By Jan Shimano
People write articles for many reasons. For some, it's just a pleasant pastime and they enjoy sharing information with others. For people like myself, we write articles to create a presence on the Internet and help generate leads. So the question is whether it is worth the time and trouble. I feel quite sure that when you get to the end of this article, you will be firing up your computer to get started on your writing.
Some authors write about a large variety of subjects. For this very reason, they do not use their own name for all their articles. Readers would tend to doubt their expertise in so many subjects. So, this is one of the first decisions you have to make. Will you use your own name in all your articles, in some of them or perhaps in none of them. If at times, you are writing articles on subjects that have absolutely nothing to do with your business, then in those instances you might want to write under an assumed name.
Obviously, if you are trying to brand yourself on the Internet, then you would want to use your personal name as much as possible. If the subject matter can be in some way related to the type of business you are in, then it is going to be much easier to transition with a link back to your website.
Articles that are written for the Internet should be approximately 400 - 600 words in length. That translates into about eight paragraphs, with each containing approximately three short sentences. It is recommended that you write a few short articles instead of one long one.
It came as a pleasant surprise to me to see how I could significantly increase my presence on the Web, by getting my articles posted there. I didn't write and submit my first article until late December, 2008. That was three weeks ago from the time I am writing this article. At that time, if I searched my name "Jan Shimano" in Google I would come up empty. However, just a few short weeks and ten articles later, when I googled by name in quotes again, I came up with 2760 hits. Perhaps you would like to check for yourself and Google my name (make sure you put it in quotes) and see how much it has increased since then. It seems to increase on a daily basis.
So, are you curious as to how I was able to accomplish this? Well then, I'll tell you!! It just took writing those ten short articles and getting them accepted by EzineArticles. This is the largest article directory and it should be the first place you submit to. By the way, Google search just loves EzineArticles and gives them a very high rating, moving you up the charts, so to speak. If EzineArticles accepts your submission, then you will have no trouble with any of the other article directories.
That alone is not going to get you the exposure though. There is now a second step that you have to take and that is to submit your article to a multiple submission company. I use, and highly recommend, Unique Article Wizard. On their website you write three versions of your article, along with variations of your Resource Box, and UAW reconfigures all the paragraphs and resource boxes to come up with literally hundreds of unique articles. One of my articles was submitted to 1,800 directories. The uniqueness of each article is very important, because the search engines do not like duplication.
There is no charge to post your articles with EzineArticles. They do have a paid premium upgrade, but for the majority of people, that's not necessary. Personally, I just use the free offer. However, to use UAW there is a monthly cost of $70.35. This might not be worth your while, if you are planning on just writing the occasional article. However, for those who are serious about creating a huge presence of the Web, then I can't think of a more economical way to do it.
You do not have to be a professional writer to get your articles published on the Internet. If you can sit down and write a letter to a friend or loved one, then you can sit down and write a short eight paragraph article. Remember, this is not an assignment from your old English teacher from years past. She is not looking over your shoulder checking your grammar. Your reader is looking at your article because you are providing him with valuable information. He is not there to critique you. So, please, make up your mind right now that you are going to give this an honest effort. Once you have that first article accepted and published, my guess is that there will be no stopping you!!
About the Author:
Jan Shimano was District Manager for Health & Welfare Canada for a number of years. She was also self-employed as a Nutritional Consultant and a Master Herbalist. She is currently a
Business and Health Coach and runs her own
internet marketing company from her residence on Vancouver Island. Jan welcomes you to learn more about her by dropping by her YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/1jinny
