Resource Box Rehab: Making Your Author Bio Short And Sweet

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Alright, so you know that with your resource box you need to tell the reader the following things:

1) Who you are (giving your name and a little bio info)

2) Give them an idea why you're a trustworthy authority on this topic you're writing about

3) Give them a reason to click through to your website

4) And also give them a link to your website

Whew–that's a lot of information, and did I mention that you need to do all of this in no more than 450 characters (including spaces)?

(Oh, and when I say "characters" I mean letters and spaces)

So, it's a bit of a magic trick really to be able to cram so much super important information into such tiny space…but it can be done!

From our recent Resource Box Rehab Lab, the "War & Peace" style resource box  was something that I noticed quite a bit.

I know how that is–you have such a short space, and it's sometimes hard to do the streamlining necessary.

But remember, in addition to the technical space requirements that most article directories have for a resource box, you want to make your resource box as concise as possible to better draw the reader's attention to the bits of information that are the most important.

What do you cut out? What should you put in? 

Let's take a look at some examples from our Resource Box Rehab Lab participants, and we'll see what info makes the cut from these resource boxes that are a bit too long.

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

Is There Any Benefit to Having Your Article Published on a Smaller Website?

Shakespeare & Co.
Originally uploaded by Glynnis Ritchie

We've talked about the purpose of article directories and how when you get your article published on a directory that the chances of your article being re-published compound.

Now, who are these websites that are picking up your article for publication at the article directories?

Well, sometimes they're ezine editors, sometimes they're blog owners, sometimes they're folks with websites who want to have a good article waiting for their target readers when they arrive at their site.

You don't get to pick and choose which sites pick up your article for publication any more than the author of a book in the library gets to choose who checks it out.

But what if someone from an smaller or brand new website reprints your article on their site? That isn't a high ranking website that can bolster your rankings in Google–what's the purpose of that? 

There are a few key things you need to know:

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

Resource Box Rehab: How To Turn Your Business Card Into An Author Resource Box

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I really appreciate all the participants in the Resource Box Rehab Lab — as I look through the entries, I see some great teaching opportunities and chances to help fellow article marketers take things up a few notches!

Today we'll be looking at what I'm calling "the Sig Line resource box" phenomenon .

This is where the information put in the author resource box would more appropriately be seen at the end of an email, where your signature line and various contact information usually appears.

Or, I guess this could also be called the "business card resource box" phenomenon–it's the same info as you might find on a person's business card. 

Just to be clear–don't think of your author resource box as a business card, but as an opportunity to:

a) introduce yourself to your reader

b) tell a little about yourself

c) inspire some confidence in your expertise on the subject you're writing about

d) give the reader a reason to go to your website

e) give a link to your website

There is a finesse to an author resource box that a business card or sig line doesn't have.

We have the opportunity to talk to our readers, to make a personal connection, so let's get creative when we're doing our resource boxes!

Also, remember–we do want to include our author name, a little bio info that will inspire some confidence in the reader, a reason to click, and a link to our website.

If your resource box look like a business card, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

What Is The Purpose Of An Article Directory?

New York Public Library #5
Originally uploaded by an untrained eye (is elsewhere)

That may sound like a pretty simple question with a really obvious answer, but it’s one of those topics that is so basic that many folks have forgotten the fundamental reason why we submit articles to article directories.

An article directory is like a library of articles, where online publishers can “check-out” articles and publish them on their websites.

With a library you need to return every book that you check-out, but with an article directory publishers get to “keep” the article (publish it on their site) as long as they give credit to the author and include the author resource box when they republish it.

This is why articles used in article marketing are called “free reprint articles”.

Publishers can reprint them for free, but the author gets paid back by having his resource box reprinted (including a link to his website) every time his article is republished.

It’s a win-win situation for both parties!

So, exactly how does this work?

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

Resource Box Rehab: Author Resource Boxes of the Rich and Famous

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Well, I don't know if these folks are actually rich and famous, but these are the first round of folks who are being added to our Resource Box Rehab Hall of Fame, because their resource boxes are pretty darn good just as they are! 

 Let me go through this first batch (we'll add more folks to the Resource Box Rehab Hall Of Fame as time goes on), and then I'll tell you why these resource boxes have got the right stuff:

*****

David Haslett is Senior National Director of the Freedom Equity Group. To discover how modern debt management technology can help you pay off your mortgage and other debt, go to: http://www.fastestmortgagepayoffplan.com

*****

Gerri D Smith apparel designer and creative writer wishes you love, beauty and wellness. You are unique and must be treated with all the individual attention you deserve. Pick up your Free craft gift when you visit, http://www.distinctive-elegance.com

*****

Robert Harden, fitness coach at Extremely-Fit, invites you to visit http://www.extremely-fit.com for more fitness and nutritional articles, like this one. You may also feel free to contact Robert via the contact form for fitness advice and questions.

