Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘writing tips’

10 Ways to Intensify Your Article Marketing by Terri Seymour

Article marketing is a method of online and offline marketing in which you write informative articles and make them available for reprint and distribution to various webmasters and print publications. If your article is well-written and contains helpful information it has the potential to give you an enormous amount of exposure for your business. These articles can also help build your reputation as an authority in your field which can help bring you more customers.

Many people have doubts when it comes to writing and distributing articles but with a little time and effort it can be done. Below are ten tips for establishing your article marketing campaign.

1. Keep It Simple – Craft articles that are simple and straightforward. Be sure it contains relevant and helpful information for your readers. There is no need for big, fancy words. Write as if you were simply telling a friend all about the article subject. Let your personality shine through in your words and watch your article come alive!

2. Research Thoroughly – One mistake some people make is to publish information that is outdated or inaccurate. Be sure to research all your facts and be sure everything is up to date and accurate.

3. Keywords – Using relevant keywords in your writing is important for search engine placement so people can find your articles more often. But do not make the mistake of overloading your articles with keywords and phrases to the point that your article will not be well-written or make any sense. Be sure to read your finished article and watch for keyword overload.

4. Attention Grabbing Titles – Your article title could be the deciding factor to whether or not your article gets read. I know when I am sifting through articles the title is what helps me decide which article to read. Use power words in your title to grab and hold a person’s interest.

For example:

Which article would interest you more?

“10 Ways to Increase Your Income”

“10 Guaranteed Ways to Make Money Now”

Both sound interesting but I would probably go after the second title. It has that something extra that gets my attention. Using power words like “Guaranteed” and “Now” will spark emotion in the reader and draw them in.

5. Always Proofread – Even though you are writing an article containing basic information, you want it to look and sound professional. Be sure to use proper grammar and make sure all words are spelled correctly. Unfortunately I have seen some articles that looked as if a 5 year old had written it. Please be sure to check it over at least once. I like to proofread twice as I have missed a thing or two over the years.

6. Effective Resource Box – Always write your resource box in third person format. You want your name to get etched into the reader’s memory. Tell a little about yourself and then list a compelling reason for people to visit your site/business.

Example:

Jane Doe has 15 years experience as a business coach and has worked extensively with major corporations. Visit Jane’s site for free information on how to improve your business and her award-winning book on how to triple your company’s sales. Add your link here.

7. Quality Not Quantity – Some people will say to submit your article to as many places as possible, but I disagree. I would submit each article to a dozen or more of the higher ranked, quality ezine directories. You can see a list of the top ten at my site. It would be impossible, time-wise to submit to all the article directories so making a list of the top 10 or 20 or so would be the best thing to do. I personally submit my articles to a list of 30 with the top one being EzineArticles.

8. Social Bookmarking – Social bookmarking is a way for people to share your articles with friends and/or business associates. This can greatly increase the power of your article. One of the best sites for social bookmarking beginners is Blinklist.

Some others are:

Delicious

Digg

StumbleUpon

9. Follow Guidelines – All article directories will have guidelines for you to follow. Be sure and abide by each site’s guidelines or your article will be rejected. Most directories will require a 500 word minimum with links only being allowed in your resource box. Do not put your site info or link in the article body. Most sites will not allow links of any kind in the article body.

10. Article Spinning: Good or Bad? – Article spinning is taking an article, and using software to change parts of it in an attempt to make it another unique article. In doing so, one article can become 5 or 10 (so-called) unique articles. To me, this is the lazy way of writing articles and in my opinion does not do much for your reputation. Some people say it works for them but it is something I would neither do nor recommend. Writing a true unique quality article can be done in an hour or two and will be much more beneficial than wringing out one article to try to get several.

I have been writing articles for about 12 years or so and still try to learn more on how to improve my article marketing. The above ten tips will go a long way in improving your article marketing success. Much luck to you in your campaign efforts.
About the Author:
Terri Seymour has over twelve years of online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site for free articles, resources, information, resell ebooks and more. Sign up for the RSS Feed for a free business ebook with MRR. http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

When you sit down to write a post for your Direct Sales blog it is important to remember that your blog posts should be more “informational” type of posts instead of “spammy” type of posts. When people visit Direct Sales blogs they are looking more for the important information that you post and less for your sales spam ads.

When writing a post for your blog, here are a few important tips to remember.

* Title your blog post with related keywords on the content that is contained within your blog post. This will help search engines find your post and will help give readers a ‘sense’ of the information that is contained within the post itself.

* The opening paragraph in your blog post should be a great paragraph that entices the reader to continue reading your post. Furthermore, it should be a “preview” of what your blog post is all about.

* The body of your post should have approximately 3 keywords within it. You do not want to overload your post with keywords as search engines frown on that and consider it to be keyword spam. The body of your post should be written cleanly and concisely to get your message across to the reader.

* The summary paragraph in your blog post should be just that…a summary of what the reader just read. Keep the summary concise and to the point.

