Article Marketing For Money

Article marketing is considered a traffic generation technique, and yet I still think that its primary purpose should be to make you money, not to generate traffic. You see, generating traffic is simply one of the vehicles by which article marketing makes you money.

So how does article marketing specifically make you money?

There are several ways that article marketing can make you money.

There are two specific ways that I think article marketing should be used to make you money online.

1) Article marketing to list build. I think article marketing is one of the best ways to generate quality traffic for your list building campaign. I believe that articles create some of the very highest levels of qualification, and that is what you need for your list campaign.

2) Article marketing to drive traffic to your ppc pages. I think that article marketing is a great tool for driving traffic to your ppc pages because the traffic is highly qualified and wants to learn more now. This is extremely important. They are hungry when they get there, and when the only way to really satisfy that hunger is to click a ppc ad, they often will.

I think that anytime you need highly targeted and qualified traffic is a great excuse to use article marketing. Sure, it is hard work. You have to write the articles, then you have to submit the articles. But the bottom line is that it works. It works for me, it works for about 100 other people in the world (my private estimate), and it will work for you. The only question are you willing to write for 2 hours per day?

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Do you want to learn how to build a massive list fast? Click here: Email List Building

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 900 articles in print and 9 published ebooks.

Fast Article Marketing - Discover Creative Secrets to Advance with Article Marketing

Article marketing is one of the most, if not the most used website and product promotional tool these days. Due to its proven effectiveness in traffic generation and augmenting sales and revenue, every marketer wants to excel in this field. If you are one of them, these creative secrets can greatly help you out:

1. Topics. When writing your articles, you have to keep in mind that one of your main objectives is selling your products. Thus, you have to choose topics that are highly relevant to what you are selling. Talk about the problems that you solve and offer your products as solutions. This is an effective way of building up your products and increasing your sales potential. For instance, if you are selling contact lenses, you can write about their advantages over wearing eye glasses.

2. Articles. Your articles are your most powerful tools in this marketing strategy. You need to make sure that they are all well-written, content-rich, scannable, short, direct to the point, and free from any kinds of errors to increase their chances of being read and widely republished online.

3. Quantity. You also need to pay attention to the number of your submissions as this is a crucial element in multiplying your inbound links. Strive to write and submit at least 7 articles per day to leading publishing sites. These are enough not only to strengthen your online presence and credibility but also to improve your page ranking.

4. Titles. Most of the articles that are left unopened are those which have lousy titles. People will surely not take interest on your content if your headlines are not well-written as they will automatically think that the quality of your articles is just the same as your titles. Don't let this happen by making sure that all your headlines are striking, attention-grabbing, intriguing, and communicate the readers' benefits.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Internet Marketing Tips All Self Storage Operators Need To Know To Get Started on The Right Foot

Internet marketing is quickly becoming a major part of all self storage operations. And rightly so; there are hundreds of thousands of potential renters that use the Internet each month to find storage. The storage industry is not the only industry where the Internet plays a huge role. Almost any industry today must consider the Internet as an essential source of new business. In just a few years we'll probably be considering it our main source of new business.

You may or may not know that Internet marketing is available for a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. In addition, the Internet allows you to display a plethora of information to potential renters like: pictures, maps, unit sizes, prices, and specials. In fact, you can even give customers the ability to rent instantly (if this feature is available on your website)! Internet marketing is flexible, meaning you can quickly and easily change your ads throughout the year. And arguably the best aspect of Internet marketing is that traffic, consumer patterns and behaviors and the actions these people take can all be tracked and monitored - making it easy for you to evaluate its effectiveness.

Because this topic is still new to some of you in the industry, I wanted to share the terms most commonly used when talking about Internet marketing:

1. URL - the website address you type into your browser to go to a webpage.

2. Search Engine - I'll just say Google. Google is the most widely used search engine. Some other popular search engines include Yahoo, AOL, and MSN.

3. SEO - the acronym for Search Engine Optimization. This process helps YOUR website move higher and higher in the search engine rankings when people type in specific words or phrases into a search engine. The websites you see on the first page when you search for something are well optimized and are receiving most of the traffic.

