Environmentally Friendly Web Site Marketing: Recycle Your Content!

By Kalena Jordan

Do you ever hit a slump when you're trying to come up with new content for your web site? Do you get blogger’s block on a regular basis? It happens to the best of us.

Yet it seems like everyone around you is a marketing genius. Search engine marketers are churning out articles and blog posts day after day and what about those multi-level marketing gurus promoting seemingly endless products and e-books? Do you ever think “How do they find the time to come up with all these new ideas?".

The answer is simple: content recycling. Yes, the secret behind many of the Internet’s most successful marketers is the recycling of content in different ways to appeal to different audiences. Let me give you an example:

The original Search Engine Optimization 101 course that I created for Search Engine College was based on a brief training manual I wrote for web design staff of an ex-employer many years ago. When it came to writing a full course for the first time back in 2004, I took the original training manual content, checked it for accuracy, expanded on it to bring the content up to date and then divided it into logical lesson plans. Then I added case studies, examples, 3rd party references, diagrams and coding samples. Then I devised suitable assignments and quizzes for the lessons that would test a student's knowledge of the material. Voila! I had my finished course.

But my use of the material didn't stop there. I noticed that some of my lessons had sections that would make excellent stand-alone articles, so I pulled out the relevant sections and re-worked the content into suitable article context and added broader appeal for my target markets. These articles were then circulated using various article distribution channels and social media communities. The more popular ones became feature articles in our monthly newsletter and offline marketing magazines. Some became marketing tools for our Search Engine College affiliate network to help drive more sales.

When I receive comments and feedback on the articles, these in turn generate discussion and ideas for blog posts for my search engine advice column. But that's not all! Occasionally I am asked to give in-house training or presentations on search engine marketing. Depending on the subject matter, I often take my original SEO lesson notes and my articles and rework the content into MS PowerPoint slides and handouts.

The marketing and affiliate gurus are expert content recyclers and they make a LOT of money using this system. But guess what? You can apply the same principle to your own web site content. Here are some ideas:

Documentation such as training manuals and client case studies make great web page content.
Web page content such as product reviews and descriptions make great fodder for "how to" articles.

That silly staff Christmas video might make a terrific viral marketing tool.
A set of FAQs would make for an interesting webinar or video blog.
A group of case studies could be made into a free white paper or auto-responder email series.
A collection of articles or bookmarked tools could easily be converted to a downloadable e-book or give-away CD.

Get the picture?

The more ways you can re-package your information, the wider audience you will reach because not everyone responds to the same medium in the same way. Some people like to read articles, while others prefer a structured training program. Some people absorb material better if it's presented in-person and others like e-books and YouTube videos.

The more ways you make your content accessible, the better. The Internet's current love affair with social media offers even more opportunities to get your content and brand circulated. But there’s an even bigger incentive to recycling your material: Google’s Universal Search.

The Universal Search Model that Google rolled out in May this year incorporates web search results with related results from Google Images, Google News, Google Video, Google News and Blogger in the one search interface. The new search model boosts the importance of non-text content within web sites so that image and video content have become major marketing channels in their own right, rather than tools to attract visitors to text content.

It makes sense then that if you offer your site information in a range of formats such as video, audio, news releases, PDF and images as well as general text or HTML content, you provide more potential channels for it to appear in Google search results.

So re-package your knowledge into articles, e-books, webinars, training courses, podcasts, white papers, CDs, videos, blog posts and web pages and recycle that content!


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

How to Convert Customers While You Sleep

By Kalena Jordan

You might be surprised to hear this, but many of today’s Internet marketing millionaires actually make their money by doing nothing. That’s right, they make money by doing nothing at all. How? They have their Internet businesses set on automatic pilot. They’ve put systems in place to gather leads, generate content, follow up leads and convert them into customers automatically, while they sleep, travel abroad or laze around on a beach somewhere. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t.

A major component of the dot com guru’s toolkit that helps them achieve this is something called an autoresponder. An autoresponder is simply a computer program that automatically sends out email when triggered. The trigger could be the entry of an email address into a form, the download of a product or document, a certain date or a period of time. The beauty of autoresponders is their ability to create instant interaction with new leads while requiring only limited time to set-up. This establishes a “set and forget” system.

For example, we use an autoresponder at Search Engine College whenever somebody decides to download our free sample SEO101 lesson. As soon as anyone enters their email address into our online form, they are sent an email by the autoresponder asking them to verify their email address and confirm their interest in opting-in to receive our information. The recipient does this by clicking on a link embedded within the email.

Once that occurs, it triggers a series of emails to be sent to the recipient at different time intervals following the original request e.g. a day later, a week later or a month later. These emails can contain further information on the original item downloaded, links to other products, a special offer, a mini-tutorial or any other information you like. The primary aim of the autoresponder is to convert the lead into a customer over time. It’s a well-documented fact that it can take up to seven interactions with a lead before they convert to become a customer and your autoresponder can set this process in motion and manage it for you automatically.

Many people think that creating a series of autoresponder emails is difficult, but it is actually very easy! Your emails don’t have to be clever or witty or long. They just need to contain an immediate benefit to the customer or information that the reader will find useful. Ideally, you should create at least 10 initial emails and decide on a time-frame and order in which you want to send them. Then you can simply add 1 or 2 new emails to the list each week as you find time to write them. Any new leads added to your autoresponder will receive the entire series of emails, in the order you intended. Existing leads will be sent any new emails you add to the series, in the order and time-frame you specify.

Sound complex? Let me give you a concrete example. Imagine you are a jeweler that specializes in selling gold chains via an online store. Here is a sample autoresponder series (and trigger) that you could create:

Trigger: Visitor signs up to receive your monthly jewelry catalog via email.

Email 1: Welcome and thank you for signing up. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: Immediately

Email 2: Follow up on catalog and request for feedback on jewelry selection.
Time-frame: 7 days after trigger

Email 3: Special offer to members – 20 percent discount on all gold chains for 7 days only. [Includes unique discount coupon that expires in 7 days.]
Time-frame: 21 days after trigger

Email 4: Reminder that discount coupon expires in 3 days. [Includes unique discount coupon that expires in 3 days.]
Time-frame: 25 days after trigger

Email 5: Latest jewelry catalog. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: 33 days after trigger

Email 6: Helpful article about how to clean jewelry.
Time-frame: 47 days after trigger

Email 7: Information about unique or value added service e.g. free monogramming or free shipping.
Time-frame: 54 days after trigger

Email 8: Latest jewelry catalog. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: 64 days after trigger

Email 9: Special offer to members – free pair of earrings with every gold chain purchased for 7 days only. [Includes unique earrings coupon that expires in 7 days.]
Time-frame: 78 days after trigger

Email 10: Interesting article about the difference between various qualities of gold e.g. 9 kt, 14 kt, 24 kt and why they are used for different pieces of jewelry.
Time-frame: 88 days after trigger

Email 11: Latest jewelry catalog. Includes link to current catalog download page.
Time-frame: 94 days after trigger


Get the idea? The more leads you acquire and the more often you contact those leads, the more likely you are to convert them into paying customers. If you can add to your autoresponder series on a regular basis, you’ll have established automatic communication with your leads for months or even years to come.

