Questions regarding article syndication (after much research)

I don't know. I think probably I've always simply assumed that content syndication would be a good traffic model for every niche I've ever tried, and just been lucky every time. (It doesn't have to work very well for it to be overwhelmingly better than SEO traffic, anyway, does it?).

I can certainly see no reason why it wouldn't be, for what you suggest.

If I were venturing into that niche (and something with a very specific type of dieting with only a couple of current products for it would probably be exactly how I'd want to venture into it, myself), it wouldn't occur to me at all that article marketing might not work.

I haven't done this, but my guess is that the "short, SEO'd articles" may be of no additional value at all. I'm saying this without knowing exactly what the niche is, and I may be mistaken for reasons related to that.

Mine are always the same, so I don't know (not doing very well here, am I? ).

I have some pictures on my sites (just not very many, I think, compared with "most marketers"), including "inside the articles" with the text wrapped round them, and it's never occurred to me that this makes any difference. I don't and won't use video, because my subscribers tell me they hate it (so much so that I do, myself, too), so I can't comment on that.

My guess is that this isn't going to make any difference at all. Reluctant though I am ever to put anything "not previously published" into an article directory, or anywhere else, really. For myself, I'd instinctively try to do this along the lines of "having more sentences in the copy on my site and missing one or two of them out in the versions for syndication", rather than vice-versa, but it may not make any difference anyway.

Finally a question I can actually answer.

It depends on your relationships with the people publishing them. Generally, as you get to know publishers better and better (which of course you do, because it's a real relationship-building business), you can "get away with more" and try doing this sort of thing. (My own feeling about the specific example we're discussing here, of having links in the body of the article, is that it makes very, very little difference indeed, though: if people won't read the whole article and still want to see more, then I probably have nothing to offer them anyway, in the long run).

"How many" varies - it's not up to you to decide, is it? I don't know what's a good practice to go about it because I don't think it really matters anyway.

No - definitely not.

With the first article I send someone, I just want to get my high-heeled foot in the door, and give them no problems, no reasons for hesitation, deviation or repetition, no reason to ask the audience, phone a friend, or do anything other than say "thank you" and publish it quickly.

Once they've published one or two, it's a whole different ball-game, because you've effectively formed a working relationship.

Plain text. Don't think of it as a "resource-box" (other than for Ezine Articles, where they call it that). Just don't be "salesy"/"pushy". Err on the conservative side. Don't try to make it a "call to action". Further comments here and here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7141838

Sounds alright? I'm not sure I'd mention the "free report" (or call it that). Perhaps especially not the first time? Maybe when you've had one or two published, you could try that (in fact, I would - I'd expect to "get away with it" then). I wouldn't put that in the EZA copy because I think it will inhibit people from publishing the article. I'm very conservative about this and expect many people to disagree with me about it.

The main reason I'm very conservative about it is that (from my own limited testing, such as it's been) I don't really believe that "more aggressive resource-boxes" achieve anything anyway, in article marketing, so there's absolutely no point in taking any chances of not getting the article published by someone, over this point.

Yes, so have I. I wouldn't hesitate later, if you want to try it, once your foot's already in someone's doorway.

Mine were not up to much, here. But that's a compliment to your questions, which are perceptive, appropriate, considered and not trivial at all. You'll do ok, anyway (I already knew this, though, from some of your earlier posts!).

That actually helped a lot. At this point in my research I need to make quick decisions and close these minutiae before wasting time I could spend on execution. Your perspective helped with exactly that. Thanks for the encouragement too.

Now all that's left is to write something coherent, clever, informative, insightful, inspiring and hilarious. Ad infinitum. Oh boy.

Thanks John, that's the kind of example I was looking for. The continuum concept is a useful way to keep things in perspective.