Public Relations Tips: Writing Articles

Reporters have a big job. They have to find interesting stories to publish, stay updated on current events, read all the stories people pitch to them, decide which stories to accept etc, etc. There is a lot that they are involved in because of their job.

They are so busy it is a wonder how they are able to do their jobs so well, most of the time. One big thing that they have to handle is people's stories that are pitched to them. There are many, many people that want publicity and so they will try to get their stories published.

It is a difficult job for reporters to have to read through all their stories and decide which to send. A lot of times they do not even read through them all. If there is not an interesting headline on someone's story, the reporter will not want it because he does not think it would be worth his while to read.

When they do get good stories then they have to find a way to work them into their publication. A lot of times they will have to research the topics and such so that they can produce a good article. If they did not it probably would not be too good.

Continue reading "Backgrounders" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A by-line is the line at the head of a column or article that tells you the writer's name. They are not on the tops of all articles, just things such as columns and such where the author is the regular author each day or week.

By-line articles are not as strict about what are in them. They are mostly opinions and such from the author. The author writes about things he or she is interested in and on their opinions of world events and such.

If the author is someone seeking good publicity this is great. If they have a good article it would draw people to their website if they had one. It would get people interested in them.

For businesses and such that would want to be published in an article of the sort they could use the authors name to look him or her up in a media directory so that they could pitch their stories and eventually develop a relationship with the reporter.

Continue reading "By-Line" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Headlines catch readers' attention and give them a hint as to what news stories, articles, and advertisements are all about. Most headlines use conciseness and well-placed verbs to provide a succinct article synopsis. Others allow a little ambiguity in an attempt to peak a reader's interest. Clever headlines should contribute to an article or story, but are frequently used to exhibit the writer's wit, convey a sense of playfulness, and even make the reader feel witty. The rare newspaper, magazine, or other publication that regularly makes use of clever headlines usually have strong followings.
The problem, however, with clever headlines is that they are not always clever. Many writers create a headline or title only to have it berated or dismissed by the public. Puns, culture references, or double entendres may not always be easily understood, therefore the message the headline was attempting to relay becomes lost. Plus, dreaming up a witticism is not always easy to do.

Continue reading "Clever Headlines" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why should I think about writing how-to articles?
Millions of people spend hours of their day on the web. They want to know various things, from how to contact their favorite celebrity to how to build a fence in their backyard. The competition for the attention of these people on the internet is immense and fierce. There are literally thousands of websites devoted to almost any subject you can think of. But in looking up these websites, an interesting thing happens. You see that many of them are not of a very high quality. Many of them just keep repeating the same information over and over. If you want to build something in your home, you want concrete, simple, readable details, and not information that points you vaguely in one direction or another. Writing how-to articles can be a source of supplemental income, if you're good enough. A little time spent on the web can show you what is good and what is bad when it comes to writing how-to articles.

Continue reading "Writing how-to articles" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The key to writing articles is clarity and depth of knowledge. Bad grammar and spelling will often discourage a reader from continuing an article. If the writer is just waffling, that is, blathering on and on without really knowing his or her subject, the reader will soon give up and go elsewhere. In writing articles, you want to use short, descriptive sentences that get as much information across as quickly as possible. For this, knowing the grammar and spelling rules of your language is obviously a given. Even for an experienced writer, however, it's good to brush up on these things from time to time, and to stay current.

Continue reading "Writing articles" »

Posted by DK at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Becoming a columnist is a career goal many writers and journalists aspire to achieve. Columns are usually magazine and newspaper staples, written at specific intervals such as daily or monthly. Columns consume little of a publication's precious space and devote themselves to a single subject. Columnists usually write a column devoted to their area of expertise, be it fashion, food, relationships, manners, dog training, knitting, health, or humor. A columnist must be able to write columns that are clear, accurate, compelling, interesting, and concise. A columnist must also be able to use their writing voice and point of view to write appealing columns. It goes without saying that a columnist must have excellent writing and communication skills.

Becoming a columnist is not an easy career to break in to, especially if a writer wishes to become a magazine columnist. However, given the number and popularity of newspaper and magazine columns, it is apparent that there will always be a need for columnists. Writers should not be discouraged by the associated difficulties of becoming a columnist, but should focus their attention on perfecting their craft. With diligence, a writer may be snapped up by a publication and become the author of their own column.

A writer will do well on his or her mission to become a columnist by keeping several pointers in mind:

Continue reading "How to become a columnist" »

Posted by DK at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the major aspects to public relations is marketing. And as most of you know a major part of marketing is ads. When you are writing your ads there are some important aspects that you will need to think about. Some of those things are the wording, graphics, arrangement of the wording and graphics, how your audience will interpret the ads, their placement, etc. The reason for this is that poorly done ads can hurt you worse than not having ads at all. One thing that you need to know is that a common mistake among inexperienced ad writers is that they write the ad to themselves, rather than to their current and potential customers. Your ads should clearly state the benefits to your customers so what you want to do is clearly state the ads in terms that the customer will value, for example, easy access, low cost, easy to use, reliability, etc. Your ads should answer the customer's question: "What's in it for me?"

Posted by DK at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When you hear the term article, what do you think? Most of us think of exactly what an article is: an informative piece that we read in the newspaper or in different magazines and journals. Articles are things written by other people who are experts in their field, good at what they do, and successful. Articles are written by journalists or non-journalists experts. So what do articles have to do with you, other than the fact that you read them?

