10 Profitable Tips For Article Writers

by: Ken Hill

1. Write to one person.
When you're writing your article picture one person that you are writing to. This will make your writing more personable and help you to keep your readers interested in your article.
2. Use lots of white space within your article.
Using lots of white space will help you to make your article look more professional and keep more of the skim readers interested in your article.
If you have paragraphs that are too long, try to break them up into two or three paragraphs so that your article will be easier to read.
3. Double check your articles for errors.
Make sure that you haven't misspelled any words, skipped words, or used a homonym such as "their" when you meant "there."
Remember, that spell checking only catches spelling mistakes so you'll need to go over your articles even after using your spell checker to find words used incorrectly and also to find words that were used twice in a row or omitted.
4. Pay attention to feedback you get for your articles.
Getting or seeking constructive feedback about your articles can help you to write better, get back on track with your writing if you're in a slump, and also develop new things to write about.
Even negative feedback or criticisms can help you if it shows you things you can work on. Just don't take everything to heart.
5. Improve your writing skills by trying different things.
When you first start writing your own articles, especially if you're new to writing, you might feel that you can only write list articles like this one.
Nonetheless try your hand at other types of articles that you would like to write such as how to articles or straw man articles.
Also try writing on different subjects that you haven't written about before.
6. Keep a file of articles you've written that you left unfinished or didn't feel were ready to be published.
Also keep parts (i.e., tips, paragraphs, etc.), that you've edited out of your finished articles in this file.
You might be able to rewrite your unfinished articles later on, get new ideas to write about, or get a new tip or two for your list articles from this file.
7. If you run an affiliate program, let your affiliates publish your articles with their affiliate URLs in your resource box.
You'll be able to effectively increase your sales by giving your affiliates an easy way to successfully promote your business to their visitors or subscribers.
8. Create an ebook compilation of your articles.
You could use your ebook as a bonus for subscribing to your ezine or you could let your affiliates brand your ebook with their affiliate URLs.
If you don't run an affiliate program, you could let people brand your ebook with a link to their site or business to get more people to offer your ebook to their visitors or subscribers.
9. Participate in article swaps.
Your swaps will help you to get your articles run in ezines that have subscribers interested in your business.
Your article swaps can also help you to gain more reciprocal links and add more useful content to your site if you swap articles where you publish another writer's article on your site in exchange for the same.
10. Create a list that people can subscribe to that announces when you've written a new article or articles.
Your list will keep people up to date on new articles they can publish in their ezines or post on their web sites.
If you let your affiliates use your articles to earn commissions, you can also use your list to attract more new affiliates and to keep your existing affiliates up to date on new articles they can use to promote your business.

10 Article Writing Quirks

by: Nicholas Dixon

Much has been touted about the effectiveness of article writing in the promotion of their business. While everyone raves about its benefits I�ll look into a few quirks.

1. Too much junk- You can�t even imagine the amount of rehash material that is being passed off as something in which the reader can find valuable. Some writers rush to put out their work putting quantity over quality. It pays to be original when you are into article writing. Well, I have slack up sometimes on this one.
2. Takes Time- Due to the multitude of writers entering this field, it will probably take six months to a year for others to become familiar with you and your writing style. Once this is accomplished you can expect some fans.
3. High Readership, Low Conversion- There has been times when I have published an article that got good readership but fail to convert into respectable sales or subscribers. The resource box is key I found out if you want to improve your conversions. If you don�t have a quality article the chances of someone reading your resource box is low and their cursor won�t make it to your website link. When you do get them to view your resource box, your message has to highlight its benefits to get that valued click thru.
4. Loss of Valuable Links- While article writing has been important in boosting my page rank, this has not always been the case as I thought. Doing some research on some of my articles through the search engines, I realized that not every webmaster provides a live link in my resource box. Failing to do so is sure to cost some valuable back links.
5. You could be a victim- Of what? Copyism. I have seen articles where the writer �lifted� a few paragraphs here and there, did a little editing and presto a new article is born. I guess there is no escaping this as it also happens offline.
6. Lack of Editing- It might take you just a few minutes to whip up that latest article but those few minutes might affect the quality of your work. Proof reading and editing can sometimes be painstaking not to mention the submission process especially if done by hand.
7. Woeful Spelings- Got that one? Proper spelling is important as too many mistakes can affect your credibility. You might get away with one but definitely not four.
8. Grammar- This is in the same vein as spelling. If your grammar sounds like that of a toddler, then don�t expect readers to be impressed. You don�t need to have the writing skills of a poet, but with a little practice and research you can vastly improve.
9. Sales copy � You know these well. Some authors write articles that belongs in the classifieds. In their articles they blatantly advertise their services with the hope of readers visiting their website. A benefit laden article will always produce the best results.
10. Too much links- Nothing peeves me than to get an article to run in my newsletter but when I read it through it is littered. These links can confuse the reader and also reduces the potential of your resource box.