Your blog posts should be 200-300 words when they are informational posts and you should always use spell-checker before publishing them. Writing a great blog post does take some time and practice, but the more you write for your blog the easier it will get.

10 Major Online Marketing Mistakes by Terri Seymour

Online marketing, also called internet marketing is forever evolving and if you own an online business you need to keep abreast of all the options available to you and your business. Building a business is a learning process and we all will make mistakes. The main thing is to learn from our mistakes so as not to make them again. In my years of online marketing I have learned a lot and want to share with you, what I think, are 10 of the major online marketing mistakes.

1. Not Collecting Email Addresses – Have you ever heard the statement, the money is in the list? Your list can be your goldmine. If you are not collecting email addresses, you need to start now. Put a sign-up form on your site so people can sign up to your mailing list, newsletter, RSS, articles, etc. Offer them a free bonus for signing up. You will be able to collect a list of names with which to send your special offers, sales, etc. and greatly increase your income potential. Be sure to include an opt-out in all mailings. This will give your subscribers the chance to remove themselves from your mailing list if they so choose. Also, never add a person’s email address to your list without their permission.

2. Not Being Social – Social networking has exploded on the internet. Millions of people use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other popular sites. If you are not using these sites for your business, you are making a grave error. People will be finding other businesses and not even know you or your business exist.

If you are not yet social, start now by opening an account on the top three:

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

3. Not Being Available – I have so many people tell me that they have emailed websites and never receive a response. I know from experience this happens way too often. Make it a number one priority to answer email inquiries as quickly as possible. I try to answer within minutes, if possible. This does get a huge response of appreciation. Your visitors need to know that a person is available if they have questions about your products and/or services. This will help in building the relationship and trust needed for an online business.

4. Not Studying Your Web Stats – Your web stats can help you determine how many visitors you get, where they are going, how long they are staying, if they are returning and so on. By analyzing this information, you can develop your website into the most efficient website it can be. One of the best site stats you can use for free is Google Analytics.

5. Not Using Viral Marketing – Viral marketing uses the same concept as the snowball effect. You start with one tiny snowball and roll it down a hill and it turns into a great mass of snow. Viral marketing can do the same thing for your site. You can give away free ebooks, free reports, free articles and other helpful resources. You give one person a free ebook with your name and link info in it and this person passes it onto their visitors and those visitors pass it on to their visitors and so on. One big giant snowball of traffic!

6. Not Keeping Up with Changes – Over the years internet marketing has changed immensely. Some methods become outdated and new innovative marketing concepts come into play. Even though some of the older methods might still work, you still need to keep up with the new innovative changes in marketing such as social media and video marketing. Always be learning and always keep up with new marketing methods.

7. Ignoring Your Competitors – In business you always have to keep an eye on your competitors. You can learn a lot from your competitors and about your own business as well. Visit forums where you and your competitors might be discussed and learn from what is being said. There is software that will help you find such forums called Boardtracker. Visit your competitors’ sites often to see how they are evolving and how it is working for them. Find out their strengths and weaknesses. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Don’t ever ignore your competitors!

8. Not Being Professional – Your business is a business and needs to be treated as such. Your site needs to look professional. Be sure to proofread all your content and add a Privacy Policy page to your site. You should also have a policy page with your shipping, return, exchange, etc. policies so buyers know what to expect. Make your site look, feel and read like a professional site. You also need to respond professionally in emails, forums, social sites, etc. Be polite, courteous, fair and never let your emotions get the better of you.

9. Not Having a User-Friendly Site – I have seen many sites which have caused me to immediately leave.

Some examples would be:

Blaring music that comes on with no way to turn it off.

Flashy irritating graphics all over the place.

Ads plastered all over with no clear way to navigate the site.

No contact info.

Basically no professionalism of any kind.

Don’t let your site fall into these categories. If you have music on your site, give the option of music or not. Always make the pages clean, easy to read and navigate. Be sure to have your contact info on all pages. Don’t have a lot of flashy graphics that will drive your visitors away. Control the amount of ads you have on your site as well.

10. Don’t Give Up! – In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes people make when they start an online business is giving up too soon. Building a business takes time and you have to commit to it and stick with it. Unfortunately, I have seen many people give up prematurely and then wonder why they can’t make money. I thought of giving up myself many times but stuck with it because I wanted to help my family while being able to stay home and take care of them. I kept on and was persistent and it slowly started paying off. Once I started with ebooks, my business really took off and now I am very grateful I did not give up when I felt discouraged!

If you have found the business you are passionate about, stick with it and do not give up! Keep your passion alive and you can be a great success!

Terri Seymour has over twelve years of online experience and has helped many people start their own business. Visit her site for free articles, resources, information, resell ebooks and more. Sign up for the RSS Feed for a free business ebook with MRR. http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Article Marketing is a great way for you to promote and advertise your business online and it can be done free. With that said…the length of your article is an important thing to consider when you sit down to write your articles.

