With most paid advertising, once you stop paying, the traffic dries up.

On the other hand, with many of the ‘free’ traffic methods, the traffic keeps on coming once you’ve done the work – sometimes for months or years on end.

Article marketing is a great example. If you can get your articles distributed to a large number of other peoples’ sites, complete with links back to your website, they can provide traffic for a long time to come.

There are a number of article distribution services, such as ArticleMarketer and iSnare, which will distribute your articles to hundreds or even thousands of publishers. Some services, like Unique Article Wizard and ArticleMarketingAutomation, even allow you to create ‘spinnable’ articles, so that each publisher receives a unique version of each article.

But these services are not cheap. UAW is $67 a month now.

So I was quite surprised and excited to find a pretty good free article distribution service – Free Traffic System. This service distributes your spinnable articles to 30 keyword-targeted blogs.

The interesting thing about Free TrafficSystem is that it’s really free – there’s no upsell or premium service. They offer an affiliate program, but no money changes hands – you get extra link credits for each new member you bring in.

You also get credits for every WordPress blog you add to the system.

I have a couple of minor quibbles – the article spinning system is a bit clunky, and the process of selecting which blogs you want to distribute an article to is even clunkier (although most of the paid services don’t give you this much control).

But hell, it’s free.

Free Traffic is a post from: Online Business Blog

There are some skills involved – the main one is finding a product that you can write a good ‘pre-sell’ article about. I’m giving away a great report about Bum Marketing which explains how to find the right product, how to research the best keywords to use and how to quickly write articles and submit them to article directories.

You don’t have to be a great writer, the skills are useful for marketing any kind of site, and the technique is completely free. What are you waiting for?

Free Bum Marketing Report

How to Become A Bum Marketing Genius is a post from: Online Business Blog

James Brausch says that the only reason the article directories exist is to provide spam content to other spam websites. According to James, the duplicate content filter is real, and although your article may be published on hundreds – or even thousands – of websites, the search engines will end up listing it only a few times.

So what can you do? There are three approaches I’m using. All of these involve submitting unique articles to each content publisher.

1. James’ Artemis Pro Article Submission Software. This is a stand-alone (Windows only) program which runs on your PC. It allows you to generate a unique article for each publisher, by creating three different versions of the article. The program then pieces together a new version for each publisher by taking paragraphs from each version. It does not submit to the ‘spam’ article directories. Rather, it works with an internal list of ‘real’ content sites. Furthermore, you can add your own list of publishers. There is a free version available for you to try out – at www.artemislite.com.

2. JetSpinner is a newly introduced free service which lets you easily create ‘spun’ versions of your articles. You write your article in a text editor with JetSpinner’s simple formatting instructions, upload the article, choose how many new versions you want, and download a *.zip file with the 50 or 100 (up to 999) different article versions. The formatting works like this: {The system|JetSpinner|The script} will randomly choose a phrase from within the braces. That means you can replace text down to the word level, making it easy to create unique articles – using your own words, not some computer-generated spam garbage.

JetSpinner has a companion paid service called JetSubmitter, which lets you take those ‘spun’ articles and submit a unique version to each of the article directories in its list. Of course, these are the ‘spam’ directories that James doesn’t like. But with a different version of the article at each directory, the duplicate content filters have less reason to complain. And of course, you’ll be submitting well-written articles, won’t you?

3. The most promising service at the moment is Content Spooling Network. This seems to have the advantages of both approaches. This is a membership service, which lets you create unique articles (in exactly the same format as JetSpinner) and submit them to the content sites and blogs published by the other members of the service – currently around 600 sites, although you can target relevant sites by category. You can also add spun articles to a short list of the top article directories. And you can also automatically publish unique, relevant articles written by other members on your own websites or blog.

All of these approaches benefit from well-written articles in the first place. The best way to get article marketing to work is by writing excellent, well-researched articles which share valuable information, which results in readers clicking on your hyperlinks.

3 Article Marketing Services I Use is a post from: Online Business Blog

Let’s face it, the Internet is a crowded place… and it’s becoming even more crowded as you read this.  Your business can’t stand still online, and you can’t afford to look backwards. Qualified, targeted traffic generation is what we all desire.  Owning your category online goes a long way in providing just that.

