Article marketing can make you rich.

True or false?

Well, if you do it all wrong, you'll earn very little from your articles. Perhaps nothing at all.

However, what if you were able to implement an article marketing system that is already working… already producing a steady stream of articles… and generating a steady stream of affiliate commissions?

In other words, what if you could find a PROVEN system?

The fact is…

Smart folks dont try to reinvent the wheel. They learn from those who have succeeded. Even if they're young and new. And yes, even if they do not from the US of A.

So if you're looking for practical article marketing tactics from a practitioner, Dylan Loh's Secret Article Profits is worth considering.

Here's why.

Not only is this 42 page report fun, it also includes some clever techniques that I've never read anywhere else. And they are certainly working for this young chap from Singapore.

THE THING ABOUT ARTICLE MARKETING IS...

The thing about article writing (when we do it right - and that's what "Secret Article Profits" does) is that each article you get published becomes a potential stream of passive income. Set it up once and it can pay you for a long time.

That's the appeal of article writing – you have passive income that leverages the massive market reach of the online giants including Google, EzineArticles and the other top 4 article directories that Dylan uses and recommends.

He also explains how he is exploiting the massive traffic of the web 2.0 social bookmarking sites.

RECYCLING YOUR TRAFFIC

Want some more good advice for more traffic - and more income?

Recycle your traffic between a handful of high traffic + high PR sites. Do this and you have a finely tuned promotional operation. This report explains how to set up such a system.

If you'd like to find out MORE of what's actually in Dylan's report, my review of SECRET ARTICLE PROFITS is the place to go. See ya there! The link again is... http://www.squidoo.com/Secret_Article_Profits

Article marketing, one of the most popular trends in internet advertising and marketing currently, creates high quality, lucrative traffic on a regular and consistent basis. How does it do that, you ask? That is an easy question.

Article marketing relies on the principle of link-through traffic generation and targeted content marketing. It is a simple process of distributing articles that are either hand written by you, or contracted out, with a brief biography of you and your business as well as a link back to your website.

The articles content should be determined by the products or services that you provide on your website, and should be relevant to them. Because of this content targeting, you can be sure that, first of all, whoever clicks the link to head to your site will not just be a casual browser, but will have an active interest in what you have to offer.

Besides this, article marketing often costs you nothing but the amount of time it takes you to write an interesting, informative article and send it to a distribution database like iSnare or others. It is fast, efficient, and creates high quality traffic.

If you are sick of the traffic you are generating from blanket email campaigns and sick of getting tons of link through traffic with no actual profit being generated, then article marketing is one of the best solutions. With article marketing you are virtually guaranteed to develop a high volume of traffic that is both low-cost, and effective.

Now that you've cultivated a loving relationship with your reporter, gotten published, and generated awareness, how do you convert all those extra website hits and phone calls into sales?

There are right ways and wrong ways.

The wrong way is relying on your product's features to convert leads. It's tempting, we know. You've labored mightily to create a work of Staggering Technical Genius. One glance at your bullet-pointed feature list makes prospects swoon. Do you really need to translate all those impressive features into benefits?

If your product is truly revolutionary and unique, then the answer is no. Take the world's first proven time machine. The benefits of a time machine are self-evident. And the competition? Nonexistent. Time-machine inventors can stop reading here.

For the rest of us, there's the case study.

What's a Case Study?


A case study is, quite simply, a success story. Everyone relates to and remembers a good story. Case studies are a hybrid of the magazine feature and the good-old-fashioned customer testimonial. Few marketing communications are as powerful and compelling.

How Do You Write a Case Study?


Case studies follow a simple format:

1. Marty McFly has a problem. He's looking for a solution.

2. McFly is introduced to a new type of transporter by TimeTraveler Systems, Inc. Hopeful but gun-shy, McFly decides to give the transporter a whirl.

3. The transporter from TimeTraveler Systems works like a dream. McFly is delighted. It solves all his problems. He raves about it--preferably in direct quotes.

