Anyone reading this will most likely now know the power of article marketing in increasing the link popularity, traffic, and sales through your website, but one of the most important parts of the article, the resource box, is often overlooked and rushed to finish the article off. This is a big error as this is the area where you should be enticing the reader to click on your link to visit your website.

A resource box is what you usually find at the very end of the article, and may contain information such as the name of the author with a brief description of what he/she does, and a brief description of the site being promoted with a working link to it. With the article of course being in relation to the site that you would like to promote, you would want the visitor to finish reading your article, and visit your site for more information on the topic. So let’s say if the article is about learning to drive, the resource box may lead to a link to a site that offers driving tuition.

You may have concentrated very hard in making your article interesting, informative, and eye-catching to the reader, and you should also do this for the resource box. Although the resource box covers only a small space, ensure that you include the right keywords and content for the reader to obtain a good descriptive idea about your site.

Now that we have cleared up what resource boxes are for those that did not already know, we also need to ascertain the benefits of having a good resource box. In short, the main benefit is to drive traffic to your site. A well-written article can be picked up by several sites looking for content to fill their pages, and these will often be from sites that are targeted towards your topic. As a consequence, the potential for a traffic surge of targeted visitors, that you would hope to turn into customers, is great. However, even though this provides a good opportunity for the link popularity of your website to grow, it is still important that your resource box is optimized so that any visitor reading your article on a site that has picked it up will want to click on your link in the resource box to discover what you have to offer.

So you may now be wondering what makes good content for a resource box? Including good keywords is very important and there are many tools that you can use to find out popular search terms. Make the most of the small space provided for your resource box by using a bit of creativity to make the reader look twice and be intrigued by what your website has to offer. You may only get one chance to capture the reader so make a lasting impression. Do not try to fool the reader by providing irrelevant keywords, but instead build the credibility of your website and you as an author, with relevant keywords.

Many underestimate the importance of a good resource box, but make sure you do not make the same mistake. Although the space provided is only small, be creative and fun, whilst showing that you have a great deal to offer and use the resource box to aid in driving traffic to your site, rather than just a paragraph to finish off your article.

Writing articles related to your business is a great way to build your link popularity and also to provide more content for your site and other sites. Not too mention it’s always nice when someone finds your site and uses it within their newsletter. The only problem is, what if people dont tell you that they were using your articles???

How would you know who to reward?

I say reward because of another article I wrote, “reward those who publish your articles”. It briefly outlines how to boost your articles popularity by boosting the other sites it’s listed on.

Let’s say for now, you just want to track your articles properly.

#1 Creating appropriate folders within your “favorites”.
Every browser allows you to create a folder in order to hold your favorite web sites. Organizing your favorites folder is key when you plan to market your business 24/7. In this case, we’ll create a new folder called “Articles Listed”.

Within that folder, you’ll want to start creating other “sub” categories for EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE that you market.

For instance, let’s say you have about 10 articles that you always promote, you’ll want to add 10 folders within your new “Articles Listed folder”. Make sure to give them a short but recognizable name that you would be able to distinguish which article it is for.

Ex. (I will use 3 of my title’s)

1 Tracking your articles properly (Folder: Tracking Articles)
2 Writing Articles To Boost Your Traffic (Folder: Writing Articles)
3 Reward Those Who Publish Your Articles (Folder: Reward Publishers)

#2 Always keep the same headline for your article:
I’ve visited many sites who consistently change the headline of the article simply to make it seem like a different article. Don’t be shy, I’m sure we’ve all thought about it, in fact, I am also guilty.

Starting now, let’s all keep the same headline…

The reason for keeping the same headline is for 1 keeping a strong consistency with your marketing and 2 making it easier to find your articles online.

#3 – Finding All Of Your Articles:
Now let’s find them for you… (Hoping that you already created your folders within your favorites menu?)

I prefer using Goggles Toolbar for this but it is not required. Let’s all go to: www.google.com and start looking.

Why google? Simply the best…

Take your 1st article and cut and paste the EXACT title within the google search. Now add “” at the beginning and the end of your title

Adding “” at the beginning and the end will narrow your search to exactly what’s in between.

For ex. “Tracking Your Articles Properly” would give me better results than if I were to search: tracking your articles properly. Actually I do recommend you try both methods just in case.

Now once you have found a site that has listed your article, add the exact page your article is listed within the proper folder you created within your “favorites menu”.

