Article Marketing and Web Content Creation - An Overview
Article marketing is the system of writing and distributing articles on various topics, and through them attracting targeted visitors to other web properties where their attention is monetized in multiple ways.
Web content creation is an essential ingredient of the process, and while articles are one form, there are also others like video, audio, slide-shows, tele-seminars, webinars and more that serve the same purpose of attracting viewer attention.
In this lens, we will explore various elements of article marketing, including freelance writing, ghostwriting, article writing profits, web content creation strategy and the use of articles for affiliate marketing or building and growing your information business online.
If you find the message on this lens of value, I request you to kindly help spread the word by telling your friends. And please leave a message or share your feedback by using the Article Marketing and Web Content Creation guestbook below.
Introduction To Article Marketing
Article Marketing and Content Creation Tips for Infopreneurs
Introduction To Article Marketing
Article Marketing is a relatively new term used to describe the incredibly effective system of writing and publishing articles to promote your business.
Over 9 years, I have written hundreds of articles and attracted millions of visitors to my many websites using them.
These visitors have read my content, signed up for my mailing list, and many have gone on to become loyal customers - spending thousands of dollars with my business.
Article marketing has been a major pillar of my online marketing success - and it should be one of yours too.
Are You An Article Marketing Fan?
If not, do you want to learn how to do it? It is well worth doing, because of the dual benefits of wide reach and free website traffic.
There are 3 steps to master in article marketing.
How To Create A 'Killer' Article
Many beginners are nervous about creating articles. Don't worry. You'll soon learn how you can write as good an article as anyone else - or better. And do it quickly, easily, without breaking into a sweat.
How can you do that? Because you'll have a proven formula for writing 'killer' articles!
The Article Writing Formula
Step #1 - Identify a problem
Step #2 - Explain the problem
Step #3 - Suggestion solutions
Step #4 - Conclude with a message
Article Marketing is a relatively new term used to describe the incredibly effective system of writing and publishing articles to promote your business.
Over 9 years, I have written hundreds of articles and attracted millions of visitors to my many websites using them.
These visitors have read my content, signed up for my mailing list, and many have gone on to become loyal customers - spending thousands of dollars with my business.
Article marketing has been a major pillar of my online marketing success - and it should be one of yours too.
Are You An Article Marketing Fan?
- Do you write articles?
- Publish them in hundreds of places?
- Promote your business using them?
If not, do you want to learn how to do it? It is well worth doing, because of the dual benefits of wide reach and free website traffic.
There are 3 steps to master in article marketing.
- Creating Articles - quickly and easily
- Promoting Articles - widely and effectively
- Profiting from Articles - continuously and automatically
How To Create A 'Killer' Article
Many beginners are nervous about creating articles. Don't worry. You'll soon learn how you can write as good an article as anyone else - or better. And do it quickly, easily, without breaking into a sweat.
How can you do that? Because you'll have a proven formula for writing 'killer' articles!
The Article Writing Formula
Step #1 - Identify a problem
Step #2 - Explain the problem
Step #3 - Suggestion solutions
Step #4 - Conclude with a message
Writing Articles - A Quick and Easy Guide
Article Marketing and Web Content Creation Tips
Your Proven Article Marketing Formula
The hardest part of writing a good article is getting started. Finding a topic to write about. Choosing a niche to focus your attention.
Here are some idea generators:
* pick up the newspaper or a magazine and scan headlines
* check out online discussion forums and notice hot topics
* subscribe to other newsletters and see what they're writing about
* go to search engines and check out their most popular searches
* visit Amazon.com and look at their list of best-sellers
And when you're doing your research, remember to watch out for problems. What are people having trouble with? What issues are they looking to have solved?
Winning Article Marketing Strategies
Explain a problem
The first thing to do when you begin writing an article is to redefine the problem for your potential readers.
Many readers will not even know they have this particular problem - until you point it out in your opening paragraph!
But once you clearly define it for them, put into words what was a nebulous, vague, unclear thought in their minds, they'll start nodding in agreement - and now you've got them hooked.