Even though most people don't have any idea about this, articles are actually one of the best ways for you to get free publicity. That's right: articles, not advertisements, not press conferences, not news releases. Your public relations and your publicity can be helped out a lot by writing articles for your local newspaper, for magazines, and for trade journals and academic journals. And let's admit it: you need publicity. Anyone who depends on the public in any way needs publicity. Obviously this means celebrities, athletes, and politicians. But the life of a business or a firm depends on publicity. It's easy to see how electronics companies, sporting goods companies, or any other company that releases products need publicity. But everyone who depends on customers needs publicity. This includes medical firms, accountants, hospitals, universities, you name it, they need publicity.

Continue reading "article" »

Posted by DK at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are some ideas on how to write great headlines. Let's say it is a tip sheet. Count the number of tips on that tip sheet and use it in the headline. For example, "5 Tips to Make Spring Cleaning Easier," "7 Ways to Improve Your Sex Life," "8 Secrets for Not Getting the Flu," whatever. You want to put that numeral in the headline, and to try to make that headline as punchy as you possibly can.

Here's a tip on how to get punchy headlines. The next time you're in the supermarket, or you're going by a magazine rack, take a look at the headlines that are on the front of any magazine. It could be a woman's magazines. It could be business magazines. Steal those headlines that really catch your attention. And often, you can take out a couple of key words from that headline and substitute your own key words that fit in with what you are talking about, and you can have a great headline. During the last teleseminar I did, we featured Raleigh Pinskey, who was talking about new releases.

For snappy headlines, she suggests that you start buying the tabloid newspapers like the National Enquirer and the Star, because she said that their headlines are terrific. Study how they write their headlines, then copy their style. Take out the few keywords they're using that refer to the topic of the story, and substitute your own keywords. That's how you can come up with great headlines. And that doesn't mean the publication that receives your brief is going to use your headline. They may come up with their own. But heck, smaller publications that don't have big news staffs may just copy your brief word for word, and put it in.
For more great publicity ideas, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them
http://101publicrelations.com/briefs-fillers-quizzes.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=briefs_fillers_and_quizzes

Posted by Dan at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are some great ideas for tip sheets. These are easy, and editors absolutely love them, for all the same reasons they love briefs. A tip sheet is nothing more than one page-notice I said one page-of tips on how do something-how to solve a problem, how to feel better, how to look younger, or how to do something more easily. You can probably each come up with a couple of examples for tips sheets right now either related to books that you've written, or services that you provide for people.

I suggest that you consider a tip sheet whenever you want to introduce a new product, or a new service, or whenever you want to create additional publicity for something that already has been covered extensively. Let's say you've had a couple of major articles in national publications. Come back with a quick tip sheet a couple months later, and you may get in again. The editors may not even realize that the tip sheet that you provided was provided by you, who they wrote about six months earlier.

For those of you who are writing books, I think tip sheets are ideal to sell books. For those of you who want to publicize events, you could do it with a tip sheet. You can avoid the high cost of conveying your message in paid ads by using tip sheets. Tip sheets are also great to use as a handout to leave behind after a public speaking engagement. I even use tip sheets right in my handouts.

For more great publicity ideas, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by Dan at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who should you send your stories and information to? When you are sending this information to media contacts, try to aim for as low on the totem pole as possible. In other words, don't assume that the editor of every publication is the person that you're supposed to send this to, because the editor is busy doing 8,000 other things. They're dealing with the union, and they're doing performance reviews. So aim as low as possible. Try to send it a reporter who you know writes about your particular topic. Or you can send it to a feature editor at a publication. Or you can send it to a business reporter who happens to cover your particular industry. Just be sure you know the name of that person, so that when it comes time to follow up with them, you can call them on the telephone. You don't want to just send it to a features department, or business department. Because it may not go to anybody specific. It may just go right into the wastebasket.

Take the time to track down who the best person is at a publication to receive the information. And if you're not sure who that person is, call the publication and ask them, and they'll tell you who to send it to. Just tell them what you have and just ask who the best contact person would be, and then plug that person into your media database.
For more tips on how to get great, free publicity, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by Dan at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a great tip for polls and surveys. If you can tie your poll or survey-or even your brief-into a season of the year, or into a holiday, or into an anniversary, or something major that's coming up, editors love that because they're sort of obligated to write about major holidays and anniversaries, and they're always looking for material. If you publish ezines, include your briefs in your ezines. In other words, every time you send a brief, use it in your electronic newsletter.

Here's another thing-you can offer these briefs to the publishers of other electronic newsletters. We're not only talking printed material here. Everything that you're submitting to the print media, you can just as well submit to the electronic media.

For more fantastic ideas about how to get free publicity, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by Dan at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why are tip sheets important? Are they even important? Newspaper editors love tip sheets because it gets right to the point, and it's what it says it is. Here's a tip on a good story on what's happening, and what's going to happen, this is something you may want to know. And it gets right to the point. It's really concise. So sure, it talks about different angles of the story. And it does the job for the reporter. Remember that is what you are doing-you are doing the job for the reporter.