It’s not about just looking forward, but moving forward and taking some ownership.  Every business online today is worried about being found in the Top 10 Search Engines and Directories for their products or services – and they should be!  Statistics still make them (search engines) the number one stop for all surfers.

But, just for a moment let’s imagine that these search engines and directories
provide the most relevant results.  That’s right, let’s just say for the sake of this article, that they all work extremely well. O.K?

Now, since we believe that our products or services are way more relevant than
those companies listed above us in (today’s) search engines results – we have to
admit something is wrong… but remember, the search engines are perfect.

We all know you can buy your keywords in Google™ and Overture™ right?  Does that make you the best? (not.)  Do surfers know this? (Yes.)  Does it make your business (your website) any more relevant? (No.)  It does put businesses with a larger budget at the top of the pile again, that’s all.  Is this why many of us don’t click on sponsored links? (Ahem…)

If the search engines were (are) perfect, then let’s get back to something else being wrong.  Hmmm, my website must be broken!  Wow, somebody is actually staying with me here.. My website must be broken.

Why else would all those “other” websites be showing up ahead of my business when people search for my products/services/information?  Don’t these people know we are the experts? (nope.)  Don’t they know our products are superior? (nope.)  Can’t they see the skill we employ and our dedication to employee and customer service? (nope.)  Haven’t they read your reviews? (probably not…)

So, in an effort to help you “own your category online”, here’s some suggestions
to assist your business in getting ahead of those “other” websites and putting
your business where it rightly belongs!  If you already employ all these practices,
we commend you.  But if you find yourself behind in organic rankings, these tips can help your company without having to become a Webmaster or a Search Engine Marketing Professional.  Pass these on to your Marketing Team and get better results and recognition starting today!

Do: Research the search terms (keywords) that people would use in seeking out your offerings. You can start with Wordtracker™ and the search terms you first come up with.

Wordtracker™ will help you locate terms that are similar to your terms in meaning and search.  It is a tool that gives you an *idea of what the general terms people are using, and how many searches are taking place on these terms… * that’s another book though.  This is a great starting point and the trial really is free!

Tip: Do not just ‘look-up’ your company name, – prospective customers or vendors or partners are not looking you up by your ‘company name’ in Google™ – they don’t know it yet…? Surfer’s have become quite good at ‘searching’.  Be specific and general.  You can also learn who you have to beat online! – Who’s kicking your butt when people search for your product or service online?  That first page of results is your market share online!

Do: Make sure you have a *keyword specific “Title” for every webpage that’s relevant to the content on that page (*keyword specific, not keyword stuffed).

Page Title; Top of the screen, blue ‘title’ bar (in explorer).  I still see thousands of
websites with “Homepage” in the title bar, or “MyOneHotBusiness.com” and just that phrase or ‘Title’ is repeated throughout every page on their website!  Each page in your website is (content) unique – make it’s ‘Title’ unique too! Or call your webmaster with new “titles” for each of your website pages. Different values are placed on this “page title” from the different search engines and directories.

Tip:  Add “Chicago, Chicagoland, Illinois” to the end of your Title (your city, state). This helps tremendously in regional search queries.

Do: Have at least 200 words of (content specific) text on the pages of importance (homepage, category pages, etc.).

This is what the engines and directories DO read, these words and links are how the engines interpret what’s on this page.  Images or pictures of words or “ads” are not “read” so-to-speak.  Make this text content highly relevant to the topic (product or service) on this page.

Tip: Put your fancy Flash commercial on a link from your homepage and put up a content relevant page of your best text instead!  Visitors will still look at your commercial if you tell us it’s cool, but don’t force us to watch it! – That’s not what we came for.  This Flash file (currently) does almost nothing for search engines and directories.

Do: Have yourself or your professional staff write articles on their specific area of expertise in product or service.  Make these articles a webpage with relevant links to the product or service directly.

Short of hiring a Search Engine Marketing Consultant or a Professional Copywriter,
these detailed articles if rich and full of relevant content, are the exact pages
that will generate you the most qualified and targeted visitor to your business! 