I should stress here that you should ALWAYS use a double opt-in email sign up process to ensure your readers really do want to receive your communications. The extra verification layer prevents unintended subscriptions by persons who’ve had their email address entered into your sign-up form by others. You should also make it clear to subscribers what they are opting into – if you plan to contact them beyond the trigger event, make it clear on the sign up form or in the verification email exactly what type of communications they will receive and how often.

You will also need to use autoresponder software, a host that supports autoresponders and/or an email marketing service such as A Weber that creates multiple autoresponders for you.

So what are you waiting for? Go switch your email marketing to auto pilot and convert customers while you sleep!


About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

The Internet Business Revolution Is Picking Up Pace

By Naz Daud

The internet has transformed the way many people do business. Twenty years ago the internet did not even exist and now if your high speed broadband connection is down you feel unconnected to the world, as if something is not complete in your life.

All big businesses now need to have a web presence not only to market their products but also to create brand awareness. Distance no longer matters in many types of businesses. The
world is your oyster but this also leads to more competition as somebody overseas can provide the same service but at a potentially lower price.

Communication is so quick and easy on the web that great new products spread like wildfire as people blog and chat about them on online forums.

Buyers have more power now to compare prices before they shop in their high street shops. Many do their ordering online and avoid the retail outlets completely. I always check online prices before making a decision where to buy.

Lead times are getting shorter as big companies fight to deliver your order within a couple of day for today's just in time society.

All the major manufacturers and retailers conduct business on the web. Some huge companies like Dell only sell their computers through their website. They have abandoned the normal retail channels completely.

Recently, in the last thirty days I have purchased a new mobile phone (next day delivery), a new computer (delivery within 4 days built to my specification) and purchased some airplane tickets (delivery instantly via email).

Did you know that the largest online retailer in the UK is Tesco?

Social networking sites are all the rage now. People no longer need to leave their home to interact with family and friends. Not only are they keeping in touch with people close to their hearts they are also building relationships which are just as strong as people they meet in real life.

So whether it's employment, business or socializing - the internet is here to stay.

The real internet explosion is happening now - not ten years ago as most of the pundits had predicted. Many people assume that everything that could have been created has been made and that the opportunity to exploit and do business on the web is now over.

Far from it! Over the next twenty years we are going to see new giants emerging… companies that have not even been born yet. This is the fastest moving medium and also offers the most opportunity to young entrepreneurs.

About The Author:

Naz Daud is the Founder of the CityLocal Internet Business Franchise Opportunity.
http://www.citylocal.co.uk
http://www.citylocal.co.uk/frontend/franchiseinfo.php?cityid=79
http://www.citylocal.ie
http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=120141

6 Internet Marketing Myths

By Paul Penafiel

Every day thousands of people go online to make money but most of them fail miserably because they either truly believe one of the 6 Internet Marketing Myths or or all of them. You can read them below and discover the grain of salt in all of them.

Myth #1: Internet Marketing is EASY

This is probably the biggest myth of all, and let me tell you Internet marketing is hard, takes time, effort not mention money and anyone who suggests otherwise is trying to sell you a bunch of horse hockey. Granted that it's comparatively easier to brick and mortar in that there's no inventory to carry, no shipping of goods no sales staff and virtually no overhead, but a lot of work is still involved.

Myth #2: ANYONE Can Make Money Online

Folks, this is simply not true. Unless someone gets off their lazy boy recliner and download/read everything they can about internet marketing, and put an action plan in motion, they will never make a dime on the internet. DO NOTHING, MAKE NOTHING.

Myth #3: You Can "GET RICH QUICK" On the Net!

This is the trap that a lot of newbie internet marketers falls into including myself when I first started, why? because scammers make it sounds so easy and let me tell you, chasing "get rich quick scheme" is a WASTE OF TIME!, money and energy. It just won't happen overnight, instead do some research and find out what people really want and need then give it to them especially a sense of reality.

Myth #4: It's FREE to Do Business Online

This is one of my favorite myths because I believed it during my first year of internet marketing and it just wasn't true then, it isn't true today. Compared to opening your first coffee shop or gift shop in downtown Los Angeles, internet business start-up cost and maintenance cost is pretty low. Once you have your domain set up, you only pay for internet connection, advertising and ongoing educations, that's it. You can't expect to make money selling free stuff and ask others to do the same. Folks! it takes money to make money.

Myth #5: It's TOO LATE to Start an Internet Business

Most super affiliate marketers would love to hear people say "It's too late now, too many competitions, I should just pack my bags and go home, the internet is too complicated, etc...". You know why? the less people they have to compete with the better which in turn will make them more money.

The fact is, it's never ever too late to start anything and that includes internet business. I firmly believe that the internet is not going anywhere and you should too. Every year the stats will show you the number of people shopping online are increasing, their spending dollars are growing and the number of people going online is increasing also.

Myth #6: The BIG Money Talk is JUST HYPE

As I've told you before, "it takes money to make money?" Well it's true, although you will be hard pressed to find experienced internet marketers to tell how much they spend on promoting and advertising. Sometimes, you have to dig a little deeper to find the truth in every hype you read. It's a fact that the people that makes alot of money online also spends alot of money on advertising, tools, resources and know how to get the job done.

If you are willing to take the necessary action to make 'big money' happen for you - it will. It takes time. You can criticize, be skeptical and sure that 'big money' can't happen for you - and it won't. Sit down and write a financial and a sound business plan. Local Chamber of Commerce can give all the info you need to get started.

If you believe that you will succeed you're right, if you believe that it won't work, you're right also.

To summarize, you have heard people's story how they're making a fortune on the internet and how easy it is but the reality is some stories are NOT out of this world or unrealistic but it just doesn't happen overnight. You just have to apply a bit of common sense into it, find what you love to do, have a game plan, stay focus and you my friend might find the right opportunity to make all your dreams come true.

