Creative Commons License photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Article directories are the lifeblood of article marketing. Without them, you would have far fewer places to spread your articles around the internet. Article directories are useful for several reasons but the most important one is that they exist solely for the purpose of accepting article submissions. Therefore, as long as you play by their rules, you will have no problem getting your articles accepted.

One reason you want to use article directories is because Google loves them, at least the major ones like Ezine Articles, Go Articles, and Articles Base. This is to your advantage because it helps your articles get ranked higher in the search engine results. In fact, it is probably easier for your article to get on the first page of Google when you submit it to Ezine Articles than it is when the article is on your own site.

Article directories are also useful for providing backlinks to your website which gives your site a boost in Google. You can submit your site to numerous directories and many of these will not rank very high in Google, especially if you use the same article for each directory, but you will amass several backlinks.

There are many programs available that will mass submit your articles to many directories so you do not have to go through the tedious process of submitting them one by one. However, it is probably a good idea to treat the article directories that Google likes with kid gloves. Not only will they provide backlinks, they will also send you traffic because they are high traffic sites or because they make it easier for your article to rank well.

You can read this article, Using Article Directories, or other articles on article marketing at Article Marketing and Tips

Related posts:

1. How To Get Your Article Indexed In The Search Engines
2. How Article Marketing Can Be Used For Getting Traffic
3. Article Marketing Beginners – How To Write An Article

Creative Commons License photo credit: Jacob Bøtter

Article marketing is one of the best ways to get traffic to your website. It is a good method for beginners and expert marketers alike. You don’t need a big budget to begin article marketing. It is as simple as writing an article related to your website and submitting it to an article directory.

Article marketing gets you traffic in a few ways. For one, when you submit your article to a popular directory or website, people who visit the site may see your article, click on the link in your resource box and visit your website.

Google seems to love a few of the more popular article directories, so when you submit your article to one of them, you have a good chance of getting a high ranking in Google. This is another way article marketing gets you traffic. An article submitted to a popular article directory will probably rank higher in Google than it would if you placed it on your website. People searching Google will come across your article in the search results and then visit your website.

This kind of marketing can also increase your traffic in a round about way. When you submit articles to several directories and websites on the internet and have them all linking back to your site, this helps your site rank higher in Google so people that are searching on terms related to your website will be able to find you easily.

Article marketing is a good way to get traffic because an article you send out on the internet will work for you for a long time. It isn’t like an ad that causes traffic to stop when it is pulled. Your articles can bring you traffic for months or even years, so the more articles you put out, the more traffic you will get.

You can read this article, Getting Traffic, or other articles at Article Marketing Info and Tips

Related posts:

1. Using Article Directories When Article Marketing
2. How To Get Your Article Indexed In The Search Engines
3. Article Marketing Beginners – How To Write An Article

Creative Commons License photo credit: Jacob Bøtter

If you have decided to try your hand at article marketing there are a few things you should know. It isn’t as simple as throwing several articles together and mass submitting them to a bunch of article directories. To get the best results, you need to focus on quality rather than quantity.

While your article doesn’t have to be worthy of a Pulitzer Prize, it should still conform to accepted standards of grammar and punctuation. The higher the quality, the more you will be perceived as a credible source. Writing with authority can help sway people into clicking on your resource box link.

But before you even begin, you must learn how to do proper keyword research so you write an article that has a chance at getting a decent listing in Google. If you pick a keyword that is too competitive, you won’t be able to rank high enough to get traffic. If it is not competitive at all, then there probably won’t be enough traffic to make it worth your time.

While you want to use the right keywords, you do not want to over use them. Aim to use your keyword about once every 100 words, or a 1% density. Put your keyword in the title, first paragraph, and last paragraph. Use it elsewhere in your article where it sounds natural. Don’t force keywords or keyword spam your article as it will make you appear less credible. Plus article directories and Google will frown upon it.

For article marketing purposes, your article should be from 300 to 700 words. Articles that are too short might get rejected by article directories and articles that are too long tend to bore readers. It is always best to make your article as informative as possible rather than just pad for keywords. Don’t worry about giving away too much information in your articles, as imparting useful information will help bond you with the reader and entice them to visit your site.

When it comes to article marketing, one of the most important aspects is the resource box at the end of your article. This is where you need to put in a lot of trial and error to find text that converts the best for you. An important tip is to make your resource box sound like a continuation of your article and answers the question posed by your title or keyword, rather than including biographical information about yourself.

