Anyone Can Master The Art Of Effective Article Writing

One of the biggest myths surrounding article marketing is that to be good at it one must be born with creativity and a gift for writing.  While these attributes would certainly be useful, nothing could be further from the truth.  Like great leaders, great writers aren’t necessarily born, instead they nurture and hone their skills over time.

All of us of have thoughts and ideas that can be shared with the world.  Expressing these thoughts and ideas comes naturally to some, but we all can learn to express these hidden talents with commitment to learning how. 

Putting thoughts and ideas into words is actually pretty easy.  It’s putting them into words that keep a reader’s attention that’s the trick.  This can be an especially challenging accomplishment in the ultra-competitive world of internet marketing.    

Any internet marketer who wants to use article marketing effectively must develop a strategy for turning their own unique thoughts and ideas into interesting reading material.  Here are a few article writing tips for internet marketers:

1. Keep a notebook or journal at all times. Thoughts or ideas for an article might be triggered at anytime or any place, so it is incumbent to have a way of capturing those thoughts or ideas for future reference.  When on the Internet, a pen and pad should certainly be handy to write down anything you see or hear that could be the building block for a future article.

2. Peruse article directories, forums and other blogs for ideas.  I would especially recommend this when the creative well has run a little dry.  At some point, every writer struggles with the creation of new ideas.  It’s okay to take a look at what other writers are writing about in a given online niche.  You never want to steal someone’s work, but providing a new perspective or point of view from your own unique thoughts is the very essence of creativity.

3. Find your inspiration and/or passion.  If you’re writing about something that doesn’t move you, then you’re probably never going to find success writing about it.  Finding a niche market that piques your interest is critical here.  Sure, all internet marketers want to earn online income, but we all don’t have to take the exact same route to get there.  Think of all the things you are good at, enjoy doing, or have a passion for and start from there.  You will find your article writing and other internet marketing strategies come a lot easier if you are inspired or passionate about what it is you’re doing. 

4. Limit distractions when writing.  Turn off the TV, complete all your errands and tasks, put the kids to bed, and try to isolate yourself if possible.  Of all the internet marketing strategies, article writing requires the most time, focus and energy.  Since most internet marketers have full-time jobs, families and other responsibilities, finding uninterrupted time for writing articles can be a daunting challenge.  Even if it means staying up a hour later or waking up a hour earlier, finding an uninterrupted time to formulate your thoughts and ideas into words will make a tremendous difference in the quality of your writing.

Don’t allow the thought of creating ideas and then translating those ideas into words intimidate you.  It may be a process, but anyone can learn the craft of effective article writing.  Use the 4 tips in this article and watch as your writing talents and online income flourish.

Keyword Research Tips For Affiliate Marketing

Keyword research is the first and most vital step in Search-Engine-Optimization (SEO), but many internet marketers have no idea how to effectively research keywords.  Keyword targeting is highly competitive and the research that goes into it must be thorough.

So many internet marketers are not done in by bad affiliate programs or poor products, but instead by poor keyword targeting.  Choosing the wrong keywords will all but doom any website hoping to generate organic traffic.

There are numerous keyword research tools available online to assist with selecting quality keywords.  Here are a few useful keyword research tips that will help in the selection and targeting of keywords for affiliate marketers:

1. Spend time on keyword research before selecting an affiliate opportunity.  Most affiliates, of course, choose an affiliate program and then begin the keyword research process.  Researching keywords prior to choosing an affiliate opportunity, however, gives affiliates an idea of the competition, popularity and demand for a particular online niche before committing to marketing it.  Finding an affiliate program to fit a selection of targeted keywords that meet the competition, popularity and demand criteria is much easier than doing it in reverse order.

2. Avoid keywords that are too broad.  This is probably where most people get it wrong when targeting keywords.  Sure, it would be ideal to rank at the top of Google and other search engines for broad keyword terms.  Unfortunately, unless you have an authority site or have cracked the SEO code, you will likely find yourself buried in the search engine abyss – never to be seen on page one.  And while broad keyword terms have ideal popularity, the traffic is not targeted and often useless when it comes to affiliate sales.  The key to getting conversions from search engine marketing is targeted traffic.