How Case Studies Deliver a Big Bang for Little Bucks


At some point, most of us have invested in a service that sounded great on paper but failed to deliver on its promise to solve our problems. A case study proves to your prospects that your product delivers in the topsy-turvy real world. It really works!

But don't take it from me. Case studies give you third-party credibility. You don't need to rely on TimeTraveler Systems' word for it. You can get it straight from their happy customers.

Case studies--unlike many brochures--actually get read. Your prospects are more likely to retain a case study because it's essentially about them. Everyone has problems. And everyone wants to know what others are doing to solve similar problems. A case study allows your prospects to be a fly on the wall.

So You've Got a Case Study...Now What?


Case studies are remarkably adaptable. Like a two-ton water buffalo, one case study can be modified and reused in a number of ways. Tight budget? Case studies maximize impact. Here are a few of their most popular uses:

1. Websites. If your website is a no-fly zone, the quickest remedy is to add new, compelling content. A case study certainly qualifies. They make the case for your product or service better than any product spec sheet could.

2. Newsletters. Newsletters are a terrific way to keep in touch, spread the word, and convert prospects into customers. Success stories based on real-world applications are proven to get the highest response rates.

3. Handouts. Case studies make salespeople drool. Why? Because they work. Case studies are used in presentations, as handouts, in illustrations of key points, and as testimonials. Listen to the salesperson who prefers a case study to a brochure. The people on the front lines know what your prospects find compelling.

4. Press releases. You can convert a case study into a press release and note that a more detailed, expanded case study version is available. Editors run it--no long walks on the beach or handholding required!

5. Trade journal articles. Look through your favorite trade publication and note the number and frequency of articles based on case studies. Editors--like the rest of us--find real-world stories irresistible. Take advantage.

Introduction:

This article contains resume-writing tips that have been developed from a real-life example. The personal and identifiable information contained in the following documents including gender, name, contact information, names of previous employers, locations, etc have been changed to preserve our client's anonymity. The purpose is to share our experience with our clients, to help you reach your career goals.

Background:

John Smith2, was a client who came to us referred by one our corporate partners. In our consultation, John was definite about a career change but he did not have any specific jobs in mind. Through our consultation, it was apparent that John was a classic example of a candidate who was extremely qualified but undersold himself in his resume.

Resume Writing Tips:

Highlight Transferable Skills:

Since John was sure he wanted another management job but did not have any specific jobs in mind, we focused on transferable management competencies. These are skills that are typical of management jobs but were absent from his original resume. By highlighting your transferable management skills like leadership, financial acumen, planning, managing team performance, etc. you may broaden the opportunities available to you.

Focus on Results:

Often we see resumes describing only what someone does but not the result of what they do. Companies pay for results. So focus on describing and quantifying the results/outcomes of what you do. John's Examples:

* "Supervised payroll department" vs. "Lead a team of 8 direct reports to process six payrolls with a cost of $76 million annually".

* "Configured SAP for Org Management and Master Data reporting" vs. "Configured SAP for improved Org Management and Master Data capability and reporting that reduced errors by 30% and required 1/5 of the original turn around time".

Demonstrate a Commitment to Continuous Learning:

We expanded the Education Section to show John's commitment to continuous learning including recent courses taken. By showing your desire and ability to learn, it may help sell you in situations where you may not have the exact experience.

Include a Skills Summary section and Objective:

This section creates interest early in the document and enables the reader to quickly and easily form a candidate profile. We used this section to showcase not only John's subject matter expertise but also to reinforce the transferable management competencies mentioned further in the document. This section will give you a better chance at being noticed and not being quickly dismissed. Also if possible, include an objective to get the reader's attention and use the job title in this objective if possible. I.e. "To contribute in a Marketing Director position and apply my technology background"

Leverage Unique Strengths and Accomplishments:

Discover you strengths and accomplishments and highlight it. In this case, John has a strong career ladder with his current employer. He entered "Canadian Utilities" company as a relief clerk and within 5 years held a management position, growing his responsibility from one to two departments. We "stacked" his job titles with his promotion from "Manager of Payroll" to "Manager of Payroll and Time Administration" to highlight his expanded responsibility. We further reinforced this career ladder in the Skills Summary by indicating his "Years of Progressive Experience in Human Resources and Manager with Direct Reports". Lastly, we anchored the above by showing his entry into the company as a relief clerk.

