If you have the copywriting skills to write articles or have the promotional skills to publicize articles which have been written by others, then you may want to consider getting into affiliate marketing. This can offer you a great way to make money from the comfort of your own home. Affiliate marketing involves marketing a product or service for another company; you are then paid a commission for each purchase made by a customer who you refer. You refer customers by getting them to click a link to the merchant’s website which is placed on your webpage.
You’re going to need a great sales pitch, just as you would to promote any other product or service. You need to use your content to get visitors interested in the product or service and convince them to click that link and make a purchase. If you have useful, well written content, you will get visitors clicking your links again and again. A lot of affiliate programs only let you make a commission on the first sale a referral makes, but you can look for programs which will let you earn a commission on each sale a referral of yours makes.
If you can’t write this kind of compelling content yourself, you can get good content for free or even pay for it in order to get it onto your affiliate site. Paying for articles has a lot of benefits; you can tell the copywriter exactly what you are looking for in the article, what product or service you are selling and how to write it to keep your target market informed. You can also look for free content, but you are limited to what’s already out there. When you pay for content, you’ll own the copyright and no one else can use it without your permission. When you decide on free content, then you’ll be sharing this content with many other affiliates and the original author will have their byline in the article, which can actually direct traffic away from your site.
There are plenty of affiliate programs out there which offer high commissions for people who are skiled at pre-selling the product and can deliver traffic to the merchant’s site. If you pick a product or service which is useful to a lot of people, then you should have little challenge pre-selling (or selling) this product. The important thing is getting people to your website so that they can see your recommendations and click those affiliate links.
43 Comments
Brad Pollina
December 5, 2008Yet another great article! It really is about how good you can PRE-sell!
Brad Pollinas last blog post..listening to the Send Out Card…
Femi
December 5, 2008Thanks for posting this. I just love article marketing. It ROCKS! The old BUM Marketing ways are not that effective anymore, because people aren’t patient anymore. They will scan your article body and if they feel it is no good, they’ll move past it.
Write good informative articles or outsource it and you can get those views, traffic and sales or subscribers you need. Thanks for another good read…Reed! 🙂
-Femi
http://femiakinkuowo.com
John Bonzo
December 5, 2008Reed,
How goes It? I enjoyed your new article today. However, one thing your newer readers need to be aware of, though affiliate marketing is as great as you say it is you must beware. It can be very difficult. I tell my wife if it was too easy everybody would be doing it.
Well, I do do it and I love it! One of my adverising arms is writing articles and I think it is great also. Infact I have a new web site on writing articles and I hope to help many peaople there as well.
Thanks again,
John
Jinger Jarrett
December 5, 2008Reed,
I am a huge fan of article writing regardless of what you are promoting. It has done more to promote my business than any other internet marketing technique.
Thanks for getting the word out. Article marketing isn’t really that hard. 😉
Jinger Jarrett
Jinger Jarretts last blog post..Don’t Be Afraid To Be Dumb Enough To Succeed
Terence@ Build Your List Fast
December 5, 2008Article marketing must work because top marketers are prepared to pay for someone to write articles for them. They wouldn’t do that it it didn’t work would they?
I am a member of one PLR site that has great articles unlike some of the old junk that people give away. It’s worth every cent I pay as they are written by experts.
Terence@ Build Your List Fasts last blog post..Join The IM Dream Team And Help Improve Childrens Lives.
David Enders, D.C.
December 5, 2008Article marketing is good for marketing just about any product or service. It does take work and time, but well worth it. It also helps to know how to use keywords with your articles for maximum exposure.
Claude Pelanne
December 5, 2008Article writing is a great way to get into Internet Marketing. Writing your own material means you have to learn what you are writing about and you can earn as you learn. Overtime it does a great job of branding you and building your relationships with your customers and merchants.
Great article.
Sheri Swartz
December 5, 2008Here’s a tip for article marketing. If you’re getting a lot of views but not many clicks, a slight change of your bio could make a huge difference. If you’re not getting the views, then try changing the title to grab your readers attention. Happy writing!
Sheri Swartz
PV Reymond
December 5, 2008Hi Reed,
Article marketing is powerful.
You can get a lot of traffic and sales just for writing and submitting article to articles directories.