A reporter knows nothing about chiropractic, and you're a chiropractor. Don't make him go look up the information. Say, "Here's the tip sheet. Here are things we can talk about. Here are different angles on this one story that we can do. I'll do all the work for you, reporter. Just cover my story." "7 Ways to Send Your Child to School For Less Than a Thousand Dollars a Year." That's a tip sheet. The key to a tip sheet is that unlike a news release, which sometimes teases them, you give them the answers right there. Don't jerk them around. For more fantastic tips on how to write great press releases, read How to Write a Killer Press Release That Stops Reporters in Their Tracks
http://101publicrelations.com/killer.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=killer_press_releases

Posted by Dan at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Always submit your professional photo with an article, or send an electronic version. What? You don't have professional photo? Get one. For less than $75, you can have a good-quality black and white or color photo taken and about a dozen prints made. Order mostly wallet-size, but keep one or two 3-by-5 prints on hand just in case the media needs a larger photo. It's a good idea to have the photo taken in color, even if you only order black and white prints. If for some reason you need a color photo, you can always order them later.

On the back of your photo, include a label with your name, address and telephone number.

To learn more about what you can do to increase publicity and keep the editors coming back when writing articles see Special Report #6 "How to Write "How To" Articles That Position You as an EXPERT"

Posted by Dan at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Special reports are extremely valuable to you for a number of reasons:

 They're quick and easy to read.

 They position you as an expert in your field.

 They give you a chance to upsell to higher-priced products and services.

 They can produce far more revenue than a book. When I started creating special reports more than two years ago, I wrote them as individual chapters to an eventual book on how to get free publicity and work with the media. I figured I could start making money from the book long before it was finished. Now, with many special reports for sale at $9 each and many more in the works, I'd be crazy to compile them into a book, which would probably sell for no more than $20. Do the math and you can see why special reports are so profitable.

 You don't have to write them yourself. If you cannot write or don't have the time, hire a freelancer.

To learn more about the value of special reports, and the many ways to create and use them, see Special Report #19, "How to Write and Market Profitable Special Reports"

Posted by Dan at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The media love tip sheets and briefs because so many readers have such short attention spans. We sit in front of the television with our remote control and we just surf like crazy. We're going from one channel to the next. Briefs can be read quickly. For you, they're wonderful because they're so easy to write. Unlike many other things that you send to newspapers and magazines, you can send briefs without a cover letter explaining what it is. You simply send it in, and you can do that by snail-mail. You can fax it, or you can even email it.

Briefs are a great way to promote your product, particularly if you're giving away free advice that ties into your product or service. That's one of the secrets of getting briefs to work for you. Keep it brief, pack it with free advice and free tips that tie into your product or service, even if it isn't a direct promotion for whatever it is you're trying to sell. Editors might sometimes include in the brief a reference to where people can buy the product, or how they can contact you. They might even include a website or phone number. Sometimes that's all you need to get people calling you. For more great tips and ideas, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by Dan at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Writing a special report should not be terrible, in fact, it can be easy by using the following, and other great special report writing tips:

• Use dozens of solid how-to tips.

• Use short sentences and paragraphs. Avoid big blocks of gray, which are a turnoff and difficult to read.

• Use sub-heads.

• Use lists and bulleted items.

• At the end, invite readers to contact you if they have questions. Few of our customers do. But it’s comforting for readers to know they can zip us an e-mail if they have a simple question about one of the reports. Besides, the person with the question might hire us for a speaking engagement or buy more products in quantity.

• Write directly to the reader. Use the word “you.”

To get a complete list of writing tips, as well as other useful information about special reports, see Special Report #19, “How to Write and Market Profitable Special Reports”

Posted by Dan at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No other product is as easy and inexpensive to produce as a special report. It requires nothing more than a computer and a printer. There's no fancy packaging. Virtually no investment up front. No damaged merchandise that will be returned. In some case, no shipping costs.

A special report is a multi-page report packed with valuable how-to information that buyers can begin using immediately. Your report should focus on a very specific problem your readers want to solve, or something they want to profit from. Then provide specific step-by-step directions on how to meet those objectives. For example, if you're an expert in sales and marketing, you can probably produce one report on how to make cold calls, one on how to close the sale, one on how to deal with rejection, one on how to ask for referrals, and so on. The secret is to make the topic of your special report as narrow as possible. You wouldn't create a special report called "How to be a Better Salesperson" because the topic is far too broad.

For more tips and tricks for creating a profitable special report see Special Report #19, "How to Write and Market Profitable Special Reports"

Posted by Dan at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A tip sheet is one of my favorite publicity tools. It's nothing more than a list of tips on how to do something, or how to solve a problem. Editors love them because they can take your 10 tips and, if they only have room for six tips, just cut the last four and print them without having to edit it very heavily.

Here's a great idea for free publicity: try a tip sheet. Another great way to get attention for whatever it is that you're selling, is by submitting a quiz to editors of newspapers and magazines. I'll give you some examples. I was looking at magazines today in the library in preparation for this teleseminar and I found a quiz in one of the women's magazines called, "How Old Is Your Face?" Take the quiz and give yourself a point if you have freckles. You give yourself another point if you have dry patches. And you give yourself another point if you have wrinkles, and so on. Then you tally up your points and it tells you how old your face is. That's an offbeat idea for a quiz.

You can apply that same idea for whatever it is that you're trying to promote. A tip sheet is one of my favorite publicity tools. It's nothing more than a list of tips on how to do something, or how to solve a problem. Editors love them because they can take your 10 tips and, if they only have room for six tips, just cut the last four and print them without having to edit it very heavily. For more great publicity tips, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by Dan at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Special Reports can be very profitable if you learn some valuable ways to market them. For example, you could do the following:

• Sell them from the back of the room during speaking engagements.

• You can excerpt a few tips from each report at your site to give people a flavor of what they will be getting.

• You can send them free to clients as a way of thanking them for doing business with you.

