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.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Ellington

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:

Click Here To Download Your Free Ezine Marketing Report

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.

Click Here To Download Your Free Ezine Marketing Report

Technorati Tags: eZine, eZine marketing, Targeted marketing

When I publish an articles, I am hoping to get both backlinks and traffic to my sites or offers. That’s what its all about for me. But to be successful in that quest, I need to be aware of what both Publishers and Readers are looking for. Once again I defer to the master and share Ken Vogt take on the topic. I think you will find it worth a quick read. -etn
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What do Publishers and Readers Want from Your Articles?

The art and craft of article writing involves the creation of a distinct piece of communication. Through the medium of the article, you hope to make a connection with your reader. You must also make a connection with a publisher. They do the initial work of placing your work in front of interested readers.

Therefore, successful article writers take a two-pronged approach to their craft. They study both what publishers and readers want, and then compose accordingly. This does not stifle their creativity in any way.

In fact, knowing exactly what these two groups want enhances their efforts. They learn to say things in new and varied ways to conform to the parameters both groups set. With that in mind, we’re going to look at what each group wants from a writer.

What a Publisher Wants from Your Articles

Upon article submission to an article distribution service, an editor goes over your work. Of course, this is providing you choose an article marketing enterprise that employs live reviewers. Many do not. This input from an experienced reviewer ensures your articles are suitable for the viewing public.

What exactly are they looking for? Reviewers look for 100 percent original content. This content must be informative, useful and practical. Publishers want value in articles. They have a readership base to satisfy. This is why they love a steady stream of fresh, new useful content heading their way.

Another thing publishers want is objective, interesting, non-sales hype content. Yes, there’s a time and place to promote your business, products and services. Articles intended for distribution online to a myriad of publishers’ are not the vehicle for doing so.

Your articles facilitate your target market finding you through linking back to your website. There you can engage them further and blatantly promote. Publishers don’t want articles in their publications to read like late night infomercials.

Publishers also want the “mechanisms” in your article in tip-top shape. This involves format, grammar, spelling and tone. These are the basics, common to every good article. They are the basic building blocks that keeping an article humming along smoothly.

Think of a car and its mechanisms, ensuring that the car moves properly. Your article won’t read smoothly if the reader becomes annoyed with grammar, spelling and other errors. You hasten the publication of your articles when you submit them free of these types of errors. You gain the respect of publishers by taking this professional approach to article submission.

What a Reader Wants from Your Articles

Readers are the true end-user of your content. When you embark on an article campaign, you direct your articles to a certain niche. This niche has specific wants and needs.

Primarily, they want timely, relevant articles. Readers searching the Internet look for articles relevant to what’s going on in their lives now. They do not want a rehash of trite fluff that doesn’t offer them anything new.

This doesn’t mean you cannot present historical data or concepts with a rich tradition of use. It does mean you present this foundational information in a new and fresh way. You make this information uniquely your own.

This involves updating the information with new facts, statistics, and data. It also involves presenting the information from a different viewpoint, with a new twist on the subject. Information you give readers must satisfy their need for a fresh perspective on the topic. If they wanted the same old, same old, they would consult an encyclopedia.

Your readers also want an easy read as they learn. This involves proper construction of sentences and paragraphs. Long rambling sentences and huge block of unbroken text do not make an easy read. Your readers will abandon your articles quickly if it’s a chore to read them.

In addition, your readers want complex subjects presented clearly. Attractively formatted content means nothing if the meaning of the content isn’t clear. Clarity of thought and logical presentation of information is the order of the day in article writing.

Readers of online articles want to “get in and get out.” They look to access information quickly, read it quickly, absorb knowledge, and move on. They want the reading experience to be enjoyable and in no way confusing.

You owe it to publishers, readers and yourself to submit articles that meet the above requirements. You satisfy the needs of publishers who want to give value to their audience. You satisfy the needs of readers who need useful information that answers questions. You also satisfy your need to gain credibility with both groups and build your online business.

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.

Discover how quality content is a driving force behind highly targeted traffic and improved page rank in our Free Report.

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

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I highly recommend Content Crooner to you. Not only is Ken a knowledgeable CEO, the Service they provide is top rate. -etn

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, content distribution, content submission, editor, live reviewers, products and services, publishers, quality content writing

In business, leverage is the name of the game. Leverage of employees, capital equipment and other resources extend ones ability to generate income far beyond what any one person could do.

Even if you are a one person shop though, you can gain leverage by multiplying your creative article writing efforts by re-purposing copy.

Here is how Content Crooner CEO Ken Vogt explains it.   Now Ken is Article centric, I use the same technique, although I tend to start with blog posts and turn them into emails and articles, but the principle is the same.   -etn

Let Your Articles Work for You in Different Ways

It’s a great feeling when you complete your article writing efforts. You undertook the necessary research and created an effective outline. You then got down to business and churned out words. The result is your personal masterpiece ready to go.

The next step is engaging in article submission to an article distribution service. You spend the time searching out the right one. You look for an article marketing service that allows unlimited article submissions for a one-time fee. You also choose one that has a comprehensive distribution list of fine publishers.

Now your articles are on their way to their new homes. You are finished with them and can move on. However, should you be finished with them? Are there any other areas where you can use the content you worked so hard to create.

