services (some of them are listed below) or regional newspapers. For this you’ll need a great query letter establishing your credentials and explaining why your idea is different from the others they might be considering, you’ll need some sample articles (other than your clippings) and perhaps some letters of reference from some papers you’ve worked for. Submit this packet to newspapers or syndicated services that might be appropriate to your topic and then keep good records and do your follow-up just like you would if you were pitching the media on anything else. The same rules apply really, pitch and follow-up and stay on their radar screen.

So, at the end of the day when you find yourself successfully syndicated will you get paid for all your hard work &ndash absolutely! What you’ll get paid varies depending on how many papers feature you and whether you are working through a syndication service. Syndication services are great but they will typically take 40 to 50 percent of your sales. If you self-syndicate you get all the proceeds. While it’s great to do this, keep in mind that you’ll need to have good tracking systems in place once your column takes off.

As an already published author, syndication can be another great way to promote you and your book. Your book will lend you the credibility you need to get that column and from this ongoing printed exposure some lucrative publishing deals could follow suit. Syndication may not be an easy road but if tackled correctly, can be a great way to boost your promotion, expand your platform and get the kind of exposure you only ever dreamed of!

Major syndicates &ndash check online for their submission guidelines

Copley News Service

.copleynews.com

King Features

.kingfeatures.com

Universal Press Syndicate

.amuniversal.com/ups/index.htm

BONUS TIP: If you’re trying to follow the comings and goings of syndicated writers, Editor and Publisher (.editorandpublisher) is a great resource for that. Check out the “Departments” tab on their web site for the latest news on columns that might be coming available!

Getting The Most From Your Article Submitter Software

If you are serious about Ezine article writing you do need an article submitter. It is, in fact, an articles writers most important tool. The latest generation are faster, have more automatic features, and continually update their databases. Article writing has continued to increase in popularity because the once dreaded time consuming submittal chore has been made so easy. Some of the latest generation article submitters not only submit the articles, but actually provide software to help you write the article! This almost sounds too good to be true, but current reviews praise article creator software.

If you are reading this article you have made a choice on how to drive traffic to your website. There are three ways to get targeted traffic, buy it, borrow it, or create it. Without a doubt, Ezine article writing does drive targeted traffic to your site. Just as true is the fact that Ezine article writing takes more work than the other options.

Enter the article submitter software program. Without this valuable tool it would be physically impossible to submit the number of required articles to the hundreds of article submit sites for the needed exposure. You enter your article details into the software once, and then select the directories you would like to submit to. The software will automatically fill in all of the submission criteria saving you an incredible amount of time. Another time saver is the fact that most article submitters come with a database of article submit sites, that is continually updated for you. If you have ever tried to compile a list on your own, you know that the database alone is worth much more than the cost of the submitter program!

A word of caution here. Do not get involved in robot spam type submitter programs or companies that do this. This type of sloppy submittal is frowned upon, a nuisance to the submit sites, and can get you banned from the best article sites, and even the search engines. The article submit site provides a tremendous exposure for your article, and free. You owe it to them to be professional, login properly, submit your article to the correct category, and logout. A proper article submitter will do just that, saving you the tedious manual cut and paste time, and saving the site server time.

Let us look more closely at “Quality articles quickly submitted to hundreds of submit sites is the key to being a successful Ezine article writer”. Your Ezine article has a short life span. Once published, it has 24 hours on the “most recent articles” page of a particular article submit directory. The directories main page is the only page scanned by the search engines, that increases your SEO. Sadly, the next day your article has been replaced by many newer articles on the same subject. After its moment of fame has passed it will still get read by the sites readers, and if good picked up by other directories and sources needing articles. Recently I wrote a travel article that was picked up by several major International tour companies and enjoyed a month of exposure as their featured article of the month. Some sites accept and publish your article within hours, others days, weeks, or even months. Actually this is good, as during the time you are submitting to several hundred sites, your article is “the most recent” on some site. However, at some point your article will become stale, and your website stats will show a drop-off in visitors. Have your next new article submitted well before this happens.

An article submitter is the most important tool an article writer can have. Why then, do article submitter programs draw the “penny wise pound foolish” crowd like a magnet. Some amusing examples for you. One submitter gives a 3 day free trial. Stories abound about the users who download the program and stay up day and night drinking coffee and making submittals for the 3 free days. Another good submitter program gives a free trial version with a database of 85 sites. The full version with hundreds of sites is reasonably priced, but most users just stick with the free version. I am not a gifted psychic, but I can guarantee you that none of these users are making any money from writing and publishing Ezine articles. How do I know that? Quite simple, “Quality articles quickly submitted to hundreds of submit sites is the key to being a successful Ezine article writer”. Sure, not buying the article submitter program is a loss for the company, but a far worse loss for the writer by limiting their article exposure, the very thing that has the potential to make them money.

As you can see, the two things go hand in hand, many articles submitted to hundreds of submit sites. Do not cut corners with your article submitter program, it is the key to your success. And, be sure to look into the new article creator programs that speed up your article writing. To your success!

Helping Clients Overcome

If you write for a living, that is, if you write articles for clients you often have heard about writer’s block. Personally, I think the topic is overdone and simply something that comes about when the author is too tired, distracted, or simply not interested in the topic at hand [oh, yes...this does happen!] On the other hand, do your clients sometimes suffer from writer’s block? Okay, before you throw your hands up wondering how could this be, just think about it: do your clients always know what they want you to write? Am I making myself clear? If so, read on…if not, please read this paragraph again!

As writers, we can assume that when a potential client approaches us to write for them, that they always know which topics they want you to cover. Without sounding cheeky, only if this was always so! To put it mildly, you may have a client who wants you to write “X” amount of articles, which he or she will place on their own web site in hopes of building up SEO [search engine optimization, that is], and your part of the equation is to write interesting and compelling copy that will drive traffic to their site.

