From the author: I want to tell you step by step about the basic principles of writing articles. This knowledge will help you connect with potential clients and establish yourself as an expert. The more articles you publish on the Internet and in print, the more recognizable your name will be and, as a result, your status will increase and more people will use your services. Let's start with the basics. Using the step-by-step instructions below, you can write an article easily and simply: Step 1. Selecting a Topic When choosing a topic, remember that one article covers one topic. Another important aspect is that the topic should be interesting, familiar and relevant to you personally. In addition, it should be aimed at your target audience, i.e. to those people who will need it and who will subsequently use your service. In this vein, I want to touch on another important issue - the format of the article. To maintain your expert status, you need to write in the following formats or layouts, whatever you want to call them: So, format one: “Problem + solution” - identify the problem of your target audience and voice it in the article. And most importantly, give some practical recommendations for solving this problem. If you describe practical recommendations and practices, readers will immediately understand that you are a practitioner, savvy in theory, and not a theorist - an idle talker. Second format: “A tool designed for...” - describe a technique or tool that is used only in your field, but which Few people know how to use it correctly. This way you will declare that you not only know how to use it, but can also explain it to others. Format three: “My clients often ask... (question - answer)” - describe the problematic situation with which a client or several clients came to you , tell us about the solutions that your client came to after working with you and what his problem has in common with the problem of the majority and how to solve it. In general, everything is like that. Format four: “Expert assessment” - write about any phenomenon (a book, a new product in your service market, a well-known fact, etc.) and give your expert assessment, analyze, reflect, report useful information or give a practical recommendation. Fifth format: “Practical recommendations” - describe step by step one or more techniques that give a complete picture of actions in a problem situation that is relevant to your readers. The article that you are reading is written in this format. It is in the above formats that you should learn to write articles first, because... they are in demand by people who want to solve their problems. In addition, it is the practical content that interests magazines and newspapers. “Water” got everyone tired. If your goal is to write an article for printed publications, then first analyze the theme and style of the magazine or newspaper, its target audience. Write an article that follows the style of the publication. If your target audience is not among the magazine's target audience, do not waste time and effort. Look for suitable publications and your readers, who may subsequently become your clients. Step 2. Choosing a name When choosing a name, the main thing is not to overdo it and stick to the golden mean. You shouldn’t be too original, but you also shouldn’t slide into banalities. The title of the article should be of interest, arouse the curiosity of readers, and awaken the desire to find out what’s next. There are rules for a good headline: It is important that the title attracts attention, “catches.” It is important to awaken curiosity and motivate to read the article. Attention is often attracted to those articles whose titles contain a hint, hope for satisfying a need, or solving a problem. If the title says “reveal all the cards,” then reading it will no longer be so interesting and necessary. Your task is to give a hint, intrigue, inspire to read the article. The headline does not ask or suggest, it beckons and declares. The headline should be read with one glance. Between long and short name, choose the second one. Usewords that are understandable and often used by the target audience for which the article is written. If you are writing an article for a website, use a keyword in the title, i.e. that word that is associated with the popular topic described in your article. Too much of a good thing is bad. You should not add emotionality to the title (and the article) with a fence of exclamation or question marks. Nobody has yet canceled the rules of spelling. In addition, you should not write the title in capital letters. This, of course, adds emotionality, but in this case, it seems that the author is yelling or aggressive. If you write for a printed publication, be prepared for the fact that your name may be changed to another, but this is already a negotiable topic, and still remember this .Use working article title templates: “How to...”. A fairly common start, and a very successful one. This is a direct indication of the problem and the way to solve it. - “How to build a successful business” - “How to find your calling” “A short guide...”. Nowadays society loves concentrated knowledge without unnecessary water, and offering a short guide to anything will be in great demand. - “A short guide to building a successful business” - “A short guide to finding yourself” “Method / technique ...”. Gives the article an image of science and/or practicality. “It works well” if you add epithets to it. - “The most effective method of building a successful business” - “The best methods for finding your calling” “The quick way / how quickly ...”. No one wants to tinker with a problem for a long time; most people will not refuse the opportunity to quickly resolve their issues. - “How to quickly build a successful business” - “A quick way to find your calling” “A simple way / a simple solution...”. This template also works. Simple solutions are always needed. - “A simple way to build a successful business” - “A simple way to find your path” “Create...”