4. PPC - the acronym for Pay Per Click. This is a form of Internet advertising (and a major source of Google's revenue) that allows you to only pay when people click on your ad and are taken to your website.

5. CTR - the acronym for Click Thru Rate. This is the percentage of people who click on your ad out of all those who see it. The higher this percentage, the better.

6. CPC - the acronym for Cost Per Click. This is how much you pay each time somebody clicks on your ad. In the self storage industry this is usually between $1.50 and $3.00.

7. Impressions - the number of times your ad was seen by a searcher on a search engine.

8. Conversion Rate - the number of actual renters out of all your inquiries. You want this number to be high as well.

9. CPA - the acronym for Cost Per Acquisition. This is how much it costs you to acquire a new customer.

10. ROI - the acronym for Return on Investment. This is the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment; in terms of marketing it is how much profit you're making for each marketing dollar you spend.

Your goal for Internet marketing should involve capturing as many tenants as possible through the Internet at the lowest possible cost (lowest CPA). Because the Internet allows you to display so much information to potential renters, often times these potential renters come to you already knowing where you're located, your office hours, unit sizes, and specials and therefore, are ready to rent a unit.

People using the Internet will contact you in one of four ways:

1. Call. Many people use the Internet as a research tool and then proceed to pick up the phone to call.

2. Walk-in. Also, many people, after researching you on the Internet will choose to walk in to your facility.

3. Email. Many types of Internet marketing allow customers to contact you via email, either through a form or in a standard email.

4. Rent online. If you give them the option through your website many will take advantage of it.

Many owner/operators think the Internet is a mysterious monster that will not be effective in their local market. In fact the Internet is a very effective advertising medium that will generate a nice flow of new tenants if you use it right. The Kelsey Group found that more than 43% of consumers search the Internet to find a local product or service!

Let's talk about your website. Many of you probably have a website. That is typically the first step most owners take when starting to advertise online. One of the most important things to remember about your website is that you must attract people to it in order to gain monetary value. 80% of Internet users start at a search engine. If your website is not found on the search engines (specifically the first or second page) you will be missing out on 80% of these potential renters.

You can have the coolest, flashiest and most expensive website on the net but if you don't have people visiting and taking action to rent from you, it won't result in any new tenants.

There are three basic methods to ensure your website appears on the search engines:

1. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC). If you use Google, MSN or Yahoo to do a search, these ads are along the right side of the results page and sometimes up top. They're usually labeled "Sponsored Links." These campaigns are fairly quick to setup and results can be instant. Expect to pay $1.50 - $5.00 per click (every time somebody clicks on your ad to go to your website). This can get very expensive if you don't know what you're doing; however if done right it can prove to be a very cost effective way to gain new tenants. If you're going to attempt a PPC campaign by yourself, I highly recommend a book called "The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords" by Perry Marshall.

2. Organic/Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO). These are the non-PPC results you see when you do a search. The main difference between this and PPC is that you do not pay per click. Getting your website ranked organically usually takes more time and expertise. But, once you establish this ranking, the traffic is usually heavier and less expensive. I recommend discussing an organic SEO campaign with your web programmer to see if they can help you.

Be cautious when proceeding with an organic campaign in this industry. 1st page rankings are very competitive and might not be achieved without time and a heavy investment. Also, beware of any SEO companies that promise or guarantee 1st page rankings! When talking about SEO, no one can guarantee rankings of any sort. If they make this guarantee, they are generally trying to trick you to get your business.

3. Online Directories. Online directories are created for consumers looking for a specific product or service. Our website, USstoragesearch.com, is an online directory that targets searchers looking for self and mobile storage. We keep our website highly optimized organically and do extensive Pay Per Click advertising so that it shows up on the first page of all major search engines locally and nationally for a variety of self storage related keywords. You will see us on the search engines for keywords such as "self storage,' 'storage unit,' and for a variety of local keywords such as 'San Diego self storage.' Because of this we see more than 70,000 visitors each month on our website and are able to direct them to our facility members.

