Saturday, November 12, 2005
Write Articles that Get You Better Results
Like I promised last night, here are tips on writing syndicated articles that get a burst of results. My first syndicated article was targeted at getting people who hadn't been to my site yet to sign up for my newsletter. In the week after submitting that article, my newsletter subscriptions jumped by 40%.
Granted, my article didn't follow all the points I'm laying out here; I consider my research still a work in progress and I'm improving my approach as I go. Take it as a blogosphere version of thinking out loud.
But here goes.
It roughly follows the classic AIDA approach: Attention; Interest; Desire; and Action—but with a twist.
The title of the article needs to get attention. Remember what your fourth-grade teacher taught you about writing titles? Now forget it—completely! No bland summary of your article is going to get your readers' attention. You need to stop them in their tracks.
Give them something that reverses common thinking, something that raises their fear of losing out on something, anything that raises a question in their mind that will drive them into your article to find the answer.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a great title I had seen in someone else's article: "Thinking INSIDE the Box." That title grabbed me by the curiosity and forced me to read it. I'm sure it's raising your curiosity as well. It described the pitfalls of focusing so much on unconventional thinking that you lose sight of what you're trying to accomplish. Now, if it had had the title, "The Importance of Structure," would I have had the same burning desire to find out what it was about? Would you? No way!
The title of any article must grab attention to have any hope of getting overburdened readers to dive into it.
Once they're in it, we get into the middle two parts of the classic AIDA structure. The article must hold their Interest and arouse their Desire. I add to the mix that it must subtly build your
Credibility as well (but for the sake of opera fans around the world, let's not mess with the AIDA acronym).
Holding their interest means that it must be relevant to their needs. It can't be merely recycled basic info, but must actually help them understand and grow in whatever they were seeking to find out.
By offering helpful information instead of just filler, you also build your Credibility. You change their mindset toward you into seeing you as someone who wants to and is able to help them with what they wanted to know.
This change in mindset helps to arouse their Desire. Nobody expects you to be able to completely cover a complex subject in 800 words. Ideally, your article should be helpful enough to get them wanting more of what you have to offer. It should answer basic questions while raising larger ones that lead them to be willing to take that next step.
Now, I want to stress at this point that the article should not deal directly with the product or service that you want to promote. The article deals with the problem or question that they want help dealing with. The article shows you are knowledgeable about that problem and could possibly help them find a solution.
The place where you start to offer the bigger solutions is in your resource box at the end of the article. This "About the Author" information should be more than just a dry list of facts about you. It must also stir them to take the Action you want them to take.
Instead of saying, "Pat Author is an expert in blah-blah-blah. Visit Pat's website at www.patauthor.com," dangle a carrot in front of them. Entice them with the specific solutions they can find at your site or can receive by signing up for your newsletter or by clicking further and doing whatever action you would like them to do.
In a sense, the resource box brings us full circle. The title aroused their curiosity to get them to dive into reading the article. Now the resource box must arouse their curiosity and their desire to get them to click into your site, where you start the cycle all over again.
And for the sake of example, here's a sample resource box I've used to entice people to sign up for my newsletter:
About the Author
Jeff Baas, is owner of One Stop Web Support. Sign up for his newsletter and get over $250 worth of gifts to help your online business succeed. Why would he offer this? Check his newsletter signup page where he'll explain how he can do this and why doing similar things can help you succeed online.
Get the idea? It works.
Jeff
Like I promised last night, here are tips on writing syndicated articles that get a burst of results. My first syndicated article was targeted at getting people who hadn't been to my site yet to sign up for my newsletter. In the week after submitting that article, my newsletter subscriptions jumped by 40%.
Granted, my article didn't follow all the points I'm laying out here; I consider my research still a work in progress and I'm improving my approach as I go. Take it as a blogosphere version of thinking out loud.
But here goes.
It roughly follows the classic AIDA approach: Attention; Interest; Desire; and Action—but with a twist.
The title of the article needs to get attention. Remember what your fourth-grade teacher taught you about writing titles? Now forget it—completely! No bland summary of your article is going to get your readers' attention. You need to stop them in their tracks.
