Article marketing, I need some help.

10 replies
Eventually back here and outta the lurking room.

In the last few days, I've been reading a lot of threads here on article marketing/syndication most of which have totally blown my ignoramus mind and got me sold. So, I think I've just won the latest recruit of the moment and a gazillion thanks to all you big hearts that have made it happen, could you all please pat yourselves on the back! No 'didn't mean everybody, I'm certain you all know yourselves so no contr..er y. Again, a biggest thanks!!!

Fortunately, I was able to piece together a sizable in-dept insight from among the load of threads already discussed here. But I've got some few questions;

1. As regards pen names; which EZA call alternate authors, they said to use variations of your real name which I don't seems to buy, rather I'm thinking a pen name different from the real name should be it, please which do you use and why do you prefer it (please no talk about using real name, I'm already sold on pen name)

2. Also, I can't seems to decide on the author photo issue when under a pen name 'cause of the diverse opinions (which I aim not to pursue any further), so please can you advise me based on how setup yours is setup, I'd have probably mention names here but well maybe not.

3. Does interview type article qualify for article marketing, because I've done a couple of them with some famous experts in my niche.


Thanks for your help.


PS: I'm hoping this post will keep its sanity so it can be my point of shelter and accountability, so I'll not have to start another related thread too soon.
#article #article marketing #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    I do not want to bust your dreams but as far as I know article marketing is kind of a thing of the past. At least as far as posting tons of articles on EzineArticles.com and hoping for some easy dough.

    There are still ways to make a decent living by writing articles but these involve other approaches (guest blogging for example) or writing content as a freelance writer. These things involve articles but are not called article marketing though.
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  • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
    As HP said, the heyday of article marketing as described in "article marketing" products is definitely in the past.

    However, there are still some uses for it...

    To address your question about alternate authors and their photos... That IS an issue that I investigated and got feedback from EZA myself, and they did recommend the route you mention. And I didn't find that helpful.

    One way around that... use cartoony images (see Fiverr) or drawings of your portraits (and use some that look quite different as sources). That should result in images that look reasonably different... without using stockphotos of other people, which goes against their TOS and is also not ethical.

    Now how to use articles these days?

    1) On your blog
    2) AND choice directories
    3) Turn them into other formats and publish them on other sites
    4) Repurpose them into products
    5) Oh, and of course you can write PLR articles and sell them
    6) And, as HP suggested, sell articles for hire

    Good luck!

    Originally Posted by edundayo View Post

    Eventually back here and outta the lurking room.

    In the last few days, I've been reading a lot of threads here on article marketing/syndication most of which have totally blown my ignoramus mind and got me sold. So, I think I've just won the latest recruit of the moment and a gazillion thanks to all you big hearts that have made it happen, could you all please pat yourselves on the back! No 'didn't mean everybody, I'm certain you all know yourselves so no contr..er y. Again, a biggest thanks!!!

    Fortunately, I was able to piece together a sizable in-dept insight from among the load of threads already discussed here. But I've got some few questions;

    1. As regards pen names; which EZA call alternate authors, they said to use variations of your real name which I don't seems to buy, rather I'm thinking a pen name different from the real name should be it, please which do you use and why do you prefer it (please no talk about using real name, I'm already sold on pen name)

    2. Also, I can't seems to decide on the author photo issue when under a pen name 'cause of the diverse opinions (which I aim not to pursue any further), so please can you advise me based on how setup yours is setup, I'd have probably mention names here but well maybe not.

    3. Does interview type article qualify for article marketing, because I've done a couple of them with some famous experts in my niche.


    Thanks for your help.


    PS: I'm hoping this post will keep its sanity so it can be my point of shelter and accountability, so I'll not have to start another related thread too soon.
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  • Profile picture of the author edundayo
    Thanks hp for your input however you might have misinterpreted my post, Im not simply hoping for easy dough neither am I looking to involve in article directory marketing (like Alexa puts it in one of her post I read ealier).

    Great ideas wordwizard, they are very well noted. Thanks.

    Would really love to h ear from other warriors, could hp be right?
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  • Profile picture of the author nicholasb
    Article marketing is a little different than when I first started, back in 2007 you could write an article submit it to ezine articles and be ranking on the first page of google by morning.

    Slap a few backlinks, and you'd secure your top 3 position for months. Not quite the case anymore.

    I use content as a way to drive traffic and leads to my business still, but i do it with a blog.

    Now what I do is create a blog post designed to capture leads. As of right now one of my blog posts will capture between 15-25% of readers into subscribers.

    After I write the blog post, I actively promote that post with various content syndication strategies. I wold consider this content marketing rather than article marketing though.

    It's a little more effective, and you have more control of how many people actually see your content though.
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    • Profile picture of the author edundayo
      Originally Posted by nicholasb View Post

      After I write the blog post, I actively promote that post with various content syndication strategies. I wold consider this content marketing rather than article marketing though.

      It's a little more effective, and you have more control of how many people actually see your content though.
      Oh my bad, I see my error now. Thanks nicholasb, for chipping in that; yes its content syndication I actually meant to ask about.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by edundayo View Post

      Would really love to hear from other warriors, could hp be right?
      No ... with all due respect to Hans, he and yourself are talking completely at cross-purposes, as you rightly suspected. What he's saying is totally true, of course - but it's true of "article directory marketing" (which he's clearly thinking of), not of "article marketing" (which you're asking about) at all.

