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Article Marketing
Series - The 3 main benefits of article marketing; Traffic, Link
Popularity, and Branding
By: Jarrod Hunt
There are three major benefits to Article Marketing; Traffic, Links,
and Branding. It’s tough to say which benefit is more important,
since articles can be equally benefit to all three. Some of our
clients are only interested in the search engine optimization aspects
while others are mostly interested in traffic. In most cases however,
regardless of what they initially expect, most of them quickly find
that, when done right, articles will bring a ton of traffic, build
your brand, and increase your search engine rankings.
Traffic
There are two
ways that Article Marketing will increase your traffic; directly
and indirectly. Direct traffic comes from links contained in your
articles. The more sites that pick up your article, the more traffic
you can expect. In addition to quantity its also important to get
your article posted to quality sites (I will talk about that in
future articles), since getting published on the right site can
create hundreds, or even thousands, of direct visitors.
Using Textlinkbrokers’
own Article Marketing campaign as an example, we nearly doubled
the number of referrers to our site within two months of starting
our Article Campaign. We went from around 50-60 referrers per day
to about 120-150. We approach our article program very aggressively
but even an unaggressive campaign can do well if done correctly.
If you don’t
know what a referrer is, it’s a website that sends you traffic
through a link located on their site. You can track referrers in
most web analytic programs.
Link Popularity
Another benefit
to an Article Marketing Program is link popularity. The more sites
that pick up your article the more links you will receive. Textlinkbrokers
averages between 30 and 300 links for every article that we create.
In addition
to links from sites that are picking up our articles, we also get
links from sites that read our article and comment on it, on their
own sites. These sorts of links are considered very powerful by
the search engines. If you are familiar with duplicate content rules,
you will know that over time search engines will remove, from their
index, some of the articles that are duplicated on many sites. They
usually keep in their index articles from the most powerful sites
and remove the ones from the less powerful. This is one reason why
its important to continually write more articles (This is another
important subject we will talk about in a later article).
Links that are
obtained from people commenting about your articles are not affected
by the duplicate content rule, which is why these links are so valuable.
There is one
more thing I want to say about link popularity. We have noticed
that not only do we get links directly from sites who pick up our
article, we get 2 nd tier links pointing to those articles from
other websites, creating a stream of link popularity to our site.
For example, we recently had an article picked up by Sitepronews.com.
During some of our research a few weeks later, we found that about
15 people were directly linking to our article on Sitepronews. Those
links were making the page where are article was posted more powerful,
thus making the link to our site on that page more powerful.
Branding
Another important
benefit of Article Marketing, is branding. Branding is one of those
things that few people talk about, especially small businesses.
Probably because branding is one of those things that can be tough
to track; it is much easier to track link popularity or direct traffic.
With that being said, there are some ways to tell if your articles
are building your brand.
One of the most
noticeable ways that we were able to track branding was through
our sales staff. On a daily basis our sales staff gets calls or
emails from potential clients that say “I was reading your
article about ________ and figured I would call you to learn more”.
This is branding. When a person reads your article, sees the mention
of your site in the credits, then later calls you, it’s because
of branding.
Branding also
has another major effect that is very tough to track. I like to
call it the “Multiplying Factor”. It is widely understood
by marketers that most people will not buy your product or service
the first time they learn about it. In fact, in some industries
it may take people seeing your ads several times before they are
motivated to follow through. It’s because of this that articles
can have a major impact on your sales. Your articles will multiply
all of your other marketing efforts. Once a customer sees your name
on an article, and then sees one of your other ads, they are much
more likely to react.
With all that
being said I would like to reiterate how important it is to understand
all of the ways an Article Marketing Program can help you make sales.
If you are just tracking traffic or doing it for search engine optimization
purposes, you are only seeing part of the picture. Depending on
your industry and your ability to effectively utilize Article Marketing,
you may not see the immediate benefits of either traffic or SEO.
However, I can tell you from experience that it wasn’t for
a few months that we truly started to see the “Big Picture”;
Once we did we were empowered to push forward with growing our Article
Marketing efforts. It was one of the best Marketing moves we have
ever made.
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Look for more
article in the “Article Marketing Series” in the near
future. All Article marketing articles can be found here: Textlinkbrokers
Blog - Article Marketing
Jarrod Hunt
is the CEO of Textlinkbrokers.com. Textlinkbrokers offers article
marketing along with several other link popularity and traffic building
programs. Any syndication of this article must include a link to
Textlinkbrokers.
"How
To Use The Secrets Of The Best Direct Response Marketers Of The
Last 100 Years To Get More Sales and Profits For Yourself"
by Mark Hendricks
The marketing
technologies may have changed, but human emotions and buying decisions
are still driven by the same psychological principles that have
been ingrained in us since time began.
What I mean
by that is people still want all the same things out of life that
they always have. You know, safety, security, shelter, love, friends,
belongings, sex, money, power, recognition, fun, good times, laughs,
excitement, you name it.
All of these
are basic parts of being human.
And you may
have heard that all humans make decisions emotionally, and then,
rationally justify those decisions with logic.
