Market
Your Articles
If you’re new to article marketing, it can be confusing at first. You might have questions, yet you don’t know where to turn for answers.
Well, if you’ve got a question about article writing or article marketing, ask it here in the comments section today and we’ll get an answer for you. Next week, we’ll post all the questions with all the answers, so ask away!
And, if that’s ALL you’re after, then all you need to do is write quality articles that will appeal to a specific (niche) market. Then, in the resource box at the end of each article, include some compelling reason for readers to click on a link that will take them directly to your website.
However, if you’re like most people who are using article marketing as a way to generate new customers or clients - and not JUST more traffic - you might be better off leading readers back to a squeeze page instead of your website or blog.
I know what you’re wondering - Why is that?
Well, the reason is this. Generally, people don’t buy from a website or blog on the first visit. They must get to know, like, and trust the business person who owns that site before they feel comfortable and confident enough to purchase products and/or services from him online. This comfort and confidence doesn’t usually happen instantly. It takes time.
The way most people get to know, like, and trust someone who is doing business on the internet is by signing up for this person’s mailing list.
Okay, so now you’re thinking - But I have an opt-in box on my website or blog. People can sign up for my mailing list right there.
But here’s the problem with that. There are probably OTHER things visitors can get distracted by at your website. You might have interesting and informative articles for them to read, an engaging video for them to watch, or even a short audio they can listen to. Before they know it, they’ve finished visiting your site without ever opting in to your list. And they may never return to the site, so you’ve lost them as a customer or client forever.
But with a squeeze page, your visitors won’t get distracted because all a squeeze page is designed to do is get people to sign up for your list.
Here are links to one of my websites and one of my squeeze pages to help illustrate my point:
My website for The Working Writer’s Coach:
My Squeeze Page for My Build Your Business Write Mailing List for Freelance Writers:
by Karen Cioffi
I have come to the conclusion that the most time consuming aspect of writing is keeping up with all the useful information that is made available through everywhere from business sites to personal blogs. It seems everyone is offering free information. I have already spent entire days just surfing through sites and reaming ideas, strategies, tips, and so on. It really is endless.
In the writing world everyone tries to and actually needs to keep their work and names visible. Providing information is a primary means of accomplishing this. New blogs are popping up everyday with free tips and advice. The blog has become a great vehicle to bring you to the reader. It is an excellent way to show readers what you have to offer. The information you provide will hopefully not only draw readers, but keep them coming back for more. Using my own blog as an example, I found that if I don’t offer beneficial information along with the hosting blogs I do, I lose followers.
Another vehicle to bring you to the reader is the free online magazines. This is where you can write articles and actually have them published – you don’t get paid, but you do get published. While it does not have the credibility of paying markets, it is a great way to hone your craft and increase your visible.
One more source of visibility is writing guest blogs or articles for other blogs or sites. Often the writers are looking for new and fresh content for their sites or newsletters. If the offer arises take advantage of it, or ask bloggers if they would be interested in a guest blog from you.
Every marketing teleseminar and workshop I have been to encourages writers to offer information through blogs or free online magazines. According to marketing experts the name of the game is visibility. Free information draws readers. I can confirm that this is true because I make it a point to attend all the free teleseminars and teleclasses I can. The businesses that offer this free information want to draw you there so they can sell you their services. This is understandable. It is a win-win situation; they acquire some new customers and you, whether you take advantage of their services or not, receive valuable information. But, to what extend should a writer offer their services for free?
While taking this path of visibility it’s important to remember that submitting to free ezines or guest blogging is not just a lack of financial gain, it’s the time loss incurred while preparing these articles and blogs. This is what the accounting field calls the “opportunity cost.” Always weigh the cost of one action over another in regard to money, time, and effort.
Since it does have a valuable use, the best strategy is to start out offering free tips and articles until you can provide your own expert information and advice. It’s important to remember that this free information will draw readers and show them that your posts and articles are a source of useful data. Once you feel comfortable enough that the information you are providing is of substantial value you can offer it in the form of ebooks, newsletters, teleseminars or other means for a fee.
You should be aware that even when you reach this point, it’s still a good idea to publish articles in the free ezines for continued visibility and as a means of drawing new readers/customers to your sites and services. And, don’t forget that while you’re providing free information you can also be submitting articles to paying markets.
