Sunday, June 8, 2008 

7 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Article

Article writing has become, in the last few years one of the most effective ways to get qualified visitors to your web site. The article though, must be able to grab the readers attention and be informative enough to leave the reader with a feeling of having learned something. There are 7 mistakes that you can make which will actually kill your article. Along with not grabbing the readers attention and not being informative, spelling and grammar mistakes, the use of keywords, Plagiarizing, self promotion, and miss use of the resource box will all kill an article. In this article I will explain these mistakes in some detail and ways to avoid them.

First of all you need a title that will grab the readers attention. You want the reader to want to read through your article. Most people are so busy these days that they just skim through to see if there is anything worth reading. Nice catchy titles that start with for example "The 5 Reasons You Should...", "10 Ways To Improve Your...". You get the idea. Once You get them interested with the title, you then want to give them some informative content. something they can take away from the article.

Secondly, the content of your article must have something of value for the reader to stay interested. The content must be informative and educational, give the reader something they didn't know before they read the article. You do not have to be an expert just, Know what you are writing about and do not make the topic to broad, the reader will lose interest quickly. You should also include some well placed key words in your content.

The third mistake is the miss use of key words. You want to use a key word density of 1-3%. You do not want to saturate your article with key words. Search engines will not frown on you if you stay with in the 1-3 % density. It is when you go well beyond the 1-3% that the search engines start to see your article as being auto written. You don't want to have them give you a bad reputation so it's wise to stay within the percentages.

The fourth mistake is a self promoting article. An article that is full of hype and self promotion is transparent and a big turn off to experienced marketers. Those types of articles never get read and surely never get downloaded to other peoples sites, newsletters and e-zines. Self promoting should be left for your personal website or your ads. Stay away from self promoting in your articles. Any kind of promoting of your site or product should be in your resource box.

The fifth mistake is plagiarizing, using someone else's original article as your own. In writing articles original content is the best way to go. If you do not know too much about the subject you want to write about than do some research and take notes. From your notes you can format your article and expand from there. If you like someone's article that you see in a directory you can use it as long as you include the resource box at the end of the article and keep in tact. You must give the original author credit when ever you use their articles.

Number six naturally is resource boxes. These must be used wisely. Do not put too much in this box. This is where you let the reader know who you are, what you do, and where your website is located. You do not want to get to crazy with this because too much can turn a person off. And the whole point of the article is to get the reader interested in who you are so that they can go to your resource box and click on the link to your website. Make sure though that your spelling is correct. You do not want to go through all the trouble of writing a good article and than misspell your website address.

The seventh and probably the most important mistake that is made is that article writers do not use that handy little button on their tool bar that says "SPELL CHECK". It does not matter how good you are at writing. You should always use the spell checker. A Well written article with no spelling or grammar mistakes will show the readers that you are a professional and you care about the product that you put out. After all an article that you write is a product that you put out.

Articles are fun to write and they do bring quality visitors to your website if they are done correctly. Making sure that you do not commit any of these seven mistakes will insure that you write a good quality article that people will want to read. Have fun and may your article writing be a success.

Frank is a very successful Internet Marketer with various Affiliate programs. He makes a living helping people start their Internet Marketing careers, and shows them how to become successful as well. Visit Franks website at :http://www.Home-Biz-For-You.Com You can Pick up Franks Free Home Business Newsletter at:Free Newsletter

Copyright Frank Tello

http://www.Home-Biz-For-you.Com

 

What To Do On A Friday Night - Smart Marketing Strategies For Bar And Nightclub Owners

Targeting New Customers and Encouraging Repeat Business

There are three ways to grow your business; 1. Generate new customers, 2. Encourage existing customers to become more frequent repeat customers, and 3. Increase the average amount your customers spend. In this article, I will outline a tried-and-tested strategy to generate new customers and encourage repeat business, allowing you to focus on boosting individual sale revenues through special product offers. The ideas I present have helped thousands of small businesses just like yours succeed through expanding their customer base and driving repeat sales. But before we get down to business, let's begin with a short story:

You've just arrived to your new home. Your living room is filled with boxes, and your mind is full of the excitement that comes with changing locations, changing routines, and maybe even changing jobs. You're ready to celebrate. But you don't know that much about your new location. You don't know which spots are hot, and which are not. Which clubs offer drink specials, and which have dress codes. You're ready to have funbut now if you could only decide on where.

