As an affiliate marketer, you’re probably tired of hearing by now that you need to write articles if you want free traffic to your web site. But not everyone is a writer, and then there’s this thing that’s called writers block that can make even the best writer come to a standstill.So what’s an affiliate marketer to do?

Here are a few simple tricks I use when I can’t think of anything to write about, and they work every time!

The first thing you should do is spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day reading something related to your specialty. Make notes of topics that interest you while you are reading, and after a short time, you will have more topics that you want to write about than you have time for.

A good way to find topic ideas quickly is to subscribe to RSS Feeds. If you have an account at Yahoo!, you can add RSS Feeds to your Yahoo! home page and easily have access to new articles on a daily basis. (Any other feeder will do just as well, though.) Subscribe to a variety of feeds so you’ll have resources for news items related to your topic, as well as new blog posts.

Then, determine if there is a new twist that you can put on an existing topic, or a story that didn’t give enough information. This is a great opportunity for an article because you can reference the original article, state your concerns, and recommend a solution. Viola! You have an easy-to-make article.

Industry changes and technology news also make for quick articles; and you can always write articles that quiz people on your topic specialty.

Look at what others are writing about. If you receive a lot of newsletters in your email inbox on a daily basis, start scanning those that have been ignored for a while. They could be loaded with information that is full of article ideas. If there are links in the email, click on them! This will bring you to new sites with new information, and will also give you ideas on what you can promote in your next newsletter.

While you are at the site you clicked on, see if there are any FAQ pages that will help you identify a problem that you can solve with your writing. A list of short tips that helps solve a problem would also make a great article. Remember to write everything in your own words, don’t just copy and paste the website owner’s FAQ.

Blog sites are an excellent way to get new ideas. Search www.Technorati.com or www.blogsearch.google.com for some interesting blogs. You are bound to find an endless stream of ideas for things that you can elaborate on.

Take another look at your own hobbies and see if there is something you like to do that might be interesting to others. Do you have a different hobby in summer than in the winter? Have you been writing a variety of articles on skiing and forgetting that you also fish? While you are searching the blogs, you may find other hobbies that would be interesting to your target market and fit in with your main focus.

Article sites are another great place to find ideas and get free articles that can serve as templates for your own efforts. Go to www.articlecity.com or www.ezinearticles.com and see what subjects are being written about. If you’re in a bind for information or pressed for time, you can use these articles, as long as you include the resource box. They’ll help you to get you by until you’ve developed a feel for what articles you want to write about.

Now you can start writing – and never stop. . .