Welcome to Module 5: Article Writing 101.
In this module, you’re going to learn the foundations of how to create exciting, engaging, and thought-provoking articles.
You might be wondering why you’re learning about article writing before you’ve got a website to post your articles on… If you were, that would be a good thought.
And here’s the answer: The product you started designing in the last module needs content.
It doesn’t matter if it’s an eBook, a podcast, a video or even a short coaching program, every product needs content.
The quality of the content you create is going to largely determine the success of the product and so you need to learn how to create great content.
Whilst this module is called Article Writing 101, it’s really just ‘great content 101’ fashioned around helping you create articles.
Article Writing 101
Despite what it might seem, article writing isn’t a simple or fast process.
The seemingly natural looking words scrawled over pages of your internet browser didn’t just fall there by accident. They were crafted – slowly, laboriously, carefully – to end up in their current form.
Each word, piece of punctuation, and stylistic element sentence was chosen for a particular reason with a particular purpose in mind.
And if you’re going to build a thriving coaching business, you need to know how to do that as well.
Why? Because what you’re about to learn isn’t just how to create an article, it’s how to create great content. And it’s great content that’s going to convince your target market to choose you over the rest of your competitors.
How to Write an Article
The process of writing an article starts with one very important element – your mindset.
The way you think about an article determines how you put it together. It determines what you include, what you leave out, how you construct it, your choice of words, everything.
So, before we get into the technical aspects of constructing an article, lets start at the start.
NOTE: There are a lot of steps below; more than I ever imagined went into writing an article. The first time you read through these, you’re probably going to feel overwhelmed and be wondering “Is this all really necessary??”
The simple answer is yes, but not all the time. The more time you spend writing articles, the more you’ll be able to combine these steps into three of four major ones.
So before you freak yourself out, just work through the steps below because the more you do it the easier it becomes.
Step 1: The Purpose of an Article
What’s the purpose of an article? Is it to convey information? Is it to share thoughts and feelings or even connect with your audience?
No. It’s not. It’s none of those.
The purpose of an article (and any content related to your business) is one thing and one thing only: to sell.
Every piece of content you will ever create – from the simplest email right through to the most complicated coaching products – is designed to sell.
It might be selling you and your services. It might be selling your thoughts and ideas. It might be selling your beliefs. It doesn’t matter what it is your selling, only that you’re 100% conscious of the fact that everything you create is designed to sell.
This is important because the purpose of an action determines what’s necessary for you to achieve that.
If your purpose for your article was to just inform people of an idea, then you’re just going to include that idea and maybe a bit of supporting documentation.
If your purpose is to connect with people, your article is going to include feelings and desires and a bit of background information about you.
But, if your purpose is to sell, then things will be different. You’ll hammer home the key points, you’ll backup every concept with convincing data, you’ll choose language that really connects with your ideal customer, you’ll inspire them to be more than they were yesterday, and you’ll include a call to action in every piece you create.
This is why you must be consciously aware of your article’s purpose and keep it in the front of your mind throughout the entire process of content creation.
Step 2: Set Your Controlling Idea
Now we’ve got that out of the way, lets get into the writing process.
The first step in actually writing your article is to decide on your controlling idea.
The controlling idea of any article is the idea / product / service / belief that you’re attempting to sell. It can be:
- This is how you do this
- This is the object / person / group / idea you need to achieve x
- This object / group / person / idea is good / bad / exciting / scary / right / wrong
Or anything in between…
It’s the idea or belief or conclusion you want your ideal client to come to by the time they finish reading your article.
It’s called the controlling idea because it controls what you do and do not include in your article. It controls the title, the points you make, the structure, the tone, the mood, everything. It controls everything about the article so you need to set it at the start.
Doing so will give you a framework for making decisions about your article.
One thing to keep in mind: the controlling idea of your article MUST be consistent with your unique value proposition you developed in Module 3.
If it’s not consistent then your ideal customer is going to be confused about what you offer and it’s going to negatively impact their buying decision.
Step 3: Identify Your Target Market
Once you’ve decided on your controlling idea, the next step is to identify your target market.
Yes, you’ve already decided on your overall target market but who’s this article for? Is it for a new visitor to your site? Is it for someone who’s been around for a while? Is it for a previous customer?
These questions are important because they tell you one very important thing: how much knowledge does your reader currently have?
You need to know this so you can create an engaging and exciting article.
If your article is about ‘5 Steps Every Entrepreneur Must Take Before They Start a Business’ then you need to know how much your client already knows about starting a business.
If your client has NEVER started a business before, they might need information about how to apply for a bank account and how to draft a business plan.
If your client has started three businesses before but they all failed, he might need information about how to do a thorough competition analysis and identify advertising avenues.
You need to know how knowledgeable your client currently is before you start to write your article.
Step 4: Identify Key Facts and Ideas
As you learned at the start of your article, the job of your article is to sell – an idea, a service, a product, etc…
For your ideal client to ‘buy’ whatever it is you’re selling, they’re going to need to know certain pieces of information.
