Everything About IT Article

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.

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.

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.

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.

Visit online parenting forums and read the questions people ask. Use some of these as a basis for your article ideas.

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.

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.

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.