I know several beginning writers who choose to advertise on Fiverr for example, and justify it by saying that once they gain a few clients they’ll raise their rates. Unfortunately, that rarely works out. Those clients who are looking for $5 articles are not the type to recognize quality and stick with you through your rate changes. They’ll simply find another $5 article writer. After all, there are thousands to choose from. Sure, you’re better than most, but let’s face it: clients looking for $5 articles aren’t in the market for quality. They’re simply looking for search-engine fodder.

Does that mean you should never write for cheap? No. It just means you have to be strategic about it. It’s okay to write for low/no pay if:

• You’re trying to build a portfolio. Just remember, your goal should be to replace those low-pay samples with higher paid items as quickly as possible.
• You’re giving away samples as a part of your marketing plan. Providing a pack of articles to be given away in a high-profile contest is a great way to build links and goodwill.
• You’re writing copy in exchange for a link (“Article contributed by Your Name”) back to your website.
• You’re bartering for services like a website design or eBook formatting. Money is tight when you’re just starting out, but your time is plentiful, so take advantage of that.

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But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take steps to improve. Next time you write a blog post or an article, keep these tips in mind, and see if it makes a difference in your writing.

Make Every Word Count

Ernest Hemingway never wrote a Tweet or sent a text message, but if he had, I bet he wouldn’t have run up against the character limits. Whether he really did write the famous baby shoes story is up for debate, but he was the master of concise writing. He used short sentences, powerful words, and never used three syllables when two would do.

We can learn a lot about how to write better from him.

Concise: expressing or covering much in few words; brief in form but comprehensive in scope; succinct; terse

• Use strong verbs. Weak verbs like walk and talk need help to make a point, so we have to dress them up with adverbs like quickly and quietly. When you choose a strong verb instead, like stride or chatter, you can eliminate the weaker adverb/verb pair.
• Use descriptive nouns. If you say you bought a new computer, chances are good you’ll need to tell us later that it’s a MacBook Air. Better to say that in the first place.
• Watch for unnecessary words. “That” is the biggest offender here, often sneaking in where it’s not needed. Read through your drafts to make sure that you’re not using “that” where it can be eliminated.

Know Your Audience

You might be a classically trained pianist who’s headlined at Carnegie Hall, but if you’re playing for an audience of inner-city high-school kids, you’re not going to make a very good impression. The same goes for writing. Beyond the obvious technical skills like using correct grammar and punctuation, you need to be aware of – and write for – your specific audience.

• Use industry jargon where appropriate – and leave it out when it’s not.
• Choose examples and metaphors that make sense to your readers.
• Be aware of the readers’ education level and comprehension ability, and tailor your writing for them.

Be Yourself

Nothing makes an article or blog post sound stilted and bland quite like a writer who’s trying too hard to impress.

• Write casually, as if you’re sending an email to a friend. That doesn’t mean you can ignore the rules of grammar and spelling, but you don’t have to be able to diagram every sentence, either.
• Put away your thesaurus. There’s nothing wrong with improving your vocabulary, but don’t reach for complicated words when the simple ones will do.
• Find your voice. Every writer has one, and once you find and become comfortable with your unique voice, you’ll have a much easier time getting the words on (virtual) paper, and your writing will be much more engaging as well.

You don’t have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist to make it as a blogger, but you do have to have an audience. By building stronger writing skills, you’ll attract and retain more readers, and you’ll earn a reputation as an expert in your niche. That’s pretty handy when it comes to making product recommendations.

Your Turn: How are your writing skills? Do you actively try to write better, or do you just go with the flow?

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You have writer’s block. But if you’re a professional, or want to be, you’ll find a way to write anyway. Need a jumpstart? Try one of these:

• Free write. Get a pen and a real piece of paper, set a timer for five minutes and just write. Don’t stop to think about the best word choice or correct your shoddy grammar, just pour your gray matter out onto the page. You’ll almost certainly find something you can use.
• Write the middle first. I don’t know about you, but beginnings and endings are the hardest for me to write, so I almost always start in the middle.
• Write a list. List posts are popular, easy to read, and even easier to write. All you need is a couple of sentences to tell the reader what the list is for, and lots of bullet points. No creative writing required (unless you want there to be, that is).
• Start typing. When I’m writing an article for a client and I get stuck I just open up my word processor and start typing. A few words here, a half-formed thought there, and pretty soon the words and phrases start to join together and turn into something meaningful. But they can’t do that if they’re stuck in your head. You have to start typing first.
• Expand an old post. Look through your archives and find something that needs more explanation or an update.
• Plan ahead. I jot down 20 to 30 blog post ideas every single day. Some of them are just random thoughts or titles that sound cool, some flow from my fingertips nearly fully formed. I store them all in Evernote, and when I need a post all I have to do is choose one and polish it up.
• Write about what other bloggers are doing. Scroll through your feed reader or haunt your favorite blogs and compile a list of the best of the web for this week or this month.
• Write every day. There is a lot to be said for consistency. I find it’s a lot easier to write if I keep my fingers nimble and my mind focused. Get away from it for a couple of days, and it becomes too easy to say, “I’ll worry about it tomorrow.”
• Draw a mindmap. Start with one central idea and expand each branch with more and more detail until you have a full outline. Then all that’s left is to fill in the blanks.

