By
allen on June 30th, 2008
Posted in Author Resource Box | No Comments »
By Hendry Lee
Article resource box is a vital part of every article. The same article could get none to hundreds or thousands of visitors just because of a resource box. You can’t just write a few lines without a strategy and expect it to work. It doesn’t work that way.
Here are 5 ways you can go wrong with your article resource box:
1. Blatant self-promotion
Although you’re allowed to promote yourself in the resource box doesn’t mean that you should do so. The readers never care about you but how could you help them. Think of ways on how you can move the credibility you’ve built so far to the next level. Give them even more information or value.
2. Award showcase
The resource box is not the place for show all your accomplishments. You may use one or two that is very relevant to boost your credibility, but much of the credibility is earned by demonstrating your expertise within the article body. If you give them valuable information, they will know it.
3. No call to action
People may think they’re smart enough to take action without being told about what to do. The fact is exactly the opposite though. People are confused about what to do next unless you tell them what to do, although they may not admit it.
If you want them to visit your site to get more information or subscribe to your e-newsletter, say it. Give a reason why they should do it, perhaps give them a special report for download when they subscribe.
4. No links
Giving the readers at least a link to click and a strong reason for them to do so is the key to getting traffic from your articles.
Don’t waste the virtual real estate. You want to include at least one link to your web site.
5. No keyword targeted anchor text
Don’t include just a link. Use keyword focused anchor text (the text used as a live link) because search engines think the page that is linked using the anchor text must be relevant for that keyword.
You may want to diversify the anchor text links to make it appear as natural links, but still such links are important. The best way is to use anchor text but still keep the full live URL in the resource box so web site owners who decide to copy and paste your articles still have the link of your site in the resource box.
Do you want to learn the secrets about article marketing? I drive 5,238 unique visitors to my site each month, and I’ll teach you how to do it.
Download your free article marketing strategy guide plus 2 free article templates and other goodies in the “Net Marketing Start-Up Kit” from http://successloop.com/templates.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hendry_Lee
Hendry Lee makes some good points. No. 3, 4, and 5 are the most important of these. Get that anchor text link to speak with a call to action and your article marketing efforts will really shine!
By
allen on June 27th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing, Article Submissions, Article Writing | No Comments »
I hear (and read) people saying article marketing is free all the time. I’ve said it myself. But it really isn’t true. There is an expense.
Even if you write and submit all of your own articles, there is a cost. It might take you 10 minutes to write an article and 10 minutes to submit it to a handful of directories, but that 20 minutes of your time is an expense. How much is one hour of your time worth? Have you narrowed it down? You should. And if your time is worth $60 per hour then you’ve spent $20 on article marketing.
When it becomes more costly to spend your time on article marketing than it is to pay a ghostwriter and article submitter to do it for you, that’s when you should consider outsourcing. $20 a day for article marketing is $600 a month. Are you spending that much of your time on article marketing? If so then it might be time to consider outsourcing that work to a professional who knows how to get results.
Judging the cost is more than just crunching numbers and converting your time to dollars. There is also the opportunity expense of effectiveness. Are you getting results from your articles?
By results, I am not talking about sales. That isn’t the purpose of article marketing. Your purpose is to drive traffic so that your website closes sales. Are you doing that? Are publishers picking up your articles? If not, you should find out why not. An article that sits in the article directory for five years and is never published by anyone else isn’t doing its job. Maybe you need to figure out what you’re doing wrong.
Sometimes article marketing is most costly than not doing it because the business owner is doing it wrong. With the proper consulting you can turn your business around and get the article marketing you deserve. Why not take the right steps to do that today?
By
allen on June 26th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing | No Comments »
By Stephanie Foster
Some people are fans of article marketing. Others aren’t. This may be due to concerns about their articles being stolen, duplicate content penalties or even just a dislike of article writing.
Could it be? Is article marketing a waste of time?
In my experience, no, it is not. I get traffic and backlinks from articles I’ve written. I get better search engine rankings. It works for me.
Why doesn’t it work for everyone?
The first reason article marketing doesn’t work for everyone is that not everyone goes at it right. They try submitting private label articles or don’t spell and grammar check their work. They submit thinly disguised ads as articles.
In short, they don’t think about what article publishers will want to use or what people will want to read.
What helps make an article stand out?
Article writing doesn’t have to be laborious. If you know your topic well it may take only 10 minutes or so to write a reasonable quality article.