These are a few quirks I found to be associated with the writing and promotion of articles. And I did say ten items but I will just throw in an extra. What is it? Go ahead and proceed with your article writing. While there are some negatives it does work. Why would I be writing this one if it didn�t?
© Oceanroc Web Publishing

8 Tips to Get Publishers to Notice You

by: Brandie King

If your articles aren't getting published very often, or you just want to increase the chances of them being published, then you will benefit from the tips in this article.
1. Article Length
You should always keep you article 500 to 800 words long. If you can't fit what you want to say into that amount of space, then break your article up into more than one part.
2. Resource Box Length
When writing your resource box, keep it 5 to 6 lines long. In a resource box you are simply trying to get people to request more information, not sell them something. If you want a longer ad, buy one!
3. Line Length
The lines in both your article and your resource box should be formatted to 60 to 65 characters per line. One of the consequences of not doing so is that, in some email programs, your article may appear with every line at a different length.
You can get your article formatted, as well as learning its character, line, and word count, at the following website for free. http://www.fwointl.com/FWOFormatter.html
4. Is Your Article Actually An Article?
Publishers want to provide their readers with actually useful information and you should want the same. If you write an article that is just a sales letter or press release it will be rejected 99 percent of the time.
5. Inactive Links
Before you even think about publishing or submitting your article check that all links within it are active and working. Nothing is more irritating than to click on a link for a site you're interested in only to find out that it no longer exists.
6. Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar
If you submit your article and it's full of errors it will be thrown into the trash folder so fast that your head will spin. Submitting articles with these types of errors not only makes you look extremely unprofessional, but it shows disrespect for both the publisher and their readers.
7. S*AM Triggers
As a courtesy, you should run your article through a program that will check it for triggers that could possibly get it rejected by filters. This isn't a necessary step but it will definitely impress publishers and increase the chances of your article being published.
You can check your article for free at http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker.
8. Publisher Guidelines
This should be understood without having to say it, but it is still important enough to mention. Always, always, always follow the publisher's guidelines when submitting an article to them. Not doing so will get your article rejected quicker than anything else.
Read this list, print it out, and keep it by you when you are writing an article. Read each tip and make sure that you are following it.
Making the above mistakes will insult the intelligence of both the publishers and their readers, as well as wasting your time and theirs.