There certainly are other areas where you can use your articles. You should put them to work in those areas to gain maximum benefit from them. The following are versatile uses of your articles for other content:

Newsletters

Of course, an article marketing service distributes your articles to numerous newsletter publishers. Why not publish your articles in your own newsletter. You can keep them the same, or modify them.

You can use this newsletter on an opt-in page to gain targeted subscribers. You offer a free informative newsletter in exchange for a subscribers name and e-mail address. This is a great way to build your list.

Useful newsletters are a great benefit to website visitors looking for good information. A newsletter you send out with quality content helps your credibility as an online marketer. They allow you to keep in touch with those of your niche. Newsletters help you convert readers into customers.

Email Campaigns

With your opt-in list in hand or onscreen, you can mount effective e-mail campaigns. Articles you wrote for article distribution purposes are also suitable for e-mailing to your list. Again, you can send the original creation or modify it to suit a specific campaign.

The main thing is to send useful, relevant, current information. People get enough useless junk mail that tells them nothing new. People resent when others waste their time with “hype” e-mails that are of no benefit to them. You know how you feel when you get those kinds of e-mails.

Articles contain quality information that offers benefits to readers. Make them part of your e-mail campaigns. Recipients don’t mind reading e-mails that inform, educate, inspire, and offer solutions.

EBooks

You can also compile a host of articles you wrote on a topic into an EBook. You make each article a chapter or section in your EBook. If the articles are very short, make two or three of them a section of your book.

You can modify the articles as needed to suit the persona of the book you intend to promote. However, you essentially have a ready-made EBook on hand because of your existing articles. In your EBook, you place those vital links back to your web pages. This gains you major relevant traffic.

Your EBook is now a product you can offer as a free giveaway to your website visitors. Alternatively, you can sell the EBook and earn some money from those article-writing efforts. Many programs exist for doing up a professional looking EBook to market.

Blog Posts

Do you have your own blog? Blogs are great for keeping your niche market informed daily or weekly on aspects of your business. You can use your articles as blog posts to inform your readers.

If you typically write short blog posts, just break up your articles. Split one 750-word article into two separate blog posts. Run a series of blog posts based on a set of articles on a certain topic.

Using well-written articles as blog posts offers quality information to your readers. People read blogs for shorter blasts of good information. Turn your well-written articles into well-written blog posts that capture reader’s attention.

Hard Copy Informational Reports for Offline Marketing

Maybe you engage in some offline marketing initiatives. Do you market products and services at home shows, craft shows, trades shows, and such? Why not print your articles as informational reports to hand out in person.

Online marketing is the 21st century way. However, there’s still a time and place for offline marketing done right. Wherever you are promoting your business, excellent articles in hand are great resources to hand to interested observers.

Let your articles work for you in different ways. Don’t limit the ways to gain exposure for your writing. You can build significant backlinks by utilizing your articles across different platforms. It’s a great way to build your author reputation and your business.

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.

Discover how quality content is a driving force behind highly targeted traffic and improved page rank in our Free Report.

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

Technorati Tags: article campaign, article marketing tips, backlinks, blogs, business, e-mail campaigns, EBook, exposure, newsletters, Offline marketing, publishers, reputation, targeted traffic, website

It shouldn’t be a surprise that I believe in article marketing.  For a long time I struggled to come up with products to sell online, only to discover I had no traffic to sell to.  Since then I have learned that marketing is a multi-faceted game, and have done much better.

I had long known that all the top marketers were telling me to do article marketing, but it wasn’t until I started to both write good articles, and actually get them published in a lot of directories that they really started to drive traffic to me.

Today we are continuing the series by Ken Vogt.  Ken is CEO of Content Crooner which is the article distribution service I now use and recommend.

I hope you enjoy it. -etn

In the world of internet marketing, constant streams of information come your way each year. Much of this is get-rich-quick hype from so-called online experts. However, the only ones getting rich are those ‘gurus’ who seek to line their own pockets. Often their systems aren’t worth the time, effort and money required to obtain and learn them.

What you need as an online businessperson are time-tested systems that provide value. You want the system to be affordable and easy to use. You also want a system that doesn’t involve a huge time commitment to set in motion. On top of that, you want a system that works for you when you are not working.

Think of a typical household appliance that adds a measure of convenience to your life. The typical kitchen refrigerator is a perfect example. It provides value by keeping food fresh and in optimum condition.

A refrigerator is also relatively affordable these days and easy to use. You plug it in, stock it, and enjoy it. There’s no time commitment to running a refrigerator on a daily basis. In addition, a refrigerator is always working for you. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing it keeps working.

You need this efficiency of process and operation when it comes to internet marketing. Article marketing provides this for you and helps you build a successful online business. Here’s how article marketing works:

Article Writing and Article Submission

The first part of the article marketing process involves your initial efforts. You can’t have an article campaign without articles. You can’t gain widespread distribution without engaging in regular article submission.

However, once you or a freelance writer writes articles and submits them, your work is compete. The key is writing articles packed with useful information directed at a specific target market. This sets the rest of the process in motion.