Once these ‘article pages’ are crawled (indexed) by the search engines you will be
pleasantly surprised to see that (now) you are a more relevant search result.
(Not to be confused with ‘links’ or ‘reciprocal linking programs’ – your (article)
web pages are much more “read” and effective in sending the reader to your site, or keeping them there, not to mention the branding opportunities)

These articles not only show your business as an authority, they prove it in words,
images, audio and video information for the reader, me, a human.  These concise type articles are an excellent way to gain exposure, recognition (branding), traffic,
and yes, even sales.  You said you were an authority, now prove it.

Tip:  Submit these articles to other online and offline publications and Ezine’s. You make them available to other websites just for leaving your Author and link intact.  There are businesses craving this type of content for their website’s success!  Your business website will begin receiving quality traffic from every website that posts your company’s article(s)!  Now there’s a strong statement.

Do: Include your URL (www.) in every piece of material you print – every piece of
traditional advertising you already pay for!

Every week I read through different newspapers and magazines – I can’t believe
how many businesses  forget to put their web address in that Advertisement they paid for.  You pay big bucks for a quarter page ad or whatever, and then never mention your website!?!  Which is open 24/7/365 – and that Tribune is just around for two days!  Start your marketing return on investment right there!

Tip: Offer a website only promotion or coupon in your Ads to generate further interest and traffic to your specific offer web pages!

Do: Ask visitors to “Bookmark your site” or “Tell a friend” or “Send this article to a friend”…

Your visitors don’t always think of it, so just ask them?  Bookmarks not only increase return visitors, but they also give you a vote of confidence in providing something worthwhile… even if that’s a return trip! This does not have to be bold and obnoxious either, a simple button saying “Bookmark Us” will do on any business website.

Do: Be Patient.  All search engines and directories have different timeframes for updates, changes and new submissions. 

After making changes or additions to your site, allow 40 days after initial submission (or spidering) for realistic results to begin showing in the major search engines and search directories.  Owning your category online is more than just a few keywords.  Don’t just say you do all these things!

Do: Go and check!

Tip: Go and check again!

Because if you do your best with these few suggestions – your website will show up higher in the search results for those relevant terms you selected.  You’ll be hundreds of websites ahead, and getting more qualified visitors too.  There’s much more to owning your category online, but every business should be employing these “Level One” website marketing concepts.

There – now we can stop imagining that the search engines are perfect.

Good Luck,

Written by and Copyright © Scott Sedwick
http://www.hyperformancemedia.com

Owning Your Category Online & The Many Benefits is a post from: Online Business Blog

Have you noticed how rude, obnoxious, negative, and downright uncivil people can be in cyberspace?

Visit any busy Internet marketing discussion board and you’ll often find dozens of such people who seem to thrive on being as mean-spirited and negative as possible.

If you get any volume of email you’re bound to sometimes get emails saying things that people are VERY unlikely to say to you in person.

It’s as if being behind the computer screen and communicating via long distance changes the rules of how we have all been taught to politely interact with each other.

Why are some people like this, and what is the ultimate consequence? Let’s examine this behavior and look at just a few specific examples.

Let’s begin with the person who deliberately posts the most negative or mean-spirited things they can on discussion forums. Sometimes these people are doing what is called “trolling.” Just as a fisherman trolls for fish, hoping that as his bait floats by the fish will find it irresistible, the discussion board troll dangles very contemptuous comments in front of those on the forum – hoping that some can’t resist responding. He is hoping to start a heated discussion that will draw attention to him, and perhaps his site, product, or cause.

Discussion board trolling works for some people. It builds them an audience of others who thrive on controversy. However, discussion board trolling also drives away a lot of potential customers. It drives away those who are turned-off by all of the negativity… and make a mental note to NEVER do business with the troll.

The discussion board troll understands that man is an emotional creature. He is more likely to take action if you can get him riled up. He understands the art of “polarizing.” He understands that people are often more likely to do business with people who touch them on a very deep emotional level… even if it’s negative.

Even off of discussion boards, some copywriters masterfully harness the power of this same psychological trick. One of the most brilliant examples of it that I’ve seen recently is by a guy who has actually branded himself as “The Rich Jerk.” You can see how he does this on his website at: http://WhyJerksWin.com If you look very closely at that site, you’ll see what this guy is doing and its effect. It works beautifully and that’s why I point it out to you!

