Writing articles is one of the best ways to establish yourself as an expert, generate website traffic and get people to buy from you. You can get article ideas everywhere.

Get them from news, current events and concerns voiced in online forums and discussion groups. You can read other articles, and expand on what the authors wrote, or use them as a springboard for offering a different point of view.

Whatever you write, follow these steps for best results:

1) Know What Readers Want
In their book, Turn Words into Traffic, experts Jim and Dallas Edwards list six things readers want:

• Answers to technical problems causing them pain
• Solutions to problems costing them money
• Solutions to save time
• Answers to personal or stress related problems
• Information they can use right away
• Something fun, amusing or entertaining

2) Write a Great Headline
Headlines are critical. If your headline doesn’t grab attention, the reader will stop reading. It must answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

There are many types of headlines, including:

• The Guarantee
• The Testimonial
• The Frustration/Problem
• The Reason-Why
• The Benefit
• The How-To
• The Question

Within your headline, use these power words for maximum impact:

• Announcing
• How Much
• Advice To
• The Truth About
• Amazing Secrets
• Little-Known Secrets
• Facts
• Life
• New
• Now
• Discover
• At Last
• Free
• You
• Only
• Breakthrough.

3) Know the Do’s and Don’ts

DO keep content relevant and interesting. That way, readers will be engaged and may even share your article with others.

DO deliver on what your headline promises. You can either (a) cover a topic in depth, or (b) cover only part of the topic and drive readers to your website for more information. Either way, don’t disappoint the reader.

DO stay focused on why you’re writing the article. Don’t try to cover too much.

DO write in a conversational tone. Write to one person, not an entire group.

DO be mindful of copyright issues.

If you read something valuable, you can write a brief introduction and link to the original piece. However, if you want to include the article on your web site or newsletter, then get permission to reproduce it.

DON’T make your article all about you. Avoid constant sales pitches. If you’ve written a good article, your resource box at the end is enough.

DON’T write down to the reader. Sometimes a few subtle word changes can make all the difference.

DON’T overuse crutch words. Your article will be easier to read. These are all crutch words:

• am
• are
• is
• was
• were
• be
• been
• have
• has
• had

4) Focus on Word Count
Keep your article at 600-1,000 words. A full typed page is 500 words. If you are writing for your ezine, articles should be even shorter. Expert copywriter Robert Bly says his ezine always contains five to seven short articles, each only a few paragraphs. It takes readers less than a minute to read each article, and less than seven minutes to read his entire ezine.

5) Use an Easy Formula for Writing

Step 1: Grab your reader’s attention with a strong headline.
Step 2: Write your introduction. Use just a few sentences to explain your position on the topic.
Step 3: List your main points; around five of them.
Step 4: Expand on your main points with a few sentences.
Step 5: Write your conclusion. This could be a call to action or an opinion you want the reader to acknowledge or adopt.

6) Vary the Types of Articles You Write
Make it fun for yourself by changing the types of articles you write. Here are a few:

How-To: Include step-by-step instructions. If the information is too long for an article, link it back to your website for further material.

Interview: Select a topic your readers care about, and interview an expert. What trends are on the horizon? What actions, products or services do they recommend? You can write this straight or use a Q&A format. Interview your expert in person, by phone or email.

Profile: Profile a subject matter expert. Feature basic facts about where they work and how they’ve influenced the company or industry.

List: Magazines use these types of articles all the times. For example: 10 Ways to Feel Better Fast.

Seminar/Conference Recap: Attend an industry seminar or conference and write an overview of what you learned (e.g., new products and services or industry trends).

Case Study: If you have a satisfied customer, write about their experience using your product or service.

7) Rid Yourself of Writer’s Block

If you don’t know what to write about, an editorial calendar can help. This is a schedule of writing topics you can plan a month or more in advance. It helps with writer’s block because it gives you the topics. You gather material ahead of time so when you’re ready to write, you’ll have most or all of your content handy.

Whether you write your own articles or use contributing writers, you can ensure your readers eyes will be glued to your article with a catchy headline and relevant, interesting content. Following these simple steps can take your article from ho-hum to WOW!

=================
By Lauren Tyson
=================
This article first appeared in the September 2008 issue of the MarketingDotCom newsletter. You can get a free copy of the latest issue for the price of shipping at http://the7figuresecrets.com

Once you have PLR (private label rights) content in your possession, how do you turn it into cash? This is what separates the serious from the tire kickers. Taking action is the key step to making money. It’s so much better to try something, make a couple hundred dollars and learn from it. Not everything will be a runaway success!

Find out what works and what doesn’t by testing and making adjustments.