Identify and Eliminate/Mitigate Possible Concerns:

Look for possible weaknesses in your resume and devise a strategy to deal with them. In this case, John's early work experience is characterized by short tenures that could be seen as a lack of employee commitment. We advised John to include contents in this section only if it is relevant to the job application. However, John felt strongly about including this section in its entirety. So we split his experience into two separate sections with distinct titles to create a separation between his early work experiences from his recent experience. Further, we re-titled his early work experience with the heading of "Temporary Work Experience" to re-position the short tenures (since he worked under a temp agency during this period).

Wanting to include every piece of work experience ever gained, thinking that "more is necessarily better" is a common mistake we often see in resumes. In this example, some of the work experience dates as far back as 1986!

Remember a well written resume will meet the employer's requirements and create questions to be answered in an interview; don't sell yourself short.

Information provided by, HR in Motion Consulting Group, For more information on our resume services, or for a free consultation please visit our resume section.

HR in Motion is a human resources consulting group comprised of a network of experienced human resources and facilitation professionals. We provide employment preparation services in the areas of coaching, resume writing and interviewing.

Sincerely,

HR in Motion

Often we see folks writing articles and putting them online in order to attract clientele to their websites to buy something, yet many times these authors of articles use pen names. When someone uses a pen name, and I contact that person to do business later on and find out their real name, this to me also tells me they are not really experts or they are hiding something.

I think if you are promoting a product or service on the Internet not only should you put your name in the Resource Box or after the article, but also use your Real Name, if not is seems like a deceptive "Shrill" tactic and is borderline "Fraud" and definitely BUZZ Marketing questionable tactics. Indeed, I deplore dishonesty on the web and I believe not using your real name, is dishonest and deceptive, whether it is in a forum, blog or on an online article, especially if your article is trying to sell something or get someone to come to your website to sell them something.

I have no respect for those people who put fake names and use deception tactics in marketing, I think you ought to be put in jail. Nothing urks me more, actually and it is deplorable that there is not more integrity online. I am in fact shocked that more people do not agree with me and lack the personal character and integrity to stand by their words and on the moral high-ground. It is a real statement about the person in my opinion.

Article marketing now a day is considered as an effective way to divert traffic to your site. Some of the basics aspects of article marketing are as follows:

Value Proposition

This is the most important aspect of article writing; your article should be such that it is adding some value to the reader. Some of the aspect of this is selecting articles topics which address current issues and trends on which very less writings are available on net. Also your article must be relevant to the theme of your website. More value you provide in the articles more will be traffic at your site.

Availability in the cyber world

Your article must be submitted to as many article directories as possible to increase your article visibility. It is possible to do this manually by trawling the search engines and finding as many article directories as possible or you could use article submission software, available on the internet at varying prices, or use an article submission subscription service by which you save a lot of publishing time. Any article that you submit to article directories has to be based on a subject on whom you have a web page otherwise article is of no use.

Create resource box

Create a resource box which contains your copyright info, Unique Selling Proposition, a call to action, links to your website and any special offers and any other info you might have that is relevant to the article you've written. Append resource box to end of article.

Article marketing is a great way to create back links to your web site and for list building.

Going wide

If your goal is to build back links into your website, other people linking in, to increase the importance of your website on the Internet, you want to go wide. And by that I mean you want to put your articles in as many possible article directories as you can stand taking the time to do or pay in to do. You want to go wide because each one of those will be a back-link into your website or websites.

Going deep

If your goal is to drive traffic to your websites to build your list, you want to go deep on the best article directories. And, by deep, get lots and lots and tons and tons of articles up there, as many as you can possibly get up there on the top directories.

Going deep and wide

The good news is it does not have to be an either or choice. You do not have to just go wide and you do not have to just go deep. The very best approach is to do both - go deep and go wide. When you go deep and go wide, you've got both bases covered. Now it's time-consuming but I'm here to tell you, it's worth every moment I've spent on it, every late-night hour watching Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Craig Ferguson and all those people.

