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Monday, November 26, 2012

Has Video Killed Article Writing for Your Online Business?

The debate about whether writing articles is still a key element of growing your online business rages on. For those of us who make money online from home it is an important discussion and one that merits serious consideration. The growth in popularity and use of You Tube has caused many to have the view that You Tube is the way forward and that article marketing is simply "old hat"! I don't agree and my reasons are as follows:

Firstly, I do not think it is a question of either You Tube or article marketing, my belief is that it is both. None of us receive information or data from just one source or one element of the media. We get our information in hard copy, electronically, digitally and others, so why would we think that our target audience is any different? The internet is the source of content for millions every day, so there is a place for good content irrespective of the media. If your articles contain good content, and you have it appropriately structured then you will be found. Content that has value for its targeted audience is a much needed resource. If you are writing your article just to blast out volumes of content and hoping that you get traffic, then that is the wrong mindset. If your mindset is "what's in it for me" then it is of little value to anyone, and you will fail. But if your mindset is "is this content adding value to my targeted audience?", and you deliver on it, then the content will be picked up and you will succeed. Relevant content is always of value. Think of this way - if my business goal is to find ways to make money online and I come across a great article on changes in world environment, I may find it interesting, and it may be very well written but it is not relevant to me right now. So, when writing make sure it is high quality, is of significant value and is relevant. Article writing is a great resource and source for relevant content. Once you write an article it is there forever. I still get traffic for articles that I wrote a long time ago. Quality lasts and the time you put into writing a good article today is an investment in your future. Article writing is a great way to get backlinks which are so important and very important when your aim is to make money online for free. Finally, some statistics to back up my argument! I have researched randomly for some figures, so I have not conjured these up to prove my point - you know what can be done with statistics! The niche I looked at is the weight loss niche and I researched how many views random articles had got in a short period of time. To put it in context I am writing this article on 11th March 2011 and my figures are based on numbers of views at 9th March 2011. Just look at these for numbers, keeping in mind that the oldest article is only 8 weeks old! An article published on 5th January 2011 got 30.128 views, one on 9th January 2011 got 46,855 views, another on 24th January 2011 got 19,016, then the one published on 2nd February 2011 got 29,928 views and the one on 14th February 2011 got 12,835

These are absolute proof that article marketing still has its place as a premier method of getting your message out on the internet. How could you not generate business with those levels of views? But please remember, you will only achieve these sorts of figures if the content is of high value and is relevant.

To my mind, forget about the debate questioning whether it is article marketing or video marketing - the truth is that it is both, and you just need to find the right balance.

I would appreciate your comments and views.

Increase Your Profits With Article Writing 5 Ways To Research Your Content For An Article Or Blog Websites That Have the Most Interesting, Relevant, and Engaging Articles Six Great Ezine Content Ideas

How To Make Effective Article Marketing Headlines

To be truly effective at article marketing, you will need to inspire web browsers to click and view YOUR content instead of checking out the other guys' stuff. One of the best ways to do this is to have an attention-grabbing headline. With a good headline, you will set yourself apart from your nine other competitors. I learned many of these following phrases from Robert Bly's "How to Write & Sell Simple Information For Fun and Profit". Here is a list of my top twenty-one phrases. All you need to do is plug in your keyword!

1. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About " " but Were Afraid to Ask

"Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Birth Control but Were Afraid to Ask"

2. How to " "

"How to Make Effective Article Marketing Titles"

3. The " " Handbook

"The Internet Marketer's Handbook"

4. Secrets " "

"Secrets of Making Six Figures A Year Without A Job"

5. " " Made Easy

"Installing Your Sprinkler System Made Easy"

6. A Guide to " "

"A Guide to the Superstition Wilderness"

7. " " that " " (e.g. "Ads that Sell")

"Ads that Sell"

8. Get Paid to " "

"Get Paid to Work From Home"

9. " " For Fun and Profit

"How to Write and Sell Simple Information for Fun and Profit"

10. " " in a Box

"Landscaping Business in a Box"

11. " " Toolkit

"The Rocky Mountain Flora Toolkit"

12. Getting Started as a " "

"Getting Started as a Gold and Silver Investor"

13. " " on a Shoestring

"Effective Article Marketing Headlines on a Shoestring"

14. The 10-Step " " Plan

"The 10 Step Online Network Marketing Plan"

15. The " " Manual

"The Market Samurai Manual"

16. Quick and Easy " "

"Quick and Easy Ways to Improve Your Self-Image AND Profit From It!"

