Before I explain why I decided to start my own article directory (and why you might want to as well), let’s do a quick rundown of why this form of marketing is so effective.

Why I Love Article Marketing: 3 Reasons

I love this form of marketing because (I) it’s free; (ii) it drives traffic (and sales) for years; and (iii) it gives me a chance to brand myself/my businesses.

How Article Marketing Works to Drive Traffic

It’s really quite simple. When you write informative articles and submit them to article directories like IdeaMarketers.com, etc., bloggers, newsletter publishers and website owners, etc. pick them up and publish them on their sites, in their newsletters, on their blogs, etc. They include links backs to your website/blog/online presence, which you include in your resource box when you write your articles.

Customers click through from this and find you/your website. Bang – you’ve generated a lead! Or, better yet – made a sale. It really is just this simple.

Learn all you need to know about how to make money online via article marketing.

Why Article Marketing Is One of the Best Ways to Make More Money Online

In my opinion, while all of the above reasons are important for on- and offline entrepreneurs, branding is the most important. Why? Because this is what allows you to start building relationships with customers. Relationships lead to sales – repeat sales – which are the best kind.

What Is Branding?

Branding is simply how you want your business to be perceived – what you’re known for. It’s defined by Wikipedia this way:

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. . . . The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity — it affects the personality of a product, company or service. It is defined by a perception, good or bad, that your customers or prospects have about you.

Now that you hopefully see how beneficial article marketing can be, let me spell out why I’m starting my own article directory – and why you should too.

Why I Decided to Start My Own Article Directory

Tired of Losing Control of My Content, How It’s Distributed, Etc.

In the post, Opportunities in Freelance Writing Fading Fast for eHow Writers — Many Have Lost Their Sole Source of Income (How to Prevent This from Happening to You), we discussed how many writers who wrote for eHow (aka Demand Media) lost major portions of their income after the site changed its content strategy model due to being hit hard by Google’s Panda algorithmic update.

In the post, Freelance Writers: How Submitting Content for FREE to Write-for-Pay Sites Can Make You Money — for Years, we went over how HubPages had made changes because of Panda too.

Also two other sites I have regularly submitted content to over the years have made changes recently — AssociatedContent.com (AC) and EzineArticles.com.

I haven’t submitted content to EzineArticles since last summer because it’s more difficult than it used to be to get an article accepted. I stopped submitting to AC because they started rejecting content for being “too promotional”; articles that they had readily accepted before.

I point all this out to say, I’m tired of losing control over my content, how it’s written and how it’s distributed (or rather, how it’s NOT distributed).

I was talking to friend of mine recently about this one day. She’s an avid article marketer as well. She said, “I’m so sick of these sites changing their rules; I’m going to take control of my content. I’m starting my own article directory.”

I immediately thought this was an excellent idea, for a few reasons.

Article Marketing: 3 Reasons to Start Your Own Article Directory

(i) I control how and what I write: Many article directories have guidelines about what you can write, how many links you can have, how long your article has to be, what can go in your resource box, etc.

By creating my own article directory, I can create my own rules, ie, I can put in as many links as I want, decide the reprint terms, how long my articles can be, not have to worry about being “too promotional,” etc.

(ii) Stop writing for free: Many article directories have so many rules that it makes it difficult to get an article accepted. So in essence, you wind up revising to the point where you’re basically watering down what you really want to say and not promoting your product/service at all.

Many sites want original content that isn’t promotional. And this is fine – if they’re willing to pay for it. But even sites where you submit for free just to get the exposure (eg, AC) have become so stringent in their guidelines that it’s very difficult to get an article accepted that benefits you, the writer. In my mind, what this amounts to is writing for free.

Now mind you — I don’t mind giving content away. But, I do so to promote my products and services also – not JUST to add value to the site I submit to.

(iii) Monetize my own content: The final reason I decided to create my own article directory is that I can monetize my own content. Now, while I don’t expect to earn thousands of dollars per month, ANYTHING I earn from content I’m giving away for free (and others are monetizing anyway) is gravy.

See the graphic below. The highlighted portions are ads that appear beside my content. In this case, it’s an article on AssociatedContent.com. Yahoo!, which recently bought AC, earns money from these ads.

I plan to monetize my article directory with Google ads. Again, I don’t expect to earn much – especially at first. But, over time it could grow. I’ve written and given away well over 1,000 pieces of content since 2004, when I started heavily investing in article marketing. Who knows how much I could add up over time.

Starting an Article Directory: Conclusion

The bottom line is, as a content creator – in my opinion – it’s becoming vitally important to seize control over your content in as many ways as possible.

While I can’t control who publishes my articles when I release them via an article distribution service like Content Crooner, I can control the message I want to get out. And that’s exactly what creating my own article directory allows me to do, which makes my article marketing efforts that much more effective.

Reprint My Articles – Free

From now on, all articles I write for article marketing purposes will be posted on YuwandaBlack.com, with reprint rights listed. As I’m stepping up my article marketing efforts this year, feel free to check the site often for new content, which will cover ebook publishing, freelance writing, SEO writing, search engine optimization, blogging, affiliate and internet marketing, article marketing, etc.

Your Thoughts on Article Marketing

Have you tried article marketing? Have you become frustrated with submission guidelines? Is starting your own article directory something you can see yourself doing – if not now, in the future? Please share in the comments section below.

Yuwanda
Find this post informative? Please RT It and Follow Inkwell Editorial on Twitter.