Once you have completed this task for all of your articles, it will be very easy to keep up with your new articles. Another thing is, if you plan to reward those sites, you now have them all separated into proper categories.

I hope this helps you out even a little like it did for me…

Read more of Martins articles online here:
http://www.smartads.info/newsletter

And the answer is SUBMIT.

What am I talking about? I am talking about submitting articles to article submission sites. I am sure you have seen them. They are places to go to submit your original articles about topics you are very knowledgeable about and also sites to visit to acquire some fresh content for your site, blog or eZine.

Let me give you a handful of reasons to add your articles to these sites. First off, and to me most important, is that it gives you credibility. You are now the Subject Matter Expert (SME). So, your article must reflect that expertise. Make sure your articles are well thought out, flow well and get your point across.

Second, along with your article, you will now have links all over the Internet. The reason for this is you add a small “resource box” at the end of the article with some info about you and a link to your web site. This will help with search engine indexing and also with popularity in the search directories.

The next reason for submitting articles is free advertising. Your articles, along with links to your sites will now be everywhere giving your site the visibility it needs – and the best part is – all of this is free.

The fourth reason to submit is money. You can earn cold, hard cash with AdSense ads, income from the products on your site, and affiliate links. You will have more visitors that will result in more money. You may even receive requests from eZines to write articles for them.

Finally, you will gain the trust of your customers. They will consider you an expert and be more likely to visit your site and purchase your products.

So, you can’t lose. It doesn’t take much time to write an article and submit it to many article sites. You will have fun, get visibility and get to show off to your friends about what a great author you are.

1. Credibility. You wrote the article. You are the subject matter expert. This is especially when you submit a well-written article about a topic that you have a passion for.

2. Visitors. When you write an article, you also add a “resource” box with your name, a little bit about you, and a link to your web page. This will get your web site visibility all over the Internet.

3. Links. Having your web site listed, along with all of your articles, puts links on other related sites. When the search engine spiders crawl the Internet and find your link on other sites, it will smile and index your site quicker, make your site more popular in the search engines, and list your site more often in the various directories.

4. Visibility. Others will pick up your sites for their web sites, blogs and eZine. This will increase your site’s brand and give you a competitive edge.

5. Exposure. Many sites list the most current articles on their front page giving you “front page” exposure.

6. Free Advertising. It doesn’t cost anything to post your articles. Your article could wind up on hundreds or thousands of web sites.

7. Money. If people like your work, you could get hired to write articles for others. Good writers are in huge demand.

8. eBooks. You could compile your related articles and put out an eBook – either for free or charge for it. Adding your links to the eBook will provide additional advertising.

9. Trust. Since you will recognized as the subject matter expert, it will be easy for you to market related products on your web site.

10. eZines. You could contact other eZine publishers and do an article exchange. This will give you guaranteed visibility in another’s eZine giving you more credibility and even more visibility.

11. Money. Along with possibly getting paid for writing articles for others, you can make money by having fresh content on your web pages incorporated with an advertising system like Google’s AdSense.

It is not uncommon for everybody to be writing on the internet in today’s world. The question is not “if” you are writing on the internet, but “what” you are writing and how often. Blogging and other types of online diaries have greatly increased the amount of writing that people do, whether it be personal sharing, opinions or technical writing. The important thing then becomes how successful you are at writing. Regardless of what you write, there are a few factors that will help to make your articles stand out from the sea of other pieces of writing available on the internet.

View Your Article Like A Classified Ad

Many viewers have a short attention span and understanding that your article must catch their attention right away is critical in constructing a piece of writing that will be effective. Make the article short and sweet. Writing web articles is not the place for long dissertation or explication. People will simply not read them. You need to catch the attention of the viewer quickly, get them the information that they are looking for even quicker and wrap it up.

Use Sub-headings

Again, this is a key to quick distribution of information. Many articles are found based on a keyword search through a search engine. By using many subheadings, you will be able to organize the information that you are providing. Viewers tend to read articles that are well-organized and broken down into pieces that are easily assessable.

Proofread

This is extremely important! Nothing will turn off a viewer more quickly than an article that is poorly written and that is grammatically unprofessional. A simple run through with spell check is a good start, but should not be the only method that you use to check your work. One trick that many try in order to proofread their work is to read it out loud. This allows you to hear the words instead of simply reading the words. But regardless of how you check your work, it is essential to make sure that it is spotless!