• You can offer excerpts or a shorter version of your report to publishers of print and online newsletters. Don’t forget the valuable identifier paragraph at the end that tells people who you are, what you do, how they can find you, and a link to your web site. Ask editors how many words they want, then write to fit.

• Tuck them inside your media kit.

For more great marketing ideas, as well as loads of useful information about special reports, see Special Report #19, “How to Write and Market Profitable Special Reports”

Posted by Dan at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's an idea on how to use briefs for publicity. Briefs are a great way to introduce new products. Many magazines have a "new products" section, and they will sometimes even review the products. This is a great place to explain how your product can help readers.

But I would go a step further. I would not only send a news release on my product to the new product section editor, I would provide a list of free tips related to that product, such as tips on how to use the product. Or, let's say you come out with a new kind of floor mop. I would submit a list of six or seven tips on how to make spring cleaning easier. And those tips don't even have to be related to your mop. That's another way to get your product mentioned. Your special mop can even be included in one of those tips. Often editors will let you get away with that in smaller tip sheets, but not in larger stories.
For more great publicity tips, read Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How To Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them
http://101publicrelations.com/briefs-fillers-quizzes.html?utm_source=prideas&utm_content=briefs_fillers_and_quizzes

Posted by Dan at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A great way to get in the public eye as a public speaker is to not just speak, but also write. Write articles and try and get them published in local papers. The following are some tips to get it done:

Become thoroughly familiar with a publication before you pitch ideas to the editor. Pay attention to different sections and departments of magazines, newspapers and newsletters.

After you are familiar with the publication, query editors about writing articles for them, and be ready to suggest three or four ideas that would fit well in their publication. If they don't like your ideas, ask if there's something specific they would like you to write about.

If you're trying to book a speaking engagement before a particular trade group or within a certain industry, try to get an article or several articles placed in that industry's publication. Then send a reprint of the article along with your query letter to the meeting planner. This will give you additional credibility.

For more great publicity tips, and tips on how to get articles written about you and by you in print, see Special Report #21 "67 Clever Publicity Tips for Professional Speakers and Trainers."

Posted by Dan at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Special reports aren't just for large corporations. Here are just a few ideas to show you the wide variety of possibilities that exist for writing and marketing special reports.

 Authors can write them and borrow material from their books.

 Speakers can write them using their workshop materials.

 A company can write special reports to show how to use a particular product or service it already provides.

 Non-profits can write special reports that show other non-profits, for example, how to stage profitable fund-raising events and conduct charity drives. Or they can write the reports to sell to their clients or the general public.

 Small-business people can write them to establish their expertise in a particular topic.

To learn more about who can benefit from writing a special report, and how to get the most value from special reports, see Special Report #19, "How to Write and Market Profitable Special Reports"

Posted by Dan at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can remember as an editor, getting letters to the editor. Sometimes, that was the first time I heard about a major story. I would give the letter to the editor to a reporter and assign the reporter the story and have them contact the letter writer. We would run both the reporter's story as well as the letter to the editor. Something as simple as a little letter can give you mountains and mountains of publicity and start building on itself. Keep in mind that the reason the editorial pages are so valuable in terms of getting publicity is because in every other part of the paper, the news editors drive the content. And in every other part of the magazine, it's the magazine editors that drive the content. On much of the editorial and op-ed pages, it's the readers who drive the content.

You can find more great information like this in How to Use Newspaper and Magazine Editorial Pages.

Posted by Dan at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You do not have to be super creative to write a brief, especially because there are so many ways to do so:
Round-up articles. Call six or seven experts in a particular industry and ask them all the same question. Then provide their answers in a brief. If I were writing a round-up brief, for example, I might call several publicity experts and ask this question: "What's the best piece of advice you can offer Publicity Hounds who want to develop and maintain strong relationships with the media?" Most people will be happy to participate because this is extra publicity for them, too.

Definitions. Explain the meaning of words within a certain industry, particularly new words and phrases.

New Products. Many magazines have new product sections. Explain how your product can help readers. Provide free tips.

Q&A. Some publications print mini bios of people in Q&A format. If you have a new CEO, for example, you can feature him or her answering a series of short questions. Provide a photo.
For more examples of what you can use for briefs, and how to best write them see Special Report 30 "Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: The Shortest, Easiest Articles You'll Ever Write"

Posted by Rachael at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pick up any national magazine from the news stand, flip through the pages, and count the number of short articles you see. They can be anything from those little 3-inch fillers, to short quizzes, 400-word "how-to" articles or resource boxes.

Editors love them. And you can generate some fabulous publicity for yourself by supplying them, either for a small freelance fee or for free. Here are seven reasons why fillers are so valuable to your publicity effort:

Because they are so short, editors often rely on them to "fill a hole" on the page. A 75-word brief stands a much better chance of being published than a 750-article.

Briefs help portray you as an expert in your field.

They appeal to readers with short attention spans and can be skimmed quickly.

They're easy to write. And you don't need to submit a query letter to editors. Simply snail-mail, fax or e-mail the copy.
To learn more reasons these little fillers, quizzes, and how-to articles are so well liked, and for tips on how you can write them to promote yourself see Special Report 30 "Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: The Shortest, Easiest Articles You'll Ever Write"

Posted by Rachael at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tip sheets are a great way to get publicity, and give the general public a little something too, the following are some tip sheet suggestions:
- If you write articles for your web site, you can create a tip sheet using tips from a particular article. Then at the end of the tips sheet, reference the article and give your URL. This draws traffic to your site.

