warning: Article Marketing STINKS! Don't Do It, It's A Total Scam! I Will Tell You Why!

**If YOU are NEW to article marketing, have not had successful turnaround times, have not produced the results you want to see... or are simply just interested in article marketing, then read these tips!!***

**P.S** more critical information has been added, and more questions answered in posts following this one, so please also read posts below with RED titles, as I have thoroughly answered many questions not addressed in this original post***

So someone today was asking me about article marketing- and they asked me what kinds of CTR I had, so I log into Ezine Articles, to find some articles and see what the statistics are for them.

This person has never article marketed before, and I was just sharing some of my experience with him/her, as they were asking me questions- but of course it's different for everyone, depending on what you do. But keep in mind that I DO NOT backlink at all as of now.

Because I was explaining to this person that for me, the rates depend on a few things:

1. Competition can push articles down each hour very quickly, which leaves some articles with very low views- I have articles with only 9 views...lol, because the competition in my niches each hour is very high.

I put out many articles to try and combat this, however most people just put out a couple, and then complain when they get pushed down. In hot niches, you SHOULD expect that there will be COMPETITION, unless you find out otherwise, and YOU SHOULD also NOT give up and you should persist to continue putting out articles.

Because, the minute you give up, and get mad because your articles are always being pushed down- you INSTANTLY create more space for your competition- and if you don't get the sales, someone else will... and if that someone else doesn't get the sales- then someone else will!

So if you weren't there, and even if the strong competition wasn't - there are always still people in there getting the sales... so why aren't YOU!?

2. Testing- Not every article I put out is going to be liked by the public, or will appeal to people. Since I write my own articles, sometimes I get a little TOO creative with the content, and there are times where the content is just a little too rude with the marketing... so for me it's also a testing process to look back and find out why things aren't working.

Another thing I noticed, was that some of my titles weren't quite cutting it- yes they had strong call to action in them (as almost all of my titles do), but sometimes that was over the top as well, and even there were times that EZA didn't accept some of my titles...lol.

3. Simply the ability to smoothly roll the article into the author box. Which means that when they are reading the article, they don't just click away after, but are drawn in smoothly to the author box- which means the transition fits well.

As of now, I actually have a few different author boxes, because I noticed the same author box (in the same niche) does not always do well with ALL topics in that niche.


4. The author box itself- (for more information about blending the author box, what kind of author box to have, and other critical information not listed in this original post, please read the post below titled: How to Write An Article So That Readers Can Easily Read It and BUY IT- Tips About Getting Conversions)

Well I am pretty sure we all know that the author box needs really do alot here. That requires testing etc... and since my other articles scream in people's faces, my author box kindof matches- so I think it works well thus far.

But as mentioned, I noticed I get more people clicking my link- when my author box smoothly flows in with my article- but here is an example of an author box which DOES NOT smoothly flow in:

Alot of people put their damn author BIO as their author box.

A good example goes something like this:


James Kornbottom Is an expert in relationships, and has written over 5 books on ____subject. He is happily married and lives in ____place, and offers full time support and relationship advice on divorce. You can check out his website at..... www.the person really doesn't to click this link anymore...com

(yes lame example, but people sure do this!)

PEOPLE DON't CARE who you are- they care HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM!... that was why they were reading your article to begin with. So I have noticed alot of people sitting there telling about themselves and trying to say how much experience they have bla bla bla... in their author box, and then saying "such and such has a website you can check out"...

I honestly can say this kind of author box is SERIOUSLY detrimental to making people want click onto your website... don't be afraid to jazz up your author box's and make them pop, with things that the people are really looking for and are really interested in.

Your webpage is for building that trust and building that whole "who am I bla bla bla"... but your author box is that tiny little space you have to really scream at someone why they should go onto your website- and if all you have to say is personal information about yourself- it just doesn't cut it.

Remember that they have a problem- and you have the solution, so show them that you can solve it by telling them what they are about to get/or miss out on if they don't click your link.


Your author box LINK
But of course, there are people whose author box is bad- and even someone recently suggested to me that I remove the "click here" from my author box, and replace the link with a keyword like "get my ex back".