You've sucked your reader into your content... and won the important part of the battle for their attention!
Article Marketing - Showcasing The Problem
The hardest part is to hook a reader in with a compelling idea, delivered in your article title. If this 'hook' gets their attention, they will read everything else you write on this topic.
And by the same token, if they are NOT interested in learning more, they will leave - and that's fine too. Because, your 'hook' should always qualify your prospect, and keep the best targeted ones - while rejecting the others.
Once you've got your reader's attention, it's time to move on to the next step in article marketing - writing articles.
Creative Article Writing
Suggest solutions for your reader's problems. That's the key to a successful article marketing approach.
You've got your prospect's attention, peaked his interest with your 'hook'. Now all you've got to do is build on that - and offer a 'solution' to the problem you have highlighted.
It is not at all difficult to deliver useful content. If you are an expert writing on your area of specialization, it is easier still. But even if it is not, you can do your research online, or in your neighborhood library - and become an 'expert' very quickly!
The hardest part of writing a good article is getting started. Finding a topic to write about. Choosing a niche to focus your attention.
Here are some idea generators:
* pick up the newspaper or a magazine and scan headlines
* check out online discussion forums and notice hot topics
* subscribe to other newsletters and see what they're writing about
* go to search engines and check out their most popular searches
* visit Amazon.com and look at their list of best-sellers
And when you're doing your research, remember to watch out for problems. What are people having trouble with? What issues are they looking to have solved?
Winning Article Marketing Strategies
Explain a problem
The first thing to do when you begin writing an article is to redefine the problem for your potential readers.
Many readers will not even know they have this particular problem - until you point it out in your opening paragraph!
But once you clearly define it for them, put into words what was a nebulous, vague, unclear thought in their minds, they'll start nodding in agreement - and now you've got them hooked.
You've sucked your reader into your content... and won the important part of the battle for their attention!
Article Marketing - Showcasing The Problem
The hardest part is to hook a reader in with a compelling idea, delivered in your article title. If this 'hook' gets their attention, they will read everything else you write on this topic.
And by the same token, if they are NOT interested in learning more, they will leave - and that's fine too. Because, your 'hook' should always qualify your prospect, and keep the best targeted ones - while rejecting the others.
Once you've got your reader's attention, it's time to move on to the next step in article marketing - writing articles.
Creative Article Writing
Suggest solutions for your reader's problems. That's the key to a successful article marketing approach.
You've got your prospect's attention, peaked his interest with your 'hook'. Now all you've got to do is build on that - and offer a 'solution' to the problem you have highlighted.
It is not at all difficult to deliver useful content. If you are an expert writing on your area of specialization, it is easier still. But even if it is not, you can do your research online, or in your neighborhood library - and become an 'expert' very quickly!
Article Marketing - How To Write Good Articles
Web Content Creation Technique
Does Article Marketing Need Great Writing?
Many aspiring writers are worried about not writing great prose.
Here's something that'll cheer you up. You do NOT need to be a literary genius to write a short article. Just be you!
A sincere, genuinely helpful, informative article targeted at solving a problem your reader is facing will go a long way in generating reader-loyalty. And if you write in pidgin-English, with spelling and grammar mistakes - but still deliver a much-needed solution, your reader will LOVE you!
How To Write Articles?
Be natural. Be helpful. Deliver value.
That's all you need to do to devise your own powerful article marketing strategy. The key lies more int he value you have to offer than the language or style of your article writing.
So go ahead and write a few short sentences that help solve the problem you identified and defined. Offer ideas, resources, strategies, programs, diets, courses, books, or anything else that'll guide your reader to finding the solution.
Many aspiring writers are worried about not writing great prose.
Here's something that'll cheer you up. You do NOT need to be a literary genius to write a short article. Just be you!
A sincere, genuinely helpful, informative article targeted at solving a problem your reader is facing will go a long way in generating reader-loyalty. And if you write in pidgin-English, with spelling and grammar mistakes - but still deliver a much-needed solution, your reader will LOVE you!
