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Does Anyone Write Articles For Traffic Anymore?

by Adrianne_
61 replies
Back in the day, online marketers used to write articles and then submit them to places like Ezine articles.. They did this in hopes that someone would come along, who's looking for free content for ther blog or website, and would post the article on their platform. The more articles you write with high quality content, the higher the chance of your articles getting selected.

To speed things along, a marketer would buy article spinning software to whip out 10 brand new articles from 1 article. Fast forward to 2019. Are people still using this form of marketing? I don't hear much about it anymore.
#anumore #article markeging #articles #promotion #traffic #website content #write
  • Profile picture of the author George Flm
    It's a flash in the pan. Long gone are the days of the thrill
    of churning out tens of variations of the original article.

    Dead duck.
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  • Profile picture of the author itshield
    That worked back then because the internet needed content however now the internet has so much content that you need to bring out fresh and uniqueness to attract the reader.

    I recommend around 2,500 to 3,500 words in a content rich and easy to read layout.
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  • Profile picture of the author AR RIZVI
    I remember writing out ezine articles! That was a while back.

    In my opinion now it's all about video marketing and how good you can convey your message. Of course textual content has it's place, but for convenience, quick and easy delivery video has become the top way to connect with your audience.

    As someone else mentioned, if you are writing text, it has to be content rich and engaging.
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    • Profile picture of the author star007
      Yeah, I remember those days! I used to write and syndicate my articles trying to spread it around the internet as much as possible. I don't write articles per se anymore. I think blogging has pretty much taken over. At any rate,I believe good content is still the name of the game.
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  • Profile picture of the author josias
    Great points! In the end, we just need to create what our audiences want to consume and in a way that works for them at each and every single time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    That was an old form of marketing that doesn't exactly work too well nowadays. It's best to write those same articles for your site/blog, rank them, and then transcribe their form to be used in other forms of different media (youtube video, podcast, document site, viral ebook, etc).
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hancox
    Google killed off that particular form of marketing. They decided that people were submitting fairly low quality articles, so places like EzineArticles all-but disappeared in their rankings. You can still do "content marketing", but you're better off doing it on your own domain.

    As for article spinning, I suppose it could have its uses, but it doesn't really build you up as an "Authority" in your niche. Plus, you're always playing a game with Google, and hoping they don't spot that the content is similar.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonix44
    The old method of article marketing does't work so well anymore due to Google changes. Now the focus has to be on focusing on your own domain, networking with other established sites and maybe some effective social media marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author laoom
    You just need create unique article for each submission and submit it to high page rank site and share the same article on different social media websites.You are the right place, here in this article. we discuss top 5 high-rank article submission websites that you should use.
    1- Hubpages
    2- ArticlesBase
    3- Sooper Article
    4- Articlewarp
    5- Articlecity
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Mozie
    Hi Adrianne

    The answer is YES. But we're not writing articles for traffic.

    We writing content that is a solution to a problem.

    So many people just write articles without putting real thought into it.

    A lot of research goes into writing an awesome blog post.

    You need to figure out what people in your niche need help with. Solutions to these problems make for awesome blog posts. Because it's focused towards genuinely helping your audience.

    You want people to read your articles and feel like it helped them.

    This will encourage them to join your email list too.

    Building your email list of loyal subscribers is the core asset in your business.

    Mozie
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by IM Mozie View Post

      You want people to read your articles and feel like it helped them.
      ^^ This was actually the "old" article marketing method, long before Google or the internet. And it still works better now than ever before.

      For any given commercially viable niche, there are thousands or tens of thousands of relevant online/offline publications which can be leveraged for massive convertible traffic.

      This extremely powerful marketing method was butchered and ba$tardized by self-anointed "gurus" who made millions selling their "systems", spinners, and spammers to unsuspecting victims. And many marketing amateurs are still learning that search engine robots are not buyers; people are.

      Nearly 90% of my traffic has always came steadily from article syndication in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, trade journals, blogs, websites, etc for more than 20 years.

      Publishers and bloggers are always hungry for quality content for their reading audiences. This type of advertising is perhaps the most formidable model especially within the most hotly competitive markets, particularly where it may be impractical or perhaps impossible to consistently rank profitably in the search engines.
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      • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
        Originally Posted by myob View Post

        ^^ This was actually the "old" article marketing method, long before Google or the internet. And it still works better now than ever before.

        For any given commercially viable niche, there are thousands or tens of thousands of relevant online/offline publications which can be leveraged for massive convertible traffic.

        This extremely powerful marketing method was butchered and ba by self-anointed "gurus" who made millions selling their "systems", spinners, and spammers to unsuspecting victims. And many marketing amateurs are still learning that search engine robots are not buyers; people are.

        Nearly 90% of my traffic has always came steadily from article syndication in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, trade journals, blogs, websites, etc for more than 20 years.

