Article Writing, Article Marketing, Article Syndication - Aarrgh! :)

by drmani
49 replies
When the distinction between them blurs, too many things appear the same!

Around and around the discussions and debates go on the forum, especially
since the Google update which supposedly hurt Ezine Articles and brought
"article marketing" to an end (or close to it!)

Often the passionate arguments are fueled by a common element - each
discussant means something DIFFERENT by the terms they use.

Article Writing is the action of writing articles. Plain and simple,
right? Not quite. Some people are using it as an alternative for the
related term, "article marketing" - which involves a little more than
just writing.

Article writing involves creating articles. Nothing more. You can get
paid for doing it, which crosses into the realm of article marketing.
You can get paid from the use of the content, which is what makes you
an infopreneur (an information entrepreneur).

But the core act of actually stringing words into articles is all that
is meant by "article writing".

Now what about "article marketing"?

Article marketing is the art of marketing using articles. Articles
that you or someone else wrote.

Recently there has been an interesting distinction between "article
marketing" and "article DIRECTORY marketing" (a subtle and somewhat
funny distinction, to my mind!)


There are oh-so-many ways to market yourself and your business using
articles. ALL fall under the blanket term "article marketing". In a
broad sense, it is the use of articles to raise awareness about your
brand or product or service, and to generate sales or conversions by
your articles getting read by prospects.

It's a blanket term - and that's where the confusion occurs, with too
many people assuming their way of "article marketing" is the ONLY way
to make it work! (News flash: It isn't! )

Which brings us to the least understood (and therefore popular) term
of the 3 - "article syndication".

Some have equated it with writing articles for others to publish. And
others have used it to mean submitting work to directories where they
may get picked up and re-used.

Article syndication, to put it plainly, is the act of getting your
content re-distributed to a wider audience than you can reach on your
own.


Once again, there are more ways to do it than I can list or even know
about.

If you phone up a friend and ask if she can distribute your write-up at
her next tea party at her club, that's "article syndication" too... you
get the idea of how vast and extensive the possibilities are?

Hopefully, these descriptions help clarify the terms and help us all
discuss and debate issues from the proper perspectives.

Yes, article syndication can be a form of article marketing... and none
of it will happen without an article first getting written - but the
terms themselves are pretty distinct and refer to unique actions,
each of which is different from the other (even if we've seen them
used inter-changeably all over this forum lately)

Hope this helps in some little way.

All success
Dr.Mani
#aarrgh #article #article marketing #article syndication #article writing #marketing #syndication #writing
  • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
    I'm going to start writing smarticles, just to confuse people even more.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

      I'm going to start writing smarticles, just to confuse people even more.
      Is that small articles, or smart articles?

      PM me. I smell a WSO in this somewhere.
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      • Profile picture of the author arttse
        Great post.

        You may also want to clarify the difference between "original" content and "unique" content.

        There is so much confusion on this forum between the two. A lot of members assume they mean the same thing.
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        • Profile picture of the author writeandreview
          You may also want to clarify the difference between "original" content and "unique" content.
          Most of my articles are uniquely original. Those that aren't were originally unique.
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          • Profile picture of the author Raindance
            Originally Posted by writeandreview View Post

            Most of my articles are uniquely original. Those that aren't were originally unique.
            My thoughts exactly :rolleyes:
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        • Profile picture of the author drmani
          Originally Posted by arttse View Post

          Great post.

          You may also want to clarify the difference between "original" content and "unique" content.

          There is so much confusion on this forum between the two. A lot of members assume they mean the same thing.
          Oh, that's simpler.

          "Original" content is content YOU authored/created - on your own, without being copied from somewhere else.

          "Unique" content is content that is sufficiently different from any other content.

          What is more uncertain is "how different" constitutes "sufficiently unique" in a search engine's eyes! A rough guesstimate by experts is 30%, but that's all it is - a guess!

          All success
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          • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
            Good post, Dr. Mani. There seem to be very few people on the forum who understands the full potential of article marketing. It's good to read posts from someone who obviously does.

            Recently there has been an interesting distinction between "article
            marketing" and "article DIRECTORY marketing" (a subtle and somewhat
            funny distinction, to my mind!)
            I wonder who coined this strange term 'article directory marketing'? Is there really such a thing? We're all putting our articles on directories after all, no matter what outcome we intend to achieve.

