Article Marketing Sucks And Is A Waste Of Time.

[Andyhenry]

Hi Warriors,

I've had a few people tell me lately that article marketing is a waste of time and that they don't think people should tell newbies to do it.

I don't usually give generic advice like 'start out with article marketing' to people just starting out since I often find that they have valuable skills or experience which mean they can get a much more profitable business setup from the beginning, but I know that a lot of people do tell others to do article marketing and it seems popular in this forum.

I've always supplemented what I do with article marketing since it has seo and traffic benefits, but I thought it would interesting to see what warriors thought about it as advice for newbies.

Like I say, I usually don't advise people to start out with article marketing unless I've spoken to them and they have almost no other value to bring to a new business and they just want to get started doing something - but I'm guessing other warriors feel differently based on the amount of talk about it here so I've added a poll for you to vote on and see what others think too.

Andy

[Kael41]

Article marketing should just be one peg in the spoke. Period. Although some build their net income off of AM, people shouldn' lay all of their eggs in one basket. I can't tell you how many articles we've written over the years for IM'ers so that they can have articles created for distribution. It' s alot. That being said, i had an IM'er come back to me after 2 years of not using me and requested another batch of 20 articles from the same writer because "my article is STILL number 2 of google for x,y,z terms".

And you know what? That article is a GREAT presell which led to his affiliate page from which he made good money.

Use Article Marketing if you want to presell, gather backlinks, or develop an online personna. But don't lay all of your eggs in that one basket. It's easy to do, cheap, and depending on your skillset, shouldn't take a lot of time.

[Christie Love]

To tell you the truth, I think there are better ways to make money than article marketing for newbies.

Even if they absolutely didn't have any money at all to invest... that may be the worst option to go with. There are special techniques and skill to being a successful article marketing, which doesn't happen overnight. I think newbies get the impression that by just writing a few articles, they are going to generate tons of income. This is true for a few, but not for the masses.

I would tell a newbie to think about their strengths and passions then build on that to make a successful IM business. That entails many other options besides article marketing.

[greff]

I agree with Christie.

AM may work (for some) but the time invested may be better used (for some).

My personal experience is not all that great with AM. In fact, my research shows that in many cases the only people who take your articles are spam/scammers. You know, those sites with the faded text that you can't read? MAYBE they will give you credit but more often than not they will not make your links hot.

Well, I will agree that it could be effective as one of the many spokes. But doing five articles a day as some suggest, that is sheer madness.

Show me the money! Any takers? Any solid proof?

[Steven Wagenheim]

Andy, even though, as you know, I am a big fan of article marketing, I am
going to make my comments as totally unbiased as I can, especially given
what I have learned over the years and from this forum, more specifically
from you, John Taylor, Big Mike and Bev Clement.

1. For starters, one shouldn't even attempt to do any article marketing unless
they are either very good writers or have the money to outsource the writing
as this is a skill and not just something you can plug into.

2. Article marketing is NOT a quick process. In some niches, it is faster than
others, but my own experience has been that I need to write a lot of articles
to get a significant amount of traffic. A handful of articles won't cut it unless
you are in a very special niche.

Pros: It's cheap. Anybody can do it even if they're piss poor, provided they
have the skills to write. Also, if you pick the right keywords, your audience
will be very targeted.

Cons: It's slow. It's not like pay per click, which can bring you tons of
visitors to your site very quickly.

I don't think it's for everybody and even I am starting to cut back on my
writing as I am doing other things now. Of course, part of the reason for
cutting back on my article writing is that I have so many articles already
out there bringing me so much traffic (2 years plus worth) that I don't
have to write so much anymore.

I'm not sure if I've missed anything or not, but that's my honest and
unbiased view on article marketing.

What do you think Andy?

[Simon_Sezs]

I know that a lot of people make money with article marketing. The truth is that MORE people don't make money with article marketing (hence, all the "article marketing doesn't work" threads).

The benefit of article marketing is anyone at any skill level can do it. The trouble with article marketing is anyone can start doing it right away at any skill level.

I have always found article marketing good for testing the market and the organic search engine placement. If it tests well, then I may expand on it. If it doesn't then it was 10-15 minutes of my life wasted and I move on.

[martinp]

I went for yes. I think for someone who has no other experience with marketing (but has reasonable writing skills) it’s a great way to get started (it’s how I earned my first serious dollars online myself).

