Article Marketing Success

How Do Articles Build Credibility With Consumers?

Julie Verville — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:31:00 GMT

Where do consumers seek credible information from today? Online. Millions of people type a single word, or phrase, into their favorite search engine seeking answers, opinions, reviews and information about a particular topic, product or organization. Among the thousands or pages that pop up for their review, most consumers only get to the second or third search engine page, even if they go beyond the first.

Knowing this, how can your organization build credibility with consumers while competing for page rank? Through the ongoing creation and posting of ‘information rich’ articles in the area of your expertise.

Create Information Rich Articles, Not “Fluff”

Notice the phrase, ‘information rich’! One surefire way to lose credibility with consumers is to create and post ‘fluff’ articles onto your website or onto article directories. The moment your target consumer clicks to read your so called ‘expert post’, only to realize that it is merely a promotional piece, or optimized search engine optimization piece, lacking information, you stand to lose them as a potential customer.

To build credibility, create information-packed articles that provide an answer to a question, well researched content on a particular topic, provides a new idea or concept or positions content in a unique way.

To make your articles easier to read online, break them into shorter paragraphs (3-5 sentences is ideal), use bold paragraph headings to make the content easy to scan through, and incorporate bullet point or numbered lists where possible to organize concepts. Incorporate a resource box as a conclusion to your article, creating a more personalized touch to your article’s content.

Articles Can Put a Face to Your Organization

It is a simple truth- people buy from people and companies they like. Personal connections can be built through simple interactions, shared stories, shared backgrounds or interests and perceived value is offered. Article marketing create connection with consumers. In the vast online space, it is easy for businesses to blend in, making it challenging for consumers to choose who to trust.

When consumers seek information, stumbling upon a valuable article may be the difference between a completed purchase and a click away from your website. Your article’s byline and/or resource box is where an article reader will turn if they found value in your article and was left curious, or seeking more information. This online space gives you the opportunity to showcase your personal or organization’s short bio and to offer a link to your website.

Putting a face to your organization offers yet another way to connect to your reader, ultimately connecting your reader to your direct website where a potential sale or deeper relationship can be established. Once this relationship has been established, it must be maintained.

Post Often- Stay in Front of your Prospects and Clients

Most consumers are bombarded daily with promotional emails, print-ads, radio segments and T.V. commercials, making it more important than ever to stay in front of your target audience. To do so, create and post regular, information rich content online. Through newsletters and subscriptions, you can regularly stay in front of your current clients and prospect list. In addition, regular article marketing efforts will help boost your organic page rank, allowing you to get in front of new prospects on a weekly basis.

Through simple article marketing tactics, such as creating information rich content vs. ‘fluff’, putting a personalized touch to your content and regular posting, you will not only build credibility with consumers, but you will build your business’s bottom line.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Give Your Articles More SEO Power With Social Media

Beth Hrusch — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:20:00 GMT

As you may know, article marketing is an effective way to gain credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field. By writing articles about topics of interest to your readers, and distributing them on article directories, you can give your content the kind of exposure that would be hard to get anywhere else. But, what many people don't realize is that article marketing isn't just for directories anymore.

Social media has become an effective vehicle for content distribution, and articles are no exception. According to the Small Business Success Index, sponsored by Network Solutions (2010), one in five small businesses are now actively using social media. About 75% of those surveyed have a company page on a social networking site. What makes social media so effective for marketing purposes? The simple answer is that it gives your content massive exposure across a wide range of platforms.

Articles can easily be distributed using social media news and bookmarking sites, for example. Each of these sites has strengths and weaknesses, and some will suit certain goals better than others. Here are 5 of the most popular:

1. Facebook- With over 250 million members, it's got tremendous reach. Generate interest with fans and friends by talking about topics related to your industry then link to your articles on your fan page. Ping articles and blogs automatically, so your groups can see your latest posts.

2. Twitter- Similar to Facebook, Twitter allows you to market your articles automatically and in real time. As a micro-blogging service, it allows businesses to communicate and share the latest information with customers, and link to articles and other content using a url shortener.

3. LinkedIn- For professional networking, setting up a profile in LinkedIn allows you to share your expertise with others in your group. Market your articles by sending them to your account or have them pulled from another social media account, to show up under your updates.

4. Digg- A really popular news/bookmarking site that can bring your articles massive exposure. Submitting your article to Digg takes interested readers directly to your article and your site, where they can also browse archived articles and check you out.

5. YouTube- What do videos have to do with article marketing? Both are content, just in different formats. Turn your articles into videos, using your text as a script. This can be done inexpensively so almost any budget can handle it. YouTube is the 4th most popular website in the world, and videos consistently rank high in the search engines, so the potential to go viral is huge.

There are many more social media sites that lend themselves to article marketing.

Article marketing has the power to establish you as an authority and give interested consumers a way to access your business through links to your site. Social media supercharges your articles by giving them wide and deep distribution throughout the web. Together, they help you reach a large, targeted audience without the need for an expensive marketing campaign.

Be sure that you research the social media sites- how they work and what their terms of service are. Some will work better for you than others. Also, remember that article marketing is only effective if you commit to creating and distributing fresh content every week or so. Maintain both aspects of your marketing strategy and you'll see results.

Article Marketing And Your Content Strategy

Beth Hrusch — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:46:00 GMT

Article marketing is, essentially, the writing of articles to help promote your business on the web. Articles are just one form of content marketing; however, they are one of the most effective. Well-written, content-rich industry articles show potential customers that you’re knowledgeable about your topic. They help convince others that you are a trusted source for what they want.

Article Marketing- Letting Them Know What You Know
Imagine that you need something- say, a wedding planner, for example. You know nothing about this profession, and don't know who does a good job. You have no recommendations from friends or family, either. You need information and you're on your own. Where do you turn? Well, most people will type in "wedding planner" for their area and see what comes up. You see a lot of sites and a lot of pretty pictures and claims. But, which one catches your eye?

I'd be willing to bet that the wedding planner who gets your business is the one who offers you information you can use- about weddings, venues, the planning process and how the whole thing will come together seamlessly thanks to her expertise. In other words, the content you read on her site convinces you that this person knows what she is doing, and would be the perfect choice. Article marketing is responsible for bringing you to that conclusion.

Every day, without realizing it, online consumers are making purchasing decisions based on how well-written and informative a site's content is. Thus, writing articles that showcase your knowledge becomes a key way to reach your target market.

Article Marketing and the Power of Distribution
Of course, your articles need to be distributed in order to reach the largest possible audience. This is the second step to effective article marketing. Once you have provided useful content to your readers, you need to get "wide and deep" distribution for them on the web. Essentially, you need to hawk your content like a content vendor.

Article directories are a great place to start. Here, you can provide people with access to your article and links to your site so that people can find you directly. Other ways to get your articles seen on the Internet include blogs and newsletters. Start a blog on your site, or give it a domain of its own. Link to it in the articles you submit to directories. Enlist the help of other people by commenting on their posts. This kind of networking encourages others to link to you and gets your name out there.

And, don't forget social media. It's a highly effective way to get free word-of-mouth advertising and links to your site. Post at least a couple of articles each week to your Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus accounts. Soon, people will start looking forward to reading your posts, and will come to see you as an authority in your field.

Article marketing is a cost-effective tool that leverages the power of your expertise to pay big dividends. Be patient, be productive and watch as content grows your business!

4 Ways To Get More Out Of Article Marketing

Beth Hrusch — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:51:00 GMT

I have a soft spot for article marketing- and not just because it’s cheap, easy, effective, fun… well, yes, actually, that is why. Not since the invention of social media has any one marketing tool made such an impact on the way we do business online. Anyone from the head of marketing at a Fortune 500 company to a stay-at-home mom freelancing on the side can do it and get results.

Which is great. The only question you need to ask yourself is, how far do you want to go with it? Many people feel that submitting articles to directories is good enough. Besides, who has time to mess around trying to get creative with the distribution aspect of article marketing? You’re too busy trying to come up with all that awesome content!

