Monday, August 07, 2006

ArticleBlaster What's In An Article?


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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Geoff Hill

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Article Title: What's In An Article?
Author: Geoff Hill
Word Count: 1347
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=74041&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Author's Email Address: g.j.hill[at]bigpond.net.au (replace
[at] with @)

Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=74041

================== ARTICLE START ==================
There's heaps of profit potential in an article, simple as
that! Article writing has become an increasingly popular method
of promotion with affiliate marketers. Good articles can be
picked up by web masters, blogs and ezines and published all
over the web.

Articles give your website backlinks that can last forever and
help increase your site's ranking. The beauty of articles is
that you can get free quality links you otherwise wouldn't get
and you also become known as an expert in your field.You become
trusted and people are likely to visit your site and purchase
your products.

For those starting out in article writing the cost
effectiveness and the possibility of quality links make it
especially appealing. Compare this with most other forms of
advertising such as pay per click, ezine advertising, search
engine optimization which can be expensive and /or requires
expertise.

Article writing may seem a daunting prospect; actually it's not
difficult. If you think about it, there must be some aspect of
affiliate marketing you could write about, even if it's titled
"How I Survived Day One in Marketing " I find the best articles
stem from your own experience. Once you get into affiliate
marketing the hot topics will become apparent, you can pick a
topic that appeals, research it, write it and publish it.
Bingo! You're an author.

The way to tackle your article would be to outline a structure:
Firstly decide your topic, take for example this piece on "how
to write an article." I've got my topic, good, everything will
flow from that. Next would come an introduction as I've done
above.Then list several points to be developed; as I'm doing
now, for instance how to outline an article, where to get
subject matter as I've done below; then I would suggest how to
submit an article and where to submit the article.I would then
round the whole thing off with a nice conclusion.

Once you have the outline for your article it's easy to stay
focused and methodical.My average article length is about
500-600 words however any length from 400 to 1200 words is
generally acceptable.Use this as a guide only for sometimes the
words flow, sometimes they don't. A good article is a good
article.

If you are newbie there's probably only so many topics you may
feel competent in writing about.To pursue new topics for
articles try going to Google Groups,perhaps Idea Marketers or
Ezine Articles, blogs, newsletters and forums to see what
questions people are asking and the answers being offered.Find
a topic that interests you,and is related to your website,do
your research then outline and develop your article as I
suggested above.All the information needed is out there waiting
for you to shape into your very own article.

Another way of obtaining articles is by paying someone to write
an article for you.For a few dollars someone will ghost write an
original article for you on any subject ready to publish with
keywords sprinkled throughout, you just add your bi-line. I've
tried using pay by the month article suppliers but I prefer to
run with my own ideas and research.That's a personal choice and
not a criticism.

Your title should be eye catching and in a format that is
appealing to potential publishers so that it's an easy decision
for them to pick up on your article.

To help attract web masters and ezine publishers your article
should have your keyword phrase in your title and scattered
throughout your article; don't overdo it and end up watering
down the quality of your article.Between 3% to 5% is good
although not always achievable.

Some publishers want submissions formatted as a text document
with 60-65 characters per line although this is not a hard and
fast rule. What I do is weed out difficult submissions so that
I basically need only two copies of my article in wordpad,one
of them formatted, and I'm off and running.

Don't oversell yourself in the body of the article,many
publishers do not allow live links in the body of the article
and if they do it's limited to the enhancement of the
article.Remember people are supposed to be reading something of
interest not a self promotional speel.Most of the quality
directories review articles before publication to ensure their
clients are offered something of value.

Keep paragraphs short and sharp and to the point although I
tend to wander a bit; I put this down to a natural narrative
style. I'm told this turns surfers off, lucky for them I never
include a photo!

Most directories require a summary of about 2 to 3
sentences.This, together with your title is often what readers
see first,so it's important both title and summary make
compelling reading.

The very very very important part of the article is the
resource or bio box which goes either directly under the body
of your article or in a special box provided by the directory
you're submitting to. Here you place a brief description of
yourself,your website and clickable links.This is where the
traffic comes from when you place a backlink to your web site
or sales page.Readers who enjoyed your article can find out
more by clicking on the link you choose to offer them. You get
the money here!

Now that our article is completed it's time for submission.

There are 100's and 100's of article directories to submit your
article. The same goes for ezines.I only submit to article
directories and let the ezines pick up their content from the
directories (hopefully me)There are various article submission
software options available at various price levels depending on
each applications' sophistication.Their set up can be time
consuming but once completed makes submission to hundreds of
sites very fast.

Having said that I prefer to submit articles manually which I
know I just said is a time consuming job nevertheless,I have
found that some directories ban automated submissions,the
criteria for submission does vary,some have security codes to
be completed,some don't accept html either in the article body
or bio box, others simply have funny little rules. I submit to
about 40 directories' most with a Google page rank of 3 or
better with easy submission criteria.I set up my articles in
wordpad formatted at 65 characters per line with a suitable bio
box and 2-3 line summary of my article. Some require keywords so
I have a list at the ready.I then just copy and paste as
required for each directory with minimal adjustment required.

To help my submission process I have a list of directories I
submit to and I make a note of any special requirements or
criteria that any directory on my list may have.Forearmed is
forewarned. Most good directories have clear submission
guidelines. Always read these guidelines on your first
submission and make your own notes. It would be a waste of time
making submissions that are rejected because of some minor
adjustment you didn't know about or forgot.

Generally you will be required to select a category or
categories you want your article listed under. This is a
straightforward process.

Some directories eg Buzzle.com require a personal history and
sample article prior to acceptance which can take several
weeks. It takes some effort to such join sites but they do
instill a sense of purpose and professionalism which I like.

I hope the foregoing will encourage those of you who are new to
internet marketing and haven't attempted article writing to give
it a try.It's a cost free method of advertising that actually
gets results over time and creates a real feeling of
satisfaction to see your article published.

Best of luck and pump out those words.

About The Author: Geoff Hill is a marketer who uses article
writing to gain exposure.Geoff's website
http://www.SageDollars.com has some of the best work at home
ideas available on the internet to day. Help yourself to
Geoff's free e books,tips and more by subscribing to
http://www.sagedollars.com/optin.html

Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=74041
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For more free-reprint articles by Geoff Hill please visit:
http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Geoff+Hill

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