8 Facts on Promoting your Business with Articles

by: Rhonda White

Business owners have the greatest potential for writing successful articles. Most people usually start a business because they have a particular interest in certain products or services. Business owners usually have already gained much knowledge in their particular market. They can optimize their potential by setting aside time to research and study their area of interest to become even more knowledgeable in their market. One good resourceful book can help ignite the enthusiasm to gain more and more knowledge. Business owners can use this knowledge to write informational articles and will easily obtain their title as "expertise" once they do so.
Articles highly target your potential customers. Writing articles is actually something that anyone can easily do even if they have never really considered themselves as a "talented" writer. A little effort to compile some valuable information, can produce great results in targeting your potential customers. If you write articles related to your business industry, the visitors you receive from your articles will usually be highly targeted, eager and ready to see what else you have to offer. With your articles, you have already established yourself as a means of a "professional" in your visitor's mind. For this reason you can create open-minded potential customers ready to seek what you have to offer them.
Resourceful information should be included about the author. Marketing with your articles work best when you give them away to be redistributed and used for webmasters seeking content for their sites, blogs, ezines, etc. When your articles are submitted to free article directories and groups for distribution, a resource box or area below your article is always included. You may give your name, a small piece of information about you and your business (make it short and state directly what you do), and your URL to your website. Having your article hosted on numerous other sites and blogs is a great way to gain many "incoming" links to your site. The URL that you provided is also a great tool to generate traffic to your site.
You only have one small chance to catch the eye and interest of the reader. Time should be well spent on creating a interesting title and introduction paragraph for new articles. The world is full of information...newspapers, magazines, commercials, flyers, mail, bill boards, emails, banners and text ads on websites. All competing to catch our eye. We have learned to quickly tune out what does not interest us and proceed on. Do not try to use a title that you believe will catch "everybody's" interest. It just cannot be done anyway. Target only your potential customers and what information they are looking for. If you are targeting people who are fascinated with their hair, they want great hair...forget the clothes...forget the makeup....it's the hair! You've got the answer! You provide hair care products. Don't write in general about "beauty tips" trying to catch every woman's eye. Write to those hair fanatics. Provide specific articles targeting those hair fans. "100 Ways to Poof your Hair". (And...um...of course you've got the product they're looking for to make this happen. Include the exact link in your author's resource area.)
The length of your article does not have to be long. Some people feel they must practically write a book to complete an article. Four to six paragraphs can complete a well-written article. Instead of trying to cover a whole topic about "Work-at-Home Moms" try narrowing your articles into more specific pieces, for example, "How Work-at-home Moms Manage their Time", and perhaps next, "Three Simple Ways Work-at-Home Moms Relieve Stress". Creating one huge article that covers a broad subject can take a lot of time and effort and may end up losing the interest of your reader. Distributing smaller articles targeted on a specific subject will allow you to write and distribute more articles and will target the interest of your reader much easier.
Articles can bring you large amounts of traffic when distributed frequently. "Frequently" is stressed when speaking of generating large amounts of traffic through article marketing. Generally, one article will not do this wondrous deed. For this reason, writing numerous, narrow-targeted articles and distributing them with frequency will create the results you want. On the other side, don't overdo it. Creating articles like you are some vending machine and popping out one article after another, may cause you to lose focus on quality. Quality takes more time and effort, but produces much better results and greater chances of having your articles sought after and read.
Articles are successful when they are not advertisements. Use your articles to give your reader valuable content and information that will have them coming back to you for more. Don't try to be sly and sneak in a couple of ads here and there. People sense right away what is intended to be an ad. Some may continue to read on, but others won't. Save your ads for appropriate places on your site and not in your articles. Take time to check your spelling and grammar. If this is an area that you lack in, then find a family member or friend who can help you proofread and determine what sentences may need improvement.
Use small fragments of time to write your articles Most business owners are extremely busy. They do not have much extended time just for writing articles. Today you can have time to start writing your first article. You can use very small fragments of time to write successful articles. Keep a notepad with you at all times and you will be surprised at the numerous opportunities you get to jot down some ideas for your articles. Whether you're waiting at the doctor's office, stuck in traffic on the way home, or simply lying in bed at night trying to calm down and relax before turning out the lights...you've got the potential of creating success with your tidbits of time. Write one paragraph at a time if that is all the time you have. You will soon see that this will actually energize your thoughts more into the process of writing articles. You will find yourself coming up with new ideas at odd moments...and glad that you have your notepad to jot it down. Right now take a small fragment of your time and start your way to successful article writing.

