Questions about Content Syndication

Different people have different methods, Ali. They can all work. This is just what suits me ...

I offer them one specific post and include it in the email so it's right there, in front of them.

But I start off by talking about them and their site. I explain why I like it. I talk in detail about their approach, and their presentation, and their readers/visitors, and their interests, and their subject-matter, style, content, and so on. (You have to have a good look around their site to do this, which is time-consuming, but article syndication is a real relationship-building business and let's not pretend otherwise).

I then try to tie in some observation about their visitors/site to the specifics of the content I'd like to offer them, free of charge, for publication, explaining why I think it's relevant and likely to be of interest to their visitors. (I think it's important to say "free of charge", not because I'm trying to avoid their imagining I want payment for it, but because I want to try to convey - without putting it this way at all - that I'm interested in doing them the favor, here.)

I explain that the article's right here ("below my signature") and I paste it in, explaining that they're welcome to publish it with my link at the end (it'll just be "at the end", in a "first article") in clickable form. (So they've already read a lot and taken me seriously, I hope, before they see that I want a clickable link).

I might also make it clear that I could possibly have other articles to offer them, also, in future, and that I'll never expect payment for them. I might also make it clear that I'd like to hear from them and be happy to chat about their niche, their site, their content and their shoes, but this is less important (apart from the shoes).

I never send an attachment (I've got to reach their inbox!).

I never send a link (other than the one attached to the article, of course) inviting them to look at my site. They'll look if they want to, and see an informative, content-rich site, not a salesy-looking site (which helps).

What I send them will be basically an article "written for syndication"; it'll never mention a product; never sound as if it's selling or promoting anything at all; and while never having a salesy "call to action" at the end (let's not talk about "resource boxes" here: we're not dealing with an article directory), it'll make it clear to their readers that I have more to say at mysite.com.

My overall aims, in the first instance, are simply (a) to offer and present them with something that they can immediately see is of potential value to them, and (b) to "get my stiletto-heeled foot in the door" and show them that I'm interested in building with them a relationship which will be useful and helpful to them.

I don't mention my site at all. I don't want to interest them in my site. I want to show them my interest in theirs.

I don't really mention "mutual benefits", either. I want to concentrate their attention on the fact that they can get benefits from me.

For myself, I think the mistake to avoid is trying to be brief, on the grounds that "they're busy people and don't want to read a long email" or whatever. I look at it very differently: I think they receive dozens of short emails which are totally unpersonalized and look like "brief mailshots" - and (understandably?) nobody much is interested in those. I want them to understand that I'm not a "hit-and-runner", a "here-today-gone-tomorrow marketer" like all the rest, but someone who can genuinely help them in the long term and wants to build a real relationship with them. For this reason, the more different I can make my approach from all the others, the more likely they are to take me seriously.

I let them figure it out for themselves. It isn't relevant to most of them, anyway.

There are some marketers (typically, I suspect, those with "SEO-oriented" beliefs about traffic generation - i.e. not article marketers!), who imagine, bizarrely, that everyone will be very reluctant to reproduce previously published articles on their sites. The fact that this belief is completely mistaken can of course readily be verified simply by looking at all the articles widely syndicated to multiple sites, all the people regularly sourcing their content from directories, and so on. Many of the people I'm approaching have already published other previously-published content on their sites, and to most of the rest it isn't an issue, anyway.

All I want is for them to publish one of my articles. That "gets me in" and everything else can come later.

Alexa, when sending the fist email with the first article, is your "About the author" paragraph written in the classic way, as in "Alexa Smith writes articles on shoes and you can learn more shoe insights by visiting www.domain.com", or is it tied up with the last paragraph, like you often say you like?

I see the first as a more conservative approach, and the second one a bit more risky.

Thanks for your answers, Alexa and John. Just another extension to the questions I asked, will linking to my homepage be better, or to another article which may or not me related to the syndicated one, but might be helpful anyway as its about the same niche?

In addition to that, will it be smart to try syndication for really long articles as well? I have one which is over 2500 words. I don't know why, but I feel nobody will accept it as they might feel it will bore their readers.

Another important question I forgot to ask was should I look up the site for already syndicated content as that will give me an indication that the owner is open for syndication or try to contact each and every site, and see who's ready for it?

I hope you guys don't mind answering these questions as well.

Awesome. You guys are the best.

One final question - I hope I'm not getting on anybody's nerves with the ceaseless list - what would you recommend for a new site whose content is getting syndicated? I have 3 pretty long articles ready for a new website. Should I start by trying for syndication with these 3, and link to the homepage; or make a 10 article site first, and then look for webmasters?

In addition to that could you guys also give me a little appraisal of my writing? Is the tone, grammar, punctuation, and style fine? Any tips?

Alexa and John, I'm eternally grateful to both of you.

Great content by Alexa and John regarding content syndication. I personally like the idea of being focus on how we can give values to others without asking anything back at the start. The law of attraction is very interesting as those that always give values will always get something back in return. Time to churn out more useful content