6 Ways to Start Your Sales Letter Right

REFERRING TO A CURRENT EVENT – If you are selling security systems, you can open your sales letter by referring to the Virginia Tech massacre and pointing out the seemingly inadequate security system of the university. From there, you can then proceed to emphasizing what using your products could to in increasing the safety of your reader and his family.

Current events stick to mind because they’re events that actually did happen in the real world and they could happen to you, too. Current events present real threats and promises – either of which you could use to emphasize the need for the products or services you’re selling through your sales letter.

USING STATISTICS – Statistics always exercise great influence on a person’s opinion because they can reflect the majority of the public’s opinion and they’re a product of careful study and research. By using statistics as an opening in your sales letter, you’re able to immediately establish credibility for your company. It not only gives them a reason to read more of your sales letter but it also convinces them to believe in you as well.

The statistics you’ll use in your sales letter must be easily understandable and can immediately convey your message. It must be directly related to your products and services. The facts and figures from these statistical reports must also have been professionally computed by experts. Be sure to provide proper credits so your readers can confirm their validity and reliability right away.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS – Think of the number one problem that your target market is suffering from and something that your products or services could immediately solve. Summarize it in one to two sentences and your readers are sure to be hooked.

Say you’re selling portable sewing machines. If your target market is those who sew for recreational purposes, you can start by addressing the problem of space. Sewing machines generally require you to use a certain amount of space for them, but that’s not going to be a problem with portable sewing machines. With such an item, your reader will be able to sew right in the comfort of their bedroom without having to rearrange the furniture.

ASK A QUESTION – Another great way of opening your sales letter is by asking a question. Asking a question allows you to directly and immediately address your reader and catch his attention. But the question can’t just be any question obviously. It has to be related to the topic of your sales letter, but more importantly than that, it must be a question that will make the reader wish to know more.

Say you’re selling office software and your target market is composed of home-based professionals and business owners. Your question could be something like “Is getting your numbers straight the hardest part of managing your home based business?” Math is something many people find notoriously hard but your office software could solve that particular problem.

EMPHASIZE THE BENEFIT – Items that are considered necessities would benefit with a problem-and-solution type of opening but for items considered as frivolities or those that merely satisfy wants rather than needs, they might have no problems to solve. What they do have however are benefits, and that’s what you can use when opening your sales letter.

If you are selling gourmet pet food, you could start your sales letter by stating how your food products could forge a stronger bond between you and your pet. Gourmet pet food may not be a necessity, but it can make your pet feel good and appreciated in no way that ordinary pet food could achieve.

BE DESCRIPTIVE – Lastly, you can use the power of imagery to effectively start your sales letter. This works especially well when aesthetics is a major factor of your product. Examples of such products and services are travel packages, jewelries, and clothes. While you don’t need to write an elaborate and overly long description, the words you do use should all create a stunning image that will reinforce the need to buy what you’re selling.

6 Ways To Start Your Sales Letter Right is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

1. Start a website

Starting a website is crucial if you want to make money on the internet today. There are a number of ways you can make money through your website from affiliate programs to selling your own product to online advertising. Having a website is the basis to having success through your own home.

2. Freelance jobs

Freelance jobs are becoming increasingly popular online because of the flexibility and options you have to make money on the internet. Freelance jobs allow you to make money doing something that you are already good at as oppose to learning a whole new career. There are a number of freelance jobs that are available online including freelance writing, ebook writers, graphic designing and copywriting.

3. Online advertising

As mentioned above, online advertising is a great way to make money at home. The best way to go about making money through advertising is by setting up google ads or yahoo ads. Google adsense is by far the most common, and if used properly it can be a real money maker.

4. Sell your own product

Selling your own product can potentially make you the most money, but it is the most time-consuming and most difficult way to make money on the internet. There is a great deal of research, planning, advertising and promoting that is involved with selling your own product. However, if you are motivated and determined the reward is worth the work.

5. Affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are great ways to make money online, but it is a method that should be combined with other things. While you can make a decent amount through selling other people’s stuff, it is difficult to make a decent income solely through affiliate programs.

