My favorite Internet marketing strategy of all time is
article marketing. It keys into one of my talents,
writing, and I can use the articles I create time and time
again for a multitude of purposes. I tend to be lazy by
nature, so anything that lets me create once and get paid,
get paid, get paid, etc. is a dream marketing strategy.
I made a firm commitment to writing one article per week in
2003 or so, and now have an entire article library that I
use and refer to all the time. Without a doubt, I have to
give credit to my article marketing strategy for the
success of my business. It has helped me get found online,
demonstrate my expertise to my target market, create info
products to sell on my website, and get hired by those in
need of what I offer.
Here are 15 ways you can repurpose each article you write
to make it a workhorse for your business:
1. Publish in your ezine. Every single article I've ever
written has appeared as an article in one of my
newsletters. My commitment to publishing a weekly email
newsletter forced me to commit to writing a new article
each week. I'm not sure I would have honored my commitment
to article writing had I not forced myself to produce an
email newsletter on a weekly basis.
2. Post to your website. Roughly 60% of my traffic comes to
my website via keyword searches that match the topics of
articles that I've written. I use my online article bank to
send both current and prospective clients to my site for
additional information on a topic that enhances a recent
discussion I've had with them. For maximum usability, index
the articles on your website in usable categories that make
sense to your target market so that they can easily find
your words of expertise when they search for it online.
3. Add to your blog. Every single article that I write for
my newsletter is also posted to my blog. Is this overkill,
since I already publish an ezine, and do the search engines
penalize me for redundant content? Thus far, I've never
been penalized for having the same article appear in
multiple places. In fact, Google indexes my blog posts
within hours as indicated via my Google alerts. Some people
love to read and respond to blogs while others would rather
read ezines. So, by doing both, I appeal to both audiences
with only minutes of extra effort.
4. Publish on social networking community sites. You
can't move anywhere online today without running into some
social networking site -- MySpace, Facebook Squidoo, etc.
Many people are setting up their own social networking
communities for niche markets, like the Book Marketing
community to which I belong. Post your article to all of
the social networking sites in which you participate.
Depending on the site, you may be able to post it to your
blog on the site, a group blog, a discussion forum, an
announcement, etc. Check the rules of the community before
posting your first article.
5. Distribute through article banks. Distributing your
articles via thousands of article banks and article
directories helps you increase your traffic, as Internet
searchers might find an article at an article directory
initially and then visit your website upon reading your
resource box (short bio) at the end of the article. Article
submission also establishes your credibility as an expert,
especially when you tell a prospective client to Google you
and they're amazed by all the references to you online.
Lastly, this article marketing strategy helps other print
and online publishers locate you and then feature your work
(or offer the prospect of other opportunities) in their
publication.
6. Create a podcast. Make a digital recording of your
article using one of any number of audio recording services
like AudioAcrobat or software like Audacity. I create an
special intro and outtro (special offer) for each podcast,
based on the content of the article, and then proceed to
read and record the text of the article. Then, post your
podcast to podcast directories. In about 30 minutes, you've
created yet another marketing strategy for yourself.
7. Create a video. Video production is becoming easier and
easier, and I now receive a couple of video ezines where
the entire content of the ezine is delivered via a video.
In fact, you can actually sit at your desk with a webcam
and record yourself. With the magic of video software like
Visual Communicator or screen capturing software like
Camtasia, you can add graphics and text and have a video
ready in minutes. With the popularity of video sites like
YouTube, it's harder to ignore the impact video will have
on your online marketing efforts.
8. Syndicate on other websites. Through the power of RSS
feeds, you can become a syndicated columnist in other
people's publications. Simply offer your RSS code and
installation instructions to your visitors with the promise
that they'll have new content on their site weekly (or in
whatever interval you publish new articles). My article
submission service offers this option to me, and I'm
appearing on more websites every week.
9. Write a press release. Distributing a press release
online can have a strong impact beyond any media that might
pick it up. Press releases that link back to your site can
enhance your search engine rankings and increase your
online credibility. You can convert your article into a
tips release, a release that ties into a current trend or
news story or to an upcoming event that you're sponsoring.
This strategy takes a bit of work, as you need to modify
the content of your article into the press release format
and orient it to your goal for publishing the release. I
use and highly recommend PRWeb.com for online press
releases.
10. Create information products for profit. I never
believed that I could put together any type of information
product until I took a long, hard look at my collection of
articles and saw definite themes emerge. Slowly but surely
I'm translating these themes into information products that
I can sell online.
11. Create a teleseminar. If you write your article in the
tips format, you've got a teleseminar in the making. All
you need to do is create an introduction and closing for
your teleseminar and beef up your tips points with
additional explanation or with examples, and before you
know it you will have created the content for a 60 minute
teleseminar.
12. Distribute to print publications in your target
market. If your target market is very specialized or is a
niche market, you'll find a whole host of specialized print
magazines, newsletters, and catalogs for this market. Take
a few hours and research those publications available for
your target market, check out their submission guidelines,
and get a sense of the tone of the publication. If you
think your content would be a great fit, buff up a couple
of your best articles and send an email to the publisher
outlining how publishing your content in their publication
would benefit their readership. Since you may not be paid
for your submission, request that a short bio with your
contact info is contained within your article.
13. Add to your niche article directory. Creating your own
niche article directory is a great traffic-generating
strategy, as you can feature your own articles there as
well as accept quality submissions from others who have
relevant info for your target market. An easy way to create
this type of site is through free article directory
software, ArticleDashboard.com.
14. Create a special report. Want to create a quick
giveaway to offer to colleagues as a bonus for their
product, or as a giveaway to your contacts? Create a PDF
of your article as a special report that includes your
contact info, as well as an upsell page to particular
products or services. Or, you can make this report a viral
marketing piece.that is free for others to give away.
15. Offer it to your affiliates. If you have an affiliate
program, offering your affiliates the ability to use and
reprint your articles gives them content to help promote
your products and services. In the resource box of your
article that links back to your site, encourage your
affiliates to include their affiliate link to your site so
that they get credit anytime one of their visitors links to
your site from theirs.
Don't let your articles sit on your desktop gathering dust.
Put them to work for you by creating a repurposing plan to
help you get the most out of your creation.
----------------------------------------------------
Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business
Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals
learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their
expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To
claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing
Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizU.com . Ask
Donna an Internet Marketing question at
http://www.AskDonnaGunter.com .
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