Every writer at one time or another has asked this question. They know their work is good, they have paid their dues when it comes to market needs, research, and career preparation, they've read some of the inferior work that has made it into print and they eventually founder in the injustice and statistical difficulty of breaking in to print.
One thing is certain. Not all markets are equal. And once a writer breaks in to one genre or area of expertise it is easier to triumph in the next. The first thing I learned when I started studying for this career was, ?Write what you know.? That surprised me. I thought I could just put on any old hat, assume a dialect or persona and let my imagination fly.
That is simply not how it is done. If I put on a virtual football helmet and swagger into a literary locker room, I am not going to get it right. And every reader who has ever been there in real life will spot me as a fraud by the second paragraph. I have to concentrate on those areas of life where I do have expertise. And there are several. I'm a mother. A grandmother. A decent (sometimes inventive,) chef. I've built a telescope, run several ministry teams and I once wrote letters to every city in my Atlas offering to pray for people's needs. I ran for public office and won. Twice. I've organized and run a huge writer's conference for six years. I once survived a pulmonary embolism. There's lots more but these are sufficient to make my point.
Write what you know. Make a list of all the subjects and areas of interest where you have true knowledge and something of value to impart. Next, look for publications that cater to that topic. I can knit and crochet. Not only that I am compulsive about adapting and changing patterns. So I could write articles for magazines written for crafters. I can interview people who have made it to the top of those fields. Articles like that sell well.
Once I break in to small trade publications and special interest markets, I can use those sales in my publishing resume.
Those people who think the only places to break in are with novels or with articles in Reader's Digest, Redbook or the New Yorker will soon be experts in how not to break into print.
Study markets, ferret out those small publishers looking for great writing and stay close to your areas of expertise. Before long you will find your work in high demand.
The longer you are online trying to make money the more apparent it will become to you that you need your own website or blog. Replcated websites is not the way to make more money.
Speaking of competition what is it we are competing for? Traffic, or as we think of it, visitors to your site. This is Internet marketing simplified. We put in the effort because weare trying to get more traffic. This is a very easy principle to understand. You might think of it as Internet Marketing 101, or Internet Marketing for dummies.
If I have more traffic than you my business will be larger than yours. My website can be horrible in content and design, and I will still make more sales, get more subscribers to my newsletter, get more referrals, get more repeat traffic, and so on if I have more traffic than you.
Since I started marketing on the internet in 2002 getting traffic is the most written about subject I have seen. Do you get the idea that getting website traffic is going to be hard to do.
If you have a large budget for advertising you are still not guaranteed internet marketing success. You can waste as much money as you gain from your online promotion efforts.
For this reason I have always tried to think long term when I promote online. I like to ask myself this question. "Is what I am doing today going to benefit me in the future?"
I have always tried to go for as much free or nearly free traffic as possible. I put my emphasis on getting links back to my site as many ways as possible. For me that has meant article marketing, social networking, forum marketing, blogging, and email marketing to my opt in list.
This is a bunch of work to do it this way. Getting traffic one backlink at a time is not the fastest way to do it. Pay per click advertising is the way to do that. Getting my website address on someone else's web page takes effort.
That is probably why search engines reward you so much for doing it. Anyone with money can buy their traffic. To earn it takes some skill and a lot of elbow grease so to speak. But for a long term solution to getting traffic you have to understand it will take effort and then buckle down and do it.
Hopefully this article will help you understand how hard getting traffic is going to be and how much work is in store for you. But the rewards are huge for those of you willing to do just that. A link pointing back to you is potential traffic for years and years. That is exciting!
Both Beverly Vines-haines & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.