Article Marketing
Tips & Strategies
on How To Use Articles To Promote Any Product, Service, or
Affiliate Program
YES, article marketing or
writing and distributing articles online,
really can increase your website traffic and help
you make more sales, but most people don't really understand
how writing articles and distributing them can help you, so
here's what I'm talking about:
"Your articles with
your keywords are shown on
dozens of other websites or blogs that are already
indexed by the search engines. And each of those sites
links back to your site or blog. It's a double
benefit for you because you have incoming
links and they are coming from relevant
search traffic."
If you can follow these 5 steps
exactly as they are laid out you will see a
remarkable difference in your sites traffic.
Step #1: Choose the product or service you want
to promote. Don't get hung up on this. If you're
having trouble coming up with a product see my article on
keyword and product research.
This process also works very well for your favorite
affiliate program. But don't confuse this with promoting your
newsletter or subscription publication, I'm talking about a
product or service that you can earn profits from when people
who read your article make a purchase.
Step #2: The "helpful, but incomplete"
approach. This is the magic approach and it works
extremely well with free e-books, e-courses or reports.
What this means is you provide your reader with helpful,
useful information (it must be something they find of
value and are able to actually apply).
The idea is to use your content to build up a desire for
your reader. By the time they finish your article they should
be so willing to put into action your useful information that
they'll be happy to buy your offer.
For example, let's say I was promoting a search engine
optimization tool. I would start by explaining the benefits of
good SEO, how it increases traffic, increases search engine
ranking, etc. Then go on to write a step-by-step tutorial
article for "do-it-your-selfers", explaining how to do your own
SEO from scratch, then I would go on to promote my tool as an
oversimplified way to attain perfect search engine
optimization.
Are you getting the picture?
Step #3: Next, turn your approach into a tips list
or tutorial.
OK, by now you're probably asking "What kind of tips,
strategies or tutorial do I create?
Using our SEO example above you could create things
like:
"How to optimize each page of your website for better
ranking"
"How to implement better linking strategies that offer the most
benefit"
"How to implement better linking within your website
"How to find the right keywords and use them to your
advantage"
Think about what you want to help your reader accomplish.
Decide how you want to help them get there with the helpful but
incomplete approach, then develop a list or step-by-step
tutorial for your article or content that leads the reader
along.
With each new "idea" or "way" or "tip" or "step" or "strategy"
that you share, you can further direct the reader towards
realizing their need of your upcoming offer, and lay the
foundation for them to accept the offer.
Step #4: Expand on each point to build your
content. Here's a way to make it easy. Just
"fill-in-the-blanks" to complete your article.
Write 1-2 short paragraphs for each of your points. Provide
quality content and make it convincing. Poor results are
inevitable if the information isn't helpful and useful. Try to
provide information that isn't found everywhere or that your
reader may not have heard before. Be as original as you can. Be
motivating and compelling. Light a fire under their chair.
Challenge them.
What you are doing here is really
"pre-selling" your reader on the idea that they
are going to need your offer. If you don't provide them with
quality information that they WANT to begin using immediately,
they won't be interested in buying.
Step #5: Put on the finishing
touches. There are five things that you should
always do to finish up your ezine article. Don't skip any of
them. They are all important...
1. Polish. Read and re-read your
article. Does it provide information that really is "useful" to
the reader? And yet leaves them wanting even more? That's what
you want. Polish it. It has a very specific purpose -- make
certain it has the means to achieve it.
2. Promote. Here's where your resource
box comes in. Go back and read step #1, this is where we
actually promote your product or service. Give the reader what
they (hopefully) are wanting ...a way to maximize the
information you gave them.
3. Proofread your article. Many
writers try to do this themselves ...don't do it!
Have a friend, relative or co-worker check your article
for grammatical and typographical errors. Bad spelling and
grammar can be a big turn off and presents a bad image.
4. Publish. Send your new article out
to your favorite list of publishers. Submit it to the
announcement lists and the ezine directories. Don't forget to
publish it yourself in your own newsletter!
5. Profit. If you've done everything
above, sit back and be amazed at the profits roll in.
That's it. Use, rinse and repeat!
If creating your own articles is more work than you have
time or ability for, Private label content or PLR articles are
an excellent way to get quality articles, massage them into
your own material and use them to help promote your products.
Here's where I get many
of my best articles.
Check Here for More article writing help....
Article
Directory - Article directories, resources,
article banks and sites for submitting your articles,
helping you gain website exposure and traffic to your
site
Check out
our internet
marketing articles covering online marketing and internet
business topics that you are welcome to use on your
website or ezine publication.
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