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Motivate yourself with positive self-talk
by Alan Fairweather

Let me tell you a quick story. When I was working in the
Beer industry I was intrigued by our top ten successful Bar
and Hotel owning customers. The majority of them, to put it
tactfully, didn’t seem to be particularly sophisticated
business people. In other words, they didn’t seem to have
had any kind of business training or acquired any
qualifications.

I was discussing with my boss one day how these people had
become so successful and he said - “They don’t know they
can’t do it. You and I Alan see the pitfalls, we know about
business and we see all the ways we could fail. These people
only see how they’ll succeed.

As you’ll gather, this was a pretty powerful message for me
- these successful business owners were talking to
themselves in a much more positive way than less successful
people.

Your level of success in terms of your happiness, emotional
wellbeing and anything else you desire is a direct result of
how you talk to yourself. The most important relationship
you’ll ever have is the one you have with yourself.

Listen to the self-talk that goes on in your head and ask
yourself - “Is what I’m saying allowing me to be confident,
on top and going for it?” If so - great!
“Or is it holding me back and stopping me achieve my goals?”
If this is the case - STOP IT, change the program!

By talking to yourself in a positive manner, you’ll start to
feel physically better. Words have an enormous power to
create change in the chemistry of your body.
Your heart rate, blood pressure, muscles, nerves and
breathing will all react to the words you say to yourself.

Take a moment to say some words to yourself such as -
“Holidays, warm sunshine, sandy beaches, swimming, chilled
beer, delicious food. Are you starting to get good feelings?
I hope you are. Maybe words like home, family, children or
Christmas give you some good feelings. Or how about the word
“sex?” I bet that could change the chemistry of your body.

So think about the things you say to yourself and make every
statement in the present tense.
Don’t say, for example - “I’m going to make a success of
this business” or “I’m going to get organised,” or “I’m
going to be much more confident.”

Say - “I am totally in control of my life. I am totally
confident and positive. I’m achieving my goals. I have
determination and drive.”
What you’re actually doing here is re-programming your
subconscious. If you talk to yourself in a positive way,
that’s what your subconscious will focus on.

Top sports people know all this stuff; they know that they
need to talk to themselves in a positive way to be
successful. Research has proved that the success of the
world’s top golfers is determined by 20 per cent physical
ability and 80 per cent mental ability.
In the day-to-day tasks that we face in our life, we should
be no different from sports people.

If you talk to yourself in a negative way - that’s what your
subconscious will focus on. If you think illness, you’ll
become ill. If you think doom and gloom - that’s what you’ll
get. But if you think - health happiness and success -
you’re already there.

Let me finish on another short story. In the city where I
live, parking a car can be difficult. Say for example I need
to visit a bookstore and I decide to take my car. I say to
myself - “I’m going to park my car outside the bookstore.”
If I have someone with me they’ll inevitably say - “You’re
nuts Alan, you’ll never get parked there, far better to park
several blocks away in a quieter area.” And guess what -
most of the time I park outside the bookstore. It doesn’t
happen all the time but talking to yourself in a positive
way is much more likely to get you the results you want.

Put this to the test right away; for the next 7 days listen
to what you say to yourself and if it’s negative, change it
to something more positive and you’ll start to feel better,
look better and have much more success.

Alan Fairweather -”The Motivation Doctor” - is the author of
“How to get More Sales Without Selling” To receive your free
newsletter and free e-books, visit:
http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

Article Source: http://articles411.com

As an article directory webmaster, I review over 100 articles a day. Certain headlines and topics that catch my attention have to be the exception to the rule.