Therein lies
our problem to solve.
Most people
are rushed for time these days.
They
tend to want to just get to the bottom line...like NOW.
The problem
with that is you never, I mean NEVER, can sell anything to anybody
by dropping to the "bottom line" immediately without first
describing the benefits to the buyer and building value and DESIRE
for your product or service.
By dropping
to the bottom line too soon, you risk that the buyer won't really
appreciate the true value and benefits that you're really offering
them, or will completely miss your point that you're trying to make
altogether.
You've
got to lead them through this process...Step By Step By Step.
Also, you're
trying to get your reader to invest in your relationship by spending
his/her time with you. This raises that odds of making an EMOTIONAL
tie with your reader.
Now some of
you may think that people just won't take the time to read a whole
bunch of information.
Well, I'm here
to tell you that they will, IF it's interesting, beneficial to them,
and not BORING!
Think about
the things you're interested in. When you send away for information,
you want to know as much as possible before you make a buying decision,
don't you?
And you want
to feel like you at least have some sort of good feelings about
the person who is making the sales offer...a HUMAN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
of a sort.
Now if that's
the way YOU go about making buying decisions, don't you think other
"humans" do the same? Sure they do.
Now the best
way I've found to do this is to write a LOT of information based
on the BENEFITS to your reader and from the READER'S point of view.
So how do you
go about doing this?
Start making
a list of the problems that people have in relation to the topic
of your product/service.
These are all
of the "pains-in-the-neck" human emotional hot-buttons
that you can use to present the problems that your reader is having
and show your empathy and understanding of their feelings and present
position.
Then make a
list of all the benefits that your product/service offers to your
reader.
These are the
SOLUTIONS to their problems and all the good things that they'll
have when they follow your advice or buy your solution to their
problems.
Now you have
two lists.
Begin with the
first list of problems and weave a "human interest" type
of story about real people who are having these problems that your
reader can relate to and hopefully become emotionally stirred by
saying to themselves, "Boy, that's just like me."
Then proceed
to weave in how things could be so much better by applying the secrets
that you have to reveal to them and go into the benefits that your
solutions offer to them.
And then move
on to your "sales pitch". But only after they have been
"primed" a little with the background of the problems
and how things could be so much better by following your lead.
Here's what
to work on -- go back through your ads and sales letters to see
if you're spending enough time to get your reader involved emotionally
before you go for your sale.
Mark Hendricks
is the author of "How To Make Your Ads, Sales Letters, And
Websites Sell Like Crazy". This ebook package reveals the jealously-guarded
secrets of world-class marketers of the last one hundred years,
and how you can use these time-tested secrets right now to increase
your marketing results exponentially. For more information see...
http://www.hunteridge.com/sales.php?offer=skyvault&pid=1
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The
Most Important Part of Your Ad...and Why!
by Mark Hendricks
Is there a most
important part of your sales message?
Absolutely.
Why is it more
important than the other parts?
80%+ of the
effectiveness of your ad depends on it...and if it's good, it can
increase your response up to 1700%.
Why does a good
one get these kinds of results?
Like everything
in effective marketing that you've learned here, it's all tied to
human psychology and emotions.
What is this
one thing that can be so hard to come up with, yet so very easy
to find an effective one?
It's your headline.
Direct marketing
studies have tested and shown that 80%+ of the success of your ad
is the drawing power of your headline. And by testing headlines,
one against another with the same sales offer included, a good one
can increase your ad's response up to 1700%!!!!
That leads to
a seemingly simple question..."why?"
See if what
I'm saying makes sense to you.
At the subconscious
level, each and every human is wanting to self-improve (move toward
feeling good) or interested in solving a problem (avoiding pain).
By the way,
avoiding pain is a much greater human motivator than self-improvement.
Just look how fast someone wants to take action when they are having
a major problem or are in great emotional, physical, or financial
pain.
And interestingly,
self-improvement is many times full of emotional, physical, and
financial pain, isn't it?
You're trying
new things to expand and many times there are stumbling blocks along
the way that can be difficult to overcome...you see, actually positive
growth can be painful.
So many times
the human spirit will give up because they are experiencing pain...when
they were promised feeling better!...emotionally, physically, financially,
etc.
Now you can
understand why it's hard to get someone to try something new, even
if it's positive and good for them.
They are currently
in their "comfort zone", not feeling any pain, and you
try to get them to move ahead and "risk" feeling new pains
that they haven't dealt with yet...with the hope of doing better,
and not feeling these new pains in the future.
The result...they
do nothing.
Now sit back
for a moment and think about what you're feeling.
I've just described
your frustration and pain as a marketer.
You've made
an offer to someone, an offer you believe to be of great value and
importance.
Unfortunately
for you, your prospect didn't take notice or respond at all.
Why?
One of two things.
They were either
in their "comfort zone" and did not currently have the
pain you described, or...the good feelings that you offered were
not "perceived by them" (their only reality) to be worth
the emotional, financial, physical and time cost (risk/pain) they
may endure to achieve the end result...so they do nothing.
Ouch, you feel
your pain and frustration.