        Publishers and bloggers are always hungry for quality content for their reading audiences. This type of advertising is perhaps the most formidable model especially withi the most hotly competitive markets, particularly where it may be impractical or perhaps impossible to consistently rank profitably in the search engines.
        Extremely powerful marketing method:

        getting P E O P L E to read your content. Those who suffered from a Google slap, probably deserved what they got. Several Warrior gurus selling their systems crashed and burned. Hard to go from over a 100k a year selling HOW TO COURSES on article marketing,

        to less than 10k in a matter of months.

        Quality content TARGETED will beat 'GAMING' Google every day of the year. Thanks for letting us know writing quality content is STILL an extremely powerful marketing method.

        GordonJ
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      • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
        Hello myob

        Re: "Nearly 90% of my traffic has always came steadily from article syndication in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, trade journals, blogs, websites, etc for more than 20 years."

        "Publishers and bloggers are always hungry for quality content for their reading audiences. This type of advertising is perhaps the most formidable model especially within the most hotly competitive markets, particularly where it may be impractical or perhaps impossible to consistently rank profitably in the search engines."

        We did this too, years ago, before we went into stealth mode. It was very very effective. We would write articles and submit them to magazines who's readers were a target market for us. So magazines like Entrepreneur for business opportunities and mainstream business magazines to target the small business/company market.

        Magazines require monthly content so many will accept submissions providing content professionally written and is of interest to their readers.

        It is a win win situation if you can get published. First a very targeted market, you know that the readers are likely to be interested in what you are saying.

        Second, you are piggy backing off well known magazine brands so that gains you credibility and prestige as well as access to their established pool of readers/subscribers, which can be in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

        We had 3 articles published in Entrepreneur and I think their circulation at the time was around 750,000 or so. If we were buying those pages to place advertising it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars, but in reality we were getting more effective coverage (via way of the articles) at no cost whatever. Over the years we were published in maybe 20 or so magazines in the US, UK and Australia, and that would have amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars if we were paying for advertising space.

        This can be done at a local level as you suggested in newspapers, other local business newsletters and so on.

        Cheers
        Lindy
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        • Profile picture of the author myob
          Originally Posted by LindyUK View Post

          It is a win win situation if you can get published. First a very targeted market, you know that the readers are likely to be interested in what you are saying.

          Second, you are piggy backing off well known magazine brands so that gains you credibility and prestige as well as access to their established pool of readers/subscribers, which can be in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
          Third (and perhaps the most important), there is a subtle but extremely powerful marketing advantage over the competition when articles are published in prestigious magazines and similar online/offline outlets which are highly regarded by reading audiences.

          In my not so humble opinion, there is no other type of advertising (paid or otherwise) which comes even close to the effect of articles being accepted by publishers as an "implied endorsement" by subscribers of these publications.

          Quite often when publishers reject my articles, I purchase a full page ad, and use an article format as the ad. This technique is so powerful, the FTC (in the US) requires a conspicuous heading at the top of the page with the disclaimer "Advertisement". But informative and engaging content will nullify even this required legal notice.

          Some magazines where my articles and paid advertorials have been published as long as a decade or so ago are still driving quality traffic to my websites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Gotta figure there be stuff spat out so many times you gotta wonder how vomit can manifest itself ovah an' ovah without nowan gettin' sick.

    Troo content keeps bellies full is all I know.

    Nourishment you wanna chomp on as feeds healthy bones an' teeth.

    That is why people gobble it up & hold it down.

    Question is ... is Google the provider? The arbiter? The reactionary follower?

    All I know is ... my dootifully savant braino can't know close to jack frickin' shit per cent 'bout evrythin', an' like all hoomans here, ima dependent on others for skills & knowledge I don't have gonna shortcut conundrums.

    Less'n articles are jus' reuurposed garbage, gotta figure they condense expertise for the avrage Joe & turn 'em on smarter real quick.

    That's how libraries worked back in the day.

    Only the presumption back then as evrywan sat down real quiet an' thumbed through Miraculous Grimoires Dusty was kinda it all troo an' intrinsically useful.

    Problem we seein' rn with internet "content" generally is how you gotta be choosy 'bout what you chomp on for succor.

    That is mebbe why real incisive smart stuff still packs value.

    Cos it don't have to run with the strapline

    Guaranteed 100% Unprevomited!
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by Princess Balestra View Post

      Troo content keeps bellies full is all I know.

      Nourishment you wanna chomp on as feeds healthy bones an' teeth.