If you are an operator that is not currently advertising online, a directory is the fastest way to get started without any SEO or PPC knowledge. There are a few good online directories out there for the self storage industry. Shop carefully and ask a lot of questions. The most important thing to ask about a directory is how they are qualifying the potential customers they are sending your way. You want to be sure the directory is able to send quality prospects your way.

Those are the three fundamental ways to drive traffic to your website. With the affordability of Internet marketing and the number of people using the Internet to find storage, I recommend you test all three methods and see what works for you.

Now that you know all about the basics of Internet marketing and the three most effective ways to drive traffic to your website I encourage you to seriously evaluate how you are advertising online. It's very inexpensive and easy to track - there's no reason not to.

There are hundreds of thousands of people using the Internet to search for storage each month. Can they find your facility or are they renting with your more Internet-savvy competition?

Megan Eckert is Executive Vice President for USstoragesearch.com, an online storage directory providing service to more than 9,000 self & mobile storage facilities in the U.S. Their unique online marketing program allows operators to instantly put their facilities in front of customers searching the Internet for storage in their local area for a very reasonable fee. For more information call 866.880.0742 or visit http://www.usstoragesearch.com

Best Article Marketing - 5 Powerful Methods to Make Money with Article Marketing

Article marketing is one of the best ways to make money online. As it can easily drive quality traffic to your site, using this technique can instantly increase your sales potential and augment your online sales and profits.

1. When choosing topics for your articles, it is profitable to stick with the ones that are highly related with what you offer. If you are into real estate, you can write about tips on how to save money when buying a house. This article will attract people who are considering purchasing a house that might be interested on your services.

2. Consider the things that are being considered by your potential clients. If they are looking for inexpensive houses, you can write article about "How to find cheap, quality houses in your area". The word "cheap" will instantly spark interest among your target market, because this is the keyword that is targeted to their needs.

3. Submit your articles to free publishing sites. There are numerous free article submission sites in the internet today. I suggest you try them first before considering the paid ones to save on your marketing expenses. Submit regularly to constantly increase the number of your quality inbound links.

4. Add at least 3 hyperlinks on your resource box. The more links going to your website, the better your chances of being visited. I suggest you use at least 2 anchor texts and one absolute URL to effectively promote your products and services.

5. Post your articles on your blog. Blogs are fast becoming the favorite websites of both online users and search engines because they are usually updated and contain fresh information. Turn your articles into blog posts and don't forget to include your website's URL to drive readers to your site.

Want to learn how to sell high ticket products online? Download my brand new free guide here: "How to Sell High Ticket Products Online"

Sean Mize teaches a powerful, highly advanced system of creating and selling high ticket products online.

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Breakthrough Ezine Publishing - Uncover 4 Authentic Steps to Supercharge Your Ezine Publishing

There are so many ways on how you can promote your products using content-based marketing strategies. You can use article writing, article marketing, and blogging. Another exciting way is publishing your own ezine. In this method, you can effectively create an ongoing dialogue with your client base so you can constantly update them with your new products or offerings while establishing your expertise on your chosen field.

Here are the 4 authentic steps to supercharge your ezine publishing:

1. Expand your email marketing list. Before you sink your teeth into this technique, you have to make sure that you have enough audience to advertise to. This is to ensure that you will generate sales potential from your marketing efforts. Expand your list by using the most trusted marketing techniques which include article marketing and forum posting. You can also resort to giving your potential subscribers freebies to entice them to sign up.

2. Content. Ezine publishing, just like any other marketing strategies needs careful planning. You need to devise an effective plan on how you can come up with content for your regular distribution. Some publishers write at least 14 issues in advance to make sure that their subscribers will receive content even if they temporarily run out of topics to write.

3. Format. While other publishers stick to text format, I highly recommend HTML and PDF formats. Why? Because they are more visually appealing and communicate professionalism. Just make sure though that you don't put too much graphics or streaming video as these can greatly affect the downloading time.

4. Advertise. Make money through your ezine by posting relevant ads that might interest your subscribers. You can send product reviews, recommendations, or even testimonials to increase your sales potential.

To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online"

Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.