            It's a blanket term - and that's where the confusion occurs, with too
            many people assuming their way of "article marketing" is the ONLY way
            to make it work! (News flash: It isn't! )
            There does seem to be one or two individuals around the forum at the moment that vehemently claim 'article syndication' to be the only form of 'real' article marketing.

            In my experience there are many different ways of making it work, and articles have many more purposes than just syndication.
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            • Originally Posted by Hamida Harland View Post

              [SNIP]I wonder who coined this strange term 'article directory marketing'? Is there really such a thing? We're all putting our articles on directories after all, no matter what outcome we intend to achieve.[/SNIP]
              Hi. Your articles aren't meant for just article directories. They can end up in offline publication networks comprised of people included in your target market. You can use them in your live conference sessions and presentations. You can talk to people in your private business and personal networks and ask them to circulate your articles to their own private business and personal networks. You can talk to product manufacturers and ask them to bundle your relevant articles with their physical and digital info products to offer additional content useful for maximizing the benefits provided by their products...

              About the distinction between "original" and "unique" content as mentioned above and as I interpret the context of the terms used by the person who asked this, this is my opinion:

              Original content is content integrated with the author's own relevant sets of observations, inferences, test results, actual experience, theories, opinions and perspectives, aimed at providing a specific target audience with benefits in the form of info, advice, tips, strategies, techniques, products and services useful for their relevant needs and problems, Developed in a style and packaged in ways not found elsewhere...

              "Unique" content, "unique" because I use it here based on the context I interpreted as the context used by the person who asked this, is content which does not have 3-word and above common noun and proper noun phrases that appear a certain number of times in other published materials on the Internet, so it can pass Copyscape among other duplicate content checkers...
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            • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
              Originally Posted by Hamida Harland View Post


              I wonder who coined this strange term 'article directory marketing'? Is there really such a thing? We're all putting our articles on directories after all, no matter what outcome we intend to achieve.
              It might have been me, in this post:
              http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...blog-post.html

              #25

              Then again, maybe someone else said it first.
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              • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
                Alexa... Where ARE you???
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

        Is that small articles, or smart articles?
        Smart articles.

        PM me. I smell a WSO in this somewhere.
        That's because zombies have an odor of decaying flesh.
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  • Profile picture of the author Wills
    Nice post drmani! Hopefully this should help people with the terms.

    I find it funny when people say article marketing is dead, then have a load of articles on their own site. Surely this is a branch of article marketing as well, even though the articles have not been sent to article directories.
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  • Profile picture of the author theplugindude
    Sir..I have a doubt..can we term spinning articles and submitting them to article directories as article syndication??

    Thanks
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    • Originally Posted by prats2992 View Post

      [SNIP]can we term spinning articles and submitting them to article directories as article syndication??[/SNIP]
      IMO: Spinning articles then submitting them to loads of article directories sounds more like article directory backlinking...
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Faber
    It is a bit strange to see an article marketing related post without her presence.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    I don't understand why people feel the need to make all these distinctions - there are lots of ways to use your content and the content of others.

    Why try and label all the differences? Surely it's easier just to look at your situation and then brainstorm all the possibilities that make sense - they're not always going to be the same.

    I've always done all of the article strategies you mentioned and more but never bothered labeling them. I just look at my project and work out what makes sense then do that.

    Why complicate things when there are plenty of other people waiting to complicate them for you?
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    • Profile picture of the author Sandor Verebi
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      Why complicate things when there are plenty of other people waiting to complicate them for you?
      Point taken, Andy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      I don't understand why people feel the need to make all these distinctions - there are lots of ways to use your content and the content of others.

      Why try and label all the differences? Surely it's easier just to look at your situation and then brainstorm all the possibilities that make sense - they're not always going to be the same.

      I've always done all of the article strategies you mentioned and more but never bothered labeling them. I just look at my project and work out what makes sense then do that.

      Why complicate things when there are plenty of other people waiting to complicate them for you?
      Because there are a lot of newbies who could use the information. There are a lot of posts by newcomers who ask the same, if not similar, questions regarding article writing, article marketing, etc. So I found the OP to be very appropos.

      It's easier for experienced marketers to look at these kind of posts and ask, "why ask why?" or "why make these distinctions?". But keep in mind that everyone learns differently and for many people, making these distinctions helps.

      RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Andy,
    I don't understand why people feel the need to make all these distinctions
    So that the various techniques can be discussed intelligently.