It's worth it.

It pays off.

For thousands of years, people have conducted market research. I don't mean with fancy focus groups or complicated conjoint analysis, but just by asking questions and listening to the answers. Using this art of listening is so crucial to the success of your company's marketing, that to deny it is to invite failure. Follow along as I show you how to use marketing research to funnel knowledge into your marketing programs.

Why research is so important

In the early 1990s when I started my own consulting business, I conducted my own little research survey. I wrote on a piece of paper a 100 word description of what my consulting practice would look like that included 1) The target audience for the practice 2) What these buyers wanted from a consultant and 3) How my practice would be different from others.

Then, I set up coffee appointments with 20 business leaders, and put this written description in front of them. After asking for their feedback, I sat back and listened.
Their advice was invaluable. I learned that my positioning, focusing on growing companies without an in-house marketing department, was on target (it remains my positioning today). I also learned that clients like these were less interested in hearing about my Fortune 500 work experience and more interested in knowing how I would help organizations their size.

Because of this research, I believe my company's marketing ended up being more focused and targeted.

Research can also perfect products

A short while ago, I worked with a major company that was launching a brand new zero-turn radius riding mower. New to this market, the company and I wanted to perfect the product's design before launching so we organized a series of consumer focus groups. Up to this point, I had been working with the internal design team to develop a product prototype. We were supremely confident that we had designed the right product for the market, and saw the research as a mere rubber stamp for the design. However, when we showed the prototype to the focus group participants, we were shocked by their reaction. Almost every single participant didn't care for the front end design. "Flimsy" and "breakable" were two words that we heard often, and words that clearly didn't support the brand's positioning.

During the next week, we scrambled to redesign the front end and hastily organized a series of one-on-one research interviews with these same participants to get feedback on the new design. In the end, they loved it and, as of this writing, the product has been launched successfully and has contributed significant, incremental revenue to the company. But I shudder to think what might have happened if we had launched the product in its original design, without this research. I'm convinced the product would have bombed, costing the company millions of dollars and tarnishing its reputation.

Research can deepen relationships

Whatever the size of your company, you'll find that research strengthens the bonds between your company and its buyers. The bottom line is: people like it when you ask for their opinion. Not only will they feel they are contributing to your company's success, but you'll learn more about their perceptions of:

* Your company identity

*Your competitors

* New markets and products for your company

Research firm TARP has found that for every person that complains, 26 others don't. So, if 10 customers have complained recently to your company, another 260 may have held their tongues while turning to your competitors. Properly conducted research many times acts as a feedback machine designed to root out these people's thoughts.

Other important research payoffs

* Research can reestablish dialogues with long-lost customers – Sometimes a survey is all that is needed to reestablish a dialogue between a company and a customer that feels ignored.

* Research gives people a chance to vent – Sometimes people just want to air out their feelings. This doesn't mean they will abandon you or your company. To the contrary, they may respect you more for giving them the chance.

* Research can find new growth opportunities right under your nose - A client of mine in the healthcare data industry told me a great story about his company's market research. It seemed that several years ago, his half million dollar company decided to survey its customers. One of the questions it asked was, "What new products would you like to see us offer?" Of the 90 responses it received, an overwhelming number said they would like to see the company offer market share data. The company moved quickly and within less than a year began offering market share data. The result? His business more than quadrupled over the next two years.

* Research can increase awareness of ancillary products – Good surveys not only collect data, but disseminate information. As long as it is handled tastefully, you can educate consumers about your company's new products or services with a survey.

* Research can sometimes reactivate dormant customers - I once helped an industrial services client survey its past customers, ones it hadn't heard from in over a year. After asking for their feedback on the previous work, we included the following question: "Do you know of anyone, in your company or outside of it, who could benefit from the services XYZ provides?"

The response was overwhelming. In the end, the survey generated over $700,000 in sales from both active and dormant accounts.

