Are you seriously considering starting a career as an article writer for magazines? Then, these tips will help you get started on the right foot:
1. Stick with what you know. Consider your areas of expertise and passion when choosing the magazines to write for. You’ll most likely to produce compelling articles if you know or love the things that you’re writing about. List down the things that you consider yourself an expert on. You might be a good cook, you may have a degree in psychology, or you maybe considered a fitness buff. Then, have a good look at your list and identify the magazines that might appreciate your knowledge and passion.
2. Read and learn. Make time to read the magazines that you’ve chosen. Read the articles written by different contributors over and over again. Your goal here is to understand how they were written and identify the techniques that were used in writing them. Through this, you’ll get an idea about the preference of the editors. You’ll easily give these people the exact articles they want if you know exactly what they’re looking for.
3. Choose interesting topics. Consider the readers of your chosen magazines when choosing the topics for your articles. You would want to write something that is controversial and newsworthy. What I suggest is that you conduct surveys to know the needs and demands of your target audience so you can easily make well-informed decisions.
4. Do your research. As a writer, it is your job to make sure that your articles are very informative. Gather as much data as possible through thorough research. Read relevant books, articles, and even online resources. You may also interview other experts when needed. Make sure that all the information that you’ve gathered are based on facts. The last thing that you would like to happen is to mislead or misinform your audience.
5. Make it lively. Most people are spending money buying magazines not only because they would like to be informed but also because they would like to be entertained. So, make your articles sound interesting and entertaining as much as possible. Insert stories that are related to your topics or share your personal experiences. Write using conversational, friendly tone all the time. Also, insert related photos and statistics whenever possible.
6. Keep it short and concise. Avoid beating around the bush when writing your articles. Your readers will not appreciate it if they don’t get the information they need after reading your copies for 2-4 minutes. Give them the facts that they’re looking for as fast as you can. Also, try to limit your word count. Your articles should not contain more than 800 words especially if your topic is very specific.
Proofread your articles. Before you distribute your articles to publishers, ensure that they’re perfect. They must be well-written, well-researched, very informative, and unique. Read them
Sean Mize is an article marketing expert and coach. Here's one of his best
article written: Article Writing Project.