7 Ways In Which You Can Overcome Excuses for Not Marketing Your Website by Writing Articles

by: Laurie Meade

Wannabe writers, are full of excuses as to why they aren�t writing yet. Many of these excuses can be changed to proactive statements with a mere switch in attitude and perspective.
How many times have you read an article, and said to yourself, �I could have written this.� Well, why don�t you?
It took me a long time to discover that my passion in life was writing. Even though, as a teenager, I filled a whole blank book with poetry, which I wrote while trying to recover from the �first love�s� broken heart type of feelings.
It wasn�t until I made it a habit to start writing in my journal every morning, that I found out just how easy it was to get the writing juices flowing. Below is a list of some common excuses writer wannabe�s make for not writing. You will find suggestions along with each excuse on how to counteract those excuses and move forward to success.
1. EXCUSE #1 I don�t know where to start, or what to write about.
---Just get up each morning a few minutes earlier than the rest of the household, and start writing in a journal. Write about anything and everything that pops into your mind. Try to write at least 3 or 4 pages. Devote at least 10 minutes each morning to this ritual.
Do it with a pen and notebook, rather than the computer. There is a physical connection between the brain and your fingers on the paper.
Keep your statements positive. Try to eliminate words like, �I need to� or �I should� or �I have to� replacing them with more affirming phrases. Using �I am� and �I can� changes your whole focus. I find just replacing the three phrases above makes the writing process much more positve and results oriented.
You will be amazed at the material that you can pull from this journal that can be used in your daily projects.
2. EXCUSE #2 I don�t have any experience or formal schooling in writing.
----With the internet, and all the writing books available today, it is easy to teach yourself what it takes to write successfully. Just jump in and get your feet wet, give it a try.
Have someone you trust read over your writing, and then give you their opinion. But don�t stop with one person�s point of view.
Some of the best feedback I have received, has come from people wanting to use my �free to reprint� articles. I remember one lady email me saying, �I really enjoyed reading the passionate article you wrote on this subject.� Up to that point, I had never looked at my writing as passionate.
3. EXCUSE #3 I don�t have enough confidence in my writing abilities, I can�t measure up to what is already out there.
----Following the same advice as above, as you jump in and do it, your confidence will grow. Publish some free content articles, to promote a website, and discover just what people like and don�t like. With feedback comes confidence. It is hard not be be confident in your writing abilities when you get showered with requests to use your articles in others ezine�s and on their websites. :o)
4. EXCUSE #4 Writing will take too much time away from my family and other responsibilities.
----On the contrary. Writing can actually benefit and help you with your other responsibilities. By establishing a morning routine of writing in your journal, you will get to know yourself better, and grow both in professional and personal development. These positive changes to you will affect everyone you come into contact during the rest of your day. This includes members of your family.
5. EXCUSE #5 I am not very creative.
----Everyone has creativity in them. Some people have a harder time tapping into it than others. By creating a time and space for writing in your life, you are giving yourself permission to tap into your own creative subconscious resources and intelligence. You may be surprised and amazed at your own creative results.
6. EXCUSE #6 What I know has already been written.
----Did you know, you could give 5 writers an assignment on the same subject and each one of them will come back with an article with a very unique and different focus. It is because we all look at things from different perspectives. Our perspectives are developed by our own individual life experiences and the lessons we have learned. You can take what is out there and put your own unique slant on it.
7. EXCUSE #7 I am scared, not sure I can handle criticism and rejection.
----As mentioned already, by just doing it, jumping in and giving it a try, you will gain confidence and grow. Rejection is just someone�s opinion. Get another opinion, and then another.
Some of the best books published in history were rejected dozen�s of times before some one took a chance on them and would eventually hit the New York Times bestseller�s list.
So there you have it. Stop making excuses and jump in the water and get wet. It will be more fun, rewarding and maybe even profitable for you once you actually take some daily action steps. Who knows, you might even make a big splash upon entrance to the pool of what's floating around. . :o)
As you begin getting your work out there, ideas will come to you so quickly it may be overwhelming at times. Just remember to write down your ideas, keeping notes on topic ideas, titles, and themes to research. The list will be endless.
Use these intuitive thoughts to spark your thought process when you actually sit down with pen to paper. You will find many stories, experiences, and lessons learned that can easily be incororated into a promotional article. �So start writing now, may the force of your creativity be with you!�

About The Author

6 Ways to Leverage Technical Articles

by: Christine Taylor

Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The articles are great exposure for these companies but they don't come cheap � the trades rarely pay for these articles but the vendors spend time and resources to assign pieces, write them, approve them and submit them. Your PR agency can help your clients leverage their investment by wringing top value out of these articles. Here are some possibilities:

