The other day, while trying to come up with an idea for an article to send out on the internet (in hopes of getting it published) it hit me!

Why even bother with article writing?

In front of me, almost hidden within an endless stream of email, was a little-known secret that is used by a few very savvy internet marketers!

COMPILE A "TOP TEN" LIST

These guys have learned the value of compiling a "top ten" list.

They take ten great ideas and place them in a list.

That's all they do! It's not a very difficult task, believe me!

They then include their resource box (which is a brief advertisement) at the end of the "list".

Then they send the list out to be published on the internet.

And it almost always is - somewhere on the internet!!!

One very well-known marketer sends one of these articles out almost every week without fail!

He then sits back and waits for it to get published.

And, of course, it almost always is (published).

One week it's "10 Unique Ways To Market Your Website". The next week it's "10 Explosive Ways To Market Your Product".

The following week . . . you guessed it - "10 Amazing Ways to Market Your Website".

All great articles - all achieving the writer's goal - to provide free publicity for the author's product or service!

And to think - all this guy does is compile a "top ten" list!

I don't know how long it takes for him to put together his list each week. But, believe me, you could do this!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR LIST

Let's take a closer look at how it works!

First, consider this. What is the focus of your website? Is it internet marketing? Selling a specific product? Promoting a great affiliate program?

No matter what it is, there are probably ten great ideas floating around in your head that you could share with others.

1) Take the first idea and place it in a list, then the second idea . . . and so on until you have ten great ideas.

2) Write a short paragraph for each idea (just enough detail so your reader knows what you are trying to tell him or her).

3) Add your resource box at the end of the article (giving information about you and whatever product or service you are trying to promote).

4) Come up with a short headline that summarizes your top ten list (such as: "10 Unique Ways To ___________" . . . you fill in the blank, of course).

And that's it!

You have your "article" ready to go and ready to be published!

"TOP 20 OR 30"

Another writer, I've noticed, even takes this whole idea a step further. 

He compiles lists of 20 or 30 ways to market effectively and sends them out on a less-frequent basis than the first author (I mentioned previously).

I don't know, though, maybe this is overkill - since it appears that the top ten list is really all you need!

I know this type of article has appeal. I've published these "list articles" in my newsletter from time to time as I'm sure other ezine publishers have done as well. 

These articles quickly convey a clever idea or concept in a form that's easy for readers to understand.

"ARTICLE LISTS" WELL-RECEIVED

And people just love these lists! In fact, they're almost like magnets. People are attracted to them! 

And beyond that, these lists are a great source of free content, so webmasters and ezine publishers love them too!

So you want to write an article and get it read?

Make a list and try to get it published instead!

And you'll be surprised at the great response!!!

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The article may be reprinted or used freely as long as it is in its entirety incl the resource box below
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Ron Knowlton is a former journalist and the founding editor at http://www.soaringprofits.com/
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