- Include contact information prominently on the tip sheet.

- At the bottom of the tip sheet, you might include a short note to editors offering yourself as a source for stories about topics on which you are an expert.

- If your tip sheet is printed in a major publication, you can make reprints. Lift the title of the magazine from the top of the cover and put that at the top of your reprint. Call the publication first and ask for permission.

For more great tip sheet suggestions see Special Report # 16 "How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media's Attention"

Posted by Rachael at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you'd like to create a tip sheet, here are suggestions to help you along:

 Limit the tips to one page.

 Keep tips brief and use a punchy writing style.

 Consider using alliteration in headlines. Example: "Six Secrets for Safer Skiing"

 Use numbers in headlines whenever possible. There's something psychological and enticing about numbers.

 Begin sentences with a verb. The first sentence of each tip should explain "what." The second sentence should explain "how" or "why."

 Do not use tip sheets as blatant promotional tools. If you work in the public relations department at Ohio State University, for example, you wouldn't write a tip sheet called "Nine Reasons to Send Your Child to Ohio State University." The tips must provide value. A better tip sheet would be "8 Questions to Ask When Shopping for a University."
For more tips on how to write your tip sheets see Special Report # 16 "How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media's Attention"

Posted by Rachael at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For instant credibility, get published everywhere you can. That means writing letters to the editor of your weekly newspaper. How-to articles for trade publications read by your customers. Advice articles for national magazines. Commentary pieces for the Wall Street Journal. White Papers (see below) that you mail to decision-makers who can hire you. One of the advantages of being published is the long shelf life of printed material. Another is that with a little editing here and there, you can recycle your articles over and over again for even more publicity.

So what if you can't write? Hire freelancers. A good freelancer can interview you over the telephone or in person. Then using your ideas and terminology, the writer can produce interesting, compelling articles under your name. If you can afford the time, learn to write these articles yourself. The more you write, the easier it gets.

For more tips and ways to build your celebrity image see Special Report #11 "Secrets for Building Your Celebrity Image

Posted by Rachael at 07:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The tip sheet's most valuable use is when working with the media because editors are always on the lookout for free advice they can offer to their readers. Often, you can get much more space for free than you could afford to buy. And if the media use your tips, it's as though the media outlet is giving you its stamp of approval. That makes you credible.

When I worked as a newspaper editor, we sometimes used tips boxes to accompany stories if we had more space on the page than the reporter's story would fill. But reporters who were racing to complete a story on deadline seldom had time to do additional research to find tips. It's like that at many other media outlets.

You can also use tip sheets to catch an editor's attention. For example, if someone is starting a new business that matches people with disabilities with companies that need employees, the business owner might include with the pitch letter a tip sheet called "8 Ways to Make Your Workplace Comfortable for Employees with Disabilities."

For more great tip sheets advice and great ideas for using the tips you have to offer, see Special Report # 16 "How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media's Attention"

Posted by Rachael at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Turn Articles into Tip Sheets

A tip sheet is nothing more than a list of 8 to 15 helpful tips that explain how to help people solve a problem, save money, live healthier, be safer, or have more fun.

The headline can be much the same headline used in a how-to article. After the headline, you can write a one- or two-sentence introduction, or you can simply list the tips. This is not a blatant self-promotion but, rather, a helpful list that helps establish you as an expert in a particular topic.

How to Use Tip Sheets

Include them in your media kit.
Post them at your web site.
When you appear on a radio talk show, offer them free to listeners who fax you their letterhead with the words "Tip Sheet."
For more great ideas on how to use tip sheets, and recycle your publicity see Special Report # 13 "How to Recycle Your Publicity (for Serious Publicity Hounds Only)"

Posted by Rachael at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editors love tip sheets because they're ready-made lists that require no extra work on the part of the reporter. Publications can simply reprint them verbatim. TV stations love them because they provide content for the short bulleted lists that are flashed on the screen and often accompany stories. Sometimes even editorial writers use the sheets as fodder for their editorials.

A tip sheet is a simple list of from six to a dozen tips that tell people how to do something-usually how to solve a particular problem. Examples:

 "7 Ways to Stay out of Jail When Doing Your Own Tax Return"
 "9 Ways to Ward Off Winter Colds"
 "11 Mistakes You Don't Want to Make When Hiring Your Children"
 "Tips for Winterproofing Your Home"
For more great advice on writing tip sheets, and why they are important, see Special Report # 16 "How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media's Attention"

Posted by Rachael at 05:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Headline writing is an art. Spend some time really thinking about it, maybe even running your final headline by a few people, to get their impression. It’s worth it.
A couple of tips—keep it short. Make sure you use your target audience’s name in the headline. Remember, there’s a lot of article competition out there.

For example, if you target small business owners, try to use the term “small business” or “small biz owners,” or “small biz entrepreneurs,” or something like that. Put it right out there. You want a reader to be reading and saying, “Hey, this article’s about me, because they just said my name.” Tell your readers in the headline what they’re going to learn. Don’t make them guess. Don’t use puns. Don’t hide what your article is about. Don’t try to be cute.

If your article explains, in a quick shot, what it’s going to do, what a reader’s going to get from it—compared to someone else, who has the same content, but wrote some silly, secretive, hidden headline, or cute—then you are going to get clicked on more than your competitor.

More tips on headline writing for online portals exist in the transcript How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When writing your bio box, you need to keep it short. Make it no more than three or four lines. Otherwise, you run the risk of the most important piece of contact information getting chopped off.

