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

But fear alone is no reason to avoid the dread of public speaking, and it can be used to great effect in a very positive way. Public speaking can give you great confidence and knowledge. The preparation for the public speaking event alone can make you more organized, focused, and more efficient. Being able to present in front of a group of people can, if done correctly, give you a great feeling of achievement and satisfaction as well as increasing your self-esteem, confidence, and competence in every thing you do.

It can be hard to make the initial steps into the public speaking arena because the fear felt can be crippling and overwhelming. But the rewards are many for those that can try to conquer their fears. Simply standing in front of a collected audience is liable to make you freeze - but if you can manage it the first time you will find that, not only will the audience be interested in your opinions, but they will magically fall silent and become very attentive when you start speaking. After this point you are in control and it can be a very positive and uplifting experience.

Getting involved in public speaking is a great opportunity for anyone to develop simple procedures and practices, to banish fear, and start feeling they have something positive to contribute.

Eric Hartwell oversees theworldsbesthomepage.com the worlds best home page a user-led resource - do you wish to contribute your opinions?

This makes particularly good sense from your point of view, because, once you establish a sound working relationship with a good writer, you eliminate all that ground work in the future.

Here are the points you should cover in your detailed brief for the writer.The sales letter: This should be as complete as possible, before the book is written. It should include every bullet point, referring to specific aspects of the book, so these can be incorporated in the outline of the book.

Writing style: As a general rule, e-books tend to be written in an informal manner, much as we speak. This will vary slightly with the subject. However, it’s true to say, any writer worth their salt will be aware of their “voice” and adjust it accordingly.

The working arrangements: I recommend you see every chapter, as it is finished, so you can check the book is shaping up in the direction you want. It’s important to set some sort of time frame for these to come to you. Bear in mind there should be an initial period, whilst research is carried out, when nothing will appear. However, much will be going on behind the scenes. Once the chapters do start appearing, you can expect them to appear more and more frequently as the muse begins to flow.

Revisions: If you carefully lay the groundwork, the need for revisions will be minimal. Do bear in mind a book is never finished and a writer, like any artist, will never be quite satisfied with their work. The more dedicated the writer, the truer this will be. Try to remember you’re paying for it all.
The first part of the book needing your approval is the Table of Contents. This should be more than just a bald list of chapter headings and outline the contents of each chapter in some detail.

Once created, and approved by you, the Table of Contents will form the outline of the book. The author should then start the first chapter, which should be sent to you for approval. You should then return this quickly with the agreed level of revisions clearly marked. If you’ve taken the trouble to have the author write a few articles beforehand, you should have few problems with either their style or content.

Despite laying the groundwork and selecting the author, your work is still not finished. You have to be:
Available: Always make sure the writer can contact you at short notice — even if it’s only a cell phone text message. If you go away, make sure they have your location and number. Make sure nothing you do hampers the work flow.

Prompt: Always deal promptly with any material sent to you for comment or revision. After all, if you don’t appear fully committed to the project, you can hardly expect the writer to maintain their enthusiasm.

Nothing sours a relationship faster than being a tardy payer, once the project is complete. So, once you’re happy with the finished book get the writer their payment without delay. Most ghost-writing sites, like Elance, have a system whereby they act as stakeholders and pay half the fee, once everything is agreed and the writer starts the project and the balance, when you signal your satisfaction with the completed material.

Flexible: If your writer comes up with an idea to improve the book, approach this with an open mind — even if it prolongs the production time or increases costs.

New students often tell me finding the time to write that first e-book, whilst they′re still on the job treadmill, is the biggest obstacle in getting their internet business off the ground. But, thanks to the global reach of the internet and the ghost writers of Elance, and other sites, it’s not a problem.

© Copyright 2005 Paul Hooper-Kelly

Paul Hooper-Kelly owns

Headlines are far more important than the copy beneath them. If you don′t use headlines within your chapter or in your Web site sales letters and article titles, you will lose your audience’s attention in a few seconds. And, that’s serious.

Apply These Top Ten Headline Ideas and Prosper

Your Headline…

1. Needs to compel and propel the skimmer to stay and go to sales copy beneath if on your Web site. Your book chapter headlines should lead your reader by the hand to what he wants to know. They can be questions or statements, but make them clear, and if possible, sizzle.

2. Must be attention-getting. Use emotion in your copywriting because people buy because they connect emotionally, not because they need something.

3. Make it benefit-driven–how your product or service will solve your audience′s problem, concern, or challenge.

4. Make an irresistible offer. Most eBooks that sell well offer special bonus reports they attach at the end of the document. People often buy just because of the bonus such as my
“How to Get Testimonials from the Rich and Famous” for my book on writing a book.

5. Make a wild promise and pay up. Most people don′t like hype, but will notice your promises in your benefit statements. Back it up with the how when they read the copy beneath the headline.

