How to Stretch Your Articles into Dollars
I’m a big fan of article marketing. I recently conducted a 30-day study where I posted an article a day to article directories to see what kind of boost in traffic I could get for my website and blog. And, I was simply astounded at the results.
I increased my ebook sales by 166% in just 30 days! I also generated more traffic and got more subscribers during this period. Read more about it all here.
In light of this recent success, I thought, how can I stretch my articles into dollars? Before I answer that, let me digress a minute.
Why Article Marketing Will Always Be Effective
Many online entrepreneurs dismiss article marketing because it’s become old hat. They constantly flit to the next new thing, eg, social bookmarking. I’m guilty of this. You see,
I originally conducted a 30-day study on article marketing back in October of 2006 for an ebook I was writing.
It proved effective then, but I got away from it because: (i) I got tired of producing new content; (ii) client projects; and (iii) I got bored with it. But in light of my recent results, I’m back with this old favorite for good.
Article marketing will always be effective because when people go online, they are looking for information. If you produce good, informative information on a consistent basis, you will always be able to drive traffic to your site.
Turning Traffic from Article Marketing into Dollars
The last statement above is what got me excited about article marketing again. I literally burst with ideas for articles – so much so that I always have a note pad with me to write ideas down. Just yesterday, I pulled into a parking lot to jot down notes from a radio show I was listening to that generated an article idea.
The key to turning traffic from article marketing into dollars is not revolutionary – write good content and ask for the sale. Many online entrepreneurs either forget this last part, or feel funny doing it.
For example, if you write an ebook on how to potty train a toddler, make sure the articles you produce give in-depth information in a new way. Discuss everything from new age practices that don’t work, to little-known, down-home remedies that do.
How to Benefit from In-Your-Face Marketing
Once the interested visitor arrives at your site, make sure that every page on it has a graphic or link to your ebook. Some will say that this is in-your-face marketing, but web surfers are a finicky bunch. They flit from site to site quickly. You may only get one shot to make them aware of what you’re selling. So, do it constantly – and unobtrusively.
Remember that when you’re selling online, the great equalizer is excellent, informative content. Put this out on a regular basis and you are guaranteed to increase your web traffic.
Article Marketing Brain Tease: How many articles do you think you have to write and submit to article directories to make one ebook sale a day?
I think I have an idea, but have no scientific evidence to back it up. I’ll give you my answer in next week’s post here entitled How to Increase Ebook Sales with an Article Marketing Blitz.
The Difference Between Getting Clients and Making Sales with Article Marketing
This may seem to be a bit of an about-phase from the position I took in the article here, Getting Something for Nothing: Is it Time to Give Up on Free Article Marketing? But, it’s not. I’m at the phase in my career where I’m putting serious effort into creating more passive streams of income via ebook sales.
So, I’ll sum it up this way. If you’re looking for freelance writing clients, for example, article marketing is a good long-term strategy for generating clients because it builds your reputation as an expert.
However, if you’re selling a product like an ebook, it can produce immediate and long-term sales — depending on how many articles you can produce and disseminate in a given period of time.
Either way, article marketing is an online advertising strategy that can’t be dismissed completely and should be used by every online entrepreneur to some degree.
SEO Jeff | July 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm #
Great info! I thought eBooks were so last year.
Todd Andrews | July 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm #
Marketing your website with Article directories are great for websites just starting out. Its a quick and easy way to grab some initial traffic. Great post!
Alex the Freelance Twin | July 9th, 2008 at 12:22 pm #
Great article. Like Jeff I thought e-books were either long-gone, or too “new” for regular internet users. But it’s all in how you market it.
I’ve been doing article directory submissions for a while, but I’ve never done 1 a day for 30 days! Did you just use previously written articles on your website? Or did you write a new article every day for your 30-day test?
The Freelance Writer's Blog | July 9th, 2008 at 1:16 pm #
@SEO Jeff: No they’re definitely not. BUT, people do expect value for their money. If you target a niche and provide excellent, useful info, ebooks are not only “not” so last year, they’re the future trend of publishing.
FYI, read my post here last week for why (hint: those online, like bloggers, are light years ahead of most of the population). The title of that post is Why Bloggers are Primed to Make Money Online.
@Todd: Thanks!
@Alex: Re your questions, “Did you just use previously written articles on your website? Or did you write a new article every day for your 30-day test?” I answer it in the link to the article in the second paragraph. The short answer though is no, I didn’t write new content every day, but I’m starting to. For more on this read the post on my blog today entitled “Two Types of Content Every Website and Blog Should Have”. (will be posted in just a bit)
Yuwanda
Yuwanda
Edward Lomax | July 9th, 2008 at 6:19 pm #
I think article marketing suffers from “tactic degeneration”, which happens a lot on the Internet.
When a tactic is first used everyone gets excited about it. It works, so everyone wants to do it. But once everyone does it, the QUALITY tends to go down. In this case, the quality of the articles. As a result, the results suffer. Then the low quality article writer goes to the forums and says, “Article marketing doesn’t work”.
Then other low quality article marketers chime in and soon everyone thinks it doesn’t work.
But the fact is, high-quality articles still bring in lots of traffic… and can lead to lots of sales.
I’ve slacked on my article marketing lately, and am now motivated to get back into it. Thanks!