Doing article marketing you can learn so many valuable skills that you can apply to other areas e.g. preselling, copywriting, blogging, niche selection, product selection, use of keywords and SEO – I could go on. There IS a lot more to it though than just the ‘basic’ bum marketing and I wouldn't say it's easy for everyone either. It takes practice, and hard work. There’s also a lot of trial and error involved in the beginning when trying out different niches, different titles, resource boxes etc. Newbies often give up way too quickly when it doesn’t seem to be working for them.

Without article marketing I wouldn’t be where I am today – it’s given me a good basic foundation and now I’m moving on to the more ‘grown up’ marketing like product creation and PPC. I still do article marketing for backlinks and traffic (although I outsource the vast majority), but if you really want to get past a certain level of earnings, article marketing shouldn’t be your main business model. I know with article marketing alone (10 articles a day) I could probably earn about $6000+ a month BUT I’d need to keep writing those 10 articles daily to keep up those earnings. That’s when it starts to become like a J-O-B.

[Jason Fladlien]

The problem with saying "article marketing" is that it's too broad. Bum marketing is very rapidly losing its effectiveness, and I would say that after you reach a certain point, then it is a waste of time.

However, there are other ways to use article marketing that are very profitable, especially if you tie them together with other tools. For example, if you become a local search engine specialist, you could do it largely JUST with article marketing, and get paid a lot of money. I know people who do $2,000 deals that only require they write 10-20 articles. After you set up one of those deals, you outsource the articles and article marketing becomes even more profitable.

-Jason

[Michael Dominic]

Article marketing is very valuable in every aspect.

What more can you ask for than FREE traffic?!

[stacyfox]

Article marketing is a great way for newbies to get started because 1.) It's free and 2.) You learn skills transferable to other areas of IM such as keyword research and SEO.

If you are a good writer, you can get hundreds or thousands of views and a high CTR. I started article marketing in April and have several articles with views in the 1000's including one with 4000 views. I'm averaging a 25% CTR and have one article that has a 41% CTR. As a result of article marketing alone, I've built a list of more than 700 opt ins in a non-IM niche in a very short amount of time.

You do have to be a good writer to make article marketing work. People who aren't comfortable with English and/or writing will probably not be successful with this medium. But it still ranks among the best ways to get started.

[MsSpider]

I think for people who enjoy writing, article marketing can be an excellent marketing method. It has worked well for me in certain cases and I would recommend it, definitely! However, there are some directories that are better than others, as we all know.

[Allen Graves]

I'm sure everyone knows my answer...LOL

But I just had to chime in and say this...

Several folks above talk about how AM is losing effectiveness, some are saying that it doesn't work for most people, some say it doesn't work for people just coming into IM. If it doesn't work for you, does that mean it doesn't work?

Since my wife quit smoking with the patch, but it didn't work for me, does that mean the patch sucks and nobody should try it?

Now, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I have been researching article marketing in GREAT detail for years. I have even gone on to make a career out of it. That being said, it really pisses me off when blanket statements like this are made without so much as a personal example!

I mean, come one! I could sit here all day and talk a bunch of smack. But why should anyone believe me if I don't back it up?

Someone even mentioned their own research...but there's no solid proof that their data even exists. Where are the cold hard facts?

How many articles did you submit? What niche were you in? What was your CTR? What is your writing style/ability? Where did you submit your articles? Where were they syndicated? Did you do any research? Did you use PLR? What keywords did you target? How much did you research your niche? Did you create relationships or build a list?

Maybe I am stepping on toes here, but after actually doing the research and spending the many years worth of time, I just get so angry when people make statements that I know (from cold, hard facts) are completely opposite from the real world! I'm sure there are others who frequent this forum that know that what I am saying is true.

So I apologize if I made anyone mad...but you made me mad first. LOL

It's all good, I just had to step up and make a statement.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves

[Simon_Sezs]

Originally Posted by Michael Dominic

Article marketing is very valuable in every aspect.

What more can you ask for than FREE traffic?!

It depends on your definition of FREE. Sure article marketing is free in terms of price. But what about the time it takes to build the articles and inundate the market?.....if you measure time as a factor, then it certainly isn't free.

**Just playing devil's advocate here**

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Allen Graves

I'm sure everyone knows my answer...LOL

But I just had to chime in and say this...

Several folks above talk about how AM is losing effectiveness, some are saying that it doesn't work for most people, some say it doesn't work for people just coming into IM. If it doesn't work for you, does that mean it doesn't work?

Since my wife quit smoking with the patch, but it didn't work for me, does that mean the patch sucks and nobody should try it?

Now, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I have been researching article marketing in GREAT detail for years. I have even gone on to make a career out of it. That being said, it really pisses me off when blanket statements like this are made without so much as a personal example!