    If two people use a word to mean different things, but aren't aware they're doing so, they think they're communicating when they're not. This leads to all sorts of problems, and is the main cause of hostile arguments over otherwise non-emotional subjects.


    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      Andy,So that the various techniques can be discussed intelligently.

      If two people use a word to mean different things, but aren't aware they're doing so, they think they're communicating when they're not. This leads to all sorts of problems, and is the main cause of hostile arguments over otherwise non-emotional subjects.


      Paul
      Wow - Do people really have hostile arguments about article marketing?

      That didn't even occur to me.

      I can understand that newbies here these distinctions and think they're missing out on something and want to go into the depths of any angle of this stuff so they don't think they're missing out on 'the secret', but it wouldn't occur to me that anyone would argue about this stuff, let alone have a hostile argument about it.

      People will always disagree about IM strategies because their experience is bound to be different to some other peoples, but isn't the whole point of coming to a community like this that you can lay down your version and learn how others do things differently?

      It seems weird that anyone would want to argue about a simple marketing strategy and it's possible variations.

      But then I'm not a mod here so I'm less likely to see such things and if I did, I'd move on and ignore them anyway most likely.

      Since the subject has been done to death here many times as new people drop by and state the gospel of article marketing according to them I'm glad to hear there's still enough difference of opinion for people to even get passionate about it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Andy,
        Wow - Do people really have hostile arguments about article marketing?
        Yep. That's just an example, though. The failure to get definitions clear early in discussions is the cause of a huge percentage of arguments.

        The whole "guru-bashing" thing that goes on here is the result of sloppy use of words. Look at the arguments that causes.


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        • Profile picture of the author Kurt
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Andy,Yep. That's just an example, though. The failure to get definitions clear early in discussions is the cause of a huge percentage of arguments.



          Paul

          However in this case, the problem seems to be more with a couple of folks making up their own definitions and expecting everyone else to accept and use them. "Article directory marketing" is an example of a made-up term (needing a definition) used by very few people on the Warrior Forum, and these few people are trying to force their personal opinions as accepted definitions.
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          • Profile picture of the author myob
            Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

            However in this case, the problem seems to be more with a couple of folks making up their own definitions and expecting everyone else to accept and use them. "Article directory marketing" is an example of a made-up term (needing a definition) used by very few people on the Warrior Forum, and these few people are trying to force their personal opinions as accepted definitions.
            There is a documentary treatise regarding Article Directory Marketing written May 31, 2009 and posted on a highly regarded authority site. This is not a "made-up" term solely used in the WF.

            Article Directory Marketing
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            • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
              Originally Posted by myob View Post

              There is a documentary treatise regarding Article Directory Marketing written May 31, 2009 and posted on a highly regarded authority site. This is not a "made-up" term solely used in the WF.
              Forgive me, Paul...

              You reference a 324 word article written by someone who may have
              been using a pen name.

              I hardly think it qualifies for documentary treatise, though. Let's take,
              treatise, and go a little deeper. According to dictionary.com...

              Treatise - a formal and systematic exposition in writing of the principles of a subject, generally longer and more detailed than an essay.

              My general impression of a treatise is that it's much longer than 300 words
              and contains other elements of scholarly research. But we can skip all the
              scholarly stuff. lol

              While I applaud your effort and general inclinations to offer support, perhaps
              you should have left this one alone.




              Ken
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              • Profile picture of the author myob
                Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

                Forgive me, Paul...

                You reference a 324 word article written by someone who may have
                been using a pen name.

                I hardly think it qualifies for documentary treatise, though. Let's take,
                treatise, and go a little deeper. According to dictionary.com...

                Treatise - a formal and systematic exposition in writing of the principles of a subject, generally longer and more detailed than an essay.

                My general impression of a treatise is that it's much longer than 300 words
                and contains other elements of scholarly research. But we can skip all the
                scholarly stuff. lol

                While I applaud your effort and general inclinations to offer support, perhaps
                you should have left this one alone.




                Ken
                Ken,

                All you have done here is to add to the blurring of definition distinction through your exposition. And this unfounded deprecation of the author, whom you have assumed to be using a pen name without any documented evidence, shows your latent prejudice and blatant carelessness regarding the facts, as well as an apparently severe deficit in genuine intellectual discipline. Despite this highly biased malignment, the author has clearly demonstrated his prowess and expertise in "article directory marketing" by sheer volume of his other acclaimed documentaries.