Market Your Article

Even if you have to most innovative article that will revolutionize the world, if no one reads it, you might not have even written it. In order for you to get a maximum amount of exposure, you must get your name and your article out so that viewers can find it! Post it to as many places as you can, with links to your site. This will create momentum and will further increase the amount of hits, as the wider the distribution, the higher your article will rank in search engines. Your article is more than a piece of your writing; it is a way to market your ideas and your site.

Seek Out As Many Formats As Possible

Do not limit yourself to simply blogging or posting in forums on websites. If you wish to make your article into a successful piece of writing, try getting it published everywhere! With electronic resources such as “how-to” websites and ezines, the cost to your will be relatively low. It is simply a matter of sending an email to publishers of these sites. Many publishers send out articles to a list of email subscribers. What better way could there be to get your name to many people?

Writing anxiety and writing block are informal terms that are used to denote pessimistic and anxious feeling about writing. Researches showed that the majority of students exhibit unusually strong apprehension about writing. This debilitating condition forces students to avoid majors, jobs, and courses that require writing.

In fact, having some level of writing anxiety can help you concentrate, really your thoughts together, and devote all of them to writing. However, in excessive quantities it can become a hindrance; here is where the actual problem lies.

Some experienced writers claim that this feeling has the situational character and is not pervasive in person’s writing life. Others say that writing block and anxiety show up only during our most stressful deadline-driven periods, and stay until we find the way to show them the door.

Writing anxiety encroaches upon a writer, who doesn’t know what to write about, or simply doesn’t know where to start writing, and is usually accompanied by (1) continuous procrastination of the writing tasks, (2) becoming nervous because of the impossibility to write anything at all, (3) quickening heartbeat, and sweaty palms.

All in all, every writer, at least once in his life, experiences moments, which create anxiety. Surely, there is a great deal of variations among individuals; however, there are some common experiences that writers can find stressful.

Writing anxiety can be a result of a great variety of social, academic, and personal factors. Some of them are:

* Writing for readers that have previously been overly critical and demanding to the writer’s work.
* Working in limited or unstructured time.
* Adjusting to the new forms of writing that causes some troubles to the writer.
* Being preoccupied with college life and social issues.
* Professors that may seem intimidating and relentless.
* Fear to failure.

Such circumstances can increase the stress level of the writer and become an awful distraction. The good news is that there are ways to restore writing equilibrium and get down to writing. Here are some practical steps to help writers unlock their writing talents.

I. Brainstorming and organizing your ideas

Brainstorming and organizing your ideas are as important as the process of actual writing. As a matter of fact, it provides a guaranteed solution to overcome the writer’s block. This strategy is very simple.

You begin with a blank sheet of paper or a computer screen. You write your topic at the top, and, then, write everything you can about it. While brainstorming different ideas, you don’t care about grammar and editing, you simply brainstorm various approaches to the subject matter under consideration.

When you are completely out of ideas, you look at the list of the jotted ideas, and reconsider your topic, cutting down the ideas that stray away from it.

Then, you organize these ideas and find the central idea that gives a decent place to start the first draft, and states an essential truth about your topic. Since you have found the leading idea, try to arrange all the other points in the logical order that you’ll use in your essay.

II. Free writing

Free writing is one of the best ways around the writer’s block. Free writing is a non-stop writing designed to uncover ideas that has no rules and forms to follow. Focused free writing involves writing on a particular topic as a means to discover what you already know or think about it. It helps you write when you don’t feel like writing, loosens you up and gets you moving.

You write down the topic at the top of the page. Then, you set your clock for five or ten minutes, and put your pen to paper. The main idea is to write for a short, specified period of time, keeping your hand moving until your time is up. Remember that you are not allowed to stop, even if you have nothing to say, write first that occurs to your mind in the act of writing. And one more thing to remember is that you don’t form any judgments about what you are writing. When the time is up, you go back over the text, and identify ideas that should carry over your text.

III. Clustering

Like brainstorming and free associating, clustering allows you to start writing without any clear ideas. To begin to cluster choose the word, which is central to your assignment, write this word at the middle of the paper. All around it place the words that occur to you when you think about this word. In such a way you write down all the words that you associate with this concrete word. You write it quickly, circling each word, grouping them around your central word, and connecting the new words to the previous ones.

Clustering doesn’t have to be logically built and well-structured; it allows you to explore new insights without committing them to a particular order.

Hope that these options will help you handle your writing anxiety and forget about this mental deadlock once and for all!

Article writing, submissions, publications and blogs are getting popular because with modern communication technology comes the popularity of information-based marketing, which is one of the oldest and most effective techniques in getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers.

Submission tools abound that authors and marketers can use to make the process of submitting their articles more easily. Though this is invaluable in getting the contents more exposure, it’s only half of the process.

Here are three common mistakes many authors make before submitting their contents to article directories:

1. Confusing the reason to promote the articles with the reason to write them.

In article writing, there are three key benefits in using them for promotion; branding, lead generation and promotion, which are all part of your optimization strategy.

But there is only one reason why you write an article, and that is to inform your audience. Your article must be focused on a topic to achieve the three promotion benefits because no one will be interested in reading them if they aren’t.

The first goal is to get people to read your article, the next is to get them to click on your resource box. Providing focused content will help you achieve these goals.

2. Overlooking all the promotional opportunities of article marketing for maximum results.

First of all your articles can help you generate additional links back to your site. Most marketers already know this. But do you know that you can get more visitors and better search engine results from those same articles?

How do you get more visitors and better search engine results?

Mention keywords at strategic places. Just be sure not to overdo them. A keyword density of 3-5% is an optimum percentage. Some directories support anchor texts which is effective. It’s important to note as of this writing that majority of the directories are not able to support anchor text links. If you plan on using anchor texts you’ll have to determine which directories will accept your submissions. Otherwise use a plain text url such as this. http:///www.yourdomain.com

Remember that is not only about the links back to your site. Part of doing well in your article marketing is getting picked up by publishers with a large number of audiences and gaining the ability of leveraging other brands because of the quality of your work.

Better search engine results also are great benefits. But these things do not put much money in your pocket. There are other factors that can turn your article marketing efforts into an opportunity that can boost your earnings. Not just increase the number of visitors to your site.

Start out with a plan. Make a list of all the different ways you can put that article to work for you and all the purposes it serves. One guru I know makes his articles work in 20 different ways or he doesn’t use it. How many ways can you come up with?

3. Publishing content that is not useful for your readers.

Maybe in the process of writing articles, you are thinking that all that is you wanted is links back to your site. And any visitors it can generate is just a bonus.

THAT couldn’t be farther from the truth. Not all article banks and directories are going to accept your content automatically. Each of them have guidelines and specifications on the articles that they are accepting. You can double the number of sites you can submit to by writing articles that the directories want to share with other people. All it takes is one publisher with a hundred thousand readers to increase your potential audience overnight.

Write the articles that publishers want in their publications if you want your article marketing to work the most effective way for you. This also means you have to obey the standard guidelines, spell checks, researching on a good topic and even hiring a writer to produce good content on your behalf.

In the end, it is all really a matter of choice on your part. You can start getting a little exposure from increased links back but on a very basic level. Or enjoy massive exposure from a little extra time writing quality useful content.

Is this a money making article? Watch it make money. It is an article about writing an article that makes money. Once I have written it, I will then give away the article. Maybe it seems like one of the more unusual ways to make money, but it is right in line with the way the internet works.

Creating A Money Making Article

1. First you have to write a title that catches attention and has the right keywords in it. This has the keyword phrase “money making article,” and apparently caught your attention. Make the title relevant to the article content, of course, or the reader will feel tricked, and may stop reading.

2. Have a short description that pulls the reader in. You might use the first couple sentences of the article for this. Tell the readers what they will find in the article, and leave them curious. You read this far, so that seems to be working.

3. Have useful information or good stories. It is even better if you have both.

4. Put the keywords in the body of the article, and in sub-headings, so search engines can find your article. Note that I used “money making article” in the sub-heading above, and I just used it again.

5. Create an “authors resource box” that makes the reader want to visit your site. Talk very little about yourself and more about why the reader should go to your web site. I’ll be watching to see how well mine works in this case. Be sure the link to your website works.

6. Make money from visitors to your site. You could be selling your own products, or getting a commission for selling other people’s products, or just be getting paid for the advertising there.

7. Submit your article to the best article directories on the web. This is where you “give away” your articles. Directory visitors read them there, and other web site owners take them and use them. Generally, they can’t change a word in your article, and they have to make that link to your site (in the author’s resource box) active. This is how you get traffic to your website.

8. Let the readers learn something, but let them know there is more. This gets them to your site, to learn more. For example, I outlined the basic process above, but I’m leaving out the list of the best article directories to submit to. Of course, in the resource box I will mention that it is on my website. This is how you create a money making article.

Writing articles and putting them out on the web for everyone to see can be a little intimidating though at first, especially if you don’t consider yourself a writer. Remember that you have a lot of knowledge in your area of expertise that your readers are looking for, so just start sharing that knowledge in articles. Let’s take a look at how you can start writing your first article today.

Make a List
One of the easiest ways to write an article is to start with a list. Take out a piece of paper and jot down 5 reasons why… or 10 tips to do…. Your list will of course depend on your particular business but here are some examples: 5 reasons to take a multi vitamin, 10 tips to get your child to eat his vegetables, Top 5 ways to loose weight.

Now you write a little paragraph about each of your reasons or tips to explain them to your reader. Add an introduction to the topic at the beginning and close the article with a call to action such as start this today, visit this

Start with an Outline
I usually sit down with a pen and a notebook and start jotting down outlines for articles before I sit down at the computer to write the actual article. I come up with a title, a basic idea for the introduction and then just make a list of the major things I want to mention in the article. I also make a note of how I want to close the article. Then I’ll sit down and type out the entire article, modifying my outline as needed to make the article flow.

Record Yourself
If you’re more of a talker and love to tell others about your business, you may want to try recording yourself. Pretend you are telling a friend about a particular topic, maybe the benefits of using your product. Jut talk until you run out of stuff to say. Then listen to your recording and transcribe what you want to include in the article. You can record yourself on you computer, with a tape recorder, or use a MP3 player that records as well.

Interview Someone
Interviews make great articles as well. Find an expert on the topic you want to discuss in your article and either interview them in person (and record it) or email them the questions and have him or her send them back to you. Add a paragraph at the beginning about whom you interviewed and a little info about the person. You can close by summarizing the interview or highlighting a major point the expert made and encourage your readers to take action.

You can use the article you just wrote on your website, on your blog, or in your newsletter. You should also submit it to the article directories. Write a little resource box or author bio to the bottom of your article. When someone picks up an article from the directory to add it to their site or newsletter, they will also include your resource box with the link to your website, driving free traffic to your site.

If your dream is to get published, the chance is before you.The web has opened the portals of opportunity to all aspiring writers and freelance writers .
It’s a whole new world with unlimited access to ideas and subjects for writers. Endless resources and information are available at the click of your mouse to help you get started and keep you going.
It’s up to you to exercise due diligence to make your dream of writing a reality. It does not happen overnight. It all starts with that first, small step towards pursuing your dream. The internet offers all kinds of avenues for anyone who has ambitions to write. Where do you begin?
Read what the multitude of e-zines and newsletters have to offer. This gives you an idea of what interests people as they spend more and more time surfing the web. What are the latest trends ? Pay attention to issues that tend to pop out here and there, again and again.
Subscribe to pertinent groups or forums that can be helpful in your quest. Stay abreast with the latest news, be interested in anything and everything.
Open up your mind. Then, you can decide which venue is right for you. Ask yourself, are you interested in mainstream type of writing ? Or would you choose specific areas of interest?
Assess your inclinations, your passions and your hobbies.What beliefs do you hold close to your heart? Make a list. In your career, what is your area of expertise? Do you write reports ? Do you keep a journal? A diary? You’re
already a writer!
Get excited about writing down your ideas. The golden opportunity is before you, as never before. Actually, jumping in the bandwagon of writing for the internet can be overwhelming for the faint of heart, confusing for the skeptic, yet exciting for the go-getter. Which one are you?
The internet is open to all segments of society and to people from all walks of life. Access is not limited to the technologically inclined. It is no longer as intimidating as it was when the information superhighway first opened in the 20th century. People are less apt to admit their computer illiteracy, rather, more members of our society are learning how to navigate the cyberspace.
Learn about the basic rules of writing for the web. Cyber readers tend to be fast thinkers, speed readers, with only seconds to spare. If you want to grab their attention, remember, you only have precious few seconds to do it.
Take heart. You already know this. You love to see your by-line. The web will help you get your name out there. The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. Technically, if your work gets published on-line, you are considered published.
Only thing, writing for the web for the countless e-zines and newsletters and web-sites is not for those who intend to make a living from their writing. Not at the start.
If you are willing to write and submit your articles for free, don’t miss out. For the aspiring writer, it is a good way to start. The more you write, the more exposure you will get, readers will get to know your name. Writing for the internet helps to drive traffic to your website.
What are you waiting for?