If you want to stand out more, you may need to do some research or be more detailed in what you write about your topic. The articles that really stand out are the ones that provide the best information to readers. This will help you to stand out as well.
Lists are said to work very well. You can do a top 10, 20 or more with some pretty good results. Shorter lists work well if you give details as to why you picked each item for your list.
Humor can also work. Humor is often some of the hardest writing to do, but when it’s working it’s a lot of fun. You may run the risk of offending people and you need to think about what impression a humorous article will give of your business. It may not be the one you mean to make.
Submitting your articles to the right sites helps.
While you can submit your articles to smaller article directories, the bigger ones such as eZine Articles are more important. But that doesn’t mean smaller ones are good for nothing. If they are choosy about the kinds of articles they accept, your work may only be associated with other good articles.
Many article directories accept pretty much every article, and your work is hidden by junk and spam. If you’re submitting by hand, skip this kind of directory.
Niche directories are a good choice as well. This can keep your article with other relevant content. Your odds of being read by people interested in the topic may go up.
And of course submit articles to relevant webmasters who accept article submissions. This can go a long way toward developing a relationship with another webmaster. You don’t want a competitor so much as a complementary site.
It’s making the extra little efforts that will help your work to stand out. People who fail in article marketing most often do so because they aren’t working hard enough on it. Don’t fall into that trap.
Stephanie Foster runs http://www.brightarticles.com/ as a resource for quality articles. If you have a well-written article to submit, visit her site and bring more attention to your site.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_Foster
Find out how you can get your articles distributed in BrightArticles.com, EzineArticles, and other article directories.
By
allen on June 25th, 2008
Posted in Article Writing | 1 Comment »
By Fabian Tan
Outsourcing article writing is one surefire way to speed up your article output. In fact, I have outsourced a lot of of my article writing for other niche markets, to the extent that I’m spending in excess of 4 figures per month on article outsourcing. The reason is this: it is generating results for me and building me huge subscriber databases in other niche markets!
Here are the secret tricks for outsourcing article writing to generate huge sums of traffic and profits:
1. The resources: Elance and Get A Freelancer. These two are the best in the business. I don’t go anywhere else. Currently, I have hired 2 writers who write articles for me on a monthly basis. I use the same formula each time and it’s a formula that works.
2. The formula: Keep your project information short. Provide the details but no more. Freelancers usually go through many projects. A project that seems simple will receive more bids. Here are the things that you need to make clear: the number of articles you want, the articles you get should be original and pass Copyscape, the price you are willing to pay per article, and the percentage of the final fee you will escrow over once the project is accepted (I usually send an escrow of 50%). Additional tip: keep your bid length short. This will keep interested freelancers from procrastinating on bidding on your offer. I usually keep the bid period open for only 24-48 hours and I never fail to get at least 10 to 20 bids to do the project.
Fabian Tan is a well-known Internet Marketing expert and the author of the popular 45-page Report:
“Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!”
Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your FREE copy now!
Also, quickly download his FREE “Explosive Traffic System” report that shows you how to generate 10,000+ visitors per month at no cost! => http://www.ExplosiveTrafficSystem.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fabian_Tan
I love it when they recommend outsourcing, but it’s really no secret trick. Ghostwriters can help you say what you want to say in the best way. But if you use the above services that Fabian Tan recommends you could end up overpaying for your articles. Why not just find the best service for the best price and stick with it?
By
allen on June 24th, 2008
Posted in Article Submissions | No Comments »
Excellent article:
By Bob B. Hamilton
Once you have content and articles for your website and for your online marketing strategy you have to submit them to article submission sites and articles directory sites. These sites help to give your content the exposure that it needs in order to get the word out about your product, service, or interest. They also generate traffic towards your websites.
There are a couple of different ways that you can submit articles to these types of sites. One way is manually. It can take a long time to submit to all the article directories and submission sites that are available. Another way is through the use of software. There are both advantages and disadvantages to using software applications.
The advantage is that software speeds up the process. You can submit to a number of sites at the same time. You do not have to spend money on a separate individual to take care of this task for you. You can take care of it yourself.
The disadvantage is that using software can be time consuming because of the actual process of using it rather than the speed of the outcome. It can be confusing to use and some of the software applications are not designed to be user friendly. The second issue is the fact that articles can only be submitted to so many sites at a given time. This is because the search engines will notice a large amount of submissions coming in all at the same time. This usually causes the content to be flagged making it ineffective.
