▪ Be "friendly" and conversational in your article writing: This allows you to establish a relationship with your readers and helps them gain trust in your expertise. Don't be afraid to share your personal opinions in your articles (related to the topic, of course) and let people get to know you a little bit.

How to Write Articles: Format is Important

You can write very intriguing articles, but if they are not formatted properly...you may just lose your readers interest. Online readers can become easily fatigued reading off a screen. Here's a few tips to ensure that your articles are easy to read:

▪ Use short and simple sentences: There's no need to get fancy to try to impress your readers. Remember that most readers will not necessarily have a very high reading level.

▪ Use short and simple paragraphs: Long paragraphs are intimidating. They make the reader think, "Is this worth reading?". They may just decided to skip it. Break up your paragraphs into easy-to-read bite-sized chunks.

▪ Use plenty of headlines and sub-headlines: Online readers are scanners. Use headlines and sub-headlines to help your reader find the information she is looking for.

▪ Proofread your work: Always check your writing for spelling and grammatical errors.

How to Write Articles: Don't Forget to Promote Yourself Too!

▪ Include your byline at the bottom of your articles: A byline is a bit of biographical information about yourself and your business. Keep it brief, but be sure to highlight what you do. If you have a newsletter, you can include information on how to subscribe. If people want to read more of your articles, they'll sign up.

▪ Stick to informative topics that show your expertise & industry: If you are a web designer, write articles on web design. You can further (and subtly) promote yourself by telling about a certain design problem you faced or how you helped a client fix her website, for example.

▪ Don't Write Your Article Like an Ad: We all have something to promote, but you will get a better response and reader retention, if you are INFORMATIVE. If it's clear that the purpose of your article is just to sell a product, it will be difficult to have others publish your article.