You can read this article, How to Write an Article, or other articles on article marketing at Article Marketing Info and Tips

Related posts:

1. Using Article Directories When Article Marketing
2. 3 Tips To Use Article Marketing To Get On The 1st Page Of Google
3. What is Anchor Text and How to Use It in Article Marketing?

If you are article marketing and you should, then there is one directory that should be at the top of your list: EzineArticles.com.  This site is considered by most to be the top dog in the article directory arena.  There are a couple things I have learned about anchor text and submitting to EzineArticles.com that you should keep in mind.

1. When you are using anchor text in your EzineArticle.com author’s signature box, you want to keep the length of the keyword (visible link) to no more than 3 words.  Otherwise your article will be flagged and it will not be published until it is revised.  If you want to use your article title as your anchor text, then pick the keyword part of the title as the anchor text.
2. Limit your URL links to the bottom part of your article.  EzineArticles does not allow them in the first three paragraphs.  Your article is to be informative not just another advertisement of your product.  As they say: “The article is your give and the author’s resource box is your take”
3. Don’t worry if the editors flag your article after you submit your article.  4 out of 10 of my first articles I submitted were flagged with problems.  They may flag article because of keyword density, affiliate links, or html code not allowed.  They allow you to revise and edit your article to correct the problem areas.  Once those areas are revised resubmit the article and normally it will fly through.

Article marketing is a great, low-cost way to promote yourself or your business, and EzineArticles is the top place to submit your articles.  Follow the simple editorial rules and you will have no problem submitting your articles.

EzineArticles is the top dog of the article directories. These simple tips will help your article marketing success. Are you using article marketing? Use this low cost approach to grow your business Learn a simple step-by-step marketing system that will increase your traffic & leads and grow your business using article marketing and other marketing strategies. Visit Mike Smith’s MLM Training Secrets to learn more.

Related posts:

1. MLM Training Tips: Author’s Resource Box & Article Marketing
2. What is Anchor Text and How to Use It in Article Marketing?
3. MLM Training Tips, 10 Ways to Recycle Your Articles in Your Article Marketing

In this MLM Training Tip we will look at simple steps you can use to optimize your “On-Page” results for your MLM Home-Based Business without becoming a computer geek.  Steps that take planning but will improve your search rankings.  But your ranking will only be as good as your keywords.  You must find what your target market is using to search for you but we will leave that for another time.

Steps to optimize a page or On-Page Optimization for a particular keyword includes many opportunities.  Some you do once and others you do for as many pages and posts you have.  Lets look at the opportunities for keyword placement: Page Title, Meta Description, H1 Headline, of course in the Body of the text, Filename of any photos on the page, the photo itself represents the keyword, and lastly the page URL.  These are all very simple items to control by anyone from beginner to seasoned professional.  We will look at these parts of your webpage; for this example we will assume you are using a Wordpress blog.

The page title is what appears at the top of the browser window.  It consists of the title of the page (your blog post tile) and the name of the blog (Post Title | Blog Title).  See the General Setting of on your Wordpress blog.  Titling your blog with a keyword is critical.  Your title for the blog is set once but test different titles to see what ranks best.  The title of the post is another aspect that is set each time you write a blog post.

The Meta Description is the short description that appears in the search results.  The keyword is bold in the search to highlight the keyword the person was searching for.  This highlight can help in click-through rate, which is what we are after.  There are plug-ins that you will allow you to write your own Meta Description each time your do a blog post.

The H1 Headline is the Title of the body of the content.  If you have a blog it is the title of the blog.  In our example it would be “How “Keyword or phrase” Can Help Your MLM Home-Based Business”

Using the keyword in the body of content is very important.  The keyword density should be kept to 3 to 6 times, depending on the length of the content, or you can actually hurt your search ranking.  The content should flow naturally with the keywords.

If you have any photos on the page, name the Jpeg filename with keywords.  This will mean creating your own photos or selecting only photos with your keyword.  The photo itself should be a picture of your keyword or phrase.  This is an opportunity to let loose your creative side.