P.S.: You can pretty easily earn 4 figures per month online using this one free marketing method. Learn everything you need to know about article marketing.

P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.

PREFACE

The following is an excerpt (a pullout) from the ebook, The Small BIz Owner’s Complete Marketing Kit! A Complete How-to, Shoestring Marketing Guide for Entrepreneurs.

 $3.95 (Instant Download)

I’ve written well over 1,000 articles to market my ebooks, e-classes and affiliate products online since 2004. And, I’ve made thousands of dollars doing so.

Hence, it’s probably not surprising when I say that article marketing – one of the eight marketing ideas discussed in the above-mentioned ebook – is one of my favorite ways to market online. Why? Becuase it’s free and it drives web traffic and sales for years. It’s also something anyone can learn to do fairly quickly and easily.   

Write the Perfect Article Every Time & Never Worry about Missed Website Traffic Sales or Leads Again!

Write the perfect article for your article marketing campaigns every time using this handy checklist. Because every element is important when you write an article to distribute online – especially in today’s crowded online marketplace — you’ll never have to worry about missing one again.

About This Ebook: The Article Marketing Checklist

Does Your Article Contain These 8 Elements?

Your article should contain as many of these 8 elements as possible before being distributed. On Page 7 of this ebook isa fully diagrammed, color-coded article highlighting all of these elements.

 Note: Every article directory has different guidelines. Hence, you won’t be able to do all of this in every article you submit, but do implement as many of these guidelines as possible when writing. This way, you can be assured of writing and distributing the most effective article – every time.

Even as an experienced article writer – remember I’ve written over a thousand — I went back through some of my articles and found that many were missing some of these elements.

So, even I will keep this checklist handy!

 Write the perfect article — and generate all the traffic, leads and sales you’re entitled to — with every article you write, EVERY time, for only $3.95. Instant download.

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com

P.S.: Don’t know what article marketing is? Get the unabridged version of this ebook and learn all about it – plus 7 other free and low-cost ways to market online – at http://inkwelleditorial.com/marketingkit.

PREFACE

The following is an excerpt (a pullout) from the ebook, The Small Biz Owner’s Complete Marketing Kit! A Complete How-to, Shoestring Marketing Guide for Entrepreneurs.

 $6.95 (Instant Download)

I’ve written well over 1,000 articles and earn 4 figures per month online. This is one of my favorite online marketing strategies.  Why? Because it works!

Article marketing – one of the eight marketing ideas discussed in the above-mentioned ebook – is free. It drives web traffic and sales for years. And, it’s something anyone can do.

This ebook details how to market via this medium – the right way.

Sincerely,

Yuwanda Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE, Page 2

What Is an Article Directory? Page 4

How Does Writing and Distributing Free Articles Get Me Sales and Leads? Page 5

What Is a Resource Box? Page 5

2 Essential Keys to Writing a Money-making Resource Box, Page 6

Example of a Resource Box, Page 6

The 3 Main Benefits of Article Marketing, Page 8

Article Marketing: What to Write About, Page 9

5 Distribution Channels for Your Articles, Page 10

The 3 Best Ways to Make Free Article Distribution Work for You, Page 12

Article Marketing Checklist: Does Your Article Contain These 8 Elements? Page 14

Free Article Marketing Tutorial, Page 16

Example: The Perfect Article – A Diagram, Page 19

About the Author, Page 21

 Learn how to start generating web traffic — and getting sales — for only $6.95. Instant download.

Note: Want to write an ebook in 3 days? Sign up for ebook writing class that will help you do just that.

Selling Ebooks Online: Why Many Ebook Writers Fail to Get Sales

One reason many never make any (or very few sales) is that they fall off the wagon when it comes to marketing. It used to happen to me all the time. By the time I finished an ebook, I’d be so tired of looking at it that I’d delay marketing.

Beyond posting it on my website and creating a landing/sales page, I just would never get around to really marketing the darned thing. And of course, the longer you go without marketing your product, the easier it is to turn your attention to other things and never get around to it.

And, this is why so many ebook publishers never realize the sales they could. But, this can be alleviated. How about getting a month or two of article marketing out of the way in four days? That’s what the Article Marketing Boot Camp is designed to do.

Following are the details.

EBOOK MARKETING SECTION OF TOURNAMENT – FOCUS ON ARTICLE MARKETING

Cost – $59.97; When: March 19 – 22, 2012.  Limited Enrollment (20).

As many of you know, article marketing is one of my favorite ways to market. Hence, I’ll be conducting an Article Marketing Boot Camp for Ebook Publishers. If you don’t know what article marketing is, or you know but don’t know how to do it effectively, this boot camp is for you.

Upon finishing, you’ll have completed 30 articles in four days – yes 4! We’ll cover:

Where to submit your article to get the most traffic;

 Why to use certain outlets and not others;

Where to submit to get immediate sales;

How to conduct keyword research for your articles;

How to use keywords effectively in your articles;

How to turn your articles into e-pamphlets and reports;

How to effectively keyword your article titles;

How often to submit (and why);

How to submit your content to thousands of places with the push of a button;

And more.

Via article marketing, I have sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of ebooks – my own and affiliate products. In my opinion, it is the one skill every ebook author with little or no marketing budget needs. I very rarely spend money to promote my ebooks and e-classes (and I do mean “very” rarely).