How To Write Articles?
Be natural. Be helpful. Deliver value.
That's all you need to do to devise your own powerful article marketing strategy. The key lies more int he value you have to offer than the language or style of your article writing.
So go ahead and write a few short sentences that help solve the problem you identified and defined. Offer ideas, resources, strategies, programs, diets, courses, books, or anything else that'll guide your reader to finding the solution.
Profit From Article Writing
Article Marketing Profits - An Introduction
Make Your Article Marketing Profitable
Conclude every article you write with a message.
Many authors mess up at this last stage. You need to leave your reader with a definite message.
It could be a short summary of what you've been writing about. Or it could be the single most important point of your discussion. Or it could be a recommended resource or program or takeaway.
Remember this: 95% of your readers will forget everything else - and retain only the conclusion you leave them with!
How To Profit From Article Writing?
As you learn more about weaving profit generating systems into your article writing, you'll realize there's a simple secret to profiting from article marketing.
Then you will see how important the concluding section of your article is, and how critically important it is to finish your article with a powerful message that will remain in your reader's mind - and provoke them to take the next step.
And that next step will lead in nicely to the profit strategy you'll adopt with your article!
Now that you know the 'secret' formula to keep coming up with one 'killer' article after another, you have the power to churn them out quickly - and easily - to make quick and easy profits.
Write Articles That Grab Your Readers
When you really begin to 'get' article marketing, you'll see it's very similar to advertising your business.
And instead of an 'ad', you have an 'article'.
Think about your ad. What's the most important part of it?
You're right. It's the HEADLINE.
And similarly, the most important part of your article is the TITLE. So spend as much time as it takes to craft an attention grabbing headline for your article - because without it, most people will ignore whatever follows in the body of your article!
How Important Is Your Article Title?
A good title can get hordes of eager readers poring over your article - and better still, sharing it with their friends and subscribers.
But a weak title can kill your article - even if it contains excellent content.
So take your time to create a GREAT headline for your article. Use 'power' words in it. Load it with benefits to your reader. Build curiosity. Promise a solution. Stir up controversy.
Whatever it takes to get them to take the next step and keep reading!
Conclude every article you write with a message.
Many authors mess up at this last stage. You need to leave your reader with a definite message.
It could be a short summary of what you've been writing about. Or it could be the single most important point of your discussion. Or it could be a recommended resource or program or takeaway.
Remember this: 95% of your readers will forget everything else - and retain only the conclusion you leave them with!
How To Profit From Article Writing?
As you learn more about weaving profit generating systems into your article writing, you'll realize there's a simple secret to profiting from article marketing.
Then you will see how important the concluding section of your article is, and how critically important it is to finish your article with a powerful message that will remain in your reader's mind - and provoke them to take the next step.
And that next step will lead in nicely to the profit strategy you'll adopt with your article!
Now that you know the 'secret' formula to keep coming up with one 'killer' article after another, you have the power to churn them out quickly - and easily - to make quick and easy profits.
Write Articles That Grab Your Readers
When you really begin to 'get' article marketing, you'll see it's very similar to advertising your business.
And instead of an 'ad', you have an 'article'.
Think about your ad. What's the most important part of it?
You're right. It's the HEADLINE.
And similarly, the most important part of your article is the TITLE. So spend as much time as it takes to craft an attention grabbing headline for your article - because without it, most people will ignore whatever follows in the body of your article!
How Important Is Your Article Title?
A good title can get hordes of eager readers poring over your article - and better still, sharing it with their friends and subscribers.
But a weak title can kill your article - even if it contains excellent content.
So take your time to create a GREAT headline for your article. Use 'power' words in it. Load it with benefits to your reader. Build curiosity. Promise a solution. Stir up controversy.
Whatever it takes to get them to take the next step and keep reading!
The Art of Making Money With Articles
Article Marketing and Web Content Creation Strategy
The Secret To Big Article Profits
Writing and distributing articles is good for information marketing entrepreneurs. But what do YOU get out of it? How does it work in the context of marketing and growing your online business?