About the Author:

Paul Penafiel surfs the best traffic exchange programs to build a list of contacts and grow a residual income. For more info please visit http://www.paulpenafiel.com/lsn.htm

Top Seven Ways How Writing Articles Can Explode Your Business

By Nikki Mhlanga

The importance of attracting highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be overemphasized. Routing web traffic to your site can be your only means of survival, especially in the very competitive ecommerce world. Getting a high search engine ranking can be very difficult. Fortunately, there is plethora of website promotion strategies you can use to drive traffic to your website.

There is a wide variety of strategies you can adapt, from paid advertising to affiliate marketing. However, most of these techniques require payment. Nevertheless, there are ways to promote your website and increase your web traffic without spending anything.

Writing articles is one of the best web site promotion strategies you can use, and they can be very effective. How, you may ask, can writing articles help improve your web traffic? Here are the top seven ways in which it can help explode your business.

1. Reach more people When you write good articles, you must share them with other people, and attract traffic to your site in the process. You can post your articles in your website or you can submit them to other sites such as e-zines and online publishers. By submitting your articles to these sites, you give exposure not only to your ideas but also to your website. Simply include a link back to your site or include your information in the resource box. With this, you get exposure and free advertising as well.

2. Free Advertising Submitting your articles to other websites presents an opportunity to advertise your website without paying exorbitant fees. Although you should avoid marketing language in your articles and make it informative and useful to your readers, you can always include your site's link in the resource box. In addition, by making your article relevant and helpful to your readers, you are making a good impression for your website, which could ultimately lead to a visit and hopefully a purchase. Good quality content in an article is far better and more effective than a few lines of ad space.

3. Gain High Search Engine Ranking Create a new web page for your article in your website. Optimize your article to make it search-engine friendly. Use top-ranked keywords and Meta tags that can give your website a high search engine ranking. As soon as you upload your new webpage to your server, search engines will spider through it and you can gain an increase in search engine ranking. Remember that search engine optimized content is a very effective strategy to gain a high ranking in search results.

4. Increases Link Popularity

Instead of looking for other sites who would want to establish reciprocal links with your site, you can simply submit an article to other sites. Just do not forget to include a link to your site in your resource box. When these websites pick up and publishes your article, you automatically get a link partner. Link popularity is one of the factors used by search engines in determining search engine rankings. Make your article especially useful and appealing, so that more websites will be encouraged to publish it.

5. Optimizes your site for improved search engine ranking

By making your site keyword rich, you can greatly improve the search engine ranking of your site. Remember that keyword density is one of the most important factors that search engines use when determining the search engine ranking of site. However, you should always provide relevant, useful and pertinent information. Avoid the temptation of overusing keywords just to gain a high ranking as this may turn off most web surfers. Relevance and quality is still the most important things to consider when writing articles and it will be doubly useful to your site if you make these articles search-engine optimized.

6. Establishes a Good Impression and Reputation

By writing excellent, original and relevant articles, you not only give your site exposure, you are also creating a good impression on your prospects. Encourage more people to visit your site and do business with you by establishing an impressive reputation through your articles. Be seen as an expert in the field and your will ultimately gain more customers eager to do business with you.

7. Enhances your credibility through references and testimonies

Certainly, your articles are going to receive feedbacks and testimonies when you publish them in e-zines and free article sites. Record these positive feedbacks and comments and use them as promotional material in your website or in any of your advertising efforts. Your credibility will be greatly enhanced by these feedbacks, as it will create a good impression on your prospects as well as your existing customers.

Original, relevant, useful and pertinent articles are important tools you should utilize to improve and explode your business.

About the Author:

For 3 Easy Steps To Make Money Online, Visit: http://www.smart-homebiz.com/pips.html

Write A Winning Business Plan-The Neatest Trick In The Book

By MaryAnn Shank

"Writing a business plan" sounds really tough, and it can be. But there are a number of things the smart entrepreneur can do to make it easier.

For instance, justwhatkindofstuffyouthinkgetsreadlikethis? Imagine pages full of that, with virtually no margins, no paragraph breaks, no breathing room. Lenders, investors and angel investors are confronted with piles of business plans like that every day.

Take a breath. Then lure your reader into the plan with snappy headlines and easy to read formatting.

Do you know why the Wall Street Journal and USA Today use headlines? Because it's the only way anyone will read a story. More to the point, it's the only way anyone will buy their paper. (Mmmm, sounds like you may have something in common with newspapers.)

Take a look at your favorite newspaper. Those headlines tell a story. Sometimes they ooze with conspiracy, and once in a while they stand majestic. Note:

Martha Jailed
The War is Over
The Watergate Starts to Smell

Your business plan needs to do no less. The headlines and section heads need to draw the reader in, not with an announcement, but with an invitation. Compare these:

The Executive Team
The Audio Industry
The Advisory Board

with these:

Strong Executive Team is Led by Industry Insider
Audio - the Industry that Reinvents Itself
7 Top Scientists Lead the Advisory Board

So which set are you going to read?

Lenders of all ilk get far too many business plans - certainly more than they can possibly fund. Simply getting your business plan read is a big step in the right direction.

Try this trick. Imagine that you are indeed writing a newspaper, one that competes with another strong paper in your town. What headline would you put on that paper to encourage readers to buy yours, and not the other?

Honesty, of course, is essential. But within that honesty there are a thousand ways to make the same statement. How many ways are there to say that it is spring time?

· It is spring
· It is April 22
· Lilacs are in bloom
· Snow is melting in the mountains
· Baseball camps are in full force

And how many ways are there to say that your business idea is a good one?

· This is a good idea
· An innovative approach
· A sure-fire winner
· A strong contender for funding
· A strong team in an equally strong market
· Lots of community support
· This fills a need in the marketplace
· The company draws on the experience of each of its members
· Two years of strong growth
· Impressive projections

Now jot down some headlines for your company. You may or may not be able to use them. Try first just to jot down every idea, a brain storming session.

Now use the best of those headlines to help structure your business plan. If "Nobel Prize Winner Heads Advisory Board" is your strongest headline, then lead with that story. If "A Prime Location in a Prime Shopping Center" is your strongest headline, then that is your lead.

Let the strength of the headlines pull your business plan up a notch or two. The power of your business may surprise even you!

Before you actually begin writing, take the time to really look at a good publication, something like the Wall Street Journal. Look at the styling and the use of headlines and sub-heads. Note how the ideas keep a steady flow, with an invitation to read.