Sound familiar? Many individuals have been in this situation after moving to a new location; they're eager to get out and explore the nightclub and bar scene in their new towns, but they don't know where to go or who to ask.

As a nightclub or bar owner, these new movers represent a perfect opportunity for you to draw new customers to your location, some of which will likely become your nightly "regulars." But how do you speak to these new movers? How can you attract them to your locale when they don't know anything about the area?

Simple. You make them an offer they can't refuse.

The best way to capture a new mover's attention is to speak to them directly. Send a letter your new mover's home, welcoming her to the neighborhood. Briefly introduce yourself and your business in the letter, and present the customer with an irresistible offer, such as a $20 gift certificate at your establishment. No-strings-attached, no "buy one get one free" offersjust a certificate inviting your new mover to have a night out on you at your establishment.

Chances are you'll see that new mover on Friday night. She'll walk into your bar, armed with your offer for a night of free entertainment, and present you with a chance to create a repeat customer.

People are creatures of habit. If they go to a bar and receive quality service in a fun, friendly, and safe atmosphere, they will most likely think of the same establishment next time they feel like cutting loose.

It's your job as a business owner to make sure that each new mover that enters your bar or nightclub has a great time and leaves excited to return. Make sure your employees provide customers that present New Mover gift certificates with the best service and products available. Explain to your bar staff that these individuals have come to your establishment with a no-strings-attached gift certificate and will most likely tip their wait staff very well. The key is to give your customers a reason to visit you in the first place, and then show them such a good time that they will be eager to return.

While building new relationships with customers is an important part of running a successful business, learning how to drive customers to your door when you need them the most is equally significant. Youve already started to attract new customers with your New Movers program, but you must also begin to start reaching out to your current customers and encourage them to visit your business again and again during times when they normally may not. And heres how to do just that.

Next time a new customer presents a New Movers gift certificate, ask that she sign the back of the offer and provide an email address. Use these email addressesas well as those you should be collecting from existing customersto build up a database of individuals that you know have visited your bar or nightclub in the past and have most likely had a good time. Next time you're expecting a slow Tuesday or Wednesday night, create a special offersay, half price on wells and tapsand email a certificate to the customers who have previously provided you with their email addresses. While they may not usually go out on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, if you impressed and entertained them the last time they visited your establishment, most will probably think about stopping by for a drink with their colleagues on their way home from work that night.

And there you have it. You've turned a slow night into one that has filled your bar or nightclub with familiar faces.

Peter Drucker, a recently deceased marketing guru, said it best when he said that "the purpose of business is not to make a sale, but to make and keep a customer." You must aggressively market your business to customers by providing them with a reason to try out your services, and must impress them enough that they will always be eager to return. In addition, smart businessmen know that the best way to foster repeat business is to target previous customers with offers and specials that they will find hard to resist. Follow these strategies, and your nightly list of "regulars" will continue to grow and grow.

Jay Siff is the CEO and Founder of Moving Targets and Loyal Rewards and is a recognized expert on smart marketing strategies. Siff works closely with small business owners to help them attract new customers and build on existing customer relationships with targeted new mover marketing campaigns and customer loyalty initiatives.

Additional information about Siff, Moving Targets, and Loyal Rewards can be found online at http://www.movingtargets.com and http://www.loyalrewards.com

 

Article Marketing For Cheap Traffic Results

Article marketing is a cheap way to gain traffic to your website. Although it can be time consuming the results of passive traffic far outweigh the initial effort.

Everyday, there are millions of searches done online by people searching for information on particular keywords in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN.

The results shown afterwards are websites with content relevant to the keywords being searched online. As a result, these websites gain search engine traffic through the article content on their websites.

Everyone knows that content is king on the Internet hence article marketing is widely used in almost every website. If you provide good content when you write your articles, you are sure to gain traffic to your website.

You don't have to pay a dime to write articles at all. Of course, if you don't have a penchant for writing articles or you cannot write articles on a certain topic, then you can opt to shell out a bit of money to outsource your article writing.

There are many article writers online who are good at what they do and are willing to write for money.

When you submit you articles to major article directories like EzineArticles, your website gets indexed fast. Visitors reading these articles can then be redirected to your website through your resource box at the end of the articles.

