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Setting Up a Passive Income Stream - Article Marketing ADV Needed

by Thecostofexperience
6 replies
I'm new to Internet Marketing as a whole so bear with me and show some tolerance if I sound a little "green". I'm a beginner, just as you were some long time ago.

Right now I have a plan to set up a couple of longtail sites to generate a little passive income as I develop a larger project I plan to launch some months down the road.

I know that this type of strategy may seem a little "outdated" (as there are far more profitable strategies out there) and that they're aren't really that "passive" (I get that they need to be updated on a regular basis to be worth the effort) but, I feel it would be a good first step for me to tackle.

Now before the "build a brand" advice guy comes by - let me just point out that this type of thing is for a little passive income and the experience only - I have plans to build a brand incubating.

Ok, disclaimer over

Whats not so clear to me: I got the website set up, some quality articles outsourced, some written by me, and know a couple of outsources who are waiting to promote the articles + get back links from EDU sites, etc. What I cant seem to process is how to go about submitting these articles to the directories, or if it would even be worth it. As I search these forums I read about people submitting there articles to hundreds of directories at a time each getting different results based on the niche their in. Which is way more than I can realistically manage without the use of some software (I don't plan on investing in that type of software as I have very limited resources)

This leads me to believe that: (hopefully I can get some clarification on it)

1) Submitting my articles to 20 directories each, (which is something I can manually manage) would A) be completely useless as I'll need hundreds to compete and B) Be a big waste of time unless I have one of these softwares in my arsenal. Note: I do know that AD backlinks generate a PR 0, 0 relevancy backlink. But I'm under the impression that 2000 PR 0 Rel 0 backlinks eventually add up to a-lot of search engine love.

I guess what I'm asking is, considering the type of strategy I'm planning to implementing, should I scratch up some of my last pennies to get one of these quality softwares or should I focus towards customizing the articles I have now so they will be well written enough to generate backlinks on high authority sites.

Also, considering I choose to write higher quality articles that can be guest posted on higher authority sites - would a directory submitting software still be a significant tool to have? I'm thinking having a high quality article submitted in a bunch of directories would make it easier to find amirite? In addition I'm curious if there are more rewarding methods to promoting longtail sites that I should be worrying about and focusing on. BTW Id like to hear that last one from someone who's actively doing it, and not from someone who's just guessing and passing by.

Any input on developing these type of sites is widely welcomed - not just article marketing advice as the subject name implies. Feel free to point me to any resources. Thanks warriors


Update: Bad news, earlier I made the rookie mistake of submitting 1 article to a directory before letting it get indexed on my website. (blah, sucks for me)
:confused:
#adv #article #income #marketing #needed #passive #setting #stream
  • Profile picture of the author Devin X
    Banned
    Use the search function and look for Alexa Smith's posts. She is quite skilled in this regard, as well as in her ability to explain the process in unbelievable clarity.
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  • Profile picture of the author cynthiaSEL
    Hi! I'm answering from a different perspective.

    When we're putting articles out, we have many reasons for doing so.

    For example:

    (1) Traffic generation
    (2) Credibility - documenting our expertise!

    So putting our pennies as you say? You're right, we've got to be careful that everything we do is an investment.

    Good investments, in every sense in the world, typically are for stuff that delivers value to us long term and consistently.

    That's why I suggest...

    How about simply supporting yourself while getting articles out in places that will generate traffic slowly over the long term?

    That's the way we build credibility so that we can succeed in business in a sustainable way.

    It takes longer. But valuable foundations do!

    Kind of like the parable of building our home on solid rock rather than on sand.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    As I search these forums I read about people submitting there articles to hundreds of directories at a time each getting different results based on the niche their in.
    You don't have to submit your article to all of them. The one thing you must do is to add each and every single article that you write to your own website or blog.

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    Update: Bad news, earlier I made the rookie mistake of submitting 1 article to a directory before letting it get indexed on my website.
    That really doesn't matter. You can add a new article somewhere else online and then you can add it on your own website. Don't listen to others who tell you that you should add it first to your website and then to other places.