Thanks,
^PV Reymond
http://www.startup-internetbusiness.com
PV Reymonds last blog post..Internet Marketing For Newbies… The First Step
Timothy Millar
December 5, 2008Hey Reed, Hows the Family? You haven’t updated
us recently. I love Article Marketing, It will teach you how to approach and intice readers to click on your links whether it be on a blog, Hub
page, Squidoo or ezines. Everyone should know how to write their own articles and save money on advertising. If you need help I am available.
Timothy Millar “The Leprechaun” Have a Wonderful Day!
Cheryline Lawson
December 5, 2008Great content. I am a great freelance writer. I know how to engage my audience and I use this talent to really grab their attention. Another thing that I consider and others should too, is the ending of the article. It has to give the reader a reason to want to know more. I have a trick I use and it is working.
Profit Lance
December 5, 2008Hi Reed,
Article marketing can be free but you can also pay for services that submit to numerous article directories. One I’ve used in the past is submityourarticle.com It costs $37.00 per month but it’s worth it especially in the beginning as it will get you backlinks and listed quicky listed
Cheree
December 5, 2008Reed,
Great post. I use article writing not only for affiliate products, but also for general lead generation. Also wanted to compliment Sheri on her comment. I agree, making a slight change to your bio — and making sure you give the reader a call to action — are great ways of increasing your click throughs.
Cheree
Frankie Teo
December 6, 2008Articles writting is a must for all marketers. It can be tough in the begining but when you stay focus & do what you need to do as an Internet Marketer, you could master that skill in times to come.
You are great, Reed.. Thanks..
Regards,
Frankie Teo
http://www.cashcreatorsarticles.com/
http://www.frankieteo.com
Ari Lestariono
December 6, 2008I would prefer writing your own content best of your knowledge, it develop your writing skills and will improve your insight as well, as many writers will have their own style of writing skills this will develop your own character and it recalls as your own branding campaign
Ari Lestarionos last blog post..Home Remedies for Sore Throat
Talmage Shipman
December 6, 2008That was a great summary of the first part of article marketing. I am looking forward to part 2. Things like combining your articles into an ebook and article marketing directories were not included in this one. Great info as always.
Nickolove Lovemore
December 6, 2008Hi Reed,
Another informative post and some great comments too. I think it’s really important to outsource your article submission process as this can be very time consuming.
Article Marketer have temporarily “rolled back” their prices which are already very reasonable for the quality service you receive. They also provide a free article submission service to a limited number of article directories and so are worth checking out.
As Talmage mentioned when you’ve been consistently writing articles for a while you will have enough material for an ebook. However, there are numerous other ways of re-purposing articles which makes this form of marketing highly versatile as well as effective.
Nickolove
P.S. Like Timothy, I too have been missing updates of your family.
Nickolove Lovemores last blog post..Beyond the Law of Attraction – The 11 Forgotten Laws – FREE Teleseminar with Bob Proctor
normz2
December 6, 2008Good information again. Article marketing is a good thing. I would like to do it, but I do not have the time at this time to really get emersed in it. Maybe, sometime in the future.
Jane
December 6, 2008I just watched Jim Edwards Predictions for 2009 yesterday..and one of his predictions is that article marketing is going to come back bigger than ever next year.
People are still looking for good written content. Videos are still all the rage and the internet is moving more and more towards them, but there are still millions of people out there that rely on the written word.
I’m big on articles so I was happy to hear what Jim had to say because he’s been at this a long time!
atul
December 6, 2008Great article.Just enjoyed.But those who are bad in writing find it very difficult to outsource the same since its very diffcult to locate good writers on long term basis .Its like finding a needle in a haystack
Atul
atuls last blog post..Slash your energy costs by 3/4 in 3 weeks or less.
atul
December 6, 2008Hi Tim Millar
Could you look at my blog and suggest any changes if any
Atul
atuls last blog post..Slash your energy costs by 3/4 in 3 weeks or less.
Eric Alexander
December 6, 2008Hi Reed
Good advice as usual.
What I am saying is slightly off track. This is for all those internet marketers who churn out sales pitches with their autoresponders. Even after you buy the product, you will still get the same emails again for the same product ! I don’t have to mention that such things will put off the buyers !
