It's all the rage. It's what everyone is talking about. It is unquestionably the most effective form of marketing available to home based business owners. It costs almost nothing, it takes about 30 minutes a week, and it makes your business stand out above the competition.
What is this thing that everyone is talking about? The buzz is about "article marketing" ? the practice of providing royalty free content to websites, e-zines and newsletters.
It works like this: You write a simple article that is interesting to a particular group of people. It doesn't have to be The Great American Novel, just about 500 words on the topic of your choice. Then you submit your article all over the web to ezine publishers, newsletter editors and content-laden websites.
When they publish your article (and they almost always do) your target market reads your words, sees you as an expert (after all, you're a published author!) and they click on a link to your website that you conveniently provided at the end of the article. Viola! Instant, qualified traffic.
And it's not fleeting traffic. Your article remains out there for people to find for weeks, months, even years. As new people happen across your article, they click the link and visit your site. You have a perpetual traffic machine, driving tons of pre-qualified, open-to-an-offer, interested traffic to your site. This is better than advertising, and far less expensive.
The problem is the effort of submitting your articles to enough sites that you really make a splash. Most authors will submit their articles to 20-30 places before getting totally burned out on the submission process. It's tedious, dull, drudge work.
There are three online services that automatically submit articles for authors. Each of these services explain the intrinsic value of publishing your articles, and of course they each describe their services as best-in-class. They range from single submissions to unlimited submissions and from completely free to $119.85. Check them out and draw your own conclusions.
- - - - - http://www.SubmitYourArticle.com - - - - -
Sends out articles in three categories: * Internet marketing/online business * Self-improvement/motivation * Health and fitness. (They promise "Business-General" and "Finance/Investment" categories soon.)
Submits articles to an undefined number of ezine publishers and 15 or more article announcement lists with over 10,000 subscribers.
Special Feature: Offers an article management suite to retrieve, edit, or resubmit your article.
Cost: * Bronze membership, $37.00/month, you may submit one (1) article per month * Silver membership, $57.00/month, you may submit two (2) articles per month * Gold membership, $75.00/month, you may submit three (3) articles per month * Platinum membership, $90.00/month, you may submit four (4) articles per month
- - - - - http://www.ThePhantomWriters.com - - - - -
Accepts articles in nine categories: * Business and Marketing * Coaching and Personal Development * Health * Internet * Money Saving Tips * Home and Family * Pets * Writing Related * Christian.
Submits articles to about 20,000 publishers and webmasters. Depending on how you categorize your article, it will be submitted to appropriate publishers.
Special Feature: No limit to the number of articles that can be submitted. (Is this really a "special feature"? They seem to think so. I guess it's better than SubmitYourArticle.com's one article/month limitation)
Cost: * One article: $49.95 * Three articles: $119.85 + $39.95 per article thereafter.
- - - - - http://www.ArticleMarketer.com - - - - -
Accepts articles in 27 categories, with tons of subcategories which (for the sake of space) I won't list here. These are the main categories: * Art * Books * Business (with 41 sub categories) * Consumer (6 sub categories) * Current Affairs * Education (1 sub category) * Entrepreneurship (19 sub categories) * Family (2 sub categories) * Finance/Accounting (12 sub categories) * Government * Health & Beauty (4 sub categories) * Hobbies (4 sub categories) * Home & Garden (2 sub categories) * Internet (22 sub topics) * Internet Marketing (9 sub categories) * Law & Legal (6 sub categories) * Politics * Psychology/Sociology * Recreation & Leisure (2 sub categories) * Religion (2 sub categories) * Self Improvement (3 sub categories) * Social Issues * Sports * Technology & Science (3 sub categories) * Travel & Tourism * Women's Issues * Writing & Speaking (6 sub categories)
Submits articles to over 50,000 people. Depending on how you categorize your article, it will be submitted to appropriate publishers.
Special Feature: An "auto pilot" feature where an author can submit several articles at once and have them distributed on to a custom defined schedule. (That's one of my favorite features. I just set it up for the month and don't have to think about it again. The articles are consistently distributed.)
Cost: * Free Article Distribution: goes to over 2,000 people * Best Exposure: goes out to over 50,000 people: $8.95 for one article * 3 months of Best Exposure: $39.95 for as many articles as you want to send out
- - - - - - - - - -
All three of these services seem to do a fine job submitting articles. They appear to have automated the process and articles are distributed within a few days of submission. Of course, each offers the disclaimer that your article will only get published if it's interesting.
Of the three, I prefer Article Marketer (for obvious reasons) and I have absolute proof that it works: you are currently reading this article.
Now that's what I call effective marketing!
Chris Ellington gives effective and easy to implement marketing strategies to small business owners and home business entrepreneurs. His Simplified Selling System has been a favorite of salespeople around the world. Get your free marketing strategies at http://www.simplifiedselling.com.
whole house cleaning Highland Park ..Would it be worth it to master a technique that... Read More
Writers talk about rejection all the time ? just part... Read More
You pick a pen, grab a piece of paper and... Read More
Article distribution is currently booming on the internet. Authors do... Read More
Knowing exactly what an editor wants.Unfortunately, many new writers struggle... Read More
This has to be the number one thing that most... Read More
Not every web designer has the time ? or skills... Read More
By default, Microsoft Word automatically changes straight quotation marks (... Read More
Anyone who's been in the business for 2 or 3... Read More
Last month, I began promoting Jason Potash's "Article Announcer." I... Read More
Get the Facts you need to start promoting you free... Read More
Many writers struggle with the decision of whether or not... Read More
Online readers love information, but be sure your information is... Read More
1. Participate in chat rooms related to your targeted audience.... Read More
How is it possible to turn an idea into the... Read More
This is Part 2 of a 2 part article -... Read More
As we prepared to move our 12,000 article database from... Read More
Are you a reluctant marketer for your book? Do you... Read More
Two important factors that play a part in the rankings... Read More
There are many different ways to improve link popularity for... Read More
Content is an important component of your web site. Learning... Read More
A few years ago as a webmaster with no money,... Read More
Gasp! I can hear it from the purists now: Matt... Read More
MS: Shelley, you're an excellent person to talk to about... Read More
I have seen the question asked so many times. How... Read More
pet-friendly home cleaners Glenview ..Ready to jump on the keyword article bandwagon? Billions of... Read More
Most business owners are overwhelmed with the day to day... Read More
One of the most common blunders by those using article... Read More
Increase your ezine subscribers by submitting articles once or twice... Read More
You've already agreed that putting some of your best articles... Read More
There are two primary factors in creating a successful reference... Read More
One great benefit of article marketing is the generation of... Read More
Lately, there seems to be some confusion between Article Marketing... Read More
Selling books online means that you need to get interested... Read More
Do you know the difference between simultaneous article submissions and... Read More
Take a look around the Web and you'll find thousands... Read More
If you haven't considered the power of articles as part... Read More
One of the most effective (and free!) ways to get... Read More
By now you probably understand how important writing for trade... Read More
Two important factors that play a part in the rankings... Read More
Want your articles to get picked up and reprinted by... Read More
You want your business to be noticed by thousands daily.... Read More
It's stunning sometimes how far article marketing has come over... Read More
1. Participate in chat rooms related to your targeted audience.... Read More
Submitting Articles for redistribution is the best way to get... Read More
People love to hear stories. They'll identify with what you... Read More
If you have submitted your articles to EzineArticles.com you have... Read More
You're Invited... Visualize your article going out like a party... Read More
Rule number one - You must write ezine articles and... Read More
If you've spent any time online trying to promote your... Read More
Article Writing |