I mean, come one! I could sit here all day and talk a bunch of smack. But why should anyone believe me if I don't back it up?

Someone even mentioned their own research...but there's no solid proof that their data even exists. Where are the cold hard facts?

How many articles did you submit? What niche were you in? What was your CTR? What is your writing style/ability? Where did you submit your articles? Where were they syndicated? Did you do any research? Did you use PLR? What keywords did you target? How much did you research your niche? Did you create relationships or build a list?

Maybe I am stepping on toes here, but after actually doing the research and spending the many years worth of time, I just get so angry when people make statements that I know (from cold, hard facts) are completely opposite from the real world! I'm sure there are others who frequent this forum that know that what I am saying is true.

So I apologize if I made anyone mad...but you made me mad first. LOL

It's all good, I just had to step up and make a statement.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves

Allen, I think you know I'm a big fan of article marketing. Most of my income
comes from it.

But, if you can't write your way out of a paper bag, you're not going to
be good at it, which leaves you only one option...outsource the writing.

However, if you're piss poor, you can't do that either.

So, for some people, article marketing just isn't going to work or isn't
a viable option.

Having said that, I don't think you have to be a Hemingway to be a
decent article marketer. I think if you have even just average writing
skills you can make it work. Actually, keyword selection and niche selection
is just as important, if not more so, than writing skills.

But of course this is just my opinion.

[Simon_Sezs]

Originally Posted by Allen Graves

I'm sure everyone knows my answer...LOL

But I just had to chime in and say this...

Several folks above talk about how AM is losing effectiveness, some are saying that it doesn't work for most people, some say it doesn't work for people just coming into IM. If it doesn't work for you, does that mean it doesn't work?

Since my wife quit smoking with the patch, but it didn't work for me, does that mean the patch sucks and nobody should try it?

Now, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I have been researching article marketing in GREAT detail for years. I have even gone on to make a career out of it. That being said, it really pisses me off when blanket statements like this are made without so much as a personal example!

I mean, come one! I could sit here all day and talk a bunch of smack. But why should anyone believe me if I don't back it up?

Someone even mentioned their own research...but there's no solid proof that their data even exists. Where are the cold hard facts?

How many articles did you submit? What niche were you in? What was your CTR? What is your writing style/ability? Where did you submit your articles? Where were they syndicated? Did you do any research? Did you use PLR? What keywords did you target? How much did you research your niche? Did you create relationships or build a list?

Maybe I am stepping on toes here, but after actually doing the research and spending the many years worth of time, I just get so angry when people make statements that I know (from cold, hard facts) are completely opposite from the real world! I'm sure there are others who frequent this forum that know that what I am saying is true.

So I apologize if I made anyone mad...but you made me mad first. LOL

It's all good, I just had to step up and make a statement.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves

No, that is a great post, Allen and considering your expertise, I would have to say you know your weight in salt. The problem is that most new IMers expect instantaneous results not really understanding basic marketing principles.

They pop off 20-30 articles in unresearched niches and then expect something to happen. Some get lucky. Most don't. It is kind of like trying to hit the bullseye with the lights off.

[Jeannie Crabtree]

Article writing and marketing is only a part of the package that is needed to start out.
Some people may not be cut out for it. At the very least, I think they need to pick up
an ebook on how to do article marketing before starting with it. It would cut back on the learning curve immensly.

In addition, if they had the finances, ppc is a much quicker way of getting visitors and judging whether it is a good niche to get into or not. This option may save them months
of work that turns out not to be a good investment.

Personally, I have have a good number of articles on the net, but there have been times I have been too burnt out, to continue writing articles. I get click throughs from articles written years ago, so it does work.

One needs to weigh everything out and just see it as a part of the whole picture.

Jeannie

[Allen Graves]

Steve, you're right - but those people are few and far between as far as I know. I actually don't have any facts on that off the top of my head.

Simon,

You're right too. So is the problem in the fact that people think writing 20 articles and submitting them to directories is article marketing? Because it's not!

I've been trying to get people to realize this forever...but there are way too many coming into IM than I can keep up with.

AL

[Frank Bruno]

I think article marketing is great for newbies to get their cash wheels rolling.

Also by them having first hand experiences in certain marketing efforts they will become much more knowlegeable in each area that they can apply consistantly or figure out a way to become really good with a method that works for them.

When a newbie finds a method that works for them, that can be one of the most powerful motivators to help them stay focused until they feel more comfortable to where they can branch out.

