Why ARTICLES Should
Be EVERYONE'S #1 Marketing Tool
by Michael Green
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Businesses are now spending millions of dollars every month
buying PayPerClick advertising on the Web.
Of course, it hasn't always been that way. Back in the 90's
the hot form of Net marketing was to splash a lot of cash
on buying banner ads.
Then, all of a sudden, marketers noticed that banners
produced a really appalling click-thru' rate, and they
simply weren't bringing home the bacon.
At least by comparison PayPerClick advertising actually
works. But the minimum click charges are on the increase.
So what are the alternatives if you don't have a ton of
cash to spend on promotion?
WRITING ARTICLES GETS YOU PROMOTION THAT MONEY CAN'T BUY!
With click-thru' rates for banner ads so disappointingly
low and PayPerClick getting ever more expensive, writing
and submitting articles to Ezines is the answer.
Here's why...
ARTICLES ARE ^HIGH^ ON CREDIBILITY
A well written article providing valuable information will
always place you (the author) in a position of expertise
with the readership.
ARTICLES DON'T COST YOU MONEY
Ezine Editors are always under pressure to fill their
publications with high quality material and it's unlikely
that they'll have the time to author it all themselves.
You can therefore help fill that void by offering up your
own - well written - articles for consideration.
THE RESOURCE BOX
The key to promotion via articles is to include a well-
written *punchy* resource box at the bottom of your piece.
It should always be written in the third-person and provide
a 4 or 5 line background and contact information on the
author. See the example at the foot of this article.
So submitting articles for publication is a great idea,
but what guidelines should budding authors always follow?
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4 TIPS FOR CREATING AND SUBMITTING YOUR OWN ARTICLES
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1. KEEP IT SHORT AND PUNCHY
Long rambling articles don't go down well with Ezine
Editors. So restrict yourself to 500 - 700 words.
2. USE BULLET POINTS OR NUMBERING
Many Ezines are still produced in plain text and unless
you punctuate what you write, you'll lose your readers.
Short sentences and bullet points are an essential
ingredient for easy reading.
3. SEND YOUR ARTICLE TO AN UP-TO-DATE LIST OF EDITORS
There's no point in writing articles if you don't have
anywhere to send them afterwards. If your article is about
business or internet marketing then consider picking
up my http://www.ezine-editors-list.com toolkit for an
always up-to-date list of Ezine Editors. If your article
is on another subject then check out the Directory of
Ezines at http://www.howtocorp.com/directoryofezines
4. ARTICLES ARE *NOT* ADVERTS
Avoid writing an article that simply sings the praises of
your own product, but fails to provide useful "stand-alone"
information to the reader. Of course you'll benefit from
having written it, but if you actually set out to over-
promote yourself or product, then your article will most
likely not even get published in the first place!
IF ARTICLE WRITING IS SUCH A GREAT FORM OF MARKETING, THEN WHY AREN'T
MORE PEOPLE WRITING THEM?
Two reasons...
FIRST, some people fear that their articles won't be good
enough to publish. My advice is to write your article, then
ask your friends, colleagues or family to check it over
before you send it out.
SECOND, it's always going to be easier to buy a few
PayPerClick search terms and then sit back and relax.
Naturally writing an article will actually take an hour or
two of your time and will require some thought and effort
from you.
But don't be put off as the returns from having your
article published in a number of high readership ezines will
be tremendous.
So why not put fingers to keyboard and create your first
article today? Your readership awaits...
To your online success!
Michael Green
Founder: http://www.howtocorp.com
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The author, Michael Green, has built his well known 'How To'
internet marketing business, by writing popular ezine
articles for publication. He has recently made his own
private list of Ezine Editors available and you can grab
your copy of this list at: http://www.ezine-editors-list.com
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