Give them something that reverses common thinking, something that raises their fear of losing out on something, anything that raises a question in their mind that will drive them into your article to find the answer.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a great title I had seen in someone else's article: "Thinking INSIDE the Box." That title grabbed me by the curiosity and forced me to read it. I'm sure it's raising your curiosity as well. It described the pitfalls of focusing so much on unconventional thinking that you lose sight of what you're trying to accomplish. Now, if it had had the title, "The Importance of Structure," would I have had the same burning desire to find out what it was about? Would you? No way!
The title of any article must grab attention to have any hope of getting overburdened readers to dive into it.
Once they're in it, we get into the middle two parts of the classic AIDA structure. The article must hold their Interest and arouse their Desire. I add to the mix that it must subtly build your
Credibility as well (but for the sake of opera fans around the world, let's not mess with the AIDA acronym).
Holding their interest means that it must be relevant to their needs. It can't be merely recycled basic info, but must actually help them understand and grow in whatever they were seeking to find out.
By offering helpful information instead of just filler, you also build your Credibility. You change their mindset toward you into seeing you as someone who wants to and is able to help them with what they wanted to know.
This change in mindset helps to arouse their Desire. Nobody expects you to be able to completely cover a complex subject in 800 words. Ideally, your article should be helpful enough to get them wanting more of what you have to offer. It should answer basic questions while raising larger ones that lead them to be willing to take that next step.
Now, I want to stress at this point that the article should not deal directly with the product or service that you want to promote. The article deals with the problem or question that they want help dealing with. The article shows you are knowledgeable about that problem and could possibly help them find a solution.
The place where you start to offer the bigger solutions is in your resource box at the end of the article. This "About the Author" information should be more than just a dry list of facts about you. It must also stir them to take the Action you want them to take.
Instead of saying, "Pat Author is an expert in blah-blah-blah. Visit Pat's website at www.patauthor.com," dangle a carrot in front of them. Entice them with the specific solutions they can find at your site or can receive by signing up for your newsletter or by clicking further and doing whatever action you would like them to do.
In a sense, the resource box brings us full circle. The title aroused their curiosity to get them to dive into reading the article. Now the resource box must arouse their curiosity and their desire to get them to click into your site, where you start the cycle all over again.
And for the sake of example, here's a sample resource box I've used to entice people to sign up for my newsletter:
About the Author
Jeff Baas, is owner of One Stop Web Support. Sign up for his newsletter and get over $250 worth of gifts to help your online business succeed. Why would he offer this? Check his newsletter signup page where he'll explain how he can do this and why doing similar things can help you succeed online.
Get the idea? It works.
Jeff
Friday, November 11, 2005
Building an Opt-in List
One of the most important parts of an online business is to develop ways to grow and keep in contact with your visitors/customers. I'll admit I haven't worked nearly as hard as I should on this. My newsletter subscription list still is in its early phases, but is growing steadily.
I've done really only two promotions to boost my list, though, and both have been very successful. I submitted my newsletter to a good number of ezine directories and got a sudden rush of subscriptions right after I submitted.
And an even bigger influx of subscribers have come from my article submissions, approximetely 30% of my current subscribers.
I've used a couple of tools to speed both submission processes and I recommend them both. Ezine Announcer was fast and easy to use for submitting my newsletter to the ezine directories and Article Announcer has been outstanding for submitting articles to article directories and lists. I've found them to cover everything I need to make promoting my site and ezine quick and simple in the limited time I have.
Give them a look if building your traffic and increasing your subscriptions is a priority. (And if it isn't a priority, it's time to rethink the priorities for your business!)
I'll talk a little more tomorrow night about some specific strategies I used to boost subscriptions with articles.
Jeff
One of the most important parts of an online business is to develop ways to grow and keep in contact with your visitors/customers. I'll admit I haven't worked nearly as hard as I should on this. My newsletter subscription list still is in its early phases, but is growing steadily.
I've done really only two promotions to boost my list, though, and both have been very successful. I submitted my newsletter to a good number of ezine directories and got a sudden rush of subscriptions right after I submitted.
