Article Marketing Strategies by Article Marketing Expert Lisa Angelettie

Sheer or Shear: A Grammar Tip

Lisa Angelettie — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:30:26 +0000

This quick grammar tip came up because I was writing something for someone, and writing very quickly, and used the wrong one! Ugh! You may know what each of these means, but in case you have a brain freeze or are writing rather quickly — I want you to be crystal clear about when to use sheer or shear in your writing. Actually the two have similar origins but mean completely two different things.

SHEER 1
adjective [ attrib. ] nothing other than; unmitigated (used for emphasis) : she giggled with sheer delight | marriage is sheer hard work.2 (esp. of a cliff or wall) perpendicular or nearly so : the sheer ice walls.3 (of a fabric) very thin; diaphanous : sheer white silk chiffon.

adverb
1 perpendicularly : the ridge fell sheer, in steep crags.2 archaic completely; right : she went sheer forward when the door was open.

noun
a very fine or diaphanous fabric or article.

DERIVATIVES
sheerly | adverb sheerness |

noun
ORIGIN Middle English (in the sense [exempt, cleared] ): probably an alteration of dialect shire [pure, clear,] from the Germanic base of the verb shine . In the mid 16th cent. the word was used to describe clear, pure water, and also in sense 3.

SHEER 2
verb [ intrans. ](typically of a boat or ship) swerve or change course quickly : the boat sheered off to beach further up the coast.• figurative avoid or move away from an unpleasant topic : her mind sheered away from images she didn’t want to dwell on.

noun
a sudden deviation from a course, esp. by a boat.

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: perhaps from Middle Low German scheren ‘to shear.’

USAGE
The two verbs sheer and shear have a similar origin but do not have identical meanings. Sheer, the less common verb, means ‘swerve or change course quickly’: : the boat sheers off the bank. Shear, on the other hand, usually means ‘cut the wool off (a sheep)’ and can also mean ‘break off (usually as a result of structural strain)’: : the pins broke and the wing part sheared off .

SHEER 3
noun
the upward slope of a ship’s lines toward the bow and stern.

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: probably from the noun shear .

********************************************************************************************************

SHEAR

verb ( past part. shorn | sh ôrn|or sheared )1 [ trans. ] cut the wool off (a sheep or other animal).• cut off (something such as hair, wool, or grass), with scissors or shears : I’ll shear off all that fleece.• ( be shorn of) have something cut off : they were shorn of their hair | figurative the richest man in the U.S. was shorn of nearly $2 billion.2 break off or cause to break off, owing to a structural strain : [ intrans. ] the derailleur sheared and jammed in the rear wheel | [ trans. ] the left wing had been almost completely sheared off.

NOUN
a strain in the structure of a substance produced by pressure, when its layers are laterally shifted in relation to each other. See also wind shear .

DERIVATIVES
shearer (noun)

ORIGIN
Old English sceran (originally in the sense [cut through with a weapon] ), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and Germanscheren, from a base meaning ‘divide, shear, shave.’

USAGE
The two verbs shear and sheer are sometimes confused: see usage at sheer 2 .

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Article Distribution: Frequently Asked Questions

Lisa Angelettie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:30:00 +0000

I receive inquiries every week on how to effectively execute article distribution. So I thought this would be a good time to address several of the most common questions sent to me by members:

Q. How often should I distribute my articles?

A. It is important to the search engines that you build links back to your site “naturally”. And that is what you are doing when you publish and distribute your articles to different places. You are building links. So it is best to not distribute too many articles at one given time. Instead it is better to “drip” your article distribution.

Q. Should I use an article distribution software program?

A. It is no secret that I have bought, tried, and tested almost every article distribution software out there and frankly am not impressed. So should you invest in a software product to see results in your article marketing? I don’t think it is neither essential nor necessary. Distributing your articles manually is just fine.

Q. Should I use an article distribution service?

A. I have also invested in several of the top submission services and like these much better than article distribution software programs, BUT they have their downsides too. Some have a pretty steep monthly fee, which I think works against the spirit of article marketing. One of the great things about article marketing is the fact that it is free, costs you nothing, and having to pay an arm and a leg to have someone simply distribute my articles is not something I prefer to do.

