Here's How To Article Market...Away From The Herd!

[Michael Franklin]

I've read many posts expressing how article marketing has become too competitive....Actually, it's not true at all! In fact, I will show you a way to article market that is unconventional - but highly effective!

As you know, most people like to promote Clickbank products in their articles. Still, a few sharp article marketers are earning a good income by promoting physical products with their article marketing.

Now, you're probably thinking "Yes, but if you article market physical products, you'll have to compete with Amazon and EBay on Google's first page!"

Ah! That's because you use the specfic product name in your article. Let me show a little twist that will really get your wheels turning.

Let's start with picking out a product. If you go to Amazon.com, you can pick any product category to get some greart keyword ideas. For this example, let's choose Television & Video.

You'll notice throughout the page several hyperlink phrases that in most cases will be excellent candidates for our keyword phrase (especially under the "Featured Categories").

So, looking at the Television & Video, I notice some interesting candidates....I'm going to go with "rear projection hdtv".

Now, I go to Google's Keyword Tool and search with this phrase to pinpoint some good candidates. Lots of phrases to work with....Let's go with "Samsung Rear Projection HDTV" which gets about 3,600 monthly searches. Not bad!

Let's check out the competition....I search "Samsung Rear Projection HDTV" on Google: 111,000 results (GASP!)

Fortunately, I know that a better indicator is the intitle search on Google so now I enter: intitle:"Samsung Rear Projection HDTV" and I see 376 results. This is a good sign!

Now let's check out the competition. I use SEOQuake to look at the stats of the top 10 on Google for this phrase. Top results are Page Rank 4 sites with under 30 backlinks.

Now I can submit an article to Ezinearticles (which by the way, has no articles with this phrase in the title at the time of this post!), keyword optimize the title and body, get backlinks, and put an Amazon affiliate link in my resource box.

In terms of article content, what I look to do is go to manufacturer's product page either on its own website or on Amazon. I will basically paraphrase the best features and benefits and create a short, but highly informative article.

If you don't have an Amazon affiliate link, sign up for one. It's easy and it will open up the possibilities of items for you to promote.

The only downside to all of this is that you will have smaller commissions since Amazon's commissions run between 4-6%. Still, if you set up your articles right, you will get more than enough views from your traffic to make up for this.

So if you want to article market away from the herd and see good results, try this out!

[falcon_warrior]

Hi

Thanks for the tip! In my opinion it should work quite well. There are far less people who use article marketing for real products than digital ones. In fact, what I suggest is that you make a "How to choose a... (say camera)" kind of article, just try to find suitable keywords. These are highly searched because people do want to find what kind of X (say camera) is best for them, and your link could lead to an A Store or something.

Nicholas Chen

[JackPowers]

Thanks, but you can't put affiliate links directly in Ezine, you have to do a toplevel domain redirect.

Btw, what are your results with Amazon? That 24 hour cookie always seemed a tough nut to crack to me.

[robinpike]

THanks for the idea... I think it is a great one!!! I am going to try it right now!!


REVISED: Before I took your advice I downloaded your free ebook that you have linked in your signature and I wanted to come back here and make a post of how wonderful it is!!! The details you put in there are amazing ... this really is a invaluable ebook!!! Thank you!!!

[Mark-Dickenson]

Thanks for the tip

What are you doing in your resource box? Linking to a blog or a domain redirect? I know this was asked before but I was curious as well. I am actually in that niche so this article is helpful

And I agree with Robin, your report is awesome!

Also, you know how to treat your list. Keep up the good work

-Mark

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by DealySkills

Aff links.. ezinearticles?

How do I do that, as they don't allow them?

Oops....I should have made that clear in my original post, my apologies.

EzineArticles will allow top level domains in the resource box. So what I always do is buy a $1.00 .info domain on GoDaddy and then I forward it straight to my affiliate link. It is very easy to do, and it is allowed by EzineArticles.

[Ryan700]

Originally Posted by Michael Franklin

Oops....I should have made that clear in my original post, my apologies.

EzineArticles will allow top level domains in the resource box. So what I always do is buy a $1.00 .info domain on GoDaddy and then I forward it straight to my affiliate link. It is very easy to do, and it is allowed by EzineArticles.

What kind of redirect do you do? I know how to do an HTML redirect for the CB products - they have a how-to on site, but how to do that with Amazon?

[sylviad]

Hi Michael,

I think I'm going to be following you around for awhile. Clearly you have this marketing thing down pretty good.

Excellent advice, great free book, and a terrific approach to using auto responders to get maximum respect.

Thank you.

Sylvia

[sylviad]

Hey Michael,

I just finished reading your free report and I have a question...

Backlinking as you explain is entirely new to me, but from what I'm understanding based on your example, it sounds like once you find a site to get a backlink from, all you do is open an account and add your profile?

