Finding An Article Idea

September 27, 2010

I’ve had this question several times now:

“How can I come up with an idea for an article?”

So I thought I’d give you an example of an article I wrote recently and explain where I got the idea from.   Simply put, Terry Dean sent me an email I thought was interesting, and I used it as a starting off point.  [His is one of the few lists I'm on because I value the information he gives.]TerryDean write an article

Here is his email, with permission: 

“Hi Peg,
 
Are your sites converting enough visitors and leads into sales of your products and services…or for affiliate products you may be recommending?
 
If you’re in the vast majority of online marketers, the answer to the above question is a solid NO.
 
While there are several places you could look to find the problems, let’s go to one of the most common problems…one of the issues that pops up again and again.
 
You simply don’t have enough proof.
 
You’re not proving the claims you make.
 
This is especially common today when everyone tells you to sell with emotion.  Make an emotional pitch…which I agree with 100%.  BUT that emotion must be backed up with logic, facts, and proof about what you’re promising.
 
Otherwise it becomes hype your visitors simply don’t believe.
 
The real path to success is to make a strong promise you can fulfill, and back this promise up with proof.
 
The most common proof elements everyone talks about are testimonials. 
 
I’m not knocking those at all.  Testimonials work.  That’s why you see them on every type of ad and website you can imagine.  
 
But do you realize they’ll losing a little of their luster.  The government has put limitations on them (that you also need to include typical customer results with them).  And you’ll find in some markets people simply don’t belive the testimonials.
 
Does that mean you should quit using them?  NO WAY.  It simply means they shouldn’t be your ONLY method of proof.
 
You can also include photos…for example a before and after photo of how much weight you personally lost.  But that’s another common form of proof.
 
How about we cover a few less common ways to add proof and believability to your advertising?
 
1. Tell Them How It Works
 
Why is your product able to deliver on its promises?  What makes it different? 
 
In internet marketing this may mean you explain all the steps your software program does in the background when they simply push the “Go” button.  If you’re sharing how to get pregnant, maybe you explain how specific hormones work…related to what you offer.  With any type of information product, you might share a few of the key principles the strategy is based on.
 
As you can see this is exactly opposite of the strategy where you tell people what something isn’t.  If you ever purchased in the business oppportunity field (I know I did enough), you saw lots of ads promising a big benefits and they told you all the things the product wasn’t…but they never told you what it was.  It’s an effective selling appraoch, but I quickly learned that ads like that were selling “air” 99% of the time. 
 
We’re doing the opposite and letting people see behind the curtains…telling not only what we can do for them but HOW we can do it.
 
2. Case Study
 
A case study is a much more in depth testimonial.  Instead of someone giving a quick snippet of how much the product or service helped them, you talk about all the factors involved in the overall transformation.
 
This means you share specifics about where they were before, how they discovered the product, how it worked for them, and what the specific results were. 
 
This becomes a story by itself for the product.
 
If you’re selling affiliates products, TRY IT.  I dare you.  You’ll be shocked at just how much more effective this is than simply saying “Hey, so-and-so has a great product I purchased.”
 
Write the full story of something you put to use in the product and how it worked for you with as many specific as possible. 
 
Watch the sales flood in.
 
3. Media Appearances
 
Have you appeared in any media outlets, either online or off?  Has the news done a story on you?  Maybe they’ve quoted you?
 
Publicity has a multiplying effect on you.  Not only do you get the exposure and traffic from the appearance itself, but you also get the ability to claim that title, “Appearing on ________.”
 
If they media featured you, you must be good, right?  They don’t always research their subjects in depth like people think, but they definitely become a form of proof for your business.
 
The publicity could be as simple as submitting articles you’ve written out to the news sources…and then saving the clippings. 
 
4. Identify with their Disbelief
 
Are some of your promises hard to believe?  If so, agree with them.  Tell them why you didn’t believe it at first either (if you didn’t). 
 
What was the process of research you went through before you believed it or how was it proven to you personally?
 
Or you can combine this one in with the case study or several testimonials.  Maybe the subject of the case study didn’t believe at first either…until they saw the results.
 