I have yet to try this trick, but this person also pointed out that if you were to find any TOP articles in the relationships niche for "get your ex back", you will find that alot of those articles DO in fact include the keyword in the link to their landing page/website.

So that is something else to take on board.


5. The call to action- Your author box AND TITLE ARE your little space to really pop and create a huge call to action- now some people can sell easily without all that hype, because of the TYPE of product they have- but when it comes to solving people's personal issues, such as in relationships, weight loss... and anything that is extremely personal (and possibly embarrassing)...

Remember that the reason most of these people are looking for advice and information online for this thing, is because they are too embarrassed to really ask someone in real life.

Just check out yahoo answers sometime, if you really don't believe me.

So what I have found successful, is to NOT be afraid to really use some strong calls to action with author boxes and titles. You have to convince that person that their problem really is bad, but that you can solve it- pronto.

A boring title, which really lacks personality isn't going to make them want to be seriously interested in reading what you have to say, and it also wont make them seriously interested in believing that you really can help them either.

It's like going to a psychologist and having them fall asleep on you, as you are telling them about your problems... would you really feel like they cared, or wanted to really help you then?

So don't fall asleep on your titles and author boxes! Keep them alive- show the person really that you have the solution! If you have a hard time doing this, then search online for "call to action words" or strong call to action words etc... and even just descriptive words-

If It Doesn't Seem Ragingly Explosive and Powerfully Effective, then as mentioned, you probably wont see the kinds of results you were hoping for.


6. Re-hashed content- Some of your readers want to make an informed decision- and they have been searching around all over the place for information on things. But if they find the same thing over and over, and your article(s) just so happen to fall into that category- kiss that person goodbye.

Well, some people find it hard to create content- but honestly... once you read about something for a very long time- I do not see how you cannot eventually just know that thing enough by heart, and in the mind that you can't just get a bit creative with it.

Original content is loved by google these days as well, so keep in mind that if you want your articles to also be loved by the search engines- you need to harness your creative side and begin attempting to create something different and unique.


I am not perfect either, and when I first started out, I did often mimic other (successful) people's articles- because at first I didn't know much about these things. But I found out that I actually do know about these things- especially things like relationships- because everyday we are ALL constantly engaging in relationships with people- but we just never really take the time to sit down and examine how and why they work- but I started to do that.


So if you are having issues as well, with many things, you can actually just look around in your life and draw from that- and you will find that you can get some original content then, just from your own back yard.



7. keywords- I haven't really been hitting the serps like crazy, because I honestly have done ZERO backlinking- however I do in fact put about a 3% keyword density in each of my articles.


I also take EXTREME CAUTION to strategically place those keywords so that my articles do not sound spammy, choppy, dumb, or appear to have bad grammar.

It's a pet peeve of mine to read an article like this:

"If you want to get ex back, you have to do things to win ex back"...

and I am just screaming in my head, about how the word "AN" should be present before "ex"... I don't know about you- but whenever I read articles like this, i really just get turned off, because It seems the person cared more about their SEO, search engines etc... than they did about actually helping someone or solving their problem.

So just something I would consider is to remember that your keywords should flow smoothly, and should actually MAKE SENSE in the articles. Just because your keywords make sense to GOOGLE, that does not mean they make sense in an actual article, to an actual reader.


(for more information on keyword density, read my reply posted below titled: Information On The 3% Keyword Density in CORRELATION WITH THE Ezine Articles Policy )


8. Keywords In The Titles, and Title Composition: Easily Identifiable Keywords IN THE TITLE really do help people to easily find what they are looking for- and to also find your article. Having keywords in your titles does ensure that the person can easily identify that your article does have some keys, tips, answers etc... to their problem- BUT
You must identify within the first 4-6 words exactly what it is you are solving/going to answer.

Such as in the article of mine which got over 10,000 views...without back linking- The first words in the article were:

How To Get an Ex Back.

I have tested and found that it is way better to have the keyword actually in the beginning of your title- as keywords are what people use to search and find your article- you also want that to be the FIRST THING they see.