There will be people who tell you that length doesn’t matter and that is totally incorrect information. When thinking about the length your article should be here are a few things to consider:

1. People who reprint articles in online email newsletters have limited space reserved in their newsletter. When writing articles to use in newsletters your article should be 300 words or less.

2. When people are looking for articles for their blog sites…again, they are looking for shorter length articles and your article that is geared towards blog sites should be between 350-400 words.

3. When people are looking for articles to use on their web sites they are typically looking for articles that are longer in length but not “book” length. A good rule of thumb for articles that you think will make great web site content should be 450 to 550 words in length.

People who use your articles in their newsletters, on their blogs and on their web sites usually have a certain amount of space set aside for that reprint article.

When I sit down to write my articles I always think about the length and which type of people are most likely to want to publish it on their sites or in their publications and figure out the length I want my article to be.

I feel this is something we all need to remember when we are writing articles for our article marketing campaigns.

When it comes to promoting a small or large business online it is very important to get involved with article marketing. Article marketing gets you valuable incoming one-way web links to your site along with valuable new traffic. In addition…article marketing is one of the most cost effective ways for you to market you business online and to set yourself up as a leader in the niche that you represent.

For those who wish to market their businesses online via article marketing, here are a few important tips to remember when you begin this marketing journey.

1. Article Length: The length of your article will depend on where you plan on having it published. You will find that the majority of article directories require a minimum of 250 words in length. I personally recommend 400-500 words as a good length to strive for when writing your articles.

2. Article Topics: The topics you write about should pertain to the Direct Sales business that you represent and the content of your article should match the links and information that you include in your author’s resource box. When you are writing articles pertaining to your business you can really set yourself a part from other consultant’s in your same company by marketing your business online via article marketing. Topics can be geared directly towards the type of products you are trying to market and/or towards the Direct Sales or Home Business Industry as a whole.

3. Consistency: You will need to be writing articles often and I recommend around 10 new articles a month so that you consistently have fresh new material going out across the internet on a consistent basis. You most likely won’t see a lot of results in the first month or two when you start this type of marketing and most article marketers start seeing great results after 4-6 months.

4. Proofread For Typos & Grammar Mistakes: When you write articles they should always be proofread 2-3 times for typos and grammar mistakes. You can not rely on spell checker to catch all of your typos and grammar mistakes. First impressions are everything and I don’t know anyone who likes to read an article that is loaded with typos and grammar mistakes. If you can afford it, hire a ghostwriter or assistant to proof all of your articles before you publish them live. Often times a fresh set of eyes can catch mistakes that you the writer can not catch.

5. Author’s Resource Box: An Author’s Resource Box should be included at the end of each and every article that you write and publish online. This box gives the reader important information about you, your business and your expertise. Your resource box should be several sentences in length and include 1-2 web links to your business web sites that are related to the article you just written. It is extremely important to double check the links you include in your resource box to make sure they are correct as broken links do you and your business absolutely no good.

This article was written by Shelly Hill ~ Owner of Work At Home Business Opptions and is exclusive to this (my) web site. Please do not reprint it! Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Are you in Direct Sales? Are you thinking about writing articles for your article marketing campaign? If so, finding topics to write about within your own business niche can be a daunting task for new direct sales professionals, who are just getting into article marketing.

Today I would like to share with you how you can come up with new topics to write about each and every day for at least the next few months, if not years.

1. Talk to your fellow business associates and ask them about topics they want to learn about in regards to the niche that you represent. You can take their questions and turn them all into informative articles.

2. Talk to your newly added team members and ask them what they would love to learn about in regards to the business you represent. Often times the newly recruited members need basic information that you are already educated about. Use your education and experience in the field to draft up new articles that are geared towards beginners.

3. Talk to your customers and ask them what they would love to know about in regards to the products you sell and about the business opportunity that you represent. Use their questions to draft up new articles related to the niche you are trying to target.

4. Visit online blogs and web sites that are geared towards your niche. Spend some time reading the posts and articles on those sites to see what everyone is talking and writing about. Use these subjects to generate your own ideas for new material.

5. Visit online article directories and look for categories that are related towards your niche. Read through old and current articles that have already been published to see if any of those spark new ideas for you. One of my favorite things to do is to read old material and rewrite that material to include updated information and advances in technology.

6. Educate yourself in something new that is within your own niche. Often times when we learn something new (like new technology), we can use what we have just learned to our advantage by writing about it.

7. Join a few social media networking sites and make friends with others who are in your niche. Spend time networking and sharing information with them. Often times my article ideas have come from just chatting with other professionals on social media networking sites.

As you can see, these 7 tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding new topics to write about that pertain to your business niche. I like to keep a little notebook beside me or with me at all times so that when new article topic ideas pop into my head, I can quickly write them down.

Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989 and is a professional ghostwriter. You can visit Shelly’s Two Classy Ghostwriting Chics web site at http://www.twoclassyghostwritingchics.com to learn about the ghostwriting services that she and her partner Chris Carroll have to offer.