Article Marketing – My Number One Tip
October 1st, 2008Whether you think of yourself as a writer or not, if you are working online from home then you should know how to make money with article marketing. The basics are pretty simple: write an article related to your subject, include a link to your website, submit the article to directories.
But there are a few basic things that you must do if you want to actually bring in the dollars with your article. If you do not think about these points before you start, you could be wasting all of your precious time. And time is money, right?
The first thing to consider is why you are writing your article – from two very different points of view. Firstly, what is the article’s main point for the reader? And secondly, how is it going to make you money?
Sure, from your point of view, your main reason for writing an article is to be making money online. But your readers don’t want an article that is written too obviously from that point of view. It is usually best to keep that motivation of yours so well hidden that it is almost invisible.
Instead, remember that you are writing the article to inform the reader. Yes, let’s say it again – to give useful information to the reader.
If you are selling information, you probably don’t want to give away too much. But it’s easy to pick out one point, perhaps something that you didn’t cover in your ebook, or something that is quite well known. It needs to give real value to the reader, so it should be both interesting and helpful in solving their problem or whatever need or wish they have that led them to read your article.
Keep in mind that there are some article writers submitting to directories who have no money-making motive at all. They simply want to put across their point of view. This applies particularly to people writing about subjects they strongly believe in, such as religion or politics. So imagine how you would write your article if you had nothing to sell. Then simply add a link to your site at the end.
Do not make the mistake of trying to put too much information into your article. Three points is plenty – and often, one is enough, if you develop it well. Over-stuffing your article with information confuses the reader. Instead, you should aim to leave them happy with the information that you gave, but wanting more.
At the same time, keep your own money-making reason for writing the article in the back of your mind. This is usually either branding (building trust in your name), sales (sending readers directly to a sales page) or lead generation (sending readers to a squeeze page where you can offer them more information). As a general rule, where your article is very closely related to the product you are selling, you can link straight to a sales page; less closely related, link to a squeeze page; and only broadly related, link to something like a blog that promotes you as an authority.
So before submitting your article to directories, consider its purpose from both the reader’s point of view and from the marketing perspective. Will the reader get what he or she wanted, but still be left wanting more? And where are you sending them – would a squeeze page be more effective than a sales letter this time?
Some of us make thousands from article marketing – but not you? You are probably making some very simple errors. Before you submit another article, check out Rosie Cottis’s free ebook, 5 Fatal Bum Marketing Mistakes. I’ll bet you’re making some of them!
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