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What is a pen name and why do people use them for article marketing ?

by onpointinfo
14 replies
What is a pen name and why do people use them for article marketing, for selling different affiliate products confused about the use of pen names ?

Just confuses me why people have many pen names and not their real names when marketing affiliate products, is it because it makes them look when people read their articles that they are not an expert at anything jack of all trades and master at none ?

So the question is ...Is it better to create multiple pen names to cover each specific niche affiliate product you are promoting so that it helps to sell more products if you are using ezine article directory to submit your article and to promote your product there and people do not start to recognize that you are writing about alot of different niches and then making recommendations to buy all of them making you look like you are just a salesmen of many info products and can't believe your recommendations any longer since you are not an expert in any of the things you are recommending ?

For example:

golf niche
toddler niche
body building niche
etcccc
#article #marketing #pen #people
  • Profile picture of the author mostphere
    Hi Onpointinfo,

    So the question is ...Is it better to create multiple pen names to cover each specific niche affiliate product you are promoting so that it helps to sell more products if you are using ezine article directory to submit your article and to promote your product there and people do not start to recognize that you are writing about alot of different niches and then making recommendations to buy all of them making you look like you are just a salesmen of many info products and can't believe your recommendations any longer since you are not an expert in any of the things you are recommending ?
    My answer is, yes it is better to have multiple pen names. Let say pen names beatrice is an author for skin care niche, rebecca for forex niche, Jane for make money niche, etc.

    Each pen name will represent specific niche. The reason is, especially if you use EA to publish your article just under your name, readers who can check all articles you wrote. If they found that you wrote articles about various niches then they will confuse, they may think that you just a person who want to promote something and not an expert.

    So by assigning pen name for each niche, you will known as expert author in the end.

    I hope this make sense.

    Leno
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  • Profile picture of the author SuperStu
    Agree with Leno and also it helps in certain markets / niches. A man (and user of a mans product) is better placed to promote this product as they would have used it and know a lot about it, likewise a women's product.
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  • Profile picture of the author jackpot9
    As above,

    1) you do not want your competitor to simply look up your name and know all the niches you're into
    2) you establish more credibility under a pen name focusing on various related products (imagine someone trying to establish a reputation of a IM expert to teach newbies keep writing about piles, lose weight and whatnot, it spoils the soup.)
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    Originally Posted by onpointinfo View Post

    golf niche
    toddler niche
    body building niche
    Golf Niche - How many guys do you guess are going to listen to a female explain the fine art of hitting a longer drive?

    Toddler Niche - How many women do you believe will listen to you explain the intricacies of cooking delicious and nutritious treats from a 18 year old boy?

    Body Building Niche - How many guys are going to listen to a skinny, slender woman who is telling them all about adding mass using the latest supplements. How many women are going to listen to a massively fat man explain to them how to add muscle, reshape their body, and become symmetrical?

    Pen names are used for the dual purpose of matching your persona to your niche and for protecting your identity from competitors.

    Note: Using a pen name is NOT an excuse to make exaggerated claims, create false beliefs, or to mislead your readers.

    Barry

    P.S. I currently use 8.
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  • Profile picture of the author dejoliet31
    All of the reasons given are on target. Jacksonsoo is especially important as you move into lesser known niches. If all your articles are published under one name, you are in effect giving away your niches and the keyword research associated with them. Micro-niches are lucrative targets.

    So in addition the credibility factor that may be associated with the name of the author, protecting yourself from giving away your niches and their keywords are equally important.
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjamin Ehinger
    Originally Posted by onpointinfo View Post

    What is a pen name and why do people use them for article marketing, for selling different affiliate products confused about the use of pen names ?

    Just confuses me why people have many pen names and not their real names when marketing affiliate products, is it because it makes them look when people read their articles that they are not an expert at anything jack of all trades and master at none ?

    So the question is ...Is it better to create multiple pen names to cover each specific niche affiliate product you are promoting so that it helps to sell more products if you are using ezine article directory to submit your article and to promote your product there and people do not start to recognize that you are writing about alot of different niches and then making recommendations to buy all of them making you look like you are just a salesmen of many info products and can't believe your recommendations any longer since you are not an expert in any of the things you are recommending ?

