Article Marketing - at Last, a Free Step by Step, “how To” Guide (part 1)

I have found article writing and article marketing to be a very powerful way to entice highly targeted visitors to my website. This discovery came to me after quite a few failures in the field.

When I started article marketing I went through the learning stages and fell on my face a few times. Often I found myself thinking that there has got to be a step by step guide to show me how to do this.

I found many “guides” that told me what article marketing is, what article marketing does, and what article marketing might do. However, I never really came across a guide that said “Here is how to Article Market Step by Step.”. With that in mind I have taken upon myself to create such a guide.

There are surely a number of new article marketers and those who might want to be article marketers if they only knew how who would benefit from such a guide.

Before we begin I would like to say that the concept that I will be teaching is how I started and have operated my business. I am sure that that there are other opinions on the subject as well. So with no further adieu let’s get into it.

Since I wish to make this guide complete I will begin…um…well, at the beginning.

**What is Article Marketing?**

Article marketing is a type of advertising by the writing of short articles usually related to a marketing niche. The article, when written is distributed freely by submission to article directories, making them available for ezines and newsletters, or used as content in on a web page. Each article contains an author’s resource box that will include reference and contact information for the author and his or her business.

Article marketing has been in use by marketing professionals for many decades and perhaps dates back to the early years of mass printing. In hard copy form (newspapers and magazines) article marketing is used by a business as way of obtaining free press space. The business provides quality content to the publisher free of charge in exchange the publisher prints the contact information of the business along with the article.

**What Does Article Marketing Do?**

Writing articles and using article marketing helps develop a personal connection between the writer and the reader. Once you have written a number of informative, high quality articles you will find that you will become recognized as an expert in your field. You will have demonstrated you knowledge of your niche and your readers will appreciate that. This in turn will lead to more traffic to your website.

Credibility is the quality, capability, or power to elicit belief. A credible person is someone who is experienced, intelligent, skilled and qualified in their own niche. They are an expert who is also honest, fair, unselfish and caring. Writing your articles using these qualities will bring reader loyalty and trust.

**What Can Article Marketing Do?**

The greatest thing that Article Marketing can do is bring highly targeted traffic to your website.

When a reader takes the time to actually read your article you can be fairly sure that they are interested in the subject matter that you are discussing. If they are interested in what you have to say it only makes sense that they would click on the link in your author’s resource box to discover more.

The fact that they read your article and clicked on your link makes them highly qualified. They are looking for the type of information that you are providing. This type of lead is much more inclined to subscribe to your newsletter, provide their information for your freebie, or even purchase a product.

This step by step guide to article marketing will continue in Part 2.