Today’s featured article fits that category. It stood out to me, because it has some really great advice for bloggers. Enjoy,

Kindest regards,

Laurie Meade Webmaster
http://articles411.com

15 Tips To Drive Traffic To Your Blog
by David Riewe

There are many factors that make blogs much better than normal WebPages including the speed at which blogs are indexed, ability to submit to blog directories & normal directories, pings and track backs. All these little things can help drive more traffic to blogs. Here are 15 popular techniques you can use:

1.) Create at least four keyword posts per day. Most of the top blogs such as Boing Boing, Daily Kos, and Instapundit (with literally tens of thousands of visitors per day) publish an average of 30 small 100-150 word posts per day according to “Secrets of the A-list Bloggers: Lots of Short Posts” by http://TNL.net

2.) Submit to My Yahoo! When you submit your own RSS to My Yahoo it is indexed by Yahoo.

3.) Submit to Google’s Reader. When you submit your own blog RSS to Google’s Reader the Google Blog Search will index your site.

4.) Add a relevant link directory to your blog and trade links like a demon possessed! Although it may take more time than simply submitting to a search engine one time, this method is perhaps the best way to drive traffic to your site. Use software such as Zeus to speed up the link trading process.

5.) Use ping sites like ping-o-matic. Ping your site every time you add a new post.

6.) Submit your blog to traditional search engines such as AltaVista, and MSN.

7.) Submit your blog to traditional directories such as DMOZ. Directories (particularly DMOZ) increase relevance with Google. DMOZ is very picky, but what do you have to lose by trying?

8.) Submit to as many RSS Directories and Search Engines as possible. This is a simple but repetitive process that can be done with software such as RSS SUBMIT.

9.) Comment on other blogs. Do not just leave short, lazy comments like “I agree.” Leave well thought out replies that will force readers to wonder “who wrote this?”

10.) Use track backs. If there is a blog that you refer to or quote and it is highly relevant to your subject, leave a track back. It increases your link popularity and may even score a few interested readers from the linked site.

11.) Go offline. Use newspaper ads, public bulletin boards, business cards, even stickers to let as many people as possible know your blog exists.

12.) Ad a link to your blog in your e-mail signature block.

13.) Use Groups (Usenet). Find a relevant group on Google groups, Yahoo groups, MSN groups or any of the thousands of other FREE group services and find like minded people and talk with them. Make sure your use your blog URL like it is your name.

14.) Use Forums. Forums are one of the best places to go for advice. Go to forums and find problems to solve. Make sure you leave your blog name, but be tactful about it; some forums get annoyed with those who selfishly drop a few links to their own site and leave.

15.) Tag your website. Tagging is a new idea that has erupted across the web. Sites like http://Del.icio.us, Technorati and many others have a social feature that allows you to place your article under keywords or “tags” that everyone interested in that tag can see.

Although these are some of the most popular ways to drive traffic to your blog, do not limit your self to tips and lists. Use your imagination and you will come up with thousands of ways to drive traffic to your blog!

David Riewe - Internet Marketer and Publisher http://www.free-online-course.com

Article Source: http://articles411.com

Admin note–
I chose to feature this article today because it is good sound advice. Like the author, I have self taught myself everything I have needed to create my websites and earn income online.

As a single mom of three, I have done this despite many hardships and obstacles. If I can do it anyone can. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to do quite a bit of research, be cautious and staying focused on one specific area until successful before moving on to add more “income streams.”

Kindest regards,

Laurie

PS You can learn quite a bit of what you need to know by searching free article databases, such as http://articles411.com

Do You Want to Make Serious Money on The Internet?
by gazzie

I was one of the thousands (if not millions) of people who wanted my own “internet money machine” and I came from a position where I had little or no computer knowledge - I could send and receive emails and knew how to surf the net - but that was literally it!

Does that sound like you? If so then how do you get from that position to making serious money on the internet? The first thing I did was get incredibly excited. I’d been looking for a home based business and eventually stumbled across the internet as an obvious market place. After all I had a computer at home. So I looked around the web (using one of my existing skills - I knew how to surf!) and soon realised “I want to make money on the internet”.

So I spent some more time surfing for ways of making this desire a reality. There seemed so many businesses and no shortage of people offering to make me serious money on the internet. How kind of them! Just type in “online business opportunity” in Google and see what I mean. It was about now I began to think perhaps not all these opportunities were as great as they were cracked up to be!