You have a surprising amount of control over your URL.  Lets look at this example: “www.Domain-name.com/keyword-category/keyword-blog-post-title” First we start with the domain.  Pick a domain name that includes a keyword is best if possible.  Make the Categories used in your blog as keywords.  Because these categories are used in the URL and can help define the post for the search engines. The title of the blog post should begin with a Keyword or phrase or at least in the first 3-4 words.

Following this MLM Training Tip: using keywords in your page title, meta description, your content, photo filenames and your URL, can improve your ranking in the search results.  Your MLM Home-Based Business can benefit from these techniques and improve its search ranking.  Best of all it just takes a little bit of planning without transforming into a computer geek.

Today’s MLM Training Tip focuses on SEO, but that is but one part of your marketing plan. I can help you put together that plan that will attract leads and grow your MLM business. Visit Mike’s MLM Training Secrets to learn more.

Related posts:

1. What 5 Plugins Do You Need To Help Your Search Engine Exposure?
2. 6 Steps You Need To Set-up Your MLM Business Online
3. MLM Training Tips: Author’s Resource Box & Article Marketing

Whether you are just starting out or have decided to make 2010 the year for massive action in your MLM Home-Based Business, the workload can be hazardous to your health.  Why do I say that?  Because the amount of education and action you must take to succeed is overwhelming.  There are so many marketing strategies, opportunities and steps you must do everyday that some people just stop.  But as the saying goes: You eat an elephant a piece at a time.  Lets focus on each part of your business so we can manage it better.

Your time is the one aspect of your business you can’t expand thus the most important commodity you have.  Managing it is absolutely critical to your success.  I Timeblock my day and week.  This is nothing more blocking out time for tasks throughout the day.  For example: I write article everyday and block out 1 hour (from 6:00 to 7:00am) each morning to do that.  I will work on nothing else during that time and will stop as soon as I get to 7:00am.  Focus on the most important activities (i.e. revenue generating activities) and block those tasks.

This will help develop your routine.  We are all creatures of habit and getting into a habit of working on a set of revenue generating activities is an easy way to succeed.  My routine in the morning is: 1) write an article; 2) post on MLM website; 3) post on blog; 4) make video announcing article; 5) upload video to YouTube and Traffic Geyser.  That takes me about an hour and half each day.  I do that without fail because I know it drives traffic to my MLM website and creates backlinks.

Which marketing strategy should you pick?  If you have an Online MLM Home-Based Business you want to drive traffic to your website.  Focus on one marketing strategy that you can commit to until it drives traffic and gets you at least 20 leads per day.  Really committing to until you see results.  That could be days or weeks.  With Article Marketing, I did not see results until I had about 50 articles on my website so that took me 50 days of writing, publishing, posting & uploading until momentum was achieved.  It is easy to switch from one strategy to another thinking that will be the quick fix, but it will only waste your time and money.  Marketing is something that takes time.  It takes time and education to make yourself into the expert you want to project.

Schedule time in your week for training.  Unless you were a marketing major, I was not, you will need to learn everything you can about marketing You, Inc.  People don’t join your MLM Home-Based Business for the product and not even the income opportunity, though that helps; they join because they perceive you as someone who can help them succeed.

Success is overwhelming but break it down into manageable bites you can eat the elephant.  Start with your daily/weekly schedule focus on revenue generating activities; develop a routine for your day; pick and focus on one marketing strategy; continue learning and developing yourself.  Lastly, success takes persistent, consistent action nothing spectacular or glamorous just taking action everyday.  All overnight success stories read the same way.  Ready to write your success story?

Your MLM Home-Based Business can be hazardous to your health. You need a marketing plan for success. I can help you put together that plan that will attract leads and grow your MLM business. Visit Mike’s MLM Training Secrets to learn more.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ugly Truths About MLM Home-Based Business
2. Why Do I Love Network Marketing As A Home Based Business
3. Article Marketing, Does It Work for MLM Home-Based Business?

Grumpy Mary Creative Commons License photo credit: country_boy_shane

The MLM Home-Based Business industry has a ton of ideas to help you make money.  You see it everyday in your email box.  People want to tell you how you can make money today by following what they do.  I’m not knocking the message – I have sent some of those emails myself.  But one item they don’t tell you – be yourself.

Use it is OK to follow the techniques of what the person does in marketing or setting up a business, but bring you style or talents to it.  You want to make the product or marketing strategy your own.