Okay, here's
where your headline comes in (finally, you say, he's getting to
the point).
Your headline
has the ability to break through to the lower levels of the emotional
brain of your human prospect.
As you've heard
me say time and time again, all humans (you and I included) make
all decisions on an emotional basis first, and then justify that
decisions to ourselves and others with "logic".
Therefore, your
headline must appeal to the emotional brain, not the the "logical"
brain.
Your headline
must provoke curiosity in your reader by bringing up a problem (pain)
they are having, or by promising a great new benefit or solution
to their problem...or here's the best kept marketing secret...BOTH!!!
Always try for
both...but as always...test, test, test.
So here's what
you do...
Start analyzing
all the ads and newspaper/magazine articles (they have headlines,
don't they?) you read and figure out whether they are offering pain
avoidance or new comforts, or both. See how the headline draws you
in with the benefits of reading more.
Mark Hendricks
is the author of "How To Make Your Ads, Sales Letters, And
Websites Sell Like Crazy". This ebook package reveals the jealously-guarded
secrets of world-class marketers of the last one hundred years,
and how you can use these time-tested secrets right now to increase
your marketing results exponentially. For more information see...
http://www.hunteridge.com/sales.php?offer=skyvault&pid=1
----------------------------------------
Three
Words Guaranteed To Make Your Sales Letter Fail...Get Rid Of Them
And Watch Your Responses Skyrocket!
by Mark Hendricks
When reviewing
clients' ads, sales letters, brochures, and other sales pieces there
are three words that always need to be deleted to make the letter
more effective in generating responses.
Before you hear
what the words are, let's make sure that you know where the emphasis
of your ads or letters should be. The emphasis, of course, should
always be on your customer.
You'll want
to speak to your readers needs, wants, desires, and fears.
That's how you'll
be able to get your message into your prospects' emotional level
brain so that your customer will take action. Remember, all decisions
are made on an emotional basis first and then justified by logic
later (see "How To Make Your Ads, Sales Letters, And Websites
Sell Like Crazy" book for more details).
And the best
way to get to your prospects emotional brain is to speak of the
benefits your customer receives by purchasing your product/service...not
the features...but the benefits.
As a reminder,
BENEFITS are the RESULTS your customer will receive by doing business
with you and features are the distinguishing characteristics of
your product/service.
It's great that
your product/service has distinguishing characteristics (features)
that separate you from your competition, however, if you show your
prospect the desired RESULTS you can provide, then you're showing
your customers the BENEFITS received by purchasing your products/services.
Okay, so what
are these three words guaranteed to make your ads and sales letters
fail?
They are the
words that completely take the focus off of your customer...these
three words do not speak to your customers' emotions...these three
words do nothing to instill desire in your prospect for your product/service...the
three words to get rid of in your ads and sales letters are, "I...Me...My".
These three
words put the emphasis and spotlight on you, the writer, instead
of your customer/prospect. There is no way for you to communicate
to your reader's emotions if you only speak about yourself ("I,
me, my"). You've got to be writing to your reader, about your
reader and your reader's hopes, desires,. wants, dreams, and fears.
That's how you
get them to respond to your offer.
Now here's something
that you may find interesting.
Have you noticed
that in this discussion, that the words "I, me, or my"
have not been used?
YOU...have been
the complete focus of this discussion...YOU and YOUR customers and
prospects.
And at first
it's pretty hard to get the words "I, me, my" out of your
writing.
Why is that,
you ask?
Well, it's because
of...you guessed it...your own emotions.
All humans,
"way down deep", are only interested in their own wants
and desires. That's "way down deep" on the subconscious
levels (see the discussion in the "...Sell Like Crazy"
book about the three brains and how to communicate with each).
So that's why
it's hard at first to get rid of these three words.
But fortunately
for your bank account, you can learn to delete "I, me, my"
from your vocabulary and learn to turn phrases into "you, your,
and yours" that put the spotlight where it belongs, which is
on your customer/prospect.
This one little
change in your ads and letters will increase your effectiveness
and your results immediately.
So here's what
you do now.
Go through your
ads and letters and re-write any sentence that has the words "I,
me, my" in them. By doing this, you'll automatically have to
place the spotlight on your customers, which will help you communicate
the desired results (benefits) of your product/service to your customers
own wants and desires.
Now sometimes
it just seems impossible to get around using an "I, me, or
my" in a sentence (but make sure you don't give up too easy).
When this occurs, use the words "we, us, our" instead.
This will soften the focus on "I, me, my" and give you
a little springboard to get back to using the words "you, your,
yours". But make sure that you've tried every which way to
phrase the sentence using "you, your, yours" first.
Give it a try
and YOU will see YOUR results skyrocket..
from YOURS truly,
Mark
Mark Hendricks
is the author of "How To Make Your Ads, Sales Letters, And
Websites Sell Like Crazy". This ebook package reveals the jealously-guarded
secrets of world-class marketers of the last one hundred years,
and how you can use these time-tested secrets right now to increase
your marketing results exponentially. For more information see...
http://www.hunteridge.com/sales.php?offer=skyvault&pid=1
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