Yes, creating quality content takes time. Articles need updated and added to, and you have a business to run. But, if you want to get more bang out of your articles, consider a few easy ways you can make them work harder for you. Marketing opportunities abound if you know where they are and how to use them, so before you “submit and forget”, check out these possibilities:

Social Media- Networking, bookmarking, tweeting, Digging and friending. Your articles can get some remarkably good exposure simply by sharing them through social media. Use a URL shortener such as bit.ly to allow the URL to fit into a Twitter post. Ping that bad boy to all of your social media accounts automatically. Isn’t technology wonderful?
Publishing Platforms- Ever heard of Squidoo? Hubpages? Google Knols? If not, check them out. These services allow you to create a sort of web page, where you can write an article and add links, pictures, videos, etc. with modules. This is another way that your content can rank in the search engines and get spread around through word of mouth.
Blogs- A business blog is your chance to write content that will develop a devoted following of like-minded people who can’t get enough of your fascinating wisdom. Don’t underestimate its power- it has been known to lead to increased leads and sales faster than you can say “content is king”.
Videos- Want to convert your article into something far more interesting than just words on a page? Next time you come up with a great concept for your next piece, create a script for a video instead. It doesn’t take a lot of time or money to make a video, especially if you are simply reading text and displaying graphics. You’d be surprised how effective even the most basic video can be in getting your message across.

All of these options allow you to track your traffic and gauge how effective each one is in getting your articles noticed. Eventually, you can pare down your efforts to the ones that work the best and devote your time to those.

And don’t forget- patience! Your online presence won’t develop overnight. It takes time to establish the authority that will bring you measurable results. Just make sure that you aren’t sitting around waiting for it to come to you.

5 Tips For Getting Quality Links For Your Article Marketing Content

Jacob Harris — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:36:00 GMT

Strategies for article marketing content can vary depending on where you get your advice, your target audience, your keywords and many other factors. But while the camps may disagree on the exact details, it is almost universally admitted that good article marketing is one of the best ways to draw quality traffic to your website.

That's because quality traffic comes from quality links.

Therefore, the thing to remember is that you must write article marketing content with, more than anything, the goal of gaining quality links to your site.

Five Tips for Getting Quality Links:

Create content that will be syndicated
Write informational, instructional content
Choose keywords that maximize search engine visibility
Remember "content farms"
Provide quality backlinks for other sites

Creating Content That Will Be Syndicated

This is arguably the easiest concept but it also may be the most important. The gist of it is, you absolutely must write content that is so good that other webmasters will want to reference it and provide backlinks to it.

You want your content to find its way to quality sites that have an established audience interested in your topic. The people on sites with topics similar to yours are more likely to be quality traffic than traffic coming from search engines or other types of links. Also, they probably trust the site where they found your content so they are more likely to follow the links to your site.

Write Informational and Instructional Content, Not Advertisements

This ties in with the tip above. Webmasters and most users are not going to pay attention to article marketing content if it is an obvious advertisement. You only want to use articles to get quality traffic to your site, inform them about the products and give them the opportunity to easily find the product if they are interested.

If your content is written as an advertisement, the potential customers are far less likely to pay attention.

Choose Keywords That Maximize Search Engine Visibility

The best way I can explain this is to offer an example I recently used.

Earlier this week I was asked to compose an original article about the debt ceiling vote in Congress for a news organization. The first thing I did was to begin researching the keyword. I quickly found that "debt ceiling vote" was the keyword that was trending more than any other phrase so my initial reaction was to choose that as my keyword. However, I also saw that the second most popular phrase was simply "debt ceiling," with "debt ceiling deal" and "history of debt ceiling" also being in the top six. I had a decision to make.

I ignored the term "history of the debt ceiling" and decided to make the simplest version, "debt ceiling" my primary keyword. I then composed the piece with "debt ceiling vote" and "debt ceiling deal" at a rate of about one-and-a-half percent each. Once this was done, the original keyword "debt ceiling" was at a three percent density so the article was visible for three different, but related search terms.

This is, of course, a very specific example but the point is, understand your keywords. You have to take a moment to think critically but it is a necessary step.

Remember "Content Farms"

Google's Panda Algorithm is severely decreasing the effectiveness of content farms like EHow and EzineArticles. As a result, many article marketing content strategists are forgetting these sites completely. That may not be wise.

Sure, content farms have their drawbacks but, as they move down SEO results, they may also become more valuable for webmasters looking for quality content that has not been seen by everyone. These webmasters may still use content farms to find good content and they can still use it to provide you with high-quality backlinks.

Provide Quality Backlinks for Other Sites

Your article marketing content strategy needs to include outgoing backlinks to content you consider to be of high quality. Search engines reward highly-rated sites that both give and receive traffic to and from other high quality sites. While it may not be "better" to give than receive in this virtual world, it is certainly "as good" to give.

The human aspect comes into play here as well. Webmasters will be more likely to backlink to you if you backlink to them.

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to follow but, if you keep all these things in mind and commit to writing quality article marketing content, it is one of the best ways to get quality traffic to your site.

5 Simple Tips For Creating An Effective Article Marketing Plan

Tamara Erickson — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:18:00 GMT

If you've realized that the Internet is a great place to market your products, services and business, then there's a good chance you've started to think about creating an article marketing plan.

You've probably also realized that a lot goes into a good article marketing plan, but here are are five tips for creating a great one:

Do your keyword research. Great articles are as much about great content as they are about increasing your online visibility. That means finding the right keywords to use in your content is one of the very first, and most important, steps in creating your article marketing plan. Use tools like the Google Adwords keyword generator, and find some great keywords and phrases for your articles.
Decide on a platform. Articles can be used on your website, on article directories, on blogs and elsewhere. You can even use them in an email marketing campaign. Your next step will be do decide where you want to post your articles, and if you do choose article directories, to find those with high search engine rankings, and find out what their submission criteria is. You will probably also want to set up accounts with the directories you choose to use.
Consider your article titles, and the content you want. Remember that the key phrase here is 'content marketing' so you want to make sure that the content you choose to write about (or have written) is interesting and useful. Remember that how to articles, as well as 'top' lists tend to work, and rank, very well, so consider using those type of titles. You might also want to learn a little more about writing for the web, and the style you want for your articles.
Decide how many articles you plan to write, or have written. Remember that when it comes to a great article marketing plan, you need to focus on quality and quantity, so try to consider both when you work out your budget. Having lots of poorly written articles can actually damage your company's reputation, so it's better to rather focus on fewer articles, that are exceptionally high quality. You can always use an article distribution service to send them out to multiple directories, to get more bang for your SEO buck!
Write your articles, or have them written. It's an open secret that many people who use article marketing don't write their own content, so if you aren't confident in your abilities, or you just don't have the time, then a big part of your article marketing plan will be finding the right writers to create high quality content!

You might still be wondering whether an article marketing plan is the way to go for your business. If that's the case, then you should consider that Seth Godin, one of the world's leading new media and marketing gurus, has said that content marketing is the only marketing left.

What he means is that people are becoming desensitized to advertising, and that they're more likely to respond to marketing methods that offer something in return - like useful, interesting information.

That's exactly where article marketing comes in, so if you haven't already started work on your own article marketing plan, make a few notes on how to get started, and start thinking about it. Not only will you find more people visiting your site or business because of it, but your articles will stay online as long as you leave them there, and they'll do your marketing for you - even when you're asleep!

Is Article Marketing Worth Your Time?

Jacob Harris — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:27:00 GMT

"All of us learned to write in the second grade. Most of us go on to greater things."

That quote is from former basketball coach Bobby Knight who is renowned for his disdain for sports reporters. Many website owners may agree, thinking that the look of the website and quality of the product will suffice. But, just as positive press helped Knight recruit talented players, article marketing can help you recruit quality traffic to your website.

First, let's start by defining "quality traffic." While the exact definition will naturally differ depending on your type of website and products, there are a few terms that every site owner needs to know:

Bounce Rate - the percentage of times a person visits a web page and then leaves the site without visiting any other pages
Page Views Per Session - this is more in-depth and measures how many pages on the site the visitor views
Conversions - the visitors who turn into customers

Bounce rates will vary from one site to the next but, if the number is larger than 50 percent, your website is probably not drawing quality traffic. In the past, site owners have been told that any traffic is good but high bounce rates mean the visitors are not even staying on your site long enough to notice your products.

Page views per session have an inverse relationship to bounce rates. While low bounce rates are a good sign, the higher the page views per session, the better. If your site has many interesting pages, users will spend more time clicking around your website.