I did this a lot starting out.  I would watch how someone else would market a product and copy it.  From the video style to the words that they used, but it didn’t and I would move onto another opportunity.  I would think that it was the opportunity that was not good.  It was me.  You can follow what someone else does but it is the personality and the individuality that comes through in the articles, videos, etc that comes through.

You are building relationships with your leads.  Following what someone else does will make you look phony because it is not you.  Every word or gesture gives it away.  People want to connect with the person they are joining.  After all it is this person that will help them succeed in their business.  So let them get to know you.

Start off by making a video about yourself.  Who are you?  Do you have a family, wife, children, dog?  Whatever it is let others know it.  Your leads want to know that you are like him or her.

What is your background?  How does it relate to what you are doing know?  You may have lost your job or you left a stressful one.  These are critical aspects of your background that lets others know you are just like them.  There are not many people who have not lost their job, or left a high stressed job or thought about leaving a job for better prospects.

Develop your title or tagline.  A tagline or memory hook is another way to connect with your leads.  What is a unique that describes you, what you are offering or doing?  Are you “The King of Free Leads” or “The Marketing Wizard of MLM”?  Pick a tagline or memory hook that relates to your MLM Home-based Business and states your personality.

Whatever MLM Home-Based Business you are doing stop and look at it.  Do you see yourself in what you are marketing?  Everything you put out on the Internet should be stamped with your personality.  Make your marketing about you.  Don’t try to copy someone else’s style it just looks phony.  Be yourself and you will connect with your leads better.  Develop a tagline to show your personality.  Most of all have fun with what you are doing.  Yes it is a serious business but have fun so you can show others to have fun

MLM Training Fact #17 talks about how YOU need to be in your marketing. People are joining you not a MLM Opportunity. I can help you put together that plan that will attract leads and grow your MLM business. Visit Mike’s MLM Training Secrets to learn more.

Related posts:

1. MLM Training Fact #23: 97% of Your New Sponsors Will Fail in Your MLM Home Based Business
2. Is Your MLM Home-Based Business Driving You Insane?
3. Article Marketing, Does It Work for MLM Home-Based Business?

Creative Commons License photo credit: R I O M A N S O

Open your email inbox and you will read dozens of emails that promise fame and fortune today.  Well maybe not fame but lots of fortune.  No one will tell you the ugly truth about your MLM Home-based Business, until today.  Here are the 10 ugly truths about MLM Home-Based Business.

1. You will not make money over night.  There I said it.  The secret is out.  No matter what you hear from the hype on the Internet you can’t make serious money over night.  Your income from sponsors or affiliate links is depended upon someone else buying the product just like you did.  While you may have made the decision quickly most people don’t.  Allow time for your business to grow.  How much time depends on how much action you take.
2. You need to work harder than the average Joe.  Lets face it if Internet marketing were easy than 97% of people doing it would succeed.  But it is the opposite.  You will need to work harder than 97% of the people out there doing their own MLM Home-Based Business.  Fortunately for you that is not very hard since most people give up after 30 days.
3. Marketing training is the key to success.  Joining your MLM business is not the end of your learning, but only the beginning.  You must become a student of marketing and your business.  You are marketing You, Inc.   The better you do that the more success you will have.  If you come from a marketing background you have a jump on everyone, if you don’t you will need to get to work.
4. Focus on one marketing strategy until mastered before trying another.  There are some many marketing strategies that work on the Internet that you can lose your focus and begin to jump from one strategy to another.  Pick one that appeals to you and focus on that strategy until you master it.  You can continue learning about other strategies but keep you focus and marketing dollars on the one until you get at least 20 to 50 leads per day from it.
5. You will need to pick-up the telephone.  Yes you will need to talk to people.  You are building a team and you are the leader.  You can’t lead from behind the curtain.  You need to establish a relationship with your prospect.  The better you are at talking to people on the phone the more success you will have.
6. Test your marketing and record the results.  You need to constantly test your marketing copy and the results it brings.  Keep good records so you can see how your marketing is doing.  Use tracking codes and subdomains to track how well a particular copy does.
7. You must have the right mindset.  You need a winning mindset.  You must be positive about your business so you can help others.  Looking at the world of abundance will free your mind to think in terms of giving before receiving.  You want to grow your business but that can only truly happen when you help others grow their business.
8. Have a marketing plan.  You need a road map to your success and a marketing plan is that map.  Layout what marketing strategy you will use, what copy, budget and expected results.  Then monitor your plan and adjust it as needed until you get results.
9. You need a mentor.  Everyone needs someone they can go to with questions or concerns about their business.  Someone who has been in the trenches and can help you over the rough patches.
10. Never quit and you will always win.  If you never quit then you will always win, timing is the only question.  Consistent, persistent action everyday until you win.  Not giving up when after 3 months or 6 months or 12 months.  Working until you succeed.