So I went around doing a bit of market research. How? I visited a few forums. You soon learn that there is a forum on just about any subject online. It is a phenomenon that you can use to weed out some of the good from bad if you use them right. Visit a few (again use Google or whichever search engine you have) and just read the posts relating to your interest. If you like you can join and actually ask some questions. Nearly everyone is helpful and friendly. But beware the person who tries to hard sell his or her opportunity to you.

It helps to get over the get rich quick mentality as soon as possible. Sure you can make serious money on the internet - it is after all a market place - but start out with the intention of making a steady income first. Don’t try to run before you can walk. When you have your regular income covered you will be in a good position to move to the next stage (getting rich!)

There are so many business types and niches out there that you will have no problem finding something - in fact you will probably be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it all. I really had no idea before I started. Just try and hone in on something you have an interest in or that you have some experience in at first. Then research the business and market and the opportunities presented. Visit websites, use the forums and download some ebooks on the subject - invaluable in my experience.

Every bit of help and knowledge you need is to be found online. Just use your search engine as a research tool. The web is like an almost infinite library at your fingertips. I can honestly say that I learned everything I needed without leaving my seat!

Good luck with your “internet money machine”, you can do it!

For a review of my favorite money machine visit http://www.realmoneysite.com

I am an Internet Marketer living in England. For more details on my favourite program visit www.realmoneysite.com

Article Source: http://articles411.com

Professional Help With Your Computer May Be Cheaper Than You Think
by D. David Dugan

We all deal with them, those little computer problems that aren’t quite big enough to warrant a call to the Computer Guy. You know, like every once in a while your camera won’t transfer its pictures the right way. Or like the times when all of a sudden your computer shuts down for no apparent reason and with no warning whatsoever. Don’t forget those odd “Run Time Errors” with the crazy numbers in them. I love those.

The worst part is, you could probably fix some of these things yourself if you just had a little help or guidance. Calling a professional, while sometimes necessary, can be both a greater inconvenience and of course a greater cost. It may take forever to contact them, and when you do get in touch with the help desk, they always make you reboot the thing twelve times before you get any real advice.

Let me be clear on a couple things before we continue. First, I am a professional computer technician and have been working in the industry for over 15 years. There are numerous occasions where a professional is needed to help with or repair your PC. It is often my advice to have your system evaluated at least one every three months. On top of that, there are many things a novice should not try on their PC for fear of causing more harm than good. Not everything is this way though.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Your best way to help maintain your computer is by staying informed and educated. I’m not suggesting everyone run out and get a Computer Science degree, but I am suggesting you use some of the top notch free resources that are available to you. The largest these days is of course the internet.

Don’t get nervous yet, I’m not suggesting you look up some super hi-tech article and study it until you know it inside and out. You don’t have to. The net is full of people who already understand these things and are more than willing to pass some of that understanding on to you. They do this in forums.

Forums are a wonderful thing. A lot of forums are actual cyber communities of people who love to talk about various topics. They have people of varying skill sets, all interacting in a friendly supportive way. I know there’s a free computer support forum out there with people in it just waiting to answer some of your questions.

So next time those pop ups are driving you crazy, and you can’t reach your favorite help desk, stop by a computer support forum. You’ll be surprised at how good an experience it can be.

-Dave

D. David Dugan is the president of DD&C and personally helps to maintain their computer support forum as well as their Spyware Information site.

Article Source: http://articles411.com

You Gotta Have Goals !
by Robert A. Crutchfield

I’ve always found it interesting that a ship cannot be steered unless it is moving at a certain minimum speed. Those who navigate everything from small to massive ships call this “steerage.” Steerage is the exact point at which choosing a ship’s direction becomes possible. Of course a ships’ pilot also has charts, other publications, and a variety of tools to help him know in great detail where the ship should go. As people goals are what give momentum and motion to our movements, goals are how we know where to go, how far we have been, and how far we have yet to travel. Goals are the human equivalent of the navigators charts,and tools.