To overcome this disadvantages consider outsourcing to a person or company. They can not only generate the content but take care of submitting it to all the sites. All you have to do is approve the content. This can be a great help. The disadvantage is that it requires a fee for creating the content and then another one for submission or you have to purchase a package. While outsourcing offers a great number of advantages for your online marketing business. If you are looking to reduce overhead and can create the content or have it created and then submit it yourself you can save money.
One of the advantages of using software is that you can use it yourself. On the other hand it can be difficult to learn how to use. Using software saves money, but can take a great deal time. Using a company or person allows you to create content and then have it submitted all at the same time. They know how to submit and where it will be most effective. The down side is that it costs a fee to do this.
There are a number of advantages and disadvantages whether doing something yourself or outsourcing it to others. However it is usually a good idea to outsource. Even though there is a fee involved you usually have the opportunity to avail yourself to professional services without the additional issues of hiring, taxes and benefits. The choice is yours. Follow the path that works best for you. Both software and outsourcing are viable options for your online marketing business when it comes to article submission services.
To your article marketing success!
Interesting in learning more about this topic? Download my free ebook on internet marketing.
Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, author, writer, business consultant and trainer. http://www.OpeningADollarStore.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_B._Hamilton
Personally, I’m partial to outsourcing.
By
allen on June 23rd, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing, Article Writing | 2 Comments »
Article marketing has been around a long time. Virtually everyone knows about it now and the article directories are getting more and more sophisticated and able to detect good from bad articles. That means you have to get a little bit more creative about your article marketing. Here’s a technique that is advanced and will help make your articles more competitive and desirable to publishers.
Some people call it latent semantic indexing. I just call it good writing. And it’s based on the principle of all good writing, which means most Internet marketing people won’t like it or even understand it. But it works.
Instead of writing your articles with strict keyword densities, which is the popular way to write article content, write your articles around a theme instead. This theme-based article writing technique will allow you more creative freedom and give your articles more authoritative appeal. They won’t look like keyword spam mixed in with a half-assed attempt to get published. You’ll actually write better articles.
When you write theme-based articles you use synonyms instead of the exact keyword every time. Use the keywords, but do it sparingly and use synonyms for those keywords as well. For instance, if you are writing an article about skydiving, don’t just say “skydiving” every time your keyword is necessary in the article. Use synonyms that go with it such as “jumping”, “parachuting”, etc. The search engines are able to analyze those synonyms and rank your article content for the right keywords based on the theme.
By
Bill Platt on June 22nd, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing, Article Writing | 3 Comments »
Anyone engaged in writing articles for offline publications or online business has occassionally struggled with the question of “What to write?”
Maybe I am just an overly optimistic person. I have always believed that anyone committed to writing an article can write an article. The problem is that most individuals simply do not have the belief in their own skills and insight. That is the reason why we ghost writing lot will always have a job. As long as there are people who doubt their own skills or insights, I will always have a job.
One of my good friends Clinton Douglas IV learned the lesson of his own abilities. He learned that he could turn his insight into literature worth reading, by simply calling his ghost writer on the phone (me), and sharing his thoughts on a topic. He was always amazed how it seemed like I could read his thoughts and mind, and put his thoughts to paper.
For other people, they should sit down to the computer and type and type and type, with little to no regard for proper spelling, grammar, or storytelling. My friend does this on occasion too. He wrote an article one time, by just spilling his brain onto the page. He wrote from his heart and got his thoughts all out of his head. When done, he sent me his final draft for editing. Sure, there were many words that were fixed, a lot of bad grammar that was corrected, and wording that was massaged, before we found the final product. Once written by him and edited by me, we put his 3:10 to Yuma article into the wild. Almost immediately, my friend Clinton started receiving compliments for his story. Many said it was very inspirational.
I believe in your ability to write your own articles, even if you do not.
Even if you can never bring yourself to write your own articles, that is fine, since we professional ghost writers are happy to write for you.
When it is time to sit down to write an article, we professionals sit down and start reading. Inspiration is a thought that comes to our mind while we are reading information on our target topic. Our thought is never to write what other writers are talking about, but our thought is an extension often on the thoughts of our peers.
How many times have you been reading something written by someone else, and you felt that the author should have ventured off on a tangent that he or she left hanging? Inspiration often occurs right here in this moment.
Once you know the question left unanswered by another writer, then you will know your own direction in writing.
When you want to use articles to promote your online business, it is not enough to answer the unanswered question. You actually need to venture a bit further afield and to ask yourself one very important question: Is the person most likely to buy your product or service also interested in having this question answered?