Choose a Good Article Distribution Service

The next stage is to choose an article distribution service that deals with numerous quality publishers. Look for one that has relationships with popular publishers of significant readerships. Classify your articles into the proper categories and sub-categories. Target specialty publications you know your target market reads.

Additionally, choose an article service that employs live editors and reviewers. Make sure they allow unlimited article submission for a one-time fee. Check that they perform ongoing distribution and update their publisher lists frequently.

The Article Distribution Process

The article distribution process is your article marketing service in action. They make your articles available to the publishing community at large. They ensure your articles reach publications exclusive to your niche.

Your articles begin to populate newsletters, ezines, blogs, and web pages. This is significant exposure, which means your target market has a better chance of finding you. The more places people see your articles, the more they take notice of you.

This results in them back linking to your website, provided they found your content informative. Again, quality articles are at the heart of successful article marketing. With increased back linking from widespread article distribution, you gain the attention of search engines.

Article Marketing and Major Search Engines

The search engines take notice of plentiful relevant back links to your website. They deem you as credible and a useful resource for their users. Therefore, they reward you with higher page rankings. This leads to higher search engine results page (SERP) listings.

Higher SERP listings are vital to gaining increased traffic to your website. People tend to look at the first page or two of website listings. If you score in these first pages, you gain significant traffic and improve your chances of getting visitors who convert to customers.

Article Marketing is about Building Trust

Successful article marketing garners you a loyal readership that trusts you as an expert in your field. Through providing useful content, your readers deem you credible, as the search engines do. Your readers then link back to you to find more information on your site.

As you engage them further, you can then recommend products and services to them. They trust you based on your quality articles. There’s a greater chance they will take your product recommendations to heart.

This is how you build an online business with articles. This is how you build that business even when you choose not to work. Article marketing is a way to build relationships through words and linking from those words. All the while, you have time to build your business in other ways.

Article marketing is truly an autopilot system that works to make internet marketing an easier discipline. Much like that household refrigerator, the system operates quietly in the background. As it does, it builds massive back links and your online income.

To your success,

Kenneth Vogt

Discover how quality content is a driving force behind highly targeted traffic and improved page rank in our Free Report.

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

Technorati Tags: article campaign, article distribution, Article Marketing, article submission, page ranking, quality content, search engines results page, SERP, trust and credibility

The payday for your article marketing effort is dependent of several factors, the quality of the article you write and the distribution you are able to get for your article. But even if they are both outstanding, it can all go for naught if you do not have an effective resource box to direct that traffic to your site.

Continuing to borrow from the experts, below is an excellent discussion of the topic by Ken Vogt. I hope you enjoy. -etn

How to Write an Effective Author’s Resource Box

To connect effectively with your target market, it’s important to engage in article marketing. This process allows you to communicate to your audience by offering them useful, relevant information. You create articles, for distribution to popular online publishers.

Publishers know what their readers want and work hard to provide them quality content. They have guidelines for the types of articles they require to satisfy their readers. You, as an internet marketer, follow these guidelines and compose appropriate articles.

Well-written articles of the “non-sales” type offer value to readers. Creating top-notch articles full of useful information is a craft unto itself. It takes practice to write articles that logically get your message across in a clear way to readers. When you do this well, the feeling is a very satisfying one.

Once your articles are ready to go, you still have another task to fulfill. This is the creation of an effective author’s resource box to accompany your well-written article. Your resource box is that precise “About You” text at the bottom of your article.

When you engage in an article campaign via an article distribution service, you want widespread article exposure. However, you also want widespread exposure of your name and website links. This is how you gain that targeted traffic back to your site. The following are the elements of an effective author’s resource box:

A Name

Why spend all that time writing a great article and not take credit for it. Remember to include your name in your resource box to highlight the person behind the writing. People love to know who wrote what they just read. Include any title associated with your name if appropriate.

Are you a doctor, a layer, a certified public accountant, or a PHD? Let your readers know, as this further establishes your authority to write the specific article. Don’t have a title; don’t worry about it. Let your name and good writing speak for you.

A Website Address

You want to promote linking back to your website. Your site is where you further engage your readers. They need to be able to easily click on a link and find their way to you. It’s best to spell out your website address completely. This includes the “http://” at the beginning.

A Concise Description

After your name and website address, you want to include a concise couple of sentences. These sentences let the reader know who you are and what you do. This is where you actually directly promote yourself in a reputable way.

This concise description in effect is a mini-advertisement. It states that you “do this” and have expertise “in that.” It presents you as a valid author of the topic just read. An example would be, “Author John Doe is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He works with small start-up enterprises to ensure their accounting procedures are in order.”

A Call to Action

Here you think like a Madison Avenue executive. You want the reader of your article to do something when they finish reading. Include a line in the resource box that asks your reader to visit your website.

You can ask them to link to a free EBook or report. You can ask them to check out a product or service you offer via a link provided. Whatever you suggest, get the reader interested in connecting with you beyond the confines of the article.

The above are the main elements to include in an author’s resource box. Using these few is an excellent way to encourage further discourse with your readers. Article submission to a good article distribution service has as its goal the gaining of backlinks from your resource box. It’s the reason you write articles in the first place.