And when they buy a product, that is a conversion. Good conversion rates will also vary depending on the website but understand that most online businesses have conversion rates under one percent. Typically, this happens because website owners hire search engine optimization (SEO) companies who get paid for drawing traffic, regardless of whether the visitors turn into customers.

So how do you generate quality traffic?

As another author once put it, "Article marketing is vital to the success of your business in 2011 and beyond." The reason is, marketing your website through quality content and well-placed keywords will maximize your ability to draw users who have searched for those terms.

These visitors are obviously interested in topics directly related to your website. And the more specific the search, the more likely the user is to be a potential buyer.

Consider a hotel booking website. If the website draws 20,000 visitors who searched, "San Diego," those visitors may have been looking for images of San Diego beaches, the temperature or the San Diego Padres. Needless to say, they are probably not going to rent a hotel room. However, if the same site gets 10,000 visitors who searched, "affordable hotel rooms in San Diego," they are much more likely to book a hotel.

The wonderful thing about article marketing is that it finds that coveted traffic while taking absolutely nothing away from the 20,000 users who searched, "San Diego." It's a win, win.

So how does article marketing work?

In the past, the preferred method for building traffic was to throw up a large quantity of low-quality content and draw traffic by the sheer mass of material. Google's New Panda Algorithm has changed all of that.

"Content farms" that duplicate content with minor changes (spins) are now being treated as spam. The new Panda algorithm rewards websites with high-quality, original content by writers who understand search engines:

Keyword Density
Social Media Utilization

Keyword density is the most important factor in article marketing. Depending on the search term, the optimal density can range from half-a-percent to four percent of the entire text of the article. It sounds simple but it takes a good amount of research to figure out what relevant terms are trending and how to word your title.

Social media utilization is also important because Panda is able to differentiate quality links from "spammy" links. Basically, if people are purposefully sharing your article, Google will reward your page with a high rating.

This piece was just an introduction to the benefits of article marketing. Please click the links throughout the text and read more in-depth. But, if you still agree with Mr. Knight that "all of us learned to write in the second grade," keep this more recent quote in mind:

"And I would be the first to admit... indulging my own sense of humor at press conferences has not been greatly to my benefit."

Maybe he was a fan of quality writing after all.

Get The Right Kind Of Links With Article Marketing

Mary Chris Hines — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:09:00 GMT

Obtaining and converting traffic on your website is what Internet business is all about. And to succeed, you must get those high rankings in the search engines. That takes some finesse, but it isn’t that difficult. In fact, play your cards right and you can outdo your competition easily.

With article marketing, you are advertising your business by providing articles containing valuable information related to your industry. These articles are published online, with a link to your website. This not only gets quality traffic, but it increases your popularity in search engines.

Article Marketing Gets You Business

Article marketing has proven to be one of the best ways to get more traffic to your website with a higher conversion rate. When your published article contains a resource box (with your bio and byline and contact information), the reader knows who is writing the info and has the opportunity to use the link to get to your site.

The reasons article marketing is successful:

Web surfers looking for information about something related to your business will find YOU.
When you show up in regular search engine results (not as a sponsored listing), 70% of the Web surfers getting those results will click on your link.
Giving the reader informative data and thus satisfaction in their search, builds their trust of you as a business and chances are, they will quickly go to your website to learn more.
Other websites will many times syndicate your articles and they will get published all over the Web, including your links.

The more information you can read about article marketing, the better you can devise your own personal strategy for marketing in this effective way.

Why are links in the article important?

It goes without saying that when there are no links within your article text, you won’t get any traffic, no matter how many people read your information. With high-quality content ending with a link to your website, people who read the copy will more than likely visit your website.

Another plus: Others who find the information you provide valuable may want to promote it and will take your copy (including the link) and send it to others. It will position you as an expert in your field, and of course, get you even more traffic.

Content for your articles

Well-written content in your articles increases your credibility. It attracts potential customers or clients and elevates you to new realms – as someone who knows what they are talking about. Your content should not only be well written and informative but proper SEO should be applied.

SEO and Backlinks

For good search engine optimization with your article marketing you should ensure your article is about 400 to 500 words and keyword density is between 2 to 3%. When you use links, you should have anchor text by using HREF tags.

Just “buying” links doesn’t work, and the search engines can sense when you are cheating and this can hurt you in the end. Quality one-way links to your website is the only way to go for true success.

Where Do You Publish Your Articles?

There are a number of places where you can publish your articles. The top spots are:

Article directories

When you submit your articles to article directories, your content will show up in organic searches. If you want to submit your article to many directories, it’s best to have different versions of the article – as the search engines will reject duplicate content and you’ll find poor results. But with the correct use of these directories, you’ll have many backlinks to your website and should see an immediate increase in traffic.
Your Own Blog

Publishing a blog with articles on the topic of your expertise (and of course, links to your business website) attracts quite a bit of traffic. Blogs are known to be extremely effective in increasing visitors to your pages. Although it is important to have high quality content for your blog, it isn’t absolutely mandatory – depending on your business. In other words, you don’t have to hire the writer who won “Best Writer of the Year” at Businessweek Magazine.

Your strategy in article marketing can be worked out, and then by systematically following through, you will build hundreds of links to your site and see how efficient and effective this type of content marketing can be.

5 Ways To Brand Your Business With Article Marketing

Brad Sauer — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:23:00 GMT

Article marketing is a fast-growing online marketing strategy. Articles are written by business owners and submitted to niche blogs or article directories for further syndication. Article marketing is a great tool for online businesses and site owners which combines SEO, quality content, name recognition, and branding.

These days, consumers purchase brands as much as they purchase products and services. Your brand is the ideas and character traits which consumers associate with your product or service. Unfortunately, brands can be manipulated by the consumer or competitor, especially in a world where information constantly flows and is impossible to control or monitor. Article marketing gives you the opportunity to shape your brand. This post will focus on five branding techniques which can be accomplished through article marketing.

Brand Yourself as Credible: This may be the branding technique which can be furthered most by article marketing. Whereas many marketing techniques are designed only to get the consumer’s attention, writing a short article gives you the opportunity to explain to the consumer why he should associate himself with your product or service. The hidden matrix of SEO gets the consumer’s attention, but the credibility you demonstrate in your article keeps it. Once you are able to keep the consumer's attention, you can continue to shape your brand.

Brand Yourself as Honest: Once you’ve branded yourself as credible, you can brand yourself as honest. Consumers aren’t stupid (well, most of them aren’t). They know that your product or industry isn’t perfect. By first branding yourself as credible, you can then be honest with the consumer about any drawbacks of your product or industry. Because you’re credible, you can still conclude that they should purchase your product (depending on the rules of the directory or blog for whom you are writing). If you’ve branded yourself as credible, your honesty will be refreshing, and will only enhance your brand.

Brand Yourself as an Industry Leader: Consumers want to buy from businesses on the leading edge. You can use article marketing to brand yourself as a leader in two ways. First, you can brand yourself as a leader in innovation. Use your article to explain to consumers why your product is a generation ahead of your competitors’ products. Second, you can brand yourself as a leader in social responsibility. Consumers want to know that businesses have more on their mind than just the bottom line. Use your article to explain your green initiative or your philanthropic endeavors.

Brand Yourself as Funny: This can serve two purposes. First, virtually all consumers like to laugh. Including humor in your article marketing campaign will keep the consumer reading all the way to the end of your article. By keeping their attention, you advance other brand strategies. Second, consumers don’t like businesses which take themselves too seriously. Injecting humor into your article will tell the consumer that you want to give them something of value (a good laugh) even while telling them about your product or industry. This is the entire theory behind most Super Bowl ads!

Brand Yourself as Engaged: This strategy works primarily when your articles are submitted to a manageable number of niche blogs which can be easily monitored in the days and weeks after your guest-written article is posted to the blog. Consumers appreciate a business model which values the feedback of the consumer. You can engage consumers by reading and responding to their comments. Best of all, every response is a chance to further brand your business consistent with the principles already discussed.

Article marketing is just one type of content marketing, but most principles of content marketing will apply to writing articles. In the end, the key is an ability to write quality content that is worth reading. The Internet is full of content that’s not worth reading, and although that content may get a few clicks, it rarely influences the people who click on it. Your goal in article marketing is to influence people by branding your business as one they want to be associated with.

