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Learn Blogging & Affiliate Marketing with Rosalind Gardner

Article Marketing

Grab the Low-Hanging Fruit…

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During the past week – when I wasn't sacked out on the couch trying to protect my bruised/cracked ribs and watching the Summer Olympics, or attempting to stifle great guffaws at the Penticton Kiddies Day Parade, or blogging about the lousy local air quality and weather at Roamsters (where the new header graphic is a picture taken from my backyard on Sunday afternoon) – I put most of my energy into article distribution.

How article posting built more targeted traffic…

I posted articles to my favorite directories using article submission software and watched as the number of subscribers for one newsletter doubled almost immediately. Not only did opt-in rates increase, but the percentage of unverified subscribers dropped at the same time. I suspect that the reason for this is that having ‘expert author‘ status on some directories lends more credence to your work and therefore less hesitation to hit the ‘Subscribe' button on your site.

To learn more about the article submission software that I use, you can read an article about my experiences with the software.

Seek and Find the low-hanging fruit…

Coincidentally, just as I was looking for article directories that have fewer authors and articles posted but would still generate some traffic… and good leads, I got a personal email from Anik Singal who was almost giddy as he shared the success of his new article directory, AffSphere, which hadn't yet officially launched. He told me that AffSphere already “had over 25,000 page views” within 40 hours of announcing the upcoming launch and was getting “2-3 new members a minute” signing up.

So, I signed up right away, submitted 4 articles for review, and was amazed that they were all approved within hours… on a Sunday, no less.

Poking around the site, I learned that AffSphere also offers 8 revenue-sharing opportunities (eg. building Adsense credits) for affiliate marketers. Knowing that you'd be especially interested in those, I posted “AffSphere: The Article Directory for Affiliate Marketers” to the blog.

OR, if you're already familiar with the benefits of article marketing and would rather eat from the tree with the low-hanging fruit right away, then click here to sign up for AffSphere now.

Spinning the content…

Article marketers also know the importance of producing exclusive articles to avoid the possibility of duplicate content penalties.

So, just for fun (and because I was tired of writing), I checked out the latest word on content spinners.

Although I already have a good one, I ended up buying one and writing about that experience. If you want a good laugh, read “Can You Get High-Quality Content from a Cheap Article Spinner?“

Well, that's all for this week's newsletter. Until next time, I hope you have a hugely profitable week! … and don't forget to grab that fruit while it's ripe for the picking!

Rosalind Gardner

Rosalind Gardner

What is a White Paper?

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Used in business as a marketing or sales tool, a white paper is a fancy name for a report that addresses specific issues or problems and educates readers on how to solve them.

Business white papers are typically written to advocate a specific solution for a particular problem and are used to generate interest in a product and influence the decision-making processes of prospective customers.

Many online businesses use white papers or free reports as incentive to generate leads and get people into their sales funnel.

For example, as someone interested in Internet business opportunities, you've probably already signed up for a large number of these ‘reports' or white papers that promise to answer your questions regarding some aspect of Internet marketing.

But you can also create your own downloadable white papers / reports to generate leads and promote products as an affiliate for hard goods such as beauty supplies, electronics, cameras and almost any other product that you sell.

However, making sure that your white paper doesn't come across sounding like a sales pitch takes skill. To learn how to generate sustaining, long-term sales by using white papers, I recommend that you read Attracting Leads with White Papers – which is a FREE chapter from Michael Stelzner's new bestselling book, “Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged“. Please note that this is available only to residents of Canada and the U.S.

In “Attracting Leads with White Papers” you'll learn to:

  • Generate a steady stream of quality leads with white papers
  • Soft-sell by educating readers
  • Write white papers that engage readers
  • Stand out from the crowd
  • Grab eyeballs with words

“Attracting Leads with White Papers” is made available through NetLine Corporation, a premier online lead generation services provider for B2B marketers. Netline is offering this excerpt in partnership with the book's author, Michael Stelzner.

Browse Netline's extensive list of FREE Small & Medium Business magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills and interests. Topics include SMB technology, small business management, entrepreneurship and franchising. All are absolutely free to professionals who qualify.

Five Tips to Make Your Blog More Sociable

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What separates a blog from a web page?

It isn’t RSS feeds or the author interface, but tone. If you want a real, organic audience you need to set your blog apart from your site’s standard copy. People read static web content for raw information, but they read blogs to learn more about people. If you use the same third person “corpspeak” that you’d put on any other page, potential readers will lose interest. There’s a time and place for aloof, formal business language, but in most companies, a blog should represent a chance to loosen your virtual tie, so to speak.

The key to projecting a relaxed, exciting attitude is sociability. A sociable blog puts a human face on your firm and highlights its busy, dynamic nature. There are lots of ways to add social qualities to your blog, but I’ll concentrate on five:

  1. Use Collaboration: Unless your company’s a solo operation, get as many employees posting as possible. Encourage them to talk about their jobs in a friendly, first person present style – but here’s a secret: You can give them a little help. Not everyone is cut out to write. Assign a head blogger to edit articles to conform to a high standard – or ghostwrite them from another employee’s point-form notes.
  2. Make Authors Visible: Instead of lazily letting everyone in on the same author account, create separate user IDs for each contributor. Develop a public profile for each user. A couple of sentences and an avatar should be fine. You’ll still need a “generic” user for press releases and other company-wide announcements, but whenever possible, give readers the chance to follow individual bloggers.
  3. Write in an Informal Tone: Use the first person present tense to speak as an individual and let readers feel they’re following the action as it happens. Indulge in a little slang but unless you’re trying to let everyone know you serve the bleeding-edge youth market, don’t overdo it. (If you’re over 30 and aren’t sure, then yes, you’re probably overdoing it). Engage the senses, and don’t be afraid of a little trivia. A sociable blog is the place to write about the great idea you got after finishing a really good cup of coffee.
  4. Integrate Social Media Tools: Well, you want to be sociable, don’t you? Add a Twitter feed and buttons for Sphinn, Digg and the rest. The more you add, the more interactive “handles” readers can use to respond – and when they take an action, they commit to your blog in at least a small way. Just don’t add elements to the point of clutter. In Twitter’s case, make sure you regularly update the feed. Old tweets make you look lazy.
  5. Don’t Forget the Basics: Okay, you’ve loosened your virtual tie – but keep your pants on! You still need to write well. Don’t neglect grammar, target keywords or search-friendly coding (strong, not bold, etc.). Unless your business warrants a little extra naughtiness, keep your content G-Rated, and check it for conformity to your policies. That’s why you need someone who bears ultimate responsibility for the blog.

These steps should help bring your blog out of the shadow of your company’s static web content. Instead of bumping up against a wall of impersonal marketing text, readers learn that your business is a busy, living entity – and something they want to get involved with.

About the Author: Malcolm Sheppard is a writer for GILL Media, an internet marketing firm with offices in Florida, California, Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Ontario.

Google is Watching YOU!

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If you have a website (or plan to), you NEED to read this right now.

This impacts EVERY marketer online.

In fact, the sudden DEATH or survival of your websites (and traffic) depends on it!

I am totally serious here (not exaggerating).

As we speak… you are being watched. You are being judged… analyzed, probed, and ranked…

Not “you” personally. I'm talking about your websites.

The facts are on the table. Some people are in a state of panic, running scared. Others… are laughing.

Why?

Everyone knows that Google is the “Mother” of traffic.

And lately, “Mama” is pissed off and back with a vengeance!

It's happening as we speak…

Google is trashing, de-listing and de-ranking thousands of websites per day. Top ranked sites are watching their rankings — and traffic — plummet literally overnight.

In case you missed this back in March 2005, you are already 3 months behind the 8-ball. And time is running out!

What am I talking about here?

After filing their recent US Patent Application 20050071741 on March 31, 2005, Google is telling you the exact scorecard they use to rank your websites.

Bottom line. Google is cracking down — BIG TIME!

If your goal is to get more traffic and dominate the search engines, this is YOUR wake up call.

Your days may be numbered, the writing on the wall… IF you don't start playing the game by “Google's rules“.

In fact, Google is TELLING you “how” to do so.

Let me explain…

Did you know that Google now checks the year your domain name was first registered?

Get this. It's a known fact that search engine spammers rarely own websites that are 6 years old. 6 months? Probably.

And that is just ONE “X” on your scorecard if this applies to you.

But, this is only a “general” guideline that Google follows. The rest of it gets a lot more ugly and specific.

Here's more bad news…

Google now places huge emphasis on links. They want to see a slow, gradual number of incoming links to your websites.

And not just ANY links either.

These links need to be a variety of anchor text links. If all your anchor links are the same — look out — you could get de-listed or de-ranked in a heartbeat.

Say “adios” to your traffic (and rankings).

It's happening right now… MORE so every day!

Plus, Google is telling us that they look for relevant, quality content on your websites (no surprise) and that Page Rank is once again a good indicator of a website's “authority” (and relevancy).

So, now that the facts are out and Google is about to tear apart your website like policemen raiding a crack house… the clock is ticking and time is running out!

Odds are, your websites are not “authority” websites that started back in 2000…

I'll even bet that (today) you have few incoming links to your websites — and hardly any anchor text links at all.

Those that wised up early and made the necessary changes to Google-proof their websites are the ones laughing now.

Everyone else… is a little nervous. And rightfully so!

So, what should you do?

Well, I say… If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

How would you like to “piggyback” off high search engine ranking, high page rank websites that are loaded with thousands of keyword-rich, optimized pages?

… and these same sites are willing to give you hundreds of incoming links (often anchor text) to your websites within 7 days at NO cost!

It takes about an hour to set this up (one time).

Ok. So that easily solves your link problem, right?

Wait, it gets better… these same “authority” websites have been around for 5 years or more and want to advertise YOUR business, product and website to the thousands of visitors that they attract every day.

That's right, it's like getting them to run your Google or Overture ads on their site, but you don't pay a penny for it.

And best of all, I'm not talking about using link farms or link generator software. This is all totally legitimate, Google-approved, above-board stuff — no short-lived tactics or trickery here.

In fact, this has ALREADY worked for several years.

Go ahead, give yourself a pinch on the arm… this is NOT a dream or some weird search engine fantasy. It's REAL and you can tap into this RIGHT NOW!

Chances are you were completely unaware of all this. It's been sitting here all this time right under your nose.

Don't wait for Google to come knocking at your door next. Get smart. Prepare yourself. The answer is a lot easier than you might think. Click below right now for complete details:

Save Your Site!

About the author: Jason Potash has created one of the most comprehensive courses on how to get articles published to produce traffic and qualified traffic at that. The course contains workbooks, audio CD's, Video and gives you the ins and outs on how to make web publishers want to use your articles.

Check out Article Announcer now.

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