Wikipedia defines article marketing as:
"A type of advertising in which businesses write short articles related to their respective industry. These articles are made available for distribution and publication in the marketplace.
Each article contains a bio box and byline that include references and contact information for the author's business. Well-written content articles released for free distribution have the potential of increasing the authoring business' credibility within its market as well as attracting new clients."
Does article marketing work?
Yes, it does. But you have to be committed to it.
That means you can't write one or two articles, and expect to see results. In order for article marketing to be effective, you have to write many articles consistently over time.
How Many Articles Do You Need to Write to See Results?
It's been my experience that serious article marketers usually write at least one article per week. I personally write a minimum of two articles each week. Again, that's a minimum. I've written as many as three or four articles in one week.
So What's the Secret of Article Marketing? Why Does it Work?
Article marketing works for three main reasons:
1. It Gives You Credibility. Writing articles allows you to present yourself as an expert in your field - provided, of course, you really are an expert, or at the very least have above average knowledge of the topic that you're writing about. This not only gives you instant credibility, it also gives you a leg up on your competition.
Let me explain. When someone reads an informative, value-packed article written by you, at the end of the article they click on the link in your resource box which takes them to your website or a page of your choosing.
The prospect is much more relaxed and less apprehensive when she arrives at your website, because she arrived via an informative article that she herself chose to read, as opposed to an intrusive, hyped-up advertisement.
And since she just read your article, she is much more comfortable with you, and as a result is much more likely to purchase whatever it is that you're selling.
2. It's Targeted. People generally read information that focuses on the subject matter that they're interested in. For example, pet owners will read information related to their pets. Car enthusiasts will read information about cars, and so on and so forth.
That means readers of your articles are already targeted. And if what you're selling is related to the subject matter of the article (which it should be), you have a better than average chance of making the sale.
3. Articles Are Viral. That means if people find value in what you write, they will pass along your articles to others voluntarily. I can't even count the number of times friends and colleagues of mine have e-mailed articles to me they thought I might be interested in reading, and vice versa.
If your article is well-written and presents valuable information, it could be passed along and seen by thousands of potential prospects.
But What if I'm Not a Good Writer?
Now I realize not everyone is capable of writing articles. However, you can still participate in article marketing, because there are services that will ghost-write articles for you at a reasonable price, and allow you to claim ownership of those articles.
One extremely reputable article marketing service that I have particular high regard for is Bill Platt's
ThePhantomWriters.com.
One Last Thing About Article Marketing
I know it's popular to submit your articles to all the top article directories, or use the latest software to blast your article to a gazillion publishers. But I disagree with that approach.
I find it's much more effective to choose one or two initial publications that you would like to be featured in, then work on developing a relationship with them. That's exactly the method I use today.
I've established a relationship with a couple of select publications, and I submit my articles to them exclusively. If you want to have some control over where your articles are published, I advise you to do the same.
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By the way, check out my new website. It's called
Reviews-by-Customers.com. It's an exclusive business directory that features reliable online services, such as Adsense alternatives, copywriting, hosting, logo design, website design, SEO services and more! Also, follow me on Twitter
@CustomerReviews.
Over the years, I've read thousands and thousands of marketing articles, both online and off. But to this point, I have never read any article that was what I considered to be 100% idiot-proof - meaning even a dunce, moron, or complete idiot couldn't screw up the process.So I decided to write such an article.
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