6. Article writing

There are a couple of ways you can make money at home with article writing. The first way is to use article writing as an advertising method. By placing your website link in the resource box, you can direct people who read your article to your website. The other option is to set up an article writing business and write articles for other people’s websites. It doesn’t take much to get a business going, but the difficult part is getting the word out about your business.

There are literally hundreds of ways to make money at home, but these are some of the more common methods used today. Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with combining a few of these methods to help make money at home quicker.

6 Ways To Make Money At Home is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

Every year, we meet thousand of decision makers around the country in our consulting and speaking work. Like you, they’re smart, ambitious, and they’re doing a decent job. But, they’re also often frustrated that they aren’t doing better. When we break down the element for them, we find that few if any of them have a good strategic plan they can work from. In fact, most of them don’t even know how to create one.

The following is a mini lesson in strategic planning. We don’t have a lot of space, but here are some important things to know when creating a basic plan.

1. Know the difference between a strategy and a tactic. Strategy is the plan that defines where you’re going. Tactics are the things you do and use to get to the destination. Sounds simple, right? You probably already know this, right? Take a closer look at any list of goals; you will find that many of those goals are tactics. This is the reason most New Year’s resolutions and company goals are off track by March.

2. Be specific. A few words can make all the difference in the direction you take your firm, and the tactics you use to implement a strategy.

Vague statement: We will improve customer service response time.
Specific statement: We will improve customer service response time will drop 29%.
Can you see how a few words change the way you might approach a challenge or opportunity?

3. Engage the aging process. Like great wine, the making of a strategic plan takes time. A strategic plan is NOT built during a weekend retreat! It evolves out of thoughts, research, information, and experiences. Spend some real time developing a strategy so that it’s the right one for your organization. Not having a strategy is hard on a firm. But having the wrong strategy, because you just threw one together, can be disastrous. On the flip side, don’t let the time frame hinder you from doing something, at least. It’s better to have some type of plan to follow, even if it isn’t exactly what you want it to be today.

4. Keep it simple. You can still be thorough without running yourself through the mill. Use the A-B-C approach:

A. Establish what you want to achieve: STRATEGY.
B. List available, realistic ways to make it happen: TACTICS
C. Select options that give the highest rewards for the lowest output: IMPLEMENTATION.

5. Follow the plan. Most plans are developed, and then put on a shelf. When (or if) they’re finally taken off the shelf for referral, you usually have to blow the dust off them. Not good. Senior management is guiltiest of not following the plan. A CEO should be able to clear everything off his desk and follow the plan daily if the plan is complete. He shouldn’t think it is meant for everyone but himself. Think of the strategic plan as the road map you and your organization use to follow your intended path. If you were to drive from California to New York, you would use a map of some sort. You’d refer to it to make sure you took all the turns and exits you need to follow the right roads, prevent getting lost, and get where you want to be. The same with the corporate map.
6.Be flexible. If, during the course of the year, you find that the plan needs some tweaking, you can certainly modify it. Be careful not to switch directions too often, as this will discredit you and your plan in the eyes of its followers. But, make sure that the plan is working in the best interests of the organization, even if that requires a sensible, justifiable change here and there.

Using these tips alone, you should be able to develop a stronger strategic plan…one that will endure through the unexpected trials that arise through the year, also. We hope this year is one full of growth and success for you. Good luck.

© David and Lorrie Goldsmith

6 Ways To Build A Stronger Strategic Plan is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

As a business owner, you and your company are susceptible to check fraud; however, there are ways to guard against it. Here are 6 steps that you and your business can follow to successfully defend against check fraud.

1. Print Your Own Checks – Real Time – The main benefit to printing yourself is security. Traditionally a business orders check stock from a company like Harland or Deluxe and they put the checks in a supply room or closet. These unused checks are a goldmine for any disreputable person that runs across them – all they have to do is grab a check from the bottom of the pile, remove it. In all likelihood, you’ll never know that last check is missing until at least a month later, and that’s if you are lucky and you regularly reconcile your check book and examine each transaction. We know because that’s exactly what happened to us.