Be open with your reader or listener.   Admit that you went through this same disbelief stage at some point until you made this discovery. 
 
In other words, be REAL with them.
 
5. Reason Why
 
I learned this one a long-time ago especially during email specials.  If you wanted an email to produce the best results you had to include a big benefit, a form of limited scarcity, and a reason why you were making such an incredible offer.
 
For example, let’s say you get returns in your business.  Everybody gets a few.  You can easily hold a scratch-and-dent sale with huge discounts of 25% to 50% or more off on the slighty used merchandise.  That’s a reason why you’re making such an offer.
 
Basically this uses the power of the word, “Because.”  You’re making this incredible deal, because….
 
And I found the “because” didn’t always have to be a great reason.  Any holiday is a reason why to run a sale.  Your anniversary, your child’s birthday, and an upcoming vacation can all be reasons why.   I once did this where my “because” was that I was standing in front of a roomful of people and wanted to demonstrate the power of an email list.  I didn’t want to look stupid so I made them an incredible deal I knew many of them would jump on. 
 
The point is that you have a WHY for making the offer. 
 
Does Your Ad Have Enough Proof?
 
The answer to this question is generally a No.  The majority of ads could improve their results by finding more studies, more testimonials, and more ways to back up all their claims.
 
The above 5 give you a few less common ways to add to your set of tools.
 
If you’re serious about finding additional ways to improve your conversion, make more sales, and earn more money online, check out the Monthly Mentor Club.  You’ll love the one of the special bonuses you get immediately just for giving it a try.  Shaune Clarke reveals, “How to Sell More Without Hype, Gimmicks, or Exagerration.” 
 
When I first read a few of his websites, I felt like I knew him, trusted him, and had to have what he offered.  It’s almost shocking the way he could influence without making any wild claims or promises.  Find out more in Shameless Bribe #6 of the Monthly Mentor Club:
http://www.MonthlyMentorClub.com
 
Sincerely,
Terry Dean”
 
This email inspired me to write an article (see below)  about having proof on your sales page.  I appreciate getting information in the form of bullets, numbers, or tips because not only do I absorb it better that way, it gets my wheels turning on how I could write an article on something similar.  I am an information junkie, I like to read.  And since I’m a PLR writer and an article marketer, I always think about the possiblities of article topics whenever I read anything. 
You’ll notice I didn’t COPY Terry Dean, I took an idea – sales page proof – and crafted my own article.
 
 
“Are These Kinds Of Proof On Your Sales Page?

We all know what goes into selling a new product online – an awesome product, lots of traffic, an excellent sales page, and good conversion rates.  Having the awesome product is probably the easiest part, while getting good conversion rates may be the hardest.  So what will help you convert visitors into buyers? 

Proof.

People want to see proof that your product is and does what you promise it will be and do.  They want to know other people have used it successfully without complications.  They’d also like to see, touch, and try, if possible.  If they’re convinced it will solve their problem(s), they’ll head right over to the buy button and purchase the product.

Here, then, are some types of proof that will help prove your product is the one for them:

Testimonials

While the US government has now put some restrictions on what testimonials can say, and need to include a disclaimer noting atypical results, they are still an effective form of proof.  Testimonials can be in writing with a photo, video, or audio.  What types of testimonials do you like to see?  I like the ones that say how the customer put the product to work for them and increased their income by xx dollars, lost xx amount of weight, or cleared up acne in xx days.  These are customers who have used the product and found success so it’s likely, or at least possible, other buyers will get good results too.

Video tour

Not only tell them about your product, take them inside.  A video look around with maybe a demonstration of how to use the product will show potential customers exactly what they will be getting.  If your product is an ebook, show them the table of contents and a page here and there; similar to what Amazon does with their Look Inside! feature.  Show off and talk about any bonuses as well.

Case studies

These are a form of a testimonial, but more involved.  A case study shows where the person was at before the purchase, how he used the product, how long the results took, and what the results were.  People like the specifics, so it might also include a negative or two. 