                Just because your "general impression" of a treatise is that it's much longer than 300 words and contains other elements of "scholarly research" of which is highly subjective, shows your lack of experience in critical analysis of scholarly documentaries. With such oversights, perhaps it is you who should have left this one alone.

                The documentary treatise, "Article Directory Marketing" is 324 words long, which at the time of writing was well above the EZA standard of acceptance. The length of an essay or treatise (of which covers greater depth of the subject), has no bearing at all upon the singular qualifications of your objection. In addition, the author's documentary treatise has made a significant contribution in our common tapestry of culture for the definitive nature of this experience we now call "article directory marketing".

                Indeed, with just a few insightful words he has sparked controversy and discourse with this revolutionary concept, igniting passion and new markets for articles that were previously unspun and merely syndicated. Furthermore, the archived document proves beyond debate that the term "article directory marketing" is not a contrived coinage originating from the Warrior Forum.

                In summary of this critically acclaimed documentary treatise discussing in depth the definitive nature and concept of article directory marketing, article directory marketing is a proven key word-rich technique to spin and spin and spin articles for article directory marketers to market articles to article directories in their article directory marketing campaigns for backlinks and traffic from article directories.
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                • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
                  Originally Posted by myob View Post

                  Ken,

                  All you have done here is to add to the blurring of definition distinction through your exposition. The author, whom you have assumed to be using a pen name without any documented evidence, shows an immediate prejudice and blatant carelessness regarding the facts, and a severe deficit in genuine intellectual discipline. He has clearly demonstrated his prowess and expertise in "article directory marketing" by sheer volume of his other acclaimed documentaries.
                  LOL..

                  Paul, Paul... assumed? Did I?

                  Go back and read what I wrote. Go on...

                  There is no blurring, Paul. You were clearly stretching the accepted definitions
                  of both documentary and treatise. lol.

                  But that's ok, Paul.

                  Just because your "general impression" of a treatise is that it's much longer than 300 words and contains other elements of "scholarly research" of which is highly subjective, shows your lack of experience in critical analysis of scholarly documentaries. With such oversights, perhaps it is you who should have left this one alone.
                  It is not highly subjective, but we obviously disagree which is fine.

                  Paul.. I think you are confused about what a documentary actually is. I
                  think the word you are aiming for is, documents? Just a suggestion.

                  This is enough, Paul. Nice to run into you again.


                  Ken
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            • Profile picture of the author Kurt
              Originally Posted by myob View Post

              There is a documentary treatise regarding Article Directory Marketing written May 31, 2009 and posted on a highly regarded authority site. This is not a "made-up" term solely used in the WF.

              Article Directory Marketing
              Ummm...The phrase "Article Directory Marketing" appears exactly ONE time in the article on the "highly regarded authority site", as the title of the "article". No where in the "expert's" article does he/she mention article directory marketing.

              As a matter of fact the "expert" makes claims like "Signing up to EzineArticles would be great PR for your website as they are ranked 6th on Google!". He also starts and ends the article talking about "viral"...Seriously?

              Hey Ken...It looks like to me the title "Article Directory Marketing" maybe was spun. Wouldn't that be ironic?
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              • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
                Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

                Hey Ken...It looks like to me the title "Article Directory Marketing" maybe was spun. Wouldn't that be ironic?
                Hi Kurt,

                Yes, it certainly would be.


                Paul,

                I came back to post that the use of 'documentary' was correct, and I was wrong. The
                definition I was thinking about is actually the second definition given. The first is as
                it was used, above; a documentary treatise. While I disagree that a 300 word article
                hardly constitutes a treatise, it could be called a documentary article.

                Here:

                "pertaining to, consisting of, or derived from documents: a documentary history of France."

                That was sticking in my mind, so I had to look it up.

                Knowledge is good.


                Ken
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              • Profile picture of the author myob
                Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

                Ummm...The phrase "Article Directory Marketing" appears exactly ONE time in the article on the "highly regarded authority site", as the title of the "article". No where in the "expert's" article does he/she mention article directory marketing.

                As a matter of fact the "expert" makes claims like "Signing up to EzineArticles would be great PR for your website as they are ranked 6th on Google!". He also starts and ends the article talking about "viral"...Seriously?

                Hey Ken...It looks like to me the title "Article Directory Marketing" maybe was spun. Wouldn't that be ironic?
                This is not ironic at all. Spinning articles and relentlessly blasting them out to article directories is the very foundation and "furor scribendi" for article directory marketing itself. Many similarly spun articles documenting this entrenched practice can be found using a simple search as here:

                Secrets Of Article Directory Marketing
                Secrets Of Article Directory Marketing
                Beginners Guide to Article Directory Marketing
                What are the Secrets to Effective Article Directory Marketing?
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      • Profile picture of the author drmani
        Andy, I'm with you.

        Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

        Why try and label all the differences? Surely it's easier just to look at your situation and then brainstorm all the possibilities that make sense - they're not always going to be the same.
        Absolutely agree.

        However, unfortunately, the impassioned debates that spilled over (too many) threads have led to quite a few beginners being confused over basic things like terminology and labels.

        You and I know those aren't quite as important as results and impact.

        But unless one moves past them, there isn't going to be any impact!

        That's why I prefaced my post with this statement:

        "When the distinction between them blurs, too many things appear the same!"

        For many people following those threads, all 3 terms seem the same - and because they are used to indicate/describe DIFFERENT things (depending upon each member's view/opinion), the confusion only deepens.

        Wow - Do people really have hostile arguments about article marketing?
        I share your disbelief - and shake my head at it happening... but yes, there are quite a few arguments (some moderately hostile) around this very subject - I've witnessed some recently.

        It seems weird that anyone would want to argue about a simple marketing strategy and it's possible variations.
        Weirder still when the arguments center around what is being debated itself!

        I mean, when folks have started distinguishing between "article marketing" and "article directory marketing", something's got to give, huh?

        All success
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  • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
    The problem with discussions on article marketing is that, due to the nature of the game, no-one will reveal the articles they write or the places their articles are published. People don't reveal the niches they write for either.

    The issue is made more complicated by the fact that your article marketing strategy for one niche will not necessarily be the same as another niche. And most of the time your overall strategy will employ various tactics.

    Add to this the fact that anyone who has a financial interest in some kind of strategy will always appear somewhere in the thread to defend and promote this kind of strategy.

    Finally, article marketing is an art rather than a science and no-one knows the exact formula (although some pretend to).

    All this combines to create an environment in which people rely on guesses and hunches. Often, these speculations are not on the nature of article marketing but the nature of people posting in threads about article marketing. Again because no-one can/will offer any evidence to back up their claims or even fine-tune their point with the use of specific relevent examples, this results in a fair degree of skepticism.

    At its simplest, Article marketing is using the written word to promote a product or service. All of the other terms describe strategies and tactics to (a) gain a better audience, or (b) write a more effective article.
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    • Profile picture of the author drmani
      Originally Posted by Kierkegaard View Post

      The problem with discussions on article marketing is that, due to the nature of the game, no-one will reveal the articles they write or the places their articles are published. People don't reveal the niches they write for either.
      Well, even if they did, there would still be a problem, because everyone will be using articles and practicing article marketing for different purposes/reasons and have different goals, and therefore different approaches with them (as you have indicated in so many of your own previous posts)

      The issue is made more complicated by the fact that your article marketing strategy for one niche will not necessarily be the same as another niche. And most of the time your overall strategy will employ various tactics.
      Amen!

      Add to this the fact that anyone who has a financial interest in some kind of strategy will always appear somewhere in the thread to defend and promote this kind of strategy.
      I referred to this in passing in one of my earlier posts about article marketing, but only in passing because the smart readers obviously will get that point, and for others, it won't really matter - because of something called 'herd mentality' that's rooted in 'wisdom of crowds' thinking!

      Finally, article marketing is an art rather than a science and no-one knows the exact formula (although some pretend to).
      True.

      All this combines to create an environment in which people rely on guesses and hunches.
      imho, false. Many experienced article marketers rely on testing, measurements and hard, verifiable data. There's too much at stake to gamble on these things for quite a few who use article marketing very effectively.

      At its simplest, Article marketing is using the written word to promote a product or service.
      That's still a restrictive definition. What about using article marketing to spread an idea? A brand? A concept? A cause?

      That's why I used a broader based definition of "using articles for marketing".

      A sub-set of such marketing would be the promoting of products and services.

      I think of this as viewing the same thing from a micro- or macro- perspective, like you might from high up in the sky, then at closer quarters, and then through a magnifying glass.

      The view, in each case, will be different - even if it's of the same object!