I have also tested in using the keywords in the last half of the title as well- and found that this will only work, if you have an extremely strong and effective call to action in the beginning of the article.

It may also work, if you have a question- and then the keyword following- however, as mentioned, you want the first thing they see, to be the term they were originally looking for anyways: the keyword.

As for the title composition as well- there are certain "catch phrases" which do well in attracting attention to your article in the first place- whether on an article directory, or a search engine directory, and they go something like this:

"how to" or simply put, just answering a question that is what I will call the 6 Q's: "who, what, where, when, why, how", followed by your keyword(s). Then your call to action, which should tell them what they are going to get there. Here are some examples of the 6Q''s in use. as:

How to:
How to Get My Ex Back? - 4 Sneaky Techniques Which Will Have Your Ex Crawling Back To You!

What:
What Is MySQL-The Secret MySQL Database Which Is Exploding The Internet Marketing World

Where:
Where To Get Backlinks? 5 Mind Blowing Backlinking Tips Which Will Explode Your Income Drastically

When:
When To Get Married? 3 Secret Bridal Tips Which Every Woman Should Know Before Tying The Knot!

Why:
Why Does My Ex Ignore Me? 3 Shocking Reasons Why Your Ex Won't Take You Back!

Who:
Who Wants To Make Money? Find Out The Explosive Money Making Technique That Banks Don't Want You To Know!


So those are just some on the spot examples, but of course they can change depending on exactly what it is you are trying to sell/answer in the first place. But the point here, is that you must be able to grab the reader's emotions JUST BY YOUR TITLE ALONE! And by asking questions- such as the 6W's, you can instantly create emotion, especially if you follow up with a strong call to action, as used in the examples above.

This works especially well, if you know the topic you are writing about, is something people are desperate to know... such as "stopping a breakup", "attracting women", "losing weight"- you can easily emotionally draw the reader in, when you work on their crisis and ask a question to which they can instantly relate-followed by the idea that you have the answer solution to it, by saying things like:

Discover the....
Read on to find out...
3 tips/techniques on...
2 things that you absolutely must know in order to...
etc..

So as you can see you can create a psychological standpoint from which you can leverage your reader in as they feel like they absolutely NEED to know something, or that they absolutely have an issue which you can solve etc..

I am not sure if I did an effective way of describing this, but hopefully you can get the jist of what I am trying to talk about here.

As well, the article title length- Make it long- don't keep it too short- as that can really take away from your call to action... unless of course you are master marketer, and work with something like google adwords... But that is not the case here- these are articles- and I have actually tested this, and found that articles with longer titles- like the ones I created above- (that have keywords in them, as well as strong call to action- alongside answering a question etc...) You will instantly see a rise in views and people interested- because it's something different and it's something that draws them in.


8. My Own twist- I was explaining that my experience with article marketing depending on a few thing- but alot of the above can apply to many people...especially those who may be in my niches, or niches that are related to self help etc...

But anyways, I also have over 1500 articles out. (All written by myself). So obviously that is something else I have going for me- which other people may not- I also mentioned about how the competition can push your articles down each hour- and that is why i have to write so many articles (personal preference here, once again), because for the niches I am in, if I do not (as mentioned), some articles can only get 9 views etc...

But of course, I have yet to backlink- and I technically should still be pumping out articles and submitting- as this is actually my ONLY form of income. It goes like this a lot of the times: If I don't write, I don't make dough.

But of course there is some recurring income from articles which did well, and I have explained above, how I got those articles to do well, but that's just my twist on the whole article marketing thing as well.


9. Article Marketing Mentors: So I also understand it can be hard for some people, as they do not have a mentor- I was PERSONALLY SHOWN and told exactly what to do in all of these aspects, by an experienced online marketer- He/she took the time to thoroughly explain to me how everything works, and even told me so many of their secrets on what was tested and proven etc...

So I get how hard it can be on your own as well- without a mentor, but I hope that some of these tips have helped you, because many of these were tips my own Mentor had given me- and I have also tested them myself and found them to work- but as mentioned, testing is a good thing as is with anything internet related.