Is that it? Is just having your link in your profile enough for Google to recognize your backlink? I thought all that profile stuff on sites was hidden from Google unless you were in a forum and your sig comes up.

If I'm understanding you right, this is great news.

Sylvia

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by sylviad

Backlinking as you explain is entirely new to me, but from what I'm understanding based on your example, it sounds like once you find a site to get a backlink from, all you do is open an account and add your profile?

Hi Sylvia,

Some sites allow you to link in your profile section. For others, you have to put your link on the message board or blog (if they provide you with one)

Originally Posted by sylviad

Is that it? Is just having your link in your profile enough for Google to recognize your backlink? I thought all that profile stuff on sites was hidden from Google unless you were in a forum and your sig comes up.

The key is that the site cannot have nofollow tags in the source code. You can either manually look at the source code or use a third party Firefox add on tool to check for these tags

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by Ryan700

What kind of redirect do you do? I know how to do an HTML redirect for the CB products - they have a how-to on site, but how to do that with Amazon?

Hey Ryan,

I actually set up the forwarding on GoDaddy itself. I forward my domain straight to my Amazon affiliate link.

The video below is a good tutorial on how to setup forwarding on GoDaddy:

Forwarding Video

[DominicTFY]

Hey Michael,

Here's another pointer you might want to add to your OP. When you're targeting brand specific keywords, it will be useful to check the PageRank of the top 10 results. Usually I would avoid those with PR5 and above because it just means tough competition (unless I use certain article promotion techniques like backlinking)

Just my 2 cents,
Dominic

[mikeyman120]

Hello,
You will have to create a directory on one of your domains and put your affiliate link in a .php file so you can redirect to amazon as ezine articles will not take affiliate links. I use this in note pad. Just edit your clickbank link or add amazon link or whatever link and save it as index.php and upload it into your directory.


Use this code in notepad and save as index.php

************
************
<?php
header("HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently");
header("Location: your link here");
exit();
?>
***********
***********
Just use that without the asterisks.
Hope that helps,
Mike

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by DominicTFY

When you're targeting brand specific keywords, it will be useful to check the PageRank of the top 10 results. Usually I would avoid those with PR5 and above because it just means tough competition (unless I use certain article promotion techniques like backlinking)

Good advice....Actually, I've found that PR6 and above is not worth it. I've had successful results even when PR5 has dominated the top 3.

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by JackPowers

Btw, what are your results with Amazon? That 24 hour cookie always seemed a tough nut to crack to me.

My sales have varied....Some products, I average a sale once every other day and with others, it's more like 6-7 sales/day.

I'm always trying diffferent products and part of the allure is that you never know which one is going to take off like crazy. Diversification with this method is key!

[sagasu44]

Originally Posted by Michael Franklin

The key is that the site cannot have nofollow tags in the source code. You can either manually look at the source code or use a third party Firefox add on tool to check for these tags

Yes, if you are using internet explorer then checking the source code is an arduous task. I highly recommend downloading mozilla firefox as your default browser if backlinking is a regular part of your efforts as then you have two easy wasy to check for the nofollow and dofollow tags.

1. right click a link in a comment or signature for example, then select properties and where it says relation you want it to say external. If it says external nofollow then it is a nofollow site.

2. download and install the free SearchStatus plugin and then whenever you open a site you will immediately see the nofollow links as they are highlighted in pink. For example, in this warrior forum each of our user names are highlighted, so they are nofollow which is fine because we only want to follow them internally anyway. But if you look at our signatures you will see they are not highlighted, showing that the crawly botty robot things will indeed follow them.

[stacyfox]

My sales have varied....Some products, I average a sale once every other day and with others, it's more like 6-7 sales/day.

Michael,

How many articles do you write for each product to get those results?

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by stacyfox

How many articles do you write for each product to get those results?

Hi Stacy,

I only write 1-2 articles per product. I start off with one and if I can get it ranked quickly in the top 3, I'll go for a second one on a different article platform than my first one.

Interestingly enough, I have found that my "physical product" articles lately have been cracking the top 3 much quicker than my "Clickbank" articles....Probably because the competition, even at the top of page 1, tends to be weaker.

[JasonC.biz]

Michael,

Thanks for all of the information you've put out in this thread, as well as your previous "Set and Forget" thread. I got your report and it's great stuff!

I have a couple of questions on this idea specifically:

Are you just promoting the single niche/product (in this case, "Samsung Rear Projection HDTV") with your affiliate link? In other words, you buy the .info URL solely to promote that one keyphrase? Then you send them directly to that category at Amazon?

How do you structure your bio box? Is the overall bio box a "for more information about Samsung rear projection HDTVs..." type of blurb?

Also, it seems like it actually might be OK to put the brand name in that URL since you're only using it to redirect and it won't actually be indexed. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Jason

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by JasonC.biz

Are you just promoting the single niche/product (in this case, "Samsung Rear Projection HDTV") with your affiliate link? In other words, you buy the .info URL solely to promote that one keyphrase? Then you send them directly to that category at Amazon?

Hi Jason,

I do one product line per .info redirect BUT I might have multiple articles with different keyword versions all using that same .info . Since I only want my articles to rank in Google, and not my actual redirect, I can leverage my .info over and over in multiple articles that all promote the same product.

Originally Posted by JasonC.biz

How do you structure your bio box? Is the overall bio box a "for more information about Samsung rear projection HDTVs..." type of blurb?

Yes, basically. Although I try to use language that always stirs them up, like "Don't just watch television....Experience it! Check out the wonderful features of this Samsung right now!"....Or, something to that effect!

Originally Posted by JasonC.biz

Also, it seems like it actually might be OK to put the brand name in that URL since you're only using it to redirect and it won't actually be indexed. Is this correct?

My redirects never get indexed. Also, I've never had a problem using brand names in the redirect...and you won't either!

[Wade Watson]

The last time I submitted and article on an Amazon product, Ezine Articles refused it, saying that it was "sales copy":

"Your article MUST be informative in nature and must not contain excessive promotion or sales copy. In order for your submission to be accepted, please ensure it does not contain reference to your name, company, or product, and is not written as sales copy promoting the products and services of others. Such material should be included only in the 'Author SIG - Resource Box.'"

The article was an original comparison between several similar electronics products and my link was an Amazon affiliate link with a Godaddy .info redirect. Rather than trying to "correct", I just canceled it.

I've not figured out what their criteria for "sales copy" is yet, but this is something I thought people might want to be aware of.

--Wade

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by Wade Watson

I've not figured out what their criteria for "sales copy" is yet, but this is something I thought people might want to be aware of.

Interesting! I haven't had that problem. I would like to know when in their eyes, you are crossing the line.

Maybe they've given me more leeway because of my Platinum status. Other than that, all I can say is that if you run across this kind of snag, I would run it on GoArticles.

[Nick Brighton]

Hi Michael,

I like your way of thinking and the fact that you don't run with herd.

Reminds me of myself sometimes .

However, may I ask how many sales/commissions you've made using this method?

I'm not asking through skepticism, because I'm sure it can work however...

One of the first things I ever tried to market online was TVs. They suck for conversions wise because a lot of people still buy offline (using the net for research only).

However, I know that was just an example. So I guess it's a case of picking the right products which lend themselves to being able to market via articles.

There's lots of products out there, which are in markets where information goes hand in hand with the buying of physical products.

Want an obvious example?

Gardening tips + gardening tools

I'll let that be enough inspiration!

Finally, the point of buying a domain and redirecting to Amazon seems a little fishy to me. Of course it's possible...but I cannot see anyone having great conversions by redirecting from an obscure domain name to Amazon's official webpage.

Why? Not sure - perhaps it feels a little shady or deceitful? I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm merely speculating without facts in the interest of good discussion

[Michael Franklin]

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

However, may I ask how many sales/commissions you've made using this method?

My monthly average from this method is just under $800.....It's nowhere near what I make promoting Clickbank products. However, my monthly average has been increasing steadily every month so it's a good trend!

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

One of the first things I ever tried to market online was TVs. They suck for conversions wise because a lot of people still buy offline (using the net for research only).

However, I know that was just an example. So I guess it's a case of picking the right products which lend themselves to being able to market via articles.

Most of your sales will be made in the lower ticket items. Still, as long as the tiny commissions add up to a nice sum, I'm content!

Originally Posted by Nick Brighton

Finally, the point of buying a domain and redirecting to Amazon seems a little fishy to me. Of course it's possible...but I cannot see anyone having great conversions by redirecting from an obscure domain name to Amazon's official webpage.

Why? Not sure - perhaps it feels a little shady or deceitful? I'm not saying it's wrong, I'm merely speculating without facts in the interest of good discussion

I like good discussion, Nick!

Anyways, I am redirecting to my Amazon affiliate page using a related domain name. I don't know if my earlier post was a little unclear but I try to use a .info domain that relates to the product I'm selling.

Going back to my Samsung example, I might find there are 20 good keyword phrases that all have Samsung in common. So I might go with samsungtv.info or samsungfeatures.info for 20 articles that have these 20 phrases.

If you have any other questions, please ask!

[gianne2705]

Article marketing is really effective.I personally experience this in one of my article and it proves me how articles create a mark in promoting an online business.

[jvwinwin]

Another place to look for ideas for articles is to go to places where people are asking questions. Eg. yahoo answers - a hot bed of ideas! ( great places to look for ways people ask question online = long tail keywords )

[igorhelpsyousucceed]

This post just supports the statement
that article marketing is all about SEO.

Igor