Frank Bruno

[Dean Shainin]

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when first getting started with article marketing and you can quickly see this fact by my old article stats.

Now I can crank out a single article that can literally generate the amount of article views that it used to take from 100 articles in the past.

This in NOT to brag but to convey there is a big difference from the first article I wrote.

Why can a single article generate 50,000+ views unlike the typical article that generates about 500 views and generate hundreds of subscribers leading to sales for both front and back end products and services.

Knowledge from actual experience of writing and marketing tactics properly applied.

The more you do anything in life the better you get.

Case in point...

Primarily my article writing and marketing success is due to taking action at EzineArticles and doing things the right way and expounding upon using the content that has already been written. With 10 to 15 articles on any given niche one can create a report or ebook and bring it to market and make thousands of dollar on the back end with content you ave already created.

I’m not telling you this to brag but to tell you that I used to hate to write.

Try to remember I did NOT accomplish success in 2 weeks by submitting 5 articles and then saying “O.K. I’m done until I get rich. I’m not writing any more articles”. It took me over 36 months to get to where I am now.

Do you have a goal? If not you may want to set one now. Try to set realistic goals and stick to them through thick and thin. Even a simple goal of one single article per week would end up being 48 articles within 12 months.

Let me make this clear right now. If you do things right, you don’t have to write and submit 1,000's upon 1,000's of articles.

Many people are bleeding red ink in their finances and are in a survival mode and looking for a free strategy to get started. Hence, probably one of the primary reasons article marketing is popular.

There are so many people who really struggle and simply don’t know how to do article marketing properly so I'd have to say it's not for everyone. I was a newbie when starting out and now can write my own sales copy because of writing so many articles.

Value?

Priceless...

Why?

A 10 page sales letter can cost up to $10,000 or more.

Here is a direct link to the Gary Halbert Letter that I learned so many vital aspects of writing. Gary is no longer with us in the physical but he sure is in spirit. This is what the real copywriters followed to get the inside “mind set” of Gary Halbert, one of the greatest copywriters of all time. halbert newsletter archives

Cheers,
Dean Shainin



My Vote: I think it depends...

[WritingMadwoman]

AM has done wonders for me, but I agree it's not for everyone. I've seen some mighty awful articles out there and immediately click away because I can't read any further. But like others have said, if you've got decent writing skills and you're covering popular topics, you'll definitely get readers, clicks, and maybe even syndicated to other sites, used in newsletters, etc.

And Steven W, just a side note, sometimes I don't even pay the least attention to keywords and it still works great. I just write on a topic because I have something to say about it, promote a related site or product in the bio box, and voila! - visitors, subs and buyers! I guess there are real people visiting the article directories, not just search engines. LOL :-) But of course, I agree that targeting keywords is a good idea generally.

Anyway, I voted for "it depends."

Wendy

[OnlineMasterMind]

I think one of the most valuable skills, in terms of making money with article writing isn't necessarily writing, it's COPYWRITING.

If you take the long tailed keywords and create a good HEADLINE with them...

If your article is written in a way that compels people to take ACTION...

Then article writing can be a good way for a newbie to make some money and more importantly learn IM basics...

But if you don't know how to do this (it's not that hard) it will definitely suck and be a waste of time.

[mdunn123]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Allen, I think you know I'm a big fan of article marketing. Most of my income
comes from it.

But, if you can't write your way out of a paper bag, you're not going to
be good at it, which leaves you only one option...outsource the writing.

However, if you're piss poor, you can't do that either.

So, for some people, article marketing just isn't going to work or isn't
a viable option.

Having said that, I don't think you have to be a Hemingway to be a
decent article marketer. I think if you have even just average writing
skills you can make it work. Actually, keyword selection and niche selection
is just as important, if not more so, than writing skills.

But of course this is just my opinion.

Agreed 100% with you Steve!

I love article marketing, and while I don't exactly LOVE writing articles I don't exactly mind it far too much either. I think the biggest problem with most people that take the route of article marketing is not even so much in how well or poor their writing is, but how they market those articles. There is far more than just submitting your article to ezine and waiting.

[Jon Alexander]

if you automate the process, its the easiest money you'll ever make.

[djones]

Some IM methods seem so complicated, especially to someone new to it. And while some people will be very gung-ho about it, and embrace the challenge, others will be so overwhelmed they give up before they really begin.

The appeal of article marketing and bum marketing is they are easy. They might be a little intimidating but not too overwhelming. So someone new to IM will be comfortable enough with those methods to actually try them.

