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I have reviewed thousands of articles written by marketers hoping to promote
their websites, products, affiliate programs, and e-books. While most of the
articles are useful, all too many are not worth the paper they're printed on
(and that's saying a lot in the electronic age!) Are you making the same
mistakes?
In this article you will discover the simple, common sense techniques that will
get your article accepted by article banks, approved by newsletter editors, and
published in some of the largest ezines online.
I'll show you how to increase your "article-submitted-to-published" conversion
ratio and draw readers over to your site by improving your
"newsletter-reader-to-qualified-visitor" ratio.
~Offer Valuable Content~
This, of course, is paramount to your success, so it's first on the list. Share
your knowledge of the topic, and don't be stingy about it. If you include tips,
tricks, and helpful information, you'll get more editors to publish your
article. They need content to keep their existing subscribers loyal, attract new
subscribers, and earn them some money.
What content do they want? Readers want to read about topics of interest, and
learn from your experience and insight. Tell a story, explain how things work,
offer examples because that's the way people learn. Once you give them some
interesting information, they'll visit your website to learn more from you.
Because they already trust you, they'll visit your site pre-qualified and open
to an offer. This is the best kind of web visitor.
Valuable content will improve your "newsletter-reader-to-qualified-visitor"
conversion ratio.
~Don't Sell~
If you submit a sales letter, there isn't a newsletter editor on the planet who
will publish it. After all, they have a newsletter that reaches thousands, maybe
tens of thousands, of targeted, double opt-in subscribers. If you want them to
publish your blatant advertising, you'll have to buy an ad.
Think about the article banks. Why would such article repositories as
www.eBusiness-Articles.com or www.Healthy-Articles.com want to clutter up their
directories with advertising sales letters? They want original, valuable
content, because they serve newsletter editors and publishers. If the content
doesn't draw the interest of their audience (editors) the repositories don't
want it.
Sales letters will hurt (maybe eliminate) your "article-submitted-to-published"
conversion ratio.
~Use Product Placement~
I know, I know, the only reason you're writing articles is to increase your
sales, and I just told you not to sell. Don't fret - there's a way to
successfully sell your company within your article without submitting a blatant
sales letter.
Hollywood producers incorporate products into their movies. Would you pay to see
a movie about the features and benefits of Coca-Cola? Probably not. Would you
watch a movie with Tom Cruise chasing bad guys? A lot of people will.
No one complains when he drinks a Coke while contemplating his next move. No one
minds when screeches past a Coca Cola truck during the high-speed chase. And at
the end, when gets the girl while standing in front of a Coca-Cola display, does
that bother you? No, of course not, because none of those things took away from
the plot of the movie. The story was interesting. Coca Cola spends millions on
product placement every year, because they've learned that when movie goers
enjoy the movie, Coke sales go up.
Do the same in your article. Use your business as the basis for a story you
tell. Use your product as an example. Use one of your customers as a case study
explaining your point. One of the authors at ArticleMarketer.com took this
advice and wrote an article to submit through our service. When publishers read
his article they …
See what I just did there? Now you're just a little disappointed that I didn't
finish the story, aren't you? Do that in your article. Engage your readers,
involve them in the story, make them want more.
Product placement will improve your "newsletter-reader-to-qualified-visitor"
conversion ratio.
~Formatting Matters~
You must follow the rules and guidelines listed by each newsletter, article site
and publisher on your list. The formatting of your article can have a tremendous
impact on whether or not it gets published. Each publisher has different
requirements, so read the guidelines and submit accordingly.
At Article Marketer, we submit articles to a wide variety of article
repositories, newsletter editors and email distribution groups for authors
around the world. We've made hundreds of thousands of successful article
submissions, but before we could launch our service, we had to evaluate the
submission criteria of each publisher, repository and article site on our long
distribution list. Here's some of what we found:
Most sites don't want HTML. Others allow an anchor tag, but no formatting tags.
Some publishers want articles with 60 character lines, with a hard break at the
end of each line. Others will reject an article with 60 character lines,
preferring automatic word wrap. Others want 65 character lines. One wants an 80
character line.
Some don't want your copyright and personal information at the top of the
article. They also don't want you to repeat the article title or your byline in
the article body. Others require it there.
Keep in mind that the first few lines of an article (following the headline) are
key to capturing a reader's attention. Depending on the submission site, they'll
format your article with copyright and reprint rights, without squandering the
"prime real estate" on copyright, reprint rules, and other stuff. If a reader
doesn't get pulled into your article, your resource box can't deliver traffic to
you. Then what's the point?
