How to Market with Ezine Articles

Copyright © Charlie Page


Of all the ways that people have invented to sell things over the Internet, writing free articles to run in ezines is perhaps the most effective. One great thing about this method of marketing is that you can do it with NO money. So if you are just starting your Internet marketing career, put away the Visa and warm up that keyboard! Article marketing may be the perfect way to market. It's free to do. It educates prospects. It gets your message in front of thousands of interested prospects you would NEVER reach otherwise. It's viral. Best of all ... it works!

So what is "article marketing" and how can it impact your world? Glad you asked. ;) What we call "article marketing" is simply writing informative articles and having those articles run in ezines. If that sounds hard, it's not. Let's run the numbers for a moment.

There are over 300,000 ezines out there. Estimates say that over 90% of them use free articles in their ezines. That means there is a HUGE market for your articles, no matter what you want to write about.

We like to say it this way. From cat food to Katmandu, there's an ezine out there for everyone. You included.


The Big Picture

The first step is to understand the goal of article marketing. The goal is to write an informative article and have it run in as many TARGETED ezines as possible. When people read the article they see your resource box at the end of the article, click to your website and buy your stuff. They learn something, and you make money. Very simple.

Notice the emphasis on targeted? Please, please, whatever you do, do not waste an editors time with articles that they don't need. One of the greatest things about the Directory of Ezines is that you can use it to find the perfect ezines for your articles ... fast. Use the DOE, but never spam editors with articles they can't use.

<Getting off soapbox now> ;)


How to Write the Article

You want to write an informative article about something you know. Once you chose your subject, here's the magic formula for writing the article. Five easy steps.

1. Be yourself. Don't try to write like anyone else. Let your personality shine through.

2. Tell a story. People love to hear an interesting story.

3. Limit yourself to 600 words. This is an ideal length for most ezines. Format your article to 65 characters per line with a hard return at the end of each line.

4. Have a clear opening, make three or five points it the middle, and have a brief conclusion.

5. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Give the reader a few steps he or she can take to make your idea work for them. Tell them what to do first, second, third to accomplish the task you are writing about.

If the reader can take ACTION based on what you wrote (just like you can now apply this formula to your writing) you will have delivered valuable information to them. Do that and, hopefully, they will keep reading your stuff! ;)

How to Find the Right Ezines

The absolute, 100% effective, surefire way to do this is to use the Directory of Ezines. Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

Look for ezines that have these three things. First, the ezine content matches your article content. Second, the ezine accepts articles. Third, the reader is someone who would be a good customer for you. Once you nail down those basics you have found the perfect market for your articles.


How to Approach the Editor

The BEST way to approach an editor is this.

1. Subscribe to the ezine.

2. Read a few issues.

3. Write a personal note commenting on what you enjoyed about the issues that you read.

4. Offer your article as one that might fit in.

5. Ask to be informed if your article is run.

6. Thank them for their time.

7. Be available if they have questions.

If an editor chooses your article, the odds are they will run your articles in the future as well. Stay in touch and you can develop close relationships with literally hundreds of editors. Remember that each editor represents thousands of readers that you may never reach any other way. Also remember that the editor is a busy person. Keep your email brief.


How to Maximize Your ROI

Include a "resource box" at the end of the article. A resource box is where you sell the reader on going to your website, subscribing to your ezine, or taking any other action you want them to take.

Marketing with ezine articles is truly a win-win-win proposition. The publisher wins because he or she gets great free articles. The reader wins because your article is informative and tells them how to accomplish an important task as easy as 1,2,3. You win because hundreds of thousands of readers see your selling message at the end of your article.

All of this with no out-of-pocket costs. Now THAT'S a beautiful thing!

Feature Article: Make the Leap to Home Based Business Success
Copyright &copy Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-22643

Before you can have a successful home based business, you must first possess 3 "intangibles." These are things that must come from WITHIN you.

===> Intangible 1 <===

First, you must have a strong WHY.

Why MUST you have a successful home business? What is driving you? What is it that you CAN'T have in your life anymore and/or what is it that you absolutely MUST HAVE now?

For me, I couldn't stand working 12+ hours a day anymore and missing the experience of my children growing up. I also absolutely HAD TO HAVE the freedom of being able to control my life and finances through a little box (laptop computer) that I could carry with me anywhere in the world and not be tied to anyone's time pressures or demands but my own. That was my carrot and my stick. I felt a great pain deep in my gut of missing out on my children's lives and the incredible freedom that succeeding in a home based business would provide for me. I found my why. You MUST find yours.

===> Intangible 2 <===

You must BELIEVE that it is possible.

If you don't believe that it's POSSIBLE for you to have a successful home based business or make your living from home, you won't. It's that simple.

For me, figuring out that it was possible was just a matter of realizing that many other people were ALREADY making great money working from home. If they could do it, I could too. It would just be a matter of figuring out what those people were doing and then adapting it to my situation.

There is no shortage of undeniable PROOF that people (millions of them) are making money working from home. Just get online and do some research and you'll find countless testimonials and stories of REAL PEOPLE making real money on the Internet. Or head to your local bookstore and you'll find the same documented evidence of this fact. Truth is, it's getting easier and easier to make money with your own home based business.

I've always said that "affiliate marketing" (a simple way to make money from home) is the job of the future. In the "old" days, you had to go to a potential employer, apply for the position and hope for the best. Now you can simply go to any company you want, fill out their affiliate application and start work immediately. Affiliates are the new working class. In fact, making money with affiliate programs or making your living on the Internet is WAY MORE than possible. It is pretty much (or will be soon enough) unavoidable now. Affiliate marketing is the "job" of the future that's already here TODAY.

===> Intangible 3 <===

You must be willing to MAKE THE LEAP.

Ready, FIRE, then aim... This is the operating philosophy you MUST adopt to succeed with a home based business.

That's backwards for most people who like to aim before they fire. The fact is that home based business success is a moving target... The only thing constant about it is change. You need to stop analyzing the game and simply jump into it. You can't learn from the outside... You have to be IN THE RING to truly understand it.

The lesson here is that you will never really be READY to start a home based business. You simply have to start one. It's like having children... You're never really ready, but when it happens you adapt and grow. This is what I call "Making the Leap."

The good news is that the cost of failure with having your own home based business is very small. In the "brick and mortar" world you need to evaluate things very carefully before you decide to open up a business. It's almost always necessary to invest thousands of dollars to get an offline business off the ground. However, on the Internet you can often start a successful business for less than $100. The Plug-In Profit Site is a great example of this: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-22643

You simply need to get IN THE GAME... Each moment that you stay "out there," you're wasting valuable time that you could be learning and skills necessary to build a successful home based business. In fact, if you're not in the game yet, you're ALREADY behind the times. Make the leap to creating a successful home based business today!

About the Author:

Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy has helped thousands of people in over 200 countries around the world start and run a successful home business. Discover 3 easy steps to start your own home business and subscribe to The Home Biz Guy's FREE Home Business Secrets Mini-Course at: http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-22643

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