Mike Paetzold Recommends

The Power Of An Accountability Partner

Mike Paetzold — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:48:30 +0000

Internet marketing can be a lonely lifestyle. Sure, there are hundreds of forums, blogs, and conferences where you can connect with others, but even when you’ve been around for a while you can feel like you’re all alone in your business. When you have little or no in-person connection with others who are in your position, you can start to feel like you are the only one on the Internet who’s worried about how Google’s latest decisions will affect your page rank, or who’s having trouble updating to the latest version of WordPress. You can forget that there are thousands of others in a similar situation, asking themselves the same questions, struggling with the same issues.

Not only that, but those in your day-to-day life, who know you in the “offline world” do not have a clue what you’re talking about, and oftentimes tend to bring more negativity than helpfulness to the picture even when they try to be on your side. Unfortunately, that can make you feel even more alone, especially when you have a setback and no one to help pull you through or to even just say “that happened to me, too!”

That’s where having an accountability partner (or a small accountability group) can save the day.

Definition: Accountability partners are formalized relationships with one or more people who help keep you on task.

Here’s what Wikipedia.org says:

An accountability partner is a person who coaches another person in terms of helping the other person keep a commitment. (The term) was originally used in connection with weight loss programs in the 1960′s.

I am working on a special report on accountability partners and would love to get your input as to what would help you the most. Leave your comments below.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: accountability group, accountability partner, accountability partners, blogs, conferences, internet marketing, relationships

Week In Review – July 24, 2010

Mike Paetzold — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:56:12 +0000

Another week is in the books. Has been extremely hot and humid here this week. The dog days of summer sure have not slowed things down.

There has been a HUGE amount of quality PLR items released this week. This is a perfect time of year for this because you can get these totally set up and running right now to take advantage of the up tick come September and the kids going back to school.

All week here I have been running a series on article marketing so make sure to check out the series below.

Because I could not find a quality product for the Saturday Seven I decided to do something a bit different this week. Repurposing content like articles is an easy way to generate even more traffic from your efforts.

So for this weekend only and only for those that read here I have reduced the price of Sunday Night Cash Plan from $37 to $17. There is nothing on the sales letter to state this but when you click the order button you will see the discounted price.

This will end at 8am Monday morning so don’t delay or if you get there after that sorry you missed the special.

Well enough here lets get to the blogs. (Yeah Gizmo was lazy this week.)

WordPress Made Easy

The PLR Secrets

What’s Hot

Fixed Membership Site PLR – A complete 3 month membership with PLR. Everything you need from start to finish to get your own fixed membership site.

Viral PDF Generator – Check out this video and see how you can generate 100′s of subscribers daily and take advantage of the discounted trial.

Common Cents PLR Pack – A personal finance product empire-in-a-box from Ronnie Nijmeh. Check it out today.

Great PLR Packs – Now if you are working in any of these niches there has been a lot of quality PLR released this week. Grab the ones that fit your niches. I have.

A freebie for you

5 Fatal Bum Marketing Mistakes – Great free report just download it no opt in needed.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: accountability partners, article marketing, bodybuilding, common cents, finance product, pdf generator, personal finance, plr, quality product, wii

Advanced Article Marketing Skills

Mike Paetzold — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:58:27 +0000

Now that you have a few articles under your belt and have a handle on basic techniques for promoting them, it’s time to take a step up and tackle some advanced skills. These activities will take your article marketing efforts to a whole new level:

1. Approach editors directly.

Once you’ve proven your ability to put out high-quality articles on a consistent basis, it’s time to see if you can bypass the middleman (the article directories) and provide regular content to a newsletter, blog, or website. Locate editors of publications or blogs in your niche. Pull together a short list (with links) to some of your favorite pieces that would be appropriate for their audience, and email them a short note introducing yourself, presenting the links to your material, and asking if they’d be interested in receiving regular, exclusive content from you for publication.

The benefit for them is that they know they can count on quality content that isn’t appearing elsewhere on the Internet; the benefit to you is that you can reach a target market on a regular basis, thereby compounding the “expert” effect.

My favorite resource that teaches this method can be found at:
Blog World Tour Guide

2. Include appropriate keywords.

Keywords are words or phrases that a potential reader would use in an online search engine to look for information on a specific topic. By using keywords, you have a greater chance of someone being linked to your article from an online search engine, thereby potentially increasing the traffic to your site.

The key to keywords (pun intended) is to think like your reader would think. For instance, if you want to draw people to your handmade greeting card site, you might want to include keywords and key phrases in your article and title such as:

greeting cards
greeting card use
sending greeting cards
occasions to send greeting cards
selecting greeting cards
handmade birthday cards
anniversary cards

While keywords are no guarantee that your article will become the number-one ranked link on Google, it will certainly help people find you in the vast wasteland of the Internet.