I have some advice for all those using auto responders. There may be many wanting to buy the product but for a small clarification that they want about the product. But, try as you would you can never reach the sender. And since the potential buyer is not getting the clarification, he may not buy the product.
So it would be a good idea to set up a system to take responses to sales pitches.
Best regards
Eric
Hamid Mat Sain
December 6, 2008Dear Reed and fellow Marketers,
If content is king in Internet business then Article Marketing is king of contents.
The only problem I find is that the ezine publishers would not allow you include the pitch page in the signature box.The readers will have to browse your whole site in order to relate the presell article with the products.This reduces the efficiency of article marketing.What say you?
Cheers
Hamid Mat Sains last blog post..Can You Find a Cheap (but Great) Pay Per Click Campaign?
Geoff Dodd
December 6, 2008Hi Reed, I think the go is ‘pre-selling’ by warming up a prospect with freee information. Give them Value in an article and they’ll accept you as a leader who can take them by the hand and show them the path to solving their problem.
Geoff Dodd
Richard
December 6, 2008Article marketing should be part of the traffic generation strategy of all internet marketers; it’s effective and – unless you outsource – free (apart from your time).
Richards last blog post..Free Web Traffic Sources: Traffic Witch Traffic Exchange
Jeen Hao
December 6, 2008Nice article. I like article marketing very much. Thanks a lot for these tips =)
Jeen Haos last blog post..Blogs To Wealth Newsletter Launch!
Anna Kindler
December 6, 2008Hey Reed, Thanks again for another nice article. I am learning how to write good content articles. I think writing is a lot of fun. It really is amazing for me to see how this old brain works on ideas and then writes an article on my ideas. Thanks again for the good info. By the way, how is the little one and mama? Anna
Dave Lovelace
December 6, 2008Reed, nice blog!
I would like to add an additional benefit of using articles and add a resource to have them written for you that I’ve personally used.
A great tip for cranking out an article is to use a “# ways” format. Example, “10 Ways To Write A Viral Article”, “3 Tips For Creating Traffic Pulling Videos”, etc
These are easiest to write. Have a great title with a keyword in it. Include that keyword again in the opening and once more in the body to attract organic traffic.
If the content is useful, then you’ve pre-sold the prospect. In addition, they now see you as an expert and see you as a credible resource to learn more (aka, purchase from you or subscribe to your list).
But the key is to submit many articles every week for the best results. Not just 1 or 2 here and there.
Here’s a resource that I’ve used to have articles written for me using the keyword placement. http://article-writer.team-schuman.com/
Hope your readers find this useful info.
Dave
http://WebsiteTrafficBootcamp.com
Zach Kong
December 6, 2008I totally agree with you that as an affiliate, we have to do the pre-selling, not the selling. That is the job of the merchant.
Oftentimes, affiliates often forgotten that and perform hard-selling, with the merchant again doing selling.
Affiliates, on the other hand, should be doing emotion selling as much as possible. People buy from those they feel comfortable and people whom they know. Not from people who do selling like the salespersons we meet in our local shopping centres.
And as what you have mentioned, through the means of articles, you get to brand yourself as an expert of high credibility and get people to know you and feel comfortable listening to you.
I remember reading from one sales book. Before you get your customers into the mood of selling, make sure s/he is confident and comfortable buying from you. Else, s/he will be buying from someone else, after you have completed the most complicated part, selling…
Zach Kongs last blog post..Learn How You Can Win In ALL Contests, With Utmost Ease…
MARINA1965
December 6, 2008GOD BLESS YOU!!!
Paul Penafiel
December 6, 2008Article marketing is one of those tried and tested marketing method that actually works. Here’s the thing about article marketing that some people don’t tell you, is that you have to submit it to as many top directories as you can.
There are services where you can pay them to distribute it for you like Isnare.com or submityourarticle.com but there are targeted forums where you can submit your articles yourself. Don’t forget sites like Yahoo Groups accepts articles too.
The most important element of article marketing is of course your signature line. You can narrow your target audience that subscribes to your list or visit your website by fine tuning your signature line.
Good luck.
Asher
December 6, 2008Hi Reed,
I use article marketing a lot and the great thing about it is that it’s free, qualified traffic.
Also, anyone can learn how to make articles – or have it outsourced. It doesn’t take a copywriter to make a good article.