In 1993, we had an employee that unwisely stole the last page in our check book. We never knew they were missing. Our Ex-Employee filled them out to herself and passed them as payroll checks at a used car dealer. She did get that car and several weeks later my partner’s wife noticed the unusual checks. Had she not noticed the problem who knows how much more money would have been stolen before we got wise to it. Long story short the bank had to eat the bad checks and they wasted no time making sure the case was prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We were lucky and it only cost us time. Had the employee been authorized to sign checks we would have lost the money.

By printing your own checks you only stock blank check stock and a MICR toner cartridge. There is nothing to steal with your account information, they have nothing but a piece of blank check paper. Of course you are still open to a new kind of fraud if someone is able to access your check printing software. Be sure it’s password protected and your network rights are setup so that ordinary users can’t access the directory that it resides in.

Another great benefit of printing your own checks real time is that if you move our change bank accounts, you lose nothing. Just edit your address or account numbering in your check printing software and you’ve made the switch – No wasted checks, no wasted money, no waiting for new checks.

2. Buy Secure Check Stock – When selecting a blank check stock, make sure the check stock is loaded with security features – this will make it difficult for a scammer to copy or scan the check. Recently the US treasury department spent millions adding security features the newly redesigned notes. Many of these same security features are now available for check stock. Here are some security features to look for in check paper:

Copier Void Pantograph – This causes the word VOID to appear in the background of a check when copied. A Void Pantograph is created by engraining a precision pattern of lines and dots in the background of the check. The printing of the pantograph is so precise that the VOID is not visible to the human eye, but when copied or scanned they appear making the copied check useless.

Micro Printed Border – This same technology is used on new US currency – magnify the border line around the portrait on the face of one of the newly designed US bills and you will see the border that appears to be a line is actually comprised of words. Even modern high resolution printers cannot reproduce type this small.

Chemically Reactive Check Paper – A common way to deface a check is to use chemicals to remove the existing writing to change the amount or to whom a check is written to. Chemically reactive check paper will change colors when it comes in contact with chemicals or solvents making the check unusable.

Watermark – Check paper with a true watermark will show up when held up to the light. A watermark will not be visible on a copied or scanned check.

Listing of security features – A good check stock will list the security features on the back of the check. What good is a security feature if no one knows what security features to look for?

3. Positive Pay File Transmittal – A great way to stop check fraud is to generate a positive pay file and transmit it to your bank. Every time you print a batch of checks, you transmit a positive pay file listing the checks and their amounts to your bank. If a check amount is altered or a check is duplicated the bank will reject it because it does not match the positive pay file. Positive pay is fairly common in large companies, but a small company may not have the resources or the software to produce the file and transmit it. Contact your bank about this service.

4. Check Storage / Access – One key to avoiding check fraud is eliminating, or at least, decreasing access to documents with your bank account number on them.

Mail Theft – Mail theft is a very common way checks are stolen – make sure your outgoing mail is not left in a place where anybody coming and going can steal them. A secure mail box is probably the best way to protect your mail.

Check Storage – If you are using preprinted check, store checks in a secure area under lock and key. Never leave checks unsecured.

Document Storage – In addition to securing checks, be sure to secure all documents containing your bank information. They contain all the data necessary for a fraudulent check.

Document Disposal – When disposing of banking and credit card documents, shred them. A shredder is a cheap and easy way to make sure some dumpster diver doesn’t steal crucial information that might be used to create fraudulent checks. We use a shredding service. The service provides locking cabinets to store the documents to be shredded. Then once every two weeks the shredding service comes by and actually shreds the paper onsite. The shredding truck has a massive shredder on the back and our documents are shredded before the truck leaves our site.