1. Reprints
2. White papers
3. Product briefs
4. Booklets
5. Speech outline and handouts

Reprints
It's pretty galling to contribute a byline to a publication, only to turn around and spend major bucks for reprint rights. But reprints are good things: they significantly increase your client�s exposure to the market. Make sure you use the reprints anywhere you can, including press kits, presentation handouts and conference take-aways. Post them on your site too. Even if you haven�t paid for electronic rights you can probably link to the publication�s URL, assuming they�ve posted your article online. (It doesn�t hurt to ask.) If you�ve got digital reprint rights and are posting the article on your client�s site, avoid using a scanned hard copy of the printed article � the resolution is poor and not very readable. Create a .PDF file and use that for posting and downloading.
White Paper
Please don�t use the published article as is for a white paper -- even if you retain all rights it's shamelessly self-plagiarizing, and if the publication retains all rights it's rather criminal. However, you can use the article text to form the technology section of a white paper. Edit for length as necessary and re-work the text to emphasize your client�s product and technology take. Then add white paper elements like a beginning executive summary and a problem statement. Follow these with your technology section, and then add details on how your client�s product will solve the problem, a customer case study, and a conclusion on how great the product is. (You can always switch the order by writing a white paper first, then editing the technology section into a bylined trade journal article.)
Product Briefs
The article can serve as a great basis for expanded product briefs � say the front and back of an 8-1/2x11, or a longer technical brochure. Edit the article for length and jazz up the text, and you�ve got a solid technology basis for the marketing document. (Good marcom can explain what a NAS gateway is, but not by yammering about �enterprise-wide intelligent data management portals.� Puts readers right to sleep.)
Booklets
One of the best press kits I ever saw included a sharp and informative booklet on the vendor�s technology. The booklet explained the general technology�s development and background, presented the vendor�s product, and listed clear customer advantages. It impressed both journalists and customers in a way a press release or even a white paper wouldn�t have done. Booklets are labor-intensive, so use your trade journal article as the basis for writing your own.
Speech Outline and Handouts
Use existing articles as the basis for client speeches and presentations. Since trade journal articles are usually vendor-neutral, they�ll work as-is for similar talks. When the presentation is about a product you can still use the article outline for the background technology and analysis then add product details, customer case studies, and Q&A�s. You can use article reprints as a handout, or turn the outline into speaker�s notes and use that instead.
If your client gulps at the cost of developing a trade journal article, don�t leave them gasping for breath � list all the ways they can leverage it to increase market exposure and profits.
--
Christine Taylor is president of Keyword Copywriting, which helps marketing and PR pros leverage their relationships with technology clients. E-mail her at chris@keywordcopy.com, call her at , or check out Keyword�s Website at www.keywordcopy.com

About The Author

6 Power Packed Tips For Article Writers

by: Ken Hill

1. Offer an email course, multipart report or a free subscription to your ezine in your resource box.
Have your readers come to your site to get your report, course or subscription to your ezine so that they'll be able to see what your site has to offer them.
If you use your resource box to promote your ezine, provide a sample issue or an archive of your past issues on your site to get more of your visitors to subscribe.
2. Participate in article swaps.
You could run another publishers f~ree to reprint article in your ezine in exchange for the same.
You could also write a new article to run exclusively in the other publisher's ezine in exchange for her writing a new original article to be published in your ezine.
In addition, you could post other article writers' articles on your site in exchange for them posting your articles on their sites.
This will help you to get more reciprocal links and also help you to increase your repeat traffic by keeping your site updated with new content.
3. Make your articles available for your affiliates to publish with their affiliate URLs in your resource box.
Letting your affiliates publish your articles in their ezines or on their web sites with their affiliate URLs in your resource box will give them an easy way to effectively promote your business.
It will also help you to attract more people to your affiliate program because you'll be providing your affiliates with a valuable marketing tool.
When using your articles in this way, link only to your site in your resource box to ensure that your affiliates will earn commissions on all their referrals.
4. Create a mailing list that tells people when you've written a new article or articles.
Your list can help you to get your articles published on a regular basis by ezine publishers and webmasters who enjoy your writing.
Your list can also help you to keep your affiliates up to date on new articles they can use to earn commissions and help you to successfully get more people to join your affiliate program.
5. Use your articles to create a free ebook.
You could create an ebook compilation of your articles and use it as a bonus for joining your ezine or purchasing your product.
You could also offer your ebook as a freebie to get more people to visit your site.
To increase the profit you get from your ebook you could let people rebrand your ebook with a link to their website, business or affiliate program.
If you run an affiliate program, you could also let your affiliates rebrand your ebook with their affiliate URLs and use your ebook to earn more commissions.
6. Use your articles to create an ebook you can sell.
If you've written lots of articles you could put together a best of compilation of your articles and sell it to your visitors.
To increase your sales you could give people the resell rights to your ebook along with their purchases.
This will increase your ebook's perceived value because you'll be giving your customers a way to make money with your ebook.

