How to Write Articles That Get Published on Large Websites (Replay)
On Saturday’s I send exclusive content out to my email list. I don’t share this content anywhere else. It’s a thank you for being an email subscriber. I wanted to give you a sample of that content. If you’re not signed up you might be missing out… Here is one example, your chance to get your questions answered.
I have written a whole series about this topic, but since that series went live, there have been a lot of new people visiting the site. The number one question I’m asked these days is how to write for large websites. Here’s how.
Aloha everyone! How are you? Did you enjoy last week’s exclusive content? Here’s some more exclusive as a thank you for being an email subscriber!
I had another great week. My first article for Entrepreneur Magazine went live which brought 30,000 visitors to this website. I was asked by Entrepreneur, and the Good Men Project to write once a week for them! *Since writing this, I have written eight articles for Entrepreneur and become an editor at the Good Men Project.*
Last week we talked about how to land articles on these large websites. This week I’m going to teach you how to write content that will get published. Here’s the process I used to land my initial set of articles.
Go to the website you want to write for and look at their most popular posts of all time. You may have an idea about what you want to write, but that doesn’t mean those websites want that idea, or that their audience will respond.
Looking at their most popular posts takes all the guesswork out of it. Those posts are popular for a reason, so why reinvent the wheel when you already have something that’s proven to work?
If you look through the popular posts on any large website something glaring sticks out, all the popular posts are “lists” (numbered).
5 ways Steve Jobs distinguished his business
7 mindset tricks for a healthy life
10 facts that prove America is great
The numbered posts are what people respond most to. Your posts should be number to get published on these large websites. An editor told me this is because people scan headlines and scan the main points of an article. When they see a list, they’re likely to click because they think the article will be a quick read.
Once you read through the popular posts a topic will jump out at you. Think about how you can tie that topic back to you, and your life.
Let’s say you have one. The next thing you do is come up with the headline. It should be numbered, and as catchy as possible. My next article for Entrepreneur magazine is called “5 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Overrated.” Did that catch your attention?
After the headline, work out the main points of the article. This will help you express your thoughts clearly and lead people to where you want to lead them.
Now that you have the headline, and main points worked out, its time to write. The first section of your article is used to paint the problem. Here’s how I did that for Mind Body Green.
As much as possible, you want to back up what you’re saying with research. Link to relevant articles that prove what you’re saying. If you can link back to their website, even better. Always give credit to your source. Did you see how I did that?
The main body of your articles is used to prove your main points. Again, use as much research as possible. The end of the article is used to bring it all home, and give people a strong call to action.
When you’re researching the popular posts take note of the length. I can tell you for the Huffington Post they want articles that are 800-1,000 words, for Entrepreneur it’s no more than 800, for the Good Men Project it’s 1,300 or less.
You should know upfront how many words you need to write for the particular website you’re shooting for. Find the website first, research what’s working, write the article, and then submit it to the editor.
Keep it simple in your email to the editor. If you have any questions hit reply to this email and ask away!
Have you landed an article on a large website?