You absolutely want to include as many methods of contact as possible—your email, your phone number, your URL, whatever it is—but definitely the three basic ones.

Here are a couple tactics to keep in mind: when you’re writing in your email, make sure you write the words, “Mail to:” and then your email address. This is the code that when you submit an article, it keeps your email address hyperlinked. It’s friendlier to your readers. Do the same with your URL. Write the code “http://” right before your URL, which keeps the hyperlink through the uploading process.

For more tips on how to efficiently use your bio box space (no matter how large or small), check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let’s say you’re a crisis communications consultant. You wrote a chapter in a book on the “Ten C’s of Good Crisis Communication” and now your writing an online article. You only have time in 600-800 words in your article, so you cover one of those ten C’s in an article. You can then publish monthly articles with each of the remaining C’s.

That is a great strategy, and here’s why it’s great. Each article has quality content, and you’re luring the reader back to your site. What happens is now you have someone who’s hot for the second piece of information and third piece and the fourth. Now you have people waiting in the wings who want more information.

Additionally, if a prospective customer missed your first two articles, but sees a third one, they are likely to click over and look for your first two articles, because they loved your third one so much.

So, you increase your method of luring people in, because you’re actually giving them indirect reasons, or more reasons to come in because you didn't just write one article about that expertise. You’re writing ten.

For more on submitting articles to online portals, check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Say you’re in the midst of writing a book, and would like to include quotes from other people, like from other authors, or maybe just other well-known people, at the beginning of each chapter to present the theme of the chapter. From one author to another, it’s a courtesy to ask for their permission to quote them. They usually welcome the quoting as long as it’s only a line or two, and will usually ask for a copy of your book when you’re finished.

And what if they’re dead?

The copyright is owned by the copyright holder plus 75 years, so the fact that they’re dead doesn’t mean it’s a fair use. Where did you draw the quote from? Did you get it from listening to them in an audience, or did you get it from a publication that they had? If they had a publication, see if that publication can give you permission. If it’s really only a sentence or two, consider it fair use.

For more quotable quotes about copyright and how to deal with citiations, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Letters of agreement are common occurrences when ironing out negotiations between you and a journal that wants to publish your article. It’s often better for someone who’s not in the law department to right the letter of understanding. Simply because the law department will put all the legalese in it most of the time, because that’s their job—to protect their organization. It’s better for you to memorialize what you think the agreement is and send it to them, and if they agree with it, great! If they say, “Well, that’s not exactly our understanding,” that’s always better than being in the middle of a business transaction of any sort and finding that you did not have effective communication and meeting of the minds up front.

All other things being equal, even though it takes a little bit of time, it’s worth the writer’s while. It’s worth your effort to do a letter of understanding. Most publishers don’t do anything more formal than a letter of understanding.

For more tips on letters of understanding, or agreement letters, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a little different from what most people are taught in terms of effective public relations. When submitting an article to a portal, you should never follow up. You should always follow up with the print media, after you submit an article. However, online portals are dramatically different.

Imagine you send in your article to an online portal. Several hundred other people every day are submitting an article to the same portal. Think about the editor on the other end of that. Imagine if everybody said, “Did you get my article? Are you going to use it? Do you like it?”

The fact is, that’s too much, and you overwhelm the editor. Most of the time, the editors actually write in the form, where you’re actually depositing your article, “Please do not follow up.” Eight times out of 10, the moment you deposit your article and submit it, it uploads and you can go back within the minute and actually see your article displayed online, because it’s all automated.

For a more in depth look at online portal editors’, and how they differ from print editors, check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you reprint, or you link, to something where infringement is taking place, and you have contributed to it down the line in some way, this is copyright infringement. It can be dangerous and devastating to your credibility as an expert in your field.

How do you find out contributing? If it’s an organization or a website that you’re posting or linking to that has not been in business for very long, check their website to see if they have any copyright notices or a legal rights page. You have to use some level of judgment. It’s just a question of getting a personal feeling yourself that this is a business decision you want to make at this point given what you know.

For a better look at copyright infringement and how to avoid it, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And smiling reporters pick up your stories more often.

When you find that you do get a really good hit from a reporter, send them a thank you note. Make it handwritten. This is not only good manners, but does two more things. First, it makes your reporter feel loved and happy. They work in a high-stress environment and don’t always feel appreciated. Secondly, it builds your relationship. If that reporter feels that your company is benefiting from his or her writing and that you are genuine and deserving of coverage, they’ll pick up your story more often.

So, a handwritten thank-you note every single time. If it’s really good, a note to their editor saying what a terrific story they did. Editors also like to hear that their reporters are making a difference in the world, no matter how big or small.

For more ways to keep your media contacts smiling, check out Transcript—How To Write a Pitch Letter.

Posted by DK at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Selling information online is a tricky business. You have to offer the information in as many different mediums as possible because you don’t know what resources your customers have access to or what they are willing to buy into. However, when a customer comes in first contact with you, you need to pick one thing and stick with it.

The reality is, when people are finding you in the Internet, they need more information about you. Your number one goal from submitting articles online is to simply lure that reader back to your website. It’s at that point where you try to get them to give you personal information. You add them to your database, and you start talking to them on a regular basis.

You first have to let them get to know you. Most people won't buy from people online unless they’ve seen you and heard from you repetitively. The first thing is to lure them back, and then once you do, once you hook them in—once they get to know you, and once you’ve formed a relationship—then you sell them or up-sell them to the variety of products you have.