And an even bigger influx of subscribers have come from my article submissions, approximetely 30% of my current subscribers.
I've used a couple of tools to speed both submission processes and I recommend them both. Ezine Announcer was fast and easy to use for submitting my newsletter to the ezine directories and Article Announcer has been outstanding for submitting articles to article directories and lists. I've found them to cover everything I need to make promoting my site and ezine quick and simple in the limited time I have.
Give them a look if building your traffic and increasing your subscriptions is a priority. (And if it isn't a priority, it's time to rethink the priorities for your business!)
I'll talk a little more tomorrow night about some specific strategies I used to boost subscriptions with articles.
Jeff
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Three Key Questions of Selling
The second question deals with your credibility. There are others out there who offer the exact same solution. Why should those customers buy it from you? Why not look for somebody else?
Find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that makes it advantageous for them to buy it from you rather than from someone else. Whether it's the fact that you have years more experience, quicker shipping, better bonuses—whatever—make sure you communicate something that makes it imperitive that they buy from you.
The final question deals with timing. Why buy it now? Why not sleep on it tonight? Or for a week? Or for a month? Or for a... now what was that I was thinking of buying, anyway?
You don't want them to wander off to likely never make the purchase from you. You want to give them a reason to buy now—a deadline, a special offer—something to put a fire in their pants to pull out their credit card right now. If you consistently provide solid answers to all three questions, you greatly increase your sales.
Jeff
Just a quick one tonight: the three key questions of selling. These are questions that need to be answered in any sales process.
- Why should I buy this product?
- Why should I buy this product from you?
- Why should I buy this product from you now?
The second question deals with your credibility. There are others out there who offer the exact same solution. Why should those customers buy it from you? Why not look for somebody else?
Find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that makes it advantageous for them to buy it from you rather than from someone else. Whether it's the fact that you have years more experience, quicker shipping, better bonuses—whatever—make sure you communicate something that makes it imperitive that they buy from you.
The final question deals with timing. Why buy it now? Why not sleep on it tonight? Or for a week? Or for a month? Or for a... now what was that I was thinking of buying, anyway?
You don't want them to wander off to likely never make the purchase from you. You want to give them a reason to buy now—a deadline, a special offer—something to put a fire in their pants to pull out their credit card right now. If you consistently provide solid answers to all three questions, you greatly increase your sales.
Jeff
Monday, November 07, 2005
Psst... Wanna Sneak into a Great Private Web Marketing Forum?
You may have heard me mention my favorite Web marketing forum occasionally in my blog. It's run by SiteSell and is open to people who use their SiteBuildIt! website building tool.
It's a great forum, in which successful site owners (many of whom have sites who rank in the top 1% most visited sites on the Internet), share ideas and strategies to help each other build their businesses.
I've always wanted to recommend this forum, but I know that not everyone is in the market for a complete site-building package. One of the forum members just suggested to me, though, a way that non-SiteBuildIt! owners can take part in the forum.
The forum is also open to SiteSell affiliates, so if you'd like to benefit from the tons of experience and great advice on this forum, go to the SiteSell main page and look for the affiliate signup icon in the upper right corner. Sign up as an affiliate and you can freely join in the discussion (or just lurk in the background and learn). And, if you're so inclined, you can even make some money while you're at it, promoting a wide range of great web marketing products.
Jeff
You may have heard me mention my favorite Web marketing forum occasionally in my blog. It's run by SiteSell and is open to people who use their SiteBuildIt! website building tool.
It's a great forum, in which successful site owners (many of whom have sites who rank in the top 1% most visited sites on the Internet), share ideas and strategies to help each other build their businesses.
I've always wanted to recommend this forum, but I know that not everyone is in the market for a complete site-building package. One of the forum members just suggested to me, though, a way that non-SiteBuildIt! owners can take part in the forum.
The forum is also open to SiteSell affiliates, so if you'd like to benefit from the tons of experience and great advice on this forum, go to the SiteSell main page and look for the affiliate signup icon in the upper right corner. Sign up as an affiliate and you can freely join in the discussion (or just lurk in the background and learn). And, if you're so inclined, you can even make some money while you're at it, promoting a wide range of great web marketing products.