Always check your feedback whenever possible:

Do you have low article views? find out why? Was it because of the competition... if so- try to write more articles, or make stronger call to actions so that people will choose your articles over theirs. OR was it because your article didn't contain enough relevant tips.. or because your article was really dry etc...


Do you have low click through rates? Find out why there too- it may be your author box, call to action- or simply the readers may not be clicking with the advice you are giving, and you need to change how you are delivering your messages. This also happens more often when you outsource, as sometimes the articles will be reduced in quality especially if the writers you hired are not consistent with their spelling and grammar skills.

So always try and look for feedback, as with EZA it is really easy to see the feedback, and how many clicks etc- so everything is accessible to you to get things rolling- even if you are going at it alone.

10. For THOSE WHO HAVE A HARD TIME WRITING ARTICLES:==>

So I do understand that when you are first starting out, it can be hard to generate articles which can do all of the above- especially all in one go, so here is a simple solution that worked for me back in the day, and it can also work for you.

What you can try, if you are bad at writing right now- google your search terms, and pull up any articles on the first page.

See what they wrote- see how they wrote it, their keywords, title etc... then write that- only in your own words.

Eventually after you do this for some time- it will just be in your head, and it will be easier to naturally flow out, WITHOUT losing quality- Also, if you do this- what I just said- it's like repeating every word after I say- You can do that instantly, right?

But if I asked you suddenly to tell me what something like "imperialism" was- you may get stuck on trying to explain it... so until you have worked on each thing enough, things may be hard flowing out just on your own- so that is something that many people do, to help produce articles faster- while still writing them at the same time, with your own ideas etc.. applied to them.


To do that, you can literally just take the whole article- and paste it into a word document, or text file- then begin writing the paragraph- in your own words, and work your way down from there.

Just like this (here is a post that I made into an article):

I was looking for DNS (dragon naturally speaking) for my computer- but I don't have any disc space and I don't have a proper drive on my notebook/laptop. So I am going to have to just get a new PC or something to make space for it. As well, when I write articles, I can easily write like 5-10 articles a day- but after I have written 5, I find the quality just goes downhill from there. So then I don't really write that much, even though I need to, because I would rather have 10 articles of good quality, than 20 really horribly written articles.


BECOMES:


How To Produce a Fast Turnaround Time When Writing Articles! 2 Secrets That All Article Marketers Should Know!

Article writing can be difficult, especially if you are just starting out. You may feel a need to perfect your articles and achieve the highest quality, in hopes that you will have satisfied readers, and in turn satisfied customers. However, what happens when you are unable to efficiently produce articles with an adequate turnover time? Well my friend, here are a few solutions to the "writers block" each and every article writer faces:

Self Block- Often times we put ourselves down and our work, and compromise what can be by worrying about things like... "if I write faster, will the quality go down?". We may even find it difficult to write on the same topic for extended periods of time, and we feel like we lose our writers edge only after having written a few articles. But a simple solution to combat this issue, is to simply write.

Forget about what issues could be, if your content is not good enough etc... because as with anything written- you can always go back and edit it, and that is easily done in article marketing. Remember that we are giving tips to others in our articles, and articles will actually sound more natural and will actually appeal better as well, once you adapt a confidence and comfort in your writing abilities- even when you are challenging yourself to have a quicker turnaround time.

Dragon Naturally Speaking- DNS works well for writing articles, and it appeals to many people as it is can drastically reduce the time frame in which things like articles can be written. To an article marketer it is the perfect tool, however there is an issue with DNS which only allows it to properly function when the disk space on your hard drive is large or freed. This means that DNS often times cannot be easily installed and used on laptops or devices which do not harbor enough space.


So I took the post, and turned it into an article- that is basically what you do. nothing in my article is really copying yours directly or anything like that- as you can see- and that is something I suggest you do, so that you can come out with articles faster, but still have quality- as other REAL articles will actually have the tips and things in them.

So you read the articles then, get an understanding of what was meant/implied- then put that into terms that people can understand in your own unique way. BUT remember NOT TO directly just copy and plagiarize other people's ideas and things- the purpose of looking at other people's successful articles, ideas etc.. is to simply get an idea of what CAN be said, and then generate that into your own ideas.