Your business plan likely won't look like the venerable WSJ, or any other major publication, but odds are that it will look a whole lot better than most, and it will therefore be read much more readily. And that, after all, is what you are after.

About The Author:

MaryAnn Shank is an innovative pro in the world of business plans. The best of traditional and cutting edge techniques are at her website http://www.businessplanmaster.com .

How to Advertise To Your Opt-in Newsletter List, For Maximum Profit

By Cathy Qazalbash

Your opt-in or business list is the most valuable asset to your business. Your subscribers have made a positive decision to voluntary subscribe to your free newsletter. Subscribers to your newsletter are potential customers for you and deserve to be treated like the VIPs they are. Before advertising to them in the form of Solos and other ads in your newsletter, keep a few points in mind:

1. Create trust -credibility

2. Do not over advertise

3. Do opinion Polls/surveys to find what subscribers like

4. Target your advertising

Create trust -credibility: Good content in your newsletter will do this. Info articles and tips are the main source of content. If possible use either freshly written articles or write your own. Tips are always popular, small jokes and sayings are often used to lighten up the newsletter. All these things will help your readers enjoy their newsletter and when you publish a good quality newsletter it will boost your credibility and create trust with your subscribers.

Do not over advertise: This is a common mistake with publishers. A little advertising in the newsletter and not too many Solos will make your readers more responsive and less likely to unsubscribe. Too many ads in the newsletter and sending too many Solos will cut down your subscribers and less people will actually read your ads.

Opinion polls and surveys are useful for finding out what your subscribers are interested in. Make these short and simple and always respond to those who take the trouble to fill them out. Surveys are a very valuable way of keeping in touch with your readers and builds rapport. This means you can advertise what they need and get a better response, and sales.

Targeting your ads. Advertise according to your topic. For instance if you are a marketing home business newsletter try to keep your ads in this topic, do not advertise gardening things. Your readers will expect to be offered tools, products and services specifically designed to help them in their businesses.

Fine-Tune Your Advertising To Ensure Success

Advertising your business is more than putting out a few ads and hoping for the best. Your advertising campaign needs constant testing and monitoring, to ensure success. Here are some of the ways you can do this.

1. Monitoring (tracking)

2. Testing

3. Researching publications

4. Keeping Records

Monitoring: It is critical to your advertising campaign to monitor and track all your ads. In this way you can tell exactly which ones are working and those that that are failing. This will save you a lot of time and money. Here is a good ad tracker http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=cathyayb

Testing: Testing ads will ensure you have the best ad for your market, Split test 2 classifieds 1st, then take the best performer and expand into a Solo. You will save money by testing cheaper ads before you send out expensive Solos.

Researching publications: When advertising in publications do your research before placing your ad. Subscribe to the ezine/newsletter and see what sort of readers they are targeting. You will be able to assess this by the type of ads they run on a regular basis, and the articles they publish. Check out the amount of ads and how many are in the publication (less ads equals better response)

Keeping Records: Note which ezines were successful and the ones that produced little or no results. Bigger lists are not always better. Record and note all your ad results. You can use Excell for this as it provides columns, which are easy to use. Note where you advertised, how much they cost size of list, and what success if any you had with the publication. Do not expect stunning results from a publication, that will rarely happen but even if you get a small response repeat the ad for at least 3-4 times, to properly assess the results.

When you fine tune your advertising you will get the maximum "bang for your buck." You will continue to improve your campaign and build your successful business. Not all advertising will work and you may have only small results at 1st but always continue to advertise products/services and you will build your business and expand your clientele.

Keep these points in mind and you will ensure your maximum response to your advertising and even some sales from your readers. Your newsletter is a business tool and your subscribers will
expect some advertising. However remember your subscribers are not just dollar bills and should never feel you are using them. The old cliché "look after your subscribers and they will look after you," holds true for your advertising as well as your newsletter.

About the Author:

Article written by Cathy Qazalbash © Cathy is an experienced freelance writer/copywriter and publisher of the A-Y-B free marketing newsletter
http://advertise-your-business.com
http://copywriting-for-websites.com
http://a1-newsletters.com

Business Blog Savvy: Avoiding the 8 Pitfalls of Do-It-Yourself Blogging

By Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. and Denise Wakeman

The Blog Squad

You can pat yourself on the back if you're one of the thousands of small business professionals that have set up a blog to communicate with your potential clients. Or, maybe you haven't started your business blog yet, but intend to. Take note now so you can avoid some of the consequences of do-it-yourself blogging.

You've heard all the hype, listened to a few podcasts and teleseminars, and finally sorted out for yourself how blogging can really work for your targeted niche of readers and potential clients. You've set up your business blog.

Now, you may be asking yourself, "If I'm so smart at my business, why do I have a dumb do-nothing blog?"

Here are a few of the pitfalls of creating your blog without any guidance from blogging experts:

1. You don't know how to use your blogging software, yet you expect to look like an expert and build credibility. How could you know? Blogs haven't been around that long, and the blogging software is continually being upgraded. You need to learn how to use your blog features that increase your findability on the Internet and readership. For example, you need to regularly use trackback, pinging, and permalinks features.

2. You are writing in a vacuum, without knowing what questions your clients want answered. You haven't done any keyword research, or asked your current clients what they'd like to read. Even worse, you under the impression that a blog should be like an online diary. You are writing about your personal life and details, detracting from the on-target, focused purpose of your blog as a business building tool.

3. You haven't researched other blogs in your field, or spent any time on them, leaving comments. You need to get out there and raise your hand in the blogosphere, so people
will know you're there. You also need to know what's going on in your field.

4. You haven't put a subscription form on your blog, and you don't understand the whole RSS feed thingy. Your readers can't find you or know when you have updated your blog.

5. You haven't put any images on your blog and your blog doesn't look as neat and tidy as your business is. It doesn't reflect your business image or brand.

6. You haven't put any content-appropriate ads on your blog, that don't distract from your own products. Your blog has a non-professional, non-business look and feel to it.

7. You haven't used categories for your blog posts and your readers are confused about wide-ranging subjects you write about. What is your core message? What is the focus of your blog? And important question you must answer for your readers: What's in your blog for them?

8. You haven't written anything for a month. When you've got a blog that has lack-luster traffic, your enthusiasm for writing begins to wane. Why bother posting, if no one is reading your words of wisdom? Then your blog slips even further, and begins to look like a ghost town. Worse, it's still up on the Web, and people will find you and decide you maybe don't care, went out of business, or changed your mind.