Article marketing is also a good way to build back-links to your website. Imagine this, when other websites retrieve your articles from the article directories, they will pull the whole article out including the resource box and display it on their website hence a visitor coming from their website may just visit yours as well.

Writing articles is also a good way to cement yourself as an authority on the subject. When you write good content and compelling articles, you will gain trust as someone who knows in-dept about the subject you are writing on.

So for cheap traffic results, consider article marketing as part of your marketing efforts.

Remember; only write articles that are useful for the reader as well...

Discover 4 Simple Steps to starting a successful online business and the ONE thing you must have otherwise you'll flush everything else down the drain.

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For more make money online ideas, tips, tools and reviews visit http://talkhomebusinessblog.com

You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content, the links and the resource box intact.

 

Affiliate Marketing Revenue - Explode Your Affiliate Income with Attractive Incentives

Increasing your affiliate marketing revenue as you battle to grab hold of prospects in this competitive landscape is challenging. Anyone who tells you differently is steering you in the wrong direction. If you are an affiliate marketer I'm sure you know the basics, but are you maximizing your potential for the income you deserve? Here are a few ways you can explode your affiliate income by offering your prospects attractive incentives:

  • Be unique - separating yourself from the competition will only work if you stop following the herd and become a leader in your target market. Develop unique marketing campaigns and always make sure to put yourself front and center with everything you do.

  • Worth every penny - why would someone buy the affiliate product you are promoting if some of your competitors are adding bonuses as an incentive for the customers who purchase through their referral link? Create some hard to refuse incentives and you will start to see a big difference in your bottom line.

  • Don't stray - keep your incentives consistent with what you are promoting. Don't go nuts and start offering bonuses that have nothing to do with your target market's interests.

  • Reinvent the wheel -in many cases I would advise trying to stay away from things that are proven to work in the affiliate marketing arena but when it comes to bonuses and incentives you should always be open to trying different things to increase your affiliate marketing revenue.

  • Sense of urgency - a great tactic to use is creating a sense of urgency to your bonuses and incentives. Offer your prospects the opportunity to get the extra products or services if they purchase within a specified time frame (24 hours, 48 hours, 5 days, etc.) or mention the added bonuses are only for the first 100, 200 or 500 people. Keep it reasonable, but make sure you keep your word. Once the limit is reached make sure to remove the offer. Your credibility takes a hit if you don't.

The 5 tips above are some of the powerful things you can take into consideration when looking for ways to increase your affiliate marketing revenue. Being unique in any business landscape is very important and as an affiliate marketer is no different, if not more important. It's tough enough trying to earn a living on the internet, but once you generate a loyal following of customers, prospects, readers and website visitors then you can have long-term success.

Explode Your Affiliate Marketing Revenue By Learning From True Super Affiliates.

Jimmy Adames also provides a free eNewsletter and Membership:

Internet Marketing Basics

(c) Copyright - Jimmy Adames. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

 

Your Road to Easy Search Engine Optimization Techniques

If you have got a new website which is indexed by all the search engines, you must be feeling pretty good about yourself right now. But have you ever thought, despite being regularly indexed why are you still on the last page of a keyword search. This is the worse scenario for your website and your business.

Dont feel dejected as there are numerous chances for you to optimize your website for search engines. On the Internet you can find many articles on, how to increase traffic to your website. Trust me in todays cut throat online competitive world, search engine optimization is well worth your time and won't cost you anything by following a set of basic steps:

A) Select a keyword and key phrase rich domain. This point is pretty self-explanatory as when you register your domain, devote take your time in finding the website name that can be used to your benefit.

B) Proper usage of targeted keywords and key phrases in headings and metatags. After designing your website the next task is content writing or SEO content writing. Make sure you write keyword rich content along with keyword rich headings and metatags. This will help you in getting your website indexed on a regular basis.

C) Get and generate maximum incoming links to your website. This can be easily done by exchanging links with other webmasters, websites, submitting to link directories, writing keyword rich articles, or the somewhat controversial buying links. Select those websites that carry similar or rich content.

You will be bombarded with unlimited theories but no one except Google knows for sure what the actual search engine algorithm is. The steps mentioned above, however, are a sure shot move in the right direction.

The author is dynamic web content writer and budding SEO. He has got the experience in writing quality content for various websites and getting them optimized too. You can view his website for more information.