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Karen Cioffi is an author and freelance writer; the creator and manager of VBT Writers on the Move; co-moderator of a children’s critique group; a reviewer for BookPleasures.com; a reviewer for Muse Book Reviews; and on the team at DKV Writing 4 U (dkvwriting4u.com). Sign up for the free monthly newsletter and get two free e-books. You can also find articles about writing and marketing on her blog at: http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com.
Today’s Article Marketing Tip
from Donna M. McDine
You may think all you have to do is write your article and get it approved by EzineArticles, but to capitalize on your efforts you must promote, promote, promote.
How?
Post an announcement on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Email your network, and don’t forget about other blogs where you have author permission.
By Karen Cioffi
While it seems most writers don’t allow their articles/posts to be reprinted by others, I have come across a couple of writers/marketers who generously do allow this practice. They allow their posts to be reprinted by other writers to be used on their blogs or in their FREE newsletter. Obviously, anything being offered to reprint should never be reprinted in something you are selling, such as an e-book or report.
I’m surprised that more writers don’t take advantage of this reprint strategy. The benefits seem obvious – let’s look at four of them.
Four Benefits of Allowing Reprints
You have written something that someone else views as valuable.
You increase your visibility.
You increase traffic back to your site.
You never know who will see that article/post or where it will end up.
What About Giving Your E-books Away?
I have also seen this reprint practice utilized with e-books, and it peaked my interest. These informational e-books plainly state, in the beginning of the content, that readers may freely pass it along. This technique generates additional visibility and is a great promotional tool and marketing opportunity.
In fact, I recently started taking advantage of this practice with one of my e-books. All the writer needs to do is request permission to offer my e-book as a freebie on their site.
Yes, at present I require permission, but that may change as I begin to write more e-books.
Word of Caution Here
Please remember, it’s essential, when taking advantage of a writer’s reprint offer, to always keep the article or e-book intact. Be sure to use the author’s byline and/or any other text and links that they have as part of the bargain. It’s a win-win situation: the author increases his visibility and you get an article to use on your blog or in your newsletter, or you get a free e-book to offer on your site.
Drawback to Using Reprints or Offering Them
Obviously, there are a couple of circumstances in which offering or using reprints isn’t advisable, such as: you wrote the article specifically for a magazine or ezine and publishing elsewhere is restricted, or you may not want to use an article with a byline that will send your reader to a site that offers the same services you do (a competitor’s site). But, all-in-all, this is a practical marketing plan.
Why not utilize this practice. It will be a supplemental tool to be used along with your ezine article marketing. These two strategies combined will certainly generate and increase visibility and traffic back to your site.
Karen Cioffi is an author and freelance writer; the creator and manager of VBT Writers on the Move; co-moderator of a children’s critique group; a reviewer for BookPleasures.com; a reviewer for Muse Book Reviews; and on the team at DKV Writing 4 U (dkvwriting4u.com). Sign up for the free monthly newsletter and get two free e-books. You can also find articles about writing and marketing on her blog at: http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com.
Well, it’s Day 2 of the HAHD Marathon Challenge.
How are you doing?
Did you manage to write an article yesterday and an article today?
Here’s a tip that has really helped me: Over the weekend, make a list of topics you will write articles about in the coming week. That means, if you want to write an article every day of the week, over the weekend you need to make a list of 7 article topics.
To me, the hard part of article marketing is deciding WHAT to write about. Once I’ve got that figured out, the actual article doesn’t take long to write. When I make my list for the week during the weekend, all I have to do every morning is look at the list and decide which of the 7 topics I want to write an article about that day.
Try it!
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Be sure to register for our free 21 day e-course: Effective Article Marketing by filling in the boxes in the top right sidebar of this page.
I know that, to many people, writing 100 articles in 100 days, which basically means writing a new article every day for the next 3 months, seems almost impossible. Yet, once you get in the habit of writing an article every day, you’ll be surprised that it isn’t nearly as difficult as you thought it was going to be.
But here’s my tip for today - write your article first thing in the morning, before you do anything else. Okay, you might want to drink a cup of coffee first and maybe even get dressed. But then, write your article.
If you write your article first thing every morning, you won’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day. You’ll be finished. Plus, you’ll feel very productive for the entire day.
Try it!