Here's what is promised by having a blog:

- Search engines will find you better - website trafficgalore
- Instant credibility in your area of expertise
- A way to communicate with people interested in your field
- Dialogue through comments with potential clients
- Increased sales of your products, whether tangible goods, informational products, or services

How could you possibly know the most effective blogging strategies and tactics without learning and guidance by experts? Sure, blogs are for everyone and the software makes it easy and cheap for anyone to start a blog.

But a professional business blog that drives traffic and gets clients must be optimized correctly and treated as a valuable marketing strategy.

Here are some solutions:

1. Study the professional business blogs in the blogosphere and model their strategies.
2. Buy an ebook on how to set up and optimize a professional business blog
3. Take an advanced course in blogging (not one that just tells you how to get a free account and set it up, but one to explain how to optimize for business.)
4. Hire a team of professional blog experts to coach you in using your blog for your business.
5. Hire a business blog consultant team to help you tweak your blog, or do an extreme makeover
6. Delete your blog and start all over again

Blogs are an effective and powerful marketing tool for businesses of all sizes and types. Like any tool, though, you need to know how to use it correctly to maximize your results.

About the Author:

As the The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman have teamed up to work with professionals to maximize their marketing strategies by implementing blogs, ezines and ecommerce tactics. They have co-authored "Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide for Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog." Take The Blog Squad's free assessment to find out if you're ready for a business blog: http://snipurl.com/Blog_Assessment

Building Relationships Through Your Sales Copy

Building Relationships Through Your Sales Copy

By Cathy Qazalbash

Whenever you try to sell anything you need to build a relationship with your reader. Few people will buy without this vital connection between you and those reading your sales copy. It doesn't matter what sort of sales copy you are using. It can be a small classified ad or a full-blown Sales page. Unless you can build up this vital relationship with your reader you will make little or no sales.

How do you define a relationship built on merely reading your sales copy? It is the feeling a reader will have about you when reading your ad or sales letter. Your aim with any of your sales copy is to build a good rapport with your reader.

What sort of feelings do you want to create in your reader?

1. Empathy
2. Your product/service can help them resolve their problem
3. Trust
4. Need to buy

A feeling of empathy: Your reader wants to feel that you understand their needs and wants. When you sympathize with your readers' needs they will be able to form a bond, they will be able to say, "yes this person understands what I want and understands the problems I am facing."

Creating a feeling that you can and will help them resolve their problem. Do not just reel off facts and figures. Show your reader positive and strong reasons why your product will help them. In
this way they will feel that you are genuinely interested in solving their problems and really have a product /service that will do this.

Trust is the main ingredient in building a relationship with your potential customer. Sales can be made or lost on this all-important feeling. When people build trust in you and your product/service they will buy.

How do you achieve this?

1. Personalize
2. Empathize
3. Persuade
4. Prove your trustworthiness

Create the need to buy your product

1. State the problem your reader has and emphasize their need to resolve it. Declare your USPS (unique selling position) State what your product/service can do and how it will greatly help your reader solve a problem or satisfy a desire.

More techniques that will help you build a relationship.

1. Use of "trigger words"
2. Presenting your sales copy (this reflects on you as a professional)

"Trigger words" are words that touch your reader's emotions. They make them feel good and be more inclined to buy. for example: Do not just "build your business" "skyrocket your business." You can see one trigger word can make your reader feel elated and optimistic that this can happen. With this feeling in mind a sale is very much more likely, and you have achieved this with one word. When you use these trigger words you will build a good rapport with your prospective buyer, and increase your chances of a sale.

Presentation is critical to the overall impression your visitor will get about you. When your ads and sales pages look good your reader will be impressed and perceive you as a true professional.
First impressions are indeed lasting and if your visitor sees you as a professional they will build a good relationship with you as they read your copy.

So next time you send out an ad however small remember that everything your reader sees in your copy will build a relationship and can make or break your sale. Strive to impress your reader, build a relationship and then close the sale with your stunning ad copy.

About the Author.

Cathy Qazalbash is an experienced freelance writer/copywriter
and publisher of the A-Y-B free marketing newsletter
http://advertise-your-business.com
http://copywriting-for-websites.com
http://a1-newsletters.com

Internet Marketing: Start Right, Start Smart

By Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.

Internet Marketing: Start Right, Start Smart

When a professional or small business owner decides to launch their business on the Internet, they often start with a website. They've heard that everybody has to have a website. Then they learn that they should have an email newsletter.

Many people start out piece-meal. Website with one company, newsletter delivery with another provider, online payments with another, and as each need arises they get an account with a new provider. In a previous article (http://snipurl.com/Internet_Marketing1), we recommended starting with a shopping cart marketing system. The next step is to establish your online presence.

Website First, Blog First?

As stated above, it wasn't long ago that you would get started with your online business by creating a website. However, after several months and several thousands of dollars you may learn your website isn't enough. You do need a web presence, and there is an alternative to hiring a web designer to do it for you - you can create a blog for your business.

Since the invention of easy-to-use blogging programs, we recommend to many small businesses and professionals to skip a website, and start off with a blog. A blog can do just about anything a website can, and has several big advantages. (A blog actually is a website, only its software provides for easily updated content and reader participation.)

1. A blog is user-friendly. You can learn how to manage it yourself, no need to hire a web designer, pay big fees or be at the mercy of their busy schedule.

2. A blog is inexpensive. An account at Typepad.com, the leading blog provider, runs from $5-$15/month.

3. Blogs are search engine friendly. Even if in the beginning you don't have a clue about how to optimize your site for the search engines, don't worry. Just know that when you are writing about your niche, to your targeted audience, you will be using the very same keywords that get entered into Google when people are searching for things. This will increase your chances of getting found on the 'Net' by the people who want and need you. Websites are a little more complicated and if they aren't updated frequently, they don't get indexed by the search engine spiders very often.

Huh? What's a Spider?

Don't worry about the technological jargon. You don't have to understand how a blog and search engines work right now. But you do have to know that these elements are "must-do's" for anyone who wants to use the Internet to build and grow a business online.

Take some teleseminars - there are plenty and they're often free - or, buy a couple of ebooks that show you how to manage these tasks.

Don't make the mistake of getting overwhelmed by all the possibilities and all the companies trying to sell you their services. Start out slowly, ask questions, gather information, inform yourself about the options and benefits before you even think about setting up your website or blog. While we can't really make recommendations for you without knowing about your business niche, in general, you can't go wrong by setting up a shopping cart and a blog so you can start your business online the smart way. The two go hand in hand. If you want to make money online, you can't have one without the other.