      That is why people gobble it up & hold it down.
      The thing that has always befuddled me on this forum for years is why writing keyword-embedded gobbledygook ("back in the day") to feed robots was ever effective. Now, feeding good stuff to real people is considered to be "new". There's been a whole lotta whacked out ideas here displacing common sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anthony J Namata
    I think the keyword here is content, in whatever form resonates with your audience. I run a Q&A via my music niche WhatsApp group where a lot of the questions I already have answers to published on my blog, and so I would simply provide the link. And if there's a topic I haven't written about, I'll quickly write an article to address the question and I'll share the link.
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  • Profile picture of the author dougp
    That technique may have worked back in the day but it was shortsighted. It's best to develop a marketing plan and figure out how content fits within it. Submitting content to high profile websites such as Medium, Forbes, and LinkedIn are good examples of where to start.
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  • Profile picture of the author jay26
    Yes, many of newbie in seo still write article and submit their article to article submission site to get more traffic
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  • Profile picture of the author alliance
    Video has taken offer content marketing from Article (text) marketing. Who would have thougth that youtube would be the second most popular search engine in 2019?
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    • Profile picture of the author talfighel
      Originally Posted by alliance View Post

      Video has taken offer content marketing from Article (text) marketing. Who would have thougth that youtube would be the second most popular search engine in 2019?
      Totally right.

      I have written 100's of articles between 2006-2009 and can tell you that this strategy is not worth it anymore.

      Paid ads in the right places still works really well. You just have to find these amazing places to place your ads. (Twitter ads, YouTube, Bing, Google, instagram). Just to name a few.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jordan Pugh
    Google's algorithm updates change so many things. I can only see someone using this method to increase their backlinks. And that might not be too reliable
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  • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
    Hello myob

    I think most internet marketers are too tied up with internet marketing. They ignore all the old ways like direct mail and print media which have been proven to be effective for the last 100 years or more.

    Though some would not understand this, we use a huge amount of direct mail to promote our online services. A direct mail piece (usually a letter with brochure/flyer/postcard) or a print magazine will usually gain much more attention and reading time than an email, and with so much less competition for their attention then the 1000 or so emails that hit their box that day. lol..

    Another example of how we use your "implied endorsement" is that we seek out companies who have influence with our target market (So might be accountants who are dealing with small business's) then we want to run a regular column in their newsletters. Most love this idea, less work for them finding monthly content themselves.

    We will even do a free redesign of their newsletter if it's obviously dated, or even design and layout their newsletters for them in exchange for advertising and article space. We can also profit by offering list management services, autoresponder services, or print/mailing services.

    Cheers
    Lindy
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    • Profile picture of the author offmarketinvestor
      Originally Posted by LindyUK View Post

      Hello myob

      I think most internet marketers are too tied up with internet marketing. They ignore all the old ways like direct mail and print media which have been proven to be effective for the last 100 years or more.

      Though some would not understand this, we use a huge amount of direct mail to promote our online services. A direct mail piece (usually a letter with brochure/flyer/postcard) or a print magazine will usually gain much more attention and reading time than an email, and with so much less competition for their attention then the 1000 or so emails that hit their box that day. lol..

      Another example of how we use your "implied endorsement" is that we seek out companies who have influence with our target market (So might be accountants who are dealing with small business's) then we want to run a regular column in their newsletters. Most love this idea, less work for them finding monthly content themselves.

      We will even do a free redesign of their newsletter if it's obviously dated, or even design and layout their newsletters for them in exchange for advertising and article space. We can also profit by offering list management services, autoresponder services, or print/mailing services.

      Cheers
      Lindy
      I agree. I simply do not see the "old I.Ming" ways a as a good method anymore. Spammed to death. Go back to phone/ face to face, direct mail"

      If i see someone face to face and get my message across they are all ears. If i out an article out.....nothing. It's as if most people have tuned out to info. on the Net. I guess they simply class everyting as a scam/lie until proven otherwise?
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        Originally Posted by offmarketinvestor View Post

        I agree. I simply do not see the "old I.Ming" ways a as a good method anymore. Spammed to death. Go back to phone/ face to face, direct mail"
        Even better, just go back to writing for real people and communicate. That has always worked, and always will. Those who don't understand that marketing is a relationship-building process also fail in phone/ face to face, direct mail, etc. So far, automated robotic contact has never come close to real human intercourse.

        Originally Posted by offmarketinvestor View Post

        If i see someone face to face and get my message across they are all ears. If i out an article out.....nothing. It's as if most people have tuned out to info. on the Net. I guess they simply class everyting as a scam/lie until proven otherwise?
        Try writing the way you speak face to face. It's worked for me for more than 20 years. No matter what platform you use, the message needs to resonate with your prospect on personal and emotional levels.

        Perhaps a good example is the magazine "Furrow" (renamed Green Magazine in 1984) published since the 1850's by the John Deere company to sell farm tractors and agricultural equipment. It has always featured human-interest articles and useful tips which endeared readers into becoming buyers.

        Perhaps the best article writing format I would recommend (online or offline) is the personal feature articles as seen in "Readers' Digest" magazine. This style has changed very little since the first publication in 1922, because it works.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Jonas Phil VA
    It used to work. But let's be honest, a lot of what was on sites like Ezine was basically garbage.

    Writing to drive traffic still works but it's more in the context of content marketing now. Creating content to provide value for your customer, establish yourself as an industry leader, and direct them to your funnel.

    The old way of doing things always felt kind of sneaky some how. At least now, with content marketing, you can be a little more direct about your message and your intentions.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by John Jonas Phil VA View Post

      It used to work. But let's be honest, a lot of what was on sites like Ezine was basically garbage.

      Writing to drive traffic still works but it's more in the context of content marketing now. Creating content to provide value for your customer, establish yourself as an industry leader, and direct them to your funnel.

      The old way of doing things always felt kind of sneaky some how. At least now, with content marketing, you can be a little more direct about your message and your intentions.
      Actually, "the old way of doing things" is now the "new way of doing things". The proven concept of writing for commercial marketing goes back to 3500 BC in Sumeria. And since the Industrial Age, multi-media content marketing (including article syndication) has evolved into the most powerful promotion media of all time for offline and online formats.

      But it seems there was a short period of marketing madness just before all the Google animals came out. Silly marketing notions replaced solid business practices. Centuries-old proven article marketing concepts were tossed out by some in favor of trying to sneak through Google algorithms by writing nonsense sprinkled with keywords. However, even though the Google robots have been getting smarter, many "content marketers" even now are not.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
    Banned
    For as long as People need information/advice/etc. ― and for as long as articles are a medium for that -- article marketing will always work.
    For me People posting to eZine Articles (etc.) was more of a "money maker" than a Business.
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  • Profile picture of the author empirecapitol
    Article marketing is spam until you figure out how to make it be about something other than link building. You have to make your articles important to the readers, not to the machines and published on sites related to your article topic.
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  • Profile picture of the author troy23
    It still works for me and I've been working online since the year 2000.
    I have around 100 or more articles there and they still drive traffic each month.
    In this game you have to go your own way and not pay too much attention to what's said.
    The amount of people that jump on bandwagons amazes me.
    Spread your content around as much as you can.
    Not just on Ezine, but the big doc sharing sites like Scribd and Slideshare.
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    • Profile picture of the author offmarketinvestor
      Originally Posted by troy23 View Post

      It still works for me and I've been working online since the year 2000.
      I have around 100 or more articles there and they still drive traffic each month.
      In this game you have to go your own way and not pay too much attention to what's said.
      The amount of people that jump on bandwagons amazes me.
      Spread your content around as much as you can.
      Not just on Ezine, but the big doc sharing sites like Scribd and Slideshare.
      Yes it still works but no-where near as good as it used to be.
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  • Profile picture of the author offmarketinvestor
    I think it has changed even beyond good/meaningful content.
    Back in the 90's early 2000's people searched for information..but that has changed now. With so much false information out there most simply gave up.
    You still get you I.Mer's and opp seekers but serious business seekers do not got searching around the net anymore for information.
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  • Profile picture of the author Learnwell Techocraft
    I remember we used to write articles for traffic only and used to generate sufficient traffic from them. But I don't think that anyone is writing articles for traffic only, it's worth is more these days.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    Things have changed. Even though, content is still the king. A website without articles is like a car without an engine. But the quality of the article matters a lot. Also, having your articles published on websites such as Hubpages, article city and many others is critical. It ensures that you get the required backlinks to bring more traffic to your website.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Spinning is dead but writing HIGH QUALITY GUEST POSTS and getting them published on high authority sites with lots of TRAFFIC still works.

    You win on 2 levels: direct traffic and SEO
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  • Profile picture of the author luciesmazanska
    yes people still write articles
    Nowadays you need a very good marketing strategy to PROMOTE that content in a right place, right time
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  • Profile picture of the author kebumen
    Writing article is important part of SEO strategies. But do remember, write an article for human, not for search engine. If you want to target any keywords, you can optimise the keyword inside your articles. Of course, should be match with SEO guideline.
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  • Profile picture of the author MaxFeerden
    There are still people who write articles for money. Of course, you need to develop a specific strategy for writing and publishing. Writing high-quality, relevant articles raises blog traffic. Only your content should be unique.
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  • Profile picture of the author JUnderwood
    I do not agree that writing content is already outdated. Now the quality and the most important content attracts more subscribers. There are people who can write content for money.
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  • Profile picture of the author dborg9
    Writing unique articles, no copy and paste or plagiarism, that provide solutions to problems will still work. Submit to places such as hubpages.

    Also start a social media strategy to get links out there to your article. Start a FB fanpage, if B2B Linkedin is good to use. Pinterest is also a great one if used right, lots of good videos on Youtube on how to setup and use Pinterest properly.