Where do we get out goals ? The best goals come from within ourselves. Goals that come from external sources are rarely truly motivating, or effective. Goals also require some thought. Developing good, life changing goals requires digging deep into what really means anything to you, and what you genuinely want to accomplish. I want to spend the rest of this article discussing some things you should look for in goals that will have true power in changing your life.

GOALS SHOULD BE ATTAINABLE

By attainable, I mean goals have to be realistic. After all goals are a tool to use in achieving success, they are not meant to be pipe-dreams ! Improving your sales 500% in the next year for example would be an example of an unrealistic goal. On the other hand a 20% sales increase may be very much within your grasp.

GOALS SHOULD BE SET HIGH

Look at our previous example. A one year sales increase of 20% could look pretty good if last year sales,were flat. The same 20% increase in sales would look pretty pathetic if last year,sales doubled. Only goals that are set high will drive you to success. Whatever you are trying to accomplish your goals should be set toward the top of what is possible not the bottom. At the same time don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t always make it all the way to your goal. In fact if you always easily make your goals, I guarantee you aren’t setting them high enough !

GOALS MUST BE MEASURABLE

“ I want to sell more widgets.” or “ I want more free time this year.” are powerless goals. “I want to spend 8 more hours a week with my family.” is an example of a goal with life changing power. It is specific, identifiable, and measurable. You in fact will be able to know the exact moment this goal is reached. What a rush ! Try this, show your goals to a mentor, coach, or colleague. If they can’t tell you exactly what you want to accomplish without further explanation, revise your goals.

GOALS MUST BE PERSONALLY MEANINGFUL

Making more money won’t drive you to success if what your really want is more time with your family. Goals that matter mean more to you than anybody else. They are tied directly to what you want, to what makes you happy. If you cannot get absolutely passionate about your goals, if they don’t have you jumping out of bed in the morning, they’re wrong. Other people may be able to define your goals if you let them, but they will never be able to define your true happiness. Without what makes you truly happy, you can never be truly successful.

GOALS SHOULD HAVE VARYING TIME HORIZONS

Powerful life changing goal making involves short, mid and long term goals. Different people have different ideas on the time frames involved, but here is how I look it. Short term goals can be accomplished this month. Mid term goals can be won within a year. Long term goals are things like earning a college degree, that can take more than a year to attain. Its also important that at least some of your short, and mid term goals build on each other to reach your long term goals.

GOALS NEED TO BE VISIBLE

Making goals will not do any good if they get shoved in a drawer, or buried on your hard drive somewhere. Make a list of your goals and put them somewhere you will see them at least daily. Better yet put each goal on a separate index card, and post them all over the place so you will constantly be reminded of one goal ,or another. All of us take in way to much of other people’s garbage everyday. Why not counter this “negative programing” with reminders of what it it that you want ? Want to do even better ? Get yourself an “accountability partner.” Somebody you trust , and share your goals with. The best accountability partner would be somebody with similar goals. If your really lucky you can find a mentor who has gotten what or where you want. In fact this does not even have to be a single individual. A support group, or personal “board of directors” would have an even more profound, powerful impact on your ability to reach your goals.

GOALS NEED TO BE REGULARLY REVIEWED

Circumstances change, goals get achieved, new opportunities crop up. Beyond all this we can’t loose sight of the fact that goals are intended to keep you focused, motivated, and moving forward on those things you use to define your personal success. Short term goals should be reviewed at least monthly. All others need a good going over every 60-90 days.

CONCLUSION

Its nearly impossible to get what you want, unless you know where you are, where you are going, and how to get there. That’s why everybody needs goals. Good, powerful goals are the roadmap to your success, no matter how you choose to define it. Believe me, nothing creates more powerful more life changing goals than beginning with what you want the most. Search your heart and figure out what that is. Find out what it takes to get there. Develop high, specific, meaningful, goals you can be passionate about daily. Then all you have to do is, go get it tiger !