5 Ways To Make Articles Part Of Your Marketing Strategy

Gwen Richardson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:26:00 GMT

If you have above average writing skills and have expertise in a field of study, you can utilize this craft as an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. Publications, both online and in print, are always looking for well-written, high quality content.

An article marketing strategy that includes the frequent submission of articles for publication to pre-identified online and traditional media outlets can go a long way towards giving you and your company added credibility. This credibility can lead to higher visibility, which can then lead to sales, both in the long term and short term. Tips on developing an unbeatable article marketing strategy are available at Tips & Tricks HQ.

An article marketing strategy is a more subtle approach than is direct marketing but, for that very reason, it can be more effective than some direct marketing campaigns. Consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every day from a variety of sources, most of which they quickly tune out.

When they read an article that includes valuable information, by an industry expert like you, consumers tend to trust you precisely because you are not trying to sell them something. In other words, you are giving them something, rather than taking something away.

Another direct benefit of your article marketing strategy will be additional traffic to your web site or blog. The inclusion of targeted keywords and phrases within your article will ensure that the traffic you receive is highly motivated and that their interest is piqued by the article subject matter. Marketing strategist, Luis Sarmiento, provides excellent information on how article marketing can increase traffic for your web site.

In most cases, you will not receive direct compensation from the entity which publishes your article. Rather, your compensation will ensue from the new clients, media interviews and speaking engagements you receive as a result of your elevated profile.

Here are five ways to develop an effective article marketing strategy:

Stay abreast of current events and trends. Publications like to be relevant; that's how they retain their reading audience. Tying your expertise into a recent current event adds to the timeliness of your piece and increases the likelihood it will be published. For example, if a recent hurricane has occurred and you have expertise in home repairs resulting from water damage, an article along these lines, submitted within a week or two of the actual natural disaster, would be very likely to be approved for publication.
Make a list of 10 to 20 information sources to which you will regularly submit your work. This list should include the publications and web sites which most closely match your area of expertise. Find out each entity's requirements and submission deadlines and maintain this information in a database. Some of these sources should be blogs and news sites which allow guest writers to post their own content. Article Marketing HQ has detailed information about article marketing, writing and submission.
Make sure you have a recent, high quality photo to accompany your articles. You may insert the photo image at the top left or right of the actual body of the piece, or you can send the photo as an attachment. People like to know who is offering them advice and your photo will add to the personal nature of your relationship with the consumer. Some of your articles will probably lead to on-camera media appearances and media reps also like to see who their potential guests may be.
Use an excerpt or quote from your article(s) in your social media marketing. This way your articles can be used for multiple purposes and you won't need to constantly duplicate your efforts. Include links to your article within your social media postings.
Respond to questions and inquiries in a timely fashion. Being responsive to your audience will demonstrate your professionalism and attention to detail. If at all possible, respond to all requests within 24 hours.

5 Tips for Article Marketing in a Post-Panda World

Christine Parizo — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:02:00 GMT

When Google introduced Panda, its algorithm to weed out “content farms” and other sites that posted spammy, spun articles, a lot of sites went down in the search engine rankings. However, some sites went up in Google’s search rankings – sites with quality, helpful content that wasn’t “spun” from other sites and re-posted for backlinks elsewhere.

Nevertheless, article marketing is now a whole new ballgame, and site owners need to be more mindful of what they post.

In order to make the most of article marketing in this post-Panda world, here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Post Quality Content. Put simply, Google Panda rewards quality content. Remember the days of writing short, low-quality articles? That’s not going to work anymore. You need to now submit articles with at least 400 words, impeccable grammar and spelling, and useful information. These articles have to be helpful to the reader, not just filler written by someone with barely a grasp of English grammar.

And no keyword-stuffing or “black hat” SEO techniques – that will definitely cost you in Google search rankings. As a bonus, this will be content that others will want to link to, creating the kind of organic backlinks that Google Panda likes as much as a real panda likes bamboo.

2. Post Unique Content. The strategy of “article spinning” as part of an article marketing strategy is dead. Don’t just spin someone else’s article (or worse, post it as-is), or post your content to spammy link-farm sites. It’s one thing to get ideas from other blogs and articles, but write them in your own voice, with your own flair.

3. Don’t Post to Link Farms. Panda doesn’t like link farms – it considers link farms to be spam. Post your articles to high-quality sites if you must backlink, not sites that Google now sees as content farms: wisegeek.com, suite101.com and ezinearticles.com, to name a few.

4. Utilize social media. Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and LinkedIn all saw a jump in search engine rankings after Panda. Utilize these social networks, not only to post links to your articles, but to engage your followers and entice them to post links as well. Again, if you’re following Tip #1, you’ve got content that your followers can’t wait to share with their friends and colleagues.

5. Find new ways to use your articles. So you can’t spin them anymore. It’s not a big deal, if you know how to repurpose them: create PowerPoint presentations and upload them to SlideShare or other sites or include them in email campaigns; use them as PDF files for marketing; or even turn them into videos! You can then post the videos to sharing sites.

As a bonus, Panda hasn’t decided one way or the other on video-sharing sites, so your backlinks won’t be considered as spam.

Above all, don’t obsess too much about Panda. If you follow the advice above, your article marketing will succeed, and you’ll watch your site rise in the search engine rankings, driving more traffic and getting more results.

Article Marketing Directory Do's And Don't's

Marti Norberg — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:26:00 GMT

Marketing strategies have changed in recent years, and content marketing is now an essential part of any business plan. The object of any marketing is to promote your business. Content, or article, marketing refers to anything that is generated on behalf of a company.

This content will not only present information on your business, but it will also inform, amuse, entertain, satisfy a need, or serve a function. Articles are designed to engage the consumer and provide them with information they want to share with others. Your primary goal with article marketing is to build and maintain a relationship with consumers.

Your articles should be distributed through various article marketing directories, which will allow their notice by search engines. As the search engines become aware of your articles, people will be directed to your websites.

Preparing content for submission to an article marketing directory is not difficult, but there are several things to consider and “rules” to follow to increase your success.

Make the content of your article informative, interesting and entertaining. Always first pose a question, then provide the answer.
Do plenty of research. Identify your target audience and learn what they need and/or want. Learn as much as possible about your subject.
Always write the best article you possibly can. Follow the old saying of “quality not quantity” and strive to make each article a work of art.
Use proper sentence structure and grammar. Proof-read once, then proof-read again.
Try to find a new angle, or approach, to present the content of your article. You will want to look at the subject from a fresh viewpoint.
Remember you are marketing, not selling. Any content you submit to an article marketing directory should address a problem and offer a solution. Helping a reader with a problem will prompt them to use your business when they want to buy your product.
Learn as much as you can regarding the use of search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. You need to understand how to identify and use strong keywords and key phrases. You want to include links and an author resource box. You will want to use a very effective title for your article. All of these will help SEOs find your articles and direct readers to them. The Search Engine Journal (SEJ) offers 12 Basic On-Site SEO Tactics for Optimized Results, and I found all 12 to be quite valuable.
Never write an article you wouldn’t enjoy reading yourself. If you don’t find your topic interesting, neither will anyone else. Ask for, and listen to, feedback from your readers.
Consider using article market directory submission software. It can make article submission quicker and faster if you plan to submit to numerous directories. There are lots of options available for submission software. I found this comparison to be helpful.

DON’TS

There is no reason to "re-invent the wheel" when it comes to content marketing. You can learn from others with more experience. One of my favorite learning sources is Content Marketing 101.
Never charge readers for your articles. You are creating and sharing free information in order to convert readers into first-time customers; and convert first-time customers into repeat customers.
Remember to keep your paragraphs short and concise. Article directories do not like long sentences. Use bulleted lists whenever you can.
Don’t start your article marketing without a plan. Research your target market and the specific needs of that market. But, don’t focus on a subject that is only important to a small part of your market.
Avoid obvious self-promotion. Giving the impression you are trying to sell something will be resented by readers. The impression of “hard sell” may result in your article submissions being banned from some article marketing directories. Readers will not trust what you are sharing if it is filled with self-promotion.
Your articles are your sales tools, but be cautious when adding links. Consider putting any links in a resource box at the end of the article. Article marketing directories often reject submissions with links throughout the body of the article.
Get the most value from your resource box by adding high-quality keywords and information that adds to your credibility. I found Article Writing 101: The Perfect Author Resource Box to be extremely helpful.

