Do Your Internet Marketing Articles Meet this 5 Question Test?

If you ignore the five essentials to effective internet marketing article writing, you may as well not waste your time. Article writing is a powerful tool. When done well, it will attract a lot of eyes and back links to your web site. Do it poorly, and your results will be meager.

1. Does your title attract the right reader’s attention?

Ideally, it should let the “right” readers know the information in the article is for them, and it should intrigue them to at least take a look. The goal of a headline or title is to get the reader to read the first line. If they don’t, your article fails its purpose.

Specifically, you want to catch your ideal prospects attention. A too cute title may catch a lot of attention, but if the people attracted aren’t candidates for what you are selling, in the final analysis you are just wasting their time. So while you want to be provocative, focus on that which would be appropriate for your specific audience.

Once you have them reading your first line, make sure it’s powerful enough to carry them into the first whole paragraph and beyond.

2. Is your article properly focused?

A good internet marketing article is succinctly focused on one topic. That topic may have multiple parts, but they are all specifically tied to one idea. As internet marketers, that idea should be a single Keyword or Keyword Phrase.

People will search for articles in article directories by keyword, and so you want them to be able to find your article. When they publish your article, you want to get back links to your web site based on that keyword. Thus it is imperative that you decide specifically which keyword you are trying to rank for, before you write the first word.

It goes without saying that the keyword and the article should be directly related to the site you are referring people to, or again you would be wasting everyone’s time.

3. Have you effectively used your keywords?

If possible you should include your keyword in your title. This will resonate with people who are searching for articles on your keyword. But don’t force it. Your primary objective is to get people to read your article. Including the keyword is a distinct plus, but not mandatory.

You want to use the keywords as often as possible within the article, but again don’t overdo it. Too many internet marketing articles are overstuffed with the keywords to the point that they don’t read well. So rather than trying to meet some artificial keyword density, concentrate on writing a readable article but do try to use your keywords wherever appropriate.

4. Is your content worth reading?

Provide your readers with value. If an internet marketing article is to get picked up and republished elsewhere, it will be because it caught an editor’s eye and delivered content worth sharing with their readers.

People respond well to facts, figures and statistics as long as they are not overwhelming. Anecdotes and stories that make a point enliven articles. Rather than adding a lot of adjectives to an article, focus on your verbs. Active verbs and a positive message are always welcome.

5. Does your resource box deliver?

The goal of an internet marketing article is to drive people and robots to your website. Your resource box is therefore critical to the success of your article. If you are not allowed to include anchor text in the article itself, it is essential that you do so in the resource box. Repeat your keyword and link it to your target site. But do so creatively.

As much as possible, develop your resource box as a continuation of your article. If it flows as thought it were a continuation of the article above it, a larger portion of your readers will read it as well. And then be sure to include a call to action. Let your readers know what step you want them to take.

If you have been able to hold their attention from start to finish of the article, it is only logical that they will want to follow on to the next step, by visiting your web site, blog or take whatever additional step you desire.

If you write your internet marketing articles with these five questions in mind, you will be rewarded with lots of traffic and back links to your web sites.

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[Below is a sample of a resource box I will be testing when I post this article on the article directories.]

To learn more ideas and tips on how to ensure your internet marketing articles grab tons of new traffic and backlinks to your sites go to http://ArticleMarketingHint.com. The author Earl Netwal also publishes a blog for small business people called http://MicroBusinessSpecialist.com/blog

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, back links, internet marketing articles, resource box, traffic

The web's top article spinner samurai.

Article Marketing – Four Wins in a Row

Article Marketing as it has evolved on the internet is a classic win-win-win-win institution that has become one of the backbones of the internet. There are four essential players in the article marketing game, all of whom benefit, each in their own way.

Like any market, article marketing is a business of supply and demand. There are end users, who get material from their local vendor who in turn gets material from their wholesaler, who in turns gets material from individual producers.

Unlike most markets, the transfer of goods in the article marketing arena is largely free. The end user wants free access to information. The magic of the article marketing model is that it has created economic incentives to all the parties to meet that demand.

There are many places online for people to get information. These include static web sites, blogs, forums, ezines, ebooks, etc. The producers of these sites, blogs etc are frequently monetizing their efforts with products and services they sell directly or on behalf of others or by various forms of advertising revenue.

Several of these, blogs and ezines in particular require a constant source of new material to keep their site fresh and to attract information seekers with the expectation that a certain percentage of them will also take a revenue producing action. The challenge for these venues is coming up with new material on a regular basis.

