Exposing Your Expertise
Posted on July 4, 2008
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Writing and leveraging articles is my most successful strategy for promoting my Website and my speaking and consulting services. Visitors to your site from targeted articles tend to be higher quality leads than those from search engines, and potential buyers like to see that you’re published in many credible outlets.
Here are my recommendations to implement this strategy:
1. Write the article
This may sound self-evident, but a couple of pointers:
a) Keep it short, and make the language simple, especially if you’re targeting online outlets. People don’t read word for word on the Web - rather, they’ll scan the screen. Complex sentences and dense copy will lose readers fast.
b) Develop a template that can be easily customized for different target markets. My “Top Seven Ways to Tune Up your Website” has been parlayed into versions for over a dozen different industries. The essential points remain the same, and customizing simply involves adding specific examples.
2. Put it on your Website
One of the key goals of your Website should be to showcase your expertise. Content (combined with testimonials and success stories) is the best way to achieve this.
When adding articles to your site:
a) Include a clear reprint policy. This should state whether you allow articles to be reprinted, and if so, under what terms (including your byline, copyright, notification of use, etc.)
b) If you have a large number of articles, provide an index page that divides them into appropriate subject groupings, and gives a two-line description of each.
c) Create a byline with an enticing hook to get people to visit your Website. Mine refers to my popular free tipsheet “Beyond the Search Engines”, which lists 23 alternative ways to promote your site. This is far more powerful than a bland statement such as “Philippa Gamse is an internationally recognized . . .”
3. Research and offer it to appropriate venues
It’s critical to be very clear about your target audience, and how to reach them. Who are the economic buyers and decision makers that you’d like to be in front of, and what do they read? Do those sites or publications accept outside articles, and if so, what are their policies around doing so?
My assistant, Bonnie Jo Davis, runs my highly successful articles placement strategy. She provides a complete primer of her methodology, along with many online research sources at http://www.ArticlesThatSell.com/
4. Follow up links and references
It’s extremely important to measure the success of these efforts, both in terms of the traffic to your site, and its quality.
Check the “referring URL” section in your traffic reports, and follow links to you from any site that you don’t recognize. Often, site owners won’t inform you when they’ve used your material. So you want to ensure that you have been properly attributed. But also, thank the site owner. I recently sent a note to
a university professor who had added some of my articles to his course reading list. His response? “I really like your ideas, and by the way, we’re looking for a speaker for our upcoming conference . . .”
The Proof of the Pudding . . .
Does all this work? Absolutely. One of my articles was recently highlighted as the “Cool Site of the Week” in Tekguide.net - an online technology and computer directory. But the page that it linked to was not mine, but PowerHomeBiz.com -another site that had featured this article. So I now have sites quoting sites that quote me . . . and that gets major brownie points in Google - the only remaining credible free search engine.
I was also recently hired to consult for a site in the auto industry after the owner had read my article in eDealershipnews.com. He said “I liked the article, I can see how you think, and I’d like some of that thinking for me”. No further selling required!
© 2003 Philippa Gamse. All rights reserved.
Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is a Web strategy consultant and professional speaker. Check out her free tipsheet for 23 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be reached at (831) 465-0317.
Write Articles - Magnetize your visitors
Posted on May 1, 2008
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Easy Website Traffic
Simplest way of generating easy website traffic to your site is by writing Articles. This is the cheapest way to generate traffic to your site. Articles can be written for any subjects and like any medium of communication like News papers, Television, Radio on Internet Articles is recognized way of sharing information.
It is the cheapest way to promote your website but be sure it will not happen over night. It will take time which can give return on investment on your time year after year for your efforts. It will atleast take a year to get decent amount of traffic to your site.
Many people think that they can write anything or they can write well. Writing article is nothing more than distribution wealth of information that you have learned to others for free.
This article will help you to get some idea on the format which is best.
Your Target Market
You article should be focused and should be written for the person it is intended to. You need to know as to why someone should read your article. Like eg. the intention of me writing this article is to share my knowledge for someone to know how to write an article to develop cheap traffic. For my article the target audience is small business websites who have intention to attract low cost traffic or free traffic.
Intention of your Article
The intention of the Article should be selected, what is the purpose of your writing. How the reader will use it. This will actually help you as to what and how to write. The intention of me writing again this article is also to share my article for distribution with other webmasters and ezine owners who will be use to create back links to my website and subscribers to my ezine. Remember to keep the purpose of your article in mind which will help you to keep track of your contents.
What is your Article Subject
What is that you are going to write about? For getting good ideas you need to read other articles, how they have written etc. There are lot of articles floating around on internet, you can pickup and read and understand how it is structured, to get good subject. If you read this article you can find headlines with bold and underlined which give the reader a jist of what the content is.
Mentally format the outline
Your article shoud have an
Article Introduction - The outline should show what are you going to write discuss and why so. Article
Article Final Checking - This involves checking for the details, spell checking and other general errors. Somebody could help you out with this.
Article Online formatting - If you plan to make it available for other websites then you should be sure that the same is formatted correctly and it should be easy for them to use it. The global format is 65 Characters wide- in plain text.
Best is to use either Microsoft word for procesing so that you can reformat it by using program such like Note Tab light (Free) which will format your article correctly.
The article should be small and simple, otherwise the readers will not be interested to go through the same fully. After fully formatting the article should put the same for us. You should also keep in mind that you should provide helpful information to the reader.
Last but not the least, write from your own experience and it will pay you back for
FREE
Are Your Articles High-Quality?
Posted on May 1, 2008
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Writing and distributing articles is fast becoming a popular method of website promotion.
However, if your articles are not high-quality, you defeat the whole purpose of using articles for promotion. Web publishers are looking for quality information to offer their visitors and subscribers.
