The Internet Marketing Maven » Article Marketing

Free Software to Help You Write Articles Fast

Joan Yankowitz — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:20:18 +0000

In my recent post, The Best Way I Know to Write an Article, I showed you a simple method for writing an article.

Now, I have a free software application that will make it even easier for you to quickly write your articles.

Just download The 8 Minute Article software and “cheat sheet” on how to write a resource box by right-clicking the link and saving the zip file to your computer.

Unzip the file, click on the application to run it, and you’re halfway there.

All you have to do now is fill in the blanks, following the instructions and tips along the way.

When you’re done, save your article as a text file or copy it to a clipboard and paste it into a file.

Now there’s no reason at all why you can’t write an article. Try it!

Should You Use Duplicate Article Content?

Joan Yankowitz — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:19:00 +0000

I admit I’m not a big fan of Internet marketers using duplicate article content. It’s just a personal peeve. I’d love to see more unique, useful content on the web.

But I understand that marketers will continue to use duplicate content on their sites, and people doing article marketing will continue to submit the same articles to dozens of article directories. Those are the facts.

There are ways to use duplicate content and stay in good standing with the search engines, and the folks at ArticleMarketer.com, an article distributor, have written a free report showing you how to do it.

You can download The Duplicate Content Debate here by right-clicking the link and saving it to your computer.

What do you think of their suggestions? Let me know what you think.

Don’t (Ever)? Use Private Label Rights Articles

Joan Yankowitz — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:45:03 +0000

I’m going to say it out loud. I’m not a fan of Private Label Rights (PLR) articles.

Oh, I tried to use PLR over the years, but I always ended up disappointed. I don’t know if the people selling this stuff think it’s written well, or if they think it’s ok to ask people to pay for incomprehensible articles loaded with typos.

I found it took me longer to rewrite the articles than it would have taken to research and write them from scratch.

So I eventually gave up and now write all of my own articles and blog posts. Maybe that reduces the amount of content I post on my sites, but at least I know that all the content is “cherce.” (That’s an old Brooklyn word…)

Having said all that, I’m not opposed to using PLR if it’s good quality and not widely distributed.

I recently tested Article Underground, a PLR membership service that was recommended to me by an Internet marketing friend. They provide 400 pretty high quality articles a month to a limited number of members. I think they’re on to something, and I’d encourage you to take a look at their site and watch their video to see if you’re interested.

They’re not the low-cost provider, but I believe you get what you pay for. And they do offer a lot of extras that I found valuable.

Submit to These 5 Article Directories for the Most Impact

Joan Yankowitz — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:33:02 +0000

Times are tough, and all Internet marketers are looking for ways reduce costs when promoting our websites through article marketing.

If you have the funds, I do suggest you look at a service such as SubmitYourArticle.com to get the maximum exposure for your articles.

But if you’re watching your dollars (and who isn’t these days?) you’ll want to manually submit your articles to these top 5 article directories. They will give you the most exposure you can get at no cost.

EzineArticles.com ─ The king of article directories. They are very picky, and will not accept duplicate content, but stick with it and fix whatever they object to. It is worth it, because their articles are widely distributed, and they are highly respected as a quality directory.
ArticleDashboard.com ─ Very easy submission process and you’ll get your article posted very quickly.
GoArticles.com ─ Another easy submission process. Your article will appear almost immediately.
ArticleAlley.com ─ Easy submission and quick posting.
ArticleCity.com ─ You don’t even have to register here. Just post your article.

To avoid Google’s duplicate content penalty, make sure you create five versions of your article and post a different version to each of the directories.

And don’t miss my post on the best way I know to write an article.

The Best Way I Know to Write an Article

Joan Yankowitz — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:44:27 +0000

You’ve probably heard it hundreds of times – article marketing is one the most effective ways to get traffic to your website. But if you’re like most people, you don’t know how to get started.

Contrary to what you might think, you don’t have to be a professional writer to create a clear, concise article that others will want to read.

I find the reason most people fear writing is that it seems like an overwhelming process. And that’s understandable. But if you break it down into smaller tasks, you can easily get through it.

So try this method next time you sit down to write an article.

Decide on the topic of your article ─ I know, this is the hard part. But if you start by thinking about what customers in your niche want to know, you can pretty quickly come up with an article topic. Keep it simple; don’t try to tackle a huge topic. You might want to pick a smaller part of a bigger topic.

Write down a preliminary title ─ Turn your topic into a “How to” or “5 Ways to” title. Make sure you use your keyword phrase in the title. You can always refine the title after you’ve finished the article.

Write a short introductory paragraph ─ Tell the reader what you’re going to cover in your article. Keep it simple and again include your keyword phrase.

Write a lead-in sentence to the rest of the article ─ “Here are 5 ways to” or “It’s easy to” (topic).

Jot down 5 ways to ─ Whatever your topic is.

Take each way and flesh it out in one or two sentences ─ Use versions of your keyword phrase in this section. Don’t use the same phrase over and over. It’s considered “stuffing” and Google will penalize you in their search rankings.

If you’re using “5 ways,” format this section as a list ─ If you’re using “how to,” format as paragraphs.

Write a short closing paragraph summarizing the article ─Two or three sentences are enough.

Count the words in your article ─ Aim for at least 400 words, but don’t go over 1500 words.

Re-read your article ─ Edit for sense, and fix grammar and typos.

Write a compelling resource box ─Sell yourself and your website. (Don’t forget your link.)

Submit your article ─ Find article directories.

That’s it. It’s not so difficult when you break down the process into manageable steps.

A great resource I’ve used for article submission is Unique Article Wizard. Unlike other services, they don’t submit the same article to all of the directories. They allow you easily create different variations of the same article, which helps increase your backlinks and traffic.