Okay, so I was on the warrior forum today and I just read a recent post about article marketing which I deemed to have some of the most simple but quality steps to writing profitable articles I’ve come across recently so I thought I’d share those with you. Thanks go, by the way, to “JJ Manning” for these excellent pointers. By the way, I was to lazy to re-type it all up so I just did a simple ctrl+c, ctrl+v.
Step 1 - Find something to promote.This step seems to catch a lot of new marketers out, because they make it more difficult than it actually is. Remember, for now you just want to find something to promote, write some articles and hopefully earn some affiliate income. You are getting your toes wet, testing the water. You are not looking for the super niche that will let you retire into the sunset. If you do, you will spend all your time searching and no time earning! As your experience and earnings grow you will become more adept at finding profitable niches.www.ezinearticles.com . There are 100s of niches on there and most people are writing articles to promote something.www.clickbank.com where you can find digital products to promote on almost any niche.www.bummarketingmethod.com (its free by signing up to Travis’s list) as it explains finding good article title keywords better than I ever could.http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
The simplest and quickest way I have found for newbies to find a niche and a product to promote is…….Copy what others are promoting.
Simply check out what everyone else is writing articles about and what products they are promoting at ezine articles –
It can be pet health care, skin products, electrical products, you name it, there are articles and affiliate products on most topics. Take some time to browse the different sections on EAs, find articles and look at what they are promoting. Follow the link in the resource box and see where it leads.
Now some links will lead to a squeeze page. This is where they are trying to coax you to hand over your email address. Ignore these. That lesson is for another day. And before some of you start shouting, you must build a list. I know, but for now we want some quick wins. Building the list can come later.
So - find articles that are actively promoting products. This can be through a review page or a redirect where the link redirects you to the merchant sales page.
You can either join the affiliate program the articles in that niche are promoting or type into google “name of niche” + affiliate and this will bring up plenty of affiliate programs for you to promote.
Alternatively check out
Not so hard is it?!
Step 2 – Set up a free Blog at www.blogger.com
This is easy. I have learnt a lot over the past couple of years, but when I started I knew nothing of HTML and I managed to set up a free blog in minutes – it’s that easy. Of course if you have the funds, you should set-up your own website, but for now, blogger will do just fine and it’s free.
Your blog should be set up with a name that is relevant to your niche. Ie if your niche is the Siamese cat insurance niche, you could choose something like Siamese cat insurance reviews or if you are writing about a review on a certain product then use the product name in the title.
Set-up really is as simple as that.
Note - I have mentioned blogger, becasue that is what I started with. You can also use wordpress, squidoo or something similar. Once you start earning, you can create your own sites.
Step 3 – Write a product review
Now write a review or two about the product you are about to promote. This may seem difficult at first, especially if you have never used the product.
It’s not – simply do some research, by typing into google “name of product” + review. Remember - try not to over analyze or over think things. Gather as much information about the product as you can and digest it. Now put it all to one side and write a review about it in your own words – Do not copy someone else’s review.
Place your affiliate link within the review with a call to action and load it onto your blog. There are different opinions as to how many times you should place your link in the review. What worked best for me was to have a link at the top, in the middle and at the foot of the review. Others will tell you different. I am just saying what worked for me….
The point is to place it in your review with a little call to action. Ie.
“Do you want to cut your insurance bills by half? Click Here - To find the best deal for Siamese cat insurance”
Step 4 – Finding Keywords for your article title
If you haven’t read the bum marketing method, I suggest you get yourself a copy from here
Basically, you want to choose a keyword that gets a reasonable amount of searches and does not have a great deal of competing websites. The reason being, a good article title can go a long way to getting you on the front page of google.
It’s a simple process and you can use free tools to do it. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember travis used to use inventory overture for keyword research. I would suggest using Free Wordtracker as overture is always down…….Here is the link.
Step 5 – Write your articleswww.socialmarker.com (its free). You will be able to bookmark your article and site to over 40 sites.
For this plan, I suggest only submitting your article to Ezine articles. I use other directories and so can you, but I have had most success with ezine articles and at this stage I don’t want to over complicate things for you.