3. Re-use your articles in other media formats.

Once you have a group of targeted articles, re-use them by recording them as audio or video and releasing them online. Some people simply respond better to other forms of communication, so by providing a variety of media types, you expand your reach. It’s just another way you can connect with your target market in the way they prefer.

Article marketing is a rich and complex strategy for drawing your audience to your site. There are so many different ways to continue to market your articles that you could spend all your time finding new ways to leverage the work you’ve already created. The best part is, there’s something for everyone!

For step by step instructions on how to convert your articles to podcasts and videos quickly check out the Sunday Night Cash Plan.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, audience, editors, podcast, quality articles, target market, video

Offline Article Marketing Secrets

Mike Paetzold — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:46:39 +0000

While most people associate article marketing strictly with online promotion, you can get even more bang for your article buck by promoting your articles – and your business! – offline. Here’s how you can turn your online articles into offline marketing engines:

1. Submit articles to local papers and newsletters.
Many local newspapers, neighborhood associations or local organization newsletters will accept contributed articles. By submitting your articles on a hot and timely topic, you can increase your exposure and potentially gain new subscribers or customers.

To find local sources for your articles, you can do a simple Google search. Enter “CITY newspaper” or “CITY shopper” (quotes included) with CITY being your location, or nearest major metropolitan city, in the Google search bar. For instance, “Tallahassee newspaper” or “Seattle shopper”.

You are highly likely to find multiple small publications in your area. Don’t overlook neighborhood associations, as well as schools, daycares, gyms, community centers, churches, and clubs and organizations that create newsletters for their members. If their readership matches your target market, getting featured in these is free and can help you to grow your online business.

Make a list of publication names and contact information, and then either email them a link to your articles, or print out a copy and send it to their mailing address.

2. Share your content with associates and potential clients.
Print one of your favorite articles and mail it to prospective clients, business associates and others who might find the content useful. Include a sticky note that says “Thought you might find this helpful,” and sign your name. Be sure your website address or contact information and a business card are included as well. Then hand-address the envelope, include your name and return address, and drop it in the mail. If you make it a practice to send out a few every week, it can pay off in added readers, website visitors and customers.

3. Turn an article into a press release.
Newspapers are always looking for interesting news and stories they can use for their broadcast or print media. If your article has a strong news hook related to a recent event or season, you may be able to pitch a story as a press release. First, do some research to find out who your best contact at the newspaper is. For instance, if you’re a landscaping company, identify who covers home and garden, then read several of their past articles to observe what topics they cover. Next, email or call them. Introduce yourself and ask what type of stories and news releases they want to receive and how (via email, fax, phone or mail).

Once you know what the reporters are looking for, you can direct appropriate stories their way. If your article topic fits, format your article as a press release and send it to them as they requested. Keep in mind that reporters and newspapers receive hundreds of releases, many of which were written and sent by people who haven’t taken any time to get to know the reporters or what they are looking for. By doing your homework and developing a relationship with them, you stand a much higher chance of getting your information published.

4. Create print booklets of your articles.
Take a few of your favorite articles and compile them into a booklet.

Here’s how:

1.Lay out the articles in a word processing program (OpenOffice.org is free) or desktop publishing software.
2.Add an “About Us” page and contact information.
3.Include a free offer inside the book, if the reader joins your email list.
4.Print one sample booklet.
5.Copy the booklets at home or at your local print shop.

Then, it’s time to distribute the booklets.

Mail them to prospective clients.
Include them with all physical purchases.
Offer them as a free gift to subscribers.
Bring them to networking events and leave at information tables or booths.

There are many ways to use offline article marketing strategies to enhance your results. Be creative and search for new places to display articles and locate readers and subscribers. By offering them your well-written articles, you can establish yourself as a local expert and go-to person when they need your services or products.

Not sure you can do article marketing? Check out Easy Article Marketing course and get started today.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, local newspapers, local papers, neighborhood associations, organization newsletters, prospective clients, publication names, target market

What Makes Quality Content

Mike Paetzold — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:53:08 +0000

Whether you write about coin collecting or gardening, there are key ingredients that go into the creation of a good article. Providing quality content involves providing website visitors and readers with information they find useful and informative. While the details will vary, depending on your topic and article structure, there are some common ingredients of quality content:

Answer a question.
What answers are people in your niche market searching for? What are the frequently asked questions in your niche? Are there subject areas in your niche for which few articles have been written? Find out what readers in your niche are looking for and write articles that will answer those questions. Brainstorm a list of questions and topics. Providing the answers that readers (and potential buyers) are searching for will help to establish you as an expert who meets their needs.

