Article Marketing: Too Much Competition?

You need to read deeper into those threads you mentioned.

Submitting content to article directories is usually the last step in the process. It's a passive method of finding new publishers, one with a fairly low payoff for a fairly low effort. The plus side is that it is passive.

If you want to build your own syndicate, you have to take a more active approach. Look for blogs, websites, newsletters, ezines and even print publications that relate to your market. Not the product you want to promote - all you'll find is competitors.

For example, let's take the universal market that it seems like everyone wants to get into - weight loss. Instead of looking for syndication outlets for "weight loss", you spend some time thinking about who wants to lose weight and why (very specifically). For this example, let's say you come up with a 20-something woman who wants to drop 10 pounds so her wedding gown has more of the approriate curves and fewer of the other kind.

Now we've identified a specific target (the bride) with a specific objective (rock her wedding gown).

The first thing most article marketers want to do when they first start out is go hunting for weight loss blogs. They often find that said blogs, especially the ones working hard for SEO traffic, are competitors who are uninterested in sending their hard-won traffic to your site. So they call the market saturated and get discouraged.

Someone building a syndicate looks to edges of the market. Such a syndicate might include sites/ezines/etc. about bridal gowns, wedding photos, bridesmaid dresses, wedding planning, etc. as well as non-competing vendors like local flower shops, bridal boutiques, operators of bridal shows, trade groups for those vendors, etc. All of which MIGHT be interested in an informative, entertaining, even humorous look at how a bride can drop those last ten pounds.

The trick is, most of those people won't go to an article directory looking for content. You have to approach them.

As for the directories themselves, after I provide a new article to my syndicate, I pop a copy on EzineArticles, then set up a Google alert or two (usually the article title and the link in the resource box). If I get a notice that my article has been picked up and published, I'll go look at the page. If I like what I see, I'll contact the publisher and ask them if they would like new content from me before it's posted to any of the directories. If they say yes, I add them to my syndicate. If they say no, no harm, no foul. I thank them for picking up the article they did and remind them where they can find more if they change their mind.

Growing a syndicate is like growing an orange tree. Unless you live in a fairy tale, you don't just stick a seed in the ground and stand back. Take the time and resources to tend the seeds, and some of them will sprout, take root and grow into a grove that bears fruit for many years.

I think having good titles have a lot to do with standing out from the crowd. Also "controversy" as well sells -- if you can get controversy in your titles -- you'll stand out.

Another strategy is to search for websites in your niche that seek out guest articles. You could collect the email of these publishers and send them your quality articles. Also, when your articles are picked up and syndicated from a directory, contact those publishers as well and set up a guest article relationship with them. Add them to your publisher list.

Have your articles on your blog. If they are of value -- people will share them and publishers may even contact you to reuse some of your content

Bill Platt ain't no backwoods hick either, when talkin' 'bout this here syndicatin and drivin herds of traffic.