10 Ways Article Writing Can Stack the Deck in Your Favor

I was talking with a email coaching client about some ways to shortcut the challenges of article writing. And then it occurred to me that I hadn't really laid out the benefits of article writing. There was no "so what" to it. Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look at why this is STILL one of the most beneficial, powerful and profitable ways to market your business online.

1. Generates Traffic That Can't Be Turned Off By writing and submitting articles to other sites, over time you're creating a source of website traffic that can't be turned off (unless ALL of those sites happen to go away…unlikely). If you're currently getting most of your web traffic from a single source (Google, Stumbleupon, AdWords, etc.), what would happen if that source of traffic dried up? If Google de-indexed you or your rankings dropped? If the AdWords costs became too much? You get the point. Writing articles helps hedge against some of those low-likelihood, high-impact scenarios.

2. Can Be Repurposed Into Other Formats This is one that a lot of people overlook. If you have a really well-written article, it could become the basis for a whole series of other products in a variety of formats. This is especially true if you tend to write "tips" articles.

For instance, say you have an article on 21 traffic generation tips. In addition to that being a killer article for your site, you could easily create a CD out of that info and go into more detail. Same goes for a quick Camtasia video or DVD on the subject, maybe showing more of a step-by-step guide to what was discussed in the article. How about a teleseminar that's recorded and offered as a freebie to build your list? How about an EBook, or "real book"? If you can get into a bit more detail, you can repurpose that same content into any number of formats…all from one simple, little article.

3. Establishes Your Expertise We all know that one of the (irrational) measuring sticks we use regarding "experts" is that a lot of us give more credibility to someone who has written a book. I would argue that the same holds true, in a more limited sense, when it comes to article writers. Maybe not if someone just wrote a handful of articles on a subject. But if you come across an entire website or blog full of articles written by someone about a particular topic, chances are you'll be more inclined to pay attention.

So flip that around…by having your own articles, you're establishing your expertise, showing that you know what you're talking about. It also forces you to synthesize all the info in your head into a concise, usable format. That makes you even more knowledgeable about your area of expertise since it forces you to do some "critical thinking" about your topic.

4. Helps Maintain Contact With Your Visitors, Subscribers, and Customers Writing articles for submission to other webmasters (or as posts to your own website) not only helps you get new visitors, subscribers and customers but also helps you keep in contact with them. That's key since online, it's so easy to click off to someplace else and never go back to that page again. Maintaining contact and giving them a reason to return is one way to guard against that.

5. Can Educate Your Visitors or Customers (Pre- or Post-Sale) If you create your own products or offer affiliate products, more than likely you'll have a set of frequently asked questions that your customers or website visitors ask. Those can be a great basis for an article. Not only is it valuable content that people are wondering about, but it can also reduce your support requests since those answers are already covered. You can just refer people to the FAQ. In addition, an educated customer is usually a better customer.

6. Makes Info Easy For People to Digest and Use Articles are typically short and are easy for people to take in. Some topics call for more in-depth info…a special report or book might be more appropriate to cover things in detail. But an article can serve as a great way to give an overview for people to get the basics or as a quick refresher for a specific topic. It's something they can take in quickly and move on, but if done correctly, they'll be back for more. 7. Increases Backlinks / SEO Benefits I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that articles on other sites can also lead to backlinks pointing to your site. No need for a drawn out discussion of the search engine optimization benefits here, but to oversimplify it, more links are generally better and articles are one way to get them. However, that shouldn't be your main focus for writing them.

8. If Done Correctly, Provides Good Bang for the Buck for Your Time Using the right software, such as Unique Article Marketing, you can really get the most out of your time by writing articles for submission to publishers, article directories (if you choose to submit there) and your own site all at once. Other software allows you to mass-submit as well, but they typically don't get around the duplicate content issues that Unique Article Marketing solves. There's nothing stopping you from adding your own email address(es) to your external publishers list. That way, you get sent a unique, "Unique-ified" article too…perfect for your blog, newsletter, etc.