Article marketing is my “secret” weapon to consistent, daily sales of my e-products.

Structure of Article Marketing Boot Camp

Emailed Assignments: Each day, I’ll email you your assignment by 8 am EST U.S. At the end of the day, or throughout the day, you can email me your progress, questions, comments, etc. Like in the ebook writing class, I’ll chime in with my feedback at the end of the day in a “Daily Report.”

Length: The tournament will run 4 days. At the end of the four days, you’ll have 30 articles you can use in various ways (which will be discussed in the course) – over several months – to promote your ebook.

Closed to Nonparticipants: The content of the article marketing boot camp will only be live to those who sign up. Boot camp participants will receive daily updates via a special list that only they will be a part of.

Note: While I usually address each participant’’s concerns/questions individually in the bootcamp, there is no formal, one-on-one coaching, which again is reflected in the affordable cost. I’ll give you concrete guidelines and samples and of course some overall, specific feedback in my daily reports.

This will be more than enough to give you the foundation in this online marketing technique to “fly with it.”

Sign up for the article marketing boot camp: $59.97. Because class is interactive, enrollment is limited. 

 Yuwanda
Article Marketing Expert, Bootcamp Moderator and Your #1 Article Writing Champion!
P.S.: Get the ebook that inspired the bootcamp.

P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.

 

Copyright © 2010-2011 All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without my written consent (linking to is fine).

Seems counterintuitive? It’s not.

Following is why I submit free content all the time to sites deemed content farms  — and how it has helped to keep my online earnings secure and stable over the last few years (and for many more).

This month, I received emails from two write-for-pay sites I regularly submit content to – eHow and HubPages. Both were alerting me to changes going on at their sites, which affected my content. Following is what happened at each site.

How Changes at eHow.com Caused One Freelancer to Lose Over $16,000 Per Year in Residual Income

eHow ended their Writers Compensation Program (FYI, today is the last day to accept/deny offers, so check your inbox for their email and respond). The post in the link explains what this was all about. A lot of freelance writers lost a lot of residual income. One freelancer wrote:

eHow closing down the compensation program and paying us out does have a serious effect on my residual earnings. Instead of earning $90 a day, my daily earnings have dropped to $45 a day. That’s a major drop.

That’s over $16,000 per year if you’re calculating ($16,425 to be exact ($45/day x 365 days/year)).

Ouch!
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Imagine if you’d built your whole (or a good portion of) your freelance writing income around writing for eHow; which, apparently, a lot of freelance writers did if you read the comments section of this last linked-to post.

I lost residual income too, but just a small monthly payout because I only had 20 articles there.

How Changes at HubPages.com Caused Many Freelance Writers to Lose Money and Website Rankings

HubPages has made changes too. I received the following notice from them in early May. The email stated, in part:

Dear Yuwanda Black,

Thank you for being a part of the HubPages writing community. We are trying to improve your writing and earning experience on the site, and would like to ask you to make a few changes. Please address the following issues that we have identified with your Hubs at your earliest convenience (in order to help you prioritize, we have listed Hubs with the most traffic first).

Too Many Promotional Links

The following published Hub has too many promotional links. You are allowed up to 2 links per domain, per hub. Hubs with too many promotional links may be unbpublished [sic] at any time.

Links To Prohibited Affiliate or Commerce Sites

The following published Hubs include links to affiliate or commerce sites which are prohibited under the updated HubPages rules. The most common cause of this is the use of the ClickBank affiliate program. Please review these Hubs and remove any violating links; uncorrected Hubs will begin to be unpublished starting in about 2 weeks.

Why I’m Removing Most of My Content from HubPages

Over 70 of the almost 170 hubs I had on HubPages were affected in some way. Instead of “fixing” them to comply with HubPages’ new rules, I started migrating them over to some of my other sites.

Why not just fix them and leave them there?

Because the reason I wrote all of these hubs was to drive traffic to my sites and/or to promote affiliate products – many of which come from Clickbank. So not being able to have links in the hubs does me no good. And, I don’t write to give away free content (at least not unique content).

Many of these hubs are unique content that I wrote specifically for HubPages. Hence, when I remove them from the site, it is once again unique content that I can post to my niche websites (I have several).

There are freelance writers on HubPages who have a few THOUSAND hubs with affiliate links. Can you imagine if you never developed your own website and submitted content just to HubPages — counting on the income from your affiliate links?

This is why many freelancers have seen their income drop to practically nothing overnight.

Why Many Write-for-Pay Sites are Making Changes – And Why It’s a Good Thing for Freelance Writers

In short, it’s Google. Specifically the Google Panda Update.

When the search engine giant made this algorithm change, it sunk the rankings of some sites like stones in water. So, now they’re scrambling to change their guidelines to get back in favor with the Big “G” (ie, see the post SEO Copywriting Tips: 23 Questions Google Says SEO Copywriters Should Keep in Mind When Creating Content for more clarification on what Google is looking for in content nowadays).

While it’s a pain in the butt if you’ve built your freelance writing income model around these sites, it’s a good thing overall for content providers. Following is why.

A lot of the crap content and crap sites will go away. Not all, but a lot. It’s getting harder to rank well (or at all) with crap content, so many of the schemers, scammers and content thieves will disappear. This means those of us who are in this “make money online” thing by creating insightful, unique websites with good content will have an easier time ranking well (not easy, easier) – and making money.