17. " " for Beginners

"Trails in the Grand Canyon for Beginners"

18. Most Common Questions About " "...and the Answers

"Most Common Questions About Effective Article Marketing...and the Answers"

19. " " for " "

"eBay Auctions for Beginners"

20. Quick Tips for " "

"Quick Tips for the Gung-Ho Entrepreneur"

21. " " The Complete Guide

"Effective Article Marketing: The Complete Guide"

These titling conventions are a great way to appeal to basic human desires that will drive online browsers to click and view your content. Make a hundred percent sure though, that your title correlates to what is in the body of the article, AND that your key-phrase is relevant to your target market. Coming up with a good title before you begin the writing process can help you accomplish this by helping you stay focused.

Article Marketing: Do I Really Need to Write an Article?

What is an article? Well, it's a text usually from 400 to 1000 words, that provides reliable information on a particular topic. It might be an opinion written by an expert, a review of a product, a guide explaining how to achieve a goal or even an inspirational text to encourage the reader to do something. The general rule is simple: you can write about anything you want, as long as others can benefit from your work. Ask yourself a simple question: do I know something others may not? Or maybe I can explain something better, than others already did? I all that you need to start writing articles.

Another question you might ask is what for? Why should I spend time writing an article nobody might ever read? Well, firstly never think that your article will go unnoticed. Such attitude will get you no where. If you work in one profession for a long time, you have experience, that you can share with others. If you just began your carrier, like me, you have a fresh perspective and probably tons of ideas, which are worth exploring. Let's look at an example:

Let's pretend, you just opened a business connected with buzz marketing. Your company is new to the field as is, the whole idea. Buzz marketing is just starting to develop on a larger scale. What does it give you? Opportunity to leave your footprint. And that's where you should start. You have the know-how and a vision. Others heard little or nothing about buzz marketing, so explain it to them. Start by writing a general article, what buzz marketing is. Then, start showing benefits of it: explain to your readers, why is it important to invest time and effort in it. It should be done through a series of articles step by step. Just remember, always try to look at your work, from a potential reader standpoint.

Finally, let's look at your benefits as an author. First, both your personal and company name gain credibility, as an expert in the field. It translates directly, into trust as it's easier to trust a recognizable expert or brand. It lowers the risk, potential customers need to take, when they make a decision to buy something from you. If, that's not enough, the resource box comes to the rescue. There, you can post a link to your company. Company, which just helped the reader, understand something vital to his own business. How? Through an interesting and benefit-oriented article. So, what would the reader think? If someone cares enough to write an article for free, that makes my business or life better, I can trust him.

That's the whole secret. You must let the world know, who you are and what can you do. And that's when articles come in handy.

Article Marketing Tips - How To Research And Write An Article

There are several reasons why it's a great idea to publish articles on topics affecting your industry and target markets on the web.

Firstly, it shows that you have your finger on the pulse of what's happening in your particular industry and that you're aware of what challenges are facing your target markets. Understanding and empathy will attract potential clients who will naturally be seeking a solution.

In addition to establishing a solid online reputation through displaying your knowledge, publishing online articles is a great way to engage in two-way conversation with present and potential clients. This is particularly the case if you comment on topics which are likely to trigger a discussion.

Of course, in order for your articles to be read, they first need to be found. By including a small number of keywords both within your title and the body of your article, search engine spiders will be able to read and rank your article. Over time, you'll be able to build a small library of articles which should be stored on your website, encouraging visitors to remain on the site for longer, but which will also help to push your offerings further up the ranks of the search engines.

So it is generally agreed that online article distribution should play a vital part of an organisation's marketing activity. But how do you go about creating articles which will be read, valued and trigger discussions?

The simple answer is, listen to your clients. What are the specific challenges they are facing, what knowledge or tools would they find useful and is there anything happening in the industry which might affect them either positively or negatively?

By keeping a record of strong themes emerging from discussions with your clients, you'll soon build up a bank of article ideas. However, if your writing skills aren't top notch, be in no doubt that this will reflect poorly on your business image. If you don't have the time or the skills, hire a professional writer. They'll produce a quality article for you, probably in half the time and more cost efficiently.

Ensure that the content of the article makes for quality reading and isn't simply peppered with key words. Use one or two principle sources to support your information, but never simply cut and paste content as you may be faced with claims of plagiarism.

Stay clear of printing controversial views. Journalists are, on the whole, detached from their subject matter and can write pretty much anything, but if you offend potential or actual clients, this may well have a substantial, negative effect on your business. Simply report factual details and why not ask them for their opinion to trigger a discussion?

Finally, in addition to posting your article on your website or blog, make sure you also add it to an article distribution site such as EzineArticles. These sites are regularly crawled by search engine spiders and subsequently their better articles tend to be ranked relatively highly.

What Is an Ezine and Should You Produce One?

What is an ezine?

I define an ezine (otherwise known as an 'email newsletter', or 'e-newsletter') as any regular publication distributed via email for an audience who have signed up to receive it. I differentiate an ezine from a promotional email in that an ezine is made up primarily or largely of information content rather than being a pure sales message.

