Top Ten: The Easiest Way to Write a Content-Rich Article for
Your Niche
Copyright 2006 Alicia M Forest and ClientAbundance.com
Whether or not you consider yourself a writer, penning articles
that are of value to your target market is one of the most
effective ways to get your name out there and become known as an
expert in your niche, attract visitors to your website, and gain
new subscribers for your ezine or other Pink Spoon (free
offering to entice prospects into your Marketing & Product
Funnel).
And crafting a Top Ten article is one of the easiest ways of
actually getting that article written! To help you, I've created
a Top Ten on how to put together your own Top Ten article:
1. Visit www.topten.org
This is a great website to give you ideas and samples of how a
Top Ten article looks. Once your article is complete, you can
add yours to this website as well. (There's also loads of good
info on this site, but try not to get too distracted by it until
your own article is finished... :))
2. Decide who your Top Ten is going to be written for.
To give you the best return for your investment in writing your
Top Ten, it should be written for your niche. You can write a
general article that applies to your entire niche, or you could
choose a segment of your niche to write the article for.
3. Decide what your Top Ten is going to be about.
To take #2 a step further, choose one issue that your niche
seems to grapple with over and over, and write the article based
on your solution(s) to that problem.
4. Give it a title.
For example:
Top Ten Ways to Choose the Perfect Massage Therapist for You Top
Ten Reasons for Not Writing a Blog Top Ten Steps to Making a
Sound Business Investment Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When
Choosing a Babysitter Top Ten Blunders Most New Business Owners
Make Top Ten Questions to Ask Before Hiring A Virtual Assistant
Top Ten Answers to How to Design a Website Top Ten Requirements
for Traveling to Europe Top Ten Points to Make in Any
Presentation Top Ten Hints to Keeping A Clean House Without Maid
Service
(I just made all of those up, so feel free to "steal" any of
them.)
5. Create a summary paragraph about your Top Ten article.
Write a short paragraph that describes what your article is
about. Three to five sentences should suffice. This will become
your introductory paragraph.
6. Write down your Top Ten points.
Write down the ten points you want to make in your article. Keep
each of the ten points short. For example, if your top ten
article is "Top Ten Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Massage
Therapist," your Top Ten points might be:
Point 1: Is the location of the massage therapist's office
desirable?
Point 2: Does the massage therapist accept your insurance?
Point 3: Are the fees reasonable for you, if insurance is not
accepted?
Point 4: Can you talk to some current clients?
Point 5: Is scheduling an appointment easy?
Point 6: Can you have your choice of a male or female therapist,
if you have a preference?
Point 7: Is the environment of the therapist's office to your
liking?
Point 8: Does the therapist hold certain qualifications that are
important to you?
Point 9: Does the therapist have a reasonable cancellation
policy?
Point 10: Know you don't have to stay with a therapist if they
aren't right for you!
7. Explain each of the ten points.
Write 3 to 5 sentences to illustrate each of your ten points.
For example,
Point 1: Is the location of the massage therapist's office
desirable?
Think about how much time you want to spend getting to and from
a potential massage therapist's office. Less is probably more
desirable, or, if you're like me, I drive 30 minutes because his
office is very close to the only Starbucks around where I live,
so the drive is worth it to me for my weekly chai.
8. Write your author's resource box info.
For example, one version of mine says:
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach