Article Marketing is Not Dead... If You Know How to Revive It

Change in life is inevitable, and that includes article marketing. Used by millions, this marketing technique has made money for many, but for others, it just plain hasn't worked. Article marketing must be done responsibly and consistently over time in order to deliver results. It isn't a "get-rich-quick" technique, but those who follow the trends in article marketing can prosper.

In order to get the most out of your article marketing, you'll want to stay aware of changing techniques and hire someone to help you with writing or submission if needed.

To help get you started, I have listed the top ten changes that have taken place in article marketing over the years:

1. Create - or have someone create for you - original articles for your web site and do not use them for submission. This will draw search engines to your site and you can advertise this fresh content in your byline to entice readers to click your link.

2. Pay more attention to titles. Do your keyword research first and use your top three keywords at the beginning of the title. Use power words such as "daring," "remarkable" and "urgent." Ask an engaging question or use a top seven or top ten title.

3. Do not submit articles too often - or not often enough. Article directories have less restrictions, but keep in mind that individual publishers can get easily overwhelmed. Submit two to four articles per month and keep doing it.

4. In the past, article marketers were told to educate their readers. While this still holds true today, you will get more responses when you identify the problems of your potential audience and then solve these problems.

5. It is now common to find article marketers rewriting their title, article body and byline partway through their submission list. This is a reliable way to get published more often, but realize that it can be time-consuming. Get help rewriting if needed.

6. Some new article marketers are offering publishers customized articles to fit their audience, or giving permission for publishers to edit the article so long as the byline remains untouched and all links are made live.

7. In the beginning, article marketers submitted their articles to thousands of article directories. Now, savvy article marketers submit their article to the top ten or twenty article directories that provide more traffic than a thousand low-quality directories.

8. A submission list used to consist of article directories, e-zines, newsgroups and individual sites. The new submission list should also include blogs, social networking sites, niche topic sites and news sites (turn your article into a tipsheet).

9. Once your article is included in a well-ranked article directory, submit that page to social bookmarking sites where you have accounts. Do the same for the original articles on your site.

10. Consider offering an original, exclusive article to target sites with a large audience who will relate to you and what you have to offer. Ask to be paid or negotiate advertising space in their newsletter or on their site.

Some things about article marketing have remained unchanged. Never use document spinner software, mass distribution to thousands of sites, a submission list that isn't targeted and automated submission tools.

Article marketing is not dead, but it has changed. To be a successful article marketer, you must keep informed and stay up to date on changes in the technique. Keep an eye on blogs and web sites dedicated to the subject so you can keep reaping the benefits of article marketing.

© 2008, Davis Virtual Assistance. Reprints welcomed so long as the article and byline are kept intact and all links are made live.