      "Article directory marketing" refers to the submission of articles to article directories (and maybe to Web 2.0 sites) with the intended purpose of gaining potential customer traffic and backlinks from the directory (which is futile, and based only on a fundamental misunderstanding of how article directories work, of course). "Article marketing" refers to the widespread re-publication of copies of articles in front of the already-targeted, non-SEO traffic the author intends to attract to her own site.

      Regarding the questions in your OP ...

      Originally Posted by edundayo View Post

      As regards pen names; which EZA call alternate authors, they said to use variations of your real name which I don't seems to buy, rather I'm thinking a pen name different from the real name should be it, please which do you use and why do you prefer it (please no talk about using real name, I'm already sold on pen name)
      I agree with you.

      My pen-names are designed not to be recognizable; nor to have any similarity to my real name. There's no point in my using "Alex Smaith" or "Alexandra Smith" as a pen-name: people would readily identify me. (Mind you, some experience of forum-posting here, without a pen-name, over the years, has taught me that you can also use your own name, and your own identity, and your own photo, and some people with their own agendas can still accuse you of being someone else, if they really want to!! ).

      Originally Posted by edundayo View Post

      I can't seems to decide on the author photo issue when under a pen name 'cause of the diverse opinions (which I aim not to pursue any further), so please can you advise me based on how setup yours is setup
      I don't even have a photo for all my EZA pen-names. My articles are in EZA to attract only publishers, of course, not potential customers. Publishers decide which articles to syndicate according to their own search parameters and the articles' quality, not according to the author's looks. In each niche, however (and my 9 separate, unrelated niches correspond with 8 different pen-names), I do have a website which has a picture of the webmaster. Those are all made from original photos of me that have been "doctored"/"amended"/"adjusted", mostly by graphic artists on Fiverr, so that they're not recognizable, and specifically so that I don't look "too young" to come across as an "expert". So, I have some cartoon ones, some re-coloured ones, some unorthodox views, some drawings-made-from-photos, and so on. They're not pictures of other people, but nobody would ever know that they're me (unless they looked very closely at the shoes).

      Originally Posted by edundayo View Post

      Does interview type article qualify for article marketing, because I've done a couple of them with some famous experts in my niche.
      I don't see why not. (And I don't see problems over trying, if you own the copyright, though it might be a courtesy to mention to the interviewees that you're planning to do this?).

      Originally Posted by edundayo View Post

      I'm hoping this post will keep its sanity
      It doesn't appear yet to be eligible for a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, or even hebephrenia, but give it time ...
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      • Profile picture of the author edundayo
        Thanks Alexa, you're always on par. No really, Thanks so much. I was kind of hoping to catch the attention of your club without being specific, because I discover I could really use your insights and experience.

        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        My pen-names are designed not to be recognizable; nor to have any similarity to my real name. There's no point in my using "Alex Smaith" or "Alexandra Smith" as a pen-name: people would readily identify me. (Mind you, some experience of forum-posting here, without a pen-name, over the years, has taught me that you can also use your own name, and your own identity, and your own photo, and some people with their own agendas can still accuse you of being someone else, if they really want to!! ).
        The sledge hammer right on the head of the nail!


        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I don't even have a photo for all my EZA pen-names. My articles are in EZA to attract only publishers, of course, not potential customers. Publishers decide which articles to syndicate according to their own search parameters and the articles' quality, not according to the author's looks. In each niche, however (and my 9 separate, unrelated niches correspond with 8 different pen-names), I do have a website which has a picture of the webmaster. Those are all made from original photos of me that have been "doctored"/"amended"/"adjusted", mostly by graphic artists on Fiverr, so that they're not recognizable, and specifically so that I don't look "too young" to come across as an "expert". So, I have some cartoon ones, some re-coloured ones, some unorthodox views, some drawings-made-from-photos, and so on. They're not pictures of other people, but nobody would ever know that they're me.
        That just about put to rest the issue for me.

        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I don't see why not. (And I don't see problems over trying, if you own the copyright, though it might be a courtesy to mention to the interviewees that you're planning to do this?).
        Great, I'll just go ahead and give it a try. Thanks

        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        It doesn't appear yet to be eligible for a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, or even hebephrenia, but give it time ...
        That's good news, hopefully before then I'd have matured enough from the sane insights and simply relinquish :rolleyes:
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        • Profile picture of the author shmeeko69
          Recent changes with Google updates like Penguin and Panda have certainly had a detrimental effect on article directories like Ezine, Article Dashboard, Go Articles............

          I once used Ezine to rank my stuff well and quickly in the days when they passed articles with ease and less than 300 words, but things are now extremely tight with them and others due to the algorithm changes at big G. That been said, I recently wrote an experimental article on August 15th 2013 of 437 words with Go Articles, about a specific treadmill valued at well over $2k on Amazon and guess what? After five weeks it's at the top of page one on Google for the relevant keyword phrase, so to say article marketing is truly dead would be debatable.

          If you're going to use an article directory for marketing then, I suggest you opt for Go Articles as opposed to Ezine. You don't have to wait two or three weeks for a yes or no response with Go and all 400+ word articles are published immediately with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author pdxkurt
    Youtube is the new article marketing, plus video outsells articles in my experience.
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    • Profile picture of the author shmeeko69
      That is certainly a good point and You Tube ranks well, but if you're only going to upload a slideshow of the product using something like Windows Movie Maker then, you start to see a few thumbs down for the video and I speak from experience.
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