Every article at ezine articles will be manually approved. You must provide something that will be beneficial to the reader. It is essential you article is not a sales letter or stuffed with your keywords. If it is, it will be rejected and your hard work will have been for nothing.
Content – Before you start jumping in the air shouting ‘JJ - I know nothing about the niche I am promoting’ Don’t worry. Just do some simple research. Remember the review writing process. Same for articles. Read what others have written on the subject. Search the web, especially authority sites, such as the NHS for health related matters, article directories and your local library. All of these are excellent FREE resources.
Once you have gathered your information, read, learn and write an article in your own words – DO NOT COPY and do not simply change a few words from a paragraph. You will be surprised how quickly you pick up information and by doing this you will know more than most others in your new niche.
A point to remember is this - you do not have to be an expert, to be perceived as an expert. Your job is to find a great product and put in front of a hungry crowd – It is not to learn everything there is to possibly know about the product niche. Remember that as this is a major stumbling point for new marketers.
Article length - I have had best success when my article is between 300 and 450 words . And before you break out in cold sweats - That’s really not very long! For simplicity, you can break your article into four parts:
1. Introduction – Tell them what you are going tell them
2. Body – Tell them
3. Conclusion – Tell them Some of the benefits of what you have told them
4. Your Bio – tell them where they can learn more.
By the time you complete stage 1 and 3, you only need to write about 200 words on your topic!
Types of articles - As the old saying goes, ‘there are several ways to skin a cat’ and several ways to write an article. Below are a few ideas:
You can write a review type article. Make sure it’s not a sales pitch or your article will not be approved by ezine articles. Just provide the pros and cons of using / purchasing the product.
You can write a How to article. Simply provides tips on your chosen subject ie How to groom you Siamese cat in 5 easy steps……. Write a sentence or two on each step and you have produced your article!
You can write an informative or educational article. Simply explain something about the subject you are writing about.
Finally, read other peoples articles. Look at the style of writing they use. Does it make you want to read more? If it does, practice using this style.
Grammar - Write as if you are talking to a friend. Don’t get hung up on using the Queens English, as long as it reads ok and your spelling is correct, you will do fine.
Resource / Bio or money maker box.
Ezine articles does not let you link direct to an affiliate product from your article, but they will let you link to your own website or blog. The resource box is where you enter your call to action to entice the reader to click to your product. It must be relevant to the article and must tweak the readers curiosity enough to make them click through to your Blog / site.
A simple Click Here for more information will not get you many clicks to your blog.
The format I have had great success with (25% – 45% CTR) goes something like this.
If your vet bills are costing more than your car payments, click here to discover a specialist Siamese cat insurer that will provide all inclusive cover for only XXXX per month.
Or
Stop paying over the odds for pet insurance. Click here to discover a pet insurer who will beat your current insurance by 20% - guaranteed.
Or
If you are paying more than X for your cat insurance, Click here for information on an insurer who will beat your current insurance by 10% - guaranteed.
Another option is to go back and read more articles and look at the different call to action styles. Which ones make you want to click through? You can then tailor this to your niche.
6 – Link juice your articles and Blog / Site
Now it’s time to social book mark your article (s) and site to get some link juice or votes for your article. The quickest way I know of is to sign up for an account with
I have problems with some sites on social marker when I use internet explorer as it only lets me use about 2/3rds of the sites. I have had much more success using SM with firefox. That being said, SM 30 sites is still a nice bit of juice for your article.
Repeat steps 4 to 6 over a two week period and that’s it. All you need to start affiliate marketing using articles. It’s nothing knew. It’s not rocket science and it is tried and tested.
Note:- Don’t expect sales to satrt pooring in immediately after submitting your first article. This is a gradual process and you may need to test a few different article styles, products or niches.
Of course, this is only the beginning. Once you start seeing a bit of success and find a popular niche(s), you can create a VRE empire by building your own site(s) and look at listbuilding. This is the phase I am now at.
There are also numerous other traffic sources you should develop to complement your article marketing efforts (I have just started a 3 month project to test other sources ot traffic, which includes outsourcing a lot of the labour intensive elements). But all of that is for another day and another post or two.
Okay, so I hope you all found that useful and remember, don’t thank me, thank “JJ Manning” and other contributing warrior forum members. Peace!
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