Articles and internet branding: 5 steps to success
Are you ready to become an internet marketing expert? Are you ready for a massive conversion rate plus unlimited residual streams of income for your web-based business? Excellent! I'm here to focus your mind on the job at hand. Today you will learn how article marketing is the means to the end, and that end is PROFIT.
Web marketing success happens one project at a time. The formula we're about to discuss works best when your product is information-based. Meaning, if you're an expert in your niche, other people are going to want to learn Your Secrets. You can use this to your advantage- by creating marketable products that deliver information (your Secrets) to customers who are willing to pay for it. You will then use web articles to lure in your prospects.
How will you go about this? Take it one step at a time.
Step 1. Select a niche market. What are your interests? Where does your expertise lie? Wherever that is, is where you will focus your next marketing project. Let's say it's real estate. Your Marketing Mission is: make your name recognizable within the realm of real estate. Build yourself up as an expert in the buying and selling of property.
Step 2. Create an online persona and brand for your business. For continuity's sake, let's go with the real estate example. Suppose you want to be known as the Inside Expert on house flipping for profit. Sounds like a great plan to me! Now grab yourself a web designer and a great copywriter and get going on perfecting that image of you as the Real Estate Go-To Guru!
Step 3. Develop an informational product that readers can buy directly from your website. You've seen those kits that all the Experts are selling, right? Who told you that you can't sell one on your website? Nobody. So, get going. Start pulling all nighters if you have to, just get that kit written and make it powerful so that your buyers will go, WOW! I can't believe what I learned from this guy/girl, and for such little money! Hire a ghostwriter, if you really want to get this project cracking. Either way, as Nike says: Just Do It.
Step 4. Write articles to build your credibility. If you've been reading my "series of internet marketing articles" in order, you'll already be familiar with the concept of article marketing. This is where you use an Article Distribution website like Ezinearticles.com to help deliver quality articles to end users who will feature your articles.
(Note: I listed this as Step 4, but really your articles should be flowing as early as Step 2.) As part of your brand-building strategy, stream a steady flow of web articles to content-hungry webmasters who fall into your topic category, who will then spread your sage advice all over the internet. If you're burdened with time constraints, hire a ghostwriter to do this work for you. At the end of the articles, include a bio that directs them to your website. From there, they can learn more about you and what you can offer them.
Step 5. Direct your customers to a sales letter that teaches them about your product. Again, you can do this with article marketing. An easy scenario to follow: You write an intriguing article featuring five tips on how to gauge the real estate market. At the end of the article is your bio, which directs the reader to a link where a sales letter page opens. That sales letter will then contain certified testimonials from happy clients and customers of yours. All of this will further enhance your reputation as a qualified expert.
The final outcome: clicks to your website, where visitors use PayPal or another easy money transer in exchange for your informational product. The profit's in your pocket. Beautiful! YOU DID IT! Give yourself a pat on the back. Take a vacation!
Of course, if you're going to be an internet expert, it's a smart idea to create multiple areas of expertise for yourself in more than one niche. Again, articles are the means to the end. Suppose now that you're done with your online real estate venture, you've figured out that Copywriting is another God-given talent of yours that can be leveraged for profit. Time to create a Brand New Internet Personality! How will you do this? Easy. Follow the five steps I mentioned above, only replace each mention of real estate with Copywriting.
Do you see the INFINITE POSSIBILITIES? Good! You've got plenty of work to do. So stop reading, and start writing those articles!
Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Find out how crisp, targeted copywriting can make a world of difference for your business. Dina Giolitto is a Copywriting Consultant with ten years of experience. Visit http://Wordfeeder.com for free tips on branding, copywriting, article marketing, and more.
- It is a good way to be picked up by the search engines.
- The backlinks from your resource box can help your search engine position.
- You have the possibility of secondary traffic if your article is picked up by a popular website or ezine.
Various products and services have become available that help you distribute your articles to the 100s of article directories and mailing lists.
a) Software that speeds up maunal submission, or can in some cases do this automatically. b) Services that distribute articles in your name c) Services that distribute articles on your behalf, but in their own name.
The Double Edged Sword
Many people pay a premium rate for article distribution on their behalf, without the worry of having to join various article directory sites as a member, giving their own email address, and receiving lots of emails from various Yahoo groups.
Unfortunately what they don't realise is that often this devalues their work.
1) In the author section on many sites, the name of the distribution service will be shown, not that of the original author.
2) Author sections of many article directories are a unique marketing venue. Many visitors will visit the author profile before reading an article all the way to the bottom. Most profiles could have one or more websites listed.
3) Within RSS feeds from the article directories, the distribution service might be shown in the byline, not the original author.
4) Many article directories allow an author to change or modify their resource box. If an article was submitted using an account owned by a 3rd party distribution service, that avenue will be closed.
Complete Control
For authors who want complete control of their branding, either submit manually, or use article submission software. You will receive more emails, but can always have a special email address for this purpose. Googles Gmail service I find is an excellent choice. Article Announcer and Article Submitter Pro are two examples of such software.
Limited Control
Use an automated submission service that ensures you are the author. There are services that signup for members to directories on your behalf, using a username and password of your choice. One such service is Article Marketer.
The Inconvenience
You will have to confirm your membership to many distribution points, and some will continue to send emails containing articles from other people. Yahoo groups normally allow you to select a digest mode, or to not receive emailed articles at all. Most of this is a one time effort, although you will have to be on the lookout for important messages on the email account you use.
The Massive Gain
They are your articles, and you should gain maximum benefit from them.
Using article distribution is much like a varient of Pareto's 80/20 rule. You potentially gain 80% effective results compared to manual distribution, for 20% of the work.
However if your method of article distribution doesn't give you all the possible credit for your articles, rather than 80% effectiveness, you might only be getting 60% or less.
Managing your own article distribution with tools such as Article Announcer or Article Submitter Pro gives you complete control to achieve your 80/20 goals. A service such as Article Marketer which gives you full credit, and reasonable control, might be 70% effective, for 10% of the work.
Refining your processes, and only using the most effective method where it benefits you the most, you can maximise your return for the work invested.
I use a combination of service and software for my own distribution.
About the author:
Andy Beard has worked in Sales, Marketing and Localization for the last 15 years, primarily in the computer games industry.
On his blog Exploring Niche Websites read his review of 3 killer article submission products.
http://niche-website.blogspot.com/2005/08/submit-articles-3-killer-products.html
http://andybeard.name
Article Source: Messaggiamo.Com
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