3. Avoid keywords with low monthly searches.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, some websites are doomed by low search volume for their targeted keywords.  You can think of this as “having the keys to Ferrari, but no gas.”  Ranking at the top for every keyword you target is great, but if those keywords generate no traffic, what good is it?  It can be fairly easy to rank for keywords no one uses for searching, but the ultimate goal is to generate traffic to earn income online – not rankings.

4. Use long-tailed keywords for better targeting and less competition.  A useful strategy for generating more targeted traffic and less competition is to use long-tailed keywords.  Long-tailed keywords are multi-phrased terms (usually three words or more) used to search online.  An example of a long-tailed keyword is credit repair for families (credit repair would be the general or broad keyword term).  Benefits of long-tailed keywords include: higher conversions on website traffic, less competition for ranking, and more targeted visitors.  If doing Pay-Per-Click advertising, long-tailed keywords are also cheaper.

Keyword research can be a tedious and time consuming process, but the rewards are well worth the effort.  Targeting the proper keywords is often the difference between an affiliate website flourishing or dying on the vine.  Make use of the free keyword research tools available online and use the tips mentioned earlier in this article for guidance.

5 Social Networking Tips For The Internet Marketer

Social networking has become a vital internet marketing resource.  With the number of social networking sites continuing to grow, it will continue to be a critical factor in marketing online. 

Some of the largest corporations in the world are now devoting a large portion of their advertising budgets to social networking.  You’d be hard pressed to find a corporation that takes its marketing serious not on Facebook or Twitter.  With competition so stiff, it is critical that internet marketers have a sound social networking strategy.

Although no social networking strategy can be considered full-proof, there are some very basic tips that can be used to maximize results:

1. Create a profile complete with picture and bio.  Like the old saying goes, “you never get a 2^nd chance to make a 1^st impression.”  Fair or unfair, people form an immediate opinion of you or your business as a result of your profile.  Incomplete profiles without pictures don’t get nearly the response of those with a picture and bio.  Remember you’re on a social networking site, so people want to see who you are and what you’re about.  With that in mind, avoid using logos or celebrity pictures on your profile.  Use a real picture of yourself (preferably smiling or doing something you love).  Letting people see the real you projects trust and genuineness.

2. Join groups that pertain to your online niche or business.  This is an area a lot of internet marketers neglect when joining social networking sites.  Social networking sites often have very large communities of people who share common interests.  Joining a group of like-minded people who share your passions is a great way to network and get noticed. 

3. Don’t spam friends and/or groups.  This is easily the biggest mistake internet marketers make when joining a social network.  Some online marketers have barely been a member a few minutes before they are sending mass messages to all who have accepted their friend requests.  Nothing turns off a fellow social networker more than getting spam from an overzealous internet marketer every few hours.  Taking the time to build a relationship with friends on a social network is much more affective than immediately going at them with a sales pitch. 

4. Avoid commentary on social issues.  When you’re active on a social network, it may be hard to avoid joining in on discussions about politics, race, religion, sex, etc., but it should be avoided at all costs.  As an internet marketer your goal is growing your online business and building online wealth, not expressing your opinion on hot-button topics.  Check out any large company’s social network profile on Facebook or Twitter and you won’t find any commentary on politics, religion or other highly charged subjects.  They don’t want to offend any group and they want everyone to feel as if they are welcome, and so should you. 

5. Be sincere.  Social networking for business purposes is all about building and gaining trust.  Being dishonest or misleading people can have dire consequences.  The last thing an online marketer needs is an unfavorable reputation amongst a large community of internet savvy people.  The Internet is a powerful vehicle and can be used to not only build credibility, but also to destroy it.  

Social networking is an outstanding source of free web traffic, but it must be used responsibly by internet marketers.  It can be a tricky form of online promotion, but keeping the above tips in mind should help avoid some of the major pitfalls of social network marketing.

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