    You should write your own articles and never allow any softwares to do it for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author thedanbrown
    Ya i would definitely advise against spinning your articles and re-submitting them. It would be more effective to either write more articles or syndicate them,. What I mean by syndicate them is to turn your article into a video or mp3 file, then submit them to podcast directories and youtube/vimeo etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Rather than wasting your money on services to rack up worthless links, or even worse, links that recent search algorithm changes are intended to penalize, why not hire someone to find a good list of blogs, newsletters and even print publications related to your niche? Then submit those high-quality articles to credible sites with the human traffic you want, rather than piddling with what a bunch of PR0 links might be worth.

      Here's a clue - most authorities seem to agree that the posted PR scale is logarithmic (based on powers of 10). Forgoing the explanation of the underlying math, that means that one PR3 link is worth 1,000 times what a PR0 link is worth.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    I'm under the impression that 2000 PR 0 Rel 0 backlinks eventually add up to a-lot of search engine love.
    I'm afraid not. Can't stress this clearly or repeatedly enough. That isn't the case at all.

    That was so even in 2009/10, before the Panda updates (when SEO textbook writers were pointing out that 50,000 - 100,000 of those backlinks gave the same linkjuice as one backlink on a quality, relevant site), and it's all the more so, now.

    As the saying goes, "100,000 of those 'backlinks' and $3.50 will buy you a cappuccion at Starbucks.

    "But wait ... there's more!" ... since the Penguin update of early 2012, that number of article directory backlinks will also - eventually - get your site heavily penalized. And there are plenty of threads in the SEO folder here in which people attest to that, and explain that Google told them openly that that was why they'd been penalized. "Don't even think about it" is a very good approach.

    To be fair, that was never part of the purpose of using an article directory, anyway. An article directory is only a stepping-stone to getting traffic (and backlinks, if you insist) from the relevant sites who re-publish the articles, having looked them up there (not in Google!) in their "available content-sourcing".

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5068872

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    should I scratch up some of my last pennies to get one of these quality softwares
    I think you're asking about automated article submitters?! :p

    The answer is a big, clear, round, fully-formed "no".

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    should I focus towards customizing the articles I have now so they will be well written enough to generate backlinks on high authority sites.
    Why are you asking about "backlinks on high authority sites"? Why not about traffic from high authority sites?!

    You can get both, but from the backlinks, all you can ever get is SEO traffic, which typically isn't worth nearly as much as the direct traffic from getting your articles re-published on quality, relevant sites: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5035794

    Note that, in order to achieve this outcome, the articles will need to be written for syndication in the first place.

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    Also, considering I choose to write higher quality articles that can be guest posted on higher authority sites - would a directory submitting software still be a significant tool to have?
    No, and again no, and yet again no.

    It would be a significant and helpful tool to avoid.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ing-robot.html

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    I'm thinking having a high quality article submitted in a bunch of directories would make it easier to find amirite?
    No, you're not, but that's the last thing you should want to do, anyway. No article marketer wants his potential customers finding an article directory article. That's not who they're there for at all. We all lose most of that traffic. Those are the people you should want to come directly to your own site. Which (thanks to all the kindnesses of all those Panda updates and the Penguin update, too) is now easier than ever to arrange. For all the reasons explained, with an example, in this post.

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    In addition I'm curious if there are more rewarding methods to promoting longtail sites that I should be worrying about and focusing on. BTW Id like to hear that last one from someone who's actively doing it, and not from someone who's just guessing and passing by.
    Be a little more ambitious than you are: if you can produce articles good enough to get them published on relevant sites, in your niche (and backlinks from elsewhere aren't really worth having anyway), you can get much better traffic with them than SEO traffic!

    Originally Posted by Thecostofexperience View Post

    Update: Bad news, earlier I made the rookie mistake of submitting 1 article to a directory before letting it get indexed on my website. (blah, sucks for me)
    Don't worry about it at all: one article isn't going to do too much damage to the cause.
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