11. THE EASIEST WAY TO WRITE ARTICLES IF YOU HATE WRITING OR ARE NEW TO IT:

As well, if you have read the example above- using DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING- IS AN option for writing articles. It is a voice recognition software, which turns your spoken words into text. That means you can talk to it, and it will write down everything you say- and when used with the example above of reading other articles and putting them into your own words (especially if you are just starting out), this is a very useful tool then to easily produce many quality articles without the huge hassles and stress you would normally face.


If all else fails- and you still absolutely hate writing articles, and you just can't get past it, then of course you can always consider outsourcing- but remember the tips above as well when outsourcing, because you still want to be able to maintain the quality, click through's, etc... OR, you CAN do this:


12. Article Spinning- I have read so much about article spinning (taking your articles and having them written differently with interchangeable words... I don't really have a great example of this, because I really dont agree with this method in terms of article writing... because it means you are no longer writing it in the end, ...it's computerized to me)

You can find many people offering this service on this forum, as well, as I have noticed- so that is also an option then, if you are having difficulties and hate writing on the same thing over and over again.

Article spinning may be an option for those who want quick content to add to their website, or other article directories etc... depending on WHY you use it, it may actually work in your situation.

However if you are actually depending on article marketing as a main source of income, I really don't recommend it- because I find it can take away from alot of the quality- and I am not sure why you would want to do that to yourself.

So some people are doing this to produce many articles quickly- because they feel they just can't do the REAL writing on their own... and it's just TOO hard to actually write the same thing they already know over again? It just reminds me of this:

You are at "track and field" and you just ran a 400 meter race, and won 1st place. You get the medal, and take it home, and are happy. But then, you want another medal- so you just go to the medal shop, and get the exact same medal made again... only this time you bought it from the store, instead of ran the race.

So to me, it just seems to take away from the whole experience of article marketing itself...so use article spinners. Well anyways, I don't thoroughly agree with article spinning, as you can see. That is just my personal opinion, but as mentioned, and discussed in the above post, what I do personally is writing my own articles... so I prefer to do that, than having to actually use this method of article spinning.

But of course, I do understand that while it may not work for me, it sure can work for others, and if it does- then as with outsourcing, and re-writing other people's articles...just remember the other tips I have offered, so that you can maximize on your potential as a whole.


Remember that you are unique and you do have unique quality content to offer people- believe in yourself, and get writing, and do your best!

================================================== =======

Thus that is some of my experience when it comes to article writing/marketing. As well, I have only marketed with Ezine Articles so far- because as I mentioned, I have not done any backlinking. But as I was explaining my experience to this person in the first place, when I logged in, I was surprised as well to see the following:

Attachment 2758 ===> click to enlarge if necessary, as in my browser it shows as a really small square...lol.


Which is why I also decided to make this post, because I was really shocked and surprised to see that one of my articles had SURPASSED 10,000 views. I think that was pretty cool, as I have never had anything like that before- and I was actually showing this person the article, because it had gotten me the most sales thus far- and I was trying to check it's click through's... and saw the views.

So that was really nice to see- and those views were ALL because of what I had written above, and taking all of the above into consideration- from the title, to the flow, to the call to action etc...

But at the same time, I also sent the person the LINK from the actual picture here, when you click on your article- and then they said they couldn't access it... so then i google'd the title of that article to find it so they could see it, and sadly found out something else.


Someone had stolen my damn article with my author box- and put their own links in there! This was done on Isnare... and I am not extremely thrilled about it. I am still not sure what to do about that- as it's against EZA's rules to do what this person did... and it's really actually quite sly on their part.

But oh well, what can you do-


Also, I received a package today- for being a member of EZA... I didn't think I would get it, as I had read before that only people who are in the USA get it... but it was a mouse pad, pen, note pad etc... all branded with the Ezine Articles name and logo-- so that was really nice as well... Thanks Ezine Articles-


Well anyways, that's my two cents for now- take it or steal it hahaha.


**Remember that I have been continuously adding more information to this thread in the posts below, so check there, in case some of your questions were not answered here.

Regards,