For more tips on how to format your products for online sales and individual pitching, see How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are an expert in your field and you want to reprint an article that you’re quoted in, or an article written about you, it’s natural to want copies of them. Those are wonderful credibility enhancing mechanisms. But you must be careful when reprinting articles not to lose your credibility.

This is an issue beyond the law. Are you competing with the publication, and are they losing profits? Do they have actual damages? They probably are not going to bother to sue some small fry person. But even if they don’t sue you, when you have a publication, or a copy, that doesn’t look like it’s an official reprint, or doesn’t say, “reprinted with the permission of” you lose credibility among those people in the consuming public who understand something about copyright law. So even when it’s an article that you’re quoted in, or the article is about you, you need to get reprints.

These are “reprint services,” and many newspapers, business journals and magazines offer this service to people like you. They will give you slick-looking reprints with their nameplate. Sometimes, if the article is about you and four other people, they will highlight the parts of the article in yellow that pertain to you.

For more ways to enhance your credibility rather than detract from it, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pitch letters must be short, snappy, and to the point. A big mistake is making your pitch letter too long. Of course, you’re dealing with a lot of information in a very small space—the headline and the first four lines. Start by writing 500 words. Then make 250 words your limit and cut out every single unnecessary word. Mark Twain said, “If I had more time, I would have written less.” You just keep rewriting until it’s 250 or less. Everybody tends to start out with too much, and you just have to keep cutting it and cutting it. It’s about rewriting.

For even more tips to writing successful and attention-grabbing pitch letters, check out Transcript—How To Write a Pitch Letter.

Posted by DK at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You want to make sure you’re not burning or yelling at your reader when your’re writing online articles. You have to be careful. There is nothing wrong if you wanted to capitalize your subhead, but as most of you know, if you’re writing in a lot of caps online, it means that you’re screaming.

So instead of using all caps in your subheadings, use initial caps—the first word is capped, the rest of the word is lower case. In between your subheads, on one end, put “—,” and other end of it, at the end of your subhead, put “—”

Now you never have to worry about losing your formatting, and you’re being nice to your reader who is quickly going through and easily following your change in thought.

For a more in depth look at how online headlines and subheads differ from standard print, check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reprint rights are the non-exclusive rights that you give to a print publication—a newspaper or a magazine—to publish your manuscript after it’s already appeared in another publication. First rights, sometimes called first North American serial rights, are offered to the very first publication that prints that piece. After that, if you have maintained your copyright, you can offer reprint rights to other publications.

So your articles can appear in Trade Publication Number 1, and then in Trade Publication Numbers 2 through 102 in exactly the same format, with the same expression of ideas.

Second reprint rights are the rights the other publications get. (This is different from the author who owns the copyright right to reprint one of the published pieces.) You can offer your article, if you’ve maintained the copyright, to another bar association non-competing publications throughout the country, and they can reprint it in exactly that same format.

For more revelations regarding reprint rights, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You want to write somewhere between 600-800 words, certainly no more than 900, and no less than 500 when writing for online portals. Keep in mind this is an online strategy. People like short, quick information. If it’s too short, less than 500, people question the quality of the article that you’re writing. Can you really express your expertise and provide helpful tips in an article that’s short?

If it’s too long, the article portals don’t want it because it eats up too much of their space. Secondly, people don’t have the time to read long articles.

When you’re writing articles for portals, you’re most likely cutting and pasting your articles from a Word document up to a website. Before you do that, make sure you cut it and paste it into a program such as Notepad. It removes the hard returns that Word puts into the document. Remember, when you’re posting up to the website, the formats that you’re using are very automated, but they sometimes will hold onto a hard return, and then once your article is posted, it looks terrible. If something looks terrible, it’s likely that people are not going to read it. You want your article to look attractive online.

For more tips on writing quality articles for online portals, check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When it comes to offering an article for free to a publication, it is possible for you to maintain copyright. You own the copyright in the article. The publication owns the copyright in the completed version. Most magazines are registered with the Copyright Office as a single collective entity. So every month, for example, the July issue, the August issue and the September issue are copyrighted as a whole. In that situation, unless the individual authors of those articles have independently maintained their copyright, they’ve lost it potentially at that point. It is essentially a joint copyright in the completed monthly, or weekly, or whatever the publication is. But the author owns the right to take those same words in that same way and recast them into another piece or offer it 100% verbatim as a secondary, or second rights to another publication.

You can give away the article itself, without giving away the copyright. Many experts offer articles for precisely that purpose—for publicity, for credibility enhancement, for all sorts of reasons, business reasons, or personal reasons. You can give away the article without a fee and still maintain your copyright.

For even more details on maintaining copyright, how it works and how it can work for you, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A portal is the key tool that you’re going to use to start submitting your articles online. Essentially, it’s a centralized website that specializes in receiving expert articles, and then distributing the articles around the Internet.

Portals do this in a couple of ways. People either go to the portal and just read online, or editors come, collect articles, take them away, and post them to their site and/or distribute them in their weekly or monthly magazines.

Portals are another great way to publicize your company on the Internet. For more information on portals and how to make them work for your company, check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website.

Posted by DK at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Copyright law is a vehicle that protects the creators of original works. You can’t copyright a title, an idea or a fact. But you can copyright any other tangible, fixed, creative expression. It’s the creative expression of the ideas or the facts that is protectable. The law recognizes that you own those rights, and therefore have the ability to decide exactly how they’re going to be used for reproduction or to create derivative works or to display in public, or to publicly perform. It’s important to copyright your articles, or to maintain your copyright, to at least not give away, or lose, the rights to control how that work is used in the future, so that you can determine how it’s used for your lifetime plus 70 years.

