Copyright 2005 MHG Consulting

But I'm not a writer.

You need to write what people are interested in.

Not "5 Ways To Murder Your Mother-In-Law". OOP's that is not nice of me to think of that :o)

Or "How To Make Dandlelion Wine". OK, maybe you are interested in that...:o)

But you get the idea. Write what is a hot topic that everyone is talking about or asking about. If it's about murder, go somewhere else :o)

Don't know what they are looking for? Ask them. Ask your friends or family what they would like to know more about in your subject field. Or if it's marketing put up a survey or poll form on your website or send emails to your contacts.

Browse hot forums and see what everyone is talking about. The messages with the most 'views' or 'posts' are the hot topics.

See what are the top keywords or keyword phrases at www.wordtracker.com This is an excellent place to visit for optimizing your website, mini-site pages for the search engines! Get the trial version and if its worth a few bucks subscribe.

Here are a few report ideas:

1. Tips/Ways

This is the easiest to create as all you need are a handful of themed tips with 3-7 sentence explanations. Presto! You have a free report!

2. Tutorial (step by step)

This is probably the report most people want. Find a hot topic and provide step by step tutorial on solving a problem or do something and you will become very popular...overnight!

3. Resources

This is the EASIEST of all free reports to write. Heck my granddaughter, Kylie, could probably write one :o)

Might take some time doing research but it's super easy.

"10 Ways To Link You Website" "8 Tools Every Webmaster Should Have In Their Toolbox"

You get the idea.

4. Interviews

This is another easy one because someone else does all the writing for you!

Develop a list of 'burning questions to ask the 'expert'.

Send the expert your list with a good reason to answer them. At least a nice bio with a link to their website and the right to distribute the report in anyway they want.

What is probably the most important step in creating your free report? The HEADLINE! As with ads, unless you capture the attention of the reader in the first 1-2 seconds you won't have many subscribers.

Here are a few headlines:

'7 Quick Tips To Overnight Profits'

'7 Quick Tips'

'7 Quick Tips I Made $650 With'

Which one would you pick? The first? In my humble opinion it would be the last. It has two eye catching factors. 7 and $650. People will know its not a long drawn-out report but 7 quickie type tips and everyone would like to make $650 by knowing these tips.

Bottom line. Remember the old worn out by don't every forget the famous radio station, WIIFM or WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME. Keep that in mind every time you write a headline and you will see 100's or even 1,000's subscribing to your free report.