While there are many effective ways to get more traffic and build your ezine list, the one I’ve had the MOST success with is to submit articles for use on other people’s websites and in their ezines.
“But wait a minute,” you say. “Aren’t I supposed to be creating great articles for MY OWN ezine?”
Yes, you are! And after your article appears in your OWN ezine, you should then submit it to others. Over the past few years, I’ve found this to be the best way to get traffic, build my list, and increase my sales, for five reasons:
1) You can quickly gain FREE exposure to TENS OF THOUSANDS (or even HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS) of untapped prospects at a time. There are many high-traffic sites and ezines with high readerships that are looking for content from people like YOU.
2) Articles let you educate and share good information with your prospects. They also position you as an expert in their eyes, so they’ll think of YOU as the most respected resource in your field. (Traditional ads don’t do that for you.)
3) You have the right to promote yourself, your business, and whatever else you want at the end of every article. And anyone using your article must keep this information intact. (More on that in a minute.)
4) This is a tried-and-true method that will NEVER stop working, unlike the latest and greatest gimmicks to spoof the search engines. (Try one of those and see how quickly your traffic halts once the bottom drops out.) Search engines love real content and will always love real content.
5) It’s EASY, and anyone can do it!
HERE’S HOW TO GET STARTED…
1. PICK A WINNER
Browse through your archives and pick an insightful article that really showcases your expertise. Or, if this is new to you, write a basic article on your subject of expertise. (Not a good writer, or need help? Hire a writer from elance.com.)
2. POLISH IT ‘TIL IT SHINES
Publishers will not be interested in your article if it contains typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors, or inactive Web links — these goofs would compromise the integrity of their publications. So make sure it’s Kosher!
3. ADD A COPYRIGHT NOTICE
At the end of the article, insert a copyright notice, dated when you first published the article. Example: © 2008 ABC Company Inc.
4. WRITE A JAZZY “RESOURCE BOX”
In exchange for your letting other publishers reprint your article, it’s customary to require they include the contact information you provide. This is usually called the “resource box” and it should come RIGHT after your copyright notice. Here’s where you can ham it up.
Don’t waste time promoting your actual business in the resource box. Why? Remember your #1 goal is always to get prospects on your LIST. You’ll gain MORE clients and customers by FIRST getting them to subscribe to your FREE ezine or special report. THEN you’ve got them! You’ll be in front of them regularly, and that’s when they’ll understand why they should hire you or buy your products.
5. SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE TO ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTORIES
There are hundreds of ‘free content’ Web sites and announcement lists where you can submit your articles for other publishers to use. Some even let you include a picture and other information about your website. One of my favorites is EzineArticles.com.
6. SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE DIRECTLY TO APPROPRIATE PUBLISHERS
For best results, take the bull by the horns and contact publishers directly. But not just any publishers — ones with ezines that accept articles AND whose readers are your ideal clients and customers. A great place to start your search and build your own list is Charlie Page’s Directory of Ezines.
7. AUTOMATE THE ENTIRE PROCESS
I know you’re probably thinking right now, “OK Ali, this sounds great, but isn’t this going to be time consuming?”
The answer is most definitely YES. In the past, you’d have to spend several hours a week just to get one article out there. It’s a lot of administrative work, requiring time that you probably don’t have.
There is also a software called Article Announcer that does a lot of this work FOR you. It blasts out your articles to hundreds of directories, publishers, and other sources to help generate a slew of web visitors to your site, month after month.
While hand-placement will always get you MOST accurate results, I recommend you do BOTH some hand and some automatic to get the most exposure possible!
Remember also that if you don’t want to do any of your own article marketing yourself, it’s a perfect task to pass on to an assistant, intern, or freelancer. The key is getting it down to a SYSTEM that you repeat regularly.
© 2003-2009 Alexandria Brown International Inc.
Self-made multimillionaire entrepreneur Ali Brown is devoted to creating financial freedom for women globally through the power of entrepreneurship. To learn how to create wealth and live an extraordinary life now, register for her free weekly articles at www.AliBrown.com