Article marketing is vital to the success of your business in 2011 and beyond. It is an excellent opportunity to introduce you and your company to potential customers, and it is an excellent way to share your knowledge, develop relationships and build trust. And it can be fun, rewarding and profitable for your business.

Get Inspiration From These Article Marketing Success Stories

Karen Neal — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:48:00 GMT

There is a lot of talk about article marketing and how it can benefit businesses. But are there any success stories out there? Are there any tangible tales of how a company was able to leverage article marketing to actually generate business, improve reputation, increase web traffic, or any other metrics for a successful campaign?

Good question! The answer is, of course, yes.

One slightly dated but memorable success story (and a story that might surprise you) is Blair Witch. Remember this cinematic gem? This horror movie was a low budget release that became a big hit. One of the secrets behind this movie’s unexpected success was article marketing.

Before and during the movie release, the Blair Witch producers made up a titillating tale of how three young film makers mysteriously died during the making of the movie, and then years later the footage was found and released as Blair Witch. The producers then passed this article story to horror movie groups as well as supernatural hobby groups. From that point forward, Blair Witch developed quite the cult horror movie following.

Another interesting article marketing success story is about Gizmodo. This gadget website was not highly recognized--that is, until an article was “leaked” about how Gizmodo “found” an unreleased iPhone 4G at a bar in April 2010. The article went viral to say the least, and Gizmodo became a highly popular tech site name overnight.

The incident was not without a downside, however. Apple was not pleased at all with the article, and threatened to sue Gizmodo if the device was not returned. In the end, however, both Apple and Gizmodo had good success with the iPhone addict community.

Weather.com has become a defacto standard for business travelers. Through its innovation with mobile web applications and customized updates or weather alerts for users, there is no surprise that the website has the highest reported percentage of C-levelexecutive visitors. What this means to advertisers on this site is if they want the attention of a CEO, CIO, or any other CxO, put an ad on weather.com.

A somewhat controversial article marketing strategy was the Million Dollar Homepage by Alex Tew. While brainstorming on how to come up with money for college, Alex created a website and sold pixel space. Through a paid press release article promotion, Alex was able to acquire more than enough money for college. While the novelty has worn off on this particular approach, it does prove that by leveraging some creativity and taking different article marketing approaches, success is available to those who wish to find it.

Article marketing can take on many forms. From blogs, to press releases, to online magazine articles or industry specific forums – businesses and individuals can benefit from this particular marketing approach, with a little innovation and a few good writers.

5 Steps To A Successful Article Marketing Campaign

Tiaja Ellis — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:29:00 GMT

It is estimated that on any given day, nearly 25 percent of the world’s population is using the Internet. This is particularly exciting for anyone doing business in cyberspace. With nearly as many businesses as customers how do you distinguish yourself in the proverbial marketplace of ideas— let alone compete?

We know that simply having a product and company logo doesn't guarantee that people will find you. The daunting task of winning customers remains the same for any business regardless of the enormous potential for foot traffic the Internet provides.

So how do you move your customers through the sales cycle from browsing, piquing interest, purchasing, and finally, returning as “satisfied” customers when many are bombarded with sales messaging all day long?

One simple way to keep customers coming back to your online business is for your website to become a resource by providing content using an article marketing campaign.

People Love to Read and Your Customers are People Too

What is an article marketing campaign? Well, let me ask a question. Who would you rather purchase a product from? Someone who is willing to provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to install the lighting fixture you just purchased from their store, or someone who simply sells you a lighting fixture and sends you on your way?

The answer is the exact opposite of what most online businesses do. Browsing their website is the equivalent of watching a late night infomercial where your favorite TV show used to be. The real reason 1.5 billion people use the Internet everyday is to get information and connect with others.

So What is Article Content Marketing and Why Does it Work?

Five years ago, had you told the average book lover that e-books would overtake traditional books, you would have been laughed at. But no one's laughing anymore. Well, with one or two exceptions, top Indie Authors and Amazon, maker of the Kindle-- but they're simply laughing all the way to the bank!

Anyone seeking to have a successful online business must borrow a page from this short history lesson in e-commerce. Despite the plethora of information available to users on the Internet, it's both comforting and encouraging to know that interesting content is still king.

People love to read good article content and your customers are people too. Not only do they love to read, they love to be well-informed about everything, which should include your products and services. But how do you make that happen?

Give them something interesting to read.
Empower them with education through your website.
Give them permission to become articulate about your services and they will promote your products.

It really is that simple. Article content marketing allows people to find you through keywords on Search Engines like Google or Bing. An article marketing campaign works because customers are led to your website for its content, not the products or services you sell.

What an article marketing campaign does so well is allow potential customers to browse your website minus the “pressure” to have to purchase. It also affords existing customers a safe and trusted place to shop online, leave feedback, or refer their friends because of the rich experience when visiting.

5 Steps to a Successful Article Marketing Campaign

But how do you navigate your way through the endless stream of article marketing strategies? Some of the top marketing resource sites like copyblogger and briansolis offer excellent training. These authority sites are two of many that provide unique insights into how to win customers to your website, and ultimately in front of your products or services. Check them out.

There are 5 steps you can take right now to begin driving business to your website by launching an article marketing campaign:

Create content that tells interesting and engaging stories about your products or services (remember customer's are readers too).
Once you create great article content, link your articles to niche websites or blogs for greater SEO rankings and visibility.
Take advantage of social media and networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Squidoo, Digg and Stumbleupon.
Experiment with text-based versus video-based content on your website or post photos. The whole idea is to capture their attention, then keep them begging to come back.
Think bookstore rather than library. Become a trusted resource for your customers.

There are other ways to launch successful article marketing campaigns. Only five steps are necessary to begin your ascent to online sales nirvana.

What Separates Great Article Marketing From The Rest?

Elseline Ververk — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:40:00 GMT

Great article marketing is all about getting people to come check you out, whether it’s your blog, your webpage, online business or product. But what does it really involve? SEO optimization, strong content, linking in to the online community, and the list can go on about how to get yourself ‘out there’. But perhaps the first thing to answer is the who question…

Who is your target audience?

After all, great article marketing is all about people. And no, it’s not a given that your average consumer will be using Stumble Upon, Twitter, Facebook, or be any sort of avid blogger. The online world is big, and indeed, the largest network in the world is: the Internet. But, the reality is the average consumer only taps in to a fraction of that online world.

Take larger businesses, for example. They can often be the least likely to link in to social media as a marketing or connecting tool. Instead, they might only pay attention to professional trade sites, trade magazines (e-zines), larger media, or higher caliber content like white papers. The moral of the story: take time to read up on how your target audience is using the internet, and the new places you then might have to go to market yourself.

NOW, let’s talk briefly about the how.

Fresh Content.

Fresh content, regularly posted, is by and far the fundamental stepping stone of great article marketing. After all, if you don’t have anything to market, there is really no point to all the other steps. It’s all about how to use content to market your product online. Don't make your articles sound like infomercials, and instead try to maintain creative, passionate output.

SEO optimization.

SEO optimization is code for getting your article to appear at the top of a search results page. Now, as we well know, in the end what gets you at the top is popularity: the more traffic you get, the higher you rank. But you can get a ways up by making your articles search friendly, thereby generating more hits to your site.

So say your article is all about ‘article marketing’. Those two words, ‘article marketing’ become your primary keywords. You want them to appear as close as possible the front of your article title, and you want them naturally repeated and embedded in relevant content phrases throughout your article. Don’t overload! That never looks pretty nor does it help.

Keywords are what the search engine will pick up on, and if your article grabs the reader’s interest, they will click on yours. Also, use links to other similar content. This helps the search engine to know that you are sufficiently connected, in other words, popular. Link to other blogs, sites, etc., but also link to relevant interior pages on your site, thereby keeping your audience. Even putting a link in your article bio is a great way to be a bit more subtle while still getting people to come back for more.

Get connected.

This means catering to those within your niche, but simultaneously working to expand your circle of ‘friends’, i.e. businesses that could actually use what you have to offer or have some other connection to your field. This is done in a variety of ways: Guest blog, post content on major content discovery tools like Stumble Upon, post content on trade sites, comment on other blogs or sites, tweet with them, get on syndicates, post links of other ‘favorite sites’ and so on.