Sometimes, authors wish to include other information in an author’s resource box. You can as well, keeping in mind not to overload the box so it becomes tedious to read. You can include a web address to subscribe to a newsletter or ezine.

You can also include a phone number or business address should you choose to give out this information. You may want to include a link to a press release on the web about your business. It all depends on what you deem vital for promoting your business in the best way.

Spend the extra time after article writing, to create a good author’s resource box. Toot your own horn in a dignified way through this tool. Let your readers’ know who and where you are. In this way, they can continue to build their relationship with you.

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.

Discover how quality content is a driving force behind highly targeted traffic and improved page rank in our Free Report.

Follow Us on Twitter:

Technorati Tags: article distribution, Article Marketing, article marketing automation, article submission, author's resource box, call to action, quality content, target market

After years of doing manual article submissions, and then a period of using software to do it, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to a paid service.  I wish I had done so sooner.

It’s easier and gets articles to hundreds more directories than I ever did before – in way less time.  I chose Article Marketer as my service, but it recently went through a reorganization and I am now with a successor company called Content Crooner.

Today and for the coming few weeks or more, I will be sharing some of the blog posts their CEO had offered, as he really does know his business better than I do.  As such, I thought you would rather hear from him direct rather than my attempting to be more of an expert than I really am. After all it took me three years to wise up.

The title of this first posting is, “How Article Marketing Benefits Your Business.”

Running a business today, affiliate marketing or otherwise, involves continuous promotion. In the ultra-competitive 21st century landscape, gaining exposure for your enterprise is vital. What’s essential is finding a system that can accomplish your goals, while being financially feasible.

For a host of offline and online business people, article marketing is that system. Article marketing is the distribution of your articles to a broad spectrum of publishers. They then publish your content in newsletters, ezines and on web pages.

The true benefits of article marketing are apparent if you look at the system from a reader’s point of view. There are millions continually searching on the Internet for something. This is the information age in full bloom.

Before the making of buying or other decisions, people require information on topics. Quality information is available, quickly, via the Web. Each year more people migrate to doing their research solely through this platform. They expect top-notch information from quality information providers on a consistent basis.

When people find useful, relevant information that meets specific needs, they remember the source. Think of the blogs and websites you frequent. You do so because you find useful information there regularly.

This is what people want on the Web. They want to read articles and regularly visit websites that always deliver this excellent information. It makes their life easier knowing they can trust a source to provide the content they need.

This is where article marketing comes in to your benefit. As an affiliate or other type of marketer, you need widespread exposure. However, working to gain this exposure is time consuming. Often, working to gain this exposure means foregoing other important tasks.

Article marketing works to gain you this exposure while you do other things. Through an article distribution service, you engage in an article campaign to promote your business. Then, on autopilot, your articles work for you.

The best article marketing services have relationships with thousands of popular publishers. These publishers have huge readerships that crave new articles weekly. However, as a businessperson, do you have time to submit to these publishers each week?

You probably do not. You no doubt engage in a myriad of other activities as is common to online marketers. Therefore, you need an affordable, efficient system to do this work for you. That’s exactly what an article marketing enterprise does.

However, a good service goes beyond simple article distribution. The better ones provide multiple benefits. A quality service allows unlimited article submissions with no hidden costs. Therefore, you can budget for article marketing knowing exactly what your dollar outlay will be.

A good article marketing service also performs constant and ongoing distribution. You write your articles, engage in article submission, and then proceed to other marketing activities. They then send your articles out week after week. They make sure your articles reach new publishers on the scene.

Another benefit to your business is the massive backlinks you receive through ongoing distribution. With your articles continually receiving publication on different sites you gain targeted traffic. Your articles receive publication in specialty publications suited to your topics.

Readers of these publications already have an interest in your business. They crave articles on subjects related to your products or services. When you present them useful information via an article, they can link back to your website to learn more.

Once they reach your website, you build your relationship with them further. You presold them through informative content. Now you can present more information and actively promote your business too. There’s a good chance they will convert to loyal customers as you earn their trust.

Article marketing also benefits your business through building your credibility with major search engines. The more reputable publishers publish your work, the more relevant links you garner. Search engines will take notice of these quality links.

These multitudes of links contribute to higher page ranking. Higher page ranking contributes to higher search engine results page listings. Both of these lead to increased web traffic to your site.

Article marketing also benefits you by gaining you name recognition as a good information provider. Your articles speak for themselves if they’re rich with useful content. Of course, your name and links attached to them build your credibility. It’s easy to see why people would naturally link to your site after reading.

All of these benefits are the result of your initial article marketing efforts. You gained widespread exposure for your business with a minimal investment of time. You didn’t break the bank to do it either. For dividends paid, article marketing is a highly cost-effective marketing method.

Investigate everything that article marketing offers. Choose a service that allows unlimited article submission for a reasonable subscription fee. Let widespread publication of your well-crafted articles be your ticket to increased business success.

To your success,

Kenneth Vogt

Kenneth Vogt is CEO of Content Crooner; a quality article distribution service. He is an established internet marketing professional and respected Web expert.

Discover how quality content is a driving force behind highly targeted traffic and improved page rank in our Free Report.

