Solutions for the Struggling Article Writer

by Brandie King

Are you struggling to come up with new ideas for articles? Whether you are a new or veteran writer, this problem can effectively halt your ability to use this method of promotion. So, to help you overcome this, I have compiled a list of things you can do to find new article ideas.

1. Message Boards

Read the posts at message boards to see what people are interested in. You can then write your article on topics that people already want to know more about.

http://homebizlink.com/wwwboard
http://bkauras.com/internet-marketing-forum
http://www.bizweb2000.com/wwwboard/index.html
http://www.websitepublisher.net/forums
http://www.ablake.net/forum
http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

2. Discussion Lists

This is similar to using the message boards. Just read to see what others are posting about and write articles on those subjects.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hbj_chat
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ideasbypost
http://www.o-a.com
http://www.netpreneur.org/connect/am/default.html
http://www.i-advertising.com/html/join/join.shtml
http://bkauras.com/marketing_discuss_list

3. Surveys

You can use a survey to find out what people want to hear more about. There are several places to find people to take your survey. Send the survey to your net contacts, post to discussion groups, post on message boards, put it in your newsletter, or put it up on your website. Offer something of value for free, like an ebook or ecourse, to those who take your survey.

4. Newsletters

By subscribing to and reading newsletters, you can find out what is currently popular. Here are a few directories where you can find newsletters.

http://www.newsletter-directory.com
http://www.ezinehub.com
http://www.cumuli.com/ezines
http://www.expresslists.com
http://www.jogena.com/ezine/ezinedata.htm
http://www.list-city.com

5. Keywords

Get article ideas by studying the most searched for keywords, which you can find at these sites.

http://www.wordtracker.com
http://www.metaspy.com
http://50.lycos.com
http://www.top-keywords.com
http://www.kanoodle.com/Spy
http://buzz.yahoo.com

6. Chat Rooms

Find article ideas in chat rooms by looking to see what questions are being asked and by asking what information the other chatters are interested in.

7. Best Seller Lists

Research what the topics of the best selling books are. Most likely, if there are people buying books on those topics, there are those that will be interested in reading articles on them.

http://www.amazon.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
http://half.ebay.com/products/books/index.cfm http://www.booksense.com/bestsellers/index.jsp http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/top-50.htm

8. Visitor/Subscriber Questions

If you have a website or ezine, you probably have a goldmine of article ideas. Pay attention to the questions your visitors and subscribers ask you. There might be an article hidden in those questions somewhere.

9. News Websites

Check some news sites to find out what the latest happenings are. Then you can research the hot topics and write articles on them.

http://www.internetnews.com
http://www.internet.com
http://news.com.com/2001-12-0.html
http://www.internetnewsbureau.com
http://www.internetworld.com
http://www.newslinx.com

10. Article Writing Services

If you have tried all of the above methods and you haven't been able to come up with anything, there is always the option of having somebody else write your article for you. These can get pretty expensive, though, so research thoroughly before selecting a person or service.

http://www.dawnriversbaker.com
http://www.ezineaction.com/other.html
http://www.toupin.com/serv_writing.asp
http://www.writingdoctor.com
http://www.drnunley.com/copywriting.htm
http://www.writemix.ca/WritingServices.htm

I hope that this list has given you a good head start on find new ideas for your articles. Good luck!

Brandie King is the owner of BK Auras. Get your articles and your ezine submitted for you today. http://www.bkauras.com