About The Author.

As the The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman have teamed up to work with professionals to maximize their marketing strategies by implementing blogs, ezines and
ecommerce tactics. They are co-authors of "Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide for Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog." Are you ready for a blog? Take The Blog Squad's free assessment at http://snipurl.com/Blog_Assessment

What Do Your Business Emails Reveal About You?

By Tim Knox

I am a huge fan of email. In fact, if you do business with me the bulk of our communication will not be through the telephone, but via email. Email is quick. Email is convenient. Email takes less time than long-winded telephone conversations. Most importantly, email gives me an electronic record of my communications with clients, employees, partners, and vendors; which makes it easy for me to refresh my quickly-aging memory by easily referring back to our electronic conversations.

As someone who receives and sends a couple hundred emails a day I have to tell you that I am constantly amazed at how poorly written and unprofessional most business emails are. I receive
emails every day from fellow entrepreneurs that don't even contain full sentences. They are often rife with spelling and grammatical errors or typed in all capital letters, and sometimes, are virtually illiterate.

One email I recently received from someone trying to sell me an expensive piece of equipment actually read, "tom-- what you think -- ready to buy?" First off, the name is "Tim" and secondly, what I think is: I will take my business elsewhere. Thank you, drive through.

Why should you worry about how your emails are reviewed by their recipients? Because in business, you are constantly being judged by your customers, your employees, your investors, your partners, and your peers. If your emails give the impression that you don't put much thought into the composing of the message or that you're too busy to be bothered or that you are a total idiot who can't even use a spell checker, what do you think that says to the person on the other end?

Email is quickly becoming the business correspondence medium of choice for the reasons I covered above, and if you don't take the time to learn how to effectively use email in a professional manner, it will come back to haunt you.

There are rules that should be followed when sending business emails. The website Email Replies gives 32 tips for email etiquette. Culling from that list and adding a few of my own, here are Tim's Top 10 Rules of Email Etiquette that every entrepreneur, executive, and employee should follow.

Make It Short And Sweet

An email isn't a letter from camp, so don't drone on any longer than necessary. Keep in mind that reading an email on a computer screen is harder than reading printed communications, so keep it brief and to the point.

Use Proper Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation

This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression of you and your company, it is also important to make sure your message is not
misconstrued. Emails with improper punctuation (a comma and a period every now and then would be nice) are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the message. And, if your email program has a spell checker do everyone a favor and use it.

Include a Signature Block In Every Email

A signature block in an email is the same as the signature block you would use to end a letter. You should include your name, title, company name and address, telephone number, email address and website address.

Reply Quickly

This is my number one pet peeve: people who take forever to answer email. Fast response is especially important if the email is from a customer or contains time-sensitive information. Customers send an email because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response they would send a letter or a fax or talk to your voicemail. Each email should be replied to within at least 24-hours, and preferably within the same working day. If the email can't be answered in full immediately you should at least send a reply saying that you have received their email and that you will get back to them ASAP.

Read Every Email Before You Send It

There's no better way to embarrass yourself than through a hastily sent email. A lot of people don't even bother to read an email before they send it out, as evidenced by the many
spelling and grammatical errors most emails contain. Apart from this, reading your email through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.

Do Not Discuss Confidential Information

Sending an email is like sending a postcard. Once it leaves your computer, the end user can do whatever they want with it, so if you do not want a documented record of your comments or the information shared with others, don't send it. Moreover, never make any libelous, sexist or racially discriminating comments in emails, even if they are meant to be a joke. There have been court cases where email correspondence was used as evidence. That's a road you do not want to go down.

Don't Use ALL CAPS

In email terms, IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING, so please tone it down. ALL CAPS are hard to read and can trigger an angry reply if the recipient mistakes the intention of your email. Emails should be written in standard sentence style. Turn the Caps Lock off and back away from the keyboard.

Avoid Abbreviations and Emoticons

In business emails, try not to use abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud). The recipient might not be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations and in business emails these are generally not appropriate. The same goes for emoticons, such as the smiley :-) and his depressed pal :-( . If you are not sure whether your recipient knows what an acronym means, it is better not to use it.

Don't Use Backgrounds or Silly Graphics

I actually received an email from a fellow entrepreneur that had an animated smiley face waving a gloved hand in his signature block. If the email had come from Walt Disney I wouldn't have been shocked. Coming from a small technology company, I had to wince. Not much to smile about there. Remember That Email Is A Formal Business Communication

You wouldn't send a formal letter to a customer that lacked a salutation, a well-thought out body of text, and a signature. You should use email in the same manner. A proper business email should be structured like a short letter. It should have a salutation, the body of the message, a sign off, and a signature.

Next time we'll discuss email issues that should be a concern to larger companies. If your company doesn't have a formal email policy, you should. Tune in next week to find out why.

Here's to your success,

About The Author:

Tim Knox Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker
http://www.prosperityandprofit.com
http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
http://www.timknox.com

Achieve Indepencence Through Web Lead Generation

By Trevor Marshall

Before setting up anything, it is important that you understand the high relevance of lead generation to your business' success. It is highly important for you to be able to find ways for lead generation because without lead generation, your business will really suffer. Leads potentially lead to shoppers, and shoppers potentially lead to sales and profits. Thus, with no leads, you can have no shoppers, and so forth.

1. Business Breeds Business

A poor quality of lead generation will end up costing you a lot of wasted time and money. The initial impression people have about your business is very important. And if people hear that many of their friends are shopping somewhere, they are likely to try shopping there also. Take command of your company's lead generation - never leave the sales of your business as well as its growth, efficiency, and image, to fate.

2. Growth Is More Important Than Profits

You always need to supervise your company's lead generation so that you won't be left in the dark when it comes to your company's growth (or lack of it). If you are now interested in taking command of your company's lead generation, here are some simple tricks of the trade.

3. Use The Internet

Since hundreds of millions of people are logged on to the internet every single day, whether they are looking for something specific or just browsing around, it is highly important that you are able to bypass all the lead brokers as well as the other competition on the internet and just directly connect to your desired customers straight to a company's web site. You MUST have a website. In this day and age, your customers not only expect it, they demand it.

4. Lead Generation

Choose a lead generation that you can efficiently control and which is highly dependable. Make sure that your lead generation system is cost effective and specifically targeted to internet lead generation. Start getting off the lead generation habit of merely doing internet sales leads. It is advisable for your company to be able to develop a type of lead generation program where you will be able to cut out the middleman. You will not only be able to increase your company's lead generation but it can also improve the quality of your company's internet lead generation wherein you will be able to cut your costs per lead.