Can You Really Trust The Compulsive Buyer To Make You Profits Online?

Information abounds online most of it hurtful to your business if you do not have a proper understanding of how things actually work online. Some marketers believe they just need to put up a flash website to promote their product. They operate on the basis that people who arrive at their website will make a purchase just because they have been asked to.

Disappointment soon sets in as they discover people are not flocking to their website in expected numbers nor are they making any purchases. This can lead to them quitting a potentially profitable online business or worse go heavily into debt.

It is worth noting that the compulsive buyer will buy just about anything if they trust you and are in the buying zone. The problem is this will only account for 1 in 10000 customers. You simply cannot put your trust in this type of buyer however hot your product may be. Traffic is not cheap.

The smart internet marketer simply invites interested visitors to their sites with the understanding that if they don't buy something on their first visit they can follow them up until they do make a purchase. Bear in mind that these visitors have shown an interest in your website offer. It would be a shame not to follow them up.

So how do you follow them up?

1. Set up a squeeze page to capture their names and addresses first of all.

2. Get an auto responder so you can send out messages to your subscribers. Your auto responder also gives you the html code to place on your squeeze page opt in box

3. Write out some messages to send out to your subscribers at regular intervals

4. Drive traffic to your website/squeeze page. There are lots of traffic generation strategies to choose from. Master one or two and get on with it. I prefer article marketing.

5. Build a genuine relationship with your subscribers. Let them know you really care about their success online. Suffice to say that their success is your success too.

Now most of what I have listed above requires your time and effort to learn what needs to be done. I can assure you that once learned you will be in a very strong position to make profits online. You will have the opportunity of building a solid relationship with people who have come to trust you over time. When you then make a product recommendation they will be more responsive to it. This certainly beats sending traffic to a sales page and expecting total strangers to trust you enough to part with their money.

Ready to build a email list?

Free eCourse at: http://www.List-Building-Success.com

Willfred D is an expert author and marketer specialising in opt in email list building and pre qualified traffic generation techniques.

Proven Testing Strategies for Better Direct Marketing Results

One of the central strengths of direct marketing is your ability to test, calculate the results, and make adjustments to boost profits and lower costs. And no matter how creative your company or ads might be, you must approach the testing process with logic and discipline.

Here are a few tips for getting the full value out of your tests in any medium, including direct mail, print, and broadcast:

• Make knowledge your #1 goal. Yes, you want to boost response and increase net income now. However, building a body of knowledge about what people want and what they respond to is ultimately more important. Testing is about gaining knowledge. Profits come from the application of that knowledge. But don't just look for "what" works. Try to figure out "why" things work. This allows you to apply your knowledge intelligently.
• Don't rely too heavily on what others are doing. You must always run your own tests because every company, market, product, and offer is in some way unique. Learn from others, but consider it a starting point, anecdotal information at best. Most people don't test as carefully as they should, so just because you frequently see a particular direct mail piece, ad, or broadcast spot doesn't mean you can count on it being a winner.
• Establish a solid control first. This allows you to confidently test lists, media, offers, prices, product configurations, and other big issues. Then you move on to control testing to boost results. Usually this means you should stick to the basics at first and try more creative ideas only after you have some solid response data and a record of success.
• Run statistically valid tests. A change in results and a statistically valid change in results are two different things. If you don't know the mathematics of testing, hire someone who does. When you do get a statistically valid difference (positive or negative), retest to confirm your results.
• Have a goal for every test. What do you want to learn? Write down the questions you would like answered and run a test for each. Ideally, every test should answer one specific question.
• Test one element at a time. Testing more than one element will make it impossible for you to know what makes a difference in results. If you're testing price, change only the price in your ad. Don't change anything else. If you constantly test elements to refine a control, you are taking what I call the "Evolutionary Approach," slowly and methodically growing a stronger and stronger control over time.
• Test an all-new approach. This is good if you don't have the patience to test single elements or you want to try for a big boost in response all at once. The more different your approach, the better. Reworking the same approach may change results but won't give you the breakthrough you're looking for. This is what I call the "Revolutionary Approach," going for the big win all at once.
• Track results meticulously. Keep detailed reports on the number of pieces mailed, number of responses you get, response source, conversion percentage, income those responses generate, average order, percentage response, income per thousand, cost per order or cost per response, net dollar return, returns, bad debt, and every other fact that you need to calculate specifically how your ad performs. Over time, this will be a gold mine of information.
• Use your tests to determine strategy. Mathematical results are the best way to end debates on issues such as creative approaches, formats, and offers. (If you're afraid of results that don't match your ideas, then you should look for another line of work.) Never assume. Always test. No one knows better what will work than your own prospects and customers.
• Keep using your control until you beat it. Never, ever shelve a control just because you're tired of it. If it's making money, keep using it. Your control isn't there to entertain you or win you awards. It's there to generate income. Until you have the figures in black and white that conclusively demonstrate you have a new control, keep that old one going.
• Keep testing. Testing is a long-term commitment. It's not something you do once and forget. It's not something you do only when you have a little extra in your budget. Testing should be part of your routine, everyday business. You want to follow what I call the Testing Loop: 1. Run a test. 2. Analyze the results. 3. Act based on the results. 4. Repeat.

