Article Marketing - Narrow Your Focus!
Posted on June 3, 2008 - Filed Under Writing and Speaking
If you’re thinking about writing an article, you may pick a topic and realize that topic is so huge that you really don’t know where to begin. That’s where focus comes in. You need to pinpoint one facet of the topic and write just about that.
For instance, I wrote an article for AppleSeeds magazine a few years ago. The issue was about Native American Powwows, which is a huge topic! Think of everything that’s involved: dancing, singing, costumes, food, significance of different ceremonies, and more. I had to come up with an “angle,” which is another word for focus, and so, I chose the Powwow Drum. No, it’s not the drum that Native American people beat; it’s much more and comprised of the instrument and the singers. It’s really quite a fascinating story.
So, I had to narrow my focus even more. What about the drum was most interesting to me? I decided it was the headman, who leads the singers and sets the drum beat. His duties and expertise became my focus, and I learned a lot while writing that article. I really enjoy writing about Native American culture and religion because it’s a fascination for me. I love to study the subject
And that’s how you should feel when choosing your niche. It should be something that makes money, obviously, but it should also be something you enjoy and want to spend time with. My online business started with Internet marketing and that’s where I’ve stayed, but I’m on the writerly side of things. I love to write articles and have used that strategy to help my clients rank #1 in the search engines for their main keywords. That means targeted customers, serious about your product or service. But if you try to bite off too much when writing, you’ll just be lost and overwhelmed. It’s important to make things very narrow. Make a mind map of your idea, and you’ll soon see all the different facets of your niche that you could write about, if you narrow things down. For instance, don’t write about golf. Write about golf clubs, golf swings, golf shoes, etc.
Another concrete example is the article I wrote for Calliope several years ago. The issue was about Suleiman the Magnificent. Wow! That topic is HUGE. He was one of the Ottoman emperors. So, we have the Ottoman lineage, Suleiman’s profile, his reign, his conquests, the history of the empire, and so on.
I chose to write about an obscure incident because I wanted to be different from the other gazillion writers trying to get an article into that issue. Apparently, the editor liked my query, but she had other ideas about what she wanted to see. Because I mentioned the Janissaries in my query, she asked if I’d write an article about the Ottoman army. You never know where your writing adventure will take you. That’s the kick for me. I learn so much!
Anyway, my point is that you shouldn’t try to grab the whole tiara. Take one glittering jewel and polish that until it shines. Articles are extremely powerful.
Pat Marcello is SEO at Overcome Everything, Inc. and a professional writer. Pick up her free report on article marketing at http://www.pats7secrets.com/
Tags: article marketing, articles, seo
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