*****

David Hurley is an Internet marketer based in Hiroshima, Japan. His website focuses on developing viable Internet marketing strategies and features a FREE Internet start-up course for your home based business success. No sign up required! Check it out at: http://grasp-the-nettle.com

*****

Why do these resource boxes get a gold star? 

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

Resource Box Rehab: It’s Not Just About Links…

Image Poster for Triage

Recently we've been collecting resource boxes from folks who would like some pointers on how the author bio box that sits below their articles could be better. 

I did an initial "triage" of the resource box candidates and this is what I noticed:

• Some resource boxes were absolutely excellent, and I wouldn't change a thing!
• Some resource boxes were pretty good, but could benefit from some simple tweaks to take them from good to great.
• Some resource boxes were passable, but could definitely be made better with a moderate overhaul.
• Some resource boxes were on life support and in need of attention NOW!

We'll cover a variety of resource boxes and different types of challenges in upcoming posts, but for now in true "triage" fashion, we're going to attend to the resource boxes that are the most needy.

You may be wondering, "What constitutes a resource box that's on life support?" Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

The Resource Box Rehab Lab Is Open For Business–Let’s Do A Makeover!

The Many Looks Of Chango
Originally uploaded by changoblanco

Do you have a resource box that you need help with?   

Want some feedback on your resource box?

Want pointers for how to make it better?

Want to harness the power of article marketing TO THE MAX by luring readers into your website with an enticing author bio (resource box)? 

So, go ahead and toss us your resource box below in the comments if you want some free advice and some simple makeover suggestions. 

Seriously, we want to help you get the most bang for your article marketing buck, and if you want to do that you need a strong resource box. 

Don't be shy–even the best article marketers are always trying to improve that powerful little bio box that sits at the end of their article. Believe me, it really helps to get objective feedback, and that's what we're doing. 

We don't know how many folks are going to respond to this, so I cannot promise that we'll get to every single person, but we will look through the entries and pick out one or two a week to discuss in a post on Creative Article Marketing and brainstorm ways it can improve.

We can't wait to see your "before" resource boxes!

P.S. Oh, and some of you might be saying, "You're asking for my one resource box, but aren't I supposed to make a new one each time?"

Yes, ideally you would customize each resource box to each article, even when the articles are on the same topic, but we're doing a rehab here–let's start with the basics and be sure you at least have one really strong resource box.

Then, as you learn how to craft a really powerful resource box you can certainly take things up a notch by customizing each one to suit your particular article. 

For now though–just give us your basic one, and we'll try to help make sure you've at least got one resource box that packs a punch!

Related Resources

Resource Box Rehab: Making Your Author Bio Short And Sweet

Resource Box Rehab: How To Turn Your Business Card Into A Resource Box 

How to Launch an Article Series from One Lonely Article

Image Canaveral-Launch

We've been talking about the perks of doing an article series and how to do one correctly (don't put Part 1, Part 2, ect in your titles!), but today I'd like to share with you a little trick I stumbled upon when I was trying to figure out how to get more marketing mileage out of my blog posts. 

As I told you previously, here is one of the ways I morph one piece of content into multiple articles:

"What I do lots of times is I take one aspect of a post and elaborate on it in an article. For example, let's say my post is about how to do a successful article marketing campaign, and I have listed several brief steps.

I can take each one of those steps and turn them into a stand-alone article by elaborating on them. I can have one article about how to craft a strong resource box, another about how to craft a great article title, and another about how to locate a great article submission service (you know that there's one that I highly recommend! ) 

You get the idea–you can elaborate on ideas that you first broach in a blog post, fleshing them out so that they are article-worthy. Depending on the post, you may get several articles out of one post." 

Well, in the same way you can turn one blog post into multiple articles, you can also use one article as a launching pad for an article series.

Here's how:

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)

The 3 Reasons Why Writing An Article Series Can Simplify Your Life

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I know, I've been beating you over the head recently about not putting Part 1, Part 2, etc in your titles and how your titles shouldn't scream "article series!!!!", but the obvious question is… 

If I can't tell readers outright that an article is part of a series, and if it's not a given that all the articles in my series will be read by any one viewer, then what's the point of doing an article series?

That's a great question, and by now you've probably grasped that doing an article series is more for your benefit than for a reader who finds your articles. After all, it is not a given that someone who reads one of the articles in your series will read or come into contact with all the other parts. 

I LOVE to work in series but not because I think I can lure readers into reading 7 articles rather than just one. The main reason I like to do article series is that it just plain makes the writing easier on me and gives me compounded results for my initial efforts.  

Here are the big 3 reasons why writing in a series simplifies my life: 

Read more… | Article Distribution Service (SubmitYOURArticle.com)