It is the art of networking, where the rule of thumb -especially in this quagmire called the online world- is “you won’t get what you don’t give”. And really, it is a thing of beauty, because as you get others more traffic to their sites, so they in turn will bring traffic to yours, thereby doubling your audience.

Also, make your site user-friendly. Make it easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing, but also importantly: get to the point. If you’ve got an e-newsletter users can subscribe to, put a button out for that. If you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon etc., create icon links for people to connect with you there. It is important to stay relevant.

In the end, great article marketing is a two-way street: you want to use adequate inbound marketing strategies, where people get on your site and find it user-friendly and interesting. But you also absolutely must use outbound marketing strategies, by connecting with others and putting yourself out there.

5 Ways To Get Real Article Marketing Results

Dara Hannon — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:41:00 GMT

Everyone's talking about article content marketing. But, how do you cut through it all and find real ways to get article marketing results? With so much information on how to create effective article content, it's easy to be overwhelmed.

To make it simpler, here are five basics that most sources agrees gets article marketing results.

1. Real Content, Not Fluff

It's a simple fact. Every business is in business to make money or they won't exist for long. Therefore, when creating website content, it's easy to slip into the 'hard sell', loading your article with reasons why the reader should choose you.

Most people on the web are looking for information, not a commercial. If they wanted commercials, Netflix and Hulu would not be so popular. Therefore, make your articles informative about the subject, not your company. Once a customer sees you as a credible source, they'll keep coming back for information and for your product.

The fact is, article marketing success comes from people coming to your site first and staying there.

2. Tailor Your Article To Your Media

Did you know that most people do not read, they scan? Which means you have to grab their attention fast. Keep your title concise and specific so people know immediately why they should read your article.

Large blocks of text on a computer screen can seem intimidating. The words, also, can start to run together after awhile. Keep your paragraphs short, 3 to 5 sentences on average.

Another easy way to grab scanners' attention is lists. Lists are easy to take in at a glance. Adding bullet points or a list to your article makes it easier for a reader to get the important parts in less time which matches how a scanner wants their information. Why go somewhere else and read some long article which can take minutes when they can get the same amount of information from your list in seconds?

3. Think About Your Audience

The first step in any marketing plan is to know your target customer. Now that you know who you want to buy your product, you have to find them. Take time to look for blogs that target your industry with large followings or websites related to your field with large memberships.

Once you find where your audience hangs out, you can reach them. Leave comments on the blog or see about contributing content to the website. Do what you can to your name in front of that audience. Once they see you as a friendly credible source of information, they'll come to you with their questions and for their purchases.

4. Connect With Your Audience

People like to feel involved. In modern web culture, with the prevalence of tweets, Facebook messages and interactive iPhone apps, it's easier than ever for people to get involved and interact with stars, writers and even business owners than ever before. People like this feeling, as proven by Recensiekoning, a Dutch news site.

When Recensiekoning redid their website, they invited fans to participate. Within hours, they received more hits than they usually averaged in two weeks. The response was so great that it crashed the servers. By any standard, this equates to real article marketing results.

Therefore, when you post your articles, make sure that your readers can answer back. More importantly, pay attention to the answers. If someone asks a question or voices a concern, reply as quickly and helpfully as you can. The more the customers like and trust you, the more they'll rely on you and stay with you.

5. Reach More People

There are two ways people find your website anymore. One is through Google search which means you need to pay attention to search engine optimization. The previous hints help with this.

The other way people find you is through social media networking. Twitter and Facebook are how people share information and the trend seems to be growing. According to the Content Marketing Institute, Facebook weekly traffic even beats Google.

So, make sure you let your customers know when you have a new article up or a new sale. When they talk to you, respond so they're familiar with you. It's been a long held truth that people prefer the familiar to the new and scary.

These five tips will help you get real article marketing results by getting people to come to your website and stay.

5 Killer Article Marketing Strategies For Your Business

Karen Neal — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:20:00 GMT

As businesses compete for online followers and customers, finding the article marketing strategy that fits your company's image is essential. Article marketing is a proven technique to bring followers to your website. But does your article marketing strategy bring the RIGHT followers to your business?

The important consideration for your company is “who do you want to attract?” If you develop a “profile” or “demographic” of the ideal customers for your business, you can use the right technique to attract that prospect. Each article marketing strategy can be applied to a business, and attracts certain types of readers.

1. Print article marketing – This is the oldest form of article marketing and has been used by businesses for decades. By writing articles for newspapers and trade magazines about the business products or services, the company can get free advertising while also educating the audience. This attracts very traditional readers who may not be online savvy.

2. Internet article directories – With the proliferation of the web came several sites that post a variety of articles. Businesses could publish articles on these sites where readers can sift through large amounts of content. As search engine optimization technologies grew, articles became more SEO centric so that readers can find articles that apply to their search needs. Using article directories posts to a large audience, so businesses could get a large number of viewers with no predetermined profiles.

3. Niche websites – Another technique is for the business to post articles to niche websites that specialize in the company’s industry. Trade sites are very popular for other businesses to make announcements of new products or services and to share thoughts on industry issues and trends. For businesses that want to focus in a particular industry group, utilizing a niche website would be greatly beneficial.

4. Guest blogger – By participating in blogs specific to your customer demographics, you can subtly encourage blog readers to visit your website while giving sound reputable advice on the topics. This requires some personalized work and dedicated resources to respond to thread questions. But the online relationships built through blogging provide a unique level of loyalty with your readers.

5. Social media – Even businesses now have Facebook pages that link to the business website. Through the use of Facebook and other social media avenues, a business can orchestrate campaigns to large audiences, and then gain prospects from those who “like” the page. Some businesses have even used Twitter in a similar manner, tweeting coupon or promotion links and on-the-spot notices about business offerings. Social media can provide both specific demographic targets as well as mass broadcast capabilities.

Regardless of the article marketing strategy used, it is important to keep the basic article writing techniques in mind – stay focused on the target audience and subject, use SEO at all times, keep the article informative, entertaining, and authentic. With the right strategy, online business opportunities can grow significantly!

5 Tips For A More Powerful Article Marketing Resource Box

Beth Hrusch — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:57:00 GMT

When driving content to your website through article marketing, there exist the usual caveats to make sure you are getting the best conversion rates; unique content, displaying personality, knowledge of the topic and equally if not more importantly, the resource box.

The resource box is the last sentence or two of the article, spaced an extra half point or so away from the body paragraphs. Its main goal is to convincingly wrap up the article and direct people to your web page. Some write off the resource box as "just another sentence", and in doing so eliminate most of the momentum you had established with the reader. Great writing and insight is nice, but means nothing if your CTR is abysmal.

When I get down to the end of my article, it's time to craft the article marketing resource box, I make sure to transition seamlessly into it. I don't want to give the impression to my readers that I'm luring them in, even though that's exactly what I'm doing. I also do the following three things:

1.) Use hypertext to direct readers to the specific site instead of using a URL
2.) Make sure to hypertext the key word that I've been subtly dropping in the body paragraphs (make sure this hypertext appears in the first 4-6 words of the resource box)
3.) Use some sort of "call to action" technique
4.) Avoid overly salesy language and too many links
5.) Emphasize the expertise of the author

Let's say my article had been about content marketing and why it's important to transition from traditional to online marketing methods, and the keyword was "content marketing". An effective article marketing resource box might be (assume seamless transition)...

"John Doe is a marketing consultant specializing in Internet marketing and SEO web copy. Visit his site at www.xyz.com to learn more about content marketing and other SEO topics."

The key word is in hypertext, it appears quickly in the resource box and within the box I direct the reader to make some sort of action.

There are a lot of schools of thought on the article marketing resource box, but if you follow the above steps, you are well on your way to a higher conversion rate and more web-based success!

Is Your Article Marketing Campaign Losing Momentum?

Robert St. Louis — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:11:00 GMT

You've been involved in an article marketing campaign for awhile now.

You and your company have continued to write articles for the industry, and one of two things has happened: either those in your industry have come to respect your knowledge and authority on the subject and are already your clients or they have reached the conclusion that they are not interested in your services.

Either way, you're running out of steam and need to shake things up a bit.

The reason that your company began an article marketing campaign was to establish credibility. You needed to show that even though you were new to the industry you possessed the knowledge and the tools to do the job effectively and could provide a quality product to your clients.