Now it's true that article marketing won't work for everyone. But I think that just starting to do something in IM, even if it didn't work out, will make a person more likely to actually try something else.

[kenj]

I started 3 months ago and was getting 9 - 10% CTR. I am now over 15% and rising.
Just some stats for you. so about 10000 views and 1500 clicks. I was rubbish for the first 5 articles but now I know how to get the clicks and the interest.

I learnt all this from many warriors here including Timg, peter drew, Xfactor etc. So this forum can actually teach you how to get it right.

This post is a bad example of my writing

[TimG]

Is article marketing right for someone new to IM - Truthfully probably not, but when I say that I think it's important to define what is meant by new to IM.

For example, someone that doesn't know how to purchase a domain name, upload a website or any of the other tasks we now take for granted should not be focused on article marketing because they have yet to master the basic skills needed to initially survive online prior to building a business and making a profit.

However, that same person may be a great writer so although they may not be able to effectively conduct article marketing operations they could still make money from effective article writing. Personally, I think that is where the big difference in success and failure occurs (article writing vs article marketing).

Lets not forget that article marketing is simply a form of traffic generation where article writing is nothing more then writing an article on a specific niche topic. The two are vastly different.

The best article writer will make far less then the worst article writer if the best article writer only submits his article to the least performing article directory that is rarely visited by anyone and ranks nowehere in the search engines and the worst article writer submits his poorly written article to the top 10 article directories - The secret is in the marketing aspect of the article campaign.

Much like Dean mentioned in his posting, my first article submissions were horrible in nature but they got the job done in terms of generating traffic, ranking in the search engines and producing income because the field of article marketing was so new. Today those same articles wouldn't perform nearly as well in their current incarnation but with a little polish they could easily do better and that is another key to success with articles - knowing what type of polish to use and how to use it.

An article is an article but article marketing involves at a minimum the following:

1 - The correct title

2 - The correct resource box with a call to action

3 - Submitting to the correct directories

4 - The right niche or topic (although this isn't necessarily a show stopper as I believe you can make money in nearly any niche. Its just that some are better then others).

5 - Persistance to succeed - 3 years ago 10 articles on a particular niche could make you money. 2 years ago the number of required articles hovered around 30. Last year I would say you needed at least 50 articles to start making a dent and now in order to truly dominate a niche and make a good monthly amount in a niche you might need upwards of 150 articles per niche. However, please don;t get frustrated by that statement, because you can still start making money in a niche within 224-36 hours with as little as one article but only if you follow proper article marketing techniques.

Remember, it's not article writing that generates the big dollars, it's article marketing combined with good article writing.

Respectfully,
Tim

[Andres]

I think anyone that totally disregards article marketing is a fool HOWEVER it really depends on the product you are selling. If your product is information based then article marketing is important for the simple fact that people are craving information on the subject.

Also many folks that failed with article marketing simply didn't do it correctly. They had a crap title or their sig didn't get the reader to click through.

At the same time those marketers that use eBay don't need article marketing. What is the point? Also if you have a website selling women's shoes - what the hell will you write about?

Anyway that's what I think.

Andres

[Allen Graves]

Andres,

I've been an article reviewer for several years now.

You'd actually be surprised at the wide variety of websites that people promote with article marketing.

I actually have seen several article marketers promoting women's AND men's shoes. In their case, they never ran out of ideas. I don't know how they did it, but they kept submitting original, non-regurgitated stuff.

There's really no limit to the type of product you can promote with article marketing, sometimes it's even a bit humorous.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves

[macchiavelli]

Article marketing is great if you want backlinks. Thats it in my opinion.

The traffic I received from my article marketing adventures were horribly low and didnt convert for me at all.
That could have had multiple reasons but the traffic was so low that I didnt even bother submitting more.

The links I got on the other hand were great and helped me get a PR2 in no time.
I wouldnt reccomend newbies to do article marketing as it takes a while before you see results i.e sales(if any).

That can be very discouraging.

[Andres]

Hi Allen - if you can sell ice to eskimos then go for it.

But I guess you're right if you have a passion then obstacles seem to not get in the way.

Andres

[TimG]

Originally Posted by Andres

Also if you have a website selling women's shoes - what the hell will you write about?