      All success
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      • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
        Originally Posted by drmani View Post

        Originally Posted by Kierkegaard

        The problem with discussions on article marketing is that, due to the nature of the game, no-one will reveal the articles they write or the places their articles are published. People don't reveal the niches they write for either.
        Well, even if they did, there would still be a problem, because everyone will be using articles and practicing article marketing for different purposes/reasons and have different goals, and therefore different approaches with them (as you have indicated in so many of your own previous posts)
        Much less of a problem though.

        Suppose someone said, "I write for topics in the Men's Health niche. My strategy is .... Here's my author name(s) on EZA etc. and here's my site(s). And, here are all the high PR authority websites my articles have been published on." Anyone else, hoping to get into this particular niche will know exactly what to do. Anyone trying to do something different will know to take this into account when reading advice given by this person as it may not apply.

        Which is why, of course, no-one is ever going to reveal this information.

        Alternatively, someone could say what niche(s) they write for and simply list 10 authority websites that use articles they've picked up from places like EZA and/or regularly use guest bloggers. Email newsletters can be included to. Obviously, this person's articles would be on those websites but we wouldn't know which particular ones.

        Armed with this information someone could tell what niches are best served by syndication. And the sorts of article that get syndicated.

        Again however someone is pretty much showing their exact strategy, so unlikely someone would do it.

        The best way would be to find out for yourself!


        Someone could just take a niche from thin air and throw it out - like Public Speaking.

        The next question would be...

        Which authority websites use material written by others (that includes a link back to the writer's own website)?

        These should be easy to find because all the authority websites are easy to find! All you have to do is type public speaking related keywords into google and the authority sites will the be ones ranking on the first page.

        Once you find an article written by someone else, you can do two things: (1) click on the link and find their website, and, (2) copy and paste the first couple of sentences of their article and search for this in Google to find all the other websites using this article.

        Now you know...
        1. The types of article being syndicated in your chosen niche
        2. The type of websites publishing these articles
        3. What this successful writer does with the websites his/her articles link to.
        In effect, this person's article marketing stategy, or part of it, at least has been revealed to you as if they told you themselves.
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        • Profile picture of the author drmani
          Originally Posted by Kierkegaard View Post

          Once you find an article written by someone else, you can do two things: (1) click on the link and find their website, and, (2) copy and paste the first couple of sentences of their article and search for this in Google to find all the other websites using this article.

          Now you know...
          1. The types of article being syndicated in your chosen niche
          2. The type of websites publishing these articles
          3. What this successful writer does with the websites his/her articles link to.
          In effect, this person's article marketing stategy, or part of it, at least has been revealed to you as if they told you themselves.

          EXCEPT... they are aware that you'll try and do that.

          And can choose to hide the way they do it, so you can't
          find out (at least too easily).

          Like I said here:

          No single person or guide out there is doing ALL of these various
          things simultaneously in a way that you can see, observe and
          learn their nuances.
          For instance, you would find it hard to
          follow my own work and figure out how I'm tapping into ALL of
          these variations - and that's because I am AWARE that it has
          a competitive advantage, and WILL NOT make it easy for anyone
          to spy on my process.

          In fact, if I were so inclined (but I'm not! ) I might even
          deliberately mis-lead you in the wrong direction - so you do
          not compete effectively against me!
          It's also true that if I take you through my entire process and
          explain every component of my strategy, you still won't be
          able to mimic it, or mirror my achievements, because in the
          end, I am me - and you are you. Different things drive us.
          We have different styles, preferences and choices. And we
          WILL do things in different ways.


          What matters is measuring and tracking those things, and
          seeing if they take us closer to where WE want to go - and
          not obsess about deconstructing someone else's process
          beyond a point.

          Too many variables are at play in something as diverse and
          fascinating as article marketing. There isn't a tested and
          proven formula that ALWAYS works.

          That's why Andy Henrys's comment is so relevant:

          I don't understand why people feel the need to make all these distinctions - there are lots of ways to use your content and the content of others...
          Surely it's easier just to look at your situation and then brainstorm all the possibilities that make sense - they're not always going to be the same.
          This thread was originally started to avoid this very issue
          of folks (mainly beginners) getting caught up in trying to
          understand what each term means, and what people are saying
          about each... and to highlight the reality that it doesn't
          quite matter so much as trying out things, seeing if they
          work for you, repeating them and (if possible) integrating
          them into a system that you can repeat and scale.

          That would be POWER article marketing, for sure.

          But a precious few are doing it.

          It's good to be one of them!

          All success
          Dr.Mani
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          • Profile picture of the author drmani
            Originally Posted by drmani View Post

            EXCEPT... they are aware that you'll try and do that.