Now that you have established that reputation within your industry, the question becomes: what do you do next?

Perhaps you've been publishing your articles on a particular circle of professional blogs. Those blog readers have already read your work and gained a familiarity with your company. Maybe you chose to send your campaign to a professional journal or industry publication. Those readers have seen your articles in their monthly magazines.

It's time find a new audience.

If your company produces leather briefcases, for example, you may have been sending your article marketing campaign to circles that would include the stores you hope would stock your briefcases. Your campaign has targeted commercial outlets like Office Depot to appeal to why they would want to stock your product. After some time of reading the articles, these outlets have already decided whether or not they wish to carry your product.

After a while, you will gain very little by continuing to write for these circles. It's time to find a new "circle of friends" for your product!

Did you know that one of the most common gifts to graduating law students is a briefcase? Maybe it's time to begin targeting that article marketing campaign to campuses such as Georgetown and Harvard. Have the law students read reviews on your product. When people ask them what they want for graduation, or when they are ready to purchase their own briefcase, they will have read about the benefits of owning one of your products.

Sending your article marketing campaign to these venues would not only provide an initial bump to your visibility, but add a long-term element to it as law students will cycle in and out every few years. This would leave you with a brand new audience every few years that has not been exposed to your audience.

Perhaps your company has only written articles for hard copy publications. The advent of the Internet is leaving many magazines and periodicals on the shelves as the public turns to internet consumption for information via "e-zines" and "blogs".

Adding an online element to your article marketing campaign could be rewarding as well. That would afford your company a greater amount of exposure in a lesser amount of time.

There is a window of opportunity for marketing campaigns. After a person sees something repetitively they begin to tune it out and stop paying attention. If you drive by the same sign every day for a month, will your eyes still read the sign, or will they just know what it says by now and ignore it?

Marketing works in much the same fashion. After awhile you will need to either change the content matter or change the audience.

Because most businesses are not redefining their products and services on a frequent basis, it's far easier to find ways to introduce fresh eyes to an article marketing campaign. The key is to change something without changing who you are as a company.

3 Tips For Article Marketing Titles That Push Your Readers' Buttons

Matthew Collins — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:32:00 GMT

You’re focusing all your energy on writing premium content for your blog, and no one is visiting. Chances are you aren't getting traffic because your article marketing titles do not attract readers’ attention. If you want to bring in premium traffic, write premium titles with Blog Title Optimization. Here’s how:

Your title is the first thing readers see about your article. It needs to attract their attention, be useful, and be about the article. Let’s see how to include these three things in writing article marketing titles.

Hit readers on an emotional level

Don’t think this means making readers cry. Write article marketing titles that elicit emotional responses to compel readers toward your content. These emotions will be compelling for your audience:

Humor – use a pun, be witty
Surprise – be evocative or controversial
Urgency – show readers the importance of reading the article now

Beyond attracting the initial reader to your blog, emotional content helps your reader remember the article and spread it to their friends.

Show readers the value of your content

The article you provide needs to be useful for the reader to visit your site. Your marketing title is how you inform the reader that your content is worthwhile to them. Use these strategies for writing useful titles.

Value – Give readers what they want, and more specifically, give them what they are looking for. Utilize keywords your ideal reader might search.
Be unique – So there might be 1,000 other blogs on the same topic as yours. In the title, show why yours is unique, say what the “other guys” aren’t saying.

You might think those “10 reasons why…” and “Three ways to…” titles are boring. Forget that, those titles tell the reader what they are going to get out of the article, and instantly inform your reader that the content is organized and easy to understand.

Be Specific and Concise

Save all explaining and elaborating for the body of your article. For the marketing title, focus on telling your readers exactly what they are going to get from your article.

Use popular keywords that sum up the entire article
Only say what is necessary, cut out any words that aren’t needed

Tell your audience exactly where you are going and then wow them with the content. They will then know why they need to visit your site, and be pleased with the result.

Article marketing is not an exact science, but it doesn’t have to also be a mystery. Readers need to be motivated to read your content and evoking emotions is key for this.

Readers want to know that the content is valuable so give them reasons why your article is valuable. Readers need to know what to expect so be specific in your titles. Use these three tips in your article marketing and you will gain more clicks from your audience.

5 Ways To Jump Start Your Article Marketing Campaign

Ann Bailey — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:14:00 GMT

Just ask my husband, whenever something needs a jump-start, it’s because the darn thing is dead.

Thankfully, he’s not always right. Your article marketing campaign is not dead, but is it just where you’ve left it – ready and primed to leap off the pages of the Internet and pump some high-octane visitation into your commercial website.

Not off and running yet? Article marketing success is all about perseverance, know-how, and a little priming. These five steps will get you into high gear:

#1 READ OTHER’S BLOGS. Seriously. Reading other blogs gives you a better idea of how yours should sound and how article marketing works.

Understand the new ratios. It’s mind-bogglingly cheaper to engage in article marketing now than it ever has been to engage in classic print or TV marketing. Your return on investment expectations will be redefined. Low upfront costs for an Internet-based article marketing campaign mean greater chances for huge ROI when things get rolling. There’s also less to lose if the campaign stagnates. Be brave.

Call yourself to action: You cannot afford to do nothing at all! Your competitors are starting article marketing campaigns and your customers will notice them. Think of those little doubloons thrown out at Mardi Gras parades. Way back, real doubloons were solid gold and would have cost as much to throw out by the handfuls as running a Super Bowl ad. But now that marketing articles are quite economical, they should be treated like modern-day doubloons . . . throw lots more than you think will land in the right person’s hands. Remember, you can easily hire outside writers to furnish enough quality content for your campaign.
Prioritize Marketing Directories – Research and be ready!

#2 FIND GREAT TOPICS AND GREAT TITLES. Coming up with new ideas feel impossible? Seems the more we need creativity, the less easily it comes to mind. My best inspiration tricks:

Read magazines - (If they’re related to your business, they probably qualify for a tax deductible expense).
Read your competitors’ websites - The point here is you’re not looking for the bigger picture. You need to quiet your mind enough to see a little picture, something that’s little and new and thought provoking. Nothing starts an article better than an inner dialogue. And nothing sparks an inner dialogue like critiquing your competition!
Make titles your gatekeepers - They bring readers into the article. Or, they send readers away. Psychological studies show that successful titles in any article marketing campaign are a variation of one of these two formulas:
- Solving a problem for the viewer, or
  Sharing the answer to a secret.
Coming up with dynamic titles is an art in itself. If yours aren’t getting results you want, consider hiring qualified, word-artist help.

#3 LOSE THE WRITER’S BLOCK – GET MOTIVATED – GET STARTED. The biggest block in a beginning article marketing campaign, by far, is lack of motivation. And guess what the number one suggestion for motivation is? Reminding yourself of your motivation in the first place. Not to go round and round here, but what the experts are saying is that if you keep a good reminder on hand of why you’ll benefit from the campaign in the first place, e.g. more press, more presence, more customers, then you’ll be able to use that motivation to, well, motivate yourself. Some good tools for self-motivation can be found reading author Jim Estill’s article about writing fast and efficiently.

#4 IMPROVE THE WRITING. Engage the audience. Write words that interest your readers. The internet knows no loyalty - anyone can opt out before finishing your article. It’s a new medium with new content needed and no room for boring! Blogger Jonathan Morrow offers some entertaining advice about interesting writing.

Sharpen Your Grammar. In an article marketing campaign, you cannot afford to break grammar rules. No shortcuts here. Your computer checker won’t catch your biggest offenses, but your readers will – and snicker… (Use your spell check too.)
Speed it up! Internet readers like going fast. Avoid over-educating them. They found you by going on-line for a quick answer to their problem anyway, so don’t write as though they’ll hang out with you, reading about more than they asked for.

#5 RAMP UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE– Get Noticed! After Facebook (you are there, right?), blogging is the top way to spread your brand. SOCIAL media really means SEE ME media. Use it and your article marketing campaign will define your business.

Article Marketing Secrets That Are Worth Sharing

Lamar Stagg — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:00:00 GMT

(SEO + Google)x + (Facebook + Twitter)y = BS

“BS” stands for blogging success, by the way.

This formula sums it up. In 2011, what used to be article marketing secrets - or even general marketing secrets - is now common knowledge: pick a category, write about it, find the most common words and phrases that are relevant to your topic using the Google keyword tool and other free search engine optimization techniques (seobook.com for example), and share the content with the people who "like" your Facebook page and your Twitter "followers".