Robert A. Crutchfield is President of Kingdom Relationship Ministries. He works as both a minister and a life/success coach. He is a Brainbench Certified Trainer, and holds the Competent Leader designation from Toastmasters International. His articles on a variety of subjects have been read in dozens of countries. For more information and a free personalized report to help with your goals, visit him at www.kingdomrelationships.or

Article Source: http://articles411.com

Stay on top of your goal setting with Laurie’s
Daily Action Success Journal Software tool and Goal Setting Action Planner.
You can find them at her ebay store:
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Depression - Finding The “Write” Solution!
by Dr. Isaac Schumann

Most of us feel depressed or “down” at sometime in our lives but, fortunately, it`s usually short lived. Some people, however, are unable to shake off their feeling of depression and are diagnosed as “Clinically Depressed”. Many types of pills and drugs are prescribed but they often lead to addiction in addition to depression, thus creating a never ending downward spiral.

Thousands, and possibly millions, of patients are convinced they`ll never recover which only adds to their sense of low-self esteem. Today, people suffering from depression seek alternative remedies such as acupuncture and various therapies. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most popular as it encourages people to view their problems from a different perspective. It is one of the most successful therapies but not always available on a continuos basis which is essential if the patient is to benefit.

People who struggle financially can find this particular therapy difficult to obtain on an ongoing basis as their appointments may be weeks apart. Wealthier people, of course, don`t encounter such problems as they have sufficient money for private treatment. Everybody would agree this is unjust but, regrettably, life is frequently unfair.

There are other methods of coping, such as self-help groups which some people find incredibly supportive. Friends and relatives can also provide a “shoulder to cry on” but very few are able to provide long term support because they are emotionally too close to the patient. The majority of friends and relatives find it hard to be objective. Some of them even go so far as to tell those suffering from depression “to snap out of it”. This is fatal as this is exactly what they want to do but are unable to do so.

One of the best ways of coping with depression is to enroll in a creative writing course. Not an obvious way of coping, it must be said, but one that can produce amazing results. People who enroll in these courses are not required to have any qualifications apart from, obviously, a desire to write.

The reason these courses are so successful lies in the fact that people who attend them have to think about matters other than their problems for a couple of hours. This concentrates the mind wonderfully and allows people to perceive things in a different way which is reminiscent of the principals of cognitive behavioral therapy.

The courses cover story writing, poetry, stage, screen and radio plays plus the outlines of writing a novel. Topics include characterization, plot, dialogue plus a host of other subjects. Each and every one can offer countless ways whereby people are able to release their innermost thoughts, desires and anxieties, so relieving considerable tension.

Poetry offers one of the best methods of expressing emotion which in itself is extremely cathartic. Listening to other people`s views is also particularly therapeutic as, again, this distances people who are depressed from dwelling on their troubles affording them a welcome respite. Creative writing courses really do expand the mind and leave it open to new experiences which are of tremendous benefit to anyone suffering from low self-esteem.

Writing, by its very nature, depends on self expression which often helps people to understand feelings which may have been suppressed for years. This can result in a completely new outlook on life itself. It is simply a question of being receptive to new ideas but the rewards can be huge.

In a nutshell, minds become focused on looking outwards, rather than inwards, when involved in the process of writing. In accomplishing such an achievement creative writing must count as one of the best treatments in helping people to overcome depression. Enroll on that course today! You`ll find it can “literally” change your life.

Dr. Isaac Schumann brings to you a life time of experience in the mental health field
http://www.depressionhelpguides.com

Article Source: http://articles411.com

Submit articles about weight loss at
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Stop Complaining And Make A Change

I am going to write something that may not be popular, but if it offends you in anyway, it probably means that I’m writing this for you. I’m writing this to help you…not to criticize or belittle you. I want every entrepreneur to continue to grow throughout his online career and sometimes when we don’t accept change…we stop growing. I don’t want that to happen to you.