. This template is an appeal to the emotions and creativity of readers. - “Create your formula for a successful business” - “Create your path to self-knowledge” “Now you can...”. Those. thanks to this article you will achieve, be able to do what you need, if you want, of course. - “Now you can make a successful business” - “Now you can find your calling” “Free, unique, best, reliable, effective, inimitable etc.". These words always attract attention. - “Free course on creating a successful business” - “An effective way to find your calling” “What everyone should know...”. Such a headline inflames the need to test your competence in a particular issue. - “Every beginning businessman should know this” - “Every successful person knows this” “Numbers”. Articles are more successful if there are numbers in the title. Well suited for names are 5, 7, 15, 100, 101, etc. Numbers are often combined with other patterns. - “How to build a successful business in 6 months” - “5 simple methods for finding your calling” “Secrets”. This is where innate human curiosity and inquisitiveness comes into play. This template works well in combination with numbers. - “Secrets of a successful business” - “7 ancient secrets of finding your way”. These are not all existing templates for headings. You can easily find other examples on the Internet and in books. Still, this does not mean that all your article titles must begin or contain patterns. Experiment, act, look for your own style. In addition, the “fashion” for names is changeable, be aware, come up with your own. Step 3. Article planYou need to write a plan according to which the article will be built. It happens that a person tries to write, guided only by one topic, without building the overall concept of the article. This usually leads to collapse and wasted energy. A plan should be written down. It should be quite simple: title, introduction (briefly reveals the main idea of ​​the text), main part,consisting of several recommendations or theses, conclusion (conclusions, summing up). Step 4. IntroductionThe introduction should gently lead the reader to the main topic. In addition, in the introduction you indicate the topic of the article (about what?), and the target audience (for whom?). Step 5. Main part Direct discussion. Here you can give some important practical recommendations or explain the basic concepts of this topic. The abstract description should contain specifics, useful and valuable information. A good addition would be stories or parables, interesting facts, as well as your own experience and view on the issue raised in the article. It’s good if you fill the text with epithets, this will add emotion to dry facts. In the main part you need to indicate the answers to the questions posed in the introduction. Try to keep it within 2 - 3 thousand characters, i.e. 1-2 pages. At the same time, remember that you are writing not just an article, but an article for a specific target audience, more precisely for a good and pleasant person to whom this topic is important. You need to remember this so that your text is friendly and understandable, then you can build a trusting relationship with your readers. Step 6. ConclusionHere you summarize, focusing on the positive result, as well as the fact that the information provided in the main part will help cope with the problem. Step 7. Proofread an article You need to read (check and correct) the text only once, without thinking for a long time and without delving into idealism, otherwise this will lead to torture, countless corrections and, as a result, an unwritten article. The purpose of proofreading is to correct typos and remove repetitions, replacing them with synonyms. The text should be light, literate and simple. Step 8. Check uniqueness This is a very, very important stage. If your article is one hundred percent unique, then on the Internet it will be indexed as new. This means that its ranking compared to other articles on this topic will increase among search engines. This means that the probability of getting into the first positions will increase significantly. The more clicks to a unique article, the more in demand the site is. This means that the influx of visitors is growing and your popularity along with it. The text will be considered unique if the combinations of words used in it are not found anywhere else. We are even talking about those texts that you wrote yourself from the first word to the last point. It happens that the phrases you use have already been used by other authors. You can check the uniqueness and increase it in special programs, one of them is Text.ru http://text.ru. One hundred percent uniqueness is also in demand in printed publications. Step 9. Text formattingIt is important to format it correctly, i.e. format text. Formatting techniques create visual cues for readers and make reading text easy and understandable. Formatting elements include the following: Highlighting headings and subheadings. Choose two or three ways to highlight text; if there are more, you risk causing unconscious irritation and fatigue among your readers. Bulleted or numbered lists. Our brains are used to categorizing everything, and this formatting technique will make it easier to read. Highlighting key phrases or words. This helps with speed reading; you can immediately see whether it’s worth delving into more detail. Readable font. Complex fonts are difficult to read, which can also lead to unconscious irritation and reading fatigue. So choose a font that is easy to read, I personally like Calibri.Simple sentences. In psychology, there is a golden formula - 7 plus, minus 2. It applies to the number of words in a sentence. Remember the golden mean, excessive use of formatting elements can lead to loss of text quality. Speaking about the design of the text, it is also necessary to mention illustrations - pictures, tables, diagrams, photos are welcome. It is important that the illustrations are of good quality and fit the topic. Step 10. Save Now is the time to save the article, close, and.