Thursday, February 21st, 2008
How do you create unique content that the search engines love? And do so quickly in 15 minutes flat?
These are some simple ways to create unique content fast and good. You can use it for your article submission or publish the content on your website.
Notice that I did not say, “write” here. Because you really do not have to write your own content if you find it challenging to do so.
1. Google for Results and Rewrite the Content. (Plus a Sneaky Trick!)
Before you shoot me down with such an obvious method, read on for the twist.
Google the main target keyword.
Browse through the top 10 search results. Copy the appropriate and relevant content onto a notepad or Word document.
Pick out the 4 or 5 key points. Using these key points, start writing an article.
Okay, I may sound a bit exaggerative here about the 15 minutes. But with practice, it is achievable for a 300 word article.
There is a sneaky trick here which you may want to use.
You can copy a few pages of content on your Microsoft Word, then go to your toolbar, click the “Tools” section, and activate the “AutoSummarize” function.
This will squeeze your article down to a nice length according to your needs. Then simply rewrite it or rephrase the content. There you have a ready piece of excellent unique content.
2. Use an Article Writing Software
In the market, there are different article writing software that helps writers to create unique content. I have used quite a number of them like Instant Article Wizard and Content Assistant.
Instant Article Wizard is hands-down the best so far. Basically, what it does is it goes scrapping for actual sentences containing your target keywords. You can do that for several keywords at one go.
From there, you just compile all the sentences that you deem as useful and rewrite it. You can whip up an article easily within 8 minutes.
Others are pretty crappy and basically scrap off some irrelevant advertisement content. Hardly readable and trashy stuff.
3. Buying & Rewriting Private Label Rights (PLR) Articles
You can use PLR articles. But rule of thumb is to modify the content at least 30%. I tend to be a bit careful and will rewrite up to at least 50%. Work on the introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
There are dozens of PLR sites that offer PLR articles at $1 per article like
1. Great Niche Content - less than $1 per article
2. Fresh Niche Content
3. Easy PLR
4. PLR Mini Mart
Or you can sign up with those PLR sites that offer monthly batches of articles. That will solve your problem of creating excellent unique content.
4. Research at the Library/Buy a Second-Hand Book
Go to the library to pick up a book or grab a second-hand book on the topic you are writing about. Summarize the content and rewrite it in your own words.
When you do so, you can actually churn out a few articles at the same time within an hour.
This is particularly helpful when you are targeting age-old topics like health, remedies, dog training and stuff that have existed for a long, long time.
I recently grabbed a cheap book on home remedies for over 100 ailments for about $5. This is enough to create unique content for an entire website!
5. Hire a GhostWriter
I have personally tried hiring writers at a few free lance sites like Elance, ScriptLance and GetaFreeLancer.
GetaFreeLancer is my favorite. There are many good writers there willing to write an excellent unique article for $5 - 7. In case you think that these are low quality articles, then you are grossly mistaken. For that price, you can get articles of high quality.
Another place where you can find good article writers is DP Forums. Under the “Buy, Sell or Trade” section, you will be able to start a thread to buy content. Or you can browse around and send a private message to the more popular writers there. NicheRockets also have a section where you can buy limited PLR packages or hire some good writers for low rates.
6. Use Voice Recognition Software
Nowadays, voice recognition software can do wonders! If you find it too slow to write, you can simply just talk and let the software convert your voice into text.
For topics which you are familiar, getting an article created takes no more than 5 - 10 minutes.
Well, for topics that you are not so familiar, you can always research online, paraphrase what you read and let the voice recognition software do the writing. One of the most powerful tools is Dragon NaturallySpeaking Software V9.0. According to users, accuracy is up to 99%. No script reading or “voice training” is required. You can start dictating straightaway.
I checked out the prices of this tool. Surprisingly, buying at the developer Nuance.com is not the cheapest. Nuance is selling at $99.99, while Buy.com is offering at $82.30. The cheapest is at …..Amazon.com, $59.99!
If you are keen on buying this nifty tool, you can always check out the links:
7. Invite Article Writers
This method involves you inviting article writers to write unique content for you. For this to work, you have to offer a “bribe”.
You can use a product such as an ebook or software where you own the rights to give away. Or offer to provide a backlink the next time you post on your website or blog, or whatever.
Post the invitation on your blog or forum.
These 7 tips should get you a constant stream of quality unique content for your publishing and article submissions. Begin to create unique content of excellent quality now!
Feel free to leave your comments here.
Posted in Article Marketing, General, Online Marketing Learning, SEO, Web Traffic | 5 Comments »
Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Article marketing is my pet topic. This is one powerful marketing technique that has brought me more than 460,000 unique visitors and $10,000s of sales. But it was not always a bed of roses. Let me tell you a little silly story why. When I started marketing in early 2006 as a complete newbie, I was making use of safelist marketing solely.
It was only when I chanced upon the NicheRockets forum in end 2006 that I got to hear about article marketing, ie writing and submitting articles to free article directories for traffic and sales. I also picked up some free ebooks on article marketing as well in the forum.
The people there were using articles to drive traffic to built-for-Adsense sites and making loads of money in the tune of $1000s every month. Of course there are other stealthy tools and killer tricks that they use and talk about such as advanced content generating tools and so on.
The first article I wrote was for an online golf gaming software that ran on a MLM model. Matrix, Level Up, 2 Up and all that jargon that most people cannot understand. I left the article alone and never took a second look at it. I just chucked the article marketing technique aside to do other stuff.
But on one occasion, a very innocent search I did on Google revealed that my article posted at Article Alley was ranked No.1 for a highly competitive keyword related to “country club”. There were about 200 million results for that keyword! I was Excited!
But then came my Exasperation…I forgot to check if my affiliate link was working…and it wasn’t…and I couldn’t update the link. I felt really silly!
So even though I made it to the top of Google for a highly competitive keyword which drives tons of traffic to my article, I never made a SINGLE CENT out of it.
Of course, that was my silly past. I have since learnt my mistakes and for the entire year of 2007 worked diligently on mastering article marketing.
Why is Article Marketing useful for all marketers, whether you are an affiliate or webmaster?
1. Article Marketing is Free.
If you can write quality content, you can submit your article for free without paying a single cent. It works whether you are a newbie or experienced marketer.
2. Article Marketing Drives Lots of Traffic.
There are a few ways to drive traffic using articles.
a. An article that is optimized for a target keyword has the potential of ranking well in the search engines. We all know the benefits of that.
b. A well-written and informative article will be picked up by publishers. These publishers may place your article onto their websites or send it to their lists. More traffic!
c. Submitting an article to dozens of article directories can get you instant one-way backlinks. Many quality directories carry a high PageRank, so that means more link love and higher search engine rankings for our sites.
3. Article Marketing Builds Your Credibility
You are what you write or so it says. Your content will reveal your understanding and knowledge about a topic. So if you are selling weight loss products, contributing articles regularly on the topic establishes you as an expert. People are more willing to listen to your advice and…product recommendations.
4. Article Marketing Pre-sells!
A well-written article can pre-sell your prospects and convince them to do what YOU WANT them to do. Trust me, it improves the conversion rates much better than just flashing the product sales page!
One product that converts at 1 sale per 100 clicks has been shown to convert at less than 50 clicks. Disclaimer: Not all products will see such dramatic improvements but you should still see a great improvement.
The reason is simple. When people read your article, their intention is to find out more information. But little do they know that their subconscious minds are starting to buy into what was presented to them.
So it warms them up to feel good about the product or service you are promoting. You know what happens when they click the author resource link to see the sales page. The likelihood of them flashing out their credit cards dramatically improves!
This is just an introduction to article marketing. In my subsequent posts, I will share in greater details of how to make money using article marketing.
Posted in Article Marketing, General, Online Marketing Learning, SEO, Web Traffic | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Blogging to the Bank 2 and its first version – the brainchild of Rob Benwell have been responsible for the success of many online marketing bloggers such as myself.
Prior to making my big break in 2007, I was struggling with making money online. Partly because I was spreading my attention across too many things and getting distracted, and partly because I did not come across any proper guidance or teachings that really mattered and worked…Blogging to the Bank 1 was one of the first ebooks that really taught me how to get started to make money online with blogs. Subsequently, I did figure out other more powerful methods to complement the techniques covered in the report.
The Blogging to the Bank 1 was a classic 37-page report written by Rob about creating an empire of blogs around profitable niches. The first version talked mainly about using Blogger blogs to market products from ClickBank. I need to qualify that it was applicable for all other products though.
It was a report that detailed exact steps of how to target the right keywords and how to create a Blogger blog from scratch including how and where to add your banner to promote the target product.
Click to view a sample blog
Blogging to the Bank 1 focused more on ranking well in MSN, a smaller search engine in comparison to Yahoo and Google. The methods of driving traffic using other smaller feeder blogs could work back then but in today’s context, it is no longer working well.
Firstly, MSN has changed its ranking algorithm, and secondly, Google has also devalued links through black hat linking methods.
It was what fuelled the creation of Blogging to the Bank 2. This time round, Rob focuses on teaching bloggers how to create a WordPress niche blog empire. Once again, ClickBank products take centre stage and in his usual style of writing, he teaches you step by step in building a WordPress blog from scratch that promotes a single product in the 61-page report.
In this full report, he talks about:
5 Secrets that will Make Any Blog Successful and Profitable for a Long Time to come
Step-By-Step Blueprint to Create a Long Lasting Blog Empire
6 Traffic Driving Techniques that Pulls In Over 30,000 Visitors to Just One of His Many Blogs
and more.
Along with the report, you will also get 5 sets of blog content and ready banners for 5 popular niches, article submission software, blog submission software, special tool that hunts for high PR blogger blogs to take over, and 2 other mini reports on whitehat and blackhat blogging techniques. For a price of $47, this is a valuable deal.
But one technique that was mentioned in the ebook about “stealing” high PR blogger blogs is no longer valid. So is the tool provided.
Nevertheless, all in all, this is a report that will help anyone aspiring to be a successful blogger do so in the shortest time possible.
If you purchase this ebook Blogging to the Bank 2 today, post your comments with your receipt number and I will send you a download link to ebook and software gifts worth $3215.
Posted in General, Online Marketing Learning, Product Reviews | No Comments »
Monday, February 4th, 2008
Online marketing forums are excellent places to participate in for a few reasons:
1. Knowledge and Information Sharing
This is a place where online marketers gather to talk about what is going on in the internet marketing world.
When you are there, you can read about the latest product launches, ie what new ebook, membership service or online marketing software have been launched.
A lot of marketers also love to share the tricks they have learnt. Whether it is about affiliate marketing in general or specifically about web design, SEO, website promotion strategies, article marketing or pay per click advertising, you get to learn almost anything and everything.
2. Uncover Under-Served Niches
You will also be able to discover what the commonly asked questions are and what topics are hot. This is important for you to uncover niche markets or guesstimate what products will be sellable.
It is worthwhile to check out those threads that are popular. Read the forum members’ comments. Figure out what problems they are facing. See if you can find a product in the market to meet their needs. Or even create your own product if there isn’t any ready ones in the market.
3. Drive Traffic to Your Websites
Your signature link is powerful. This is where you can be creative and craft an attention-seeking signature that makes people want to click through your link. Rather than going for a signature link that reads as:
“Come to my site and read about how to drive traffic”, come up with something like:
“Discover How I Pulled In 10,000 Visitors Within 1 Week For FREE!”
The second signature will do better to attract visitors, isn’t it?
I also make use of forums to promote my blogs. Here is a trick you might want to learn.
Each time you post to your blog, go to the forum, start a thread and get people talking about your blog post. People will visit your site out of curiosity, and even if they do not, you just earned yourself a backlink with your desired anchor text.
This will help you in your search engine rankings as well as drive direct interested visitors. Expect more traffic and sales.
4. Hire Web Designers, Article Writers, Programmers & General Help
Online marketing forums do have a section dedicated for buying and selling of products and services. These can be excellent places to find affordable website designers, article writers, programmers and just about any kind of help you need.
Forums that are related to online marketing and make money online:
1. Niche Rockets
Niche Rockets is an active online marketing forum that provides tons of powerful tools and eBooks, and has a large database of educational material for online marketers.
This is a paid forum so you will not see worthless posts or comments. Members are all serious marketers who are friendly and helpful and there are nuggets of gold that can be found here. Ask any question concerning affiliate marketing or other methods of internet marketing and you are likely to be greeted with tons of effective, workable answers by the successful marketers.
2. Digital Point Forum
This is one of the oldest and largest online marketing forums around. At any point of time, there are hundreds to thousands of members posting and commenting. This is a great place for newbies to hang around and pick up some tips. Since it is free, you will be deluged also with content that is totally crappy!
3. Warrior Forum
A favorite haunt of many famous online marketing gurus. The Warrior Forum offers a great place to learn and discover more about online marketing. Many of the members are successful marketers. You can also get some great deals WSO for eBooks, software etc.
Other forums related to online marketing and making money online are:
www.im4newbies.com/forum/
www.v7n.com
A quick way to find a list of forums to participate in is to Google the search term “online marketing + forum”, “affiliate marketing + forum” or “internet marketing + forum”
Posted in Forum Marketing, General, Online Marketing Learning | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
After marketing for over a year now, I have come to realize that having a proper online marketing education is necessary. No, I am not talking about getting a degree in online marketing or internet marketing.
I am referring to investing in continual learning from successful internet marketers. The internet marketing world changes quickly and it is a challenge to keep track of changes unless you are in the midst of them.
“No one loves changes but it is necessary for your income to grow!”
Some methods you learn today can become obsolete within months. But certain principles of online marketing always remain unchanged. Things like SEO, list building and article marketing are very much alive as they were a decade again!
The good thing I have learnt though is that once you cultivate the habit to adapt to changes, it becomes your second nature.
Well, you can get a proper online marketing education through a few simple ways.
1. Subscribe to successful marketers’ newsletters.
Currently, I am on the newsletter of famous and successful internet marketers like Ewen Chia, Cody Moya, Derek Gehl, Jonathan Leger and many others.
Read what they are saying, learn from them, duplicate their methods, ditch what doesn’t work for you, modify and apply what you have learnt and get your thinking cap running.
2. Read Ebooks & Reports
Ebooks or reports are often written in digestible format. The standard Ebook length is probably 20 to 50 pages. A report such as a mini report can be as short as 5 or 6 pages only. It normally does not take anyone more than a few hours to finish reading a report or Ebook.
Sometimes, you get to download them for free. But I would encourage you to invest some money in good Ebooks that can help to boost your income.
It is all about returns. If what you learn from an EBook can increase your earnings by $1000 every month, spending a one-time $50 on it becomes insignificant.
For example, here are some EBooks that have helped me greatly in my business.
Blogging to the Bank 1 & 2, Google Pay Load, Secret Article Profits, Auto Pilot Profits
3. Participate in Forums
I used to think that forums are a waste of time. Why would anyone want to spend hours in a forum chatting away? There is no value in doing so!
But when I soon discovered that top internet marketers are participating in forums, it got me thinking really hard. Surely if these guys who are ultra busy are spending time at the forums, it must be worth the effort.
True enough, forums are great places to rub shoulders with other successful internet marketers. You get to learn some new tricks of the online marketing trade, know what the products are genuine and helpful, and read about scams so you can avoid them.
Some forums I participate actively are DP Forums, NicheRockets & Warrior Forum.
4. Online Marketing Seminars
Seminars are great places to go. I must confess that till now, I have yet to attend one. Perhaps I should go for one this year.
Even though I have not been to one, I gather from my friends that some of the seminars can be real eye-openers! That is also where people get to hear from the horses’ mouth – the gurus and the like who share their secrets of success.
Live demonstrations can be expected as well.
My motto towards my online marketing education is
“Learn, Innovate, Apply & Master”
Treat your learning seriously and put feet to your knowledge and the returns will be great!
Posted in General, Online Marketing Learning | No Comments »