These are legitimate article marketing techniques. Use them as a standard - as your marketing foundation.

Article marketing secrets

Tens of thousands of people have developed effective online presences by utilizing the power of great content. And many of them have used the not-so-secret secrets of good article marketing to do it. The fact is, the real secret to good article marketing is actually more common sense, quality content and diligence than anything else.

In the end, "good" marketing doesn't sell a product or bring authentic readership to a blog, but a good product does sell itself. And good writing presents itself as such. Many businesses have taken a plunge by investing a lot of ad-cheese into an undesirable product. Ultimately, the perspective has changed over the years.

Marketing is less useful for letting the masses know you exist while assuming they will give the time of day to whatever hypothetically genius idea you have to offer. Today, it is more effective to use article marketing secrets as grounds for improvement.

For example, who needs an adviser like Tim Ferris? Actually, Tim (famed author of two number ones The Four-Hour Body and The Four-Hour Workweek, also the mastermind behind fourhourworkweek.com, ranked amongst the top blogs in the world) would most likely attest to my claims. You should check out his recent interview on Forbes.com about social networking, article marketing and building web brands.

Reluctance in consumers prevails most often when you rave about your own sham-wows or are a self-proclaimed expert or elitist. Most people are honest, especially when their time and money is involved. Most people like to give their own two cents. If it sucks, the majority of your targeted niche will say as much. If your written claims are inaccurate and/or boring, readers will tell you. This honesty is not to be avoided by marketers; rather, it should be cherished.

If you follow the above link to the Forbes article, in the comment section you’ll see a great example of an irate reader give some legitimate grammatical feedback laced with sarcasm. Take note of how the author, Steve Bertoni, deals with it.

No, you can't please them all, and you shouldn't try to. However, if the feedback is intelligent and relevant to your market, then consider and appreciate both the supporters and the irate.

In summary, use these article marketing secrets to test your market. If you've got the goods, people will take pleasure in spreading the word. If not, then listen to feedback, make adjustments, and try it again.

And that, my friends, is the real secret to article marketing success.

Article Marketing, Meet Social Media!

Beth Hrusch — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:58:00 GMT

As you may know by now, article marketing is an effective way to gain credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field. By writing articles about topics of interest to your readers, and distributing them on article directories, you can give your content the kind of exposure that would be hard to get anywhere else.

But, what many people don't realize is that article marketing isn't just for directories anymore.

There are many more social media sites that lend themselves to article marketing.

Maintain both aspects of your marketing strategy and you'll see results.

5 Tips For Getting Real Article Marketing Results

Tim George — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:24:00 GMT

Many people decide to write articles while a few decide to learn how to get real article marketing results.

Generally the difference in the two is not an ability to write but rather willingness to learn what works and what does not. If you want to be a part of that second group here are a few simple tips that will transform you from someone who happens to write articles into someone who gets article marketing results.

1. Speak to a Specific Audience

There are two elements to this first rule. When it comes to article marketing don’t think writing – think talking. Articles that produce results connect with readers. Don’t write a thesis; start a conversation with your written words. If allowed use “you” and “I” as much as possible.

The second element involves envisioning the person you are trying to communicate with. The quickest way to end up with poor article marketing results is by trying to talk to everyone. Once you have your topic imagine sharing that topic with one specific person.

Good Internet marketers create a profile of their audience condensed into one representative potential customer. This is known in the content marketing world as the "buyer persona". Identifying this persona creates a sort of intimacy with the audience. Intimacy and immediacy always produces more clicks than the shotgun approach many article writers take.

2. Don’t Rush Past That Title or Headline

A famous advertising guru once said that people don’t make the decision to read your article based on its content because they haven’t read it yet. They read that title first and then decide if the content might be worth reading. A good headline should:

Speak to that one envisioned reader
Be compelling enough to move that reader to the content
Offer the promise of some kind of benefit

Even though the headline is so important, it is almost an afterthought for many writers. Don’t rush past it. Take your time and work hard to come up with a title that meets those three criteria.

3. Stress Benefits

People buy benefits, not features. If all you do is list features you are seen as a salesman and people don’t read articles to be sold. So what’s the difference? Features are descriptions of something. If you are writing an article about treadmills, a feature would be the width of the track or the settings that can be made. The benefits would be less strain on your ankles or the ability to monitor your heart rate so you can achieve the cardio workout you desire.

Good articles stress “why” more than the “how”. Very few people buy a treadmill because they love wide tracks or multiple settings to fool with. They buy a treadmill because they need to walk, don’t want to hurt themselves in the process and hope to gain better health along the way. Those are benefits and benefits produce article marketing results.

4. Ask the Reader to Do Something

Every article should have some kind of a call to action. Don’t expect that ideal reader to read your mind. Have a few well-placed internal links that point to other articles you have written on the same subject. Do anything to create action and response.

5. Don’t Forget the P.S.

If the title or headline is most important, the P.S. is next. People scan on the web. The human eye wanders by nature. Sometimes all a reader catches is the intro and what is at the end. A good trick is to repeat something from the body of the article and place it in bold or bold italics. If some additional benefit can be added, place it here.

The ABCs Of Article Marketing For Business

Mary Chris Hines — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:18:00 GMT

With the advent of the Internet, hundreds of thousands of businesses went online. It has resulted in increased revenues, ease of transaction and worldwide customers. But at the same time, it has increased the need for an education on how to make this online venue work.

Article marketing for business is one very important aspect of making online enterprise work for you.

What is Article Marketing?
Article marketing is a method of marketing on the Internet, promoting your website business. Generally, those who desire to engage in marketing of this style hire professional writers to write articles for them, containing key words for their product or service. The best thing about article marketing for business is that it is low-cost and easy to accomplish.

What Article Marketing Does For You
Marketing isn’t necessarily about just getting your name out there with a link to your online site. It’s about “creating want,” getting the visitor to your website to desire your product or service. In order to impress on the customer the value of your product or service, it’s important to offer them something of value in exchange.

Article marketing for business does just this. Well-written and informative articles provide answers to the questions web surfers are asking, related to what you are selling. Articles published at various key locations on the Internet, with your website link included, and giving some value to the reader, will encourage them to see what else you have to offer.

Get Articles Written and Published
If you don’t have experience in the writing field, you can have others write your articles for you. In fact, that is often the best way to go when doing article marketing for business. Professionals know how to properly include key words so your article will appear closer to the top in search engine results. They can ensure that no typos, punctuation or grammatical errors make your site look unprofessional. Nothing turns off a reader faster than sloppy content that looks as if a grade school student has written it.

In order to get the most out of your articles, you then get them posted on the Internet, where web surfers find them. Articles will be found by the search engines and can be published:

In online article directories
On social media sites
On blogs
On your own website

Article Directories -Driving Traffic to Your Website
Submitting to article directories takes some talent. You should be selective and not just send a barrage of submissions out. Pick only the highest rated sites with the most traffic. You will get qualified visitors who are actually looking for what you have to offer.

Whether you do it yourself or hire an outside service, any article marketing endeavor should be approached from the viewpoint of who can get you the most effective results.

When you hire a professional marketing person or company to do your article marketing for you, they will not only know the best way to submit the articles but also the ideal places to have your articles show up. They will know to stay away from fads and only choose the most effective ways to market your website.

Social Media Used for Article Marketing
Nowadays, article marketing for business includes all the modern nuances of our culture, including social media marketing. Even Fortune 500 companies have joined the game. Engaging customers through social media has become the new way to do business throughout the world.

Article Marketing on Blogs
Article writing for publication on blogs differs little from articles written for directories. It is a little less formal, but requires all the same expertise. Publishing articles on blogs has been shown to be extremely effective in driving traffic to websites and eliciting sales.

Fresh and Optimized Content Works Best, and a Lot of It! Content for articles published on the World Wide Web needs to not only be relative to your product or service, but also rich in information. The writing needs to be fresh. Optimized content (using key words) will ensure you get a higher rating on search engine results, thus getting a higher percentage of click-throughs. And of course, a higher percentage of sales!

The more content published, the better. Obviously, the more people who read your content, the more who will come to your website. Continue to publish content of high quality and you will see real results in your article marketing strategy.