Their options are to write it themselves, hire it out or find a free resource of relevance to their specific niche of readers.

Article Directories

Article Directories have emerged to fill that role. They are the wholesalers of articles across a vast array of topics and specialties. They recruit article submissions from individual writers and group them in easy to search categories for the blog writer to search.

Most offer this service free of charge to the blog writers and anyone else who just wants to research a given topic. They make their money the same way most of the blog and ezine writers do. They usually have Google Adsense ads on their site as well as other advertising. They sometimes offer additional premium services for article writers and users as well, but these vary widely.

To be successful, article directories have found it necessary to be editors. They want their customers on both ends to benefit from the equation. To assure this they develop specific rules for the type of material they host on their site and editorial guidelines. These vary by individual article directory. Article writers must meet these standards to be accepted into the directory. This in turn assures a quality product for the blogger and their readers.

One of the most frequent editorial restraints is to contain blatant advertising. Most article directories have strict rules that prohibit advertising except in a section added to the end of the article called the Resource Box.

So who produces all this free editorially up to snuff material? What’s in it for them?

There are three primary motivators for the authors. Some are born writers who just need to write to express themselves. Or perhaps they are motivated to establish themselves as an expert in a given arena or niche.

Another major group are individual business people who seek to inform prospective customers about their product or service. In some cases they may share the desire to brand themselves as experts.

The motivation for most businesses lies in the utilization of the resource box. Most article directories allow authors to include two or more hyperlinks in this appendix to their article. These offer two major benefits to the submitting business. They can send people to your web site, called “traffic” in internet circles. They can also serve as back links to a specific page on their web site. These back links are helpful in getting attention from search engines and serve to help increase the targeted web sites ranking

As articles get picked up more and more bloggers and ezines these back links appear in more and more places increasing the relevance of the site in the eyes of the search engines. They are in some sense votes for the targeted web sites.

As importantly for many businesses is the traffic they bring as more and more people read the articles and go to the sites where a certain percentage will buy products or take other desired actions.

This entire arrangement is interdependent on each of the elements. The fact that is has evolved as an essentially free service for the most part is one of the marvels of the internet. The end user gets information, the blogger gets readers, the article directory traffic that they convert to revenue through ads, and the authors who get recognitions, traffic and search engine ranking. A win-win-win-win situation.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: anchor text, article directories, backlinks, resource box

Ever since downloading a seo wordpress plugin my traffic has doubled.

How to get to the top of the Search Engines, XIII

So far in this sequence I have stressed the need to get your on site ducks in a row if you want your web site to appear at the top of the search engine rankings. This is a critical first step that most people never get around to. Have you? If not, I still offer my Wart Services to analyze your site. Then make the changes. They matter.

The second part of my sequence has been focused on back links and how to get them. We’ve talked about anchor text, and several social networking sites you can use to build backlinks to your site. The advantage of these sites is your own ability to custom create your own backlinks. This give you control over the actual keywords used in the anchor text and where they link on your site. This latter control allows you to direct links to internal pages, which bolsters your standing in the eyes of the Search Engines.

Article Marketing

Today, we start a series on the most important way to build links and traffic to your web site, article marketing.

I will explain how it works tomorrow, and then in subsequent posts explain the four things all articles must have, how to create an outline for your articles, easy ways to get you creative juices flowing, what to do before submitting to article directories, and some red hot tips on how to get your articles read, and perhaps most importantly, how to write a resource box that makes people click. I may even offer suggestions on what to do if you hate to write.

Article writing requires a bit of work and it’s like slow feed fertilizer. The results of article marketing take time to build. The plus of article marketing is that it does ultimately flourish and will generate an exponential growth in the number of back links to your site. And as we have demonstrated, backlinks matter.  They matter even more when they are coming from a wide variety of places and grow over time.

The essential mathematics of article marketing comes from posting a single article with an article directory service.  Once it is accepted there, you have a back link to your site from a generally high ranking resource. But even better, as first a couple and then many more people find your article and post it on their blogs, newsletters etc, you start getting back links from many different places. So instead of having one back link, you may now have six or sixty.

There are thousands of article directories, some of which are very large. You can post the same article to more than one directory, multiplying again the number of potential backlinks you can create for your self with one half hour of writing. Since these articles stay on the directories indefinitely, it’s possible that an article you write today could be published off and on over the next five or ten years.

A disciplined approach of writing an article a day or even an article a week can over a period of a year or two lead to thousands and tens of thousands of backlinks. That level of backlinks could put most people on the top of their respective niche even in highly competitive niches. And put them there to stay.

The best part of article writing is that it is essentially a free way of building your standings.  Although as we will learn, there are some worthwhile paid services that can be real time savers.

One last tidbit for today. You don’t need to be a great writer to effectively use article marketing. So if the thought of writing scares you, don’t despair. The power of article writing is too significant to allow your lack of skills or fears to get in the way. We will discuss some options that will allow you to be successful without writing a single word.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: anchor tags, Article Marketing, backlinks, WART Analysis

Since downloading a ecommerce wordpress plugin my website's traffic has increased.

Yesterday, I described a problem that a lot of home stagers and other businesses have. When your web site starts out with a splash page, and/or your site uses a lot of flash coding you can become invisible to the little bots Google and others send around the internet to index sites. And that means your competitors have an advantage over you in terms of their ability to out rank you on Google and the other search engines. That costs you opportunities, and that means less jobs, and less money.

Today, I will briefly share more on what you need to do to mitigate the situation short of redesigning your entire web page. The “on page” factors that the Google Bots look for are just a part of the equation. And while lacking all the umph! having them would provide, you can still get yourself some traction using “off page” factors. There are a variety of off page things to do, but they basically boil down to getting BACK LINKS.

You do this by posting on other peoples blogs, writing articles, posting on web 2.0 sites like Squidoo and others.  When you do, you don’t want to link to your splash page if you have one. Instead link to your home page, or another page on your site that is relevant to the topic.

So, picking on my Friend Allegra again, I would have her sign her posts as “www.styledandsold.com/home.html” rather than “www.styledandsold.com”  It may look a bit odd at first, but it will take google to the page that matters and will count as a backlink in many cases. (not all but that is too long a discussion for now.)

Better yet, are situations where instead of signing with your URL you are able to use an anchor tag.  For example, if you are writing an article to post in an article directory instead of using your url, say Allegra Dioguardi is a Hamptons Home Staging Expert.

In this case, the keywords Allegra wants to rank for on Google is “Hamptons Home Staging”.

If she is on a Blog Site like Active Rain that has a Link tool (Looks like three links of a chain) in its WYSIWYG editor, she would highlight the words Hamptons Home Stager, and then insert her URL as the link, using the /home.html version.

That way when the bots find the link they provide not only a backlink but also identify the keywords at being relevant to the site. This process starts building keyword status for your website.

If you are on a site where you need to use html code you would build the link with a standard opening

<a href=”   and then insert your url, again with the /home.html (Or another page on your site) and end it with a   “>  Once that’s done, you add the keyword you want to rank for—  Hamptons Home Staging and a closing code which is  </a>

So the completed phrase in HTML is <a href=”http://www.styledandsold.com/home.html”>Hamptons Home Staging</a>  When this is put in the HTML of a site, anyone reading the phrase once published would only see:Hamptons Home Staging The words would be highlighted and most people will recognize them as a link. If they click on the link they would be taken to the page.

By virture of this post, Allegra now has a back link to her site.  You want to get as many of these as you can from as many different sites as possible.  Some sites are more valuable than others, but we will cover that in the future.

Focus on your major keyword. For home stagers, the number one word is Home Staging. But as I did for Allegra keep in mind that there are over 6 million web sites with the words “Home staging” in them. You want to rank for Home Staging and your town or what ever the dominant regional term people in your market would be likely to use.

I will be starting my new series on getting ranked by the search engines soon. But since I had several questions on this point I thought I would answer it now.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: anchor tags, Keywords, Linking, SEO

Principal bloggers advocate a gallery wordpress plugin for your WP site.

Another in my series of articles that almost any home stager could write.   Although this one uses some quotes and references.  When you get into writing your own, you should keep on alert for authority figures and quotes you can use. They help make an article sound more authoritative and thus more likely to get reprinted in someone else’s blog, just as this one did.

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Why Houses That Smell Better, Sell Better
By Jolanta Dougherty

If you are planning to sell your house today in a SLOW paced real estate market you will already come to know that the competition is much higher than a year ago. This can be one of the more stressful aspects of having your home on the market, because in a slow or “buyers” real estate market, your house is just one of many for sale in your neighborhood. Many agents may be advising the only way to sell your home is to drop your price. But in most cases, this is not always the solution, there are other ways to sell house at the highest price no matter how slow the market is.

Once you have done your homework and picked up an effective real estate agent you should prepare your house for open day…which means you have to get rid of clutter; clean, clean, clean; ensure cupboards open and shut and that no taps are dripping, pack your personal house accessories (e.g. pictures, children drawings) and the list goes on…But one of most essential thing you must to do before you put your house on the market is get rid of any odors that are lingering in your home, especially if it’s not pleasant.