5. Electronic Payment – The only way to entirely eliminate check fraud is to eliminate checks. Check processing is very costly for banks and they would love nothing more to eliminate checks all together. With the advent of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) many large companies such as Home Depot only deal with vendors that can send invoices and receive payments through EDI. Electronic payment is definitely the future and individuals are flocking to electronic payment, but businesses are still slow to make the transition. Most businesses write their checks through accounts payable software, thusly don’t have an easy or standardized way to effectively transmit payments electronically. However, in time software will catch up with technology and electronic payment will become the standard. Electronic payment is already available through QuickBooks and it’s only a matter of time until businesses adopt this practice to make payments.

6. Pay Attention – You may follow all of the above steps and still somehow get scammed. Paying attention to your bank and credit card statements will help you detect any discrepancies earlier. The earlier the problem is detected, the more likely that you will be able to catch the culprit and regain your hard earned cash.

6 Ways To Avoid Check Fraud is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

Tip number two is to sell a higher quality of products. Customers will feel more secure using the company if they know that the products will last for a longer period of time and will stand up to being tested. Having higher quality products can give one company a lead over others that sell close to the same products.

Tip number three. Having lower prices can also persuade customers into choosing one company over another. Being able to save money, even by a few dollars, can lead a customer to feel that the company in question is giving them a fair deal. Many of us have been over charged on a product and we’ll begin to have harsh feelings towards the store.

Tip number four is to have proper advertising. Advertising can make or break a company. The more a company advertises the larger customer base they will secure. There are several ways to advertise, such as on the internet, in local newspapers, on television or even fliering local neighborhoods. Word of mouth is another great advertisement. Every happy customer is sure to tell a friend or family member about their experience. When that friend goes to find a company who does the same services, they will look towards that company as a possible option.

Tip number five. Having great customer service will make a customer’s experience worth while. A good experience when purchasing a product, especially when the item is expensive, can cause a customer to return to the store for future products or accessories. Making a customer feel that they have all of the support and attention they can, is an important business strategy that can make each customer feel that they are the center of attention.

Tip number six. Customer appreciation is also very important in increasing sales. A customer is more likely to return when they feel that their needs are being taken care of and the company truly wants to have their business. One of the ways to show a customer that they are appreciated is to offer special deals to repeat customers or offer special percentages off storewide.

The way to increase sales is to make customers happy and to make the company better known in the community. Increasing sales will mean that the company will remain in business for a considerable amount of time and profits will soar.After all, if you don’t have sales you don’t have a business, so anything constructive you can do to increase sales is worthwhile.

6 Tips To Regularly Increase Sales is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

This is particularly true when it comes to search engine optimization. Most online businesses make a half-hearted attempt to get better search engine rankings, but rarely implement anymore than one or two things that could really help make their site a success.

Which of the following does your website have?

1. Unique Page Titles.

Take a look at a selection of web pages that come up high in the search engine results for any search term and you’ll notice they all have one thing in common: unique page titles. Denoted by in HTML, page titles tell the search engines what your web page is about, and are thought to be a critical factor in how search engines determine the order in which pages are displayed in the search engine result pages (SERPS) for a specific search term.

2. Descriptive Keyword Links.

How do search engines find and index your site? They follow links from one page to another, indexing content as they go. If the links they follow contain keywords and phrases that are relevant to the page content, the search engines will boost the ranking of that page in their results. You should also use keywords and phrases in the site’s navigation (menu), as those terms are (or should be) highly relevant for the page they link to.

3. Keywords in Your On-page Copy.

If you want the search engines to know what your page is about, and rank it appropriately, you must scatter keywords throughout your on-page copy. Keywords in your copy establish your site’s relevance for words searchers use when they’re looking for your product or service.

4. Clean, Accessible Website Design.

Messy, bloated HTML code, 404 errors, re-directs, too many graphics, content hiding behind forms etc., all hinder the search engines’ ability to index your site. And if they can’t index it, they can’t rank it. Follow W3C’s accessibility guidelines when building your website. Better yet, ask your website designer what he knows about standards compliant website design. If he or she can’t answer, find someone who can.

5. Focused Site Topic.

It seems logical that the more focused your site is, the higher it will rank for related search terms. For example, a site that is focused on the sale of exercise mini-trampolines will probably do better for the search term “mini trampolines” than a site that tries to sell a number of unrelated or a selection of different exercise equipment. In addition, it makes sense to create specialty websites whenever possible. That way, you don’t fall into the trap of trying to do too many things and end up doing none of them well.