    For example:

    golf niche
    toddler niche
    body building niche
    etcccc


    Absolutely use a new pen name for each niche. For one it is much easier for you to track your work and see what you have and have not done. Another reason is exactly what you said. This gives you an expert on the subject instead of a jack of all trades. I would never use just one name for everything.

    Benjamin Ehinger
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    • Profile picture of the author Devid Farah
      Here is the official Wiki definition:
      “A pen name is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her writings, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. The author's name may be known only to the publisher, or may come to be common knowledge.”

      However, I believe that Internet Marketers have use pen names uniquely.
      On the internet, everything is brand driven. People will stick with something when they come to trust the brand. That is one reason why IMs use pen names. They want to develop a particular brand for that niche, but without compromising their own name. I know for me personally, I try to leave my personally life out of my Internet Market and that includes my name. Mostly it’s a safety thing, but it is much easier to build a “brand” with a pen name.

      Another reason people use pen names is when they are involved in several unrelated niches. They don’t want to compromise on their expert opinion or brand, so it makes much more sense to use multiple pen names.
      That way they can build up a readers based and reputation within each niche separately.
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      • Profile picture of the author M Thompson
        Pen names also make it easier to brand the name...

        If I find that I am selling lots of copies of a Clickbank product then I'll create my own product and promote that. If someone then goes to search to find out who I am they'll find hundreds of articles all focused in that niche..

        If it's good enough for Steven king to use pen names it's good enough for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by onpointinfo View Post

    is it because it makes them look when people read their articles that they are not an expert at anything jack of all trades and master at none ?
    I have 8 different pen-names for 8 different niches, at the moment, and that's the first of my two reasons. (The second is that I use my real name here and I don't really want Warriors to know what my niches are, because some are very profitable, low-competition ones, and I want them to stay that way. )

    Originally Posted by onpointinfo View Post

    Is it better to create multiple pen names to cover each specific niche affiliate product you are promoting so that it helps to sell more products if you are using ezine article directory to submit your article and to promote your product there and people do not start to recognize that you are writing about alot of different niches and then making recommendations to buy all of them making you look like you are just a salesmen of many info products and can't believe your recommendations any longer since you are not an expert in any of the things you are recommending ?
    I'm really out of breath reading this sentence and not entirely clear exactly what you're asking, there. But if you're submitting articles to EZA (for example), and people there see from your author profile that "the expert on Cauliflower Soup Recipes" is also an expert on "Deep-Sea-Fishing" and "Registry Cleaning Software", that clearly puts a question-mark over the extent of the expertise involved, and raises the possibility that the author's simply "a marketer who'll write about anything which will pay him commissions". It potentially detracts from your credibility.

    Some people may not think about that at all, but others certainly will, and its net effect can only possibly be a negative one. Hope I've answered your question ...
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  • Profile picture of the author rapidscc
    Funny...

    From your original post, I can see that you have a clear idea why people are using
    pen names.

    Just to make it clear and concise, it's to protect the identity of the writer.

    There's a lot of reasons and motivations why writers want to protect their identity but
    still, it all boils down to that one.

    Thanks!

    Omar
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  • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
    Originally Posted by onpointinfo View Post

    is it because it makes them look when people read their articles that they are not an expert at anything jack of all trades and master at none ?
    This, I suspect, is one of the major reasons, yes. By using a different name for each niche, you can portray yourself as more of an expert on the subject, and build trust more easily. This may be a little harder if potential customers can see that you're running a myriad of other sites, in many other niches, and professing to be an expert in all of them.

    But the other reason so many people use pen-names is to "cover their tracks". People love to try replicating (perceived) success, and to take shortcuts off the back of others' efforts. Why make it easy for those individuals who are dead-set on copying you (by "stealing" your niches and establishing themselves as competitors), to find your niches at all?
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  • Profile picture of the author Eamon Diamond
    It depends how many niche markets you want to get into, example say you were in 10 different niches, health, wealth, Internet Marketing, gardening and so on. When you start to drive traffic off to these sites or affiliate offers through article marketing and other platforms for driving traffic, some people will begin to notice that the same name keeps popping up for different niches, that's to say you being the author and putting your name beside these different niches, they'll then begin to wonder! Is this He or She just in this for the money?

    This is why the option of pen names are available.
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