When you write for promotion purposes, you should always try to speak to the hearts and minds of the people most likely to buy what you are selling. If your potential clients are asking the same questions as you are, then you know what questions you need to answer. It is in answering questions important to your customers, where you will begin to find real success using promotional articles to promote your business.
Help your customers answer questions they want answered and they will help you to earn the sales you need to keep your doors open to others.
Bill Platt, author of:the ebook, Article Marketing for Traffic, Sales and Profit
Read more of Bill’s article marketing advice at http://www.keywordtext.com
By
allen on June 21st, 2008
Posted in Article Directories, Article Marketing | No Comments »
EzineArticles is light years ahead of most article directories today, but I do believe that there will be a fall out in the the number of article directories in the next 2-3 years. One of the things that EzineArticles has done that will up the ante for all article directories in the near future is to adopt search engine-like qualities that allow it to filter out duplicate content. The EA duplicate content filter allows EzineArticles to identify content that may be duplicated or recycled PLR articles or derivative of other works and the EA staff can decide whether to accept or decline them.
I think this is a great system. It’s good for the directory, but it’s also good for the article authors and marketers who use the system. Even more importantly, it’s good for publishers who look in the article directories for content to use on their websites and in their e-zines. I believe that article directories that wish to remain competitive will have to adopt similar algorithms and keep out the duplicate content.
When it comes to article content, EzineArticles CEO Christopher Knight hits the nail on the head when he says this:
Read This Tip A Few Times Please: The absolute best way to beat duplicate content filters is to create unique article content in the first place!
What this means for article marketers is PLR will die. That’s something to cheer for. If you want to ensure that your articles are accepted by reputable article directories, picked up by reputable publishers, and read by targeted consumers then the best way to do that is to write the best unique, original content for your niche possible. If you can’t that on your own, who are you gonna call? Try a ghostwriter. Original content is our business.
By
allen on June 19th, 2008
Posted in Article Directories, Article Marketing, Viral Marketing | No Comments »
If you use article marketing to drive traffic to your website then you have another tool to help you do that. EzineArticles, the most popular article directory online, offers a widget for article marketers.
This is a useful tool because you can put the widget on your website or blog and drive traffic to your articles. Some of those people reading your articles will use them on their own blogs and websites, expanding your reach into the online marketplace. You can also offer the code for your widget so that other people in your niche can put your articles on their own blog or website, giving you even more exposure online.
By
allen on June 18th, 2008
Posted in Article Marketing, Article Writing | No Comments »
Sometimes you can get a direct link to your website by writing exclusive article content for other websites and by passing the article directory altogether. The way you do this is to find a website within your niche that accepts articles from professionals within your niche. This is the online equivalent to the trade journal or magazine.
This method of article marketing does take up more time, but it can also be more effective. You’ll have to research your marketers before you write your articles. Some online trade magazines have a particular editorial stance and you’ll need to know what that is before you write your article.
Perform a keyword search for your niche and include “journal”, “magazine”, or other phrases of this nature that might lead you to a website that publishes articles from niche professionals. You may even do some off line research within your industry. Take a look at some popular trade magazines in your niche that have a print publication and see if they have a website. They may publish material on their website.
Find out if the editor of the online journal likes to receive queries or whole articles. Some editors like to be queried first with an idea so they can share with you their writing guidelines and editorial policies. Others prefer that you send an article and if they like it they’ll print it. Once you find out what the journal editor requires, begin your keyword research for the article.
This part of the article writing process is the same. You pick a topic, do your keyword research, and write the article. Be sure you write your article to the online journal’s specification, paying attention to editorial preferences, word counts, etc. You might even be able to get away with taking an old article and repurposing, but be very careful that you rewrite the entire article so that it passes all duplicate content filters. You are trying to write an article exclusively for one market.
After you have written your article, send it to the online trade journal and wait. It could be a few days or a few weeks before they notify you of acceptance. Be prepared for rejection, however. It may not fit in with their editorial guidelines or it may just be bad timing. They won’t always tell you why they won’t accept your article. Be sure to also include your author’s bio with your article. Do everything you can to make the editor’s job easy. They are very busy and if they have to do more work to fix your article or make changes to suit their editorial guidelines then you are setting yourself up for rejection. And once you’ve been accepted at one journal it is easier to get future articles published by the same online journal. Each article will pass on link juice to your website and potentially a lot of targeted traffic.
Learn more about premium article ghostwriting.