Flash your credentials

Are you a published author, been an expert in the field for over 10 years, been quoted in the newspaper, been interviewed by other experts in the field?  Without being a show-off, weave in this kind of proof as to why you’re capable of talking and teaching on this subject.

Free trial period

This is more like advanced proof and goes a long way in comforting a potential buyer’s fear.  Sometimes you can get the tire-kickers to buy if you get them behind the wheel for a test drive.  Offer a 14 or 30 day trial and encourage them to try it out.  Offer assistance during the trial period and remind them at the end of the trial to buy.

To convert readers to buyers, you definitely need to have some proof on your sales page.  Consider using video, audio, or written testimonials, case studies, a free trial period, showing your credentials, and doing a video tour of your product.  And remember to test to see which type of proof converts the best with your audience.”

So that’s one way I come up with ideas for an article.  Pay attention to your emails!
P.S.  The article I wrote above is part
of a free PLR articles pack I just finished. 
If you’d like to get it, go here.

Filed Under Article Marketing, Main, PLR · Comments Off  

Article Marketing – Did I Do It All Wrong?

November 24, 2009

I confess that when I started writing articles and submitting them to Ezine Articles I had no idea what SEO was, no real concept of how to use keywords, didn’t know the best way to put together a bio box, didn’t care about the length of the articles, and submitted only my best work.  So I guess you could say I went for quality, not quantity, and many article marketers would tell you I was doing it all wrong.

I have a little story to share with you regarding one of these articles.

Last week I was wondering why I was suddenly getting more than the usual number of opt-ins to one of my newsletters when Google Alerts told me why.  One of the first articles I wrote, in April 2007, was picked up and published on a website that has a page rank of 4.   Here is the fallout from that article getting published this time…

  • 79 new opt-ins to my newsletter, and more still coming in
  • 2 immediate sales
  • 10 nice comments posted about the article (warm fuzzies for me :) )
  • extra $ in AdSense income

This isn’t the first time this article has been republished, but these are the best results I could track.  The article is 2 1/2 years old and it blows my mind that it’s still out there and kicking!  I’m probably more excited about the opt-ins than anything because they are warm, targeted subscribers, not just people fishing at a Giveaway event.

So, if I was inclined to add a moral to this story, it might be “Write quality articles because you never know who might read them, how long they will circulate with your name on them, and how much money you might make from them.”

Filed Under Article Marketing · 8 Comments  

Articles as Real Estate

November 5, 2008

I was just thinking about articles and all the things you can do with articles.

Articles are valuable real estate, whether you wrote them yourself or they’re PLR.  Don’t have a product of your own?  Put several articles together, add some graphics and bam… you’ve got a product.  You can sell it or give it away to your list or use it as opt-in list bait.  And now your real estate is even more valuable.

The reason I was thinking about this is because of a project I’m working on with Janet Beckers at Wonderful Web Women.  Really, my part is pretty easy.  I’m writing articles, one at a time, around 600 words.  When finished, these articles will all fit together as a big package of information.  I can’t wait to see how Janet packages it and what the sales page will look like. 

This is something you can do – so get yourself some PLR articles or start writing your own!

Filed Under Article Marketing, PLR · 2 Comments  

Showing a New Product to the World

August 20, 2008

Wow, there sure is a lot to do when you’re ready to let people know you have a new product out.
 

*  Create a Warrior Special Offer for the Warrior Forum (to offer it at a special discounted price.)

Done – Rewrite PLR Quickly and Easily
This takes longer than it should because the new forum’s WSO area is a bit quirky and likes to remove my paragraphing and create it’s own.  :(  Oh well, at least it’s not trying to re-price my product or anything like that.

Then I have to fix how the payment link is working so it goes to the correct download page.  Good thing I set up an extra web page for opt-ins.  It came in handy today.

I also answer questions on the post and give my thanks to people who have complimented the product.  This is my favorite part!… well, if I’m honest, it comes a very close second behind seeing the “Notification of Payment Received” email from PayPal.

*  Change my signature links on the Warrior Forum.

Done – This was the easiest thing I did all day.  

*  Send notification of the new product to my list.

Done – 3 lists, and several different emails for split testing later… these semi-masterpieces have flown the coop and hopefully landed in in-bins where they are being eagerly read as I type this. 

*  Write a blog post here to let anyone who reads my blog know about my new ecourse. 

Done – I really am quite pleased with how it turned out.  Here’s the link again:
Rewrite PLR Quickly and Easily
Rather than describe it all here, just go to the link above.

*  Let all my friends know.  We like to support each other.   I should clarify – my internet marketing friends.  My other friends wouldn’t know what the heck I was talking about and wouldn’t care.

Done – Those who will listen have heard.

What’s next?
  – Put a plug for it on my main website page.
  – Decide how much I’m going to charge for it when the WSO is up.
  – Set it up for affiliates.
  – Article marketing.
  – More, lots more, but too tired to come up with them now.

Filed Under Article Marketing, Main, PLR · 2 Comments  

Interpreting Your Article Marketing Stats

April 14, 2008

You’ve probably heard just about every internet marketer say “test, test, test everything.”  Well, I was just thinking about approaches to article marketing and the whole testing thing.  Do we write article after article, throw them out there, and hope something good will happen?  Are we taking the time to analyze our stats? Are we testing our articles?

 I confess I don’t always take the time to completely test or analyze what I’ve got but when I do, here’s what I try to look at:

I write articles on various niche subjects.  Which subjects get the most hits?  Why?  Are they the subjects I tend to be more interested in and thus write articles with more passion?  Are they the niches that I make the most money on in affiliate products or AdSense?  Are they just more popular niches or have the more pressing problems?  Was it because they were timely (season or holiday related)?

I primarily submit my articles to Ezine Articles and a few other article directories that relate more to a specific niche, like LadyPens.  The stats I look at are Ezine’s stats and my websites’ stats.

Another thing I look at is which categories get the most hits.  There are times when my article could fit in 2 or 3 different categories but I have to choose one.  Instead of playing pin the tail on the donkey, I look at the resultant article hits and website hits I get according to the category I submitted the article to.  Hope that makes sense.

While I’m talking about categories, I would like to say that if there is a main category, such as “Health and Fitness” I will submit to that rather than a subcategory under it.  I believe more people start their reading in the general category and don’t go much further.

Ezine Articles gives you stats that tell you how often your article has been read on their site, how often it has been downloaded, and how often your bio link has been clicked on, but that’s just a start.  You don’t know how many times it’s been copied and pasted onto another website.  There are 2 ways I check on this.

1.  I use Google and Yahoo to see where my article is being published by putting my title or an original sentence from the article in quotes and searching.  It’s pretty cool to see your article on legitimate sites (with your bio intact) across the Internet.  After I’m done feeling all important and branded, I analyze which articles are being picked up the most.

2.  I check my website stats for the hits from other websites.  One of my first articles was picked up by a well-trafficked site and I got 500-600 hits from that site.  I check out these sites and sometimes leave a big juicy comment as a “thank you.”  Also, when I look at the sites I think about why they might have chosen my article and how I can work future articles into something that could benefit me and them again.

I don’t have the time or desire to get too anal about it, but I do think it’s important to look at these things and ask why.  This is especially true when you’re just getting started with article marketing.

From there the logical thing is to test.   I test article titles,  keywords, article length,  bios,  landing page (squeeze page vs. blog vs. website vs. sales page), and which article directories get me the most traffic.  As I tweak things, is my AdSense revenue going up?  Are my conversions on the mark?  Is my opt-in list increasing in size?

The reason to analyze your stats and test everything with article marketing is because when all is said and done, you’re in this to make money.  

Some people would rather go the quantity route and write tons of articles and not bother to analyze what works because they know the more they write, the more chance they have of some of them hitting the mark.  I’ve not tried it, but I’ve heard it can work.  Personally, I would rather write fewer articles that are written with a formula that proves successful for me. 

I’d love to hear what’s working for you and what your testing has shown.  Leave your comments!

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