 

5 SEO Techniques For Beginners

1. Focus your page: Each page should focus on one keyword or key phrase. Your keyword should appear in the title, the heading tag and one in bold on the page. You can bold one other closely related keyword or phrase, but do not overdo it. Check the keyword density of the page. There are plenty of free online tools to check the keyword density. It should be between 5% and 15%. If the density is higher than that then you run the risk of being penalized by the search engines.

2. Choose the proper title tag: Your title tag is the first thing a search engine spider sees, so it is on of the most important SEO tools you have. You title should consist of only 1 thing - the keyword of your page. The title tag is the text that will appear in the title bar of the web browser when someone is visiting your page. Take a look at the title of this page.

3. Design your site for your visitors AND search engines: Many experts advise designing your site for your visitors and not worrying about the search engines as much. However, with today's tools, it is very easy to design a site that both your visitors and search engines will like. Make sure to use ALT tags for all of your images. Avoid the use of frames, flash and javascript. Have someone other than your mother or your spouse give you an objective opinion about your site. Is it is pleasing to look at? Is it easy to navigate? Would they come back?

4. Use unique content: Search engines like unique content. Do not fill your website with articles like this that you found on a free article site. It is fine to use some of them, but you must have content that is not found anywhere else on the web. Ideally, all of the content on your main page should be unique as this is the first page the search engine will come across. But if you want some individual pages indexed for a particular keyword, then at least the top content of the page should be unique.

5. Use backlinks effectively: A backlink is when another website links to your site. There are many ways to obtain backlinks (which is a topic for another article) but once you have the opportunity for a backlink, you should use it wisely. Make sure that your keyword is in the text of the link. For example, if the link text is "click here" the link will not carry as much weight with a search engine as the link text "Cookie Recipes" will - assuming the linked page is about cookies recipes.

You can read more about using SEO and other techniques to increase your website traffic at DriveTrafficOnline. Be sure to sign up for a FREE 30-day course on getting targeted traffic to your site.

 

So What's Wrong With A Little Shameless Self-Promotion?

I was sitting at my laptop the other day just minding my own business, not bothering a living soul. I promise. I wasn't bothering anyone.

Well, as history would have it, my step-daughter walked in the door carrying a package addressed to me. I was astonished when she announced who it was from. Really astonished.

"EzineArticles," she said, handing me the package.

"You're kidding?" I turned. "EzineArticles? What are they sending me?"

I was surprised, you see, because, as we all know, EzineArticles is an Internet business. I get e-mails from them all the time. Why would I be getting a snail mail package from an online business, and an article directory, no less?

Well, I raced to open the package. I was curious. I was so curious, in fact, that all my other mail just fell to a stack of unopened envelopes of various sizes. But that package, the one from EzineArticles, attracted my attention the most. It couldn't wait.

I ripped, I tore, I swore, I sunk my teeth into the tape and incised the heck out of that package until it finally snapped and bore its contents right before my very eyes. Oh, and what a sweet surprise!

I gazed in awe at a brand new coffee mug, complete with the EzineArticles logo and web address on it. Magnificent! How did Chris Knight know I like coffee? I thought.

Well, it was the best Thanksgiving gift I've ever received. The letter accompanying it said so:

"Thanks for being an EzineArticles.com Platinum-level author! You're receiving this small token of our appreciation for sending in your best articles."

My goodness. It was signed by none other than Christopher Knight himself. What an honor!

Now, I was aware that Chris and EzineArticles.com was taking advantage of my addiction to coffee for the purpose of shamelessly promoting their article directory in the privacy of my home. But I didn't care! I love coffee. I drink it every day.

I've never given Chris any money. I've never spent one dime at EzineArticles.com. It's a totally free article directory and I use it for all it's worth. Sure, I have about 30 articles listed there, but is that anything to speak of? Is that any reason to appreciate me, little old me? I mean, I'm just some guy who uses them to shamelessly promote my business. I do it about once a week. Should I stop? I wondered.

Well, I've slept on it and I've decided I won't stop. I like coffee too much and I'm hoping next year Chris will send me another mug so I can give it to my wife. After all, she likes coffee too. And there's really nothing wrong with a little shameless self-promotion every now and then. Thank you, Chris! And may the universe bless you and your sweet little mug this year with lots of articles on coffee addiction.

Allen Taylor is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer. He is the operations manager for a full-service content provider at http://www.articlecontentprovider.com.