Day 19: How to Write “Tips” and “How To” Articles

Welcome back!

Yesterday you learned how to write an SEO article. Today you’ll learn about writing two types of articles:

Tips articles and “how to” articles. Read on…

How to Write “Tips” Articles

Tips articles are just what they sound like – you offer tips on a particular topic, rather than a “step by step” process.

Examples:

• Three Ways to Improve Your Golf Swing
• Seven Tips for Slimming Your Thighs
• The Ten Secrets of Writing a Great Sales Page

Tips articles work great for selling books and other information products.

Example: The “Ten Secrets of Writing a Great Sales Page” article could easily pre-sell a copywriting product.

However, you can use these articles to sell physical products, too.

Example: The “Three Ways to Improve your Golf Swing” article could pitch a particular club that would help the prospect improve his game.

How to Write “How To” Articles

The “how to” article is a step-by-step process, where you explain to your reader how to do something.

Examples:

• How to Look Ten Years Younger
• How to Juggle
• How to Replace Your Carpet

You can use these types of articles to sell most any type of product.

For example, if you’re selling an ebook, then you can offer a “how to” article that gives your readers an overview of how to do something, but it doesn’t go into detail. Your prospect needs to buy the ebook to get the details. Remember, “useful but incomplete.”

Example: Let’s say you’re selling a copywriting book. You might create an article titled “How to Write a Sales Letter.” You’d then outline the steps such as:

• Profile your target market
• Write a great headline
• Create a hook for an opener
• Craft your bullet points
• Offer a guarantee
• Call your prospect to action

And so on. You’d offer a few sentences for each step. Then you’d promote the copywriting book within your article.

Example:  “You now have a great overview of how to write a sales letter. To get the full details so that you too can create cash-pulling copy, click here…”

Of course this type of article works for physical products, too. Let’s suppose you’re selling puppy potty training pads. You could offer step-by-step instructions on how to use these pads to housebreak a puppy.

Today’s task: Write one tips article and one “how to” article. Be sure to load them up on your blog when you’re finished.

Then tomorrow you’ll learn about a type of article that tends to attract a lot of attention, so stay tuned!

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Day 1: Welcome!

Welcome to the 31-Day Guide to Blogging For Bucks!

I’m so excited about your decision to join this course. And that’s because –

You’re about to discover a step-by-step process for publishing your own blog and making money from it!

It doesn’t matter if you’re not very technical. It doesn’t even matter if you’re new to the internet. That’s because in the next 31 days you’ll discover:

• How to choose a domain name and webhosting.
• How to get your first bog up and running fast.
• How to monetize your blog.
• What to write about to keep your readers hanging on your every blog post.
• How to drive targeted traffic to it and turn your blog into a popular niche hang out.
• And much more!

By the time you finish this course, you’ll know exactly how to start and run your own profitable blog!

Listen, for this course you’re going to learn how to make money with your blog primarily by promoting affiliate offers.

To that end, you’ll complete these steps:

1. Choose a hungry niche.
2. Select a profitable, in-demand product to sell to this niche.
3. Set up a blog and start creating content that caters to the niche.
4. Promote your affiliate product on your blog (sometimes even directly in your posts) and start making money.
5. Drive targeted, cash-in-hand prospects to your blog… and cash in!

You’ll learn these steps (including all the intricate details) in the coming lessons…

But before we get into that, I want to show you that there are plenty of other ways to benefit and profit (directly and indirectly) from your blog. Read on…
 

Establish Yourself as an Expert

No matter what you’re selling or what your business model is, a blog can help you achieve more because it helps establish you as an expert.

Whereas people use to publish books to showcase their expertise, now most anyone can publish a blog. And once that blog becomes popular, the blogger’s status is further elevated in the niche.

And that’s NOT all.

The more good content you post, the more your readers start to trust you… and that indirectly leads to more sales.

Plus if you allow your readers to interact with you (by allowing comments), that further strengthens your bond with them. End result? A more profitable blog.
 

