I write a blog dedicated to people in the Home Staging Industry, advising them how best to use the internet to market their businesses. I noticed something lately about how some of them were using article marketing that applies across all markets for locally based businesses.
I have long preached about the power of what I call geographical long tail keywords.
When you are setting up your web pages for your home staging business or any other locally based business for that matter, you want your page text and the invisible meta tags behind your page to include the key geographical keyword terms appropriate for your market.
This helps the search engine know that your site is and should be shown to people in your area, and will help get your web page to the top of the search engine results for people doing a search in your community.
In smaller markets this alone, when done properly will get you to the first page of results. However, in most markets you need to go beyond this.
You need to generate backlinks to your site.
One of my favorite ways to do so is through article writing. I encourage you to create short meaningful articles and post them to article directories. Perhaps the most important of which is www.ezinearticles.com
I recently checked them for articles on Homestaging and noted several that included geographical references in their titles. There’s something good and bad to be said about that idea.
The good first. Article Directories like ezinearticles have high page ranks on their own. An article that includes your town name and home staging in it may well show up on the search engines by itself.
Being a published author online in a Google Search will certainly aid in your perceived credibility in the eyes of the reader, which is certainly good.
The downside is that far fewer newsletter, blog or ezine editors are likely to use the article. For example in one article the author’s title was: 5 ways to homestage PEI (Prince Edward Island) real estate. Since it mentions PEI, its not likely a California or Florida or Australian site on homestaging or realestate is likely to repost it.
People who reprint articles from these directories are not allowed to edit them, and thus most will just pass them by.
It’s important to understand that the widespread reposting is the primary goal of article marketing. For each republishing of your article counts in your total backlink tally. The reason to write articles is to gain this backlink power to raise your ranking on the search engines. And that would be my focus, so I would tend to say do not put geopraphy in your article titles.
That said, if you have a number of good articles written, it may be worth an experiment to see if you can’t get some of them ranked.
Now what I did like about the article was that the author did create anchor text linking his site to the term “PEI real estate.” This will help him rank higher in anyone’s search for that term. And that is what article marketing is all about from a local business perspective.
If you have a product or service and want to get someone
to buy it, then this report will be of great value to you.
Here’s why:
The things you did in the past to get people to buy aren’t
sufficient in 2010. The rules of the game have changed
and this report explains why this happened and what the
new rules are. You won’t find this idea or method
being taught anywhere else.
And best of all, you can apply it immediately to your:
Emails
Facebook status updates
Twitter posts
Article marketing
Bog posts
Teleseminars
Webinars
The information in this PDF is brand new and I haven’t heard anyone talk about it before, including Marlon. You won’t find this information anywhere else. So I know you’ll benefit from it greatly.
I don’t know how long Marlon will have this PDF available so you should snag it right now while you can:
Invest a little in this product and Save Tons of Time!
Even when you know the secret system to creating powerful cash sucking sales letters, the fact is that it takes time. There is a shortcut though that is well worth the small investment.
It’s Marlon Sander’s Push Button Sales Letters.
What’s your time worth?Even when you’ve mastered the art of copywriting, the standard sales letter will take hours for each and everyone. Sure you will get faster with experience, but with Push Button Salesletters you will slash that time to next to nothing.
Finally, a product that compels me to be systematic and efficient. The Push Button Sales Letters Software forces one to be not only an organized writer, but also an orderly thinker, which is a must in communicating copy effectively.
Several templates for sales letters are provided in which you can point and click on your choice. Try them all out if you like to see which one best fits your current needs. Once you get to the actual template, you simply answer the questions. If you need it to be, this entire system can aid you in, literally, a fill in the blank manner. However, for those who wish to add their own creative flair, there is still plenty of room to ad-lib as long as you use Sanders structured guidance. Even the most scatter-brained writer will be able to utilize this method.
In addition to the step-by-step templates, Sanders inserts psychological motivators into the peripheral dialogue. A wealthy list of words are incorporated into the copy that will become your own. If you open your eyes and look around, you’ll quickly notice that you are surrounded by ads filled with these exact tried and true phrases which are based on a Yale study of persuasive language. Using this proven lingo, Sanders provides headline templates for your letters.
In Push Button Sales Letters Software, Marlon Sanders has taken a sometimes complex process and simplified it for the potential marketer. Using the formula he has developed, Sanders takes the reader by hand and leads him, or her, step by step through the process of writing a sales letter. This software contains a point by point method that is clear not only to the experienced but also to beginners. You truly do not have to be familiar with selling tactics. Sanders has already completed this legwork for you.
