Writing 100 articles in 100 days is not an easy challenge even though I had completed it several times before in previous challenges. I decided to commit to doing it for the fourth time because it forced me to focus, get over my laziness, and reap the benefits of building a prospect list and driving traffic to my website.

Why build a list with article marketing?

I’ve been writing content for websites and products for several years, so I knew I could write and wanted to improve with more practice. Articles submitted to article directories, blogs, and ezines stay there forever, constantly attracting new readers and attracting new subscribers. It’s more productive than pay-per-click advertising and it’s free except for the time investment.

The second reason is that the article content can be repurposed in a report, ebook, video, or podcast. It’s a great way to develop a new product, one item at a time, and sell it for a profit.

Top 10 Lessons I Learned

1. Have a goal

My goal was to write 100 articles in 100 days, be a top 3 writer in my category, and develop a new product to sell. I met all 3 goals.

2. Create a playlist

Before I get started on this fifth article writing challenge, I did a brain dump of all the topics I could think of regarding “Autoresponders”…the subject of my focus. I also visited forums, blogs, downloaded free reports related to my niche to get ideas I hadn’t thought of. I also did keyword research to find the most popular keywords people were searching for and searched Yahoo Answers to find the most frequently asked questions related to my topic.

3. Write at your most creative moment

My most creative time is first thing in the morning before I check my email, write a blog post, or send out a Tweet. If I do it the other way around, I lose the inspiration to write and it takes much longer to start.

4. Visit article directories to generate new ideas

Towards the end of the 100 days it was the hardest time to write new articles because I had exhausted all my topics and was sometimes staring at a blank screen wondering what to write about. To stimulate my creative juices I visited some of the top article directories in my niche. After reading several articles, I would write about the topic from a different angle.

5. Write articles for related niches

Although my main niche was “Autoresponders”, related niches included list building, email marketing, ezine publishing, article marketing, and traffic building. This helped me create similar content from different angles so that the articles were unique.

6. Start writing to overcome inertia

I have to admit, sometimes I would stare at a blank computer screen with no idea what to write. To overcome this barrier, I would just start writing about anything and my creative juices would kick in. It’s a great way to overcome the inertia of writing an article.

7. Write more than one article when you’re inspired.

There were some days where I felt more inspired than others. During the writing process, I would sometimes come up with ideas for various new articles. I used this inspiration to write a second or third article after completing the first one because there are days when you don’t have the time or the inspiration to write.

8. Submit your article immediately

Don’t make the mistake of hoarding items to ship because it takes time to ship successfully. As soon as you’ve finished proofreading your article for spelling and grammatical errors, submit it for publication. It is more important to publish it than to try to make it perfect.

9. Ship articles correctly

Submitting your articles correctly will get more people to read them. Spend time creating an attractive, keyword-optimized title. Avoid the temptation to use your first paragraph for the item description. Write a unique description that encapsulates your content and encourages readers to check out your article. Create a resource box that includes a call to action (eg “download my free report”) and a link to your website.

10. Monitor your stats

Take note of the articles that get the most clicks and are selected by ezine publishers. Since these articles generated the most interest, create more articles related to these topics to attract a larger audience and get more subscribers.