When you are writing an article for publication, you are holding yourself up as an expert in your field. It’s a great way to get recognised and to drive traffic to your main website. The more you write and distribute the more interest and traffic you’ll generate.

Today there is a huge amount of competition when it comes to article writing and one of the most important elements of successful article writing is the ability to produce high quality articles fast.

The ultimate key to writing an article fast

Understand your topic. Start writing about something you are familiar with. After that before you begin writing any article make sure you fully research your subject so you have a thorough knowledge of it.

Article writing is a skill so it takes practive. If you can, write every day.

Plan and be organised

Rapid article writing calls for organisation:

• An introduction to the topic
• Paragraphs that deal with the topic
• A conclusion to the topic

This format gives your readers a chance to understand your article better and you will be able to convey your message properly.

Keep it simple

Finally, when it comes to the easiest way to write an article fast, remember the principle of keeping it simple. People like to read articles that are easy to understand – so keep it simple!

Dear Freelance Copywriter,

I send out a monthly newsletter but my list isn’t growing. I’ve listed my website on loads of  free advertising sites and I’m even paying for advertising, but I’m not getting any new sign-ups. What can I do?

Yours sincerely

Billy-No-Mates

Dear Billy-No-Mates,

Number one, you’re not alone. Even though you’re putting a lot of effort into this, it doesn’t mean you will be guaranteed success. You need to think about long-term ways to grow your list.

A great way is by giving away articles.

Website and blog owners are always looking for new content and there are places called Article Directories (basically a library of free articles) where they can go to find articles that they can use for free. You’ve probably heard of Ezine Articles? Well, that is just one. If you search Google under ‘free article sites’ you’ll find loads more.

Simply write and submit articles to these websites.

When submitting you’ll be asked to complete an Author Bio which goes at the end the article (see below for an example). This is where you can sell yourself and talk about your business. Make sure your link takes your reader to a page on your site with a sign up box for your newsletter. Also give them an incentive to fill in their details – give away a free report or eBook.

Once you’ve done that, everyone who clicks through that link will be taken to the page where you can offer them your wonderful newsletter and your list will grow.

Sally Ormond is a professional freelance copywriter with extensive experience in B2B and B2C copywriting markets. She can be contacted at +44(0)1449 779605 or at sally@briarcopywriting.com for any copywriting project you may have.

Direct response copywriting is everywhere and can take several different forms – such as a direct-mail campaign or direct response ads.

Many companies employ direct response copywriting. But you must ensure that what you are writing is interesting and compelling enough to get your reader’s attention. When you are doing direct response copywriting, you should make sure that you are writing to your reader as you would write to a friend so it needs to be conversational.

There are no hard and fast rules as to how long your writing should be – instead you should write until what you need to say has been said.

Direct Response Copywriting Formula

OK, as the advert says here comes the science bit.

There are three main parts usually attributed to a direct response letter:

• The headline – this must be attention grabbing.
• The offer – make sure you explain in great detail what a person will receive if they take you up on your offer.
• The postscript – this is where the incentive goes for someone to respond immediately to your offer.

The key behind direct response copywriting

The key is that you want the person to immediately respond to the offer that you have presented.

A good freelance copywriter knows that success in the direct response market is achieved by focusing on the three main parts such as the headline, the offer, and the postscript. Get this right and you’ll be setting yourself up for a high success rate.

Sally Ormond. Briar Copywriting

It seems like just about everyone has a blog these days.

Do you have one yet? Well, if not (or even if you do), continue reading and see for yourself why blogging is so popular.

What is a Blog?

Basically, it is a web page that contains short articles, known as posts, on a variety of subjects. These posts are arranged in reverse chronological order (that is, the latest comes first) and each one is identified by an anchor tag marked by a permanent link that can be referred to by others who wish to link to it.

Blogs are a means of communication – some just point to other websites, others contain long articles, some are personal diaries, and others promote new technology. In other words, bloggers can write about anything they want.

Why Blog?

Why not?

Through blogs, people can express themselves freely. Writing blogs gives you the power to get what you have written printed immediately. No questions asked.

Another reason why many people are blogging is the freedom of design, layout, and its structure. You can write anything about what you want regardless of what it looks like. Your point is to attract readers in the way you think is the best. That is the power of blogging—giving you the freedom of what you want your blog to look like.

More than that though, blogging can be an excellent way of promoting your business and driving traffic to your website. All you have to do is write a few blogs about your business using carefully selected keywords.

Blogging Tools

Before you begin you need to know about blogging tools. These tools enable you to post your blogs either on your own website or to a certain blogging community. Popular blogging tools are Blogger and WordPress software; web-based tools that don’t require you to install software to your personal computer or on your server.

These are just some of the basic things you need to know about blogging. Remember that blogs give you the power to publish anything you want. And don’t forget to place a link directing to your own website. It can help you generate the traffic you needed.

Sally Ormond of Briar Copywriting also has a blog – FreelanceCopywritersBlog full of excellent copywriting tips.

I have a blog which contains loads of articles about freelance copywriting. But for those of you who are new to the art of copywriting, this blog will focus on giving an introduction to the subject and why it is in such high demand today.

Take a look around you. Every where you look someone is trying to market something to you. Therefore the field of copywriting is large and continues to expand every year.

A way to describe copywriting is putting a creative message in front of a consumer and is based on three fundamental principles:

• When you are writing to a customer, there has to be an involvement between the customer and the seller.
• You must make sure that you explain the rewards as far as when the customer is purchasing a product.
• The final piece is achievement and that is what you as the writer will be focusing on.

Whenever you write copy, you want your readers (the customers) to want a certain product because they will want to gain certain rewards – you know the kind of thing, the product will save them time, money etc. etc. etc.

‘Come on, anyone can write sales stuff…can’t they?’

A lot of people would like to think that true but it’s not. There is a specific niche for copywriters. They are the ones who write messages in such a way that it brings about an interest in a consumer.

There are so many ads out there today so consumers won’t respond unless it is something that specifically interests them. This is why it is more important than ever to have a clear focus when you are writing your copy so that you know which particular niche you’re trying to hit.

There will always be a need for copywriters no matter whether the economy is in a recession or in a boom. Companies must always put out a message to consumers and as long as this demand is needed, copywriters will be in high demand.

Author – Sally Ormond, Briar Copywriting. A professional freelance copywriter with extensive experience B2B and B2C copywriting across all industries.