Write clearly and accurately.
Minimizing – or eliminating – grammatical and spelling mistakes is essential to good, high-quality content. Before submitting any article for publication, run spell check and proofread it to catch any spelling and grammar issues. If possible, have another set of eyes look at the article to catch anything that you missed. Another tip is to read your work out loud to catch awkward phrasing or repetitions.

Include a compelling title.
If your title isn’t interesting, no one is ever going to get to your beautifully crafted article. Scan a few newsletters and blogs and see what articles and posts grab your attention. When in doubt, consider possible titles that include “5 Ways to…” or “10 Tips for…” Such titles always attract readers who expect short tidbits and quick reads for their time. Good titles require some effort, but since the title is the first thing potential readers see, it’s worth your time to craft a strong one!

Be concise.
Online readers prefer short articles, ideally those between 300 – 500 words. There’s a fine line between providing enough content to answer your reader’s quest for information while not providing such a long article that they don’t make it to the end to click on your resource box.

What makes quality content? It’s content that a reader is looking for, that answers questions, offers information a reader wants and promises more of the same if they click on your link. Quality content is what will attract visitors to your website and make your article marketing efforts work.

Want to write more articles faster? Check out 7 Minute Articles and increase your output and corresponding traffic.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, article structure, blogs, grammar issues, high quality, quality content, website visitors

What Kind of Articles Work Best?

Mike Paetzold — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:11:49 +0000

There are limitless topics that you could write about. But to make the biggest positive impact on your business, the articles that work the best are those that match the interests of your niche market.

If your business is selling information products to stay-at-home moms who want to start their own at-home business, then you want to write articles that demonstrate your expertise in that area. When those readers get to your resource box at the end of your article, they’ll click on the link expecting more of the same great content. Writing articles for dog lovers, for instance, when your target market is aspiring work-at-home moms just doesn’t make sense.

The best explanation I’ve ever heard of this was by Jimmy D. Brown who coined the term “useful but incomplete”. What he meant was that your articles should be “useful” to your target audience, but “incomplete” in that they should lead the reader hungrily to seek more information from you. They’ll turn to your resource box in search of more.

Quality is also a key ingredient to successful articles. While anyone can throw together a few sentences, combine a few paragraphs, paste on a resource box and call it an article, this slap-dash method is not likely to produce the results you desire. Quite simply, quality content is the key for any kind of success in article marketing.

Online article directories are filled with articles written by non-native language writers who don’t understand grammar or sentence structure, or by those who have simply copied what someone else wrote and plugged it into an article spinner without thought for the value of the finished article. Using such shoddy marketing methods will never help your article marketing efforts, and will likely brand you as unprofessional and harm your reputation as a business owner.

Most editors in search of content would rather find an expert on EzineArticles.com or LadyPens.com with 10 high-quality articles, than one with 500 junk articles. When editors and readers see junk articles, they assume that everything that person does is junk. Not a great way to build a business!

When you offer well-written, relevant content that helps your reader answer a question or gain new knowledge and understanding of a subject matter they’re interested in, you’ll establish yourself as an expert and advance your article marketing efforts and, ultimately, your business.

Want to write more articles faster? Check out 7 Minute Articles and increase your output and corresponding traffic.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, information products, niche market, quality articles, target audience, target market

Tracking Your Article Marketing Results

Mike Paetzold — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:42:51 +0000

When developing your article marketing campaign – or any marketing campaign for that matter – it’s a good idea to track your results to analyze what’s working and what’s not. Figuring out where you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck helps you maximize your results and minimize your investments. There are many affordable and easy-to-use tools to analyze your web site traffic statistics to give you a better picture of your results.

The easiest way to keep an eye on your article marketing efforts is through your web hosting stats. If you’re using a hosting company with a standard Cpanel, you can easily see where your traffic is coming from over time. If you’re using a company like HostGator.com, you’re already set. Just log into your Cpanel and click on Awstats to look around. The important stats to look at are “referring” traffic to see where your traffic is coming from.

Another free way to track your success is with Google Analytics at Google.com/analytics/. Google Analytics will help you determine where your visitors are coming from, which article directories are referring the most traffic, and which of your articles are paying off. Their easy-to use interface allows you to also track your sales and conversions from articles, test a variety of resource boxes, measure your site’s bounce rate and much more – all by installing a tracking code on your blog or website.

Google Analytics’ features are too many to list here, but suffice it to say the service will help you fully and completely analyze your website traffic so you know exactly how to tweak your article marketing efforts for better results. In addition, Google Analytics interfaces with other Google tools such as Adwords and WebOptimizer. Using Google Analytics in conjunction with your article marketing strategy may also help you increase the effectiveness of your Adwords campaigns.