About the author:

Dean Rieck is a direct mail copywriter, designer, and consultant who has helped over 200 leading direct marketing companies increase sales, generate leads, and raise funds with winning direct mail, ads, e-mail, sales letters, brochures, postcards, radio spots, and more. Learn more about Dean's direct mail copywriting and design services and sign up for his free monthly newsletter at http://www.directcreative.com.

Copyright Dean Rieck. You may reprint this article online provided that you keep the links live and keep all the content "as is," including title, author byline, article text, and "about the author" information.

Article Marketing Secrets That Sell

Article submission to article directories is one of the most effective ways to promote your business. Article marketing is free and can attract targeted traffic to your website.

Internet marketing articles need to have an attention grabbing headline that contains your keyword. Articles need to be informative and relevant to your targeted audience. It is also helpful to optimize your articles for search engine rankings by writing in keywords. The keyword density that should be used is open to debate. Originally, webmasters found that a 6-7% density worked well to attain a high search engine position. However, the writing was generally appalling with this type of density and often web pages were nothing but a form of spam that offered nothing of value to the reader.

Since then, search engine algorithms have become more sophisticated in an effort to catch out these poor value websites. Now, some SEO marketing professionals recommend a keyword density of between 3-4% while others recommend a density of only 1-2%. There is also a strong movement towards organic writing that doesn't bother with keywords at all. This movement is supported by Google's latent semantic indexing algorithm. Latent semantic indexing (LSI) looks for words and expressions that have a similar or connected meaning to the main keywords used in an article.

When people provide genuine information and write naturally, they tend to use a variety of related expressions. They are therefore likely to be considered by search engines to be high value, genuine sites. One of the most successful, organically written websites is stevepavlina.com. His traffic and business has risen exponentially over time and he has not used SEO strategies at all. For article marketing, you may want to test your market by writing with a low keyword density and include expressions with a similar meaning to appeal to Google's LSI algorithm. Test your results by monitoring website traffic numbers. You can also write some articles that don't use SEO and compare the results.

Articles need to be written in plain English. If English is not your first language and you are unsure of colloquialisms and grammar, consider paying for a freelance writer to write your articles for you. This does not have to be expensive. Try to keep your paragraphs and sentences relatively short. Some longer sentences are fine but generally speaking keep it simple and to the point. Most article directories have word limits. Try to keep your articles under five hundred words. If you cannot do this, the article can be separated into two parts with links to the other part of the article.

The keys to successful article marketing are to write well and write often. You cannot simply write one or two articles and expect them to make a difference to your business. They are a great way to generate free website traffic but you have to submit articles regularly. The result is exponential. A good rule of thumb is "an article a day will make articles pay." Having said this, make sure your resource box is written well and has links to relevant pages on your website. You won't get any visitors from article marketing if your readers aren't enticed to click on your link.

Learn how to promote any product, service or business opportunity using the most powerful Free Web Site Traffic method - Article Marketing.