The best low-cost market research tools

* One-on-one interviews– This is one of my favorite research techniques. In it, you (or better yet, an outside consultant) speaks directly with your company's customers, one at a time. Via phone or in-person, you walk the respondent through a standard questionnaire. Each respondent is asked the same questions and the interviews are designed to take less than 30 minutes each.
Here are some questions I like to use in these interviews:

* At that time, why did you become a customer of our company?

* With respect to (your industry) what are your biggest challenges you face?

* How did you first learn about our company?

* How does our company help you with these challenges?

* Who are our biggest competitors that you deal with? What are their strengths & weaknesses?

* What are our greatest strengths? Weaknesses?

* What do we do that no one else does in the market?

* What other capabilities or services would you like to see XYZ offer?

* Which of our competitors do the best job of marketing?

* Post purchase surveys – To keep the lines of communication open between you and your customers, administer a quick customer satisfaction survey right after delivering your product or service. It will help your company keep tabs on how well you're doing with your customers, and can also head off potential problems. Given everyone's preoccupation with time, I limit my company's survey to one page. It's a fax-back survey with just five questions, and 90 percent of all surveys are returned.
Here are some questions that can be used in a survey like this:

-What one thing did you like about doing business with us?

-What one thing would you change about our company?

-When you bought our product, what did you really end up with?

-On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate us on the job we did for you.

-What would it take for you to stay with us for five years?

* Networking—These days networking gets a lot of attention as a lead generation device, but I also see networking as a market research vehicle. Next time you, or someone from your sales organization, sets up a networking meeting, identify one piece of research information you'd like to obtain. It could be something about your major competitor (e.g., What do you know about XYZ Company?) or something about your typical customer behavior (e.g., What additional services do you see customers in our market needing?) Gathering vital research information can sometimes be as cheap as a cup of coffee.

* Blogs – Blogs are a great way to encourage dialogues with your market. Savvy marketers are now using blogs to:

-Elicit instant feedback from customers

-Have simultaneous conversations with customers and prospects and

-Facilitate the spread of buzz about your company.

Ever since starting my blog (www.emergemarketing.com/blog), I've noticed that it serves as a useful feedback device. I hear from experts far and wide, and dialogues can sometimes break out between them with me as the moderator. If you're interested in starting a blog, visit http://www.typepad.com/ or http://www.blogger.com/ .

* Customer Clubs – When I was the marketing director at a mattress manufacturer, each quarter we'd host an informal conversation with our customers. We'd invite five to ten customers to our headquarters, and conduct a no-holds-barred conversation with them about our products and marketing. Boy, were they flattered.
Over popcorn and soft drinks, we'd show them new product prototypes or share preliminary ad concepts. All of this proved extremely valuable in developing our product mix and marketing messages.
Just as important, these customers left the meetings with a renewed feeling of loyalty. We'd cared enough to ask for their input, and most were very appreciative of that. I'd highly recommend customer clubs as a valuable (and cheap) way to gather market feedback.

* Mystery shopping - Used widely by the retail industry, these studies hire an outsider to pose as a shopper at a company's store. Studies like this help your company identify strengths and weaknesses in the following areas:

** Store appearance

** Service quality

** Selling skills of your personnel

** Product selection

** Pricing

To get the best results for this type of research, hire an outside firm and be very specific about the kind of feedback you're seeking.

* Usability testing – If your company's Web site plays a significant role in building the company's identity, you may want to consider usability testing. Usability testing determines how well users can interact with your company's website. In a typical web usability test, one or two users sit in a room and use the web site to perform certain tasks, while company marketers watch, listen, videotape or take notes. For more information on usability testing visit the Usability Professionals Association Web site at http://www.upassoc.org/ or read Steve Krug's excellent book, Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability.

One reason to use outsiders for customer research

If your company can afford it, consider hiring an outsider—either a consultant or researcher—to conduct much of this research. Many customers are reluctant to share their true opinions for fear of damaging the relationship. I have interviewed countless customers and prospects for my clients and I'm always a little surprised at how open they are with me. Perhaps they feel more comfortable telling an objective third party person the unvarnished truth.

Somw other tips on market research

* Always thank respondents after a research session. Send flowers or just send a thank you note, but find a way to recognize the time and effort they've sacrificed for your company.