Whether you’re writing blog posts, a novel, or articles for a client, if you wait until the mood is right and your muse is content, you won’t get a lot of writing done. Instead, sit down and write something. Do it every day, preferably at the same time, and soon enough you won’t ever find yourself lacking words again.

Your Turn: Do you suffer from writer’s block? How do you motivate yourself to write when all your creativity has fled?

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You’ve got, at best, a few seconds to grab her attention and get her to read the rest of your post, so you better make your opening paragraph the best it can be. Ready? Go!

Use a Statistic: “Among those 65 and older, 33% will take a fall in the next year. More than 2 million seniors will be treated for their injuries in an emergency room, and 25% of them will suffer a traumatic brain injury due to the fall.”

Why it works: That’s some scary stuff. If your readers care for a parent or grandparent in that age bracket, numbers like that will certainly make them sit up and take notice.

Use the News: “On Tuesday, North Carolina became the latest state to pass the so-called Amazon Tax.”

Why it works: When big news hits, your target market will flood the Internet looking for information. Even if they land on your site looking for something else, reminding them about that big news story is often enough to keep them reading.

Be Controversial: “Keywords don’t matter. In fact, keywords may be the most overhyped invention since Google Wave.”

Why it Works: People want to be right. Open your post with a statement that directly opposes their belief, and they’ll continue reading if for no other reason than to tell you at the end how wrong you are.

Make an Odd Comparison: “I learned to write better blog posts by reading trashy novels.”

Why it Works: When you pair things that don’t naturally go together, you arouse your reader’s curiosity. She wants to know how the two go together, and to find out, she needs to keep reading.

Make a Shocking Statement: “I got fired on a Friday, and by Tuesday I was already earning more than I had at my old job.”

Why it Works: It holds the promise of sharing a remarkable story. Who doesn’t want to hear what happened between Friday and Tuesday? Did you win the lottery? Mary a Prince? Learn a new bank robbing technique? Whatever it is, it’s sure to be a great read.

It should go without saying (kind of like those warning labels on garbage bags that tell you not to let your toddler play with it), but I’ll say it anyway. If you open your blog post or article with a strong statement like some of those listed, you better have the goods to back it up. Don’t ever just make up a shocking statistic just to drag a reader along until she finds your affiliate link. Doing so will kill your credibility, not to mention your sales.

Does all that mean you can toss out your subscription to WordTracker or uninstall Market Samurai and just “wing it”? No. But it does mean you should spend less time worrying about exact match versus phrase match and learn how to write. Master that first, so when all that traffic shows up they’ll have something good to read.

Your Turn: Do you think about your opening paragraph, or do you just start writing? What strategy has worked best for you in grabbing the reader’s attention?

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Please don’t do that.

Solve a Problem

No one fires up their Internet browser and types “how to lose weight” into Google so they can read some poorly written bit of fluff that doesn’t offer anything beyond “eat less, workout more.” They are looking for help with a problem. If your article doesn’t offer them the help they need, they’re not going to scroll down to your resource box and click through to your sales page anyway. They’re going to hit the back button and click on your competitor’s link instead.

So be helpful. Solve a problem. Give good, sound advice.

Do Your Research

Step away from your computer and head down to the local library for some quality time with real paper.

From time to time I hire writers to produce articles for All Quality PLR, and the first question I ask them is “How do you do your research?”

The most common answer? Wikipedia.

Seriously folks, Wikipedia is a great spot to gather some quick insight into a topic, but it is not to be relied upon for research. Anyone can write or edit a Wikipedia entry. There is no fact checking, no peer review, no vetting process at all. Remember the fake Maurice Jarre quote that made it into newspapers all over the world? Don’t make that mistake with your writing.

Good places to research include government sites, academic journals, corporate sites (for product-specific information), big authority sites like WebMD and ConsumerReports, and respected news outlets (not Examiner.com). And don’t forget about the best of all possible research tools: actual books. Step away from your computer and head down to the local library for some quality time with real paper. Your readers will thank you for it.

It’s okay to use the top results in Google for your preliminary outline or rough draft, but if you want your readers to trust you (and buy from you), then dig a little deeper. Your article will not only be factually correct, it will be a whole lot more interesting, too.

Pay Attention to the Details

Spelling and grammar count. Think about it. If you can’t be bothered to figure out the difference between their, they’re, and there, or to learn how to properly use an apostrophe, why should I trust what you have to say about anything else? You don’t have to be a grammarian to write articles for the Internet, but at least have someone else proofread your content. And before the grammar police show up to point out all the errors in my own writing, I’m not talking about typos here. I’m talking about a lack of knowledge of written English. There’s a difference.

You don’t have to be a journalism major to run a niche blog, but you do owe it to your readers – and to yourself – to produce the best quality articles you are capable of writing.

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