Andres

Well you could write about the following:

1 - How to prevent vericose veins with (insert shoe name)
2 - What to Wear with Wedge Heeled Shoes
3 - Flats and Heels to Wear with Casual Clothes
4 - Attractive footwear alternatives to sneakers
5 - Shoes that can Help You Looking Thinner
6 - The Best Shoes for Short and Mini Skirts
7 - Turn Plain Shoes into Something Special With Shoe Clips
8 - Cute and Comfortable Shoes For Pregnant Women
9 - The Worst Shoes to Wear to an Interview
10 - How to Wear Mules and Backless Shoes
11 - The Flattering Ways To Wear Knee High Boots
12 - Making the Move from Sneakers To High Heels
13 - How To Walk In High Heels Without Embarrassing Yourself
14 - Tips for Making Flats Look Fabulous
15 - The Best Shoes To Wear So He Notices You
16 - Essential Women's Shoes - Top Picks
17 - The Best Shoes for Cropped Pants
18 - Tips for Making Big Feet Appear Smaller With The Right Shoes
19 - Combat Common Foot Problems With The Right Shoes
20 - Ballerina Flats - What to Wear with Them
21 - Shoe Styles for Your Body Shape
22 - Favorite Shoe Inventions for 2008
23 - Gladiator Sandals for Summer 2008
24 - Fall Shoe Trends
25 - Crocs Shoes - What Makes Them So Popular
26 - Shopping for Discount Shoes
27 - Are Flip-Flops Damaging Your Feet?
28 - Finding Shoes for Larger Feet
29 - Statement Shoes – Heel Art For 2008
30 - Tips For Shoe Shopping Online

It took about 2 minutes to find those titles. You could also go to ezinearticles.com and do a search for shoes on their website where you will be directed to a page that shows this - Web Results 1 - 10 of about 36,700 from ezinearticles.com for shoes - Now that's alot of articles on shoes which should give someone plenty of ideas to work with.

If you wanted to get even more specific you could do a search on ezinearticles.com for "womens shoes" and see this - Web Results 1 - 10 of about 5,380 from ezinearticles.com for womens shoes - Again, lots of ideas on what to write about in terms of womens shoes.

Just food for thought...

Remember - article writing pays the bills but article marketing eliminates the bills!!!

Respectfully,
Tim

[Andyhenry]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Andy, even though, as you know, I am a big fan of article marketing, I am
going to make my comments as totally unbiased as I can, especially given
what I have learned over the years and from this forum, more specifically
from you, John Taylor, Big Mike and Bev Clement.

1. For starters, one shouldn't even attempt to do any article marketing unless
they are either very good writers or have the money to outsource the writing
as this is a skill and not just something you can plug into.

2. Article marketing is NOT a quick process. In some niches, it is faster than
others, but my own experience has been that I need to write a lot of articles
to get a significant amount of traffic. A handful of articles won't cut it unless
you are in a very special niche.

Pros: It's cheap. Anybody can do it even if they're piss poor, provided they
have the skills to write. Also, if you pick the right keywords, your audience
will be very targeted.

Cons: It's slow. It's not like pay per click, which can bring you tons of
visitors to your site very quickly.

I don't think it's for everybody and even I am starting to cut back on my
writing as I am doing other things now. Of course, part of the reason for
cutting back on my article writing is that I have so many articles already
out there bringing me so much traffic (2 years plus worth) that I don't
have to write so much anymore.

I'm not sure if I've missed anything or not, but that's my honest and
unbiased view on article marketing.

What do you think Andy?

I personally don't think of article marketing as either good or bad - it's just one strategy in a sea of options.

I've used it in some projects and not in others.

I've got articles that have hundreds of thousands of views and have been bringing in traffic for years, and others that were never intended to bring traffic but to set an expectation within the niche.

There's no doubt that you can create a very successful business without ever considering article marketing and it's certainly not necessary for most people - but in many markets it's certainly an avenue that for someone starting out may (because you can do it quickly and cheaply) be something that is a good use of their time.

I would say also though that using the same skills to create nice press releases, sales copy and content for your website is often just as effective - but it all depends on your preferences (many people hate writing) and business model (I have businesses where all of the customers come from offline channels, so no Internet based marketing is required to make the revenue and would just be a nice addition which may get 'extra' business).

What I do see is many people starting out online and assuming that they can't create anything of significant inherent value, and so they turn to article marketing as a way to start. My experience having spoken to many people like this is that they actually have much more to offer than they give themselves credit for and are actually harming their short and long term success by starting out in that way.

But everyone is different so I don't think you can generalise to the point where you can say that any particular strategy is right for everyone.


Andy

[johnmiley]

If you can write well enough and fast enough, it's an easy gig.
Sure, it's slower than some methods of traffic generation, but it's possibly a better way to bring pre-screened traffic (targeted) to your site--after all, they did read about your topic!