It is important to note that being able to create an effective internet sales lead generation system or program comprises of being highly sensitive of what you prospective clients want such as the right keywords or phrases that prospective clients usually use in the internet search engines. It is to the client's advantage that he or she will be able to choose the right keyword or key phrase (the ones that are most likely to be used by their prospective clients) because the whole point of lead generation is to basically be able to gain as much exposure over the net as possible as well as being able to provide all relevant information to their prospective clients.

About The Author:

For more great lead generation related articles and resources check out
http://leads.salesnmarketinghq.com

Setting Up An Art Affiliate Site - Part 3

By Jeremy Zongker

The phrase "If you build it they will come" definitely does not pertain to websites. Getting visitors to your site is easy; doing it in a way that is profitable is very difficult and takes a lot of work. This is the most difficult and most critical phase to operating a profitable art affiliate site or any website for that matter. There's no magic formula to follow, but in the sections below you'll find some key pieces of advice that will greatly increase your odds of succeeding.

Step 8 - Monitoring Your Traffic

This is very important. Random odds dictates in part the number of sales you make, so if you do not monitor your traffic you will have no idea how well your efforts in getting traffic to your site are working. Your stats can provide a lot of valuable information such as how many visitors come to your site each day, how many pages they view, how long they spend on each page, where they came from, what path they followed from your site, etc. You can use this information to make changes to your site to help improve your traffic.

The good news is your host most likely provides a free utility for monitoring your stats, but you may have to turn on the stats monitoring or request that your host do this for you. If your host does not provide a tool for doing this or the tool they provide doesn't provide much information then you can visit StatCounter for a free one.

Step 9 - Build Links

To be successful it's important to have a fair percentage of your traffic to be "free traffic". The primary source of this free traffic is going to be from search engines and other sites. We already discussed how to optimize your pages to increase your search engine ranking, but that's only half the equation the other half is links to your site.

To get links to your site the easiest way to start is by submitting to directories. There are hundreds if not thousands of these directories that will accept your website for free. It's important when you submit to these directories or do any link building that you use your keywords as the link text such as Tropical Art. This helps your rankings by having other sites
affirm that your site is about the keywords you selected.

This is work is something anyone can do but is also time consuming. If you don't have the time, once again you can use a site such as RentACoder to hire someone to do this for you. Let me just point out two things you do not need to do and shouldn't do. The first is submit to search engines. Once you have some other sites linking to yours they will find it, and you're better off if they find it on their own instead of you having to tell them about your site. The second is submitting to link farms or free for all (FFA) sites. This will gain you nothing and is a waste of time and money.

Step 10 - Pay for Traffic

Some directories such as Yahoo Directory and other websites require you to pay for inclusion. Some are worth it, others are not. It's going to be up to you to decide. One benefit of paying for this type of traffic versus pay per click is it will also help your sites ranking by providing you with extra back links.

Another option is to use Pay Per Click (PPC) programs such as Google Adwords. With these programs you pay for each visitor that comes to your site. This can be a great way to gain traffic but you also have to be careful with it in order to be profitable. What you need to know is how much you earn per average user. For example if last month you had 500 visitors and made $75 in commission, then on average each visitor made you $0.15. Knowing that you can bid below $0.15 per click and will most likely make a profit on the visitors referred to you from the PPC program.

Step 11 - Wait, Analyze and Revise

It takes time to get your site to rank with search engines. Usually you'll be able to find first on MSN within weeks, then Yahoo within a few months and finally Google possibly up to a year or more later. At the time of writing this MSN gets about 5% of search traffic, Yahoo gets about 15% and Google gets a whopping 75%. Your traffic will come in phases and it will take a long time to see the large payoffs.

Each month you need to analyze your stats again and determine what adjustments need to be made. You may need to increase or decrease how much you are paying per click on PPC sites, adjust your site layout to get more visitors to purchase or perform more link building to improve your sites rank. Just keep with it, continue to read and learn more and not give up and eventually your efforts will pay off. Good luck with your site!

About The Author:

This article has been provided courtesy of Art Affiliate, http://www.artaffiliate.com .

Control The Success Of Your Internet Business With One Simple Step

By Larry Potter

Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins once said, "If you want to be successful, find someone who achieved the results you want and copy what they do, and you'll achieve the same results."

It's an idea I became familiar with many years ago.

When I was first getting started online, I made a lot of mistakes. Not because I wasn't trying to model successful businesses, but because there simply weren't businesses online to model. (In 1996, I was among the first handful of people to actually start selling products over the Internet.)

So I gathered as much information as I could from successful offline marketing experts like Jay Abraham; however, the challenge was adjusting their techniques to work in the online world. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that many of the techniques used to market and sell in the "real world" either.

a) Didn't work at all on the Internet.
Or
b) Needed to be seriously adjusted, tested, tweaked, and adjusted some more to really get results online.

The point that I'm trying to make here is that it literally took me years of testing and hundreds of thousands of dollars to discover the same techniques that you'll now see commonly used online today. Fortunately, there is no reason for things to be nearly this difficult for you. Today, modeling the Internet "successes" is relatively easy. (Though, be careful that you separate the phonies and fakes from the "true experts" -- look for those who honestly practice what they preach and who can prove it!)

The biggest investment that you'll need to make is your time.

If you're interested in long-term, life-changing success, then a few extra days of reading and researching shouldn't matter. It's the success of your business that we're talking about here, so don't make the fatal mistake of thinking that you're "wasting time." Remember that what you learn today could be the technique or strategy that saves you not only wasted time and effort, but thousands of dollars in "could have been" profits.

It's an extremely simple concept.

Guarantee Your Success By Modeling The Successful

1) What Should My Web Site Look Like?

Why spend thousands of dollars having a flashy site designed that's loaded with theme music and spinning graphics? Some of the most successful web sites online today have extremely sleek, simple designs.

Of course, before I tell you to model proven successful web sites, I want you to be aware of "the catch".

When researching web sites to model, the ones you should be paying closest attention to are your competitors' and sites that have a profit model similar to your own (i.e. look for sites that make money in a similar way).

For example, if you sell cotton balls on your web site, you shouldn't be modeling your site design after Amazon.com. First off, they sell books (among other things). You sell cotton balls. They offer a wide variety of titles and choices. You offer one product -- cotton balls. Finally, let's face it -- their advertising budget is out of this world! If you're a small or home-based business, you likely don't have the same kind of luxury to experiment and make expensive mistakes.