The next step is to work out what those pieces of information are and write them out in a list.
For example:
If your article is about how to approach a woman, there are certain pieces of information he’s going to need to know. If I was writing this article, they would be:
1. Approach anxiety is fear
2. Fear doesn’t stop you from doing what you want
3. The decisions you make when you feel fear stop you
4. To beat approach anxiety, you need to change the decisions you make
Step 5: Order Key Points and Facts
The next step in creating an article that sells your controlling idea is to arrange your points in the most convincing order.
If your article only makes one key point then you might have done this in the previous step but if your article is using several different pieces of information to sell your controlling idea, your points might lack structure.
To improve your ability to sell your idea, you must get them into a convincing order.
If your controlling idea doesn’t dictate a logical sequence that the facts need to be presented in, the rule of thumb is to always start with the easiest point to understand or the broadest point to make. From there, work down towards the more complicated or more specific points at the end.
This will make it easier for your ideal customer to get their head into your article before moving onto the complicated topics.
Pro tip: Once you’ve written your sequence, walk away from it for 15 minutes before coming back to it with fresh eyes. If the sequence still sell’s you, then continue onto the next step. If it feels like something’s lacking, work out what’s missing and add it in before moving onto the next step.
Step 6: Create Your Content Avatar
Now that you have all your foundations out of the way, the final step before writing is to create what’s called a ‘Content Avatar’.
A Content Avatar is a writing personality that you adopt when you’re writing an article. It’s a version of yourself you consciously choose to keep consistency and flow through all your content and to make sure your writing doesn’t sound exactly the way you speak.
Now, this is important to remember – you don’t want to be writing the same way you speak. Why? Because unless you’re a gifted salesman, you don’t speak in a way that convinces people to buy (your idea, your services, your products, whatever). And if you don’t convince people to buy, then you’re not going to have a company.
This is why the second step is to create your content avatar: to give your writing punch, persuasion, and power.
If you’re not sure who your Content Avatar should be, the basic rule of thumb is to make him the kind of person that your ideal client wants to become.
If your client wants to become a powerful, direct, focussed, laser-point, macho jerk, then that’s who your content avatar should be.
If your client wants to become an expressive, free, open more feminine man, then that’s who your content avatar should be.
Step 7: Choose your perspective
Once you’ve decided who’s going to be writing your article (your content avatar), the next step is to choose the perspective they’re going to write from: 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person, or the collective perspective.
1st person perspective is where you write the story as if you were telling it to a group. It’s told from the ‘I’ perspective: “I walked int a bar and saw her staring at me from across the room.” It’s giving your reader a experience of what it’s like in your head and telling your story to people who’re listening.
2nd person is telling the story from the perspective of the person who’s reading it. It’s told from the ‘you’ perspective: “You walk into a bar and see her staring at you from across the room.” It’s getting inside your reader’s head and telling the story of what they’re going through.
3rd person is telling the story from the perspective of God. It’s the third party perspective, as if you’re watching it on a TV screen: “Jim stumbled into the bar. Across the room, the hot blonde’s eyes shot up as if her dead husband had walked into the room”. It’s the story told from an unbiased, non-judgemental, neutral third-party observer who just reports the facts.
Collective perspective is when the story is told as if you’re narrating the experiences of a collective group of people – whether that be a small group of 3 – 10 or the entire human consciousness: “We’ve all been in that situation where we walk into a bar and feel the fear that comes from seeing the hot girl across the room.” It’s talking in generalities about what everyone goes through.
So which one is the best?
There’s no right or wrong one to choose as each one has it’s own strengths and weaknesses.
1st person is an incredibly powerful tool for painting rich and vivid pictures and giving personal insights into the thinking process. When you write in first person, you can say exactly what was happening in your head, what the world looked like to you, and what you experienced. The
The drawback of first person is that it as you’re inside the head of the story teller, all suspense must be created by external elements, rather than using hidden motives of the main storyteller to create intrigue.
2nd person is an even more powerful tool for drawing your reader in. When they’re reading a first person article, they can imagine seeing it. When they’re reading a well-written 2nd person story, they can imagine experiencing it!
The drawback of 2nd person is that it’s really hit and miss. If you can clearly and articulately describe everything your reader is going through, then you’ll create a lasting and powerful impact on them. If you get it wrong, your reader will get bored and move on.
3rd person is great for creating intrigue and mystery in your articles. As you’re observing your characters from the outside, you’re not aware of their motives and plans. This means that anything is possible.
The drawback of 3rd person is that it’s very difficult to teach lessons and share insights. The only way to do it is to have one character tell their lesson or insight with another character, which can often come out clunky and forced.
The collective perspective is… well, it’s not really great for anything. It’s used extensively by writers who’re afraid of stating their opinion but it doesn’t really achieve anything. It doesn’t allow you to paint rich and vivid images or teach lessons and insights. It’s often bland and general and doesn’t add anything to the article.
So which one do you choose?
The first step is to rule out the collective perspective as it adds nothing to the article.