While you could mention your product or service in the content of your article, a far more effective method is to use the content as a 'hook' to draw readers to your main sales letter or website - through a link at the bottom of the article!
This way, your entire article serves to PRE-sell your prospective customer. It builds confidence and credibility in your expertise. It educates them about the product or service you sell. It gives them a picture of a rosy future - one your product helps realize.
Your Article Resource Box Is Vital
The 'Author Resource' box at the bottom of your article is an important ADVERTISEMENT for your business. Write a snappy, benefit-loaded ad for your product or service - and combine it with a powerful call to action that is irresistible to your reader.
Don't forget to list your website address. Consider adding a phone or fax number. And here's a POWER tip... Include an email address connected to your autoresponder, and you'll build your email list very fast - just by distributing your articles around the Web!
Writing and distributing articles is good for information marketing entrepreneurs. But what do YOU get out of it? How does it work in the context of marketing and growing your online business?
While you could mention your product or service in the content of your article, a far more effective method is to use the content as a 'hook' to draw readers to your main sales letter or website - through a link at the bottom of the article!
This way, your entire article serves to PRE-sell your prospective customer. It builds confidence and credibility in your expertise. It educates them about the product or service you sell. It gives them a picture of a rosy future - one your product helps realize.
Your Article Resource Box Is Vital
The 'Author Resource' box at the bottom of your article is an important ADVERTISEMENT for your business. Write a snappy, benefit-loaded ad for your product or service - and combine it with a powerful call to action that is irresistible to your reader.
Don't forget to list your website address. Consider adding a phone or fax number. And here's a POWER tip... Include an email address connected to your autoresponder, and you'll build your email list very fast - just by distributing your articles around the Web!
Getting Your Articles A Vast Audience
How To Use Article Marketing And Spread Your Web Content Far and Wide
Article Marketing To Spread The Word
Your aim with article marketing is to get the word out - widely. Ideally, you want your article on thousands of different websites, directories, newsletters, magazines and places they can reach millions of readers.
But before you get into 'Promotion Mode' do a bit of preparation to do first.
* Create Different Formats: Put your article into various forms - Word document, Text files, Adobe PDF document
* Make It Web-friendly: Format your article as a HTML Web page and post it online
* Put It Into An Email Autoresponder: This makes it easily distributed via email
* Design an RSS feed: You'll be able to syndicate it widely
Publish Your Articles Everywhere
Ready to spread the word?
Your first decision is whether you want to go the 'Paid' route or the 'Self Help' route.
Once you've made this choice, there are a ton of article directories, RSS feed directories, syndication services and niche search engines you can submit your article at.
Submitting one by one to each of them is a time-consuming activity which can become frustrating very quickly. But there is no shortcut. Your only other option is to use a paid service like PhantomWriters.com to do the hard work for you - at a modest fee.
Why should you syndicate and submit your article?
Simple. Because the reach of your article through these services is amazing! I've had feedback from readers who found my article through one of these sites - and there's no way I could have reached them without it.
Another benefit is that other ezine publishers and website owners will search for articles to publish from these directories - and having a high quality, informative, content-rich piece of writing is a sure way to get them to place your article in front of their audience.
Always keep the 'viral' element of your article in mind.
Your aim with article marketing is to get the word out - widely. Ideally, you want your article on thousands of different websites, directories, newsletters, magazines and places they can reach millions of readers.
But before you get into 'Promotion Mode' do a bit of preparation to do first.
* Create Different Formats: Put your article into various forms - Word document, Text files, Adobe PDF document
* Make It Web-friendly: Format your article as a HTML Web page and post it online
* Put It Into An Email Autoresponder: This makes it easily distributed via email
* Design an RSS feed: You'll be able to syndicate it widely
Publish Your Articles Everywhere
Ready to spread the word?
Your first decision is whether you want to go the 'Paid' route or the 'Self Help' route.