As a web publisher myself, I will not use articles that have a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. Per the terms of use, publishers are not allowed to alter articles, even if they have the time or inclination to correct all of the errors. If I come across an article with a lot of mistakes, I bypass it, even if the article itself contains a great message. If the author had taken just a little time to clean it up, it would have been perfectly usable.
While there are benefits to submitting your writing to the article databases alone, the primary goal of submitting articles is to allow other web publishers to use your material, thereby bringing more exposure and traffic to your website. If your articles are sloppy, they will not be used. Here are some general guidelines to writing quality articles:
Use a clear title - if you write an article about internet marketing, don’t just title your article “Internet Marketing.” Be clear about the subject of the article. For example, “Ten Ways to Increase Your Sales in Internet Marketing.” Remember, the title is what will grab people’s attention and encourage them to click through and read your article.
Proper spelling and grammar - take the time to be sure your article has no mistakes. Most web publishers can overlook a typo or two, but they will not use articles that need to be deciphered with a decoder ring! Most word processing software comes with a built-in spelling and grammar check. Take a minute to use it before submitting an article. Be sure you use the proper form of words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Example: “there, they’re, and their” or “to, too, and two.” Business-Words.com has an excellent Dictionary of words that sound the same. You can also reference Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. online, for free. This classic reference book details the rules of usage for the English language.
Avoid excessive keyword stuffing - yes, I know you want your article to be keyword-rich to entice the search engines, but there is definitely such a thing as overkill! I read an article recently where the author used the term, “home-based online internet business” over and over and OVER again. Not once did he use the terms, “it, your business, the business,” etc. As a result, the article was incredibly redundant and monotonous. Sprinkle your keywords throughout the article, but also think of some alternate keyword phrases you could use that would be just as effective. For example, this author could have used phrases like, “home-business owner, entrepreneur, internet marketing, and small business.” What is the focus of your article? - some articles I’ve read started with one topic and then quickly meandered onto other unrelated topics, never answering the question or solving the problem posed at the beginning of the article. They more closely resembled long, rambling opinion pieces. While those certainly have their uses, most web publishers are looking for an article that helps their readers solve a problem or learn something new. The best way to do this with your articles is to keep it simple. Start by asking a question or posing a problem, and then provide the answer. Don’t veer off onto other subjects in that same article (unless it is a piece that touches on several interconnected topics, in which case you can use bullet points to define them).
Use a clear author bio - another article I read recently used no author bio. It simply listed the author name and website address. Put a little more thought into it than that. When I enjoy an article, I want to know something about the author, and what their website has to offer me. I won’t click through to the author’s website unless something compels me to do so. Tell the readers a little something about yourself. What is your experience and expertise? What does your website have to offer? Why should they click on your link? At the same time, don’t make your bio too long, either. You don’t have to give your entire life story, just a quick overview of who you are and what you do.
Bottom line: You don’t have to be a literary genius to write a good article. Most web publishers are not looking for perfection. However, remember that your articles are representing your business or website. If they are sloppy, riddled with errors and generally poor quality, what does that say about you and your business?
First impressions count! Always strive to put your best image out there, and it will pay off considerably.
About The Author
Wendy Betterini is a freelance writer and web designer who has been successfully working from home since 2003. In 2005 she launched http://www.CreativeWorkAtHome.com, a community and resource center for home-based professionals, and those who aspire to be. Visit today for tools, tips and information on how you can create your own home-based career, or further improve the one you already have!
Web Links
Posted on April 25, 2008
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3 Tips for Writing Articles
Posted on March 15, 2008
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Do you love to write? Do you want to put those writing skills to good use? Perhaps you want to see your name published whether it be in a newspaper, magazine, e-zine or other forms of publication. Here’s 3 tips to start off your New Year.
1.Brainstorm
Once you’ve decided what your writing is going to be about, brainstorm. Think of a new angle for your article. For example: If you’re writing for your local newspaper about an author, don’t necessarily write only the obvious details. Is there something about this author that makes them unique? What is so great about the book they’ve written, can you tie it with a current news event and or holiday?
2.Removing the Fluff is a Must!
When writing a first draft, it’s expected to have at least some fluff. Fluff is words, sentences, certain aspects of your article that don’t necessarily add to your article. An example would be: “I had no energy. My energy had been sucked out of me” Now that’s not the great example, but you get the point. A good way to tell if you have fluff is to put your article away for a while. Why? Because wen you leave your article for a bit, the next time you look over you’ll see aspects of your article popping out. Certain words, facts and excess information that could easily be removed for a smooth flowing article. 3 fast tips that also apply are:
A. Editing- Proof read your articles and remember to use your spell checker. Grammar and spelling mistakes can easily turn your editor away.
B. Simple Language Structuring- You may be an expert in your field, but for others reading about your topic for the first time, your content should be simple. Make sure your sentences aren’t run-ons. Are you teaching something? Break down aspects of your article into steps. This will ensure your reader understands your topic better.
C. Be careful of the word “the”- “The” is a common word that sometimes is repeated too many times in the article, causing your article to become repetitious. Use “the” repeatedly if you’re trying to make a point.
3.Passion No, I’m not talking about romance. Passion and excitement in your article. The topic that you choose to write about should excite you. It should be something you enjoy, something you love. If it’s a topic you’re not truly interested if, it’s going to show in your writing. Especially if it’s an article that you put together in 5 or so minute. Use words to “pump” up your article, actions, appeal to one’s senses if it’s about cooking. Have the reader become excited and motivated if it’s a teaching article.
About the Author
Content Producer and Children’s Author of Mysterious Chills and Thrills for Kids.
http://www.laurahickey.com