The next question you have to ask is: do I want to teach lessons or build intrigue? If you want to build intrigue, go with 3rd person. If you want to teach lessons, use either 1st person or second person*.
If you want to teach lessons but aren’t sure whether to use 1st or 2nd person, just ask yourself: do I know enough about my ideal client to be able to write a powerful and engaging piece of 2nd person content.
If yes, go with 2nd person. If no, go with first person.
*It is possible to build intrigue through 1st person but it’s tough. You need to either write in what’s called ‘unreliable 1st person’ – where the narrator of the story is either lying as they’re telling the story or completely unaware of their deeper motives – or write from a historical perspective – where you can allude to what’s going to happen in the future as you’ve already been through the event (eg. I didn’t realise it at the time but this was the last time I was going to see her).
These require a lot of planning and work and so I don’t recommend them for new writers.
Step 8: Write each point / fact / idea in sequence
After 7 steps, it’s now time to write.
Go through each point you created in Step 5 and explain to the reader how this supports your controlling idea. Write it as if you were standing in front of the reader, talking to them (second person).
Don’t worry if you don’t like the words you’re using or can’t make it sound professional – neither of those matter right now. Your sole objective is to get the logical information down on paper so you have a rough framework to work with.
It’s very easy to get caught up trying to make the words jump off the page and lose your logical train of thought here so don’t waste your time with that.
This section is all about getting the logical flow through your article.
If you can, do this step in one sitting. Try not to break it up into short chunks of time if you can because it becomes very easy to forget where you’re up to and the point you were trying to make and then lose the logical flow through your thoughts.
Step 8: Address Objections
In article you write, there are going to be points that people object to. It’s a fact. You will never write something that everyone just nods and smiles at and keeps on going.
People will object.
The unfortunate part of this is that people’s objections can limit their ability to understand your controlling idea. They can misinterpret one point and then use that as a basis to disagree with the entire controlling idea.
If they do that, they’re never going to ‘buy’ so you need to make sure their potential objections are addressed.
To work out what objections you have to deal with, ask yourself this question: What would the most negative, argumentative, and difficult version of my ideal client object to in this article?
Imagine a guy who’s sole basis for power comes from putting other people down or a woman who’s sole sense of connection comes from being able to laugh with her friends at how dumb everyone else is and imagine what they would object to in your article.
That will give you a solid base to work from.
Once you’ve identified them, add them to the article where they’re most appropriate.
99% of the objections you will address should be listed after you’ve sold the idea – at the end of the points / facts / and ideas you’ve already written – but in some cases, you will need to address objections at the very start of the article.
This is only necessary when there’s a MASSIVE objection that will prevent them from even reading the article in the first place or will cause them to discount your arguments before you’ve even made them.
If your article could be discounted before your reader even starts, address it right away. Otherwise, don’t include those ideas until the end.
Step 9: Structure Check
The next step is to make sure that everything you’ve written is in the right order. Yes, you already created the order and filled it out according to the order but articles have a magical way of twisting themselves around without you even noticing.
So, stop here and read through your article to make sure you’ve ‘sold’ your controlling idea effectively.
- Is there a logical flow to your argument?
- Is it’s logical foundation solid?
- Does something need to be moved for the article to make sense?
- Reading through the points you’ve made, are you persuaded?
This is usually easier if you give yourself 24 hours away from the article, but if you don’t have time, just start from the start.
Step 10: Introduction and Conclusion
Once you’re 100% certain on your controlling idea and the logical points you’ve made to sell it, the next step is to write an introduction and conclusion.
The whole point of the introduction is to suck your ideal client in. It should:
- Emotively and specifically describe the challenge they’re facing in minute detail
- Give a one-sentence overview of how you’re proposing to solve that problem
- Briefly touch on what their life will be like when they have this solution
Don’t underestimate the importance of the introduction. If your ideal client doesn’t get understand what they’re going to get out of reading the article and they can’t see how it’s going to help them solve their problems, they’re not going to read the article.
They’re going to check out and move onto something more relevant to the problems they’re facing.
The conclusion is also important but not as important as the introduction. It should talk about the problem once again but it should be more focussed on the points / facts / ideas you laid out to solve the problem, and the benefits they’ll get from using your solution.
Take some time with these two elements, as are they’re critical to a successful sale.
If your ideal client can’t see the benefits they’re going to get in the introduction then they’re not likely to read the article.
If they don’t get a neat summary at the conclusion, they might forget the solution and get no benefit from your article.
If either one happens, the effectiveness of your article will be reduced.
Step 11: Call to action
Every article is designed to sell and when you’re selling things, you want someone to take an action. That action could be to enter their email address, it could be to share the article on social media, it could be to leave a comment, it could be to buy a product.
Whatever that action is, state it in clear and simple English at the end of your article.
Want them to share this on social media? Tell them to.
Want them to give you their email address? Tell them to.
State the action you want them to take in the simplest terms possible after your conclusion.
The call to action should always be phrased arou