What I do LIKE about many article distribution services is that some have well-established connections with highly ranked and trafficked sites that would be great place for your articles. These are sites that many of us would have no real opportunity of getting published on by ourselves. So sometimes, that is worth the investment.

Q. Is there an article distribution service that you recommend?

A. Out of all of the services that I have used, I think the one with the strongest connections to 3rd party sites and superior customer service is Submit Your Article. There are a few others that are good as well — but I think that SYA has the strongest 3rd party site connections and superior customer service.

Q. How many places should I distribute my articles for effective article marketing?

A. There are two approaches that most marketers seem to take with the distribution of articles. One is to try and publish articles to as many places as they can in an effort to build backlinks and traffic. Yet this is the type of approach that leads to duplicate content penalties. The other is to publish articles to strategic places based on traffic, importance, page rank, usability, etc. This is the stronger approach, and with it you only need to distribute articles to “select” places.

Q. How much time should I spend on article distribution?

A. Contrary to what you may hear from marketers who want to sell you some “bright and shiny” software program, etc., you do not have to spend a lot of time on article distribution. Remember that quality is much more important than quantity. I rather publish and distribute my articles to 3 kick-butt directories than a 1000 no-traffic blogs.

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Article Marketing: Have You Updated Your Old Articles Lately?

Lisa Angelettie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:36:46 +0000

I love article marketing. I write a lot of articles. I write one and move onto the next one. Sometimes I forget to check on some of the old articles, and that’s a really BAD idea. Want to know why?

1. First, the fantastic advantage to article marketing is that you continuously get traffic to your content as long as that article is alive and well on the web. So that means people will find and read articles that you have written years ago but expect them to be current, relevant, and if needed – updated. So…

2. Are your links updated? I have been guilty of this in my article marketing, in fact just recently, I discovered an outdated link. Many times I may recommend a resource in an article that was working at the time, only to find out weeks, months, or years later that the link is no longer valid. This goes for those shortened links too (tinyurl, bi.tly). Some of my tinyurl links no longer work. While they say that these links never expire — I wonder:) So use shortened links with caution, and check on them periodically.

3. Is your article marketing evergreen? Do you write timely stuff such as on current events. etc? Or do you use evergreen article marketing? Ones that can stand the test of time and do not depend on a specific time such as a holiday (Christmas) or a news event (presidential election). If you do NOT write evergreen content, it would be best to make sure that your articles are still relevant. If they are out-of-date or inaccurate, do NOT delete them, because they are already ranking in the search engines. What you can and should do is add an “update” to the top or bottom of your articles. Readers will appreciate this a great deal, plus it’s just good article marketing etiquette.

4. Have you monetized your articles? You may find that when you first write your content, that it was simply as it was intended to be – a source of information for your readers. Later you may find that as you grow your business that you have created a product, service, or know of an affiliate product that would compliment the subject matter of your old content and it would be a good idea to reference it or link to it in your articles.

So you get what I”m saying right? While I obviously encourage those involved in article marketing to write fresh content as often as you can, it is also just as important to update that content you already have published when needed in order to get the most benefit from all of your wonderful content!Similar Posts:

List Attraction Week: Build Your List For Less!

Lisa Angelettie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:46:22 +0000

Can I admit something in the spirit of full transparency (thank you @elizabethpw)? I am completely terrified of teleseminars! I remember when I first started my coach training many moons ago, there were a lot of teleseminar calls and there were only a few students on each call — so you had to participate. That drove me crazy. I didn’t like it. I was uncomfortable. It probably is only an extension of one of my other issues – public speaking.

But guess what? I will be participating in a hugely important FREE event called: List Attraction Week (#law10) and while I have some angst about my involvement, I know that it was important to do.

Reason: One of the biggest obstacles in building my online business ( and something that I work continually on in my business) is building my list. Without a list, it is virtually impossible (especially if you are service or solo professional) to make any money. And let’s be honest, none of us are doing this as a hobby:)

That’s why list building should be a priority in your marketing efforts, and also why List Attraction Week will give you REAL strategies that you can use to finally build a responsive list that wants to learn from you and/or buy from you over and over again.