You can follow Content Crooner on Twitter: ContentCrooner

Technorati Tags: article campaign, article distribution, Article Marketing, article submission, Article writing, content promotion, information age, quality content

Business Article Marketing Works

Business Article Marketing Works

Business Article Marketing is an effective, but underutilized tool by main street businesses. While it is widely practiced by internet marketers, the technique can work as well, if not better, for main street businesses.

Your potential customer is looking for several things when they go shopping. For most higher price items, they need and want information to help make a wiser purchase decision. They also want to be confident in the vendor they end up buying from. Business article marketing is the perfect approach to deal with both of these customer needs.

What makes it even more attractive, is that it is virtually free, and ultimately the customer comes to you rather than you needing to search for the customer.

Here’s how it works. First choose a single product you want to sell. Then brainstorm with your sales staff on the key questions prospective customers have when they consider buying. Your approach will vary depending on whether there are many key questions or just a few.

Assuming there are just a few, you will do two things. One is to write a simple web page to be tacked on to your corporate web site specifically dedicated to this one product. It will be written in such a manner as to answer all the likely questions and objections a buyer may have. This page need not be fancy and is probably more effective the less fancy it is.

The information used to create the web page is then rewritten into a variety of articles of 400-600 words or so. These articles are titled with specific information the customer might be likely to use on a computer search engine. Such as: “Brand Name Chainsaw QR23″, or “Chainsaws for Professionals” or “Chainsaws for Women.”

The purpose of the titles is to get your article found. They need not be attention grabbing.

You want to write a specific article for every major keyword phrase your customers are likely to do a computer search on.  You can reuse much of the material from one article to the next, but try to vary them enough so that they appear different. If you are selling a chainsaw to women, make sure you explain why women will like the lightweight but powerful chainsaw, etc.

These articles are then going to be posted on as many of the thousands of article directories as possible. There are inexpensive services that will post these to the directories for you.

The article directories exist to provide useful articles for blog writers, ezine editors and others to use. All of these people will be allowed to reprint your article on their sites for free, as long as they include a live link to a resource box that you will add to the bottom of each article.

Your resource box will include a link to the specific page on your website dedicated to your product.  People will read about it, and then click through to your page. Many will then read much the same information on your page and make their decision to buy.

If you have a complicated product you will not put much information on the product page. Instead you will display the product and offer a free report that the visitor can download in exchange for their email information.  Once they provide that to you, you will send them a well written informative report outlining the merits of the product and the information they will need on the options and any considerations they need to keep in mind.

Rather than leaving it at that, you will follow-up with them periodically with additional informational emails. These are designed to offer more information, establish a positive relationship with the prospect and to keep you in front of your prospect during their decision making process.

The reason business article marketing works, is that people are increasing searching for information online prior to making a buying decision. They tend to resist sales pressure, but will eat up useful information. This is particularly true if they first find that information on an apparently neutral third party location.

By provide the information they need, you will be giving them what they want,  It also helps build their respect for you as a vendor.  You are now seen as a resource and not a seller.

Technorati Tags: Business Article Marketing

You’ve researched and written a terrific article that will captivate and educate your readers. Congratulations.

Now make sure you get a return on your investment.

At the end of your article you want to include your name, a brief description of who you are, and a brief description of your website and a link.

If a reader likes what they read, they may well choose to seek out more information on the topic or about you.  You want to encourage this behavior as much as possible with an eye catching and intriguing resource box.

It is also a good idea to include anchor text around your primary keyword as well. Most article directories limit the number of links to two, and also restrict the length of the resource box.  So you need to learn how to maximize the value of the limited space.

Be fun and creative and at the same time show that you have a great deal more to offer the reader.  It’s generally a good idea to have the opening statement of your resource box read as though it is a continuation of the article, to draw people into the article and lead them right to a call for action.

When you capture the readers interest with your article, and lead them to a powerful call to action you will get ample reward for your efforts. Make sure you pause and give your resource box as much attention as it deserves.

Technorati Tags: Resource Box

Tantalizing tips to evoke creativity and slay writers block

The Challenge
A blank sheet of paper can be a terrifying thing – Inertia a 10,000 ton anchor. Writing a 500-700 word internet marketing article can become a daunting task. Even experienced writers are challenged from time to time and long for a cure for writers block.

Many newer writers discover the hardest part is just to get started. Others, once started, still find it difficult to come up with anything more than drivel. Should you find yourself in this situation, it may be best to stop. Get up. Walk away. Come back another day. But in the interim consider adapting the following writers block tips to your life.

This article will outline five keys to releasing your creativity and discuss how to overcome writers block and stimulate your creativity. Consider them though not as five tips, but five parts of your writing persona. Integrate them into your essence as a writer

Journal
Every writer has a silent unpaid assistant that is usually far more talented than they are – their subconscious. But too often their suggestions get misplaced, lost and forgotten. In part that’s because the subconscious mind tosses up its ideas at unannounced intervals – and usually when you are busy with other things. It’s imperative that you develop a system to capture these ideas.

Some carry notebooks with them at all times. Others always have some sort of voice recorder, and others simply keep a pen and paper handy. Whatever you choose, it’s imperative that you catch these fleeting gems and get them written down. Many you will later discard, but some will set your writing on fire. The genius of your subconscious is ephemeral. The ideas it reveals will dissipate like whiffs of smoke if you don’t capture them in some form of journal.