The Freelance Writer's Blog | July 9th, 2008 at 6:26 pm #
Excellent analysis Edward — textbook in fact. Glad I got you excited about this internet marketing technique again. My little experiment definitely lit a fire under me. I literally can’t wait to bound out of bed in the morning to write my “article of the day.”
Yuwanda
Andrew. Attorney. | July 9th, 2008 at 11:54 pm #
This is a great article. Thank you so much for explaining the benefits of article marketing. I’ve been thinking about giving it a try, and now you’ve motivated me to action. Time to write some articles!
Dave | July 10th, 2008 at 2:32 am #
Isn’t the term ‘about-face’?
Hendry Lee | July 10th, 2008 at 10:37 am #
Nowadays, you want to submit articles regularly to article directories for the strategy to be effective. I write a few articles every day and this strategy has gives me good result.
Article marketers who are in the other niches outside Internet marketing (and other competitive niches, I assume) are still getting a lot of traffic from article marketing, especially if they are able to rank on search engines for long tail keywords.
@Yuwanda: That’s impressive. 166% increase just from article marketing.
@Jeff: Amazon.com with their Kindle strategy is a proof that e-books are going strong and very well. I would expect many breakthroughs in recent years. Audio and video become more popular too.
Pamela R | July 10th, 2008 at 10:45 am #
OK, I’ll admit I’ve been lazy in the article department. But now that I’ve found your blog I’m excited about it! Thanks for the great post.
amirulcyber | July 10th, 2008 at 11:00 am #
I really like your article writing style.Thanks..
The Freelance Writer's Blog | July 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pm #
@Andrew, Pamela: Glad I’ve motivated you two. Try doing an article a day for 30 days and you will see results — guaranteed!
FYI, it is a task to submit every day (especially if you take pride in churning out good content). Now that the experiment is over, I try to do it at least 4 times a week. I’m thinking that in a year’s time, I’ll be glad I did.
I can’t wait to get to the point where I can just survive off of my ebook sales — this is what pushes me to write even when I don’t feel like it! The moral is: find out what motivates you, and push that button when you don’t feel like writing.
@Dave: Dear golly, I think you’re right. Forgive the faux paus!
@Hendry: Thanks. And you’re correct, SEO (eg, long tail keywords, etc.) should be a part of every article marketing strategy. Perhaps I’ll write on that at some point in the near future.
@amirulcyber: Thank you. What a sweet thing to say.
Yuwanda
lissie | July 10th, 2008 at 8:28 pm #
Which directories do you use? I find that ezinearticlescom is the only one that brings me any traffic - though u have to wait a few days to get approved it seems worth it
The Freelance Writer's Blog | July 10th, 2008 at 9:23 pm #
@Lissie, see the following post referenced on my blog. Not only does it list the Top 10 article directories, but it gives further info on some, and other info you may find interesting.
The post is here: 3 Days of Article Marketing Boosted Search Results by 1,000
Good luck in your article marketing efforts.
Yuwanda
Marketing Navi | July 11th, 2008 at 1:57 am #
It is convincing to hear your story with actual stats. Maybe it would help readers more if you disclose more than how many articles you wrote. Like, how much time or effort you spent for each article to get that result.
I also wonder if you borrow some contents from the book you have already written. If you disclose so much, how much are left for book contents?
Bulgaria Properties | July 11th, 2008 at 3:17 am #
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Enache | July 11th, 2008 at 3:24 am #
I think everybody agree that articles are a powerful tool. The most important thing is to submit to article sites that actually review your article because most of them are dead and nobody manages them anymore.
The Freelance Writer's Blog | July 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am #
Marketing Navi: Remember, I said great content is the equalizer in article marketing. So, I may spend 20 minutes writing some articles, an hour writing others and 2.5 hours on others. It all depends on what I’m writing about. If you’re going to write good, informative content, you’re going to have to put in the time.
I’ve been a freelance writer since 1993, and an entrepreneur for practically all my life (I’ve owned two businesses officially — and probably half a dozen unofficially), so I know business, especially marketing. I pull on all of this knowledge when I write. I pride myself on putting out information that I think others can use and is from first-hand experience, not just general info that can be found all over the web with no persona experience attached. And, I think that’s why article marketing has worked so well for me. Readers can tell that I “know what I’m talking about,” so to speak.
As for borrowing content from my ebooks, well of course that happens sometimes. I may expand upon an idea I’ve already written about, cover it from a different angle and/or add more info as new technology, techniques and strategies come on the scene.
This is why article marketing will always be effective because technology, marketing strategies and new ways of doing things are always coming up. Hence, there will always be something new to tell.
Bottom line: If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to churn out content, then article marketing may work to a certain degree for you, but over the long haul, you won’t have success with it.
In my opinion, internet users have grown beyond general content that is obviously written to just sell them on something. They want specific,tangible which will guide them in making a decision, especially when they get to the stage where they are ready to make a purchase.
So, if you’re using article marketing to drive traffic to your website/blog to sell a product/service, you can’t sway them with unprofessional, general content that can be found all over the web. It has to be good, hard-hitting, professional, first-hand information. This creates trust — which is the first step in making a sale.
I hope I’ve given you some understanding of where I’m coming from.
Article marketing is not easy — I’ve never said that. But, it is FREE — and effective — if you’re willing to put in the time to do it right.
Good luck with your efforts.
Yuwanda
Marketing Navi | July 11th, 2008 at 6:33 pm #
Thank you for putting time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it.