Article Writing Tips from SpongeBob SquarePants

Posted on 05/21/2011 Written by Nicole 2 Comments

Article Writing Tips from SpongeBob SquarePants

Wisdom can be found in the most unexpected places. Today, wisdom bubbled up from a pineapple under the sea. I suddenly realized that everything you’d want to know about writing articles for your website can be taught by SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends.

When you write for your newsletter, blog, or website, which character are you most like?

Mr. Krabs: This crustacean is focused on one thing and one thing only, making more and more and more money. Only a cartoon could actually have dollar signs drawn in his eyes. He thinks of no one, only how he can benefit. Are your articles focused on you or on the reader? Are you providing information or do you have blinders on, thinking only about how you can make money from the article you are writing? If your article reads like an ad or is self-serving or full of affiliate links, you might write like Mr. Krabs.

Plankton: The smallest creature in the sea is also the sneakiest. He’ll do anything and hurt anyone to steal someone else’s work (the Krabby Pattie secret formula). Write your own material. Don’t be Plankton. Don’t copy and paste someone else’s work, edit it, and try to pass it off as your own. You will be caught, and it just isn’t worth it. Take the same amount of effort and work on your own thoughts and ideas. Plankton never gets away with his schemes, either. He’s on Plan “Z” and is still pathetically failing at his attempts to steal the secret formula.

Patrick: SpongeBob’s best friend, the starfish, has a good heart, but isn’t the brightest creature in the sea. Do your articles make you sound like an expert? Are you providing valuable content or just pushing out sloppy articles as fast as you can? Always double check for typos and grammatical errors. If you’re challenged by spelling and grammar, hire a Virtual Assistant or Copywriter to proofread and submit your article for you. Or slow down, set your article aside for a day and then reread it before you click the “submit” button.

Squidward: Squidward is B-O-R-I-N-G. When writing articles, are you a Squidward? Do you just get the words down on paper or are you finding a fun twist to entertain your audience and keep them coming back for more? Take time to make your articles stand out from the thousands of other dull articles out there by including personal stories or just having fun while writing. For instance, this article could be entitled “How to Write a Good Article”, but would it stand out from the hundreds of other articles about article writing? Probably not.

SpongeBob: This little guy always tries to do the right thing, and is a hard worker. He may not always end up getting the results he hoped for, but he bounces back and tackles his work with a renewed vigor. SpongeBob works very hard, he’s a good friend, he always thinks of others, and tries to have fun no matter what he is faced with. Hardworking, friendly SpongeBob is the guy to be when writing articles.

Although this is a silly lesson in article writing, I hope you’ll remember the important messages our underwater friends have taught us.

1. Write articles to help others, not with dollar signs in your eyes.

2. Write your own material. Don’t copy others.

3. Proofread your articles carefully, and provide valuable information.

4. Be entertaining. Not boring.

5. Be a SpongeBob! Hard work and persistence pay off.

Before you know it, you’ll develop a following for having informative and entertaining articles and you’ll be King or Queen of the sea.

When Life Gets Crazy – How to Connect with Your Lists When you Don’t Have Time To

Posted on 12/24/2010 Written by Nicole 8 Comments

When Life Gets Crazy – How to Connect with Your Lists When you Don’t Have Time To

by Nicole Dean

Life is madness. At least in my house it is. People are always asking me “Nicole, you have 2 kids, 2 dogs, you take in foster dogs, have a husband who you actually like, and you run several very successful online businesses. What in the HECK?!”

I think there’s a compliment in there somewhere.

The things that I do in my business every day fall under four areas…

Growing my List and Connecting with my Readers
Increasing my Traffic
Building Relationships on my Own Blog
Developing my Products and my Other Offers (like PLR stuff, and private coaching and consulting)

Anything that doesn’t fall directly under those four areas must be put aside until I’ve tackled those.

Now obviously, I could write an entire report about this, so in this post, I’ll focus in on your mailing list.

Your list is your livelihood. At least it can be with some love. However, it takes time to write your newsletters or connect with your list, in general. And, coming up with ideas on a regular basis can be brutal.

Life happens. (Thank goodness!) So, you need some shortcuts for when you just don’t have time or don’t necessarily feel inspired to connect with your lists.

Here’s where the magic happens. I have tons of tricks, but I’ll just start with three ideas to get you off and running.

Outsourcing
Planning and Batching
PLR articles

OUTSOURCING PARTS OF THE PROCESS.

First of all, outsourcing. There are several ways you can outsource when it comes to your list.

If you have a virtual assistant (or a teenager in your house), write and send an article to him/her and have that person compile your newsletter for you. A side benefit is that it will require you to plan in advance, which can be a very good thing.

You can also hire a virtual assistant to seek out articles in places like EzineArticles.com or LadyPens.com that you can use in your newsletter, rather than having to do it all yourself. Find a few authors that you like (who are considered experts in their fields) and just have your virtual assistant grab one of their articles whenever you’re behind.

Recommended Resource:

PLANNING AND BATCHING.

Second, let’s dig into planning a bit. I find it much easier to plan a month at a time or more than to sit down in front of the computer and try to brainstorm. Can you plan a series of emails to send to your readers?

Perhaps a set like “7 Ways to …” That way you’re set for at least the next seven emails. If you look at my ecourse above “Outsourcing Mistakes to Avoid” – you’ll see how I used a series to create that ecourse. You can model yours after that one.

PLR ARTICLES.

PLR articles can be such a huge shortcut. If you’re not using them yet, you are in for a treat!

Here’s a definition of PLR (in case you aren’t familiar with it):

Let’s talk about how useful this is. I mean, honestly. Let’s say your niche is romance. If you purchase a set of ten PLR articles, you have everything you need for 10 newsletters immediately – and, guess what? You can reuse them again the following year or year after.

Not only do you not have to come up with titles, you don’t have to even draft the articles yourself.

Simply copy and paste the articles into your newsletter, tweak them to have some of YOU in them – either by including examples, personal stories, or some of your own tips and ideas, and you’re set.

Recommended Resource:

I started one of the most highly regarded PLR sites on the web back in 2006 and made it my personal goal to change the PLR industry for the better. I like to think that I’ve accomplished my goal.

See for yourself here: Quality PLR Articles

Now, the next time you’re thinking “I really need to send something to my lists, but what?” you don’t have to panic now that you have these shortcuts at your disposal.

Thanks so much for reading! Please share your thoughts below.

Warmly,

Nicole Dean