Are you searching for a free dynamic traffic and sales
building technique? Well, the crucially important benefits
of writing articles make it a strategy that’s difficult to
top.
And when you think of writing articles, it’s likely the
name, Michael Southon, pops into mind. Michael is simply
one of the web’s most published and successful article
writers. He’s been reprinted literally tens of thousands of
times and his articles can be found on over a staggering
8000 web sites.
Joshua: This is indeed a pleasure for me, Michael. Can
you tell us a little about your Internet background?
Michael:
I got started out in online business in January 1999 with an
Ezine directory called the Business Directory of Ezines,
which I later renamed The Free Directory of Ezines. Back
then I was a total newbie and the idea of writing an article
that would get published seemed outrageous. But in May of
that year I wrote my first article “10 Tips For Successful
Ezine Advertising” and it was published a week later in
WebProNews (500,000 subscribers).
Joshua: Wow, that’s quite an entrance! I also seem to see
your articles all over the net. Can you summarize the
specific benefits you’re getting from writing articles?
Michael:
This technique works on so many levels – for example, I get
‘name branding’ from people seeing my name over and over
again, I get free links to my sales page on hundreds of
websites, my ‘link popularity’ goes up because my articles
appear on hundreds of websites with an active link back to
my website, and that boosts my ranking in the search
engines, I get huge exposure to readers of Ezines or
Newsletters, and so on. It really is a multiplier effect.
Joshua: So, you’re killing a number of ‘big’ birds with
one stone. While this is great, let me ask you this: Is it
REALLY possible for the average person to be successful
writing articles? How about for those who feel they’re just
not good writers?
Michael:
Absolutely. There’s a very well-known Ezine Writer who
writes very simple articles – they’re just a list of tips.
But they get published all over the Web and he’s made his
name and his success with those articles. You don’t need
any literary skills to succeed with this technique.
Joshua: I know what you mean. I’ve seen a lot of simply
written articles that were excellent due to the content.
But this raises an important question: How does someone
come up with content ideas? What do you do, for example?
Michael:
The key to coming up with topic ideas for your articles is
to be very aware of what you yourself are learning. As you
know, ecommerce is a huge area and we’re all learning new
things every day. Every time you learn something new, write
a short article about it. Because there are almost certainly
other people who are going to have to learn what you just
learnt and your article is going to make it much easier for
them to get that information. The other thing to do is pay
close attention to the questions people ask you. For
example, I had a question last week from a man in the UK who
wanted to know how to use articles to promote an affiliate
link. So I answered his question and then wrote an article
titled: “How To Boost Your Affiliate Sales With Free
Articles”. sale on michael kors bags