I am not an organized writer. In fact, my writings can be quite chaotic. The outline method combined with question and answer fill-in-the-blanks in this software was invaluable. Not only is it easy to follow, it was also a massive time-saver. Collecting ones business ideas can be a monumental endeavor not to mention having the ability to present them in an effective manner. This Push Button Sales Letters Software does just what it promises, it generates sales messages and letters, quickly and effectively, proficiently communicating information to your client.
–Andrea Collare
Andrea writes professionally and, as such, was compensated for preparing this review.
Are You Costing Yourself Money With This Common Article Marketing Mistake?
There is one article marketing mistake that constantly tops the list. It’s horrific. This single mistake made by an author can ensure that the article isn’t published as widely as it otherwise might be. It’s a deal killer.
Every week I meet with the Article Marketer editorial team to discuss the major editorial concerns surrounding the articles submitted during the week. Our editors have reviewed articles from over a thousand authors, so they’ve pretty much seen it all. In preparation for our weekly meeting, they gather and report on the most common mistakes being made by authors. Our editors work with these authors to correct errors and ensure that their articles get more widely published.
Every week many of the same issues are on the list:
* Sales letters posing as ads.
* Resource box information within the article body.
* Spelling and grammatical errors.
Even these egregious (and frequent) issues pale in comparison to the most widespread and insidious problem facing publishers seeking high quality content:
The Biggest Problem: Off Topic Articles
Off topic articles target the wrong audience. Off topic articles contain content that doesn’t match the chosen category. The Article Marketer editorial team tells me that they spend most of their time helping authors and internet marketers properly categorize their articles so that they reach the right audience. It’s all about results.
How do articles get incorrectly categorized?
It’s generally an innocent mistake. After all, it’s certainly no shock to internet marketers that free reprint articles are about educating readers and providing good content to webmasters and publishers. Everyone knows that “content is king” on the web. The Google spiders go crazy when they find relevant content. Internet marketers provide content-rich, royalty free articles in exchange for that all important resource box that contains a relevant back link and entices a reader back to the author’s website. It’s a win-win situation.
Imagine an author or internet marketer who has gone to great lengths to provide wonderful information about, oh… say, “Cats”. The article teaches the reader about which grooming tools to use, provides a history of the domestication of cats, and explains some of the time-honored traditions and techniques of the breeding guild.
It’s absolutely perfect content for publishers with newsletters or sites about cats. It’s even a good match for “pets” or “small furry things”. It’s going to be a spectacularly popular article. The readers of cat newsletters are going to love this article. And it reaches a perfectly matched target market for the author – a cat toy merchant. Everything is wonderful. Until the author makes a critical error.
When submitting the article to thousands of editors and publishers, the author selects not the “pets” or “cats” categories – but selects the “Education” category, because the article is educational.
OH NO!
What might otherwise have been a dazzlingly successful article will now flop. The article might be “educational”, but it isn’t a good match for someone who publishes an “education” newsletter.
Choose the correct categories for your articles.
There’s a mixture of art and science to selecting the appropriate categories for a free reprint article. It requires that an author change focus and step into the other guy’s shoes for a bit. From the author’s perspective, the article itself is an education, and so it’s a good fit for the education category.
But take a moment and imagine that you’re a publisher, interested in receiving articles in the “education” category. You’ve got a niche newsletter or content site focused on the education market. When you look for articles in the “education” category, what kinds of articles would you like to see?
You probably want tips for teachers, student management techniques, grading strategies, articles related to the process of teaching, how to be a more effective educator, how to get your point across to a group of unruly students, etc. Imagine that you’re looking through the “education” articles and you come across an article about grooming a cat. Huh? This isn’t about education. It’s SPAM!
That’s the crux of the problem. So many people are writing articles these days that the problem of “article spam” is spreading like wildfire.
Publishers are hypersensitive to article spam. Some will just delete the offending article, but others will take dramatic steps to prevent getting more spam – even up to the point of banning an author from submitting further articles.
In our meetings, the editors tell me that they spend the bulk of their time working with authors to make sure that their articles meet the guidelines. A big part of that effort is focused on categorization.
Real World Example
So lets watch as the rubber meets the road. This is an article about “mistakes in categorizing royalty free reprint articles”, written for publishers all around the web. How should it be categorized? Which newsletters would be interested? Which article directory categories would be an appropriate fit?
The article is written for writers and internet marketers, so that’s where I’ll start. The fist thing to figure out is how to best reach that audience. it’s not hard to decide that the “Internet Marketing” category will be on the list. Article marketing is a highly effective form of internet marketing. Internet marketers would be interested in this article.
Because this article provides tips and tricks on getting articles more widely published, the “Writing” category makes sense. Authors with a desire to get their articles published will find this article helpful. An editor who publishes a newsletter for writers would like this article for that newsletter, because serving the needs of subscribers is what this is all about.