6. Relevant Incoming Links.

The number of other sites that link to your site’s pages is important but the quality of those sites, and the text used in the link, carries much more weight with the search engines. For example, one relevant link from an “authority” site such as a .org, .gov, or a site that’s proven itself as a reliable source, provides more value than several links from unrelated or “unproven” sites.

Of course, there are other several other factors that go into determining a site’s ranking (far too many to go into here) but these are some of the most important.

They’re all easy to implement, so there’s really no excuse for not taking advantage of them especially if you want to make sure your site is found and visited by as many people as possible. Then all you’ll need to worry about is getting those people to buy something from you on a frequent basis.

And that’s really what it’s all about.

To your success,

Julia

Comment on this article at: Read this article at http://www.juliahyde.com/mw/high-ranking-websites

6 Things High Ranking Websites Have That Yours Doesn’t is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

Plan first! Write down something that gives you a focus. There are some pretty good reports spread out over the net about business planning,When starting a business it is crutical to plan. Some people write full business plans and others just make a time-line of things they want accomplished, either way having something is better than nothing.

Incorporate, it is important that you create a business-like image. I was told before that you have to portray the life you wish to lead and as a professional you must conduct yourself as such. Registering a business has many advantages with taxes, credit and more and entitles you to other things that non-business owners can-not do.You can find services and do-it-yourself kits that will help you get setup.

Your NOTHING without a DotCom! You have to have a real domain name http://www.whateverandaday.com/yournamehere is not professional. Really, does this make you want to give them money? I don’t feel moved. You must get a domain name and hosting to be even slightly considered as a real business. Domain names go for under $10 now a days and hosting can be found for under $8 a month, something that shouldn’t be to out of reach for most marketers.

Accept Credit. Credit cards rule on the internet. Most People don’t care to send in a money order anymore, its slow and can get lost in the mail, just not the best way to pay online. So you must accept credit cards if you plan on selling your own products or anything that you will deliver directly to the customers yourself. It is still a good idea to offer to accept money orders just don’t ship anything before the payment clears with your bank. Still offer the option for people to mail in payment, some people like to do business this way and you would open your sells up slightly.

Advertise. I know it sounds simple enough but you would be surprised by how many people skip this step. I guess they think having a good page is enough, but the internet is huge and you must get the word out about your site. Not just to anyone though, the key is to target you advertising to people who want what you have to offer. There are a variety of methods that one could take to advertise your new site: pay per click(google, yahoo), ezines, newsletters, search engine optimizing, and others.

Followup. Each person that comes to your site after clicking a well-targeted ad is a potential client. They might not necessarily purchase something the first time they visit. Studies have proven that it takes upto seven exposures for someone to purchase a product, and you just can’t get that if you don’t followup. You can use and low-cost autoresponder and a free giveaway to attract subscriber, then send them emails reminding them of you services.

Well, I have shared 6 secerets to starting your business off on the correct path. Please use this information to better yourself, your community and our world. Thank you for reading, pass it on.

6 Steps To Starting A Real Home Business is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

We want more – but how do we know for sure? How do we even contemplate leaving the workforce? The one thing that provides our security and is like a lifeline for us? Here are 6 signs to let you know that you’re moving on – maybe not today, or tomorrow, but sometime in the future, you will be ready.

1. You have a yearning that won’t leave. In my small business seminars I have asked participants, “how many of you have had a yearning – a calling to do something different with your lives?” Almost all would raise their hands. They didn’t know what the yearning was about – just that it was there.

2. You daydream about being a business owner. You might even have told friends or family about your business ideas. Sometimes you see your idea is now a business that someone else is running.

3. You are working for the “paycheck”. This is another tell-tale sign that the money is not enough. When we get to the point that the paycheck is the main reason we are working, we are getting close to the realization that this job, and perhaps any job, is no longer the answer.

