In my previous article (Part 1 - www.isitebuild.com/writearticles) we discussed the 7 ways to benefit from writing an ezine article.

Part 2 will cover the formula and format you can use to write your own article as well as provide valuable resources where to publish your articles for maximum exposure.

How to write your own ezine article

1. Research a topic you are very familiar with or have a passion about. This makes it easier to write and will show through in your writing.

2. Take out a sheet of notebook paper and create an outline of your article. Write down all the points you wish to include. Don't worry yet about the order because you just want to let your mind flow in the beginning.

3. Write down a number of headings and sub headings that concisely describe your topic. You will probably edit these a number of times before you have finished your article.

4. Write a catchy introductory paragraph that will immediately get the readers attention. If you are writing a "how-to" article, you could first explain the problems people are having "how to do this task". You then provide the solution to their problems.

5. Offer clear solutions in succeeding paragraphs. These should expand and support the heading, introduction and sub headings.

Write four or five sentences for each paragraph. Your sentences should be formatted to 60-65 characters per line. This ensures your article can be read by all types of email software.

Most ezine publishers prefer short articles under 500 words, others prefer longer copy under 1000 words.

6. Write your conclusion - this paragraph should give a brief summary of what you have just written, emphasizing the main benefits.

7. Include a 5-7 line resource box at the end of the article - give a brief description of who you are, what product or service you are selling, your web site and email address. See the resource box at the end of this article for an example.

8. Revise your article - read through it a number of times so you are sure all the ideas build upon one another, support and expand on your main topic.

Use your spell checker but don't rely on it (i.e. it won't pick up the difference between there and their). Use the dictionary for words you are not sure of.

After editing it a number of times, leave it for a few hours or sleep on it then edit it again (or have someone else read it). This gives you a fresh perspective and you will often refine it until it's near perfect:-)

9. Submit your article to online publishers and article banks - this will potentially give your article exposure to thousands of people.

Article submission resources:

http://www.ezinearticles.com http://www.ideamarketers.com http://www.makingprofit.com http://www.allwebarticles.com http://www.goarticles.com http://www.ezadsuccess.com/articles/submit.shtml http://www.netterweb.com/articles

Article announcement lists

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PublishInYours http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aainet

Directories of ezine publishers

http://www.directoryofezines.com http://www.ezinelocater.com http://www.ezinehub.com http://www.ezineuniverse.com http://www.ezinesearch.com

Software to send out your articles.

Ezineannouncer (Ezineannouncer.com)

Automatically sends your articles to 1000s of ezine publishers, saving you a lot of time and money.

Tips:

Keep it simple - write to appeal to a large audience, so don't use large words or jargon that people won't understand.

If you are planning on creating a web page from your article for the search engines, then weave your keywords throughout your text.

Send a thank you note to all people who publish your article. This will help you build long term relationships for your business.

Plan to write an article every 2 weeks or so. You will see a dramatic increase in web site traffic each time you submit your article.. all without spending a dime.

About the author: Herman Drost is the author of the NEW ebook "101 Highly Effective Strategies to Promote Your Web Site" a powerful guide for attracting 1000s of visitors to your web site. http://www.isitebuild.com/web-site-promotion Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original articles. mailto:subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles