Starting out in Article Marketing- Any Pointers for a Newbie?

26 replies
One field I never stepped foot in in the IM world was article marketing. But I just checked a report of all my clickbank sales over the past year and realized that 5/7 of them were from a SINGLE article I published 2 years ago on Ezine which directed to a blogspot page that took me 5 minutes to toss up. Out of a total of 20 hops, I was able to make 5 sales. Kinda freaky how well the 80/20 rule applies here. I was surprised that I never realized this at first, and now I really want to upscale those results.

So I'm wondering, what would you guys recommend for a newbie starting out in article marketing? What did you wish you knew when you first started out? How long did it take you to see a sale a day type of results?

I read in some other posts that it's essential to build a list and that you should publish at least 50-100 articles before you start to see traction, both of which sound intimidating to me. Are these steps necessary to succeed in article marketing?

Any advice would help, thanks!
#article #marketing #newbie #pointers #starting
  • Profile picture of the author eflo
    Article Marketing is larger than just post article with link, cross fingers for long term sustainability.

    Here's the rub - don't let any of the ways to make money escape.

    1) Join article directories that share revenue
    2) Spin the original article to lower level article directories for links to your "good article".
    3) Outsource cheaper articles and use them to backlink to your main as sources of traffic, and raise the value of your main.
    4) Make sure these articles point your person to join your list in some fashion - obviously and preferrably PRIOR to them buying stuff. If they join your list and they buy something, having a BUYING CUSTOMER is worth it's weight in GOLD for your marketing efforts.

    I'm actually going to be writing up a course that will turn in to a WSO in the future since an owner of an article directory took me under his wing to teach me how to make money from weird article methods. (affiliate links is just one profit center).

    Best of luck in your article writing efforts.
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    • Profile picture of the author enavagate
      this is good stuff, just got into article marketing myself, will look forward to hearing about your WSO.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sonomacats
    Submit articles twice a week. Start by putting them on your blog and then a week later submit to eZineArticles and several other article directories.

    Keep track of your articles using a spreadsheet to speed up the process and to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

    Make sure you have a good resource box that isn't about you. Make it about them with an invitation to get more information or a freebie at your website.

    Jeff Herring has a good program on article marketing, and a ton of articles on eZineArticles that can also help.

    Consistency, however, is the key. Pick the days you're going to write and the days you're going to submit (i.e., Tuesdays and Fridays) AND STICK TO IT. You should see a massive uptick in your number in a couple of weeks.

    Make sure you have lots of good stuff on your site and an eMail opt in before you start sending people to your website or they'll leave and never come back and you've wasted your efforts.

    The nice thing is that after a few months of doing this, even if you have to take a week off from uploading to the article directories, the traffic will still keep coming.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kenster
      Originally Posted by Sonomacats View Post

      Submit articles twice a week. Start by putting them on your blog and then a week later submit to eZineArticles and several other article directories.

      Keep track of your articles using a spreadsheet to speed up the process and to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

      Make sure you have a good resource box that isn't about you. Make it about them with an invitation to get more information or a freebie at your website.

      Jeff Herring has a good program on article marketing, and a ton of articles on eZineArticles that can also help.

      Consistency, however, is the key. Pick the days you're going to write and the days you're going to submit (i.e., Tuesdays and Fridays) AND STICK TO IT. You should see a massive uptick in your number in a couple of weeks.

      Make sure you have lots of good stuff on your site and an eMail opt in before you start sending people to your website or they'll leave and never come back and you've wasted your efforts.

      The nice thing is that after a few months of doing this, even if you have to take a week off from uploading to the article directories, the traffic will still keep coming.



      Great point. Be organized!! Especially if you are outsourcing at all this is absolutely critical.

      Also, look at the articles that are working and not working. Try and find trends and spin off of those good articles.

      Good luck buddy
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  • Profile picture of the author yommys01
    Yes it is essential to build a list but you can not possible build a list in any niches. When first starting out I will advise you to put your mind of the money and set realistic targets.

    Article marketing works but you need to know there is a learning process, you want to learn how to write articles that converts, how to rank your articles in google, how to get more views and sales from your articles e.t.c.

    If in need of an article marketing product that I personally have bought read, implemented and made money from, then I suggest you try Dean Shainin's article marketing guide
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    • Profile picture of the author andywang
      I'm curious about keyword research in particular. How do you know certain terms can easily rank high in Google?

      And when you're trying to rank your articles in Google, do you do the same SEO as you would for a regular website? (such as backlinking, social bookmarks, creating rss feeds etc)
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      • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
        Originally Posted by andywang View Post

        I'm curious about keyword research in particular. How do you know certain terms can easily rank high in Google?

        And when you're trying to rank your articles in Google, do you do the same SEO as you would for a regular website? (such as backlinking, social bookmarks, creating rss feeds etc)
        Use the Google keyword tool and select versions of your keyword that get around 1000 hits per month. This will help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
    My Pointer:

    The single biggest determinant in article marketing success IMO is knowing how to do keyword research. You can write more eloquently than "Willie the Shake" and still make no money. This is not Brit Lit. 101 ... it is IM ... we are here to make moolah.
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  • Profile picture of the author howinfo
    As I would agree with most of the advice given above I would not recommend spinning the articles as it will effectively ruin the article. You can use the same article for submitting to many article directories and just change the title of the article or if you must have the article bit different before you submit to another article directory than have them professionally rewritten.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sonomacats
    As to keyword research, I don't get crazy about it.

    I do the research and get a list of phrases and then start cranking out articles based on the phrase. I generally start with the least searched and work my way up figuring that most people are targeting the keywords with bigger numbers.

    You can also target the easiest ones to write about first and then the hardest.

    You can also go with what seems to be the biggest draw - I look at the sites for my competition or merchants with the products to see how they've set their sites up - they've already done the research, so I make use of that.

    In the end, though, it doesn't really matter which ones you go after. Eventually, you'll write articles using each of the keyword phrases.

    Put it in the title, at least once in the first paragraph and once more in the body. It has to be natural and you don't want to overdo it.

    What matters is cranking the articles out, making them useful and posting/submitting them twice a week. If you do it three times a week, it will get your numbers up faster, but it can burn you out. I usually get to about 400 unique visitors within 3 weeks by doing it twice a week, so I'm not unhappy.

    One quick tip - the best way to write an article is pretend you're writing an eMail to a friend and explaining whatever it is you're writing about. Use that language and it will work a heck of a lot better than trying to "WRITE". To be effective, you want people to think of you as their friend and they'll get that if you "write" to them as if you're talking or dropping them a quick eMail.
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  • Profile picture of the author fskcramer
    I have a site that does article submitting for you. I just recently bought into the site to be honest as I'd be willing to let you use the service for free to try it out. I'm curious how it works myself as I'm very new to all this. PM me for some more info.
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  • Profile picture of the author DeonKrey
    I would definitely second on the spending time for the keyword research before heading to creating articles and submitting them to article directories. The main goal of article marketing is not only to populate directories with such good volume of contents but also to generate traffic and possibly income to it. So before anything else, test your keywords and build relevant contents about them that'll go around your niche then once it gathered good shots, then continue doing them regularly and remember to submit them to highly recognized article directories.

    Otherwise, if you lack time, you could this task by having a staff working for you on a full time basis. I would recommend you see this website to know more on where to outsource: www.massoutsource.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    Definately focus on buying keywords ... and the articles that generate the most sales (ie. re-write them and use similar keywords).

    Build a list where possible.

    And do everything in batches to save time .... ie. get all your keywords together in one go - then write a cluster of articles in one go - then submit them in one go.

    Oh yeah ... and create a little template for yourself to churn them out quick!
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  • Profile picture of the author steven90210
    Make sure you submit to as many directories as possible. More exposure = More Traffic = Mo Money!
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  • Profile picture of the author JonAlfredsson
    Hi andy,

    Yes, you really have to do keyword research first and find good keywords that could get you high rank in search engines. After a complilation of keywords - write articles and submit them to article directories.
    You may also want to add some traffic systems like Uniquearticlewizard, myarticlenetwork and freetrafficsystem.

    Jon =)
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave d
    Dont try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to AM. Seek out successful authors in your niche and learn from their writings, resource box sales funnel etc, but do not copy ever.

    Seek out keywords in articles that are ranking well in the serps there is lots of software that will do that for you or if your doing keyword reserach using free tools pay attention to any articles that are ranking for your particular keyword.

    Research directories that are currently performing well in the serps such as Ezine Articles, Buzzle and Article Base.

    Dont feel intimdated by AM just get stuck in you will learn as you go along, dont procrastinate just take action.

    Finally you may want to look into submitting spun versions of your articles to document sharing websites such as docstoc which are performing exceptionally well in the SERPs at the moment.

    Good Luck
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  • Profile picture of the author Mrs S
    I'd say write regularly and submit often. The key to article marketing success is volume. The more often you write and submit the more exposure your resource box will get.

    If you write good quality articles then other site owners will pick them up to publish on their own sites and in their newsletters. If you keep writing then they'll keep coming back for more.
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  • Profile picture of the author fskcramer
    This seems like very valuable information, does the volume statement apply to wordpress as well?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jamian
    Originally Posted by andywang View Post

    One field I never stepped foot in in the IM world was article marketing. But I just checked a report of all my clickbank sales over the past year and realized that 5/7 of them were from a SINGLE article I published 2 years ago on Ezine which directed to a blogspot page that took me 5 minutes to toss up. Out of a total of 20 hops, I was able to make 5 sales. Kinda freaky how well the 80/20 rule applies here. I was surprised that I never realized this at first, and now I really want to upscale those results.

    So I'm wondering, what would you guys recommend for a newbie starting out in article marketing? What did you wish you knew when you first started out? How long did it take you to see a sale a day type of results?

    I read in some other posts that it's essential to build a list and that you should publish at least 50-100 articles before you start to see traction, both of which sound intimidating to me. Are these steps necessary to succeed in article marketing?

    Any advice would help, thanks!
    Hello

    Try to write at least 3 articles a day and submit them to ezine first and once they accepts your articles then change the headlines and submit them to other article directories, create a good compelling content for your resource box that backlink to your site or squeeze page. Next create a squeeze page that link to opt in box with auto responder and start building your lists. The reason for using squeeze page is it converts much better than webpage! After 35 articles you'll see some movements if you want you can outsource the article writing part though.

    Jamian
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  • Profile picture of the author Lonely_Cowboy
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  • Profile picture of the author Dev Maritz
    Hi there,

    Article Marketing is very powerful, but it does take time like most other methods would do.

    There are many factors to consider when you write an article that is powerful enough to pull your readers in. Your goals is to guide them to click on your URL.

    It is true that it becomes very effective around 50-100 articles. The more articles you write, the better you will stand out from the rest of the marketers.

    A reader would rather take advice from someone that wrote over 500 articles than just 50 articles.

    Here, are 5 major tips to get your article running efficiently from the start:

    1. Join an article submission service (something like SubmitYourArticle.com). They can submit your article to over 1,000 directories. You can even choose the length of distribution (2 days, 14 days, 30 days etc.)

    2. Invest in a Grammar guide to ensure that your articles can be easily understood by your readers. This will increase your click through rate.

    3. Writing between 700-800 words in length is your most effective way to get publish on high ranking traffic directories. As long as you do not write less than 600, and no more than a 1000 words, you will be fine.

    4. Your title as mentioned by many Warriors here, is the eye catcher for your reader. The best titles are normally your "how to", "5 little-known tips", "10 hot tips" etc.

    5. Your resource box at the end of an article is the most important part. You want the reader to feel compel to click on your url. You should have a short description of yourself, and then always offer free e-books, newsletter etc. just before your full URL.

    Hope this helped.


    Dev
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  • Profile picture of the author PCRoger
    1. Write content that adds value; not just 300 word garbage that is already littering the internet.
    2. Track your sales so you know what keywords and article styles are working. The older you get the less you want to waste your time on things that don't work.

    Regards,
    PCRoger.
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  • Profile picture of the author orlando cassara
    Article Marketing is a very powerful way to earn massive money and build a list at the same time, you should write articles at least twice a week and submit them to as many directories as possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mao Flynn
    Guilty of self promotion here but I spent 8 months researching and personally using every imaginable article marketing strategy and wrote a substantial document on same. I even give away aload of article marketing software with the product Article Marketing Devastation
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  • Profile picture of the author Stu784
    Use article marketing for building backlinks should be your primary goal, traffic should be looked at as a bonus from your efforts.

    Direct linking is stiil a good tactic however you want people to go to your website and you want them on your mailing list so that you can market to them and direct them to the pages you want them to see when you want them to go to these pages.

    Here's an overview of what I do:

    Article Directory => Your Squeeze Page => Send them an email => Sending Them To Offer Page

    As you can leave more than one link I create links to the internal pages of my websites for SEO to boost their rankings in Google however I always include a link to my squeeze page.

    I have tried direct linking before however I prefer the mailing list route.

    One last thing; using article marketing for SEO should be treated as 20% of your backlinking strategy.

    HTH
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  • Profile picture of the author poker princess
    Improve experience to improve quality - When you're just starting out, it's all about learning the ropes and not necessarily about making quick sales. If you don't have enough experience yet, creating 100 articles with lousy titles, poor content and resource boxes is not any better than creating a single well researched article.

    What you can do is schedule yourself with a more realistic and doable method. You can do a lot better by creating 1-2 content per day for a time period of 30 days. Your mind will get really tired - Typically, article marketing is regarded to be a numbers game. The more posts you create the better your probabilities of being successful. There are some affiliates that can produce 20 content articles in a day and I am just impressed at how they do it.

    I tried writing 4 articles every single day for 2 weeks straight? I've accomplished that and I really felt good thinking that my productivity is through the roof but I was really tired after that writing binge. So don't try to pump out tons of articles in a day because it's really counterproductive.
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