4. You don’t know what business you would start, even if you started one. This is very common and is one of the main reasons people don’t leave their job. What I suggest is that you start an “ideas” journal. Just start jotting business ideas down – you don’t have to do anything else. Once you open yourself to your ideas, they will continue to flow to you.

5. You are unfulfilled in a job – any job. It doesn’t seem to matter how good the job is, how nice your office is or how big the paycheck is. Sooner or later you get that feeling – “this isn’t it.” It’s such a disappointing moment. I know. I’ve been there. I was a “serial” employee – I went from job to job – always good at what I did, but always got to this point and then left for the next job.

6. You have a “reason” you haven’t started or even tried starting a business. We all have them – “It’s not the right time,” “I need to wait until the kids are grown.” “I need more savings”, etc., etc. There will always be reasons. Pay attention to what you are telling yourself – to your thoughts. Take a look at your beliefs – sometimes they stop us in our tracks. I started a business as a single mom and left the workforce cold turkey, after three tries at quitting my job, I must admit. That was in 1998. I’m not saying this is “the way”. What I am saying is that there is no right way – but there is a right way for you.

6 Signs That A Job No Longer Works is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

1. Identify Emerging Markets
An emerging market is one in which the bid rate is growing at a faster pace than the listing rate. Unlike a hot market, which has reached its capacity, an emerging market still has room for growth. Don’t chase after hot-ticket items with saturated markets. You’re looking for neglected niche markets with greater demand than supply. Http://Andale.com and http://Hammertap.com offer market research tools that can show you what’s selling and what people are looking for.

2. Look at Your Competition
Find out who the big sellers are in your category, and look at what they do to put themselves on top. While it’s okay to borrow some of their more successful tactics for your business, don’t become a carbon copy. Distinguish yourself by catering to your particular sub-niche. Being unique allows you to build a following of loyal customers.

3. Set Your Prices
The first place to look is your competition’s prices. Bear in mind that the greater the range you average, the more reliable that average is going to be. Again market research tools can give you your item’s average selling price and also show you all the factors that influenced prices. They can interpret the data for you and show you how to get the most for your item — the best day and time to end an auction, which listing features draw the highest bids, etc.

4. Know Your Seasons
Seasons affect trends and, therefore, sales. By recognizing and anticipating the trends, you can make wise product sourcing choices. Look at your product research. In what season does an item not sell well? — that’s a good time to source it. Stock up now and bring it out later, when you know you can get the most for it. If you know a product’s seasons, you’ll know the best time to list it.

5. Create Effective Titles
Picking keywords for your listing titles is not unlike picking keywords for search engine optimization. You want words specific to your market. Generic words cause your listings to get lost in the crowd. Gregg Gunn, of market research giant http://Terapeak.com, says, “Pick keywords that are unique to your category. You don’t just want a ton of exposure — you want the right exposure.” Terapeak is beta testing a product designed to help you create optimal titles for your merchandise based on eBay data (http://www.Terapeak.com/TitleBuilder).

6. Keep Records
Don’t just look at last years’ sales results — look at how products fare from year to year and season to season. Over time, you’ll see trends emerge. Gunn states, “It’s long term thinking, not just day to day.” Studying longer time periods provides you with a better understanding of how seasonal trends affect your market. This, in turn, lets you analyze your current market circumstances and make smarter business decisions.

6 Signposts Of Successful Product Selection And Selling – How To Build A Winning E-Biz is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News

I definitely find a lot of articles, all right. They number in the thousands. Because I need content to feed a voracious audience, I select as many as I can even though I’m often not really happy with many of them.

”Why,” I can hear you ask, “do you publish articles that you are not happy with?”

Well, the answer lies in several unfortunate deficiencies in many of the articles published in article barns…

DEFICIENCY NUMBER ONE: INADEQUATE CONTENT

Many articles are glaringly superficial. The author may start with a good premise, say, the need to research out digital cameras before buying one, but then drops the ball.

In essence, the only thing the article says, in 500 – 600 words or so, is “Do your homework”.

—There are no concrete suggestions as to how to do the research.

—There are no suggested sources where the reader can go to find information.