If you’re reading this article, you’re probably reading it in a newsletter or on a website for writers or internet marketers. It is likely that you’re interested in royalty free articles, writing, or internet marketing.
Now it’s up to you. What are you doing to properly categorize the royalty free articles you provide to editors? Are you making things easy for them? Are you giving them the right information to ensure that your articles show up in the right places? It’s a good strategy for you. Your articles gain wider exposure by laser targeting your audience.
Chris Ellington founded DistributeYourArticles to make royalty free article submission easier for internet marketers. DistributeYourArticles has helped over 1000 authors get published. Visit http://distributeyourarticles.com to submit your article to thousands of publishers.
In 1986 Milo Frank wrote a short book called, “How to get your point across in 30 seconds or less.” This idea applies to articles as well as to speeches and other presentations.
That’s not to say everything needs be communicated in that 30 seconds, but the key concept, justification and call to action, can and should be.
Below this article you will find a link to Amazon where you can buy the book if you want to read his justification and suggested techniques to accomplish this seemingly extravagant goal.
I want you to consider applying the idea to your articles, starting today, because you need to if you are going to get your message across before your reader skips past your article and goes on to the next.
Already, 10-20% of the people who started to read this article have stopped and gone elsewhere. This is particularly easy to do online.
Even “hot” media like videos get clicked past at an alarmingly fast rate. Tube Mogul, the video service which makes its business by monitoring and quantifying video viewers behavior, indicates that fully 50% or more of video viewers click away from the average video within 30 seconds. Twelve percent are gone in the first ten seconds.
The attention span of the general public has been short for a long time. No wonder politics is done in 10 second sound bites. And that reality applies to you and your articles as well.
That doesn’t mean you can’t take the time to develop your thoughts in detail. It just means that you need to grab their attention and tell them what you are going to tell them and what they should do about it in your introduction up front. And don’t be too disappointed if a lot of people don’t read your entire article.
Just imagine how many more have left the written word in the same amount of time compared to a video presentation. Now some of that is probably because the viewer discovered that the video was not relevant to their interests and or needs.
As such, maybe we shouldn’t get too upset that they left before we get around to our point. But it could be that they made a mistake. Had they waited they may have discovered our cleverly designed plot to draw them into our proposition was just what they needed. If only they would have waited to see or read our sales pitch and dynamite close.
If you really want your readers to get your point, make it upfront and quick. Elaborate and explain id depth later to those hangers on who are interested in more detail.
I just created a new report to give away on my newest blog on Public Speaking. It’s called An Anatomy of a Speech.
In it I provide some solid tips on how to go about writing a speech or business presentation. To help promote it I also created a new Flip camera video which is below.
I’ve recently become quite aware of the need to keep these videos short. This one is well under two minutes. I like my little Flip camera, even though it doesn’t like my “Es’s”
Some day I will upgrade, but for now it’s adequate. (at least I hope it is.)
A writers life means different things to different people.
Personally, I like Marlon Sander’s idea of the Writer’s Life. He’s been practicing it since 1998 and has gotten it down to an art form. The best part of it is that he avoids the feast and famine routine of so many writers and internet entrepreneurs.
Instead of aiming for the “Big Launch” he focuses on creating products that he writes once and then gets paid on, over and over. Now he doesn’t usually get any of the super big paydays, but he does derive a very respectable, to be sought after, stream of steady income that allows him to do what ever he wants. And most days, that’s to go to his neighborhood Starbucks and spend some time writing and relaxing. He’s all about eliminating stress from his life. Sounds good to me.
As he explains it, his approach is not rocket science. He creates products that are “evergreen” and useful to people, and then markets them in a sensible manner that guarantees himself a nice steady income for life. Not too shabby.
His newest product is called the Writer’s Life, and it’s a blueprint you and I can use to propel ourselves forward as writers and product creators. So that we too can share in the security of a stable income while enjoying a writer’s life.
It’s a “money getting” cookie cutter. Marlon Sanders has done it 122x since Dec. 3, 1998. You can read his 155-page brand spankin’ new guide written 100% by Marlon himself and get started in 2 hours and 58 minutes, according to Marlon’s calculations.
It doesn’t matter what you are trying to sell; reaching people who share your precise interests will greatly increase your odds of success.
Many people who want to advertise their business online make the mistake of thinking the more traffic they can drive to their website; the better. Of course you want as many shoppers as possible coming to your website to check out your wares. But it is better by far to use your advertising budget to attract customers who are more likely to buy your products or services rather than those who are simply stopping by out of curiosity.
A target audience is one that is specifically interested in your business. For example, if you sell a line of clothing for children, you want to attract parents with younger kids. If you sell swimming pool supplies, you want to make contact with pool owners. When you bring a target audience to your website, you get a crowd who is interested in your specific business. Because they share your interests, they will be more likely to buy what you have to offer.