6 Best Places to Submit Your Articles

by: Brandie King

You know that writing articles is the best free way to promote your business and gain credibility. You understand the importance of articles containing actual information and not being just long sales letters.
Do you know the absolute best places to submit all of those wonderful articles you have written?
Here is your list of the top 6 places to submit your articles:
1. Idea Marketers
With an Alexa ranking of 13,015, this site is one that you definitely don't want to miss submitting to. You have to sign up for a free account. Instantly accepts your article. http://www.ideamarketers.com
2. Go Articles
This one has an Alexa ranking of 17,504. You have to sign up for a free account. This site is part of the Jayde Network. Instantly accepts your article. http://www.goarticles.com
3. Article City
Article City has an Alexa ranking of 20,024. No account is required. http://www.articlecity.com
4. Article Announce
This group has 2,712 subscribers (June 2004). Provides content to hundreds of newsletters, magazines, and websites. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce/
5. Free Content
This group has 1,557 subscribers (June 2004). Hosted by Website101.com. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content/
6. Publisher Network
This group has 686 subscribers (June 2004). Lets you swap articles with other newsletter publishers. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/publisher_network/
By all means, submit your articles anywhere and everywhere it is appropriate. But there are certain websites that should always be included on your list. These places have a high number of visitors and/or subscribers.

5 Free Time-Saving Tools for Article Authors

by: Brandie King

You can save time and make your article writing and promotion easier by putting some very great tools to use. Below I've included 5 tools that can help you.
1. Article Formatter
If your articles aren't properly formatted before being submitted they have a very high chance of getting rejected. Formatting your articles also shows respect for the publishers you are submitting to. The following tool will not only format your articles to any line length you desire, but give you a total count of characters, words, and lines. To format your articles very quickly, just visit http://www.fwointl.com/FWOFormatter.html.
2. Tracking Software
As you start writing articles, and especially when you have been writing them for awhile, you will need a way to keep track of everything you've written. You can do this using a free program called Writer's Database. Writer's Database is a program that will keep track of everything you've written, potential publishers, submissions to those publishers, writing that hasn't been submitted yet, and more. You can find it at http://www.ultima-thule.co.uk/
3. Text Converter
To make it simple to add your articles to your website you need a simple tool for converting them to HTML. Using such a tool will greatly reduce the time you spend getting your articles up on your site. You can find a free one at http://www.cyber-matrix.com/txt2html.html.
4. SP*M Checker
Whether you submit your articles directly to publishers or to article directories, you can increase the chances of them being picked. Every time you write an article, run it through the checker at http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker. This will check your articles for things that have a probability of triggering SP*M filters. Once the check is finished, you get a detailed report that will show you what you need to change.
5. Spell Checker
I know that this seems pretty obvious, but checking the spelling in your articles is a must. When you submit articles that are full of spelling errors you project a very unprofessional image and turn people away from what you have to offer. Tiny Spell is a free program that will allow you to check the spelling of words in any Windows application. http://www.megspace.com/computers/tinyspell/
Using these tools will not write your articles. That is completely up to you. But using them will dramatically decrease the time you have to spend writing your articles and getting them ready to submit.

About The Author Brandie King is a writer and author who teaches other writers how to write, as well as promote, using articles. You can submit your articles free to her article directory. http://www.articlesubmission.com owner@articlesubmission.com

5 Dynamite Ways to Generate Ideas for Parenting Articles

by: Terri Pilcher

The key to selling reprints to parenting publications is the creation of dynamite ideas followed through with professional writing. Here, I�m focusing only on finding those lucrative topics.
Most topics in regional parenting publications are straightforward: finance, parenting tips, health, sports, and education. The trick is to twist them in an unusual way.

1. If you�re a parent, what do you wish you knew about a topic? Write down questions that you have as you go through the day. When I was driving the other day, I complained to myself about bad teenage drivers. Then I wondered, �What can parents do to encourage good driving?� If you already know the answer to the question, it won�t make a good article unless you�re an expert on the subject.
2. Take a generic topic and make it seasonal. Choose a season about four months away, because the lead-time for parenting publications is 2 to 6 months. Four months from now is April. What happens in April (or would be published in April) that I can combine with a topic like health? In April, parenting publications start printing their summer guides to camps. What can parents do to make sure their children stay healthy at camp? What are the traits of a safe camp? Change to camping plus another topic like education or finance to create unique articles.
3. Who do you know who has an unusual or remarkable story � something that affected children? What did the parents learn? Write an article using the anecdote as an introduction to the information you want to give. A great anecdote can sell a story.
4. Visit online parenting forums and read the questions people ask. Use some of these as a basis for your article ideas.
5. When you research a piece and talk to experts, look for what you don�t know. �Joe says insurance is important for families,� won�t make an article interesting. Too many people know that insurance is important. But a quote like, �Joe says disability insurance is the most neglected area of insurance, but it protects young families from the biggest threat to their security,� will make parents keep reading.

If you give editors timely articles that readers will want to read, you�ll sell your work over and over again.