Being organized and methodical about it helps too. It's not a one-shot and run system. You should commit to dripping articles into the system at regular intervals.

Just when I think AW's too slow, or too much work, I see an article bring 500 visitors to a page on my site, with conversions, and think, "that traffic would've cost me $400 on Google Adwords"--so, it can be a good method to use in your arsenal of traffic tools.

[Andyhenry]

Originally Posted by johnmiley

If you can write well enough and fast enough, it's an easy gig.
Sure, it's slower than some methods of traffic generation, but it's possibly a better way to bring pre-screened traffic (targeted) to your site--after all, they did read about your topic!

Being organized and methodical about it helps too. It's not a one-shot and run system. You should commit to dripping articles into the system at regular intervals.

Just when I think AW's too slow, or too much work, I see an article bring 500 visitors to a page on my site, with conversions, and think, "that traffic would've cost me $400 on Google Adwords"--so, it can be a good method to use in your arsenal of traffic tools.

I hear you John,

But my most effective methods of traffic generation have always been JVs, so if I'm suffering from lack of traffic that usually tells me I've got something else wrong, rather than I need to rely on article marketing to get some.

I accept that AM can often help, but I'm just making the point that quite often people seem to think that AM and other link building strategies are the only (or primary) way to get traffic, when my experience is that those tend to be the 'backup' activities to build some extra traffic so that sales happen regardless of anything else, but I would never expect that AM would be my main source of traffic - or I'd think I've missed the boat massively in my focus.

Andy

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

I've had a few people tell me lately that article marketing is a waste of time and that they don't think people should tell newbies to do it.

I've never tried article marketing (until joining this forum a couple weeks ago) because I've heard people saying for 2, 3, 4 and maybe more years ago that article marketing just wasn't working anymore. So, I never tried it because I wasn't about to spend my time on something that ultimately would prove to be ineffective, like FFA.

But, obviously, it has been working for some people, otherwise you wouldn't see established marketers continue to do it.

I think that's a good argument for giving things a try for yourself instead of just listening to what others are saying.

[jhongren]

Hi, I feel it really depends.

We cant force someone who dislikes writing to write articles even though we know it is the best for them.

In addition, it really boils down to what they really want to do and who they want to market to.

Sometimes, it is also position of the strategies.

It may not be needed now but it does not mean we dont need it later.

But it is good to get our hands dirty once in a while to experience it ourselves so we can know if it is the right fit for our business plan, rather than hear from others.

My 2 cents,
John

[MoonLoh]

Originally Posted by jhongren

Hi, I feel it really depends.

We cant force someone who dislikes writing to write articles even though we know it is the best for them.

In addition, it really boils down to what they really want to do and who they want to market to.

Sometimes, it is also position of the strategies.

It may not be needed now but it does not mean we dont need it later.

But it is good to get our hands dirty once in a while to experience it ourselves so we can know if it is the right fit for our business plan, rather than hear from others.

My 2 cents,
John

Hi John,
I totally agree with what you said. We need to experience it rather than hear from others. There is no fixed way for a business to success. Some benefit from article marketing but some don't.
I do believe article marketing benefits in the ways that we learn something in the writing process and it is good for the website in long run.

[lindajess]

I like article writing. That's just me. I like to write about the things that I care about... however, that being said, there are some people out there that do not like it. They think it is a waste of time. So, in my personal opinion, I think that everyone should do article writing at least once, and see where it gets them. If it doesn't get them where they want to be, then so be it...they don't have to do it forever, just the once. And if they love it, then so be it! I just think that everyone should try different things and see what works for them.

[keephead]

For me article marketing is best way to promote,especially for search engine.

[Fabian Tan]

For free traffic strategies, there is not much out there better than article marketing. At least free in monetary terms.

Tim G made the best post here. He showed how you can come up with topics even for 'obscure' niches. It is all about expanding your mind and thinking of possibilities instead of limitations.

And article marketing can be slow or fast; it's all about what you put into it. Pay per click marketing can be slow too if you set a daily budget of like $5 on some rarely searched for keywords and all you get is a few clicks per day.

How do you reach the heights of massive traffic with pay per click? You spend more. You scope out more keywords to target. You get more of your ads out there. So if you spend $100 on pay per click and you're making profits, what's there to stop anyone from spending $100 a day on articles? There is no difference. The whole idea is to invest on traffic generation to make profits.

What applies to pay per click marketing (how you scale it), it's the same with article marketing. You either spend more (outsource) or write more. You find more keywords and topics to write about and then go and do it. You get more of your articles out there.

