It goes without saying that writing content for newsletters is a bit different than other projects, such as sales letters, features, etc. That being said, they do share some components that should help you along the way.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you are interested in writing newsletter content:

1. Who are you writing for? You need to get with your client and decide who the audience is going to be. Do they send the newsletter to their clients? Do they send it to prospective buyers? Do they send it to others in the industry? Believe it or not, I work for many companies that send out several different newsletters every month. It is very important to know your target market before getting started.
2. How much space do you have? The size of a newsletter can range from one page to many pages (16 or more in some cases). With a shorter newsletter you will have to condense all the content and avoid longer pieces. If your client doesn’t mind many pages you have more freedom as to what you can write.
3. What does your client want you to include in the newsletter? This has a lot to do with point number one. Before you can ever discuss the content to be included, you need to decide who you are writing for. Some clients only want me to include basic industry related information. For instance, a travel agency would ask for content on choosing an airline, hotel, etc. On the other hand, there are some who ask for interviews, more in-depth pieces, including quotes, and much more.
4. What tone are you to use? This may be the most important question that you ask before getting started. Generally speaking, there are two tones that are used in newsletters: sales and informative. Are you trying to sell something to the reader? Or are you simply trying to inform him?

There are many companies that hire freelancers to work on their newsletter. Are you interested in working for them? If so, be sure to become familiar with the four questions above.

For the sake of this post, let’s consider feature articles for print publications only, such as consumer and trade magazines. Most freelance writers who I speak with really want to break into this market, but have no idea how to get started or what to do if they ever land a gig.

These five details will help you become better acquainted with feature articles and what you should be thinking about:

1. Who is the audience? When you pick up a feature article project you must first know who you are writing for. Is it a sports publication focused on basketball? A wedding magazine for brides? Finding the audience is usually as simple as picking up a back copy of the magazine or heading to the appropriate website for additional information.
2. Length. The length of the feature will be specified by the editor. While most feature articles are at least 500 words in length, the editor may decide that they need something a bit shorter due to page layout. Also, don’t be surprised if some of your features end up being 2000 words or more. The best thing you can do in this area is take advice from the editor you are working with.
3. Facts are important. In most cases, a feature article is going to be full of facts and not much opinion if any at all. For this reason, it is important to make sure all of your information is 100 percent accurate and backed up by reliable sources.
4. Interviews. Speaking of reliable sources, most feature articles that are assigned to me come with the specification of interviewing at least one authority on the subject. This is not always the case, but be ready to conduct at least one interview. Not only will this please the editor, but it will round out your piece.
5. Revisions. I cannot remember ever writing a feature article and getting it perfect the first time around. With most features you will be asked to complete at least one revision, if not more. There have been times when I worked with an editor for days on end, revision after revision, until the article was perfect. If you are going to get involved with writing feature articles you should be ready for revisions and plenty of them.

Think you’re ready for feature article writing? Then start networking with editors and preparing some pitches. And check back later today for our “Getting Started” series interview with established magazine writer Linda Formichelli.

Of course, writing a successful sales letter is not something you will do on a whim. In fact, it takes a lot of practice to get good at this. Again, you are doing more than writing basic content that is meant to inform. Instead, your job is to sell the reader on whatever the target product or service may be.

Here are several tips for writing effective sales letters that convert:

1. Ask the client for details. When writing web content the client may say something like, “give me an article on anything that has to do with green living.” The same cannot be done with a sales letter. You need to collect the minimum amount of details to at least start the job.
2. Know the product or service you are trying to sell. How can you write about something if you do not know what it is? Try this tip: ask the client if you can test out the product or service for free. You will be surprised at how many are willing to do this. In fact, I have only been turned down a few times.
3. Hard or soft sell? There are two types of “sales tones” for the most part. The hard sell is when you go over-the-top and do everything you can to push the buyer into making a purchase. The soft sell is when you are more subtle with your words. Both can be effective, but only your client knows which one they are looking for.
4. Format. A sales letters can be formatted in many different ways. You should never assume that your next client wants the same format as the last one. For instance, some will ask for many headers followed by bullet points. Others, especially those who are not using an online letter, may opt for more of a paragraph form. If the client does not know what they want you are free to get creative.
5. Web or print? This goes along with the collection of details. Writing a sales letter for the web is much different than one that will be sent out via direct mail. Web pieces are often times very long and full of titles, bullets, images, and much more. On the other hand, print sales letters are straight to the point and “clean” in most cases.

These five tips should help you successfully write sales letters, no matter what the client is looking for.

Here are three tips for effectively writing SEO articles:

1. Length. How long should an SEO article be? This all depends on who you talk to. I have clients that want each article to be at least 750 words. At the same time, many others feel that a 250 word minimum is just fine. Before starting any SEO article project be sure to ask the client for clarification of this detail.
2. Keyword stuffing. The whole point of an SEO article is to include keywords that the client wants to rank for. For instance, if you are writing an article on “making money online” you will want to include that phrase throughout. Again, how often and where the keyword(s) appear is subjective.
3. Angle. What type of angle are you going to take? Just because you are writing SEO articles does not mean you are putting together a bunch of slop. Even if the client is only using the articles for search engine optimization and directory submissions, you must still an angle and try to provide accurate, high quality information.

Before I go any further, you can probably see by now that every client is going to be different when hiring you to write SEO articles. I strongly suggest that you discuss the three details above, as well as any others that are important, before you get started. It will save both you and the client a lot of time in the long run.

Who needs SEO articles?

Now that you know more about this type of project you are probably interested in getting started. Through my experiences there are two types of people who are in the market for SEO article writers: webmasters and companies.

Some of my best clients are one-man shows who do nothing more than create and manage websites. To achieve success they need as many SEO articles as I can send their way. Don’t pass up a client because they are not a large corporation – this is a big mistake.

Of course, companies of all sizes can benefit from the use of SEO articles. I work with companies of 1,000 people or more in this capacity. At the same time, small businesses also need this type of content.

There is a huge market for selling this service. With the tips above you should be able to improve your SEO article writing skills, while also keeping an open mind to the type of people who are in need.