So think practical -- be realistic -- and start looking for other sites that are successfully selling their cotton balls online (or one, similar product), and model your site after theirs. Your site doesn't need to be the next Yahoo! or eBay for you to be earning a significant 6 figure income.

2) How Do I Write Sales Copy That Really Sells?

Writing sales copy that really sells takes practice -- and education! I have yet to meet someone who just has a "natural gift" for writing award-winning copy without any education whatsoever.

Sure, some people might get "lucky" and stumble onto bits and pieces of the proven approach -- but I can guarantee you that anyone who hasn't studied the "art & science of sales copy" is missing key elements that could increase their sales by 400% - 1,200%. I'm not kidding here.

So rather than playing a "hit or miss" guessing game with your copy, I highly recommend looking for sales copy that makes YOU want to buy and studying it. After you've read enough quality copy, you'll start to notice a distinct pattern that you can apply to your own writing.

3) How Do I Rank At The Top Of The Search Engines?

If you plan on ranking at the top of the search engines, then I can't stress enough the importance of educating yourself. The search engines are a highly competitive arena where only those who have taken the time to "learn the rules" claim a top 10 spot.

Very rarely these days will you hear of someone "getting lucky" and just magically sliding into a top ranking.

So if you want a top 10 listing under your best keywords and phrases (i.e. you want your site to appear in the top 10 listings when someone searches the key phrase "cotton balls" in MSN, Yahoo!, Google, etc.), then you need to do two things.

a) Examine the web sites that already rank in the top 10 under your best keywords and phrases -- and look for patterns.

b) Use the proven know-how of the search engine experts to learn the ropes. If you want a top ranking, then you'll want the experience and advice of someone who makes it their mission to keep up with the constantly changing rules of each search engine and directory.

In fact, before you spend a lot of time examining the sites of your competition for clues as to why they are listed among the top 10, I recommend seeking out these search engine gurus. With their advice, you'll be better prepared to critically examine your competitors' web sites for clues that explain why they're at the top of the ranks.

4) How Do I Drive Targeted Traffic To My Web Site?

If you want to increase the number of targeted potential customers who are arriving at your web site each day, then a listing in the search engines is a good start, but it's also exactly that -- a start.

Again, take some time to research your competition. How are they attracting their visitors? Do they have a lot of links on other sites? Do they have their own Affiliate Program? Do they participate heavily in newsgroups? Do they have an established viral marketing campaign?

Use the experience of your competition to your advantage by learning their secrets -- and then tweaking and improving on their approach to do them one better!

Work Smarter -- Not Harder -- And See Bigger Rewards And Profits

Even now, I still scour the Web to see how others are creating their own success. I analyze my competition. I read everything that I can get my hands on. and I remain open to new ideas and new approaches.

Today, it's relatively cheap and easy to get a solid education in what Internet marketing techniques work, which to avoid, and how to build guaranteed success the first time around! So why would you waste your valuable (and limited) time and money by stubbornly insisting on making mistakes that you could easily avoid with a little education?

Model the success of others and you'll not only guarantee your success, you'll achieve your goals in less time with less expense than you could on your own.

About The Author:

For More Great Tips, Vist: http://homebusiness.kim-lar.com And if you would like to compare your site with the top 10 in your area of interest and see what their keywords are, then download this free program at: http://www.Axandra.com/go.to/wallmann/4

The Skinny On Article Directories

By Bonnie Jo Davis

Article directories (also known as article archives) are searchable on-line databases of articles contributed by multiple authors. The goal of an article directory is to collect articles on certain topics and offer them to publishers to place on their website, in their e-zine or in print. Each article directory has unique guidelines for both authors and publishers. The benefits of submitting your articles to directories are numerous and include:

1. Most directories give you a separate page for each article and some publish your photograph along with your articles. This allows an author to promote their articles without needing a website of their own.

2. Directories are a magnet for publishers. Most publishers are looking for specific articles on a specific topic and they are more likely to find such articles in a directory rather than in an individual e-zine that offers reprintable articles.

3. Many directories allow you to edit your articles and change your by-line as many times as you want.

4. Some directories offer a news feed that automatically adds your new articles to dozens of websites.

5. Article directories may have a good search engine page rank that that makes them ideal for providing a one-way link to your website.

There are hundreds of article directories on the internet. I am constantly searching the internet for new directories to add to my list but I have found that I receive the most benefits from older directories. Over time I have discovered a few directories that I absolutely love that I visit for submission and for research. A few of these are:

Alumbo! Magazine - This on-line magazine doubles as an articles directory and offers a free membership that allows you to submit articles in some very interesting categories such as ecology & environment, love relationships, paranormal & divination in addition to the normal business and career topics. Alumbo permits you to choose more than one topic for your article and often suggests additional topic pages where your article would be a good fit.

Article Alley - Allows you to register as an author for free and submits your articles across a network of sites. Allows for update of author profile, editorial access to your articles and a unique web page listing all your articles.

BPubs.com - Although this is a business site only it does accept articles in a wide variety of business subcategories. Google(tm) visits often because it knows that BPubs.com adds fresh content from many authors every day.

Constant Content - This is a unique article directory that allows you to sell or give away your content. You must register prior to submitting your articles in many different formats - all of which are editable at any time.

EzineArticles - Owned and operated by one of my favorite article submission experts, Christopher Knight. This directory offers more submission topics than other directories and much of the enhancements done to the site are based on author and publisher feedback. When I submit an article to this directory I receive more attention and traffic than I do from any other submission site on my list.

IdeaMarketers - You absolutely must register for a free author's account at Idea Marketers. Topics covered include business, holiday, lifestyles/self-help, technology, Christian, home/family/parenting and marketing. You are provided with a professional looking author's profile that includes your by-line and your picture after completion of a lengthy form.

Establish yourself as an expert in your topic area and take advantage of the many benefits of adding your content to every established and credible article directory. You are guaranteed to be delighted with the response you will receive from publishers who find your articles in the directories they frequent.

About The Author,

Bonnie Jo Davis has over a decade of experience in article submission both on-line and off. She offers an article submission service and membership site for serious article marketers. Visit http://www.articlesubmissionsites.com%22>article/ for articles, e-books and submission sites.

Can The Average Person Really Make A Living Online?

By Douglas Rogers

Can you really make money online? The answer is a resounding "Yes!"

First, though, you need to understand how this game really works.

The right mindset is crucial to your success.

You've probably come across numerous business opportunities already. I know you're actively searching for information. I hope you haven't become jaded already by the con artists out there who