Following the submission guidelines will increase your
"article-submitted-to-published" conversion ratio.
~A Powerful Call to Action~
Every article should end with a distinct and powerful call to action. I've seen
authors who try to cram every site they know into their resource box. This is a
waste of time, and it confuses the reader.
Imagine if you're reading an article about how to whiten your teeth. The article
is well written and you start thinking to yourself "Hey, this author knows his
stuff!". When you get to the end and you see a link to whiter teeth dot com,
you'll probably visit. However, if the whiter teeth link is stacked on top of
clean fuel dot com and marketing stuff dot com, a confused reader will not click
at all. Talk directly to your qualified audience about your topic and send them
to a specific site, then watch as your sales go up.
Focusing your call to action will improve your
"newsletter-reader-to-qualified-visitor" conversion ratio.
~It's An Article, Not a Letter~
Many authors make the mistake of thinking of their article as a personal missive
to the reader. A personal voice is terrific, just remember that you're writing
an article, not a letter to a friend. Articles in Time Magazine never end with:
Sincerely,
Susie Jones
While it is true that some authors will sign off with a trademark tagline, that
tagline is incorporated into their article, and it's never followed by a
signature. Besides that, a signature isn't a powerful way to close your article.
Use a powerful call to action.
Avoiding the look of a personal letter will increase your
"article-submitted-to-published" ratio.
~Don't Change the Title and Resubmit~
If there's one thing that an editor hates more than anything, it's to get the
same article multiple times. I know that there are people telling you to
resubmit your articles with new titles, because the headline is important. While
I don't deny the importance of a good headline, just putting a new headline on
an old article is a really bad idea.
Christopher Knight at http://www.ezinearticles.com tells me that the surest way
for an author to get penalized is to submit the same article multiple times with
different titles.
If you want to try different titles, also rework the article. There's no reason
you can't write several articles on the same topic. Just make each unique. The
more articles you write in your subject area, the more you are seen as an expert
in that area.
Writing multiple unique articles in a given subject will improve both your
"article-submitted-to-published" and your
"newsletter-reader-to-qualified-visitor" ratios.
~Use Pre-Written Articles to Your Advantage~
There are many places that will give you articles to publish as your own. While
publishing this content on your own website is perfectly fine, submitting it to
editors and publishers all around the net is a waste of time.
Think of it like the hoaxes that are passed around the net. How many times did
you get the one about Bill Gates paying a nickel for each email? How long after
that did you tire of receiving it? And how long after that did you start getting
really annoyed at receiving it? Editors get a lot of articles – and they've seen
the free reprint articles more than they'd care to remember.
If you want to submit these articles to editors, you can, but you need to know a
trick. Use them as a foundation for your own work. Add your own personal spin to
each one. Change it around, add your own personal flair, make it your own.
Incorporate your insight and your expertise. Then it will truly be your article.
Making the article your own will improve your "article-submitted-to-published"
ratio.
~Use a Spell Checker~
If I had a nickle for every time a authr maked a grimmatical or speeling error,
I could retire. Every word processor has a spell checker (mine just went crazy
after that last sentence!) and if English isn't your primary language, have it
reviewed by a native English speaker. You're trying to establish credibility,
and using "your" instead of "you're" or "there" instead of "they're" blows your
whole image.
Using a spell checker and having someone proofread your work will improve your
"article-submitted-to-published" ratio.
~Address the Promise of the Title~
If your title is, "How to Bake Cookies" then a reader had better have the basics
down at the end of your article. No, you don't have to turn her into the next
Mrs. Fields, (after all, it's just an article, not a graduate study program) but
a reader should be able to finish your article with a decent approach to the
baking of a cookie. She'll know about cooking times and required utensils and
where to find recipes, or whatever else goes into the basics of cookie baking.
You're the expert, give her what she needs based on your title.
~Conclusion~
Every article should end with a strong conclusion, one that leads to your
resource box. Your article is being reviewed by real people, who have real
standards for publishing. If you follow the tips in this article, you'll get
better results from your article marketing campaign, you will get your article
approved at most article sites and find it published in the larger ezines.
About the Author
Article Marketer (http://www.ArticleMarketer.com) makes article marketing
campaigns easier to execute, more cost effective for small business owners, and
gives articles a much wider distribution. Submit your articles today, get
massive distribution.
www.articlemarketer.com
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