9. Gets You Noticed Within Your Target Market Having your articles appearing on sites throughout your market helps get your name out there. I won't get into a debate on the merits of personal branding, but no one can argue the benefits of being recognized in your particular market. Such exposure could lead to JV's or other partnerships or just general networking and building contacts.

10. Can Lead to Other Article/Product Ideas Another one that people overlook. Most likely, as you're writing your article(s), you'll come up with ideas for other topics to write about, or ideas for how you could go into more detail on a specific point you're trying to make. That can lead to another great article idea and helps get over the writer's block that many of us face when trying to come up with fresh content. Just be sure to capture those ideas somewhere, like creating a list of article topics to write about.

Popularity: 58% [?]

The Importance of Using Protection

For new and experienced online business owners, one of the biggest things to consider while running your business is how to protect it for the long term. This is especially true since most online businesses are "information-based" rather than having huge inventories of products and other "stuff" to keep safe. Because of that unique aspect of an online business, it's more critical than ever that you keep that information safe and this should be a major focus as you operate your business. Here are some commonly made mistakes that you should avoid when it comes to protecting your online business.

1. Not Having Backups of Websites/Databases

This may seem obvious, but it's one that a lot of online business owners overlook (or allow others to be responsible for). You're taking a huge risk if you're running an online business and aren't keeping backups of your websites.

Of course, you may be thinking that's the web hosting company's job or something like that, right? Well, while it's true that they usually do provide backup services, and in most cases, can restore files with no problem, it's still the ultimate responsibility of the business owner. What if something happens on the web host's end where they can't restore your files - who's to blame? Is the web hosting company accountable for that? Or even better, do you really even want to have to worry about that, or would  you rather have this not be an issue because you have your own backups?

If your online business is making even the smallest amount of money, it's just good sense to go the route of the "responsible business owner" and make sure you're doing your own website backups. Be sure you also include backups of your databases too, since these are a key component to keep many types of sites running on today's websites (for instance, blogs, forums, ecommerce software, and so forth).

You can either do these backups manually using your control panel or do a search for specialized software that will automate website backups for you. Then, just temporarily download the backup files to your hard drive until you burn them to a disc or store them in a more appropriate, and safer, final location. Your hard drive doesn't count as a "safe location" since hard drives eventually fail, computers crash and so on.

2. Not Having Backups of Critical Files on Your Computer

This is right in line with the first item. Not having backups of critical files that are on your computer is another huge mistake that some online business owners make.  If you're like most online business owners, you have important business-related files on your home/office computer in addition to what's on your web server. Losing those files could become a major setback, so of course they should also be backed up to a safe location. It's relatively easy and inexpensive these days to store a large number of files on a writeable CD or DVD. There are also online backup services (like Data Deposit Box, which I use) that will backup and store your data to a secure server for a minimal cost. That way your data is off-site in case something happens to your home/office.

3. Not Having Redundant Web Hosts, Domain Registrars, and Other Key Services

We all know that you should never have all of your eggs in one basket and this even applies to your online business. If you're currently using a single company for your web hosting, a single domain registrar, or other services that are a critical piece of your business infrastructure, you might want to reconsider. It may be unlikely that one of these services will go out of business or otherwise "completely blow it", but do you really want to take the chance? What would you do if your registrar dropped the ball and forgot to renew your domains…ALL of your domains (this actually happened)?  You need to consider what would happen "if" something catastrophic occurred with that one service, how it could be avoided, and how cost effective that option is for your business.

4. Entrusting Too Much Info To a One Outsourced Worker
(Or Multiple Outsourced Workers That Can Combine What They Know)

If you outsource some of your tasks, one of the worst things you can do is give too much info about how your business works to one person. Ideally you want to avoid having just one outsourced worker if possible.  If that's just not possible right now, then at least compartmentalize the portion of your business that this person is a part of.