Why Now’s Never Been a Better Time to Give Content Away

The reason I submit content for free to many sites is just for backlinks to my own sites. I call these websites my “backlink builders.” Sites like eHow, et al get great search engine juice – so if one of my articles appear on them, in many cases, it has a better chance of getting found than if it was just on my site.

So I still post to sites like these, but not unique content. I will submit the same article to article directories, and to sites like AssociatedContent.com (my favorite backlink builder site). I very rarely have in the past two years – and will never submit unique content to any site again — unless . . .

Freelance Writers: How to Get Around the Duplicate Content Penalty When You Submit Content to Write-for-Pay Sites

If sites like AssociatedContent.com stop accepting previously published content (and I see this coming down the pike in a few years), then I already have a contingency plan in place.

I will rewrite unique content that appears on my own sites. For example, most of the original content I post to my own sites tends to be long – anywhere from 800-2,500 words or more.

I can easily craft a 400 or 500-word unique article from these longer posts to publish on my backlink builder sites. I do this from time to time already as a matter of fact.

Freelance Writers: How to Use Sites Like eHow to Make Money from Your Own Website(s)

The point I want to make is, if you’re a freelance writer and want to make your living online, stop giving your unique content away for a few pennies. Use sites like eHow, et al to advance YOUR sites. This means taking the long-range view. As in:

Start developing your own products and services to sell from your site: Write ebooks and/or create seminars and workshops. I started doing this a couple of years ago. To date, I’ve written almost 25 ebooks and have developed and teach several e-workshops and e-seminars/classes.

And, I promote all of this via article marketing, ie, submitting free content to sites like AssociatedContent.com, EzineArticles, etc. to get backlinks to my own sites.

Build an authority site: Do this by creating in-depth content that can only be found on your site. Then, monetize it with Google AdSense, or private ads, or by promoting affiliate products, etc.

This is the way to make REAL money online because you never have to worry that if a site changes its policies, your income will be affected. 

One Very Important Thing Every Freelance Writer Should Do Immediately to Start Making Money Online

Collect site visitor information. This means starting a subscriber list. The reason is, your subscribers are your bread and butter.

Think about it, if someone likes your site/content enough to part with their contact information (eg, an email address), then they’re “investing” in you, which makes them more likely to buy from you. And, once someone purchases from you once, they are much more likely to do so again.

I’ll be writing a more in-depth post on why building a subscriber list is so important to making money online soon. FYI, I use AWeber to build my subscriber list. It’s only $1 (yes, one little buck) to get started.

How to Make Money Online as a Freelance Writer Nowadays: Diversify and Start Your Own Blog/Website

And these, my fellow freelance writing friend, are the lessons I take away from the recent happenings at eHow and HubPages. They’re ones I think every freelance writer should heed.

This brings to mind the great Billie Holiday song, “God bless the child (that has his own).” Never have truer words been spoken as it relates to freelancing writers and making money online these days.

Best,
Yuwanda

About Article Marketing: Is It Worth It In Light of the Recent Google Panda Update?

Every since Google made its algorithm change (aka the Google Panda Update) back in February, the web has been abuzz about how it’s making article marketing less relevant, how article marketing is dead, how it’s now a waste of time – and just bad things in general about it.

Following are just a few of the articles I ran across when doing a quick search on the subject:

From WebProNews: The Panda Reaps – Is Article Marketing Still Viable?: Google Change Throws Tactics Into Question

From a Digital/Internet Marketing Firm: Google Panda and the Death of Article Marketing

From an SEO Copywriting Site: Has Google’s Panda Update Killed Online Article Marketing?

And the list goes on and on.

As an aside, many of these articles make very cogent arguments on both sides of the debate – some point out that article marketing can still be effective; while others say it’s completely dead.

About Article Marketing: While I Believe in It – Even More So After Google’s Panda Update

I’ve been an avid article marketer since 2004; I’ve literally written hundreds of articles to promote everything from my ebooks to affiliate products. Just Google my name (Yuwanda Black), you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Just FYI, this site (InkwellEditorial.com) took a hit in the rankings with the recent update. We lost top positions for several keywords we’d ranked well for for years – effortlessly. But even that hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm for article marketing. I attribute the drop in rankings it to a whole bunch of stuff I haven’t done to this site, eg, site navigation.

Article Marketing Is Not Dead: 10 Reasons Google’s Panda Update Made It an Even Better Way to Market Online

And even after the Google Panda Update, I believe in this form of online marketing more than ever. Following are ten reasons that get into a bunch of stuff about article marketing and why I think it’s still an excellent way to market online (and I’m not even going to mention backlinks y’all!).

I. Content Marketing Rocks: Article marketing is nothing more than content marketing. And as we’ve discussed on this site recently, content marketing is where it’s at nowadays. A previous client who owns a leading internet marketing firm that teaches seminars around the country on PPC (and other forms of internet marketing) remarked in the post linked to in this paragraph:

Content marketing is the wave of the future and those who invest in it now will leapfrog over the competition, who’ll be playing catch up for years.

II. Good Content Still Ranks Well Even on “Low Quality Sites” Like Article Directories: There will always, always, always be a need for good content and no matter how it’s distributed, eg, article marketing directories, blogs, social media, etc., if you produce it, you want people to find it, right?

I know I do!

For example, if you type in the keyword phrase “seo writing” (without quotes), you know what the number one organic result is as of this writing? An article written by me in January of 2009 – on EzineArticles.com. And, this is out of almost 92 million results – yes, million!

Not to brag (only to prove a point), but content written by me about “SEO writing” occupies four spots on the first page of Google. It can be found on everything from my site which has all unique content (SeoWritingJobs.com (see result #5 in the graphic below)); to free press release sites like PRLog.com (see result #6 in graphic below), which are rife with lots of so-called, low-quality content.

In short, if it’s good, quality content, it stands a chance of being recognized by the search engines and showing up high in search results – even if it’s part of a “content farm.”

III. About Article Marketing and Garbage Content! It’s getting harder to rank with a blog/website that has spun (ie, via article spinning software), regurgitated, non-useful content. So goodbye to garbage content. Google wants quality.

In fact, Google’s whole algorithmic change was meant to give good content more room to shine at the top. Now, we can fight over what “good, quality content” is all day long.

Michael Martinez, who writes over at SEO-Theory.com (and a few other places) puts forth a pretty in-depth, funny, bit of a sarcastic article on this entitled, Why Your Quality Content Sucks, writing:

The most frequently used expression that I gleaned from reading dozens of these posts [on why some sites lost rank after the Google Panda Update] was without question “quality content” or some variation on it. . . . “Quality content”, like “quality links”, is a nonsense expression. That means it makes no sense. That means it doesn’t mean anything within the context of search engine optimization. Your “quality content” might be HIGH quality content in your eyes and LOW quality content in my eyes. Which of us is right?

With that being said, in my opinion, if your content is useful “in the eyes of enough beholders,” it will still rank well – whether it’s found in an article marketing directory, or on your website.

IV. Distribution Is Just as Important as Writing Good Content: Just like in marketing, distribution counts. You can have the best thing-a-ma-bob around (or article or blog post or video), but if no one knows about it, what good is it? That is, assuming you’re marketing your thing-a-ma-bob to make money.

And most of us write content — and distribute it — to drive traffic, generates leads and make sales. Article marketing rocks when it comes to getting the word out quickly to a lot of places!

V. It’s Cheap and Easy Compared to Other Forms of Marketing: Article marketing remains one of the cheapest, easiest ways to distribute content. It’s FREE after all! Compare that to, for example, pay per click marketing. Once you read more about article marketing and start comparing it to other forms of online marketing, you’ll quickly realize how cost effective it can be.

VI. The Returns are Long Lasting: Articles I wrote years ago still pop up high in search results. Proof?

From 2002-2004, I had an online store that sold ethnic décor – eg, soft home furnishings like mudcloth pillows, ethnic candles, woven African baskets, etc. With no money to market, I used article marketing to get the word out about it.

As of this writing, if you type in the keyword phrase “ethnic décor” (without quotes), an article I wrote in 2003 still pops up in search results on the first page of Google (positions #4 and #8) out of over 6 million results. Sure it’s a small niche, so it’s easier to rank well for. But that’s the whole point of online marketing, to dominate your niche, right?

I closed this business in 2004 and this article STILL ranks well – some eight years later!

And that’s the beauty of (SEO) article marketing; if it’s good content it can drive traffic for years to come. Years! Can’t beat that for ROI.

VII. Dominate Your Niche: The more you learn about article marketing, the more you’ll see how niche marketing with it can really make you stand out. And depending on your niche, it can be pretty easy to dominate it with this form of marketing. BUT, I want to repeat — it depends heavily on what your niche is.

In case you don’t know, marketing on the web is all about nicheing (if you don’t at least know this, then article marketing ain’t gonna help you).

About Article Marketing’s Power: Case Study — How One Small Business Owner Dominated Her Niche Pretty Quickly

To demonstrate niche success with article marketing, let me tell you a little story.

In 2008, my sister wrote an ebook on foreclosure cleaning. She ran a very successful foreclosure cleanup business in Atlanta at the time (now she just consults about it) and people kept emailing her tons of questions that she just didn’t have time to respond to in-depth.

I kept saying, write an ebook on foreclosure cleaning. She kept saying she didn’t have time. Finally, after about six months of pestering her, she wrote it. I signed on as an affiliate to help her market it. And of course, I used article marketing (in fact, I got her into it too!)

Now, if you type in keywords like foreclosure clean up; foreclosure cleaning; cleaning foreclosures; etc., you’re going to find something written by one of us (sometimes both) — on the first page of Google. Proof?

In this graphic, the first result is an article written by me, the second result is my sister’s website and the fourth result is an article that mentions her company in USA Today.

How did a national newspaper find out about her? By doing research on the web. Now, I don’t know if they found her via an article in an article directory or via her website directly. But I bet you this:  they read more than one piece on her company and some of them were articles written by us that appeared came from article directories.

Get National Attention with SEO Article Marketing

So, article marketing paid off here big time!

This happened to me when I had my ethnic home décor store online as well. I did radio interviews and appeared in quite a few regional newspapers – because people found me online via articles I’d written and submitted to article directories and other “content farm” places like free press release sites.

VIII. It Builds Authority: The more content you put out, the more people run across content written by you, the more they come to view you as an expert – an authority in your niche.

My name pops up so much in freelance/SEO writing circles because I’ve published so much content on the subject. Now while I don’t consider myself any type of SEO guru, plenty of subscribers to my newsletters think of me that way (they tell me so).

So I’ve built my “street cred” in this niche. Hence, if someone wants to order content from my SEO writing company, or purchase one of my SEO writing ebooks or sign up for my SEO copywriting training class, they’ve more than likely already been pre-sold by the enormous amount of articles I’ve written (and distributed) on the subject.

And to think, my foray into article marketing all started because I had no money and wanted to market my new little business (Ethnic Home Decor) online. I learned about article marketing — and haven’t looked back since.

Note: Learn more about article marketing in this tutorial.

IX. More Users Conduct Online Research before Purchasing: Finally, the Google Panda Update means greater returns from SEO article marketing than ever before because more and more users are coming online everyday to search for – and buy — stuff. And shoppers are more savvy. They conduct online research before making a purchase — even if the purchase is at a brick-and-mortar location. Proof?

Ninety-four percent of online shoppers conduct research prior to making a purchase and 61% of online shoppers always or often use search engines, according to the Compete Online Shopper Intelligence Study. [Source: MarketingCharts.com]

In my opinion, one of the best ways to get found online is to still write and widely distribute quality content. And one of the best ways to do this is still SEO article marketing.

X. But, Stats PROVE that Article Marketing Is Not as Effective as It Once Was: Not for nothing, but I took statistics in college (and hated every second of it), but one thing I learned is that you can make statistics say what the hell you want. Really! Just ask any politician — they twist stats so much that you can’t believe any number that comes out of their mouths.

Now, this is not to say that article directories didn’t get banged up pretty badly by the big Panda. The article marketing stats afterwards scared the bejeezus out of some.

But it made me think, “Wow, what a great opportunity! Many are now going to stop marketing with articles. Yoohooooo!” A lot of these quitters weren’t churning out great content anyway. After all, you have to KNOW your content (your niche) to write quality (ie, useful) content.

You can’t be a fly-by-night operator who just wants to throw together a few, generic 250-word articles (or tons of them if you’re paying a $1/per article writer) and make money.

Now, the REAL business owners can shine; the ones who know their niche, put out useful content and are in it for the long haul. Dare we dream that our content will get rewarded?

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for folks like us. Yes!

SEO Article Marketing: The #1 Reason I Will Continue to Invest in It

I will continue to invest in article marketing. I will continue to advise my clients to invest in article marketing. And I will continue to tout the benefits of article marketing to my subscribers.

And the main reason is this – I don’t spend money online to make money. Or, very little. Ninety percent (90%) of my online marketing is article marketing (or now as its becoming known by its more newfangled name – ”content marketing”).

Because, for me, it works.

Why the Google Panda Update Means More Work for Freelance Writers: How I Sold the Benefits of Article Marketing to a Client

Yesterday, I had a phone consultation with a new client. And, I was explaining the benefits of article marketing to him (as it’s laid out on my SEO writing company site). I STILL believe this. I told him to do more research on his own so he’d have a grasp of both sides of the argument. But, he said:

What you said makes sense; we want to start with some foundational content and some “easy, breezy” content on an ongoing (weekly) basis.

And, he placed (and paid for) his first article order just a few hours later.

Note: Don’t sell what you don’t believe in. If I didn’t believe in article marketing, I wouldn’t continue to use it for my own ventures and of course, I’d never sell the service to clients. The ONLY reason I offer this service to clients is because I believe wholeheartedly in it.
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BEWARE — Article Marketing Scams: I Don’t Endorse Products Like Article Spinning Software

In spite of what you may run across on the web, I have NOT endorsed any products like article spinning software, article submission software, autoblogging software, etc.

Because I am an avid article marketer and have written extensively on the subject (and authored an article marketing ebook), I’ve run across “Testimonials” I’ve purportedly given for some of these types of products. It’s not me and if you see my name attached to it, it’s a scam so don’t purchase it. 

About Article Marketing: Is It for You?

I hope I’ve given you enough information about article marketing to help you make an informed decision about whether it’s something that can work for you — whether you’re a freelance writer who wants to sell this service to clients; or an affiliate marketer looking to make money (when you have no marketing budget); or just an internet marketer wondering if it’s still worth your time.

Sincerely,
Yuwanda

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The goal of the tournament was to write an ebook in three days, market it and start getting sales within a week. Thirty-two (32) enrollees participated – and 9 of them finished their ebooks in this time period. A couple even finished writing two! Four got sales; three sold multiple copies (one sold 12 copies in 12 hours). See full results of this ebook publishing tourney.

Unsolicited Ebook Writing Class Testimonial

The ebook I wrote for the tourney is still selling well. Thanks to your tournament I’ve hit the jackpot. Funny how it turns out isn’t it? I can spend weeks working on a book and it sells ok, and then I rush to do one in 3 days and it’s turning out to be one of my best selling ebooks (if it keeps going) and apart from when I was actually doing the tourney and trying to get a sale quickly, I haven’t marketed it at all.~Tourney Participant #32

Get full ebook writing class details.

On Day 1, you will receive a welcome email along with course lessons and instructions for the duration of the bootcamp.

There’s nothing else you need to do now, except get your fingers ready to bang out 30 articles in four days — and start relishing the ebook sales to follow!

These will be long days, but they should pay off handsomely in ebook sales.

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Article Marketing Expert
InkwellEditorial.com

Now, today’s post.

Content Marketing: It’s Prime Time for SEO / Web Content Writers

The other day, I had a phone conference with a pay per click firm my SEO writing company produces content for. The actual “work talk” lasted about half an hour; our discussion on content marketing and why it’s what many companies are finding that they need to invest in lasted about an hour and a half.