There have been a handful of “mentors” (in the pic up above) who have been carefully selected to guide you through different strategies for list building. There will be dozens and dozens of strategies that you will hear and learn about, but remember that you only a few of these strategies will resonate with you and then you probably will only implement one or two of those. And that’s the whole idea!

Learn from a group of women who have been through the trenches, discover what strategies they use to build their lists (I use writing and article marketing), and then choose the solution that will work best in your business. I mean little ‘ole me will be there, but so will powerhouse marketing mentors such as Andrea J. Lee, Michele PW, Leesa Barnes, and Wendy Y Bailey! This is a no-brainer must attend event right?

Well, if it sounds like something you could find value in, then I’ll see you there. It would be really nice if you make it during my session on March 9th at 1pm. And give an ‘ole girl with teleseminar fright a little support:)

To learn more about this can’t miss, free event and it’s featured mentors go to: List Attraction Week.Similar Posts:

How To Rewrite Articles In Your Natural Voice

Lisa Angelettie — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:14:26 +0000

When I first started writing articles for other people’s blogs and websites, I wrote so infrequently that I didn’t mind writing a nice new article for each site. Hey, I was happy that I was able to feature my work on another site other than my own! But as you will find, the more you write, and the more you are recognized in your marketplace, the more other website owners will want your articles as content on their sites.

The more diligent website owners want “original” content. Or at least content that hasn’t been published in several months. But really they all want “new” content. Wouldn’t you? So that’s when I went down that long and sorted search for article spinners etc., and to this day I have not found one software or service that I would RATHER use than my own natural writing voice. This is why:

1. I like consistency. I want people to be able to read my articles on Site A and Site B and know that they were written by the same person – ME! Some Article spinners give an unnatural sound to your articles.

2. I like to write fast. Believe it or not, you can write a new article (especially one that is a version of one that you have already written) in less time than it takes to go through some of these modern article spinner tools. TRUST ME. I have paid for many of them, and they all claim to have this great proprietary formula for how they “spin” articles. But whatever they all are using — it takes you forever to get through the thing. Yes, ultimately do you have a new version of your article. You do. But did it take you almost 45 minutes to get there?

3. As I write more and more, and re-write more and more, I naturally get faster. So this goes to the whole practice makes perfect theory. The more you do it – the better you will be at it. My articology folks know what I’m talking about:)

4. Being featured on 3rd party websites is the BOMB! I love the new visitors I get to my sites. I love seeing my work in other places other than my site. I love building new relationships with other site owners. I love the back link juice that it gives me as well. So it’s really important to me that I give sites like these original articles, and not just ones swiped from my archives.

So are you ready to rewrite your articles? Let’s get going:

1. Choose an article that gets lots of hits on your website or on an article directory.

2. Open it on your computer and open a new text file window or other word processing application in another window.

3. Rewrite your title. I like to do at least three versions. (Make sure to feature your keyword phrase)

4. Now read your first paragraph. It’s important that you totally re-write the paragraph yet still say the same thing.

For example, if I had a paragraph with a sentence that said “Larry wanted to study for the course because it was important to him.” I would probably re-write this as “The test was so important to Larry that he made a point to study for it.”

See what I mean. It says the same thing, yet its a completely different and “new” sentence to your readers and to the search engines.

As you learn to do this with more practice, you can do this with paragraphs quite easily. I may read a paragraph that explains a certain concept, I close the article window, and then re-write that paragraph explaining the same concept. For most people, no matter how much you try, you will not be able to completely replicate your article word for word. So as long as you are writing about the same topics and concepts, you have a new version of your article.

The key tip here is to not look back at the original article. Read your paragraph once – then start writing. Don’t look back. This will ensure that you write new content in your own natural voice — and not copy what you already have word for word.

Final Note: If you do not have any relationships with 3rd party websites – that’s okay. You can build a reserve of articles that you save in a folder on your computer and have them ready when it’s time to submit content.Similar Posts: