Good question. Let me count the ways ….

1. Support Expertise Status
Having a library of article available for people to read can support your expertise status. Depending on your strategy and what you write about, they can also set you up as a thought leader.

2. Off-Page SEO
Posting articles to directories sets up quality back links to your website, which is one criteria used by search engines when determining how popular or relevant your website is.

3. Increased Exposure to the Market
When the articles you’ve posted to article directories are picked up by bloggers and e-zine publishers, you gain exposure to their readership … a readership you may not have been able to access in any other way.

4. Increased Traffic
Those back links I mentioned in #3 … they also, when positioned properly, can bring more traffic to your website.

5. Can Pre-Sell Products and Services
Well written articles can “prime the pump” so to speak, building the desire for what you have to offer in the reader’s mind.

Of course, these five benefits come with benefits of their own, as well. For example, when you are supporting your expertise status, you are also building credibility and providing valuable knowledge. You can also be increasing awareness of your brand.

All of the above benefits also can help you attract more prospects, grow your list of prospects and customers and generally grow your business.

And best of all, article marketing comes at no cost but time. And, over time, as you get better at writing articles, the time investment decreases.

In December, I launched the website for my new book Home Sweet Home Page and started a simple campaign rooted in article marketing that has taken my website from an Alexa ranking of 1,970,427 on Dec. 23, to 446,678 as of Feb. 28.

How did I do this? Well, let me share:

Step One: Write an article and post it to EzineArticles.com.

First I took my book and came up with several topics for articles based on it’s content. I started with knowing your Website’s target market and wrote this article: Home Page Design – Know Your Website’s Target Market. Once it was posted, I created a link to it from my website.

Step Two: Create an audio version of the article and post to AssociatedContent.com.

About a week or two after the article went live on EzineArticles.com, I created an audio version of it using FreeConferenceCalling.com. I added some music and posted it to my AssociatedContent account. You can listen to it here: www.associatedcontent.com/audio/13551/home_page_design_know_your_web_sites.html?cat=35. Once it was live, I added a link to it on my website.

Step Three: Create a video version of the article and post it to YouTube.com.

While I was creating an audio version, it wasn’t that much more work to import it into iMovie, add a few pertinent images and create a video version of the article. You can watch the video version here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HydZtCkUIGc. Once it was live, I added a link to it on my website.

There you have the basics. But, I didn’t exactly stop there. Once I had about four articles posted, I started creating Squidoo lenses using the articles. Here are a few of them, in case you want to see how I did that:

• Be Clear On Your Website’s Purpose
• The 5 Deadly Mistakes of Home Page Design
• Home Page Design: Make a Professional First Impression

But the point of this article is this: Did you see how I took one article and created three different ways for people to access the information in that article? You can do this, too, broadening your article’s reach and SEO benefits.

The April Article Marketing Marathon is now forming. The deadline to sign up is March 19.

What is an Article Marketing Marathon?

For one weekend, you’ll focus on writing 20-50 articles … but you don’t do it alone nor unprepared.

You’ll have all the tools, resources and support you need to do so before you even start!

The week before your Marathon, I’ll do your keyword research for you — find those key words and phrases that will bring you more action-oriented and engaged readers.

Even better, I’ll write a selection of headlines for you that will draw readers in and give you the focus of your articles.

But the support I provide doesn’t stop there … During your Marathon, I’ll be available for both telephone and email consultation.

And, after your Marathon I’ll submit up to 20 of your articles to up to two directories for you!

If you live in the greater Phoenix, AZ, area and are interested in how you can market your local business using article marketing, I’ll be teaching a 3-session coarse at Paradise Valley Community College, starting Saturday, March 6.

During this course, I will show students the basics of article marketing and guide each one through completing their first few articles. Topics I’ll be covering include:

• The basic process of using article marketing to drive local traffic to your place of business
• Keyword research
• Creating a local angle for your articles
• Writing compelling headlines
• Developing a powerful resource box
• Article directories
• Re-purposing content for a more robust content marketing strategy

I’m also going to allow plenty of time for question and answer sessions, as well as opportunities to get feedback on articles written during the course.

For More Information & To Register

What:
Promote Your Local Business with Articles

Where:
Paradise Valley Community College
18401 N. 32nd Street,
Phoenix, AZ 85032

When:
March 6, 13 and 27
2-4pm

Course Information:
www.pvc.maricopa.edu/ce/spring/bus.html

Course Registration:
www.pvc.maricopa.edu/ce/register.html

Can’t make this class? Then check out my virtual article marketing course at www.articlemarketingmarathon.com/.

You can make profit by writing your articles if you understand how the process works. Here are some ways to monetize your writing process.

• Write articles to promote an affiliate program you are supporting. For example, if you purchase a program, ebook, or materials from someone and you benefited from what you learned, contact that person and ask them if they have an affiliate program that you can join. Most people who have been selling their information on the internet for any period of time have their own affiliate program. You can then write articles about the product and tell of your experience with it so that your readers will know more about it. At the end of your article, in the resource box, you can put your affiliate link to the product. Most article directories do not allow affiliate links, so you will need to purchase a domain name to forward the link. This will cost you about ten dollars for a year and will make you much more money than that if you write articles to promote the product.

 

• Another way to make money with articles is to have them link back to your own product or service. Each article will work like a little robot to promote you. There are people all over the world reading articles 24 hours a day and your article will be read by people who will have the opportunity to click the link at the end of your article and go back to your blog, website or sales page. Over time you will have a steady flow of visitors based on how many articles you write.

 

• The third and best way to monetize articles is by combining them into an ebook. As you write more articles on the same topic you are building a body of work that can be structured and organized into an ebook that will sell online for years to come.