Just goes to show, when you get like minds on a subject they enjoy, it can last for hours.

My Client: Why What She Thinks about Web Content Marketing Is Important for You

This client actually owns the PPC marketing and training firm we write for. She’s been in internet marketing – specifically search marketing – since its inception and has worked for some of the leading advertisers (eg, eBay, Amazon) and leading search engines (eg, Yahoo!).

The only reason I point this out is because she’s helped to steer the internet marketing arena to where it is today. And what she said about web content marketing blew me away. Her sentiment is:

Content marketing is the wave of the future and those who invest in it now will leapfrog over the competition, who’ll be playing catch up for years.

This is exactly what I believe, so we were of the same mind.

Why Article Marketing Is So Effective

It’s why I’ve poured so much of my time and resources into article marketing over the years. Of course, I didn’t even know what “content marketing” was when I first started promoting my own products and services online. But, that’s exactly what article marketing amounts to – it’s an online marketing plan for “marketing content” to drive webtraffic and sales.

Note: Reference section below, The Power of Content Marketing on Organic Search: A #1 Google Ranking (Out of 15,900,000 Results), to see exactly what I mean. 

For those who many not be familiar with it, let’s officially define content marketing.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases. Content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty. [Source: Wikipedia.com]

Why Content Marketing Works?

My take on why this form of online marketing works is this – we live in a very commercialized world. Content marketing helps consumers cut through the crap and find trusted, reliable retailers quicker. For those who invest in it, it’ll develop trust, create loyalty, strengthen your brand and increase sales – for years to come.

It also makes the competition practically irrelevant because once a customer gets to know, like and trust you, they’ll even spend more to do business with you rather than invest in an unknown. This is particularly true in today’s crowded marketplace. Following is why.

Marketing Is Out Of Control!

Consider this: In the 1970’s the average American consumer was exposed to 500 marketing messages a day. Today that number is 3,500. Yes, the average American consumer is assaulted with 3,500 marketing messages a day. That’s one every 24 seconds (emphasis added), or 1.25 million marketing messages a year. [Source: SummitSmallBusiness.com].

FYI, this linked-to article provides great insight into why “advertising” is no longer enough, and why “targeting” (which is what content marketing does) is so much more effective.

And when you think about all the ways we can be contacted now, it’s no wonder! I mean, the old mediums still exist (eg, radio, TV, Newspapers, Magazines). Then, there’s new media (ie, cell phones, iPhones, email, social media, blackberries, etc.).

With just the old media alone, as a consumer we were bombarded with messages. Now, with new media added into the mix, you practically can’t get out of bed before being hit with an advertisement.

For example, on my Twitter account, I have over 2,100 subscribers. If each one of them sent just one marketing email a day, that ALONE is 2,100 marketing messages I’ve already received. And that’s before I turn on my TV, my cell phone, or check my email.

Jumping jeeping willikers! Ready to run for cover yet?!

How in the world can marketers get their messages through?

This is where content marketing can really set a business apart from the competition. In fact, my client – who has been successful for years doing a mix of old and new media – is changing the whole direction of her firm to focus almost exclusively on content marketing.

Now, this is a multi-million dollar company. And she so believes in this that she’s putting almost all of her eggs in this basket. Is it a good idea? I think so. Read on for why.

Web Content Marketing: Why It’s a “Can’t Lose” Way to Market

When consumers go online, they’re looking for a solution to a problem. They use search engines like Google to find INFORMATION to help them solve their problem.

Now imagine you have a problem. You go online to look for answers, and you land on two sites:

Site A: It gives you tons of helpful info about every conceivable part of the product/service you’re searching for. It offers helpful suggestions; tells you what to do; what not to do – and why; offers alternatives as to why “x” works and “y” doesn’t; etc.

OR

Site B: This site just has the bare minimum, ie, the product/service you’re interested in, maybe a description and a price — but nothing more. There’s no content to explain how it can help you do “x”; why you might want to try “y”; the benefits of doing “z.”

Which site would you be more likely to buy from? Site A, right (assuming things like price are in the same ball park)? In fact, you’d probably pay a little more to do business with Site A because the perceived value is so much higher, right?

This is one value of content marketing. And in my opinion, it’s not even the best part.

The Best Part of Content Marketing & Why It Signals Lots of Work for Freelance Writers

The biggest advantage of content marketing is that it drives traffic – for years. This is unlike a traditional ad on TV or in a magazine, for example, that disappears after its run is over (or after the consumer trashes it).

When a retailer invests in content – specifically search engine optimized content — if a prospect goes online three or five or seven years from now, that content will still pop up in search engines. This brings in qualified leads, and eventually sales.  

I have experienced this first hand. Articles I wrote back in 2005 when I first started using article marketing regularly to promote my ebooks still come up in searches. In addition to submitting to a few top article directories by hand, I also use Content Crooner, an article marketing submission service.

As I say on my SEO writing company site (http://newmediawords.biz/), it’s like “putting your article marketing on steroids. An auto-submission process, it distributes your article to hundreds of free article directories, editors, publishers and newsletters — with just one click.”

My client said to me that because she sees where it’s headed, she’s gearing up to not only steer her company in this direction, but to help her clients do it as well.

And this means one thing for freelance (SEO) writers – lots of work. You see, content has to be produced constantly to stay on top of search engines. This means a constant supply of blog posts, web articles, white papers, case studies, press releases, social media account management, videos, etc.  