Jeff
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Finding Content for Your Site with the SearchIt! Free Research Tool
The SearchIt! free search tool consists of a window with two dropdown boxes and two text boxes. In the two dropdown boxes, you select the type of search you want to do. In the two text boxes, you select the search criteria (such as keywords or URLs) you want to use.
Rather than repeat the introductory info about SearchIt! that I shared last week, I suggest that you see the October 2nd blog for this information. Or simply realize that it is important to click all the links and read all the instructions that SearchIt! tells you to do.
You'll find SearchIt! A LOT easier and more valuable to use if you do that.
Using SearchIt!
Last week we looked at using SearchIt! for finding a keyword-rich domain name that doesn't violate anyone else's trademarks. This week we'll look at the tools that help you find content that you can either copy or adapt--copyright-free--or use for researching original content to put on your site.
It's important to understand a little terminology that SearchIt! uses in talking about content. You'll see the letters C-T-P-M used over and over again in the information SearchIt! provides about using these options. That's because they rightly see the content on your site as a critical component of its success.
It's an effective process that has proven itself successful over the years with a wide variety of website owners.
At any rate, SearchIt! content searches give you a wide variety of choices for finding content on your subject.
In the Step 1 dropdown box, scroll down under C-T-P-M and select Reference Library for Content.
Click the dropdown box for Step 2: Select Search Type. You'll see the following options.
Yahoo! Creative Commons Search and Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Let's start by looking at the Yahoo! Creative Commons and Wikipedia Encyclopedia options.
This option lets you search for content that is covered by the Creative Content license or is open source, meaning that you are free to use it, royalty-free, or adapt it as long as you follow whatever restrictions the writer has specified along with the content. This is a great way to jump start your content, either by using info as-is or using it as a starting point for building your own content.
Type a keyword or keyword phrase in the Step 3 box. Click the SearchIt! button. Read the information page about this search (they have some excellent suggestions about how to use Creative Content and open source content to build your own) and click the link at the bottom of that page to show your results.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia and Columbia Encyclopedia
Both of these options allow you to search extensive information about your subject matter so you can research your own content. These works are covered by copyright and cannot be copied for your site.
Type a keyword into the Step 3 box. Click the SearchIt! button. Click the search results link at the bottom of the page to show your results.
Google Print
Google Print can help you in two ways. It can direct you to books about your subject that are covered by copyright and available for you to use in researching your content. Or it can lead you to books in the public domain (whose copyrights have expired) and thus are available for you to use royalty-free. A number of business owners have specialized in copying entire public domain books and selling them as ebooks in niche markets where their information is still in demand (such as old-time craft books or Victorian decorating books).
Type a keyword into the Step 3 box. Click the SearchIt! button. Again, read the introductory page for more tips and then click the link at the bottom of the page to see your results.
Answers.com
Answers.com gives you material from top authoritive sources to use in researching your topic.
Type a keyword in the Step 3 box and click the SearchIt! button. Click the link at the bottom of the page to see your results.
FindAnswers
This tool searches for articles on your topic. Type a keyword in the Step 3 box and a year in the Step 4 box. Click the link at the bottom of the page and you'll see all the articles in the FindAnswers database beginning from the year you specified.
Fresh Google Web Pages
This slick tool lets you see any pages on your topic that Google has recently indexed. You can also use it to check what page of your site or a competitor's site Google has recently indexed. Type your keyword or domain name in the Step 3 box and the number of days back you want to check. Click the SearchIt! button and then click the link at the bottom of the introductory page to see your results.
Google News and Yahoo! News
Both of these let you check for the latest information on your topic in Google News and Yahoo! News. Type your keyword in the Step 3 box. (Put quotation marks around any keyword phrase of two or more words.) Type any words you want excluded from your search in the Step 4 box (or type a few random letters if you don't want any words excluded from your search). Click the SearchIt! button and then click the link at the bottom of the introductory page to see your results.
Topix.net, NewsNow, The BIG Five, and Time Magazine Archives
These options operate the same way as the Google News and Yahoo! News options, except that you don't use the Step 4 box. (Note also that with NewsNow, you are limited to one-word keywords).
Bartleby's Quotations
You can use Bartleby's Quotations to search for suitable quotations to drive a point home in your content. Again, type your keyword in the Step 3 box, click the SearchIt! button, and click the link at the bottom of the introductory page. (Take time to read the introductory page. It has some good info on the power of quotations.)
Next week
This Sunday, I've covered just one set of options for finding useful content for your site, Next week I'll cover some more.
All in all, SearchIt! can find you lots of valuable information. The main thing to remember is to READ THE DIRECTIONS. With as many tools packed into this one interface, you're not going to take one look at it and intuitively understand how to use every one of them. But the directions they give are easy, and they do more than just tell you how to use each tool; they also throw in tips on how to use the results you receive to make your site more successful.
SearchIt! is one of these free tools that really produces value for you. I recommend that you check it out and make it a part of your web marketing arsenal.
Jeff
The SearchIt! free search tool consists of a window with two dropdown boxes and two text boxes. In the two dropdown boxes, you select the type of search you want to do. In the two text boxes, you select the search criteria (such as keywords or URLs) you want to use.
Rather than repeat the introductory info about SearchIt! that I shared last week, I suggest that you see the October 2nd blog for this information. Or simply realize that it is important to click all the links and read all the instructions that SearchIt! tells you to do.
You'll find SearchIt! A LOT easier and more valuable to use if you do that.
Using SearchIt!
Last week we looked at using SearchIt! for finding a keyword-rich domain name that doesn't violate anyone else's trademarks. This week we'll look at the tools that help you find content that you can either copy or adapt--copyright-free--or use for researching original content to put on your site.
It's important to understand a little terminology that SearchIt! uses in talking about content. You'll see the letters C-T-P-M used over and over again in the information SearchIt! provides about using these options. That's because they rightly see the content on your site as a critical component of its success.
SiteSell, which provides SearchIt! teaches that there are four steps to building a successful site:
- Content
- Traffic
- Pre-Sell
- Monetization
It's an effective process that has proven itself successful over the years with a wide variety of website owners.
At any rate, SearchIt! content searches give you a wide variety of choices for finding content on your subject.
In the Step 1 dropdown box, scroll down under C-T-P-M and select Reference Library for Content.
Click the dropdown box for Step 2: Select Search Type. You'll see the following options.
- Yahoo! Creative Commons Search
- Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
- Wikipedia Encyclopedia
- Columbia Encyclopedia
- Google Print
- Answers.com
- FindAnswers
- Fresh Google Web Pages
- Google News
- Yahoo! News
- Topix.net News
- NewsNow
- The BIG Five - CNN, New York Times, BBC, USA Today, Washington Post
- TIME Magazine Archive: 1923 - Present
- Bartleby Quotations
Yahoo! Creative Commons Search and Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Let's start by looking at the Yahoo! Creative Commons and Wikipedia Encyclopedia options.
This option lets you search for content that is covered by the Creative Content license or is open source, meaning that you are free to use it, royalty-free, or adapt it as long as you follow whatever restrictions the writer has specified along with the content. This is a great way to jump start your content, either by using info as-is or using it as a starting point for building your own content.
Type a keyword or keyword phrase in the Step 3 box. Click the SearchIt! button. Read the information page about this search (they have some excellent suggestions about how to use Creative Content and open source content to build your own) and click the link at the bottom of that page to show your results.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia and Columbia Encyclopedia
Both of these options allow you to search extensive information about your subject matter so you can research your own content. These works are covered by copyright and cannot be copied for your site.
Type a keyword into the Step 3 box. Click the SearchIt! button. Click the search results link at the bottom of the page to show your results.
Google Print
Google Print can help you in two ways. It can direct you to books about your subject that are covered by copyright and available for you to use in researching your content. Or it can lead you to books in the public domain (whose copyrights have expired) and thus are available for you to use royalty-free. A number of business owners have specialized in copying entire public domain books and selling them as ebooks in niche markets where their information is still in demand (such as old-time craft books or Victorian decorating books).