If you keep at it, you will find a market that pays you handsomely or a system that works for you over and over again. Typically, the first thing people want to do when they buy the latest PLR package is to simply turn around and resell the same package.

You can do that, but it’s only an advantage for you if:

• You get in early before the market is saturated.
• You already have a large list.

In all of the years I have been “turning around” PLR, I have made so much more money by making it my own.

Here’s what I typically do:

1. Choose a Core PLR eBook
Sometimes we find a PLR eBook that is so well written we don’t want to make any changes to it. It may be perfect for our target market so we want to put it out for sale immediately. Don’t be tempted to do this if you really want to maximize your profits and exposure in your niche. You should, at a minimum, change the title and author, and add some links of your own. But for the sake of being different and more original, you should add more content, as well as change what’s there. If you’re not willing to do even that, then you should really evaluate whether this is for you.

Let’s not forget the nature of PLR – hundreds of others have the exact same eBook, and they will inevitably be competing with you for sales.

2. Bundle Related PLR Products
It is much better to sell a package of products to give the buyer more value and increase the price of the sale. In this case, you would scour the PLR sites, auctions and forums to find several topically related eBooks, software, scripts or articles. This one tactic has increased my sales and profits drastically. When you increase the perceived and actual value, you will increase sales.

3. Sell the Resale Rights
You can always make money by selling the resale rights to the PLR product, assuming you’ve checked the terms of use. There are many people who don’t want to modify the product at all, but they want the ability to sell the product on their Terms, for whatever price they determine, and keep 100% of the profits. Those are the people who would happily pay a premium to buy the resale rights from you. In fact, this makes a very quick and easy upsell without having to add more content.

This takes very little setup time. There are many other things you can do, such as use an eBook as content for your newsletter or blog, create audios and videos to go with your package, sell your package on eBay as a lead generator, create Ad-Sense sites, and so much more. These are the things I do at a minimum. It’s important to be different and offer real value to your customers.
Bottom line? Take action. The profits will follow.

=================
By Mike Ambrosio
=================
This article first appeared in the October 2008 issue of the MarketingDotCom newsletter. You can get a free copy of the latest issue for the price of shipping at http://the7figuresecrets.com

Why did I delete all of my comments for years that I had on my blog?

Well, it is not really deleted. It is deleted off the blog, or no longer showing.

Instead, I have now decided to use a new FACEBOOK comments as my blog comments.

Why did I do this?

DUH….

#1 – Almost all of my site visitors are already logged into Facebook and with their new “Social Graph” API’s like the “Like” button you are now seeing on every page on the Internet (including mine here) they will see their face asking them to post on my blog as comment. If they are NOT logged in the can log in to Facebook without having to leave the page.

#2 – It will get more people posting feedback and leaving comments. People like the fact that it is part of their 1 universal Facebook account. You can see it working at here at CNN.

#3 – It looks better and fall into more of a social media vibe.

#4 – Blog comments are soooooo 2010. (Oh well if you are on the Internet you know anything you do today is outdated.)

#5 – It PRE CHECKS  ”Post comment on my Facebook profile.” as you see here

Post to my Facebook profile

What does that mean?

Well, that means the best form of Viral Marketing called SMVM “coined here” or (Social Media Viram Marketing). Actually Social Media and Viral Marketing are one in the same now days.

But back to the checkbox. Every time someone posts it gets added to their profile and their updates. All people that are connected to this person will get a link to my blog and then learn about my post (and my site) as well as post them selves and there starts a viral storm of interested social traffic.

There you have it.

Why on earth would I use anything else.

Oh.. reason #6 – It just kicks ass!

Resources:

- for WordPress “like Button”
- for “Facebook comments for Wordpress”

Thanks,

Mike Filsaime

PS – leave a comment and lets get new comments on this blog so it does not look like no one cares about me any more :D (and thank in advance)

Well, here are some things you want to know.

How It Works

Simply offer a free gift to people when they share your site in social media. The software automates the reward and creates a Viral Storm of traffic. Here are some of the Instant benefits you will receive.

• Increase traffic to your site by 20% Guaranteed.

  How much is that worth to you if you paste a line of code and get 20% more traffic every day forever?

• Increase rankings for any keywords faster than a viral zombie outbreak.

  Simply tell the software the keywords you want to rank for and Traffic-Zombie will soon have you ranking on the first pages of Google in days (not years) for ANY search term you want.

• Turn your visitors into top notch QUALITY viral Backlinks.

  Your visitors will post great things about you with point and click ease on their websites and blogs. This will not only get you traffic, but each site will link back to you with Anchor text for the keywords you specify. This has never been done before with any software. Natural 1 way Backlinks from quality sites that link back to you with your TOP KEYWORDS in the anchor text. If you don’t know what that means, just use the software and find yourself on the front page of Google. That’s all you need to know. We guarantee the results.

• Get tons of REAL social media exposure in your market without lifting a finger.

  Since Traffic-Zombie allows you to write what is said about you in Twitter and Facebook you get massive @mentions instantly all over the Web 2.0 world. Forget trying to figure out how to post your links on other people’s walls and streams. With Traffic Zombie, they will be happy to talk about how great your product and you will see an INSTANT increase an traffic. The best part is, it is recommended traffic in Social Media. That is the best converting traffic on the Internet right now. (There is a reason why Facebook is now larger than Google.) With Traffic-Zombie you have an unfair advantage.

• More Traffic = More Money and More Leads and a Bigger List

• You don’t even need a product.

  If you want more traffic toyour Blog or affiliate products, Traffic-Zombie just gave you a 20% increase. And you can use it on more many sites.

• Traffic-Zombie is “Brain Dead Easy” to use.

  No technical skills required — just copy and paste. If you can post on your Blog, you can use Traffic-Zombie to get more traffic.

• Since Traffic-Zombie is Software-As-A-Service (S.A.A.S).

  That means you get INSTANT LIFETIME access today for a 1 time payment. No software to install. You get an account like you would at PayPal or YouTube and you login, copy/paste… and get more traffic and better rankings in the search engines and everyone talking about you in Social Media

• Traffic-Zombie comes with a No Questions asked Money-Back Guarantee.

  If it does not do any of the things we say, just let us know in 30 days and you get a full refund. (But the increased sales, leads and traffic will stop.)

• Get this BEFORE your competition does. And before we raise the price.

  Right now it is a 1 time price. Soon it may go to an annual charge. Get in now to lock in for life.

• Fact – It will cost you MORE not to own this. Period. We guarantee it.

Check it out here.

http://Traffic-Zombie.com

http://squareup.com/

Make sure to watch the videos at the site and all related at YouTube.com.

This works on ANY phone, iPod touch, iPad, Android etc… all with one device!

Everyone gets an account (like a PayPal account).

You can now take credit cards WITHOUT a merchant account.

Oh… and the card reader is free!

You swipe OR enter card on ANY mobile phone with Wifi or phone connection and it hits your account instantly
and you transfer money to your checking like you do with PayPal.

Soon, they will have Square Up debit cards to use your money on your card.

This was started by the founder of Twitter and has major backing from Angel investors.

Goodbye western union. Well, maybe not. But unlike PayPal, if you want someone to send you money they do not need a PayPal account… just a credit card. But I think PayPal will be doing something similar soon I am sure.

Now anyone can accept credit card with no merchant account even across the country!

This is the best idea I have seen in a long time.

Fee’s 2.75% plus $.015

Make sure to watch the videos!

Check this one out too for even more information.

This was a video I made for Jeff Walkers Product Launch Formula 3.0 for my bonus.

You can check it out here.

If you want to see if the product is still available click here.

Thanks

Mike Filsaime

Make sure to check out all of what the new WordPress 3.0 has to offer. In the past, all upgrades were 2.x etc. Now you have 3.0 meaning it is all new.

They added a new default theme and easy to manage site navigation links.

In the future, I think most people will find that WP is the best way to go to build ANY type of site. It has a long list of plugins that make it easy for designers and developers alike to provide an all in one solution for anyone.

The great video below explains some of the cool new features.

It is really time to say goodbye to building from scratch. Here at our company, we now start with a WordPress blog and a theme and build our site from there. Be on the look out for some cool new makeovers from our company utilizing the new 3.0 engine with plugins and themes to power them.

Thanks,

Mike Filsaime

So you have a great idea for a product you want to create, but where do you start? What are you going to do first? I have been there before and I want to help make your journey a little easier with my experience in creating and designing my first product.

Put Your Ideas On Paper… Sketch It All Out
I will try to keep this relatively short and get to the point. First thing you should do is draw your idea out. Make a rough draft of what your product will look like, then write a description on how it will work. We are not concerned with explaining the benefits or the problem solving solutions our product offers… that’s a part of marketing.

Once you’re comfortable with what you have you can start searching for a graphic artist or manufacturer who can turn that paper dream into your physical product. Wait! Before you do that, I recommend you get yourself PROTECTED!

What Type Of Patent Should I Obtain?
About 12 years ago or so the government created what is called a provisional patent. It was created for the small guys like myself and anyone else who invents a product but doesn’t have the means to obtain an expensive patent. Do your research on provisional patents and find an attorney who can mail you a package. It’s very inexpensive as compared to the 20 year utility patent. A provisional patent usually protects you for up to one year and the cost runs you about $150 – $200 (at least that’s what I was charged a few years ago). So, for $150 you can now go out and talk to people about your idea without having to worry about someone infringing on your smarts.

The provisional patent comes with a written and instructional video that takes you step by step on properly filling it out. It honestly takes only a few hours to get it done. Your drawing is one step that may take you some time, but everything else is pretty straight forward and simple. In a few days (mailing it out) you can be on our way. After the year is up and the provisional is about to expire, then it’s up to you whether or not you want to pursue the utility patent which lasts for twenty years. That ran me about $3500, I wouldn’t pay $5000 – $10,000 some attorneys charge, don’t get ripped off; do your homework and research patent attorneys.

It is very important that you really get a patent attorney who knows how to write a solid patent. I don’t know exactly how to explain it because I’m not a patent attorney, but I know a well written patent is one that really has certain key elements to it that makes your idea really unique and untouchable. A well written patent can really make your idea protected in so many ways and that is what manufactures look for when searching for a product to license. The product is important of course, but a solid patent will ensure the manufacturer that any legal procedures will not hound them in the future.

Got My Provisional Patent…Now What?
So now you’re protected for one year. Go out and find a graphic artist for logo’s, box art, or whatever you need. Go online and search for manufacturers to build your product, or go to your public library and go through the Thomas register and search that way. I would try to stay domestic for your first production and if things go well, you may want to outsource to China or other countries to bring your costs down. Once you start getting things in order you will really start to feel the excitement.

Now you are patent protected and you had your graphic artist do your artwork. You either have your prototype or your product manufactured. Well now it’s all about marketing and this newsletter you are reading can really help you in that department. There is too much for me to explain here and I’m not a marketing expert like our other writers. I can give you some advice on trade shows. That is…. avoid them at all costs.

They are so expensive and the only ones that really sell and make money are the companies that sell you the $1500 booths. If you go, the best thing to do is network. Hand out business cards and brochures, talk with buyers and manufacturers. Do not spend $1500-$2500 on a booth unless you are already a big success. They hype up the shows telling you 1000’s of big buyers from all over the world will be there; half the time they don’t show up and if they do they come for a day and may never even see your booth. Seriously don’t waste your time and money. Going to socialize and network could be a very good idea, and you don’t need a booth to do that.

=================
By Rich Chille
=================
This article first appeared in the September 2008 issue of the MarketingDotCom newsletter. You can get a free copy of the latest issue for the price of shipping at http://the7figuresecrets.com

Making a good impression from the start makes it easier to build a powerful relationship for the future. Once you’ve made the connection, you need to nurture the relationship. Here are some tips for getting those friendships going and growing:

1. Listen
Listen intently and ask questions. The more information you gather, the easier it will be to create a rapport and have something to say. Jeffrey H. Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible, says you should question/talk 25% of the time and listen 75% of the time to be most effective.

He also discusses “power questions.” Power questions will give you information you can use to serve the person in the future. Some examples include: “What do you like about . . . ?” “What have you found . . . ?” and “How do your customers react to . . .?”

2. Smile
Over 50 years ago, Dale Carnegie wrote the hugely successful book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Carnegie listed smiling as one of the key ways to make people like you. If you don’t feel like smiling, smile anyway. The act of smiling will improve your attitude.

3. Maintain Eye Contact
Keeping eye contact goes hand in hand with listening. First, it shows you’re interested and it shows respect. Second, it reflects confidence. Conversely, looking away or not making eye contact shows you don’t care and aren’t confident.

4. Be Truthful
Being truthful is important because it builds trust. Trust is the lifeblood of all relationships. Reveal something about yourself by telling the person a quick personal story, whether it’s funny or even a little embarrassing.

5. Provide Value
The value you give the person, not the facts about yourself, will strengthen the relationship. Be resourceful with information, but remember, timing is everything. If you’re at a conference or seminar, don’t load the person up with pamphlets, books and CD’s. The last thing you want to do is leave the person holding something they have to carry. Ask the person if it’s okay to send the information to review or read at their leisure. Find out where you can send the material. The more you provide the person with value, the more they will be willing to provide value back to you.

Once you’ve established rapport, you’ll find it easier to set up a follow-up meeting and build the relationship further. Take it slow. Seek a friendship with the person. However, it starts with making a favorable first impression. Sometimes you only get one shot, so make it count.

=================
By Joseph Jablonski
=================
This article first appeared in the September 2008 issue of the MarketingDotCom newsletter. You can get a free copy of the latest issue for the price of shipping at http://the7figuresecrets.com