The next step is knowing what to do with the information that you uncover with these two tools. The first thing is to find all the sites are already publishing your articles (by looking at the “referring” sites) and contact them to see if they’d like more of your content. Also, find out which of your articles seem to be the most popular based upon the amount of traffic you’re getting. Using these articles as guides, figure out what the commonalities are. Are they all on similar topics? Are they about the same length? Are their titles or resource boxes alike? Replicate what’s already working.

By figuring out what you’re already doing well, you can easily tweak your future efforts to be more and more successful over time. Just remember that gathering data is easy; putting it to good use is more complicated, but that’s where the results come from.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, awstats, cpanel, google tools, hosting company, marketing campaign, traffic statistics, web site traffic

Will Article Marketing Work For You?

Mike Paetzold — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:57:14 +0000

Article marketing is one of the most popular methods of promoting a business online. Not only is it easy and low-cost, it works and anyone can do it!

By writing articles on your areas of expertise and offering this content free of charge to online and offline publishers, you can:

spread the word to your target market
demonstrate your professional know-how
create a body of work that continues to “sell” you and your website long after the initial article creation

Other website owners, bloggers, and newsletter publishers are constantly looking for quality content to provide to their readers. You help them out by providing your well-written, targeted articles. In return they include a plug about you and your business, called the “author resource box,” at the bottom of the piece. The resource box includes a link to your site. So, they get free content, and you get free publicity. It’s a win-win!

You may be wondering if article marketing will work for your niche or industry. The short answer is yes! There are blogs and newsletters and ezines and websites on just about every topic under the sun, from accounting to Zoroastrianism.

Here’s a short list of businesses that can benefit from article marketing:

Service providers
Bloggers
Affiliate marketers
Ebook Authors
Infoproduct sellers
Online Store owners
Coaches and consultants
Realtors
Podcasters
Membership site owners
Authors
Speakers
Network marketers

In short, if you’re selling something or trying to drive traffic to your website or blog, article marketing is for you. It’s one of the most efficient ways to attract targeted visitors, to build trust among your readers, and to gain new customers or clients.

Here are some broad examples:

Bloggers can use article marketing to attract readers to their blogs and increase their subscriber base.

Webmasters can use article marketing to create valuable backlinks, and increase website traffic.

Writers can use article marketing to exhibit their writing skills, educate readers, and attract clients.

Hairstylists can use article marketing to share hair care tips, showcase their expertise, and attract business to their salons.

Dog trainers can use article marketing to share dog training lessons, and inform the public about the needs at a local shelter.

Whatever your passion, article marketing can benefit you and your business. When used correctly, it can successfully attract targeted traffic to your website or blog, grow your mailing list, help you become an expert in your field, build trust with your readers, make your website more popular, spread your name and website across the Web, add backlinks to your site, allow you to “advertise” free, brand yourself and your business, and generate sales.

As you can see, the benefits of article marketing are numerous.

Who can benefit from article marketing? You! And, it starts with just one article.

Not sure you can do article marketing? Check out Easy Article Marketing course and get started today.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: article marketing, author resource, backlinks, bloggers, ebook authors, ezines, free publicity, initial article, marketing service, newsletter publishers

Week In Review – July 17, 2010

Mike Paetzold — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:38:10 +0000

Another week is in the books and it has been a busy one. Have been discussing article marketing here on this blog this week and probably through next week. Content whether articles, blog posts, audio or video is something you need to understand.

Running a special on Profitable Blog Steps through the 20th which can save you $10.

The Saturday Seven is something for anyone using blogs for review type sites and there has been a few quality PLR releases this week.

Finally have been answering questions from readers over at WordPress Made Easy so it has been a busy week. You can leave a comment over there with your questions and the answer may show up in next week’s blog posts there.

Now to the blogs.

WordPress Made Easy

The PLR Secrets

Three Turtle Marketing

Growth Has A Downside – Will You Be Ready?

What’s Hot

Profitable Blog Steps – Discounted $10 through July 20th so check it out and save today.

Niche Blowout – 10 new PLR products with doc files and psds for less than $5 a piece. This ends shortly so grab yours now.

Family Fitness PLR – Article pack from Nicole Dean at Easy PLR on fitness for your family.

Productivity PLR Report – New PLR report from Easy PLR and perfect for creating a new squeeze page system for your business.

Web Hosting PLR Pack – This set from Rosie Cottis and is perfect for an e-course, blog content, or to create a free giveaway report to pre-sell your favorite hosting solution.

Saturday Seven – This week’s special is PLR to Clickbank Renegade Profits which is a plugin to help you set a cookie for people visiting your review blog of Clickbank products. Like always it disappears at this price after 8 am Monday.

Free Items

The Case Against Video Sales Letters – Great free report that you can grab with no opt in from Jason Fladlien,

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.

After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: answering questions, article marketing, business web, database backup, family fitness, family productivity, free finance, hosting solution, plr products, question poll

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