Type a keyword into the Step 3 box. Click the SearchIt! button. Again, read the introductory page for more tips and then click the link at the bottom of the page to see your results.
Answers.com
Answers.com gives you material from top authoritive sources to use in researching your topic.
Type a keyword in the Step 3 box and click the SearchIt! button. Click the link at the bottom of the page to see your results.
FindAnswers
This tool searches for articles on your topic. Type a keyword in the Step 3 box and a year in the Step 4 box. Click the link at the bottom of the page and you'll see all the articles in the FindAnswers database beginning from the year you specified.
Fresh Google Web Pages
This slick tool lets you see any pages on your topic that Google has recently indexed. You can also use it to check what page of your site or a competitor's site Google has recently indexed. Type your keyword or domain name in the Step 3 box and the number of days back you want to check. Click the SearchIt! button and then click the link at the bottom of the introductory page to see your results.
Google News and Yahoo! News
Both of these let you check for the latest information on your topic in Google News and Yahoo! News. Type your keyword in the Step 3 box. (Put quotation marks around any keyword phrase of two or more words.) Type any words you want excluded from your search in the Step 4 box (or type a few random letters if you don't want any words excluded from your search). Click the SearchIt! button and then click the link at the bottom of the introductory page to see your results.
Topix.net, NewsNow, The BIG Five, and Time Magazine Archives
These options operate the same way as the Google News and Yahoo! News options, except that you don't use the Step 4 box. (Note also that with NewsNow, you are limited to one-word keywords).
Bartleby's Quotations
You can use Bartleby's Quotations to search for suitable quotations to drive a point home in your content. Again, type your keyword in the Step 3 box, click the SearchIt! button, and click the link at the bottom of the introductory page. (Take time to read the introductory page. It has some good info on the power of quotations.)
Next week
This Sunday, I've covered just one set of options for finding useful content for your site, Next week I'll cover some more.
All in all, SearchIt! can find you lots of valuable information. The main thing to remember is to READ THE DIRECTIONS. With as many tools packed into this one interface, you're not going to take one look at it and intuitively understand how to use every one of them. But the directions they give are easy, and they do more than just tell you how to use each tool; they also throw in tips on how to use the results you receive to make your site more successful.
SearchIt! is one of these free tools that really produces value for you. I recommend that you check it out and make it a part of your web marketing arsenal.
Jeff
Catching Up
I finally got the newsletter archives caught up today. It's been behind because of a sudden influx of billable assignments, but now is up to date. I still need to get a few new articles in and some cosmetic work done to improve the usability of some key pages, but at least the embarassment of having the newsletter archive obviously out of date is off my shoulders now.
It's funny how little things like that can weigh on you. It feels like a big weight has been lifted. Sometimes you just need to attack the projects that provide a feeling of being stuck and clear them away.
I've found that doing that often gives me new energy to move forward. The important thing to remember is to use that energy to actually move forward and not get stuck in a rut of constantly organizing and doing the maintenance things.
You need to spend time clearing out the things that have piled up on you, but you can't let that become a "safe haven" to avoid the new and unfamiliar activities that push your business forward. As with everything in life, there's a balance to maintain.
Jeff
I finally got the newsletter archives caught up today. It's been behind because of a sudden influx of billable assignments, but now is up to date. I still need to get a few new articles in and some cosmetic work done to improve the usability of some key pages, but at least the embarassment of having the newsletter archive obviously out of date is off my shoulders now.
It's funny how little things like that can weigh on you. It feels like a big weight has been lifted. Sometimes you just need to attack the projects that provide a feeling of being stuck and clear them away.
I've found that doing that often gives me new energy to move forward. The important thing to remember is to use that energy to actually move forward and not get stuck in a rut of constantly organizing and doing the maintenance things.
You need to spend time clearing out the things that have piled up on you, but you can't let that become a "safe haven" to avoid the new and unfamiliar activities that push your business forward. As with everything in life, there's a balance to maintain.
Jeff
© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Jeff Baas, One Stop Web Support
