<< Table of Contents

Part 4a - Article Marketing - 7 Cardinal Rules

Before we go any further, we should cover the rules of article marketing. You can add to my rules as you see fit, but start with these as a bare minimum.

1. Your articles must be your original work.
2. Your articles must be well written.
3. Your articles must be helpful to the reader.
4. Your articles must be relevant to your services.
5. Your articles must point to your website (ideally) or email address.
6. Your articles must give the reader a reason to take further action.
7. You must submit new articles on a regular basis.

You'll see me refer back to these rules many times throughout this chapter, and with good reason. These rules will ensure the success of your article marketing campaign. And don't worry if it seems like a lot of rules. By the time you finish this short chapter, you'll know how to quickly and easily write articles that meet the above requirements.

So, now that we have our list of rules, let's look at the reasons for each item on the list:

1 - Your articles must be your original work.

Article distribution websites require that any work you submit be your own. In other words, no plagiarism. But that's just one reason of many to create your own content. Aside from being the right thing to do, creating original articles will help you position yourself as an authority in your field.

2 - Your articles must be well written.

This does not mean your articles have to be literary masterpieces. It means your articles should be logically structured and easily readable, with proper grammar and spelling. In truth, article distribution sites will publish your articles as long as they meet some very basic criteria for length and formatting. But they won't check your article for spelling, or to make sure it's well written. You'll have to do that, and it's vital that you do.

Your articles will take on a life of their own after you submit them. They could pop up all over the Internet (actually, that's the whole idea). So the last thing you want is a poorly written article circulating on the Internet for months or years. That would do you more harm than good.

3 - Your articles must be useful and interesting.

The articles that do the best for article marketing — the ones that enjoy plenty of reprint and exposure — are the articles that genuinely help readers. The Internet is choked with what I like to call "fluff" articles. Fluff articles are generic to a fault. They don't offer any meat, any specific or helpful content.

Avoid fluff articles. You can help your articles rise to the top by making them helpful. When creating your articles, think along the lines of "How to [blank]" ... or "Seven Steps to Helpful [blank]." We will talk more about content as we move through the chapter.

4 - Your articles must be relevant to your services.

If your articles adhere to all the other rules but are not related to your products or services, they won't help you grow your business. So make sure all of your articles relate to your business in some way. There may only be a loose connection, but there should be a connection nonetheless.

5 - Your articles must point to your website.

A key objective of article marketing is to steer qualified prospects to your business website or blog. Another objective is to increase your website's search engine ranking. To support both of these objectives, you'll need to include a link to your website or blog at the end of each article. Later, we will examine this website link in greater detail.

6 - Your articles must give readers a reason to take action.

Educating your prospects is important. But the end goal of article marketing is to get them to act. You want them to visit your website, subscribe to your newsletter, purchase your products, or contact you directly. So each article must have a properly constructed call-to-action at the end of it. I'll show you how to do this in a later section of the guide.

7 - You must submit new articles on a regular basis.

It's possible to submit a single article and see an increase in website traffic, and possibly even get some new customers out of it. But to capitalize on everything article marketing has to offer, you should make it a regular part of your business. So create a schedule for yourself (of for a freelance writer, if you choose to use one).

We will examine the reason for this repetition later, but for now just understand that article marketing is not a one-shot deal. The more articles the better.