Article Writing: How to Promote your Home Business and Make Money from Article Marketing

Article writing can be learned by anybody with the will, and article marketing is an extremely effective tool that can be used to promote a home business. The problem is, that most people cannot write articles effectively enough to maintain the interest of their readers, and when they do achieve that, hav even less idea of how to properly use them.

Writing articles is a skill - that cannot be denied - but it is a skill that can be learned. Sure, you will need a reasonable grasp of grammar in your language, but not so much spelling if you use a good spell checker. It is not these that are the problem, as much as knowledge of how to write the content in such a way as to be of use to the reader.

Therefore, let's consider the reader and what they are seeking when they find your article.

1. Information

People use the internet for information, to chat or to buy something, and by far the most extensive of these is information. The vast majority of people that use Google are seeking information of one kind or another. It could be a price, it could be technical information or even what time the next bus is due, but it is information and most of that is the type of information that you can provide them with by writing an article on their topic.

Perhaps you own a website that serves those interested in the niche, or you might write an article oferig a link to an affiliate product offering you a good commission for each sale. In the latter you can make money without having a product or even a website, and in the former you have a means of collecting names and email addresses that you can use to keep in touch with people that have expressed an interest in your niche.

2. There is No 2

That's right - there is no 2 that concerns you. People want information, pure and simple, and you can provide it to them either with a well constructed website that you advertise using article marketing, or with a well written article, offering good and accurate information about their subject, and that in their eyes will make you an expert in their subject. That's right - their subject. It isn't yours, but theirs, and you are providing information to them on their subject by writing articles on it.

There is more to article writing than simply dashing out a few paragraphs: it involves a degree of keyword research, should stress the benefits to the reader of what you have to say, and generally provide useful and interesting information.

How to Write Articles

There has to be a benefit for the reader, or there will be no incentive to read it. That benefit must be stressed in the title of the article: the first part of your listing that is noticed, and the part that will be at the top of the listings on Google, Yahoo, MSN, ASK or any other search engine results page. many people are confused by this,but if your article is accepted by an article directory, then it will published on a web page that is the same as any other, in that it can be spidered by search engines and listed on their page relating to the keywords being used by the person carrying out the search.

The title will be the heading for the listing, and your summary, or the first few words of the article, the summary that appears below the title in the listing. Visitors seeking information, using the keywords that appear in your title and article, will be offered your article to click, and hence the importance of a compelling title.

You should use the main keyword early on (main here is 'article writing', and other keywords used in the rest - in my title I have managed to include: article writing, how to promote your home business, home business, make money, article marketing, money from article marketing

You expand on the theme of the title in the introductory paragraph, including the main keyword within the first 100 characters, and then write the article itself. Use keywords sparingly (once each 300 words), and use vocabulary that explains and defines the main keyword. Use a sparse sprinkling of the other keywords used in the title.

If you use keywords too much, your articles are liable to be dropped from the listings because Google's main objective is to offer its customers with as accurate and relevant information as possible on the keyword they are using for their search. Keep Google happy and you will be rewarded.

Most reward is in the form of high search engine listings for your keyword and lots of visitors. However, this can easily be transferred into cash if you have a good monetizing system operating on your website. You might be using Google Adsense adverts, selling affiliate products or offering a service, but traffic is what brings sales and writing articles brings the traffic.

As to the mechanics of article writing - well, let's simply take that to be a different topic, becaue you are not going to learn about article marketing, or how to use it effectively in online advertising, in one article. Articles can be use to promote your home business, and you can also make money from article marketing if you understand how to do so.