Writing Articles – Research, Read & Review

Posted by Julie Willems on Monday, November 24, 2008, 5:48 | 409 views

Research, Read, Review Your Competitors

People just like you, have businesses with similar products, services and concepts. People just like you are likely promoting and marketing online the same things you are. Hardly ever… are you the only one with a unique idea. Once you start cruising around the world via the Internet… you find many others who think like you. Research their websites, review their blogs and forums, and read their articles.

Let’s talk about research for a minute. Before writing an article, and making claims that may not be true, do your research. Find statistics or quotes to back up your article.

Pull up at least 5 keyword search terms through your browser to see who else is out there, what are they doing, how, and where? How can you be unique from them?

If you’re like me, I often have a difficult time thinking of what I want to write. I go to the Internet, find my competitors to see what they are talking about. I read and review their materials. I research sections of their website that might fit the topic of my article. Now I have a few thoughts that I can write from.

You can literally read through one paragraph and WOW, the lights turn on. Right? Sometimes even one word will spark a stream of thoughts for writing.

WARNING: PLEASE, never, NEVER copy narrative of someone else word-for-word. That is plagiarism, illegal and unethical. Don’t do it!

Naturally, you have the same general knowledge. It is perfectly fine to discuss the same topic, points and even statistics. After all, we all went through many years of learning from the same textbooks, same news channels, and the like. Our brains contain some of the same data.

True?

Put a new twist on it. Possibly relate your article to something that is headline news. Who is your target audience? Focus your writing on them.

The point I want to make is that when you’re writing, do your homework. Update your knowledge. Your published article should be current, interesting and relevant.

Tips to Remember:

• Do NOT copy someone else’s work. Copy ideas, but put them into your own words.
• Speak from your own storehouse of information, continuously adding to the storehouse.
• Be creative and think of a different angle for your writing – maybe even controversial.
• Stand up, speak out. State your opinion. Be ready to support it.
• Research! Read content of others in books & on the Internet. Review. Then, Write!

I look forward to reading your articles as a publisher right here on Goblin Network.

Julie Willems

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