Home Business Writing Made Simple

by Dan J. Fry

Have you ever written a letter to a friend? Ever written an outline for any project you were about to start? What about a shopping list? If you have, and I imagine most have, you can then write focused, brief, content articles for your online home business.

Why write? Well, of course you can spend lots of money to drive traffic to your site with absolutely no guarantee that you will obtain a single sale. Moreover, most of the traffic, although targeted, may leave your site and forget it ever existed. Writing puts you personally, your site, and your products/services within the same framework as a well-honed opt-in list of subscribers. People remember you, learn to trust you, eventually purchase from you, and most importantly return to purchase again and again, as long as you continue to offer what they need.

“So how can I simplify what seems to be the arduous task of writing”, you ask?

Try this:

(1) Take out pen and paper and go someplace quiet where you can trigger the creative side of your brain. (Yes, I said pen and paper. Don’t sit in front of the computer for this exercise.)

(2) Sit back and think for a moment about your online home business. What do you offer? What have you learned so far about building traffic? Have you noticed any patterns for certain promotion methods that work? What about anything that can be considered well needed advice to others just starting out?

(3) Now write down the first thoughts that come to your mind. Don’t edit. Your not at that stage yet. Just write the ideas, and do this for several minutes, or until you have at least a single page filled up.

(4) Done? Good. Now go back to the top of the list. Slowly go through and hone the ideas. Anything that pops out as particularly intriguing or immediately brings up related ideas mark off for the next step. These are the ones to develop further.

(5) Now take out a sheet of paper for several of the ideas marked off and write the idea at the top of the paper. (You can use your computer now, but I tend to think better with pen in hand.)

(6) O.k. Ready? At the beginning I asked if you ever have written a letter to a friend? Remember? Keep this in the back of your mind always. Write like you speak. I promise you that for short content articles to develop your online home business, this is the tone that works. If people need a textbook they will buy one.

(7) First make a list, sort of a shopping list of related things to cover. Try not to get carried away. Remember - short content articles.

(8) Now fill in the details as if you were explaining it to a friend.

That’s it. All there is to it. I think you will be surprised how easy it is once you write a few. Personally, I keep a notebook handy at all times just for ideas that I later cultivate into short articles. When I learn something new that I believe will be of benefit to others I make a note.

The power in this technique resides in the fact that you are not a robot and neither are your prospects. When you write, and take it from the perspective of friends sharing information, you step onto a personal level. Now who wouldn’t pick up on that. Eventually, with continually writing and publishing your articles in newsgroups, e-zines, and other web site, your credibility builds, your persona builds, and your traffic and sales will build. You absolutely cannot loose with this cost effective traffic generating strategy.

About The Author

Dan J. Fry is an independent researcher and owner of e-Kinetic.com, a site devoted to providing resources for small budget home businesses. He has a PhD in Physics and is married with two daughters and two cats. Subscribe to his free E-Zine on home business resources at mailto:e-kinetic@GetResponse.com or by visiting his Home Business Resources and Tips site. He can be reached at mailto:comp@e-kinetic.com.

How to Create Incredible Characters Easily

by Caterina Christakos

Creating incredible characters can be easy if you know of a few simple rules:

1. Each character should have his own voice. If your character is from Brooklyn, give him brooklyn accent and mannerisms.

2. Before you write, decide on his or her background and outline it thoroughly. If she is supposed to be from a high profile Georgia family, know what her parents do for a living. Is she trying to live up to their standards or does she move to California in rebellion? Why?

3. Know your character’s motivations. If he is a seriel killer, what about his upbringing or his mind created him into the pathological criminal that he is.

The lesson is know your characters. Know what makes them tick. Know what drives them wild and what drives them crazy. Know them as well as you know yourself otherwise your audience never will.

By creating a thorough outline on each characters before you begin writing, the decisions are made for you. You will know your characters well enough to know what they would and wouldn’t say and how they would say it. More importantly, your readers will believe in them and in you.

Writing Newsletter Articles that have Appeal

by Pino Shriver

Are you verbally challenged? Most people claim that they can't write well. While we could diverge on a long discussion about the American school system, let's just take a three minute tour of what it takes to write a newsletter article that will appeal to readers. Just follow these simple steps and you can write an article about your work or hobby for a newsletter.

1. Know your audience. If you are writing about your work, for example, and the audience is your colleagues, you can use all the technical jargon you wish. However, if you are giving a tutorial to a general audience, keep it simple and focus your article on less technical points. If you are writing for a market segment, presumably you have some information about the demographic group that is your audience. For example, your approach would be different if you were writing about the latest options for a BMW versus the features of a modified street rod. The target audience would be quite different.

2. Select your topic and outline your material. Out of all your knowledge about the topic, what is it that you want to write about? Avoid selecting a topic that is too broad. Focus on one issue that will be of interest to your readers. Once you've selected a topic, verify your facts and make an outline of the major points you wish to make in the article. Put the points in the correct order so that the ideas flow naturally from one point to the next. Take time to complete the outline; if you are having trouble getting the outline right, you will have more trouble writing the article without a good outline.

After you know your material, find a twist or special appeal. This in the newspaper industry helps make the article newsworthy. For instance, how will this article make a difference?

4. Write an interesting title and first line. First impressions make a difference. The title and first line are the "hook" that brings the reader in to read your article. Get the reader's attention with your title and first line. The title should accurately reflect the content of your article. The first line should arouse the reader's interest. A question, a play on words or a quote may be the right thing to pique interest.

You're not out of the woods yet. Your reader may put down your newsletter if the first paragraph doesn't clearly state what the whole article will cover. A quick introduction in the first paragraph lets the reader know what to look forward to from beginning to end.

A good article intrigues the reader with its title, tells the reader where its heading in the first paragraph, and finally gives the reader information. With a little knowledge and planning you can write a newsletter article about your favorite topic.

Copyright 2005 Pino Shriver. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pino Shriver is the owner and operator of F S Newsletter which one of the best resources for information about newsletters on the internet. For further info visit his archive of articles: http://www.fsnewsletter.com/archive/