The same applies for groups of outsourced workers, which can be just as bad, even though you're relying on more than one person in this case. You want to avoid creating a situation where either a single person is inadvertently trained on exactly how your entire business works, or multiple people are able to piece things together based on what each of them knows about your business.

(James Brausch gives another great reason why you don't want to rely on just one outsourcing service in this post about ELance.)

5. Not Having Everything Documented & Accessible in Case Something Happens to You

As uncomfortable as it is to think about, you should definitely create a plan for how your business will run if something unfortunate happens to you, especially if your business is you family's primary source of income.

• Does your spouse know how your business works?
• Could it continue to run without your input?
• For how long?

Every aspect of your business should be documented so someone else can pick up the ball and run with it in your absence. This is an ongoing process and can be a bit time consuming in the beginning, but is certainly worth it as a worst case planning scenario or in case you decide to sell your business sometime down the road.  I recommend something like the Freedom Business System to show you how to do this (it's actually good info for offline AND online businesses).

Popularity: 44% [?]

6 Surefire Strategies for Writing Better Articles or Blog Posts

Writing articles and blog posts is one thing.  Getting them read is a whole other animal!  Here are 5 quick tips for writing better articles and blog posts.

1.  Use a Compelling Headline

The headline of the article is arguably more important than the content of the article itself, as long as the content isn't complete garbage.  Keep in mind that some people may only see your headline (people skimming your site, those that see it as an entry in a blog carnival, some people that subscribe to your RSS feed, etc). 

You should spend a good bit of time working on your headline, either adapting headlines from other sources known to have great headlines (you ARE keeping a headline cheat sheet aren't you?) or using copywriting software like Glyphius to come up with better scoring headlines (just Google "glyphius" without the quotes and you should be able to find a reseller - that's the only way you can purchase it now). 

Most likely you'll use a combination of the two…a cheat sheet to get you started and software (or trial and error) to make the headline even better.

2.  Write Using Numbered Lists

The easiest article to write is the "numbered list" article.  Simply come up with a list of resources, tips, roadblocks, stumbling blocks, challenges, reasons, secrets, improvements, etc. that apply to your market.  Write them down in a list.  Then go back and fill in the details for each item.  Then add a couple of intro sentences, maybe a call-to-action at the end, spell check and you're all set. 

In addition, you can do a separate article for each item in the list if you have enough info.  So if you have 5 killer resources, that can turn into 6 articles (an overview of all the resources, plus an article about each of the five).

3.  Write in Short, Easy-to-Read Chunks

Write your article in easy to digest chunks - your readers will love you for it.  Having huge fields of text makes reading your article look like it'll be a lot of work.  Your visitors might move on to something else rather than actually trying to read your article.  But an article with smaller chunks of info appears easier to read…less work.  Chunk your article into smaller pieces.

4.  If Your Title is "X # of Ways to _______", Break Up the Article & Number Each Section

If you write an article titled "3 tips" or "7 useful resources" or some other numbered type article, be sure to actually number the sections of your article or at least separate the different items into sections.  There's nothing more annoying than seeing an article like "25 traffic generation tips" followed by a huge bunch of text all strung together.  Lots of people will just want to know what the 25 traffic tips are and if there are any that they're not using.  If they see something new, they'll go back and read the article in more detail.   But if those numbered items aren't sectioned off or numbered somehow, many people will just skip the whole article and move on to something else.

5.  Keep a List of Topics You Come Up With

One of the biggest problems people face when writing articles or blog posts is coming up with ideas for things to write about.  Since you never know when you might come across a good idea, it's best to keep them all in one place when they do come to mind.  That way, you'll build an inventory of blog topics to write about which will hopefully help you overcome that all-too-common writer's block. 

6.  Keep an Eye Out for Good Article Ideas You Can Adapt to Your Topic/Expertise

Be sure to keep an eye out for things that help you generate good ideas for articles such as:

• Headlines that give you an idea for a topic
• "Back to Basics" type info that would be good for beginners in your market (or a good refresher for more experienced folks )
• Other articles in your market that can serve as idea generators for your own article or spin on that particular subject

For example, in the online business market, you could easily take the title of this article and reuse it as:

• "## Surefire Strategies for Better Conversions" or
• "…Better AdWords Results" or
• "…Smarter Outsourcing". 