You can’t start a MLM Home-Based Business and expect to have riches pour in the following week without taking massive action.  Sorry, I purchase too many of those programs only to find out that I needed to learn a new marketing technique and implement someone else’s plan.  Whatever your MLM business is learn it backwards and forwards.  Become an expert in it and market yourself as an expert that can help others in their business.  Take these 10 ugly truths and make them a part of your business and you will succeed.

You can implement these 10 ugly truths of MLM Home-Based Business to succeed. It takes a plan.  I can help you put together a marketing plan that will attract leads and grow your MLM business. Visit Mike’s MLM Training Secrets to learn more.

Related posts:

1. Warning MLM Home-Based Business Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
2. MLM Training Fact #23: 97% of Your New Sponsors Will Fail in Your MLM Home Based Business
3. MLM Training Fact #17: In Marketing Your MLM Home-Based Business Be Yourself

One of the best MLM Marketing Tips I have been talking about for the last 3 months is Article Marketing, a low cost, but effective way to drive traffic to your site.  Talk is cheap as they say but where is the proof.  We are going to example the results of my article marketing experiment.

This was a 100-day challenge to write one article everyday.  If you think that was easy to do then you would be wrong.  Starting out on this experiment, I was no writer.  I avoided like the plaque in school, but for the last 100 days (actually 115 days – no work on Sunday) I wrote one article, posted it on my MLM Company website, posted it on my blog, made a video that announced each article, uploaded the video to various video sharing websites and sent an email to my list (opt-ins from my MLM website).

The results have amazed me.  In the 115 days that I was doing all this work, I have seen views of my article rise from 14 views to over 15,000 unique views.  That is a 1484% increase in traffic.  Over 15,000 unique people went to my website.  That is more exposure than I saw in the previous 6 months.  From those views 535 leads were generated and 13 people signed up for my MLM Opportunity.  Not bad for 2-1/2 hours in the morning each day.

Those are great results but there were other positive aspects of this experiment.  I now have over 100 articles (I continue to write everyday) that can be used in an eBook or special reports that I can offer as bonus to my program.  I have a proven method to increase traffic to anyone’s site.  I have made a video series describing my method in detail that I offer to people whom opt-in to my newsletter, opt-in at my website if no form below.

I have learned to create videos very quickly and uploading them in minutes.  Using Traffic Geyser I can take a video I made 5 minutes ago and upload it and my blog post to over 50 video sharing sites and 15 Podcast sites.  That certainly helps with backlinks to my MLM Company website.

Coming up with article ideas flow at any time and I am ready with my journal.  I keep a journal with me where ever I go.  You never know when a good idea for an article will pop in your head.  Articles can be as simple as documenting your experience.  Not everyone is at the same level.  So writing about how you do things is helpful to others.  The most popular article were “How To” articles about technical issue in marketing.

Can I do better?  Absolutely and that is my goal for next 100 days.  I want to increase my leads and sign-ups from this marketing strategy.  I tested a variety of email blasted to my opt-in list.  Some drove traffic better than others.  I will be refining my copywriting skills.  Improving my writing skills and subject matter is another goal for this program.  Delivering better content that helps others increase their success in MLM Home-Based Businesses.

So I have a good start to my Article Marketing, but the next 100 days will be even better.  I will increase traffic, leads and sponsor to my MLM Opportunity.  Check daily to read the articles and the results about May of this year.

Are you using Article Marketing? This is one powerful market strategy that everyone should be using. I can help you put together a marketing plan that will attract leads and grow your MLM Home-Based Business.   Visit Mike’s MLM Training Secrets to learn more.

Related posts:

1. MLM Training Fact #23: 97% of Your New Sponsors Will Fail in Your MLM Home Based Business
2. MLM Training Fact #17: In Marketing Your MLM Home-Based Business Be Yourself
3. MLM Training Tips: Author’s Resource Box & Article Marketing