Once you've made this choice, there are a ton of article directories, RSS feed directories, syndication services and niche search engines you can submit your article at.
Submitting one by one to each of them is a time-consuming activity which can become frustrating very quickly. But there is no shortcut. Your only other option is to use a paid service like PhantomWriters.com to do the hard work for you - at a modest fee.
Why should you syndicate and submit your article?
Simple. Because the reach of your article through these services is amazing! I've had feedback from readers who found my article through one of these sites - and there's no way I could have reached them without it.
Another benefit is that other ezine publishers and website owners will search for articles to publish from these directories - and having a high quality, informative, content-rich piece of writing is a sure way to get them to place your article in front of their audience.
Always keep the 'viral' element of your article in mind.
How To Grab Your Reader By The Eyeballs!
Web Content Creation - A Skilled Act
ATTENTION... An Article Writer's Precious Commodity
An article marketing expert mentioned a weighted score for what he considers the most important components of an article.
The TITLE got a 30% valuation. That means you should be devoting around one-third of your article marketing effort to crafting the kind of headline that grabs prospect's ATTENTION.
That truly is a precious and diminishing commodity - and therefore incredibly valuable. Get it - and you've won half of the battle.
Article Marketing - Read The Rules, And Obey!
Trying dangerous tricks while promoting your business isn't quite desirable, or wise. More so when the resource or service you are working with can bring you a large number of prospective customers.
EzineArticles.com is one of the best article marketing resources, having delivered over FIVE MILLION clicks to their article writers in just a month! If you want a small slice of that pie, you'd better watch your manners at the table!
Take the time to read their rules for submitting articles. There are many restrictions, and all of them are for YOUR benefit - as they prevent less ethical scammers from abusing this valuable resource.
Learn the rules. Then abide by them - while working smartly within them. You - and others too - will enjoy the rich benefits this service has to offer article marketers.
An article marketing expert mentioned a weighted score for what he considers the most important components of an article.
The TITLE got a 30% valuation. That means you should be devoting around one-third of your article marketing effort to crafting the kind of headline that grabs prospect's ATTENTION.
That truly is a precious and diminishing commodity - and therefore incredibly valuable. Get it - and you've won half of the battle.
Article Marketing - Read The Rules, And Obey!
Trying dangerous tricks while promoting your business isn't quite desirable, or wise. More so when the resource or service you are working with can bring you a large number of prospective customers.
EzineArticles.com is one of the best article marketing resources, having delivered over FIVE MILLION clicks to their article writers in just a month! If you want a small slice of that pie, you'd better watch your manners at the table!
Take the time to read their rules for submitting articles. There are many restrictions, and all of them are for YOUR benefit - as they prevent less ethical scammers from abusing this valuable resource.
Learn the rules. Then abide by them - while working smartly within them. You - and others too - will enjoy the rich benefits this service has to offer article marketers.
Article Marketing Can Make You Rich
Web Content Creation and Article Marketing Philosophy
Ezine Marketing - Who Gives... GETS!
It's a philosophy that's echoed by Chris Knight, founder of EzineArticles.com
The article you write and submit to directories is where you GIVE. Your resource box with a link back to your website or blog at the end of the article is where you GET.
The more you give, the more you'll get. That's why your article should be the best you can make it - without giving away everything that you know (otherwise, why will they come back to your blog or site, right?!)
Profit From Article Marketing - By Ghostwriting
You can be the ghostwriter - and create articles for others on contract. If you enjoy writing, and have the expertise to come up with content others can use, you'll do well being a ghostwriter.
If you are an excellent marketer, and know how to leverage the power of articles, you probably don't want to waste your time and energy writing them.
You can hire a ghostwriter to do it for you - and maximize your own talents by profiting from these articles!
It's a philosophy that's echoed by Chris Knight, founder of EzineArticles.com
The article you write and submit to directories is where you GIVE. Your resource box with a link back to your website or blog at the end of the article is where you GET.
The more you give, the more you'll get. That's why your article should be the best you can make it - without giving away everything that you know (otherwise, why will they come back to your blog or site, right?!)
