For pretty much my entire adult life, I have made money through my writing. Most writers will tell you though, that writing isn’t something that just “comes” all the time. Much of the time it is simply plain ole’ hard work. Getting disciplined. And deciding to sit down and just do it (sorry Nike!).
I realize that a lot of people probably don’t understand that. That’s why today I’m going to talk about REAL ways to motivate yourself to write. This is not some fruits and berries, pie in the sky, solution. It’s just the cold, hard, truth.
1. Compare The Cost Of Advertising Vs. Article Marketing
If you are trying to find the motivation to sit down and write an article tonight, think about what it would you cost you if you didn’t. If I didn’t use article marketing as my primary source of traffic to all of my sites, I would have to get the traffic some other way and that probably would cost some money. Hey, I’m a busy mother of three. I take care of my mom who has dementia. I am a happily married woman (and we all know that takes work:). I’m exhausted. There are plenty of days that I don’t want to write a thing — but sometimes this works for me when I get into that line of thinking. Do I want to write a few articles for the next week, or do I want to pay a few hundred bucks for one pay per click ad? Uh – problem solved.
2. What Else Would You Be Doing For 30 Minutes?
You could get one article written in the time it takes to watch one repeat episode of Will and Grace or Frasier. You could write two articles in the time it takes to watch Grey’s Anatomy or CSI. Which of these activities is more productive? Sure you could laugh and be entertained temporarily, but your articles would last a lifetime. Once you write and submit them — they will bring you traffic for infinity. So which activity makes more sense to you?
3. You Have To Make A Living Right?
If your online business is how you make a living, how you put food on the table, or even better how you want to make a living — then you have got to put in the work. No business has just risen out of the ashes and made money on its own. It takes hard work, intelligence, and a little luck. Writing articles is part of the work. Some days it’s easier than others. Some days you may not feel inspired to write anything — but so what…
Pour yourself a glass of iced tea or merlot (whichever you perfer:), sit down and start brain storming. Just start typing. Write a few scattered thoughts down. Comment on something you saw on the news and tie it into your article. What’s the weather like today? Maybe you can write about that and tie it into your niche. Just start writing. This is what professional writers do. Sometimes it flows and some days it just doesn’t, but the key is to consistently put in the work — and eventually your articles will get written. Don’t worry about perfection, I’m sure there are tons of typos or grammatical errors in this article today – but I wrote it and it’s published for all to see. That’s the key.
4. Are You A Household Name In Your Niche?
If you are not a household name in your niche or your marketplace, then you have some work to do. One of the great things about writing articles is that you then become a published author, and essentially an expert. I can’t tell you how many print publications, radio shows, and news shows have asked for my advice, an article, etc. based on finding me via articles that I have written in my niches.
Now I’m not saying that I’m “Oprah” status, but I am definitely seen as an authority on my topics, and that’s because I write about them all the time. I have a lot out there, and I give away a lot of good information. Can you say the same? If not – that should be motivation enough to keep writing.
5. Check Your Traffic Stats
Now this is the one thing I do all the time to motivate myself. My ultimate goal would be to have a very high percentage of my visitors arrive to my site via organic searches on the web. That is when a person is looking for specific information, types it in their search box, and finds one of my articles that matches their search criteria. There is nothing greater then getting such a pre-qualified lead to your website – at zero cost!
So to achieve that goal, I first check my stats and see what keywords sent people to my site already. When I see that I have penetrated one keyword or keyword phrase and am getting good and consistent traffic from one, then I move onto my next keyword phrase on my keyword glossary. (I teach how to build a keyword glossary for your topic in my article marketing training program Articology.)
When I see what traffic I am getting it excites me, and makes me feel all my work is paying off, and then it motivates me to move onto and conquer the next. So go ahead and check your stats – and get motivated to write your next traffic generating article!
Lisa Angelettie
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Thanks for this informative post, i think i would like to re visit your blog. awesome work dude
Thanks for this informative post, i think i would like to re visit your blog. awesome work dude