Article writing requires you to write like you talk. While coaching hundreds of article writers and marketers, I've identified five common mistakes made when trying to write like you talk.

Let’s take a closer look at these five mistakes and what to do instead.

Mistake Number One – The first mistake that comes from not writing like you talk, I believe, is that relentless and fruitless and silly pursuit of perfection – trying to get it exactly perfect.

We talked several weeks ago about writing near-perfect articles . A near-perfect article is simply one that represents you well, gives good information, gets people to know, like and trust you, and leaves them wanting more.

So the opposite of perfectionism is a near-perfect article with good information. I would rather have my near-perfect article out there working for me 24/7 than your not-quite-yet-perfect-but-almost- there-just-one-more-tweak article still in your computer.

Mistake Number Two - Being very formal in your writing. This is not for APA style, this is not for delivering at a major technical conference, so forget the formality. Write like you talk, chat with people.

Mistake Number Three – Writing an article like it’s a term paper, complete with footnotes and research. Research is fine, but do not put it in the footnotes.

Mistake Number Four - Writing too much. Many, many people, because they haven’t learned how to write conversationally, believe they have got to put everything they have into one article, and so they end up around 1,000 words, 1,500 words. There are a lot of errors there. One, you are giving away the store. You do not want to give away the store in everything you do.

Now, some people out there are wondering, well, "Jeff, how can you say that, because you give away the store on every call!"

No I don’t. I give a lot of information, and I give and I give and I give, but there is so much more behind this. If you are thinking you could be on these calls and get the same thing as in the Article Writing and Marketing Secrets Tele-Course, you are so wrong, because there is so much more behind this.

But when you deliver good information, good things come, people appreciate it. But trying to do too much hurts you; trying to do too much in one article hurts you. You can put it into other articles, etc., etc.

Mistake Number Five – The fifth mistake is, you forget who you are talking to. You forget that you are talking to people, you forget you are talking to your ideal client, and you end up writing for some nameless, faceless committee.

I encourage you to avoid these mistakes and use these tips to write more and more articles.

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