In my previous post I explained why I don't think it makes sense for real writers to write for the extremely low-paying article supply sites like iWriter. There are ways, though, that writing articles for nothing can pay off.
One way is to submit them to article distribution sites like ezinearticles.com, who offer them to others for free distribution, but only if they agree to also run your brief bio and links back to any website you specify.
You don’t get paid for these articles, but if you are selling a product or service these articles lead people to the site where they can find out about that and buy from you. (Here’s more information, along with an example, of promoting your writing and yourself by writing articles.)
On your own blog or website high-quality articles help you establish a reputation for knowing what you write about. If you may be interested in doing lectures or book-related appearances, or teaching, or you approach agents and others, a collection of strong articles at your site can be beneficial.
Sometimes articles or blog posts come together nicely enough to turn them into a book--which paid off very nicely for Julie Powell whose blog was turned into a book and then a major film called "Julie and Julia."
ARTICLE WRITING TIPS
I have a few tips that might help (click on these to see them):
One about the key thing to remember about articles for the web now that our attention spans are shrinking like a Primark t-shirt (don’t write to me, Primark, I’m sure your t-shirts are great, but a guy has to use a simile once in a while)
One that claims to give you 13 tips but it’s misleading (for a good cause)
One that shows you how you can make your material go a lot farther.
One that shows you how a writer makes enough money from his online newsletter to support himself—and how he does it by "selling" only once a year.
These should be enough to inspire you to figure out how article writing best fits into your writing life, whether for profit, reputation-building, or attracting readers.
(Want friendly guidance in writing articles or your book or screenplay? Pick up a copy of my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other book sellers.)