New media is not like old media where you place an ad and let it run forever and still count on sales. Content nowadays has to constantly be added, changed, updated, repurposed, etc. And again, all of this means work for freelance writers.

Just like putting out this newsletter every week, I have to respond to market forces (ie, your questions) to help you achieve your goals. You keep coming back (hopefully) because I do this. This keeps you interested, informed and involved.

And this is what companies have to do now, says my client. Her exact words were:

People don’t want to be sold to anymore like we used to do in the old days. They want information to help them make informed decisions.

Content Marketing: One Thing That Makes It More Effective

And, this information has to be current, relevant and in depth (no thinly disguised sales pieces)  to the prospects’ end goal – which is to solve their problem — and if you’ll remember, is why they logged on in the first place.

Web Writing: Longer Blog Posts; Longer Web Articles?

One other thing this client said to me is that she’s finding that content needs to be longer. For example, we produce one blog post (250-300 words) and one SEO article (350-500 words) a week for her. But she said she’d noticed that another firm that writes for them — at the same rate we charge – produces longer pieces (up to 1,000 words) that get retweeted more and receives more comments.

Gulp!

As an aside, I told her we couldn’t match this other firm’s rates, so we’ll see if this company remains a client. I hope so, but sometimes you lose.

Is Now a Good Time to Start an SEO Writing Career?

I wrote this post for two reasons: (i) to relay “from the horse’s mouth” insight; and (ii) for all those who’ve written me asking, ‘Is now a good time to get into SEO; is the SEO writing market too crowded; what is the future of SEO writing; etc.’”

I can say with absolute certainty – SEO content writing is a growing field. And it will be for years to come.

Most companies, I’d venture to say as many as 95%– haven’t even BEGUN to invest in SEO content and content marketing. And I’m not exaggerating. Most business online these days either don’t know what content marketing is; or if they do, they don’t see the big picture yet and why it’s important to their future success.

I invariably tell prospects to think about content marketing this way:

If you’re not investing in it now and your competition is, where do you think your business will be in relation to theirs in three, five or seven years?

Sometimes a light bulb goes off and they’ll invest in it and/or start asking more questions.

The Power of Content Marketing on Organic Search: A #1 Google Ranking (Out of 15,900,000 Results)

They’ll need a big, expensive shovel to compete because while it’s easy to throw money into online marketing, those organic search results level the playing field, as the content in this hub highlights.

For prospects who do “get it”, they’ll keep you (freelance writers) busier than an ant at a summer church picnic social. You think SEO writers are busy now – wait until five years from now. This, too, I see in my business every day – the queries, the questions, the stops and starts (ie, request a proposal, haven’t heard back).

BUT, you have to be proactive to get the business. This means learning the trade (ie, getting SEO Copywriting Training), and marketing for SEO writing work.

I hope I’ve enlightened you, whether you’re a freelance writer looking for work, a wannabe SEO writer wondering if the field is too crowded, or a small business wondering how in the heck to compete in an increasingly crowded online world.

FREE Ebook Writing Tournament Coming October 12th: Write Your First Ebook in 3 Days!

Reserve your space. Subscribe to get full details (simply enter email address in sign-up box on top right-hand side of page).

Best,
Yuwanda

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P.P.S.: Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells and try your hand at affiliate marketing with a proven product?

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Copyright © 2010: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without my written consent (linking to is fine).

On average, I write between 3,000 and 5,000 words a day – at a minimum. Some days I turn out 10,000 to 12,000 words. This is between client projects and my projects.  That’s a lot of material.

Usually, once a freelance writer/web publisher publishes a piece of content, that’s it – they’re done with it. But as I do with my Throwback Thursdays posts, you can repurpose, and/or recycle if you will, content and get much more web traffic out of it – leading to increased traffic and increased sales.

One blog post or article can literally bring you double, triple, or quadruple the traffic you’d get if you just posted it to your website and forgot about it. To explain how I do it with one of my minisites to increase traffic and sales, I’ll walk you through, step by step.

How I Repurpose Content to Increase Website Traffic and Sales

Yesterday, I updated ForeclosureBusinessNews.com. The post was on Florida foreclosure law. As you’ll note, the post is long – over 1,100 words. And it’s meant to be, because it’s foundational content.

You must be a subscriber to read the rest of this post. Don’t worry, it’s free!

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Week in and week out here, you get first-hand “freelance writing stories from the trenches.” I routinely relay my freelance writing experiences — everything from setting rates, to how to market, to knowing when to say no to a project. Also, I answer questions – in great detail (no fluff here!) — from other freelancers writers (new and experienced).

Recent posts you may have missed by not being a subscriber include:

Why I Turned Down a $2,000 – $3,000 Freelance Writing Job That Could Have Led to Even More Work and

How to Land More Clients by Making Your SEO Writing Stand Out from Others.

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SEO Copywriting Training — Class is Now OVER Half Full. The next SEO writing ecourse starts this coming Monday, the 26^th.  There are still 7 slots left, so even though the deadline to pay was yesterday, you can still sign up by paying the full price of the course before Monday.

What You’ll Learn in the SEO Writing Ecourse: 4 ways to make money online using your newly acquired SEO writing skills. Get full details on the SEO copywriting training this ecourse offers.

Here’s to a productive rest of the week!

Yuwanda
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