My First Article… Completed! So, You Too Can Be A Great Article Writer

When I first began writing as a freelancer, I must admit, it was quite a challenge. Sure, my journalistic experience helped quite a bit, but this was a different type of writing. It was in a field totally new to me, since most of my clients were requesting SEO friendly articles using keywords. I thought to myself, “Ok, if I did not lose it covering tragic accidents and having to report on that; I sure am not going to let keyword centered articles intimidate me.” So, I took the first challenge. I read up on internet marketing, increase traffic, solo ads, traffic exchange sites and many other things that make up the online business and internet marketing world. I have to admit that my first client was quite helpful and understanding. And so, I began my journey.

After carefully studying quite a bit of information from diverse sources, I began with an outline. Not that this was am everyday practice as a journalist, unless of course it was an investigative report. To a certain extent, this series of articles was a special report. I was to write about something I had very little or hardly any knowledge of.  So, I drafted an outline; a very simple one to start. At first I jotted down important factors on what I had learned in my research, divided by categories, some of which are mentioned above. The next part of my outline consisted in the ideas that my client furnished me with, including keywords. This was not news article writing, this was article writing of a whole different kind.

Once the outline was drafted, I began writing. Since these articles would not have quotes, or witness accounts, I had to base it solely on my investigation. I can not remember whether it was about solo ads or traffic exchange sites, but it took me quite some time. I obviously had to state the main point of that article in the introduction. It sounds pretty elementary, but if you are unsure about something, going back to basics, will not hurt you. I stated what method of web marketing it was and how it could be of benefit to web entrepreneurs who used it. Surprisingly the words continued to flow. And, the more I looked at my outline and to my notes, the better my article was shaping to be.

Believe it or not, in quite a few hours, yes I mean more like six hours, I was finished. It may sound long, but to me it seemed like FOREVER; especially when I am used to writing under pressure due of publication or air deadlines. But the article was done. I set it aside and waited a bit. I had to walk away, and let my brain cells clear, before taking on the task of editing. I took to editing the draft, and to my surprise, I had covered all the basic fundamental aspects of whatever it was I was writing about; which, as I think harder, I believe it was about traffic exchange sites. And, in case you are wondering, yes I reverted back to the basics of the outline and wrote a conclusion that summed up all of the points I made throughout the article. These points or ideas came together beautifully in a uniformed fashion. I read it again, made a few tweaks and corrections, inverted a couple of lines and voila. My first freelance article not related to current events, was COMPLETED!

The final touch was the headline, subject line, heading or whichever way you want to call it. This at first gave me trouble as well. In current events you tend to pick a high impact quote from a witness, victim, or interviewee. Or even a strong adjective that can describe what will probably be the most moving point in your story. With article writing, it was different, to some extent. I began skimming the article looking for lines that jumped out at me, until I found it. It was catchy, informative, yet not too revealing. If it were not for the agreements with my client, where I turned over full copyright, I would have included the title hear. Now, copyright, that is a whole different topic I had to get used to, yet, that will be at another time.

For now, I hope you have grasped in some sort of way the easiest way to begin writing good articles. Follow my ideas, and before you know it, you too will be a great article writer.