Write
for Publicity
By
Shelley Lowery
If you're looking for a powerful way to get free publicity and build
your credibility at the same time, then writing articles may be
your answer.
If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably subscribed
to a few ezines. Many ezine publishers will include an article written
by a guest author. At the end of the article are a few lines of
text about the author referred to as bylines or resource box. These
lines of text are basically just an advertisement for the writer.
They usually contain a couple of lines about the author and a web
address.
The writer gives the publisher permission to publish their article,
free of charge, in exchange for the publisher including the author's
bylines.
By writing articles and allowing them to be freely published, your
articles will have the potential to be viewed by millions of Internet
users. They may be published by several ezines with subscriber bases
of a few hundred to several thousand. In addition, they may be displayed
in ezine archives or on high traffic websites.
Most ezine publishers prefer short articles between 500 and 750
words. Short "tip" articles of just a couple of paragraphs are also
very popular. Articles should be formatted to 65 characters per
line or less, including spaces, and written in short paragraph sections.
When you begin writing your article, avoid using your standard word
processing programs, as they do not allow for proper formatting.
Instead, use a text editor such as NotePad. It should already be
installed on your desktop.
When you begin typing your article, use a hard carriage return (hit
enter) when your text reaches 65 characters, including spaces, and
leave a space between your paragraphs. This will enable publishers
to easily copy and paste your article into their publication. By
taking the time to properly format your article, you will increase
your chance of being published significantly.
Most publishers receive many article submissions each week and only
select a few to be published.
Here
are some basic guidelines to assist you in getting published:
(1) Make sure you follow the publishers' submission guidelines.
Articles submitted to publishers that don't follow the submission
guidelines will most likely be deleted.
(2) Make sure your article is properly formatted. Publishers won't
take the time to format your article. They'll simply delete it and
move on to the next article submission.
(3) Keep your bylines down to 6 lines or less. Publishers will not
publish articles that contain excessively long bylines.
(4) Select a descriptive title to intrigue your readers. Use a powerful
headline that demands attention and try to keep it all on one line.
(5) Use proper grammar and spelling. Publishers will not take the
time to edit your article. Make sure you read your article several
times and use spellcheck.
(6) Avoid articles that are nothing more than a sales letter. Publishers
want quality content and will simply delete an article that is written
like a sales letter.
(7) Avoid referring readers to an affiliate URL. Articles containing
affiliate links may make your article appear to be biased and untrustworthy.
(8) Write your articles with a sincere desire to teach and inform.
Talk to your readers and share your expertise.
Once you've written your article, you'll need to develop a list
of publishers that may be interested in publishing it. The best
way to accomplish this is to display your articles on your website.
Place a subscription box on each of your article pages to enable
your visitors to subscribe. This list should be used to send your
new articles to your list of publishers.
In addition, you can visit some ezine sites to locate publishers
who may be interested in your articles. A good place to start is
eZINESearch. http://www.ezinesearch.com
Search through the database for publications that may be interested
in the type of article you've written.
Another great way to promote your articles is to submit them to
article announcement groups. These groups enable writers to submit
their articles to an entire group of publishers, completely free.
Article Announcement Lists:
Article Announce
Subscribe:
mailto:article_announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
AABusiness
Subscribe:
mailto:aabusiness-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
AAInternet
Subscribe:
mailto:aainet-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
PublishInYours
Subscribe:
mailto:PublishInYours-subscribe@egroups.com
Articles Archive
Subscribe:
mailto:articles_archives-subscribe@egroups.com
Free Content
Subscribe:
mailto:Free-Content-subscribe@egroups.com
Make sure you review the submission guidelines prior to posting
your article to an announcement group.
Here are some additional promotional resources to help you get published:
http://www.web-source.net/articlesub.htm
http://www.web-source.net/syndicator_submit.htm
http://www.authorconnection.com/
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://www.ezinearticles.com/
http://www.marketing-seek.com/
http://www.netterweb.com/articles/
Writing and distributing free articles on the Internet will be one
of the best promotional decisions you'll ever make. Not only will
it provide you with free publicity, but if your articles are good,
you'll become a trusted professional in your area of expertise.
Copyright © 2001, all rights reserved
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of
Ebook Starter - A complete ebook design kit.
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