The most successful articles are those that offer the freshest or most insightful information around. Okay, that's a nice, marketing way of putting it. Here is the same message in a much more direct way: If your subject is old or has been done to death, your article -- no matter how well written or how much the title sizzles -- will never see the light of day.
This is a hard fact of life-- current topical information is what most newsletters want to offer-- and what they will pick up first. So if you want to get those articles out there, in front of people, make sure the topic is current or, in some important way, says something relevant. Does this make the choice of topics slimmer? To some extent.
But there are many, many ways to optimize that. For instance, there must be a gazillion articles about working online (it is, inevitably, the first topic every new article-marketer chooses). But if the article does no more than tout the wonders of working at home, chances are, it won't get picked up by newsletters or circulated anywhere.
However, IF that same article were to focus on a new or original thought about working at home, that's different. A good example is, Streamlining the Internet, which discusses not just the advantages of working online, but of creating multiple streams of income-- and how well the Plug-in-Profits system helps do this, by the way (BTW). ;-)
This is what might be called, "putting a fresh spin on a classic." And it works. Another example of this is The Proof Is In The Proofing: 7 Tips To Develop Great Proofreading Skills. This one apparently hit a nerve (with the newsletter editors, anyway), because it has been re-printed more times than almost any of my other articles. I can't imagine why. ;-)
In both cases, I took what was a classic subject -- writing and working online -- and said something new and (hopefully) relevant. Anyone can do this.
Another way to make sure those articles move is to look for real news. This can mean more work, in terms of research and is more reminiscent of true journalism. But it also means the writer is keeping abreast of trends and information. And that puts them in the forefront, too. Heck, article marketing is supposed to be about establishing oneself as an expert. So it helps if one actually IS an expert, too. ;-)
Insightful articles are wonderful, too. Those are the articles that offer less news but more analysis. For instance, an article that may compare various types of marketing (surfing vs. FFAs), will always find an audience-- so long as it has real experience behind it.
Writing articles that soar isn't that hard-- as long as you strive to say something relevant and original. --mo
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