6. Keep it simple. Some headlines go on and on to include many problems and benefits. Stick to a one line for the best results.

7. Include one top benefit. The top headline of your Web or email sales letter should taut your number one benefit of your product or service. Show the big result and wow your readers. They are looking for answers.

8. Build curiosity/suspense. Would this attract you? “Overcome Writers’ Block with Snake Dancing?” Sometimes the improbable can hook your readers attention, and that’s what you want.

9. Must be “you” centered.

Instead of saying “I can do this for you” write it “You will get this benefit when you…” Check out your home page. Does it need a lift? If it has a lot about you, your mission, and your bio, you have missed the mark.

10. Think before you write your headlines. Leave the lackluster ones behind. To announce his seminars, one client put “Upcoming Seminars″ in the email subject line. Who cares? Entice your market to act by making a specific, benefit-driven headline.

To prepare for great headlines, start with a list of great benefits. Before you post, check with associates for their reactions. They are a sample of the groups and individuals you want to attract.

Judy Cullins ©2005 All Rights Reserved.

Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Judy is author of 10 eBooks including Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast, Ten Non-Techie Ways to Market Your Book Online, The Fast and Cheap Way to Explode Your Targeted Web Traffic, and Power Writing for Web Sites That Sell. She offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, “The BookCoach Says…,” “Business Tip of the Month,” blog Q & A at bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 170 free articles.

===============
Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com Judy@bookcoaching.com.
Phone: 619/466-0622 — Orders: 866/200-9743

Use small ads to test headlines and other key elements before you pay for a larger ad. Headlines are funny things, you really never know which one will take off and be your best money maker. Instead, you have to let the people who read your ad “vote” for the headline that appeals to them the most with how they respond. So it makes a lot more sense to test headlines on small ads before you spend money on a larger ad.

Use small ads to generate leads. Offer a free booklet or some other free information product in your small ad. When the reader gets your information, make sure it contains far more useful information than sales message. But even then you will have much more space to sell than in a full space ad in a publication.

Of course you should also make use of the leads generated by your small ad. Send these people follow up information. This way, your single small ad enables you to recontact the same interested people over and over again.

Instead of using a single, large ad to tell about your wide list of services or products, use several small ads to target each niche you cover. For example, the Yellow Page ads of many law firms are little more than laundry lists of the services they provide. A more effective campaign might be to target each specialty with a single small ad. Take this one step further, and the law firms might offer different free information products or white papers on each small ad targeting each specialty.

Speaking of Yellow Page ads, many businesses make the expensive mistake of putting up a year-long ad without testing. Since the Yellow Pages only come out once a year, it is not feasible to test the ad there. But you can run several small ads in local publications to see which one is most effective and choose the winner as your year-long Yellow Page ad. Running an untested Yellow Page ad is one mistake that can cost you not only in a poor return on investment, it also causes you to go a whole year with a lower sales than you might otherwise have been able to realize.

If your product has multiple uses or benefits, highlight each use or benefit in separate ads. Don’t count on readers wading through a long list text to get to the single benefit that appeals to them.

Test, test and then test again. Small ads give you a cost-effective way to compare many different ideas to see which ones pull in the highest response from readers.

Effective headlines for small ads can be shorter and punchier than larger ads. Try to compress as much meaning as possible in five words or less. Here are some headlines that have worked very well on small ads:

$500 a Week

15 Minutes a Day

Free 48 Page Booklet

Anyone Can Learn

Fun-Packed

No Obligation

Money Back If Not Delighted

Send No Money

Mrs. E.C. Made $65

Learn In 6 Weeks

(reprinted from Tested Advertising Methods, 5th Edition, by John Caples)

If you are using the small ad to generate leads offering free information, give your booklet or information product a good title and experiment with using that title as your headline (but test, test, test). For example, “101 Ways To Help Your Child Get Better Grades,” or “33 Ways To Unlock The Hidden Job Market.”

It is hard to imagine any marketing plan that cannot be made better with the smart use of small ads. They are cost effective, allow you to more precisely target your intended audience and …..can be tested.

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Download your free copy of dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com/2006/10/99-ideas-for-writing-irresistible-web.html#links 99 Ideas For Writing Irresistible Web Content, written by Charles Brown, a Dallas, Texas based freelance copywriter who writes web copy, advertisements, white papers and direct mail. Subscribe to his “Freelance Copywriter Secrets” at dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com or contact him at 817.715.3852 or **charbrow@gmail.com**.

This is no different for creative writers.

As creative writers, we’re on an ongoing search to find our unique voice.

The journey along the way can be very enjoyable if we take on a playful and curious attitude. We can try out different styles and approaches as much as we wish.

When we find what we enjoy and get most benefit from, we can do more of that. The things we don’t enjoy, once we’ve tried them, we can drop and move on to something different.

As we go along though, it’s helpful to get tips and pointers from other experienced writers. It’s useful to hear what’s worked for other people, and how we can try out those techniques ourselves.

But there are no bigger and more precious “secrets” about how YOU can become a better creative writer than those you already know.

The fact is, yes it’s great to get ideas, tips and exercises from others, and this all shows your commitment to exploring the depths of your creativity.

But the biggest secrets – the most powerful keys to unlocking your true creative potential – lie within you already.

So if they’re already within you, why aren’t you making use of them?

The answer is either:

1. Because you don’t realise you already know

or

2. Because you don’t believe you already know.

Or both!

What difference would it make to you if you absolutely believed you had the potential to be an amazing writer, and that you knew how to unlock that potential?

How much more inspired and motivated would you feel? What difference would it make to your creative writing?

Well, you can begin to practice having this belief today, right now.

Write out the beliefs you need to have, to get to this point. Here are some of the kind you might use to get you started:

“I have the potential to be a wonderful writer.”

“I know how to be an incredible writer and each day I get a little closer.”

“My open attitude to experimenting with my writing means I’ll continue to grow and develop as a writer.”

By taking on these beliefs - and then taking the action that supports them - you’ll have found the “secrets to creative writing” unique to you.

The same beliefs that’ll help you to unleash your potential and be the best creative writer you can be.

So what are you waiting for, start building those beliefs, and taking that action today!

Want to find out how more about how to unlock your creative writing potential? Get your FREE 5 part youareacreativewriter.com creative writing ecourse at youareacreativewriter.com www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they’re not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: CoachCreative.com CoachCreative.com

Recently a very famous author online specializing in scrapbooks reminded my about; Article Marketing, Writing and Editing; and why Considering Dwell Time before your final draft makes so much sense. Take time in the editing of your articles and make sure they are crisp and clean, without being too wordy.

I mentioned to Audrey; you are wise to allow your articles dwell time, it makes for cleaner articles. In Fleet Washing of Company Truck Fleets and Buses our company always calculated the dwell time of the soap for a perfect job.

I believe with articles it is the same thing, so 2-3 days to think them over and come back for precise editing makes a lot of sense to me. So, for those who use article marketing to draw targeted traffic it sure makes sense to listen to such advice and consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Many authors chose just one directory to submit their articles to. They have a favourite because of its format, size or layout. There are many advantages and disadvantages to submitting to different article directories.

The huge directories like ezine@rticles are a great place to submit your articles to in that the site gets a huge amount of traffic, is very well laid out and has a high creditablity rating across the internet - proof of this is the number of people who choose to display their “featured on ezine@rticles” or ezine expert badges on their websites, although they are trading off traffic to the article directory they get in return the kudos of being considered as an expert and listen who should be trusted and listened to and this can result in a higher conversion rate in sales or join ups. The disadvantage of submitting to a large article directory is greater competition from other authors. However the general rule is the bigger the directory the more views your articles will get. Also the link rating of the directory may result in much higher search engine results. For example if you are an expert author on ezine@rticles and you type your name into google you will most likely come up as the top search return (great for the ego). The huge directories have a multitude of topics to submit to, however other directories have gone to the other extreme and limited their topics to a niche area, hoping to dominate a small section of the market. Sites like article garden takes articles on geared towards sustainable living, organic gardening, etc.

Smaller general article directories like article-gems have less competition and can result in a close relationship with the editor. It can also mean rapid article approval. It can also lead to a tighter sense of community and more comments on articles or authors replying to one another through articles. Hence you may see an article on one topic and very quickly get another article arguing the opposite point. This sort of interaction is not generally seen on the larger directories. It can also have other advantages in relation to RSS feeds and the like that you articles can be quickly disseminated with little competition from other authors. These smaller directories may also have easier submission guidelines or be more open to negotiation on content i.e. lower rejection rate. However these directories also tend to have lower visitor numbers than the huge directories.

Some article directories like articler offer authors a 50% split in google revenue. This can be a nice additional income for the author and represents direct income from article writing. This does mean though that the directory operator has less money to advertise the directory and therefore your articles on the internet, which can be a disadvantage.

Some authors simply advise submit to as many article directories as you can. There are a couple of disadvantages to this. Very quickly you will learn that this can be a huge time consuming exercise. Also search engines tend to ignore duplicate content therefore your article may only come up once on a search. I would argue despite these considerations the more directories you can submit to the better - not every directory has the same traffic, nor do they all submit to the same RSS feeds, therefore ’spread the love’ as it were. In order to overcome the time consumption aspect there are numerous programs downloadible over the internet which can greatly speed up the process. These once set up can mean you can summit your article to hundreds of directories at the simple click of a button, which leaves you more time to concentrate on writing the articles and can result in a huge increase in traffic to your site and a large number of backlinks.

If you need an article submitting robot that once set up submits with one just click visit article-gems.com/linkus.php article-gems.com/linkus.php

This article is the property of Alastair HARRIS and his immediate family. It may be freely republished over the internet but must include original links.

Alastair HARRIS is the main promoter for article-gems.com article directory (visit article-gems.com article-gems.com) and the getfinancialfreedoцu family of websites, blogs and projects (visit getfinancialfreedoцu.ws getfinancialfreedoцu.ws) specializing in online business opportunities and education, income being generated by affiliate marketing, google, GDI, eBay, clip flipping and more. Alastair is rated as an expert author on numerous article directories and is very open to assisting others on the internet

It should go without saying that these words need to be as compelling as they are convincing, and as clear as they are error-free. Here are a few quick tips on tuning up and perfecting your copy and, ultimately, your message:

Stick to the basics: Remember in grade school when you learned about the who, what, where, when and why of each story? Well, there are actually times when school lessons have real-world applications, and this is one of them. Don’t assume people know what you mean – tell them clearly, succinctly, memorably and respectfully.

Pass the ‘Aunt Ethel’ test: Aunt Ethel is the proverbial simple-and-to-the-point person in your audience. If she doesn’t get what you are doing and selling, chances are that most won’t. Ask yourself if your message is clear and if you are making springing to action easy for your potential customers.

Proof, proof, proof: Once you’ve finished and proofed, leave the file or paper alone for 24 hours. Then, re-read it and ask a trusted co-worker or friend to look it over. You’d be surprised at what you may have missed!

Allison Nazarian is president and chief copywriter of Get It In Writing, a Florida-based company that helps businesses nationwide harness the power of words to sell, inform and publicize. Allison can be reached at 561.487.3917 or mailto:anazarian@getitinwriting.biz anazarian@getitinwriting.biz.
Copyright© Get It In Writing, Inc. May be reprinted without permission of Get It In Writing, Inc and Allison Nazarian if in full, unchanged format and with complete attribution to author.

The first preventative measure is to choose your speaker carefully and by this I mean, look a little deeper than usual into his or her modus operendi. Far too often when problems arise, it is because the wrong or at least incomplete criteria were used in selecting the speaker. For instance, it is not uncommon for the only questions to be asked of a professional speaker after viewing their video to be: availability and cost. However, if you want to sleep easier at night, I would suggest that the following issues also be just as carefully considered.

Is the speaker a prima donna? Fortunately there are not too many of these around, but those there are give the rest of us a bad name. Whether a well known professional or a beginner, there is simply no excuse for anyone in or business to be arrogant. We are all there to serve the best interests of our clients and audiences. If not, we do not belong there at all. Any speaker that is arrogant, belligerent or just plain difficult to work with does not belong standing before your audience.

Is this speaker committed to adequately preparing before speaking. More and more meeting planners are asking speakers to truly customize their presentations in order to “reach out and touch” the specific audience where they are at. To do so means that the speaker must be willing to invest into understanding the issues that are at the forefront for each unique audience. This of course is a two way street, in that you must be willing to also take the time to ensure the speaker receives the opportunity to acquire the necessary inputs. However, in the final analysis it is the responsibility of the speaker to only take those engagements that they determine to be a proper fit and customization does not mean merely updating a few old stories and jokes or sprinkling in a few local names.

Coupled with the previous question is whether the speaker, given their good intentions, has the time to invest into your event? It is often possible to squeeze another few hours into an already overloaded schedule for one more “hit and run” engagement, but is that fair to the meeting planner, client and audience. Let’s face it, good speakers today are well compensated for what they do. This is fair, but it is also fair that we give a good measure of effort in return and that does not mean racing to yet another engagement dog tired, speaking and running for the airport before the audience is still applauding. Unfortunately, in this day of frequent and lengthy flight delays, there are already enough unexpected delayed arrivals in the wee hours of the morning and their attendant lack of sleep. These may be totally outside of the speaker’s control however, if they really want to serve, they will use their best efforts to schedule sufficient time for your engagement so that they have done what was within their power to arrive fresh, relaxed and ready mentally and physically for your event.

Finally, is the speaker’s content rich and current. There was a great deal of conversation at the Dallas NSA Annual Convention as to content and I have been hearing the same from speakers’ bureaus and meeting planners alike. Today we are living in difficult economic times. Daily the news is rife with stories of corporate cutbacks and layoffs. Few of us are are strictly entertainers, comedians, humorists, etc. Thus as professionals and experts who speak, we owe it to our clients, audiences and ourselves to bring real value in the form of positive solutions to the perplexing problems that they face.

Finally, look for the AAA approval rating: Ability, Authenticity and Attitude. With these three attributes at the forefront, you cannot go wrong in selecting your speaker!

Copyright 2005 by John Di Frances.

John Di Frances is an internationally recognized