An ezine may be put together from scratch each time - say once a week - and/or run as a pre-prepared sequence of 'autoresponders'.

Why produce an ezine?

The simple fact is that good ezines have been proven over many years to be hugely effective for almost any type of business, because they allow you to:

· Produce instant sales. · Make qualified prospects come to you - at exactly the time they are ready to buy. · Build relationships and stay and 'top of mind' with clients and prospects. · Present your offerings repeatedly. · Position yourself as an authority. · Save time and money with an efficient and pro-active marketing tool. · Generate instant web traffic. · Build trust - crucial for all sales but especially high value, relationship/consultancy and online. · Build your profile. · Build your business's profile. · Ideal complement to your other marketing and sales activities, especially social media.

Despite the media's current focus on social media, I don't see those benefits changing any time soon - in fact, social media provides even more OPPORTUNITIES for the smart business owner to leverage their ezine.

Consider also that:

· Email is without doubt the digital medium of choice for business, all over the world.

· Email brings in over $43 for every $1 invested(source: DMA).

· 107 trillion email messages were sent in total in 2010. That works out to 294bn per day. There were nearly 2bn email users and 3bn email accounts, and the ranks of the emailing public grew by nearly 500 million. "In other words, email grew a Facebook last year!" (source: Royal Pingdom).

· Email remains one of the most popular activities on the web, reaching more than 70 per cent of the US online population each month (source: ComScore).

· The affluent older generation is increasing its email usage.In the 55-64 year old age group, the number of people accessing web-based email in the US increased 15 per cent in 2010, and the number of over 65s accessing web-based email increased too (source: ComScore).

· Email usage via mobile devices has experienced significant growth, driven largely by increased smartphone adoption. In November 2010, 70.1 million mobile users (30 per cent of all mobile subscribers) accessed email on their mobile, an increase of 36 per cent from the previous year (source: ComScore).

· Daily usage of email showed an even greater increase, growing 40 percent as 43.5 million users turned to their mobile devices on a nearly daily basis for their email communication needs (source: ComScore).

· Higher income households use email more.U.S. adults with household incomes of $75,000 or more are more likely to use email on any given day, at 78%, followed by those with household incomes of $50,000 to $74,999 at 67%; $30,000 to $49,999 at 59%; and less than $30,000 at 47%. (source: Pew internet Project).

Pretty compelling data, isn't it?

Email as a medium is alive and well, and taking advantage of it with a regular ezine to customers and potential customers is, I believe, one of the smartest investments you can make.

Marketing Your Cosmetic Surgery Practice - Article Marketing

First of all, an explanation of Article Marketing is in order: When we speak of article marketing it is simply writing up intriguing short articles (approximately 500 words or so) on a topic that is related to your cosmetic surgery services. You need to make sure these articles are rich in content and are sure to be picked up by a search engine. You want them to tie into your cosmetic surgery practice, be featured on your website, and be effective in reaching out to potential patients.

The Necessity for Article Marketing So what makes article marketing such an effective online tool? The reality is that by writing these articles, they are relevant to your industry and show your place within it - as an expert in your field. These articles can create a direct path to your website for anyone who does a search for information that relates to you or your cosmetic surgery practice. These articles set you up as an expert in your field. Publishing your articles is excellent for your online reputation management too.

The articles need to be informative, yet interesting and entertaining. They can't ever come off as a sales pitch or you will immediately lose credibility, and therefore interest. You need the content to be fresh and written in a tone that is not off-putting for the average person. Remember you are writing for potential patients, not your peers. Doctors tend to write in a technical way that can, quite frankly, bore and confuse the average reader. Once you've done that your reader will click away from your article, and you - probably for good.

It's always a good idea to run your article by a cosmetic surgery marketing specialist editor, or, if writing doesn't appeal to you, ask the specialist for help with writing these articles. Your cosmetic surgery marketing specialist can provide valuable advice, and can have your articles written for you if you're too busy. Always read and approve of these articles before they go for publication, they have your name on it and you need to make sure they are factually accurate.

Though they can take time, these articles are crucial in getting readers to understand that you have the expertise that they are looking for. This means that they read through the articles to understand a given topic and therefore look to you for the solutions. An article can say a lot about you and work to gain patients for your practice, even though all you did was provide information on their topic of interest.

You want to write good articles and then publish them where they will be read. That means you want to get them up on sites such as EzineArticles.com, Squidoo and other article publishing sites. You want search engines to pick up content on your cosmetic surgery clinic, which will happen naturally if they have been written properly. You want your articles to link back to your business and be the way that interested potential patients can find you. This will set you apart from your competition, secure you as the expert in your field, and ultimately win you new patients and business.