Get Publicity Opportunities

Some people use blogs to raise their status in a niche. And some people use this elevated status as a springboard to more opportunities, such as free publicity and book deals.

Example: The big book publishers like to see when one of their newly signed authors has a platform. By platform I mean a waiting audience. A blog is one such platform. If you build a popular blog and then go after a book deal, you can bet the publishers will take note.

So far you’ve discovered three main ways to benefit from your blog.

Tomorrow you’ll learn a bunch more, including ways to directly profit… so stay tuned!

Often, I am guilty of being selfish, thinking only of what I want to write, not about what you want to hear.

I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. Please help me. In the Comments, please tell me what you would like me to write about. It can be about anything.

I'll also be sharing a lot more information here and on Facebook that I didn't write, simply because I want to share the best of the best with you and help my blogging friends gain more exposure.

What do you think? Tell me in the Comments!

Well he has a new ebook out that tells you everything you need to know to get quality authority links and a boost in traffic, all through a quick and easy approach to guest blogging.

Right now he is offering it for the crazy low introductory price of only $10. The price has already increased once, and is sure to go up again as the reviews and testimonials start to pour in, so make sure you grab your copy and check out all the bonuses fast.

Check it out here:

Authority Blogger Guest Posting

Imagine how big your list would be. And when you were ready to exit the business, just imagine how much money you’d make selling your corner of the web.

All of this is within your reach – especially if you follow these 10 tips for becoming a better blogger…

1. Survey your readers to find out what they want.

Adding a poll or short survey to your blog not only makes your blog interactive (which is a good thing), it also gives you an idea of what kind of content and solutions your readers are looking for.

2. Give your readers info that they’d gladly pay for.

Just because your blog is free doesn’t mean you should post content that’s not worth anything. On the contrary, you should post valuable content – the kind of solutions your market is already paying for – on your blog. That way you can build trust and establish yourself as an expert in your niche.

3. Write about hot or controversial topics to spur discussion.

When there’s a controversy going on in your niche, decide which side you're leaning towards and blog about it. Push a few emotional buttons. Then create a call to action at the end of your post where you specifically ask your readers for their opinions and feedback. The more emotionally charged the post, the more likely it is that you’ll get comments.

4. Join the blogosphere discussions.

Your blog is not an island. Start visiting other blogs in your niche and join the community discussions. You can comment directly on their blogs. Or better yet, write a response on your blog using a trackback link.

5. Optimize your posts for the search engines.

You don’t have to optimize every post you make. But if you make a point to optimize at least one post per week, you’ll see a steady increase in traffic.

Tip: Use a tool like WordTracker.com to uncover your niche keywords. Choose words that have low competition. Then include your keywords two or three times for every 100 words of content.

6. Arouse curiosity with password-protected posts.

Your visitors can see that your blog has a lot of good content. But then they notice that you lock up your best content behind password protected posts (with the passwords only being available to your subscribers). You can bet curiosity will get the best of many of your readers… and they’ll subscribe.

7. Learn to create killer headlines.

People will decide whether to read your post based on your headline. As such, use headlines that include power words like “how to,” “amazing,” “secrets,” and “discover.”

8. Vary your posting style (some long, some short, etc).

Don’t always post a 400 word “how to” article. Instead, mix things up by posting articles of different lengths and different styles.

9. Interact with your readers by answering their comments.

Your comment section isn’t just a place for your readers to talk amongst themselves – it’s also a great place for you to interact with your readers. In fact, if you're not responding to comments on your blog, you're missing out a huge opportunity. Since people buy from those they know, like, and trust, this simple act of interacting will grow your income.

10. Make blogging a part of your daily routine.

Add “write a blog post” to each and every daily to-do list until it becomes a habit. If you write just one short blog post per day, in a year you’ll have 365 blog posts – and a whole lot more readers, subscribers and income!

In sum: Creating a big, popular blog isn’t a matter of doing one thing. Instead, you can create a better blog (and become a better blogger) by consistently taking a series of smaller steps.