Did you realize that writing and publishing articles online
represents one of the best-kept website traffic secrets?
It's true! In fact, if you learn some basic principles, you
can drive thousands of visitors to your website without
spending any money on advertising. Publishing articles not
only establishes you as an expert in your chosen field, but
also allows you to fly under the natural "radar defenses"
your prospects have against advertising.
But, beware! My experience as a syndicated newspaper
columnist has shown me that people who would otherwise
succeed massively promoting with articles actually fail
because they consistently make one or more of these five
critical mistakes!
Mistake #1 - NOT Defining Your Target Audience
Many article authors make the serious mistake of not
clearly defining a niche audience before writing their
article. Successful article authors always know the exact
"niche" audience they want to reach before they write the
first word.
When targeting your audience, remember this rule: Narrow
and Deep! Always pick an audience with a specific,
pressing, or major interest in a narrow topic!
Mistake #2 - Spamming Ezine Editors
In their desire to cover as much ground as possible, many
article authors resort to spam techniques for submitting
their articles. Instead of tightly targeting appropriate
ezines that cater specifically to their audience, these
authors try to hit "everyone."
By trying to save time, they actually waste every minute
spent writing their article because most ezine editors will
just delete their submissions as spam!
Mistake #3 - Milktoast Topics
You can write the best article in the world, but if your
headline doesn't grab a reader's eyeballs and pull them
into your article - you lose!
Article authors should spend at least half as much time
writing the headline as they spend writing their actual
article.
In fact, an "average" article can get superior results
simply from having a great headline at the beginning.
Mistake #4 - "What's In It For Me"
If they manage to make it past the first 3 pitfalls, many
article authors trip on their shoelaces at this stage of
the process! Don't write about what you want to write
about, only write on topics of high interest to your target
audience.
In other words, give them exactly what they want and they
will love you. Nobody cares how much of an expert you rate
on a particular topic until they know you can deliver
information they need in a way they can use - now!
Mistake #5 - "No Shoe Polish"
You could write an article worthy of the front page of the
Wall Street Journal, but as soon as somebody spots a typo
or misspelling, they immediately put your article lower
than a Sunday sales circular.
Seriously, if you want to undermine all the good you can do
with a great article, send it out without proper spell-
checking!
No matter what product or service you sell, once you
understand the promotion power of free articles, you'll
never look at website traffic generation the same way.
But remember, if you abuse the power, spam ezine editors,
or blatantly pitch people instead of providing real
information, you might as well skip the whole process
altogether.
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved - http://www.thenetreporter.com
About the Author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic,"
that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly
drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or
affiliate link!
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even months... without spending a
dime on advertising! ==> "Turn Words Into
Traffic"