| By Dr. Jeffrey Lant It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to spend some time with you and provide the detailed step-by-step information you must have to get the attention of the people on your list and get them to respond -- and rain well deserved compliments on you and your notable blog work. Let's dig right in; there's lots of ground to cover. 1) The purpose of blog articles. Know much about space travel? Here's a crucial part that astronauts pay a lot of attention to: the heat shields that protect a space capsule returning to earth. Without these shields the capsule and the passengers within would be fried. The same thing happens when you mail ad copy and nothing but ad copy to your lists. Recipients will get plenty angry plenty fast. They want more from you than just ads, and if they don't get it, the unsubscribe link is near at hand. Blog copy is essential because it keeps subscribers on your list by giving them a good reason for staying on your list. In short, like those heat shields, this copy protects the list and keeps it whole, growing, profitable. 2) Don't publish random articles. Give your articles increased weight and importance by creating them as part of an ongoing series. When you write good copy, copy of substance and value, people not only want to read it... but they want more, lots more, from you, a person whose articles and opinion they come to respect. 3) Number each article and announce that number along with each article. As I write (August 6, 2011), this is my 312 article in the series. You want people to know that, not least because they will want to find and profit from the other articles in the series, all the other articles. Furthermore, as your list of articles grows, so will your reputation and perceived standing. In short, you will be an authority, a commentator of renown and repute. 4) Write your blog articles to a certain length, and stick to it. My daily blog articles (which I produce free for blog owners worldwide) are all approximately 1500 words in length. That is three single-spaced pages. This length gives you ample space to develop an article on any given theme. It is also a convenient length for readers, not too long or demanding; crucial features in our time-pressed days. Once you have developed your format, you will soon start thinking in terms of your available space and will find it easier and easier the more you write to conceive and write articles of that length. 5) Always search for and brainstorm new article subjects. I am on a dizzing blog article creation pace: one 1,500 word blog article per day. This is a challenging schedule for even the most experienced writers. That means I need 365 article subjects per year, challenging indeed. But even if you decide to write just one blog article per week, you'll need 52 subjects to write about, nothing to take for granted. When you write blog articles, you are always and forever in the business of finding hot new article subjects. To start, get the major metropolitan newspaper from your area; (for me that's The Boston Globe)... and a pair of scissors. Now sit down and review this newspaper with a new eye; an eye that's seeking interesting, timely, readers-will-love-this subjects. Make time to cut these articles from the publication. Don't fall behind with this crucial task. In my case, I review and cut out three times a week, more if at all possible. Keep a good pair of sharp scissors at hand. Look at each article in each edition to see whether an article on that theme or subject would fit your blog. If so, cut at once and make sure to date everything you cut out. That's a must. Then deposit what you've found in a large drawer... this is the article subject compost heap and it is essential. In it you will find subjects you will surely want to write about... and subjects you're watching, to write about at some future date. Cut liberally; you can be sure one day you will have no subject readily at hand. Having all these ideas will then pirove very useful indeed. 6) Select the next subject you'll write about, gather the information you need to do so. The creation of articles of substance, articles that draw continual kudos from your readers, is a direct result of knowing where to look for the information you need. The better you become at this necessary task, the better articles you will produce and the faster your reputation grows, too. Start by doing a search at any search engine (I prefer Google) to see what information is available. Where you are writing an article about a breaking news item, don't just check the available information, also pay close attention to the time the most recent material was posted (e.g. "7 hours ago"). This is essential for keeping what you write ahead of the news cycle. For timely articles, this skill is required. Then visit the Wikipedia. The Wikipedia is one of the most ingenious and necessary tools ever invented. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't use it, finding and printing the invaluable information I absolutely must have do my work... one aspect of which is studding my articles with the facts therein so amply provided. This source is crucial. You will also need to visit the websites of article providers such as Associated Press, Reuter's, Bloomberg, etc. They are a terrific source of article subjects and timely data. 7) Brainstorm articles. You and your lifetime of education and experience are also valuable sources for articles. Keep a pad at the ready, or an Internet file, where ALL possible article subjects can be listed. Never, ever rely on forgetful memory for such subjects. Write them down at once. 8) Set a precise date for finishing all articles. I write and blog my articles daily. I have a precise time of the day when the deadline for the next article MUST be met: 8 a.m. Eastern time. To do this I find all the data I'l need the day before and review it before bed time. Then I am awake and drafting, editing, then finalizing the day's article by 3 a.m. Eastern time; that is not a misprint! I have found the silent hours of the (usually) uninterrupted night the very best time to write, not least because I am wide awake and full of beans at that time. You'll find the schedule most suitable for you; set it, adhere to it religiously. You will find if you do that your brain and body will be willing to work at that time, and that is a great benefit. 9) Keep individual files for every article you write. These files should contain all the printed information sources for this subject as well as all your notes and each draft. Everything pertaining to this article (including the compliments readers email you) must be kept, not least because you may very well decide to write follow-up and related articles for which current data will be most helpful. Last words. Blogging is the future of the Internet; that is absolutely clear. And for blogging to work, and your list to be protected, superior blog copy is a must. Now you know how to produce it. |