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of online service-based business complain that cheaper alternatives are driving them out of business. I’ve seen virtual assistants angry that anyone would work for US $10 per hour. I’m surprised by that anger because $10 is above the minimum wage in every single state in the U.S. and province in Canada (2005 statistics). Yes, I know running a VA business carries expenses, but many people working online just want enough to be able to stay home, instead of trudging to a crappy job. Good for them for being resourceful.

I’ve seen article writers and article distribution services annoyed that new software and automated process are cutting into their bottom line and causing them to lose clients. It seems the hay days of getting paid $100 plus per article are gone…or are they?

If you’re letting your business die because lower cost services are coming in – it’s time for a wake up call. Complaining isn’t going to get you anywhere, except possibly bankruptcy. As more and more people come to work online, there’s going to be a lot of people working for what you think is chump change. As programmers get more creative with technology, more processes will become automated.

A smart business person will make competition irrelevant…or as irrelevant as is humanly possible. If you are trying to get your typical “Internet marketer on a budget” to hire you for $25 per hour to answer his emails…you probably will lose out to the moms who just want to earn an hourly wage to stay home with their kids. But if you set yourself apart and target a market that doesn’t want to nickel and dime and perceives more expensive services as more professional — your client list will grow. If you have satisfied clients paying $25 per hour, they can always refer more clients who will pay $25 per hour.

If you’re a writer and you think it’s fair to charge $100 to write an article (and honestly…well written articles ARE that valuable), realize how much money you could be making by writing articles for your own use. Plus, you don’t have the headache of dealing with clients.

This is the realization I had to come to in 2003. I was a copywriter for hire. I didn’t charge top dollar (and a few copywriters complained to me about that)…but I wasn’t at the bottom of the heap, as far as rates went. I thought if somebody would pay me $75 to optimize one website page for them…why was I wasting my time letting them earn the residual income from it? If someone would pay me $150 to write a short page of sales copy…just how much money were they earning from it to make it worth their while?

After thinking about that, I decided to quit taking clients and focus my efforts on using my own writing skills to earn me residual and passive income. Now, I make about 5 times much as I did back then and I work a lot less. Best of all, I have no clients do deal with. You see, when hire yourself out for pay…you have to keep working to earn that pay and it can be a real drain on your time and energy.

If you’ve been complaining about external changes affecting your business, really think about how you can change your own approach to make it work for you. Every business has to evolve to keep up with changing times. After all, McDonald’s did once say they’d never offer a veggie burger.

Alice Seba is a full-time online business owner that thrives on helping others say good-bye to their J-O-Bs forever. Sign up for her “Internet Marketing Prescriptions” to cure what ails your online business: http://www.AliceSeba.com

Article Source: http://articles411.com

Easy Article Writing Tips
by Nell Taliercio

Whether you are just starting out with your online business or you are seasoned pro, writing and distributing articles is one of the most effective and low-cost ways to drive lots of targeted traffic to your site. Writing articles and submitting them to the article directories will get you free traffic when people click on the link in your resource box. It is also a great way to improve search engine rankings, since you will have plenty of incoming links to your site. Let’s take a look at how you can get started writing articles. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Write a Top Ten List

An easy way to get started with an article is to come up with a Top Ten List. Find a topic related to your business and jot down ten reasons why someone should purchase your product or offer advice on a topic that’s related to your website. Examples would be top ten ways to get your baby to sleep through the night, top ten reasons to write articles, or top ten reasons to buy car insurance. Once you have your list of ten items, write a little paragraph about each, explaining the reason in a little more detail.

Next you add an introductory paragraph that pulls the reader into your list. For example an introduction to the baby sleeping through the night article could mention how hard it is to make it through the day and how sleep deprived you are until you get your baby to sleep through the night. Then close your article either by summing up what you just told them in your top ten lists or encouraging them to act on what you just told them about.

Congratulations, you just wrote an article. Of course you can easily shorten this to a top 5 list. Just write a little more about each of your points.

Record Your Article

Some people prefer recording themselves while they are talking about a particular topic and then transcribing and editing it into an article. If you have an easier time talking about a particular topic than writing about it, this may be a great option for you. Most MP3 players now come with a record option, or you can pick up a cheap tape-recorder. Pick a topic and just start talking as if you were explaining it to a friend. Just start babbling and the ideas will start to flow. Now listen to your tape. Write down and arrange the major points you mad in order. Add an intro and a closing and you have another article.

Hire a Ghost Writer

If you are having a hard time writing articles, or just don’t have the time to do it, you can still benefit from article marketing by hiring a ghostwriter. Ghost Writers will write unique articles for you that become your intellectual property. You can post them as your own work to your site, your blog, as well as the article directories. You can find a ghost writer on sites like elance. There are also some freelance writers with their own websites out there. You can usually buy articles anywhere from $5 – $65.

Write an Outline and Have Someone Else Turn it into an Article

Another option if you don’t want to do all the writing yourself is for you to write a basic outline of the article and the point you want to bring across. Jot down any ideas you have for the article, then ask a friend or hire someone to flesh it out for you into an article. You may be more comfortable with passing these articles off as your own, since the content of the article was your original idea. Someone else just put it into an article format for you.

There is no reason for you not to get started with article marketing one way or the other. Get a few articles out there and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You’ll be so impressed by the results you can get even from a handful of article, you’ll be writing them and submitting them all the time.

For a FREE 5 day article marketing ecourse, in which you learn how to make more sales, get more traffic and increase your search engine rankings using articles click the following link: http://www.articlemarketingrocks.com/ecourse.html

Article Source: http://articles411.com

How To Choose The Best Directories For Your Article Writing Campaign
by Deanna Mascle

If you have spent any time at all researching internet marketing strategies then you know that writing articles can help position you as an expert in your field, gain valuable targeted traffic for your web site, drive leads to your products, grow your email list, and quickly multiple your site’s text links.

Once you are ready to dive into article marketing — and you have a few articles all lined up and ready to submit — you can quickly become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of article directories available. Sure you could simply use a search engine to locate article directories but a recent search netted me 17,800,000 results. That’s enough to make anyone give up before they even begin! Plus that is really not a very effective way to determine the quality of a directory and doing your own quality check can be extremely time-consuming.

Why should you care about the quality of the directory? Just think about it. On the internet you are very much judged (by search engines and visitors alike) by the company you keep. Another important reason to carefully select your article directories is that your time is finite. It is better to regularly submit to a core group of high-quality directories than to throw the same handful of articles at every directory site you can find.

Finding the best high-quality article directories that meet your specific needs and match your specific goals can greatly increase the power of your article marketing campaign. You need to become a savvy article marketer to maximize your article marketing campaign.

Great, but how do you find those high-quality directories?

When I first embarked on article marketing I went straight to people who had been article marketing for a while and asked them for their top recommendations. I posted the question in a couple forums that I regularly check. I quickly assembled a list of hundreds of sites. Now obviously this list is much more manageable than the 17+ million I got from Google but still rather large. First I culled through and found the sites that were mentioned by more than one person and that list became my starting point. I then gathered as much information as possible to determine if they were right for me. I will share my criteria and priorities but you need to work out your own.

Here are the 10 essential questions I ask when reviewing a site:

1. How old is the directory? Is it well established and ranked or is it new and growing? If not then I cross it off the list.

2. Can you easily identify who owns and/or operates the directory? Is there a way to contact that person?

3. How fast do they respond to your email contacts and/or article posts?

4. How many authors does the site have listed? A lot of authors and articles mean a well established site but there may be room on a growing site for more exposure.

5. How many articles does the site have listed? Again a big site won’t get knocked off my list for this but a small site that is growing steadily might be due for a good seo bump soon.

6. Think about the categories you are likely to need and see if they exist. Is there a place to submit all your articles? If this is a niche directory it may be very narrow but then might also be to your benefit in the long run — if at least some of your articles fit within the niche.

7. What special options does the site offer visitors and publishers? Do they provide RSS feeds, email alerts, forward to a friend function and other strategies to increase the distribution of your articles?

8. Are they responsible with the advertising clients they have on their site? ie: No popups, flashing, or offensive ads

9. Do they provide article reports to help you see which articles are getting viewed, rated, distributed or not?

10. How do the search engines view this site?

After visiting each directory and answering these questions it is easy to refine your list to a handful of top sites that you want to really concentrate your efforts upon. You can also maintain some a list of additional sites to submit to as time allows.

I also regularly re-evaluate my top article directory list. I check my backlinks and the directory stats to see how my articles are doing. Some sites move up and down my priority list (or even off the list entirely) when I investigate how they are performing for me.

Learn more about Creating Your Article Marketing Campaign by visiting http://AnswersAboutWriting.com or http://NowLearnMore.com . Sign up for our free Article Marketing tutorial to read the full article and many more helpful article marketing tips.

Article Source: http://articles411.com

Internet Copywriting - Make Your Offer Irresistible!
by George Dodge

Want to increase your online sales? Make sure your offer is one they can’t pass up!

Any offer you make through your Internet copywriting needs to be worth the readers’ time. Time is valuable and there is no bigger waste of time - for you as the creator or for your reader - than a worthless offer.

A number of years ago, a newspaper advertising sales rep went to her boss, disgusted that her client would not buy the ad schedule she pitched. It turned out that the last time the client ran an ad - five years before - “I didn’t get a single result from my coupon” that he ran way back then. The coupon was for a free coffee refill… something that was already common practice at the restaurant. Honestly, who would bother?

“Go back and tell that man we’ll run his ad for free if he will live up to the offer we create,” was the ad manager’s response. From there, he proceeded to tell the young sales rep to tell the client that the coupon would read “Bring this in for $1.00 in cash.” So, she did.

The client naturally refused because he knew he would have too many takers. What he finally admitted to himself is that his advertising did not work because his offer was lousy. Keep this business owner’s woes in mind as you plan to create your own irresistible offers with your Internet copywriting.

Make your offer one that is worth the time it takes to respond. A “Free 60 day trial” is a pretty good offer for an online program. What kind of offers can your business make?

The key to getting readers to respond to your offers is to make them irresistible. Can you afford to knock several dollars off the fee for your product or service? Or maybe you can make a strong guarantee, making your product or service almost risk free. Transferring the risk from the customer to you will help remove resistance to your offer.

Whatever it is you decide to offer, honor the offer at all costs. Keep your word and potential customers will quickly fall into place as current customers spread the word.

If you have never done any Internet copywriting before, don’t worry about it. No one knows your product or service as well as you do. Because of your passion for the product or service you are selling, you know it better than even a professional copywriter. Let that passion lead your Internet copywriting as you work to create the perfect offer that your potential customers just cannot refuse!

If you need some help creating an irresistible offer for your Internet copywriting, ask yourself, “What would make me buy?” Think about your answer. Is it do-able? If so, let that be your irresistible offer.

You can always make it available for a limited time (another good way to get people to act quickly) in case you decide the offer is too good to be very profitable.

Add a sense of urgency to your offer to get people to act immediately. If they put it off, they are likely to forget about it and you end up losing the sale. Adding a sense of urgency can be done by limiting the quantity or time of the offer or both. For example, the special offer is good only for the next 100 people who order, or the offer expires in 48 hours. You can even use both to heighten the sense of urgency.

In summary, make your offer irresistible. Make it worth the effort to the customer to place the order. Transfer the risk from the customer to you and add a sense of urgency. Then be sure to live up to what you have written in you copy. If you do these thing, you’ll see your sales skyrocket!

George Dodge is owner of http://www.CompellingWebCopy.com where you will discover 757 explosive persuasive copywriting techniques guaranteed to skyrocket your sales and put more cash in your pocket - even if you haven’t written a thing since high school

Article Source: http://articles411.com