An experienced journalist insists that writing informative articles can be an effective marketing tool if written in a news style.
William Wordsmith, a journalist and writer for over 20 years, believes that adapting journalistic news writing style to traditional methods can provide article marketers with as many benefits as practical tips and formats.
“News writing has a structure like any other style of article writing,” Wordsmith said. “Journalists are experts at article writing and can produce five, 10, 20 articles a day. That’s just what you need for effective article writing and marketing.”
Wordsmith added that he has successfully employed news writing methods for his article marketing campaigns in order to increase traffic to his website.
The above is a classic example of a four-paragraph lead story. The reason I started this article that way was to show you how news writing techniques can be used for article writing.
You don’t even have to make up a name like I did for Mr. Wordsworth. He can use his own experience, or even quote himself, and make it into the news.
There are several benefits of using news writing techniques.
1. Engage your readers – The very nature of a news intro is that it is punchy and is meant to grab the attention of your readers.
2. Details – You can expand your introduction with relevant details that continue to inform, entertain, and educate your readers.
3. Authority: A story requires authority to back up what it’s saying, so your readers know that what you’re writing is true and not just exaggeration. This can be done through quotation marks or indirect speech.
Also, the news format doesn’t prevent you from providing bullet points, like this article does, and other useful information.
The great thing about the news writing framework is that it’s easy to learn. Thousands of journalists around the world use this structure – and I’m not talking about the inverted pyramid – which allows them to write freely and quickly, without worrying about writer’s block.
The truth is that anyone can learn this style of writing, made up of four structural components, as well as requiring the ability to spot powerful angles that draw your readers in.
The beauty of this format is that it is conducive to all kinds of topics and writing skills. Whether you have a single piece of information or a to-do list, you can use this style to structure a value-added article.
Most important of all, it can make you a prolific writer. As a journalist, I regularly write at least two stories or articles a day. However, if needed, I can easily pick up the pace and produce 10-20 a day because of the writing style I was taught to use.