    Speaking of Youtube it's also good to use, make a short video highlighting the points of your article then a link to the full article. Lots of videos on Youtube on how to set up your account and post videos.
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  • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
    Contrary to what MYOB pushes -- the facts say otherwise. Plenty of offline publications now only publish online, have gone from monthly to quarterly, etc, etc. The whole industry of offline publication has been shrinking for 20 years. You can fact check that. Facts are real. Forum personas are not.
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    • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
      Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

      Contrary to what MYOB pushes -- the facts say otherwise. Plenty of offline publications now only publish online, have gone from monthly to quarterly, etc, etc. The whole industry of offline publication has been shrinking for 20 years. You can fact check that. Facts are real. Forum personas are not.

      Hello 1Brian

      I think you have absolutely no understanding of what "MYOB pushes", or what either of us have said in our posts.

      Yes, the offline publishing industry has been shrinking, but if you would like to go fact check your statement, you will find this is mainly consumer magazines and the newspaper industry.

      What does that matter anyway? We are mainly talking about writing articles for trade publications, newsletters and so on. MYOB also mentioned writing articles for blogs and online publications.

      I have first hand experience with online publications, we still do some affiliate marketing and even though it is a small part of our business now it brings in from US$2.6 to US$3 Million in commissions each year. Our only means of promotion is via our own monthly online flip page magazines. We publish a number of magazines for different niches, averaging 40 + pages of content including ads for our online superstores plus other related affiliate offers.The superstores mainly contain Amazon stores but also other large affiliate stores as well. Our largest magazine is one for online dating, with over 120,000 subscribers and returns over US$1 Million in affiliate commissions on it's own.

      As far as our Agency goes we publish a monthly print magazine that goes to all our clients and an online version that is sent to prospective clients. Guess what we waste our time putting in them - ARTICLES and Ads relating to the articles.

      Another point you seem to miss is that ANY article that we get published, in ANY publication, is FREE Advertising/Promotion for us. Even a one page article in a trade magazine could be worth thousands of dollars if we had to buy that advertising space, but we are getting that exposure for free, and often on a recurring basis.

      The third point you miss is the fact that when our articles are published in magazines, newsletters and so on it gives us expert status, so much more effective than any ad could be.

      Now as far as your statement: "Facts are real. Forum personas are not." That's fine Bryan, take no notice of us "Forum Personas", that's your loss, not ours.

      Cheers
      Lindy
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      • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
        Originally Posted by LindyUK View Post

        Hello 1Brian

        I think you have absolutely no understanding of what "MYOB pushes", or what either of us have said in our posts.

        Yes, the offline publishing industry has been shrinking, but if you would like to go fact check your statement, you will find this is mainly consumer magazines and the newspaper industry.

        What does that matter anyway? We are mainly talking about writing articles for trade publications, newsletters and so on. MYOB also mentioned writing articles for blogs and online publications.

        I have first hand experience with online publications, we still do some affiliate marketing and even though it is a small part of our business now it brings in from US$2.6 to US$3 Million in commissions each year. Our only means of promotion is via our own monthly online flip page magazines. We publish a number of magazines for different niches, averaging 40 + pages of content including ads for our online superstores plus other related affiliate offers.The superstores mainly contain Amazon stores but also other large affiliate stores as well. Our largest magazine is one for online dating, with over 120,000 subscribers and returns over US$1 Million in affiliate commissions on it's own.

        As far as our Agency goes we publish a monthly print magazine that goes to all our clients and an online version that is sent to prospective clients. Guess what we waste our time putting in them - ARTICLES and Ads relating to the articles.

        Another point you seem to miss is that ANY article that we get published, in ANY publication, is FREE Advertising/Promotion for us. Even a one page article in a trade magazine could be worth thousands of dollars if we had to buy that advertising space, but we are getting that exposure for free, and often on a recurring basis.

        The third point you miss is the fact that when our articles are published in magazines, newsletters and so on it gives us expert status, so much more effective than any ad could be.

        Now as far as your statement: "Facts are real. Forum personas are not." That's fine Bryan, take no notice of us "Forum Personas", that's your loss, not ours.

        Cheers
        Lindy
        Most offline publications have lost circulation. If you buy ads on a regular basis, then you know who to talk to. And they will almost all tell you that they have lost circulation in the last 10 years. If 10 years ago, they circulated 100K? They probably circulate 50K to 75K now.

        You have to know that if you buy ad space. Otherwise you OVER-pay on old rates. They will still charge you old rates. Haha.

        The way to make it profitable is to live in REALITY.

        Plus MYOB was called out all the time back in the day for his delusions of grandeur. The mods back then knew he was full of it. There's a locked thread where he claimed to be a $ 400 million a year affiliate. It's a funny read. Because it sounds like someone spinning yarn on a forum.
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        • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
          Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

          Most offline publications have lost circulation. If you buy ads on a regular basis, then you know who to talk to. And they will almost all tell you that they have lost circulation in the last 10 years. If 10 years ago, they circulated 100K? They probably circulate 50K to 75K now.

          You have to know that if you buy ad space. Otherwise you OVER-pay on old rates. They will still charge you old rates. Haha.

          The way to make it profitable is to live in REALITY.

          Plus MYOB was called out all the time back in the day for his delusions of grandeur. The mods back then knew he was full of it. There's a locked thread where he claimed to be a $ 400 million a year affiliate. It's a funny read. Because it sounds like someone spinning yarn on a forum.

          Hello Bryan

          I don't think you are reading our posts, or if you are you are certainly not understanding what we are saying.

          We are not talking about buying Ads in consumer publications. We are talking about writing articles and getting them published in publications for free. For example, say a smaller publication has a full page advertising rate of $2,500, and they publish a one page article that we have submitted to them, we are effectively gaining $2,500 of space for free.

          Next we are gaining credibility and expert status in the eyes of the magazines readers, they are more likely to buy from us than any competitors who are just placing paid advertisements in the magazine. And finally we can use reprints of our articles to gain further credibility and prestige in the eyes of other prospects outside of the magazine.

          While you continue to talk about consumer magazines losing circulation, we are talking mainly about trade magazines and company or industry newsletters that are not losing circulation, in fact many are growing in circulation.

          A publication does not need to have a large circulation for our articles to be effective. In one of my posts here I talked about writing articles or monthly columns for newsletters published by accountancy firms, financial advisers and so on. These might only have circulations in the hundreds, but if their clients are mainly businesses it is a perfect target market for us. Each business client we gain can equal thousands of dollars profit per year, sometimes thousands of dollars profit per month.

          Cheers
          Lindy
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          • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
            Originally Posted by LindyUK View Post

            Hello Bryan

            I don't think you are reading our posts, or if you are you are certainly not understanding what we are saying.

            We are not talking about buying Ads in consumer publications. We are talking about writing articles and getting them published in publications for free. For example, say a smaller publication has a full page advertising rate of $2,500, and they publish a one page article that we have submitted to them, we are effectively gaining $2,500 of space for free.

            Next we are gaining credibility and expert status in the eyes of the magazines readers, they are more likely to buy from us than any competitors who are just placing paid advertisements in the magazine. And finally we can use reprints of our articles to gain further credibility and prestige in the eyes of other prospects outside of the magazine.

            While you continue to talk about consumer magazines losing circulation, we are talking mainly about trade magazines and company or industry newsletters that are not losing circulation, in fact many are growing in circulation.

            A publication does not need to have a large circulation for our articles to be effective. In one of my posts here I talked about writing articles or monthly columns for newsletters published by accountancy firms, financial advisers and so on. These might only have circulations in the hundreds, but if their clients are mainly businesses it is a perfect target market for us. Each business client we gain can equal thousands of dollars profit per year, sometimes thousands of dollars profit per month.

            Cheers
            Lindy
            I didn't refer to just consumer magazines. Without the ability to do an audit on circulation, ad rates are the best measure of the fiscal health of a publication. When ad rates drop ... it's not a good sign. That's why I refer to buying ads. If a trade sells a spot for $ 1000 ... but I can negotiate it down to $ 500 or less? That means they are in decline and you can do that across the board with very few exceptions.
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            • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
              Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

              I didn't refer to just consumer magazines. Without the ability to do an audit on circulation, ad rates are the best measure of the fiscal health of a publication. When ad rates drop ... it's not a good sign. That's why I refer to buying ads. If a trade sells a spot for $ 1000 ... but I can negotiate it down to $ 500 or less? That means they are in decline and you can do that across the board with very few exceptions.

              Hello Brian

              You are still referring to buying Ad space when the thread and our posts are about publishing articles.

              If you are getting an article published FOR FREE it really doesn't matter what the circulation is, providing that it reaches your target market.

              I mentioned publishing articles in very small newsletters, such as those from accountancy firms that sometimes may have only a hundred or so business's in their subscription list. A single sale to one of those business's could return hundreds to thousands of dollars, or it might be a sale for monthly recurring services (examples for our Agency would be PPC Management, Social Media Marketing, Reputation Management, etc) If we are able to sell one service to a business we are very likely to then be able to sell them other services that we offer.

              I also mentioned that if an accountant (or similar business) does not have a newsletter we are prepared to produce one for them, right down to covering the printing and mailing costs for them if we have to, because we know the return we can get from doing so.

              Two of the main advantages we get from doing this is implied endorsement and the fact we are not having to compete against any competitor. Small company newsletters are usually not running ads from other companies, so we can stand out with our articles or columns. With trade magazines where there might be Ads from competitors, we will stand out as having expert status and implied endorsement of the magazine itself, which gives us a large competitive advantage over other companies who are running paid Ads. Who will you believe more, a published "expert" or a published Ad.

              Cheers
              Lindy
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              • Profile picture of the author 1Bryan
                Originally Posted by LindyUK View Post

                Hello Brian

                You are still referring to buying Ad space when the thread and our posts are about publishing articles.

                If you are getting an article published FOR FREE it really doesn't matter what the circulation is, providing that it reaches your target market.

                I mentioned publishing articles in very small newsletters, such as those from accountancy firms that sometimes may have only a hundred or so business's in their subscription list. A single sale to one of those business's could return hundreds to thousands of dollars, or it might be a sale for monthly recurring services (examples for our Agency would be PPC Management, Social Media Marketing, Reputation Management, etc) If we are able to sell one service to a business we are very likely to then be able to sell them other services that we offer.

                I also mentioned that if an accountant (or similar business) does not have a newsletter we are prepared to produce one for them, right down to covering the printing and mailing costs for them if we have to, because we know the return we can get from doing so.

                Two of the main advantages we get from doing this is implied endorsement and the fact we are not having to compete against any competitor. Small company newsletters are usually not running ads from other companies, so we can stand out with our articles or columns. With trade magazines where there might be Ads from competitors, we will stand out as having expert status and implied endorsement of the magazine itself, which gives us a large competitive advantage over other companies who are running paid Ads. Who will you believe more, a published "expert" or a published Ad.

                Cheers
                Lindy
                All you are giving is generic sales talking points that could have been stripped from the old Directory of Ezines sales letter.

                Most small company newsletters are 1-2 pagers and only talk about their own company. They are more or less "vanity pieces" ...

                And I already said it, but I will say it again:

                Print publications make 90% or more of their revenue from selling ad space. That's how the "health" of a publication is measured.

                If your business relies on getting articles published? Even if you are not buying ads ... you should know the basic facts of the industry you rely on.

                And it seems like you don't. So I'm done here.
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                • Profile picture of the author LindyUK
                  Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

                  All you are giving is generic sales talking points that could have been stripped from the old Directory of Ezines sales letter.

                  Most small company newsletters are 1-2 pagers and only talk about their own company. They are more or less "vanity pieces" ...

                  And I already said it, but I will say it again:

                  Print publications make 90% or more of their revenue from selling ad space. That's how the "health" of a publication is measured.

                  If your business relies on getting articles published? Even if you are not buying ads ... you should know the basic facts of the industry you rely on.

                  And it seems like you don't. So I'm done here.

                  Hello Brian

                  RE: "All you are giving is generic sales talking points that could have been stripped from the old Directory of Ezines sales letter."

                  "generic sales talking points" - I doubt anyone reading my replies would think they were generic but you are entitled to your opinion.

                  RE: "Most small company newsletters are 1-2 pagers and only talk about their own company. They are more or less "vanity pieces" ...

                  I think that shows how out of touch you are. That sounds like you are talking about a one page photocopied newsletter. Most modern company newsletters would be four pages or more, often eight to twelve pages. Our own Agency newsletter is more like a small A4 magazine, ranging in size from 24 to 44 pages per month. It is printed in full colour on gloss stock, beautiful design, high quality photos or graphics on each page and so on. It's layout would equal that of any magazine.As far as: " and only talk about their own company". Actually Brian, that is the whole purpose of a company newsletter - to highlight and promote their own company and services. As far as " They are more or less "vanity pieces" - the purpose of a newsletter is to keep your company and it's services in front of your clients or prospects. You use a newsletter to both educate and inform them of the services you offer and the benefits they obtain by using your services. For example, we might run a very informative article on Video Marketing and then have an Ad promoting our Video Marketing services.

                  RE: "Print publications make 90% or more of their revenue from selling ad space. That's how the "health" of a publication is measured"

                  I never said otherwise, but this thread is not about advertising or declining circulation rates of magazines.

                  RE: "If your business relies on getting articles published? Even if you are not buying ads ... you should know the basic facts of the industry you rely on." - My point is that you seem to be completely hung up on the circulation rates, or declining circulation rates of mainstream magazines. I am showing that circulation rates don't matter at all, unless you are doing paid advertising. A one page advertisement in a magazine will range from a few thousand dollars to over $50,000. If you are able to get an article published in a magazine you are getting that space and value for free. But I have also shown how you can profit from being published in very low circulation publications, in newsletters with even less than 100 subscribers, providing they are targeted to the services you offer.

                  RE: "And it seems like you don't (know the facts of the industry you rely on) So I'm done here"

                  Thanks Brian, women always like to have the last word anyway! lol.

                  Cheers
                  Lindy
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        • Profile picture of the author myob
          Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

          ...MYOB was called out all the time back in the day for his delusions of grandeur. The mods back then knew he was full of it. There's a locked thread where he claimed to be a $ 400 million a year affiliate. It's a funny read. Because it sounds like someone spinning yarn on a forum.

          Here is the link to the "locked thread". There are some detailed and meaty morsels of writing for targeted audiences - no matter how large or how small the readership circulation, or what the "revenue from ad space" may be.

          People always have and always will read articles with much more engagement than ads. In addition, the subtle "implied endorsement" often assumed by readers as mentioned by Lindy is extremely powerful. A publication does not need to have a large circulation to be effective for directly driving convertible traffic.

          Publishers need quality articles to provide content to their readers, attract subscribers, and increase circulation so they can sell more ads, raise rates, generate more revenue, etc. This proven business model is basically unchanged for about 200 years, and applies also for online publications.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by 1Bryan View Post

      Contrary to what MYOB pushes -- the facts say otherwise. Plenty of offline publications now only publish online, have gone from monthly to quarterly, etc, etc. The whole industry of offline publication has been shrinking for 20 years. You can fact check that. Facts are real. Forum personas are not.
      Partially true, but in my view those little weany publications never were significant anyway for marketing . Many of the major offline publications have been growing an online presence for years in addition to their traditional offline components. The ones who haven't adapted either went out of business or were bought out.

      However, the offline publishing industry is by no means going away. It has been in transition, which means there is a lot of mergers by conglomerates. Put simply, people now have more choices than ever before about how information is consumed.

      For example, I'm still writing articles for metropolitan newspapers, trade journals, niche-relevant magazines, industry newsletters, etc. These are all generally available in both offline and online formats.

      Personally, I have not seen any significant decline in offline readership audiences. Get a copy of "Writers' Digest" and check out magazines.com. Doomsday has not arrived yet for physical publications. And online marketing is still a small fraction of offline transactions.
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  • Profile picture of the author seokohli
    In my opinion, it still works but you need to plan it properly.
    1. Do publish these write-ups in your website instead of third party small websites and if still want to target third party sites then choose those, which are ranking on top spots in Google.
    2. Write for users and not for search engines. Give solutions of their problems.
    3. Write more than 1500 words write-up with support of rich-content such as: images & videos.
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  • Profile picture of the author grandstar
    Yes, it is still done but not the same modus operandi anymore. No more just submitting the article to www.ezinearticles.com and expecting the cash to start flowing in.

    What is in vogue is writing awesome articles and submitting it to bloggers and other websites to publish it.

    Aside that, the article can be on your blog or website and you drive traffic to it posting it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media platforms out there.

    Some apparently are making a killing from it. I'm not as I don't like writing articles
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  • Profile picture of the author lastreporter
    My experience is that great, long articles will not guarantee traffic. In fact, some of them will take weeks to be indexed, if they ever are.

    As so many have pointed out: Google is a pay or play proposition today. There is too much content and spam.

    Better off selling locally from a booth or pop-up office to real people in person than spending countless hours trying to create organic traffic with expert articles.

    That's my take. Too saturated and black SEO hat rules.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kunjal
    Originally Posted by Adrianne_ View Post

    Back in the day, online marketers used to write articles and then submit them to places like Ezine articles.. They did this in hopes that someone would come along, who's looking for free content for ther blog or website, and would post the article on their platform. The more articles you write with high quality content, the higher the chance of your articles getting selected.

    To speed things along, a marketer would buy article spinning software to whip out 10 brand new articles from 1 article. Fast forward to 2019. Are people still using this form of marketing? I don't hear much about it anymore.
    I mean doesn't work as good as it once used to, but that's a clear indication by SERPs to write content that is non-cliche, that isn't recycled, has something unique to offer.

    It's like Neil Patel or Brian Dean puts out a pillar content with an ample amount of uniqueness to offer, what bloggers in a similar niche do? They would just recycle their content.

    If you're a new blogger then write on Topics that aren't competitive & still has a decent search volume.
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  • Profile picture of the author hunterz
    Hi
    For me article publishing still works well. The key success factors being the quality of the content that I publish and I spend considerable time and effort maximizing reach and salience through social media and other content publishing channels

    cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author Kiran Malik
    Publishers and bloggers are always hungry for quality content for their reading audiences. This type of advertising is perhaps the most formidable model, especially within the most hotly competitive markets.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommen
    Submitting articles to article directories do not work anymore in my opinion. A much better idea is to write unique, interesting, helpful content regularly on your own blog. Blogging is not dead, it is still one of the best ways to get highly targeted traffic for free.
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  • Profile picture of the author anwar001
    If readers gain something out of your articles, it can still be very effective. The key thing here is usefulness. Many people talk about writing articles of 2,000 or more words. That is not necessary. If the article is that long, it can provide many benefits but it need not always be such long content. If you can present highly useful information and readers can take away many things from your article, even if it is less than 1k words, it can still be prove quite successful.

    As far as my own personal preference is concerned, I would anyday choose shorter articles over longer ones provided they provide value. If you can deliver valuable information in fewer words then it is much better in my opinion because it will save a lot of time for readers, and would definitely appeal more to people who have shorter attention spans or are just scanners instead of readers.
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