—There are no criteria by which the reader can decide which camera is best for her.

In short, the article might not as well have been written. The writer is merely telling the reader what she already knew and provides no real information. Remember: it’s not “content that is king¨; it’s quality content that is king.

DEFICIENCY NUMBER TWO: OVERDEPENDENCE ON KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Just about every article on writing articles for the web emphasizes that your creation should be “rich” in the keywords your readership is inputting into the search engines.

The trouble comes when you try to include all of the right keywords in your article so that people will find and read it. The danger is that you actually degrade the content of the article and make it less useful.

DEFICIENCY NUMBER THREE: NOT GRABBING THE READER’S ATTENTION AT THE BEGINNING

There’s nothing that attracts a reader more quickly to an article than a short story, anecdote or personal experience that identifies her with the subject.

This anecdote or short story should be based on experience, either your own, an acquaintance, or a plausible situation, and should confront the reader with a problem, immerse her in a dilemma, or invoke an emotion that directly leads to the solution posed by the article.

Many article writers start firing facts at the reader and doggedly go on in the same paragraph to advance the solution, without really building up the reader’s curiosity or expectations.

DEFICIENCY NUMBER FOUR: NO ORGANIZATION

Many writers, when they decide it’s time to pump out their daily (or minute-ly) articles, sit down and write paragraph after paragraph until the word count reaches 850 words or so without any discernible organization to their work.

Then they stop, and fire it off.

DEFICIENCY NUMBER FIVE: NO SUB HEADS OR BULLETS

We load up the article with long paragraphs which exhibit no logical breaks.

The article has no:

– Subheads. A pithy subhead for each paragraph will pique your reader’s interest and lead her into it. If your readers don’t encounter at least one subhead after reading a couple of paragraphs, you’ve probably lost them.

—Bullets. If you’ve got several points you want to make in a paragraph, create as many bullets as you need. Don’t overdo it of course. Bullets are like salt.

—Numbers. If you’ve got sequential steps you want the reader to take, number them. It makes it so much easier to figure out what you’re trying to say.

DEFICIENCY NUMBER SIX AND THE FINAL HORROR: GRAMMATICAL AND SPELLING MISTAKES

—Gramatical Mistakes. Yes, you knew this one was coming—things like “your¨, when you mean “you’re¨; “its¨ when you meant “it’s¨.

—Spelling Errors. Your reader will assume that if you can’t spell, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

—Incomplete Sentences. Have a subject, a verb and an object unless you’re being fancy, and know you’re being fancy.

—Missing Words. Missing words, for example, “I went New York”, are enough to blow any reader away. My question is, “You went what?”

If your article contains any of these stoppers, your readership will never get as far as your Resource Box.

SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION? GO OUT AND HIRE A PROFESSIONAL WRITER?

No, you are the pro. Here’s what you can do to make your articles sizzle:

1) Read professionally written articles on the web until you’ve absorbed their style.

2) Develop your own voice. Do this by writing and writing.

3) Paste a picture of your hypothetical reader on the computer, and write to that person. What do you need to say to catch and keep their attention?

4) Break it up. Use subheads, bullets, and numbers. Keep pulling the reader ahead with your subheads.

5) Edit.

—Read and re-read what you’ve written; cut out unneeded words. Think economy: less is more.

—Get somebody else to read it—somebody who neither loves you nor hates you.

—Sleep on it. Never send out an article the same day you wrote it. Your brain will “cook¨ overnight and you’ll think of all kinds of things you needed to say…and change.

—Read it from the bottom up. This is a good way to catch typos after you’ve looked at it for too long.

–Read it out loud.

—Do a spell check. In this modern age of spell checking word processors, how can anybody submit an article that contains misspelled words?

6) Beware of the spell check. It doesn’t catch words used in the wrong context.

The bottom line is, take more time with your stuff. Write something that will make ezines glow like comets and you’ll see your dreams come true.

6 Serious Article Writing Deficiencies, And 6 Ways You Can Fix Them is a post from: SEO Blog And Web Hosting News