Feel free to do that if you're so inclined because I'd like to see some ideas for those things. 

Popularity: 54% [?]

Product Creation Perfectionism and at Least Four Things That Are More Important

If you're serious about getting your online business going this year, you might have already decided that an information product business is the way you'll get started.  One of the things that's likely to come up is "product creation perfectionism". 

One important thing to realize is that the product is really the least important of the items that matter.  It took me awhile to get this.  It sounds counter-intuitive but it's true, assuming that you have at least a decent product - not perfect, but good information that represents a fair exchange of value for what you're charging for it. 

If that's true, then there are more important pieces of the puzzle you should probably focus on rather than trying to make your "good" product "perfect".

1. Getting traffic to your site - of course you need to get people to your site in order to make sales.  This goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyway.
2. Improving the conversion rate of your sales page - once you get people to your site, are they buying?  If not, why?  What can you do to increase the rate at which they purchase and, therefore, how much each visitor is worth to you?
3. Offering a premium version of your product - once people are purchasing, can you add something to the offer to create a premium version?  Maybe you can offer a free consultation, paid support for an additional fee, a quick start guide, or something else that at least a percentage of people will be willing to pay extra for.
4. Offering backend products - are there other related products that you have or that you're an affiliate for that you can offer your buyers?  Are those offers on your thank you page, in your follow up email sequence and other "leaky" places?  Again, the goal here is increasing the visitor value for a given amount of traffic.

Focusing on tweaking, perfecting or adding to your product before you even start promoting it will probably just leave you spinning your wheels and with an empty bank account.  You can always go back later on and add to it, rework those pieces that need updating or tweaking.  You'll also be able to get feedback from customers who purchase the initial version.

So the bottom line is if your product is good enough to get "out the door", start promoting it, get traffic to your site and work on converting that traffic to improve visitor value.  Down the road, you can come back and add to it.  Just be sure you don't start promoting something that's garbage - of course, it should still be valuable information for your target market.

Popularity: 72% [?]

Don't Go Stupid While Building Your Online Business

If you didn't know already, I was an officer in the Air Force for just over 8 years.  The other day I was thinking about some of the stuff we learned back then in my career field.  One day we talked about how certain types of "smart bombs" worked.  In this case, the gist of it is that a laser is reflected off the target and that reflection is picked up by a little doohickey in the nose of the bomb.  That thing is tied to the fins on the back of the bomb that guide it down the path to the target and adjust it's course to the left and right.  At least I think that's how it went…it's admittedly a little fuzzy in my head but that explanation serves our purposes here. 

So if you looked at that path of this thing as it's coming down towards Mother Earth, more than likely it would be a series of zig-zags to the left and right combined with being too high or too low at any given time.  Bottom line is that the thing is almost constantly off course, overshooting or undershooting the target and has to continually correct course in order to hit the bullseye.

What can we learn from this as entrepreneurs?  Well…

Notice that the bomb doesn't go a little off course and decide, "Hey, this just isn't working.  I don't wanna' hit that target".  Nope, instead it immediately takes action to get back on course.  Then inevitably…whoops, over-corrected and off course again.  Time to get back on course again.

That's the same way we need to be as entrepreneurs.  Have you tried something related to your online business that didn't work as well as you thought it would, or that was a complete disaster?   Did you immediately take what you learned from that experience and get back on course?  Or did you go "off course" saying "This stuff doesn't work" and other such nonsense.

Note: On those occasions when a so-called "smart bomb" does end up going off course, the pilots say that one "went stupid".

Bottom line: Most of us get from point A to point B in a series of zig-zags rather than a straight line.  When you find out you zigged when you should have zagged, get back on course and don't "go stupid".

Popularity: 67% [?]

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