So how do you find this target audience? One of the easiest ways is by using ezine marketing. Ezines are online newsletters that are sent to subscribers on a regular basis. The ezine is usually geared toward a specific interest, such as health, beauty or golf. By advertising in these ezines, you get the advantage of reaching an audience that is mostly interested in your business. They are getting the information from the ezine because they asked for it, and they are more likely to click on your link to shop than to simply browse. For more information about ezine marketing, click here:
Ezines are an excellent way to expand your customer base. Whether you choose to purchase an ad, write an article or form a partnership with the publisher, ezines are an excellent way to take your business to the next level.
There are a variety of ways to distribute articles, you can do it your self, one by one, you can find a variety of soft ware packages, and there are a number of article distribution services.
I’ve used all three of the above approaches, and I got to tell you that I’m happy I finally invested in a quality distribution service. While at first I thought it was a cost, its turned out to be a significant savings, particularly in terms of time, but even more so in terms of results.
The following article discusses 7 features of a quality Content distribution service. -etn
—
Seven Service Features a Quality Content Distribution Service Offers
Have you just completed a stint of article writing with an article campaign in mind? If so, you may be unsure of what route to take next to promote your content. The Web abounds with article distribution options. However, you need to choose a quality content distribution service that fits your budget and delivers results.
The selection of a service entails investigating their main attributes. A host of services trumpets the fact that they distribute your articles. The thing is do you know how often and to how many publishers? In addition, do they offer the human element that’s so crucial to article marketing success?
These, and other points, are things to consider before you engage in article submission. Taking the time to investigate service features can save you much grief later on. With that in mind, here are seven service features a quality content distribution service offers:
Comprehensive Distribution List
A significant list of publishers in a myriad of niches is crucial to your article distribution success. You want targeted distribution of your articles. You receive relevant backlinks when your articles reach audiences who already have an interest in your topics.
Look for a service that has a comprehensive distribution list across a multitude of categories. They get your articles to the niches and even sub-niches you desire to reach. Your articles are in effect preaching to the converted. These readers seek out specific publications hoping to find quality information of the kind you deliver.
Personalized Coaching and Advice
This is the human element alluded to earlier. A quality content distribution service offers live article review. This ensures your articles meet the guidelines that online publishers set forth. From this review, the editor also offers advice, tips, and general “how-to” information. This helps you create higher quality articles for your next campaign.
This is especially critical if you’re new to article writing. Writing a set of articles for distribution is a lot of work. It’s great to have support from a real person. They can help you avoid the pitfalls that can lead to article rejection.
Unlimited Article Distribution
This is the budget element mentioned earlier. Unlimited article distribution means submitting as many articles as you wish in a subscription period. You pay a one-time fee for your subscription. Hidden fees or extra charges are not part of the equation from a quality service.
They tell you their subscription fee upfront and stick to it. You know the exact fee you must pay and therefore budget accordingly. You never have to worry about paying again until it’s time to renew. This gives you great freedom to write and submit as much as you are able.
Always Distributing
A quality content distribution service engages in constant and ongoing distribution. Your articles circulate and garner you backlinks while you’re performing other marketing activities. A good service keeps up-to-date on new publishers entering the marketplace. They ensure your previously submitted articles go out to these new publications as well. This allows you to pick up a new set of backlinks.
Auto-Pilot Distribution
Article marketing automation is one element that helps you streamline your internet marketing activities. You write your articles and then schedule when they distribute. You don’t have to set aside time each week to send them out.
With your distribution on auto-pilot you have a constant stream of articles reaching your niche. This builds your online exposure and reputation. Of course, auto-pilot distribution means having more free time for other work, or leisure activities.
Reports
As an online businessperson, you want to know how your articles are doing. You want to know your article writing efforts are worth it. You can track if they are garnering you an audience through distribution and exposure reports.
These reports tell you when your articles are going out. They also tell you how many views they’re receiving. This aids you in monitoring which articles are the most popular and which are less so. This is information you need so you can gear your writing to topics that readers want.
Mobile Distribution
A quality content distribution service lets you be mobile. They do not require that you download special software. They make it so you just log in to their system and submit. You can do this from a remote location or a mobile device. You are not limited to only submitting via your home PC.
Make sure the distribution service you choose has the above seven features. Let them run with these features to get you the broadest exposure for your articles. A quality content distribution service is a sound foundation to build your article marketing campaign on.
To your success,
Kenneth Vogt
Kenneth Vogt is CEO of Content Crooner; a quality content distribution service. He is an established internet marketing professional and respected Web expert.
I Recommend Content Crooner for Professional Article Submission. Click the Banner Below.
http://www.ipings.com/rss/2342
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