Well, this only works out if your client knows exactly which topics/subjects are to be covered, keywords used, and the length of each article. No, your client isn’t going to write the article, but they will certainly lay its foundation. No web content article can possibly get going without your knowing certain essentials including the topic and which keywords are to be utilized. Make certain that these building blocks are included with your proposal, otherwise you risk going down one path while your client wanted you to go down another.

Unless you have plenty of time to constantly rewrite every article I recommend that you uncover precisely what the client wants from you.

When I sense that a client isn’t sure which direction they want me to proceed, I then start asking several questions, including:

Do you have a topic you want covered? If so, what is it and do you want me to come up with the article title or is this something that you would like to do? Knowing this information will help you create the introductory paragraph and your topic sentence.

Next questions: which keywords do you want me to use? I try to limit my clients to a small group of 2-4 words per article. Additional keywords mean additional articles…why confuse your readers? Why kill SEO? As I write this article for you do you have 3-4 points you want me to make? All of this information will comprise the article’s body.

Finally, what sort of “call to action” are you desiring? Do you want readers to buy a product? Read something else? Call their representative? I leave the anchor links up to the client, but I try to bring the article exactly to the point where the client wants it to be.

If you have gotten satisfactory answers to each of your questions, you have helped your client get over their own case of writer’s block. Yes, to a certain point every client has already visualized what they want written [they bring you on because they don’t know how to craft the right words or are simply too busy to write for themselves]. If they haven’t, you must help them answer the previous questions in order for you to write effectively.

If you don’t take the time to make certain that your client is sure of what he or she wants, you will have wasted time and delayed the opportunity to go to the next project.

I don’t know about you, but time is of the essence and we writers cannot afford to waste any of it. Nail down exactly what your client wants before tackling any project to save yourself time and to preserve your sanity!

Hiring A Ghostwriter To Write Your Articles

Are you looking into ways of promoting and marketing your website? Are you trying to attract more visitors to your website? Are you looking to increase your online sales? Are you trying to increase your adsense earnings? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, article marketing could be the answer for you.

Writing articles has for many years been a popular way of going about increasing the number of backward links to ones site, but it can be a very boring and time consuming one. This is where a ghostwriter can become invaluable as they can do all of the donkey work for you. Most of these people are experienced, expert writers and are likely to produce a much better quality of article as well. The better the article is, the more likely it will be picked up and used on other websites by other webmasters.

Ghostwriters can be found on many of the webmaster forums or even by doing a search on the internet. Prices of course vary but you should be able to find a price that suits your budget.

There are even people or establishments that offer to write an article for you and will also submit the article to a number of the main article directories. Articles-submission.com offer this service for only ten pounds. They also offer to submit an article that you have written to around twenty of the article directories for just J7. As many people know, writing each article is one thing, but then submitting it can also take a great deal of time.

People who do have enough spare time on their hands are able to write and submit their own articles. It is important in my opinion not to write too many articles at once to promote just one site, as to build up the number of backward links too quickly can be seen in some search engines eyes as a bad thing. Writing articles for yourself will without doubt save some money but you need to ensure that the content is interesting and is of benefit to the reader.

The best part of this form of web promotion is that the links you obtain are all what is known as one-way links. These type of links, without doubt, have the highest value.

You will of course not only obtain additional traffic from obtaining these links but the readers of your article are also potential visitors to your site.

Writing articles is a win win situation and should be seen as an important part of any web marketing campaign.

How compare and contrast techniques can improve our life?

In our modern world, we frequently compare and contrast several things, facts, theories, events or personalities. We have been comparing different economical, social and political systems for ages. How we develop this process? How this technique is achieved and perfected? It can be achieved by comparison/contrast technique. One should show similarities in comparing several things, and one should point out the differences when contrasting. First step in the writing of comparison/contrast essay is the choosing of particular topic. However, do not try to choose incomparable things- the taste of lemon and the color of the wall, or the toughness of the ball. One should choose some events, figures and things that have many similarities. Once, you have chosen the subject of comparison you can start working on your compare/contrast essay. Second, you should enlist all things that you know about these subjects. After, you have completed this process try to identify differences and similarities. Third try to develop the main point of your argument. For example, if you compare the cat with the dog, you should indicate differences and similarities, by answering the following questions:

What I have learned about these animals?How does the cat differ from the dog?Once you have answered these questions, you may develop your argument. It may look like the following: Despite the fact that the cat and the dog are husbandry animals, nevertheless they have some similarities and some distinctions as well. Many students do not understand why this type of an essay is so frequently assigned to them. The answer lies in the fact that your tutor would like to teach you to develop your analytical and argumentative skills. That is why the compare/contrast essay is one of the most popular essays assigned at the colleges and universities. Compare and contrast essay is widely used in many other types of writing assignments. For example, one can use it in designing of the English essay.

This type of an essay is assigned to test your abilities to express yourself in clear, lucid and coherent language. Regardless of the topic of your essay, you should demonstrate your reader your ability to write on familiar and unfamiliar topics alike. Apart from this, you should clearly and unequivocally express your point of view on the subject you research as well as provide some proposals on the possibilities to resolve some controversial issues of the subject. You might also, answer such questions as advantages and disadvantages of the situation you research as well as describe the problem you research, why it is important to resolve it, and what effective steps should be taken to eliminate it. You certainly, may use some compare/contrast techniques in order to show differences and similarities between some points of the events, things and personalities you research.Remember, however, that it is vital almost indispensable for this type of assignment to connect your paragraphs with logical and convincing sentences; also do not provide any facts unless they are backed up by some evidence. And whatever topic you are assigned with, whatever subject should be written do not forget to check out your essay on grammar and spelling mistakes rushessay.com