Article Directory :: Internet Marketing/Online Business Articles

7 Habits for Highly Effective Article Marketing

By Steve Shaw

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 14Aug2008 Word count: 796 Viewed: 678 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

You've probably heard of certain internet marketing 'gurus' who get amazing results from their article marketing efforts, but then you tried your hand at it and wondered, "What am I doing wrong? Why am I not getting the same results these experts are getting?"

What these article marketing experts are doing is not mind blowing or even particularly difficult - they have just developed certain key habits that allow them to succeed.

Just follow these simple tricks, and before long you'll be writing and submitting articles like the pros!

1) Submit articles regularly, but not too frequently.

The quantity of article submissions requires a delicate balance - submit too many articles and you can compromise quality. Also, publishers may begin to feel overrun with articles from you, with the effect that you dilute the effectiveness of each one you send out.

But submit too few articles and you won't see much impact for your efforts.

So how much is too much and too little?

For effective article marketing, I would recommend submitting between one and eight articles a month.

2) Write articles that demonstrate your expertise, not articles that are promotional.

Most quality publishers are looking for educational, informational articles that are not self-serving - this means that the articles do not mention your own business, website, or products in the body of the article. (Your resource box is the appropriate place to talk about your business and website.) Articles are a way to demonstrate your expertise in your niche and establish yourself as an authority in your field. Effective article marketers try to teach, rather than try to sell.

3) Craft a thoughtful resource box.

Your resource box is the author bio that sits below your article, and it is the one spot where you can talk about yourself, your business, your products or website. Your resource box is absolutely intrinsic to effective article marketing.

Remember, your resource box should tell readers a little about you and your business, and importantly, it should also contain a call-to-action to generate click-throughs to your website. And don't forget to include, and double-check, your link!

4) Have realistic expectations and submit articles consistently over the long term.

Article marketing is a long term marketing strategy, and it will likely take 3-4 months to see results from your efforts. Effective article marketers know this, so they don't submit a few articles and then quit because they didn't see huge results. They persevere; they know that article marketing is something that is meant to be done over the lifetime of their website, so they don't freak out when they don't see immediate results.

5) Craft thoughtful, educational, and grammatically correct articles.

Really effective article marketers write articles that their target market finds useful and informative. They don't phone in their content thinking that the only thing that matters is the link in their resource box. They think of things their target visitors need to know and are likely to be looking for information on online, and then they craft thoughtful articles that they thoroughly proofread before submitting.

Remember that your article will be published on websites over which you have no control, so proofread, proofread, proofread!

6) Create tantalizing titles.

Effective article marketers know that the article title is what lures in readers, and they focus on crafting attention grabbing titles. So, don't slap on a title that looks like an afterthought - it's as important as a headline on a sales page!

Remember that when people are looking through an article directory they will likely be looking at a list of titles - would your title stand out and make someone want to click through to read the entire article?

7) Get creative when thinking of article topics.

Being an expert article marketer is a bit like being a professional writer - you need to come up with fresh ways of writing about your niche.

Try writing articles directed to readers of different skill levels, to newbies and advanced readers. Get involved in communities in your niche and see what common problems and questions people are having. Think of the ten most common questions that your customers ask you, and then write articles to satisfy those questions.

When you're doing article marketing, you're teaching. A good teacher finds ways to convey different elements of a subject in interesting ways.

And remember, every article that you write should be on the topic of your website (not *about* your website, but about the general topic of your website).

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Even if you're a newcomer to article marketing, you will stand apart from the crowd if you take these tips to heart. Use them wisely and you can start article marketing just like the experts - today!

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