* Whenever possible, try to quantify research results. Phrase questions along the line of "On a scale of 1 to 5, how important is it to you that __________". This produces data that can be quantified and is easier to draw conclusions from.

* If your product is widely distributed, keep your eye on consumer feedback sites like e-pinions (www.epinions.com) and Amazon (www.amazon.com) . Some of the most valuable insights into your products will come from these sites because consumers are free to air out their true feelings, using their own words.

In closing

I've spent over two decades in the marketing field and one thing I know about companies that are successful marketers is that they commit to research as an ongoing marketing strategy. If you're really serious about improving your company's identity, you must have a market research program in place.

1. Write as you speak. Since email is a very personal medium, you'll want to write as you talk. People relate better to others whom they feel a connection with. Perhaps even add in some elements of your personal life once in a while so your subscribers will know you better.

2. Write an email when you're happy! Never write when you are feeling agitated. This will show in your emails. If you are chatting with a client or a customer, this is even more important. Try to resolve your differences cordially, because once you send your email, there is no turning back.

3. Create a really good subject line. Your subject line is the first thing your recipient will see. It should be benefit laden and tell the reader what is in it for him or her. However, don't tell the whole story in your subject line. Make your recipient curious enough so he or she will open your email.

4. Make the layout neat and easy to read. Use short, concise sentences whenever possible, and don't ever paragraphs which are too long. It's good to ask yourself before you send out your email: is your email easy to read? Also, try to make your email a short one. If it's too long, most people won't be bothered to read it.

5. Always have a call-to-action. If you are promoting a product, you'd want your reader to click through to your link to buy. So make sure you place in a strong call-to-action. In some instances, your email can act like a salesletter, with all the traditional saleletter techniques, including a call-to-action.

In this work I will explore the importance of innovation and the creative endeavor in Asia that leads to entrepreneurship. We also discuss how entrepreneurship develops new ideas and, from heir ideas, establish new enterprises that add value to Asian society.

If creativity is the seed that inspires entrepreneurship, innovation is the process of entrepreneurship. Enterpreneurers are often thought to be "inspired" people, and perhaps they are, but more important, they often recognize changes and opportunities that can result from a dynamic world. Innovation is an important factor of entrepreneurship for every leader. It is defined as the process of doing new things. Therefore, it is often the active translation of a creative idea into a new product, service, or technology. Drukers writes that "innovation…is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth."

It looks worthwhile to explain difference between innovation and invention. Innovation is the process of doing new things. It is important to recognize that innovation implies action, not just creating new ideas. When people have passed through the illumination and verification stages of creativity, they may have become inventors.

The difference between inventors and innovators is that inventors are not limited to those who create new products. They include those who identify new technological processes, new forms of plant life, and new designs. Each of these indecently, can lead to new patents.

Nevertheless, for an idea to have value, it must be proven useful or be marketable, and to achieve either status, the idea must be developed. Innovation is the development process. It is the translation of an idea into an application. It requires persistence in analytically working out the details of product design or service, to develop marketing, obtain finances; the process includes obtaining materials and technical manufacturing capabilities, staffing operations, and establishing an organization.

It is far more advisable to choose one method and not only get very good at it, but put enough time and effort into it so that you do it better than anyone else is doing for your keyword. Keep in mind, each keyword is its own market. And what this means to you is that the only thing that matters to you is that one keyword, not all of them. You don't have to be number on the web to make money online – you generally just have to do one thing better than everyone else.

Now onto the topic at hand – article marketing for the purpose of building links.

I believe in massive action. This means that if you are going to build links – why not build the very most you can. What is the worst that can happen – you just might make #1? Think about this – what if it takes 50 links to get to the second page in google, but 60 to get to the first page? What if you only submit to 50 directories at first, just to see if that is enough – and you only get to the second page? Sure, you can submit a few more and you will probably climb – but why not just go the extra mile and get the very best ranking you can as fast as possible?

And that is what article marketing for the purpose of building links is all about. You want to gather as many inbound links as possible.