Unravel The Mystery Behind Article Marketing!
If someone asks you what exactly is “Article Marketing” and how it can help them in their online business? How should you answer this “Seemingly” simple question?
I reckon majority of us would jump the gun and say something like “Write a dozen or so articles and submit them to article directories or E-zines and wait for the traffic to start pouring in….” or something similar along those lines.
Well, this is both correct & wrong at the same time.
Article marketing can indeed help generate traffic for your business but first you need to understand the basic principles behind it and how to effectively utilize this useful tool to get the desired results.
In my opinion, the definition of article marketing is actually twofold; “Article Writing” and “Article Traffic Generation”.
Article Writing is the creation of “High Quality” and “Original” articles jammed packed with useful & unbiased information intended for the sole purpose of educating the reader on a certain niche.
The key element here is not to “Sell” or promote your business but to provide useful original content that can position you as an expert in your niche.
Another reason not to sell or promote in your article body, is that E-zines and article directories don’t wish to re-publish sales literature of any form.
Remember, article writing is more about helping you gain “Branding” & “Recognition”, building up your very own online credibility and reputation.
By now, you must be wondering to yourself, “If I can’t make a sales pitch in the article itself, how do I promote my business then”?
This is where the second element of Article Traffic Generation comes into play.
Article Traffic Generation on the other hand is the utilization of these articles to gain exposure about you or your business and to attract pre-qualified prospects or traffic back to your website.
And this is usually done by through the Author’s Bio Box or what is commonly known as the Resource Box.
The Resource Box is usually located at the bottom of the article submission page and contains information about the author, their website, and sometimes description of the products and services they offered.
More importantly, these information contain links back to your website, helping you generate Free and Targeted Traffic back to your website.
An important point to take note of when writing an effective Resources Box description is not to include too much information about your business or the products you wish to promote.
The main purpose here is to provide just enough information to entice them to click on the links to view your website or business.
There is only so much text you can fit into a Resource Box, so don’t waste it by “Hard Selling” your potential customers with product offers and ads.
Instead, try attracting reader’s attention with what I termed as “Irresistible” one-liners or “Open Ended” questions where they are compelled to click through because of curiosity.
For example, if the submitted article is written in such a manner that it contains only a few introductory tips and pointers but have not fully exhausted the whole arsenal of information that is still available elsewhere.
Then phrases like “What I have just shared with you is only the tip of the iceberg, if you want to know more about how I made a million dollars working in my Pajamas, be sure to click here.” will probably entice readers who wish to earn a living working from home to find out more.
Always remember to have a “Call To Action” phrase to allow visitors to actually click through to visit your website, otherwise all efforts to drive traffic will be lost.
Stay tuned for upcoming posts on tips to write an effective and compelling article that attracts attention and ultimately traffic to your website.
TOP 5 “KILLER” REASONS WHY INTERNET MARKETERS FAIL ONLINE! ( Part 5 of 5 )
The last of our top 5 “Killer” reasons why so many internet marketers fail online is the apparent Lack of “Self Branding” or commonly called “Social Branding”.
Social Branding (SB) is the Personal Unique Selling Position (USP) that sets you apart from the millions of internet marketers out there.
It is kind of like building other people’s general awareness and perception of you and holds the key to establishing an “Invincible” position for you and your online business.
Without Social Branding, no matter what you or your business promote will usually be futile and that is why so many internet marketers fail online.
Most internet newbies think that if they have a good product, set up a cool looking website, drive traffic to it and their online business will take off.
If you are really lucky, perhaps you will make a couple of sales but probably not in the long run.
Social branding is essential to an internet marketer as people generally trust and in turn will buy more often from someone whom they perceive as being more credible or reputable in their respective fields.
It’s a psychological thing, but believe me when I say that most people simply trusts recognizable names and branded stuff more.
A simple scenario will put my point across, for example if both you, a internet newbie and a well known internet marketing guru are simultaneously promoting an identical product to a group of online users in a forum.
Who do you think these users will buy from? The answer is pretty obvious right?
It is not that your product is in any way inferior to the Guru’s, it’s just that people prefer to buy from people who has pre-established their online credibility and reputation.
Building your own branding in the online community doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t rush it.
Credibility and trust are just like a relationship, it takes time and effort to build but can be lost in a split second if not properly handled.
Some of the methodologies that can help establish your online reputation and social branding include the following :
(1) Be Proactive :
- Contribute and participate actively in forums.
- Join social media sites like flickr, twitter, facebook etc and create more awareness by forming your own niche group.
- Give your views & comments on other people’s blogs with similar niche themes.
(2) Differentiate Yourself From The Rest Of The Pack.
- If everyone in you niche is “zigging”, then you must be “zagging” in order to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack.
- Try adding your own unique dash of personality to your comments, posts and advice.
(3) Position Yourself As An Expert In Your Niche.
- Start your own blog or site specializing in a particular niche you have expert knowledge on, one where you can provide valuable advice.
- Create you own reports that give away targeted information.
(4) Establish Good Relationships With Key Players In Your Niche.
- Identify established like-minded people from your niche, exchange and share valuable information with them.
- Gain trust and credibility through beneficial joint ventures and allow them to promote and launch you when the time is right.