Many people who post only negative posts on discussion boards don’t seem to understand how energy works. They don’t seem to understand that man is an electromagnetic creature who senses and responds to positive and negative vibrations. We all understand that many impulses travel through our bodies via electricity, and that we even need to keep our electrolytes in balance. We even notice how just talking to some people makes the hair on the
back of our neck stand up. This happens partly because of electrical vibrations we are picking up on.

I don’t want to get too deep into explaining how we pick up on other’s vibes. However, most of us do perceive and respond on a subconscious level to the vibrations others are putting out. We often can’t “put our finger on” exactly what it is about a person that makes us NOT want to deal with them, but we just know that we don’t. Those who do understand this scientific
process, simply avoid trolls and very negative people on discussion forums.

If you’d like a deeper understanding of how the process I just explained works, I’ll point you to a very good course by Dr. Robert Anthony, called “Know How To Be Rich.” He basically explains how we attract both good and bad things into our lives. He explains how to attract positive things and how NOT to attract negative things into your life. You can find Dr. Anthony’s course at http://TheInternetLifestyle.com

Let’s look briefly at those who only make negative comments on discussion forums. Often these negative comments are attacking some so-called “guru.”

On a few discussion forums, people are allowed to say anything that they want… in the name of “free speech.” On other discussion forums personal attacks on others or other’s products are not tolerated.

I am a moderator at a number of Internet marketing discussion forums. On these forums I get to enforce “the rules.” On all of the discussion forums I moderate you are NOT free to make “any” comment that you want. The reason is very simple… it’s common courtesy and
understanding proper business etiquette.

First of all, posting to a discussion forum has NOTHING to do with free speech. The discussion board is owned by someone, and they will generally operate their forum in a manner that benefits their business and the businesses of those who use the forum regularly. They
operate their forum in a manner that sticks to the purpose of the forum!

One fact that needs to be acknowledged is that search engines often index discussion forum posts. Once these posts are indexed and stored in the search engines, they can stay in the databases for YEARS. So if someone makes a negative, and unsubstantiated, post about someone, there really is NO way of undoing it. Even if the poster apologizes, that negative post will remain in the database forever… continuing to harm that person’s business.

Many who choose to attack “gurus” may have very good reason. One of the best reasons I can readily see is that some perceived experts mislead their followers from time to time. For example, they give them the impression that building an online business is easier than it really is.

The fact is that it usually takes hard work and persistence. This is often not what most people want to hear, so the experts elude to the fact that it’s very easy. It can be easy, but it’s NOT for most people.

So the gurus who convince people that it’s too easy, because that’s what those people want to hear, often irritate a lot of people… people who feel angry that they can’t do something that’s obviously “so EASY.” Those very angry people then set out to disparage the experts
in any way the can.

Instead of attacking the experts because they didn’t tell you exactly how they are doing things, it would really be more productive to spend time figuring out what they are actually doing, or even asking them how they really operate their businesses. Be warned though that many who have built very successful online businesses can’t really tell you all of the factors that
contributed to their success. They often do things that they simply don’t notice. They have habits that they give little or no conscious thought to!

Many of today’s recognized Internet marketing experts spent 6 – 10 years building their businesses to the point that they are at today. They basically built a brand in their niche. With technological changes, and an increase in the number of people in the niche, it is now possible to achieve what they did in a fraction of the time. Isn’t it more productive to spend time doing that than attacking people out of envy or resentment?

I define civility as interacting with others in a way that smoothes the interaction. Doesn’t it make more sense to do that. This would certainly seem to facilitate a greater number of interactions with positive outcomes. This logically generate a *great number* of productive
transactions. More transactions with more positive outcomes would therefore GROW your business.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of the points above. However, take a few minutes to observe the world as it really works and you’ll have to agree with at least some of the points. Consider them carefully and perhaps you too will find yourself behaving more civilly in cyberspace

—————————

Willie Crawford consults with some of the most successful direct marketers on the Internet. Grab a copy of the somewhat controversial ebook that he considers required reading for all his clients at: http://WhyJerksWin.com

Resentment and Civility in Internet Marketing is a post from: Online Business Blog