For more clarity on what copyright is and how you can make it work for you, check out Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles For Fee or For Free.

Posted by DK at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Regularly scan the headlines on the front of the major magazines while they are waiting in line at the grocery store. Start compiling a list of the ones that catch your attention. Then when you need a headline for a how-to article you are writing, or a speech you will deliver, simply remove one or two words from the original headline and substitute them with your own words.

Professionals utilize and teach this technique in workshops around the nation. You can study their methodologies and suggestions in Tips for Writing Eye-Catching Headlines for Your News Releases and Articles.

Posted by DK at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editors toss the best news release into the trash if the headline is flat, dull or lifeless. Your article is likely to be forgotten, too, if the editor can’t figure out from the headline why readers should care about what you have to say.

That’s why writing attention-grabbing headlines is absolutely critical. Surveys taken in the newsroom show that an editor spends an average of only 5 seconds reading a news release before deciding whether to use it or toss it. Half that time, two to three seconds, is spent just on the headline.

You can apply many of the tips you read in Tips for Writing Eye-Catching Headlines
for Your News Releases and Articles not only to news releases but to headlines you are writing for informational products such as special reports and audio tapes, speeches and headlines posted at the top of pages at your web site.

Posted by DK at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In most cases, you’re going to have a pretty good idea of which publications the people who you sell to read. But you'd be surprised at all the publications that are out there that you may not have thought of. So here are some places to look for publications that might be a really good fit with your how-to articles:

The Bacon’s Directories
Most major libraries have the Bacon’s Directories. You can go to your particular topic and find all kinds of magazines, both business-to-business and consumer magazines, that might be interested in the particular article that you happen to write.

Writer’s Market
It updates its book every year. You can get the Writer’s Market at any major bookstore.

On the Internet
You can do an Internet search for electronic newsletters that serve your niche market.

Ask your customers
The best way to track down publications that you want to get into is to ask the people who are already buying your products and services what publications they are reading, and ask them to give you some sample copies.

For more publication resources check out How to Write How-to Articles for Newspapers, Magazines, and Trade Journals

Posted by DK at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So your article has been printed and you are absolutely delighted. There are some things that you need to do with follow-up that are very important to making sure you get the biggest bang for the buck.

• Send a handwritten thank-you note to the editor of the publication that just printed your article, thanking them for running it. You’d be amazed at how few people ever do this.

• Be sure that you make reprints of the article. Most publications will give you permission to reprint from their publication.

• Ask yourself who else might be interested in the article. Don’t be satisfied by getting it printed once. You’re not going to have to write another article from scratch. It’s already written.

• Climb the media ladder. Ask yourself, “Is there a bigger publication that would be interested in printing this article?”

Get more information on how to recycle articles over and over again to appear in a wide variety of other publications at How to Write How-to Articles for Newspapers, Magazines, and Trade Journals

Posted by DK at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How do you choose a snappy title for your how-to article that will command the attention of editors and readers?

A great way to is to steal great headlines by going to the supermarket, or any place where they sell magazines, and peruse the covers of the major magazines like Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Oprah’s magazine, and even some of the news magazines.

Take a look at some of these headlines and you’ll see different formulas emerging. It can be “6 tips on how to…” or “5 ways to…” or “7 secrets of…”. People love secrets and editors love articles where the headline starts with a numeral.

You can often take these headlines and just substitute a word or two that applies to the story you are going to be writing for you or your client, and you’ve just come up with a headline.

Once you’ve selected your title, what about the rest of the article? How do you get your article published? For more information on writing and publishing how-to articles, check out How to Write How-to Articles for Newspapers, Magazines, and Trade Journals

Posted by DK at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How many words should articles contain when you are writing them to be submitted to online article directories?

You want to write somewhere between 600-800 words, certainly no more than 900, and no less than 500.

Keep in mind this is an online strategy. People like short, quick information.

If it’s too short, less than 500, I have to question the quality of the article that you’re writing. Can you really express your expertise and provide helpful tips in an article that’s short?

If it’s too long, 1) The article portals don’t want it because it eats up too much of their space, and 2) It’s just simply too long. People don’t have the time to read long articles.

For more information on how to build your website traffic, your celebrity/expert status, and your bottom line, check out How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website

Posted by DK at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Briefs are very short articles you can use to build your publicity. Why spend your time writing briefs?

- They fill odd-size holes on a page, and they can sometimes stand alone. If you offer a 75-word list, it stands a much better chance of getting published than a longer, 900-word article, which an editor has to have a lot of space for.

- Briefs help portray you as an expert in your field. You can send the same tip sheet to a variety of publications. For whatever reason, the media (particularly magazines) are not as concerned that the same information appeared elsewhere. So you don't have to worry that "I can't send this to Woman's Day because I've already sent it to Family Circle." Just go ahead and send it and if they've got a space for it, they may use it.

- You can promote yourself with briefs much more so than if a reporter wrote a long story about you. If you're going to pitch an idea about yourself and they call you to do an interview, and write a big story, they decide exactly what goes in that big story. Many editors are going to make sure that it doesn't sound too promotional and doesn't include too much hype. But with briefs, you can promote the heck out of your product, service, cause or issue much more than in a longer story. For some reason, editors will let you get away with it in those shorter briefs.

These are just a few of the many tips you can find in Briefs, Fillers and Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors LOVE Them

Posted by DK at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)