And then you think of ways to 'recycle' your traffic, like building a list.

The idea is to 'own' more of the traffic generated by article directories and the search engines. Own more keywords and topics and you get larger pie or percentage of the traffic. It's that simple. You scale what works for any traffic generation strategy and you're laughing all the way to the bank.

Fabian

[Kyle Tully]

I think a lot of people have missed the point of the question.

It wasn't "is article marketing effective" or "can a newbie make money with article marketing" -- you only need to take a look around to see that, when done correctly, both of those are true.

The question was:

Would you suggest newbies start with article marketing?

And to answer that you've got to look a little deeper than "can they write", just because someone can do something doesn't mean they should.

For example:

What are their goals?
What skills do they have?
What resources do they have?
How do they want to live their life?

Now, I don't like one size fits all solutions because they rarely work, but in general I would not advise a newbie to start with article (bum) marketing. Just like I wouldn't suggest they get started with PPC or CPA... these are all just tools and a small piece of the puzzle.

Yeah you can make money with them, even scale them to a point, but they're rarely the fastest route to someones goals.

For the amount of work you put in (or outsource) with article marketing you could have developed your own product (and built a real business) and have affiliates doing all the work for you. Then once you've got money coming in you can outsource all those other things like article marketing.

[Andyhenry]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

I think a lot of people have missed the point of the question.

It wasn't "is article marketing effective" or "can a newbie make money with article marketing" -- you only need to take a look around to see that, when done correctly, both of those are true.

The question was:

And to answer that you've got to look a little deeper than "can they write", just because someone can do something doesn't mean they should.

For example:

What are their goals?
What skills do they have?
What resources do they have?
How do they want to live their life?

Now, I don't like one size fits all solutions because they rarely work, but in general I would not advise a newbie to start with article (bum) marketing. Just like I wouldn't suggest they get started with PPC or CPA... these are all just tools and a small piece of the puzzle.

Yeah you can make money with them, even scale them to a point, but they're rarely the fastest route to someones goals.

For the amount of work you put in (or outsource) with article marketing you could have developed your own product (and built a real business) and have affiliates doing all the work for you. Then once you've got money coming in you can outsource all those other things like article marketing.

Hallelujah!!!!

Kyle thanks for restoring my faith in warriors - that's exactly the point I was making and the point I think people need to consider.

We all know that you can waste your time doing AM and that you can make money with it - that wasn't MY question.

Your comments were all totally in-line with what was in my mind when I started this thread.

Andy

[dove]

I once wrote an article, got it published for a few days then when I searched for it again, it got stolen by another site with my link deleted! Anybody knows any way to prevent this? and to do article marketing more effectively?

[Allen Graves]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Hallelujah!!!!

Kyle thanks for restoring my faith in warriors - that's exactly the point I was making and the point I think people need to consider.

We all know that you can waste your time doing AM and that you can make money with it - that wasn't MY question.

Your comments were all totally in-line with what was in my mind when I started this thread.

Andy

The fastest route is not always the best.

Please don't deceive newbies by trying to make them think that the quickest routes are the best. I made that mistake years ago and got slapped a few times.

Also, I want to make the point that if you take shortcuts or cut corners with your article marketing campaigns, that you will fail. Then you'll end up right here on this forum telling people that it doesn't work or that it is not profitable, not realistic, etc...

I don't mean to step on toes...just keeping it real.

AL

[Sarah Harvey]

To be honest article marketing is one option out of many options. It can help, but I would not bet my career on it solely.

[Allen Graves]

Originally Posted by Sarah Harvey

To be honest article marketing is one option out of many options. It can help, but I would not bet my career on it solely.

Why?

Have you tried it? What were your results and what exactly did you do?

AL

[John jen]

But I suggest new ones to follow article submissions which has best results in internet marketing. As it gives you quality links that avoids us from Internet Marketing Scams .

[David Raybould]

What an interesting post...

I agree to an extent, article marketing probably isn't for everyone, but I can't say anything bad about it as I've personally used solely AM to bring me consistent $8k - $10k months.

It's hard for me to not like something that does that for me!

It should definitely be a part of a larger whole though, which I guess is true with any form of marketing your offer/site etc.

David

[cypherslock]

Jon, quick question: How can you automate it without being seen as a spammer or using an article spinner and turning out junk?

[Hardi Wijaya]

I think it depends. It's just a tool. And it really depends on you...

I'm only an article junkie if the article attracts my attention and inspire me to read over and over and over and over and over again.... like an addictive drugs. Though I don't get the info I want, but I just can't let it go

Hardi