            And can choose to hide the way they do it, so you can't
            find out (at least too easily).
            I thought I'd highlight this with a recent example.

            My articles are syndicated on one of the top IM blogs,
            Yaro Starak's "Entrepreneurs Journey".

            If you try and repeat the process outlined above, you
            won't find many 'secrets' exposed.

            If you browse Yaro's site and find other content of
            mine, you won't be able to figure out what the overall
            plan is.

            If you follow the links in my signature, you'll realize
            they point to diverse components of my online presence.

            Only I (and sometimes even I wonder at it) have an idea
            of how all these things integrate overall into a plan
            - and do it strategically.

            The simplest way to find out is... TO ASK ME!

            I might tell you.

            Or sell you the information.

            Or turn down your request.

            But find it out yourself? Good luck

            All success
            Dr.Mani
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            Email Marketing Tips | How To Focus Better | Time Management
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            • Profile picture of the author myob
              One of my niches is "mesothelioma", in which I've been making a killing for years, and have posted on several occasions how I do it. The same process is used in dozens of my other extremely competitive niches; some of which I have also alluded to. There is always plenty of room for more competition. Just go for it.
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              • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
                Originally Posted by myob View Post

                One of my niches is "mesothelioma", in which I've been making a killing for years
                That's an unfortunate turn of phrase
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                • Profile picture of the author myob
                  Originally Posted by Kierkegaard View Post

                  That's an unfortunate turn of phrase
                  It was asbestos I could do.
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                  • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
                    Originally Posted by myob View Post

                    It was asbestos I could do.
                    lmao

                    That was pretty good I have to admit.
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  • Profile picture of the author mark healy
    great post loved it
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  • Profile picture of the author akif
    So after reading all this.. i still have a question, Should i stop writing articles for websites ? or should i keep writing them? do they have worth in Google or in Search engines ?
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    • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
      Originally Posted by akif View Post

      So after reading all this.. i still have a question, Should i stop writing articles for websites ? or should i keep writing them? do they have worth in Google or in Search engines ?
      Are you talking about putting up content on your own website(s) or article directories or something else?

      RoD
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  • You could debate the term "Article Directory Marketing" and what people perceive to be its current purpose.

    Think about what marketing means, and if those who use directories to only build backlinks, then their articles function is not to sell or promote any product or service, but to help his/her page in the serps.

    So rather than coining it "Article Directory Marketing", wouldn't it just be "backlink building".

    You could argue though that the desired secondary affects of those distributed articles is for people to click through and buy.

    Hmmm, I wonder...
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  • Profile picture of the author omk
    Good post! It's amazing how people introduce confusion into something that doesn't have to be.
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  • Profile picture of the author Warrior Markets
    Originally Posted by Hamida Harland View Post

    There does seem to be one or two individuals around the forum at the moment that vehemently claim 'article syndication' to be the only form of 'real' article marketing.
    I, too, have found this; any debate about article marketing now, and there's an all-out assault against the "conventional" form, all in favour of having one's work "syndicated" (taking into account Dr. Mani's definitions here).

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but a) it is often presented as if it is the only viable form of article marketing; b) there is an expedient failure to acknowledge the different writing abilities of the marketers, which would/does dramatically change how successful others are likely to be in having their articles syndicated.

    In my experience there are many different ways of making it work, and articles have many more purposes than just syndication.
    Exactly.

    -WM
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Marker
    Article Writing = tapping your keyboard to make words appear on your screen so that these words, read one after the other, communicate an idea to the readers.

    Article Marketing = creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging articles that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

    Article Syndication
    = making your article(s) available for publication by many websites, magazines and newspapers at the same time.

    Article Arguments
    = disputes on forums over the best way of going about article marketing. Previous disputes have included: posting the same article to your blog and an article directory; spinning articles whether to or not to, how many articles to write and submit a day; whether or not article marketing is dead.

    Most people understand that there are many different ways of going about article marketing and that different blogs/niches/master plans will make more use of one method than another. A minority of people seem insistent that only one method is now viable and any challenge to this idea is taken as a suggestion that some other method is the only way to go.
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  • Profile picture of the author Wills
    myob,

    I hope your articles are better than your jokes!

    Just kidding.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by Wills View Post

      myob,

      I hope your articles are better than your jokes!

      Just kidding.
      My articles on mesothelioma may be long-winded, but the results are absolutely breath-taking.
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