Profit From Article Marketing - By Ghostwriting
You can be the ghostwriter - and create articles for others on contract. If you enjoy writing, and have the expertise to come up with content others can use, you'll do well being a ghostwriter.
If you are an excellent marketer, and know how to leverage the power of articles, you probably don't want to waste your time and energy writing them.
You can hire a ghostwriter to do it for you - and maximize your own talents by profiting from these articles!
Leveraging Your Writing Through Article Marketing
Article Marketing and Web Content Leverage
Make A Book From Article Writing
If you're a strategic thinker, you can leverage your article writing in even more powerful ways.
Let's assume you're writing articles on a theme - rose gardening, for instance.
Instead of just dashing off one article after another, sit down and plan out a SERIES of articles. Make a list of topics to cover.
Then, you start writing your articles on your theme - and following the structure you just outlined. How does this help? Over the course of a few weeks (or months, or even years), you'll have enough structured and ordered content to compile - INTO A BOOK!
Get Paid For Your Articles
You can get paid 'per-view' of your article! Take a look at a service which pioneered this concept - Red Paper
But if a few cents per view doesn't sound too exciting, consider putting all your articles behind a password - and creating a paid membership site. Providing you are offering good value, people will be happy to pay you on a periodic basis to read your articles on an ongoing basis.
Not sure if they'll do it? Go to your local news-stand and ask how many people are subscribed to the daily newspapers!
Tying Article Marketing To Affiliate Marketing
Imagine that you're promoting a product or service - and have affiliate partners helping you out. You could offer your 'product endorsement' article as a 'rebrandible' tool for affiliates to use!
Your affiliate takes your article, changes the link in the resource box to include his/her referral link - and then starts promoting it everywhere!
* You get wider exposure - while your affiliate partner does the marketing.
* Your article pre-sells prospects, and brings them to your website - and this means higher conversion rates and more profits.
* Your affiliate is incentivized to promote more actively, as he gets a financial reward
* You get links back to your website - and that carries significant advantages when it comes to ranking high on search engines.
And it all begins with writing a good article that promotes your product or service - and distributing it through affiliates!
If you're a strategic thinker, you can leverage your article writing in even more powerful ways.
Let's assume you're writing articles on a theme - rose gardening, for instance.
Instead of just dashing off one article after another, sit down and plan out a SERIES of articles. Make a list of topics to cover.
Then, you start writing your articles on your theme - and following the structure you just outlined. How does this help? Over the course of a few weeks (or months, or even years), you'll have enough structured and ordered content to compile - INTO A BOOK!
Get Paid For Your Articles
You can get paid 'per-view' of your article! Take a look at a service which pioneered this concept - Red Paper
But if a few cents per view doesn't sound too exciting, consider putting all your articles behind a password - and creating a paid membership site. Providing you are offering good value, people will be happy to pay you on a periodic basis to read your articles on an ongoing basis.
Not sure if they'll do it? Go to your local news-stand and ask how many people are subscribed to the daily newspapers!
Tying Article Marketing To Affiliate Marketing
Imagine that you're promoting a product or service - and have affiliate partners helping you out. You could offer your 'product endorsement' article as a 'rebrandible' tool for affiliates to use!
Your affiliate takes your article, changes the link in the resource box to include his/her referral link - and then starts promoting it everywhere!
* You get wider exposure - while your affiliate partner does the marketing.
* Your article pre-sells prospects, and brings them to your website - and this means higher conversion rates and more profits.
* Your affiliate is incentivized to promote more actively, as he gets a financial reward
* You get links back to your website - and that carries significant advantages when it comes to ranking high on search engines.
And it all begins with writing a good article that promotes your product or service - and distributing it through affiliates!
Article Marketing and Web Content Creation Bookstore
Books for Information Marketers About Content Creation
My recommended pick for learning how to practice effective article marketing and master web content creation.
Think, Write & RETIRE: How To Turn Words Into Wealth - Easily!
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 01/04/2010) 
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