Whether or not you consider yourself a writer, penning articles that are of value to your target market is one of the most effective ways to get your name out there and become known as an expert in your niche, attract visitors to your website, and gain new subscribers for your ezine or other Pink Spoon (free offering to entice prospects into your Marketing & Product Funnel). And crafting a Top Ten article is one of the easiest ways of actually getting that article written! To help you, I've created a Top Ten on how to put together your own Top Ten article: 1. Visit www.topten.org This is a great website to give you ideas and samples of how a Top Ten article looks. Once your article is complete, you can add yours to this website as well. (There's also loads of good info on this site, but try not to get too distracted by it until your own article is finished... :)) 2. Decide who your Top Ten is going to be written for. To give you the best return for your investment in writing your Top Ten, it should be written for your niche. You can write a general article that applies to your entire niche, or you could choose a segment of your niche to write the article for. 3. Decide what your Top Ten is going to be about. To take #2 a step further, choose one issue that your niche seems to grapple with over and over, and write the article based on your solution(s) to that problem. 4. Give it a title. For example: Top Ten Ways to Choose the Perfect Massage Therapist for You Top Ten Reasons for Not Writing a Blog Top Ten Steps to Making a Sound Business Investment Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Babysitter Top Ten Blunders Most New Business Owners Make Top Ten Questions to Ask Before Hiring A Virtual Assistant Top Ten Answers to How to Design a Website Top Ten Requirements for Traveling to Europe Top Ten Points to Make in Any Presentation Top Ten Hints to Keeping A Clean House Without Maid Service (I just made all of those up, so feel free to "steal" any of them.) 5. Create a summary paragraph about your Top Ten article. Write a short paragraph that describes what your article is about. Three to five sentences should suffice. This will become your introductory paragraph. 6. Write down your Top Ten points. Write down the ten points you want to make in your article. Keep each of the ten points short. For example, if your top ten article is "Top Ten Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Massage Therapist," your Top Ten points might be: Point 1: Is the location of the massage therapist's office desirable? Point 2: Does the massage therapist accept your insurance? Point 3: Are the fees reasonable for you, if insurance is not accepted? Point 4: Can you talk to some current clients? Point 5: Is scheduling an appointment easy? Point 6: Can you have your choice of a male or female therapist, if you have a preference? Point 7: Is the environment of the therapist's office to your liking? Point 8: Does the therapist hold certain qualifications that are important to you? Point 9: Does the therapist have a reasonable cancellation policy? Point 10: Know you don't have to stay with a therapist if they aren't right for you! 7. Explain each of the ten points. Write 3 to 5 sentences to illustrate each of your ten points. For example, Point 1: Is the location of the massage therapist's office desirable? Think about how much time you want to spend getting to and from a potential massage therapist's office. Less is probably more desirable, or, if you're like me, I drive 30 minutes because his office is very close to the only Starbucks around where I live, so the drive is worth it to me for my weekly chai. 8. Write your author's resource box info. For example, one version of mine says: Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach, & Founder of www.ClientAbundance.com, teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs and solo professionals how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com 9. Proofread! Please proofread your article and your author's box. Even better, have someone else proofread it, too. Best is to have at least three sets of eyes look it over before you consider it ready to be published. 10. Leverage your article. Submit your article to article submission sites and directories. I personally use and highly recommend SubmitYOURArticle. Also, submit it to www.topten.org. Use it in your ezine and on your website as a free valuable resource for your readers and visitors. Eventually group together a series of your articles with a common theme into an ebook to create a passive stream of income for you. Follow these ten steps and in no time you'll have written a solid and polished article with which to market your business! |