Article marketing is awesome – I love it.
Asher
Ashers last blog post..What is Network Marketing in the 21st Century
Frankie Teo
December 6, 2008Hi Reed,
Thanks for the great information once again.
It will take a little practice to write articles since many won’t know what to write. As you mentioned, we can pay others to have our articles written.
Cheers,
Frankie Teo
http://www.frankieteo.com
admin
December 6, 2008@Brad thanks I agree being able to pre-sell can make a big difference
@Femi you’re welcome
@John I actually think we could have a lot more people in this industry but people need to choose what they want to focus on and then focus on that and not get distracted
@Jinger congrats
@Terence It works quite well
@David agreed
@Claude thanks
@Sheri great tip
@PV agreed
@Timothy doing well thanks
@Cheryline what’s your trick?
@Profit I’ll keep that in mind thanks
@Cheree thanks
@Frankie you’re welcome
@Ari yes being able to brand yourself is very important
@Talmage I’ll keep that in mind
@Nickolove outsourcing that can be a very good use of time as well
@normz2 Thanks
@Jane I can see articles having somewhat of a return in popularity as oftentimes it’s faster to read a short article then watch a long video
@Eric interesting point
@Hamid that could reduce it
@Geoff agreed
@Richard time is the one thing you can’t replace so oftentimes outsourcing is faster
@Jeen you’re welcome
@Anna they are doing well thanks
@Dave thank you, I didn’t know you read my blog nice to see you here. Great tips
@Zach great tips
@Marina thanks
@Paul good tips
@Asher it’s a very nice strategy
@Frankie you’re welcome
Ernie Carroll
December 7, 2008Hi Reed,
Again you are on target! I think article marketing will be “the traffic source” in 2009 and maybe beyond. I am a member of 2 PLR sites so I have access to articles to rewrite.
Ernie Carrolls last blog post..Blogging to the Bank 3.0 – Honest Review
Aviram
December 8, 2008HI Reed!
Very nice article Floren!
I would really love ot know more about using article marketing and tips to writing an article.
Can you please send me some good and popular articles websites?
Are there any more tips you can give me about article marketing?
THanks !
Aviram
Matthew Lord
December 8, 2008Reed as always a great post. I think the competition for traffic is only going to increase, so article marketing will become more and more important. More importantly, unique content is imperative with the search engine duplicate content penalties.
Hope this info will be useful to some if you are interested in writing unique articles quickly.
http://www.marketingprimetime.com/instantarticles
Cheree
December 8, 2008Aviram
One of the best ways to find popular article directories is to google it. The first ones displayed are going to be the most popular. I post articles at Ezinearticles.com, but there are a handful of others I like to use too. Your best bet is to try a variety of them, and then see where your traffic is coming from. Don’t just look at traffic, though, you also want to see which directories your articles are being republished from — that’s the beauty of this method of viral advertising. You post the article one time, but then others post it over and over again on their sites. Suddenly, you have links (from your resource box) pointing to you from all over the web!
Cherees last blog post..Action: The Key to Success in Network Marketing
Pat Gunning
December 9, 2008Article marketing can be your best sales page.
Why?
Because it doesn’t sell it educates! It also brands you as an expert and that my friends is the secret to success on the internet…
bet
December 10, 2008Great article and as usual, I learn a lot from the commentators. Thanks.
admin
December 14, 2008@Ernie I’m not sure if it will be”the” marketing strategy PLR’s can be useful as a starting point, keep us posted
@Aviram EzineArticles.com is a great site
@Matthew Thanks
@Pat agreed once people consider you to be an expert it’s a lot easier to sell them on stuff
@Bet you’re welcome
delords
January 31, 2009Nice Post Reed,
I appreciate the tip, Article marketing has been of my my favorite promotional tool and i will advice anyone if you want to be a good affiliate marketer learn to write articles yourself, its not hard to go about it,
just add up meaningful words and you get what you want.
Malaysia Tractor
April 29, 2009I agree. Article and Press release are the good choices to gain the quality back-link.
Frankly speaking, i am not good in writing but i gain alot of quality back-link by writing article. I always believe the most important thing is the content mush be unique. Never ever duplicate other people content. You will be penalized by Google in one day. Good luck.
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