As promised, here is the conclusion to my three-part series on article marketing, and believe it or not, there are only three key elements that must be included in every article:

1. Attention Getting Headline (Subject line). The headline should sum up the main benefit of the article and make the reader want to read more. Make the headline irresistible by promising a benefit, arousing curiosity or bringing up a problem that might not have been thought of before (and, of course, you have the solution in your article) There are quite a few resources that will help you write good headlines, so make sure you have one for your article.

2. The Body of the Article must cover the Promise of the Headline. If your headline is “Easy Ways to Lose Weight Without Exercising,” your article should not include exercising tips. Also, as in the case of this Article, if you promise a number of tips (example: Four Secrets To Writing. . .) there should be four items included. If you offer a “Simple Solution” to something, it better be simple or the reader will no longer trust you and will not open your emails. Always give the readers what you promise and you will have happy customers for a long time.

3. Conclusion – Call to Action. This is where you tell the reader(s) exactly what you want them to do after finishing your article. There should always be a link to your web site or a reference box for more information at the end of the article. This will send the reader back to your site clicking on your links, and helping pay for the time you spent writing your article.

Now that you’ve got your article properly formated, remember to Edit and Review it before you publish it. Read it over twice, then read it out loud. It’s a good idea to write an article a few days before it is actually needed, to give you time to think of other things to add to it. You will be amazed at how many other ideas you will get after the article is written, and your subconscious keeps working behind the scenes. At the minimum, wait at least overnight and see what new ideas you have in the morning.

Lastly, here’s a simple trick that will allow you to catch 99% of the errors that are in your article: Print out your completed article, and then read it as you follow along with your left hand. You will be surprised at how well it works to engage the other side of your brain when reading the article (if you’re left-handed, follow along with your right hand).

The reason I love article marketing so much is that your article will stay online forever! Compare that to pay per click (PPC) – where you pay for each individual click, and you will soon start to feel the benefits of article marketing and continue to increase your profits over time as you get more articles onto the world wide web.

 In my first post, I told you how to get great ideas for your affiliate marketing writing needs.
After you’ve gone through all of the areas noted looking for ideas, it’s time to sit down and write the article. You should now have a good idea for the article, but you need to figure out who is the best target audience for this information.

If you’re writing for a pet-focused group, you do NOT want your article to be about making money or self-help. It should solve a pet related problem. If you are submitting your article to article directories, be sure they have a section that includes your niche. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time submitting to them.

You should take about five minutes to brainstorm and write out some questions that you want to answer in your article. Don’t worry if you don’t know the correct answers right away — you can do more research later.

In fact, it’s a good hint you are on the right track if you don’t know all the answers. That usually means that you are not just writing on something that is common sense or too obvious. You’ll likely have valuable information and a different point of view to pass along.

After reading the niche articles you found, your mind will be focused on the job at hand. You’ll find that after about five minutes of brainstorming, you will have some interesting things to write about.

Now that you have some ideas for the article, and you know whom you are targeting, you need to determine what you want your article to accomplish. Are you writing to give your readers interesting information? Do you want them to click on a link to your website, subscribe to your ezine or buy something from you? Always begin with the end in mind.

In part three of this article writing series, I’ll show you how to properly format your article, so keep reading – and keep writing!