Relax
While a top ranked surgeon can also be a great tap dancer, you probably wouldn’t want them tap dancing while removing your gall bladder. So too with the task of writing. Your writing may be based on your career, hobby or passions, but the act of writing requires its own mental space.

You need to step out of the rest of your life, and relax. Take a deep breath and focus on your writing task, and not all the extraneous baggage that may be associated with it. Doing this requires a bit of self knowledge. You need to be aware of what triggers your emotions. What gets you excited, what gets your goat.

These emotions can be powerful assets that you can use to inform your writing, but if you are wrapped up in them when they are not part of your task at hand, they can also be debilitating. Instead you need to learn how to develop a state of being where you can disassociate from everything except the task at hand.

Nest
One of the best ways sustain a productive writing mood and atmosphere is to create a space for your writing. Design your own nest, where you can relax and work. Make it known that this is a “do not disturb” zone. And clear it of all other work and obligations. This is not where you pay bills, or twitter. This is where you write. It’s you place to tune out the rest of the world and zero in on your creative muses.

If you like coffee, have a coffee pot, if you prefer cold drinks, get yourself a mini refrigerator. If your writing is less regular, you can use any quiet space, but make it yours, and before beginning clear it of distractions. You want to place where you can get in the zone, and stay there. Once you get the words flowing, you want to keep in that groove. Keep those words coming until the river runs dry.

Mood
Understanding your won moods is the best writers block help. What time of day are you most productive? Do you like absolute quiet, classical music, white noise? Know yourself, and develop routines to take advantage of your peak productive periods.

Pay attention to your mood. Just as a warm up is essential for an athlete, you need to identify those things that help you loosen up and warm up in advance of a writing session. Do you like to work in bright sunlight, twilight or the dark of night. Part of the creative writing process is freeing your subconscious helper. Enabling it to step forward and take you places that may not have occurred to your conscious mind.

While some writers have relied on alcohol and drugs to release this phenomenon, you can achieve results by creating your own signature space and mood. Meditation, exercise, aromatherapy, lighting, music, and intriguing visual environment can all be incorporated into your own personal writers groove, but each of us needs to find our own personal recipe. Look into yourself and discover your own personal creativity triggers and incorporate them into your writing routine.

Getaway
Even then from time to time you may need to break the mold and escape your nest to find a cure for writers block. Personally, I enjoy walking through the tangle of underbrush along the Mississippi River gorge not far from my home. Nature can be refreshing. You may have a favorite beach or mountain top, or dimly lit table in a coffee house. When the lines are stale and the ideas flat, a change of pace may be the only answer. Avoid the siren of mindless television, seek out places where you can observe details that you would never otherwise see.

Mini adventures can refresh the soul, and dissolve the conundrums hampering your flow. While it’s usually best to create a routine, a nest and comfortable mood, breaking the mold on occasion is all it takes to rejuvenate the AWOL muse.

Writing is a personal journey. While a simple article may just be a matter of sitting down and tossing off a few lines for some, it can be an intense struggle for others.

Effective writing over time requires not just a way with words, but also a way with ourselves. If creative writing is to be part of your way of life, it’s a good idea to establish a place for it, both physically and mentally. Doing so, will make it all the easier to call upon that reluctant aide we all have, call it muse, or sub conscious, or the groove.

Technorati Tags: Article writing, Cure for writers block, How to overcome writers block, Writers block help, Writers block tip

Internet Article Marketing

Distilling Fine Articles from the

Fruits of Your Mind

You have decided to use the power of internet article marketing to draw eyes and back links to your web site. Good idea. Article marketing can be a very effective tool to accomplish both objectives. But where do you start?

Good Question.

Just as a distillery needs to first gather grapes and then run them though a series of steps before turning them into a fine brandy, you must first gather your ideas, before you write your article.

Before you begin

Whether you are brewing a single article or a series of them, the prerequisite is deciding what your topic is, and understanding why you are writing.

Your writing will enjoy greater clarity of purpose when each article has a clear singular keyword or phrase. Whether writing one or multiple articles it’s best to identify each of your keyword phrases in advance before you begin. They will help you form your thoughts, and may encourage you to explore nuances you may have otherwise ignored.

When writing an internet marketing article, your objective is to get eyes and or back links to your site. To do that, you need to get accepted into an internet article directory and then get noticed and republished by ezine editors before you’ll get read by end users. That’s a lot of different audiences. While you know what’s in it for you, begin the writing process thinking about what’s in it for your ultimate reader as well.

Now that you are clear on your topic and why you are writing, you are ready to begin the next phase.

Brainstorming

As you mull over your keyword and topic, ideas will come to you. That’s the main benefit of the prior exercise. Once your conscious mind is clear on the task at hand, so too is the subconscious. It will send you flashes of brilliance that may surprise you.

You want to capture those ideas. Even the bad ones, but search out the brilliant ones. Bad ideas can morph into good ones. Don’t judge, record. Write them down. Use whatever system that works for you. Long hand, computer, voice recorder, whatever.

Think about possible titles. What would grab people’s attention? Remind yourself of your readers. Who are they? Why would they want to read your article? What do they want to know?

What is the essential one element of your article? If it had to be just one sentence, what would it be? What are the key facts you want to share? Write them down, or list where you will look them up.

What will your call to action be? What do you want them to actually do when they are done reading your article? How are you going to get them to do it? What are you going to tell them that will make a difference in their lives?

This process can take days or 30 minutes. The results will vary by the amount of time you can devote. If you can, daydream about your topic while driving or doing other work. Your subconscious can be a powerful tool. What every time you have, use it to enlarge your topic.

In the next step, you are going to tie it down and begin to do some pruning.

The Outline.

We’ve all been taught the writing outline format since grade school. They are easy. You already know the main parts to your article. It will have a title, an introduction, a body and a close. And in the case of internet article marketing it will also have a resource box.

See, you are half done already. While it may vary, let’s assume there are three main points to the body.

• Title
• Introduction
• Body
o A
o B
o C
• Close
• Resource Box

Review your brainstorming notes. Pick the three most important ideas that must be in the body. If you have more that three, which can be grouped together?

If you absolutely cannot fit everything into three groups, add or subtract. It’s your article. By trying to nestle ideas into groups, you define the essence of your article.

You then assign an order within and among the groups in your outline. Once that’s done, you’re done with the outline. You can always add more, but at this point, you have captured and ordered the essence of your thoughts. If this were a book, rather than an article you would perhaps need to get more detailed. But it’s not, so it’s time to write that first draft.

Technorati Tags: Article writing, Brainstorming, Outline, Resource Box, writing outline format

Do Your Internet Marketing Articles Meet this 5 Question Test?

If you ignore the five essentials to effective internet marketing article writing, you may as well not waste your time. Article writing is a powerful tool.  When done well, it will attract a lot of eyes and back links to your web site. Do it poorly, and your results will be meager.

1. Does your title attract the right reader’s attention?

Ideally, it should let the “right” readers know the information in the article is for them, and it should intrigue them to at least take a look. The goal of a headline or title is to get the reader to read the first line. If they don’t, your article fails its purpose.

Specifically, you want to catch your ideal prospects attention. A too cute title may catch a lot of attention, but if the people attracted aren’t candidates for what you are selling, in the final analysis you are just wasting their time.  So while you want to be provocative, focus on that which would be appropriate for your specific audience.

Once you have them reading your first line, make sure it’s powerful enough to carry them into the first whole paragraph and beyond.

2. Is your article properly focused?

A good internet marketing article is succinctly focused on one topic. That topic may have multiple parts, but they are all specifically tied to one idea. As internet marketers, that idea should be a single Keyword or Keyword Phrase.

People will search for articles in article directories by keyword, and so you want them to be able to find your article. When they publish your article, you want to get back links to your web site based on that keyword.  Thus it is imperative that you decide specifically which keyword you are trying to rank for, before you write the first word.

It goes without saying that the keyword and the article should be directly related to the site you are referring people to, or again you would be wasting everyone’s time.

3. Have you effectively used your keywords?

If possible you should include your keyword in your title. This will resonate with people who are searching for articles on your keyword. But don’t force it. Your primary objective is to get people to read your article. Including the keyword is a distinct plus, but not mandatory.

You want to use the keywords as often as possible within the article, but again don’t overdo it. Too many internet marketing articles are overstuffed with the keywords to the point that they don’t read well. So rather than trying to meet some artificial keyword density, concentrate on writing a readable article but do try to use your keywords wherever appropriate.

4. Is your content worth reading?

Provide your readers with value. If an internet marketing article is to get picked up and republished elsewhere, it will be because it caught an editor’s eye and delivered content worth sharing with their readers.

People respond well to facts, figures and statistics as long as they are not overwhelming. Anecdotes and stories that make a point enliven articles. Rather than adding a lot of adjectives to an article, focus on your verbs. Active verbs and a positive message are always welcome.

5. Does your resource box deliver?

The goal of an internet marketing article is to drive people and robots to your website.  Your resource box is therefore critical to the success of your article. If you are not allowed to include anchor text in the article itself, it is essential that you do so in the resource box. Repeat your keyword and link it to your target site. But do so creatively.

As much as possible, develop your resource box as a continuation of your article. If it flows as thought it were a continuation of the article above it, a larger portion of your readers will read it as well. And then be sure to include a call to action. Let your readers know what step you want them to take.

If you have been able to hold their attention from start to finish of the article, it is only logical that they will want to follow on to the next step, by visiting your web site, blog or take whatever additional step you desire.

If you write your internet marketing articles with these five questions in mind, you will be rewarded with lots of traffic and back links to your web sites.

—-

[Below is a sample of a resource box I will be testing when I post this article on the article directories.]

To learn more ideas and tips on how to ensure your internet marketing articles grab tons of new traffic and backlinks to your sites go to http://ArticleMarketingHint.com.  The author Earl Netwal also publishes a blog for small business people called http://MicroBusinessSpecialist.com/blog

Technorati Tags: Article Directories, internet article marketing, Resource Box

Article Marketing – Four Wins in a Row

Article Marketing as it has evolved on the internet is a classic win-win-win-win institution that has become one of the backbones of the internet. There are four essential players in the article marketing game, all of whom benefit, each in their own way.

Like any market, article marketing is a business of supply and demand. There are end users, who get material from their local vendor who in turn gets material from their wholesaler, who in turns gets material from individual producers.

Unlike most markets, the transfer of goods in the article marketing arena is largely free. The end user wants free access to information.  The magic of the article marketing model is that it has created economic incentives to all the parties to meet that demand.

There are many places online for people to get information. These include static web sites, blogs, forums, ezines, ebooks, etc.  The producers of these sites, blogs etc are frequently monetizing their efforts with products and services they sell directly or on behalf of others or by various forms of advertising revenue.

Several of these, blogs and ezines in particular require a constant source of new material to keep their site fresh and to attract information seekers with the expectation that a certain percentage of them will also take a revenue producing action. The challenge for these venues is coming up with new material on a regular basis.

Their options are to write it themselves, hire it out or find a free resource of relevance to their specific niche of readers.

Article Directories

Article Directories have emerged to fill that role. They are the wholesalers of articles across a vast array of topics and specialties. They recruit article submissions from individual writers and group them in easy to search categories for the blog writer to search.

Most offer this service free of charge to the blog writers and anyone else who just wants to research a given topic.  They make their money the same way most of the blog and ezine writers do. They usually have Google Adsense ads on their site as well as other advertising. They sometimes offer additional premium services for article writers and users as well, but these vary widely.

To be successful, article directories have found it necessary to be editors. They want their customers on both ends to benefit from the equation. To assure this they develop specific rules for the type of material they host on their site and editorial guidelines.  These vary by individual article directory. Article writers must meet these standards to be accepted into the directory. This in turn assures a quality product for the blogger and their readers.

One of the most frequent editorial restraints is to contain blatant advertising.  Most article directories have strict rules that prohibit advertising except in a section added to the end of the article called the Resource Box.

So who produces all this free editorially up to snuff material? What’s in it for them?

There are three primary motivators for the authors. Some are born writers who just need to write to express themselves. Or perhaps they are motivated to establish themselves as an expert in a given arena or niche.

Another major group are individual business people who seek to inform prospective customers about their product or service.  In some cases they may share the desire to brand themselves as experts.

The motivation for most businesses lies in the utilization of the resource box. Most article directories allow authors to include two or more hyperlinks in this appendix to their article. These offer two major benefits to the submitting business. They can send people to your web site, called “traffic” in internet circles.  They can also serve as back links to a specific page on their web site. These back links are helpful in getting attention from search engines and serve to help increase the targeted web sites ranking

As articles get picked up more and more bloggers and ezines these back links appear in more and more places increasing the relevance of the site in the eyes of the search engines. They are in some sense votes for the targeted web sites.

As importantly for many businesses is the traffic they bring as more and more people read the articles and go to the sites where a certain percentage will buy products or take other desired actions.

This entire arrangement is interdependent on each of the elements. The fact that is has evolved as an essentially free service for the most part is one of the marvels of the internet. The end user gets information, the blogger gets readers, the article directory traffic that they convert to revenue through ads, and the authors who get recognitions, traffic and search engine ranking. A win-win-win-win situation.

Technorati Tags: anchor text, Article Directories, Back Links, Resource Box, Traffic

Explode Your Number of Back Links

Today, we start a series on the most important way to build links and traffic to your web site, article marketing.

I will explain how Article Marketing works tomorrow, and then in subsequent posts explain the four things all articles must have, how to create an outline for your articles, easy ways to get your creative juices flowing, what to do before submitting to article directories, and some red hot tips on how to get your articles read, and perhaps most importantly, how to write a resource box that makes people click. I may even offer suggestions on what to do if you hate to write.

Article writing requires a bit of work and it’s like slow feed fertilizer. The results of article marketing take time to build. The plus of article marketing is that it does ultimately flourish and will generate an exponential growth in the number of back links to your site. And as we have demonstrated, back links matter.  They matter even more when they are coming from a wide variety of places and grow over time.

Mathematics of Article Marketing

The essential mathematics of article marketing comes from posting a single article with an article directory service.  Once it is accepted there, you have a back link to your site from a generally high ranking resource. But even better, as first a couple and then many more people find your article and post it on their blogs, newsletters etc, you start getting back links from many different places. So instead of having one back link, you may now have six or sixty.

There are thousands of article directories, some of which are very large. You can post the same article to more than one directory, multiplying again the number of potential backlinks you can create for your self with one half hour of writing. Since these articles stay on the directories indefinitely, it’s possible that an article you write today could be published off and on over the next five or ten years.

A disciplined approach of writing an article a day or even an article a week can over a period of a year or two lead to thousands and tens of thousands of back links. That level of backlinks could put most people on the top of their respective niche even in highly competitive niches. And put them there to stay.

The best part of article writing is that it is essentially a free way of building your standings.  Although as we will learn, there are some worthwhile paid services that can be real time savers.

One last tidbit for today. You don’t need to be a great writer to effectively use article marketing. So if the thought of writing scares you, don’t despair. The power of article writing is too significant to allow your lack of skills or fears to get in the way. We will discuss some options that will allow you to be successful without writing a single word.

Technorati Tags: Article Directories, Back Links, Resource Box, Traffic