There is nothing worse than walking into a stuffy house or one that smells of smoke and pet odors…

Doctor David Lewis is adamant: “Bad smells get up your nose – literally,” he says. “They have a negative effect on your brain. Pleasant smells have a positive effect and so it pays to have these in your house, especially if you are trying to sell it to a complete stranger.”

“Quite often you cannot smell your own home because you are so used to it. It’s the same as if you live next to a railway line or under the flight path of an airport. You get used to the trains and planes and you don’t hear them. And when you move, your odor hangs around like a ghost for a while, particularly in odd corners, until the new owners become established.”

Scientists recently confirmed that everyone’s home has a unique smell. Kind of like a fingerprint, only with odor. Craig Warren is a PhD who’s logged over thirty years in the “smell business”. He says that all homes have an “occupancy odor”. What causes your special smell? Some of the culprits are what you cook, pets, smoking and how you clean. A recent study found that there are a lot of places in your home for these odors to hide. Your couch, pillows, and drapes have a way of capturing smells that aren’t easy to remove. And a house with wood floors will have a different smell than a carpeted home.

When you are selling your house make sure that you done everything you can to get the best price and to sell your house as fast as you can. It will save you time, money and emotional stress…

Get my Free Report to find out tips and advice what to do when you need to get rid of cigarette smell, dog and cat urine smell, bad food and house smell and much more…visit http://www.thehomestagingservices.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jolanta_Dougherty
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Houses-That-Smell-Better,-Sell-Better&id=2222191

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: articles, eZine Articles, Smell

The professionals article spinning : no risk trial

Here is another in my series of eZine articles demonstrating the type of material that you could also produce in article of your own. As homestagers you are likely able to come up with your own list of the five biggest don’t do’s you have encountered or heard about in your career. Write them down in 300 to 600 words or so and put them on eZine articles and other article directories. Include a reference box at the bottom that links back to your web site. This will give you “Google Juice” and start establishing you as an expert article writer, and home stager. The article below was written by Teri B Clark, and while she is a professional writer, I bet you could have written the article below, and maybe an even better one, what do you think?
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Home Staging and Renovations – The 5 Don’ts
By Teri B Clark

It is time to sell your home. You take a good hard look and realize that there are a few things you need to do to make your home a showcase. But now you wonder…..what things are the best? You certainly don’t want to fix your home in a way that doesn’t get you any return on your investment. Why waste money, right?

Here are five things you don’t want to do:

1. Adding high-end appliances to a modest home. Unless you live in an area where every home on the block has high-end appliances and a granite countertop, don’t add them to yours! You will spend a lot of money and see none of it in return. If you need new appliances or countertops, consider refinishing either or buying nice but less costly versions.

2. Adding hand painted tiles in the bath or kitchen. Sure, they look lovely. And, if you were planning to live there for years, you might want to do that for your own enjoyment. But adding a hand painted tile reflects YOUR tastes and you are trying to sell the home to others. If they want hand painted tile, they will add it!

3. Adding a central vacuum. These are a great feature. But, once again, only do this if you plan to live there and enjoy it yourself!

4. Replacing windows with newer models. Windows are very expensive and will not increase the value of your home at all. People expect a home to have windows and they don’t expect to pay more for a house just because they have them!

5. Adding a swimming pool. This is true even if people in your neighborhood do have them. It is true that a homebuyer likes the idea of a pool, but they are not willing to pay more to get it.

Just be sure that you check to see if a permit is needed before starting any new project. Many departments require permits, even for things as simple as changing a dishwasher.

There are other projects that are often part of home staging, such as replacing old or worn carpeting, painting the walls, refreshing the kitchen with new cabinet or freshly painted cabinet doors, or even putting in a new kitchen floor will give your home added value. That is what home staging is all about – adding value so that you can sell your home faster and for more money!

Teri B Clark is a professional writer and published author. Her most recent book, 301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home NOW and For More Money Than You Thought, explains these tips in more detail and offers many, many others. To learn more about Teri’s latest book, visit http://staging-your-home.blogspot.com or sign up for a free newsletter

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Teri_B_Clark
http://EzineArticles.com/?Home-Staging-and-Renovations—The-5-Donts&id=501421

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article writing, Home Staging

I use a directory wordpress plugin, do you as well?

In my last post on Active Rain and in several other posts here, I have advocated that Home Stagers expand their use of article marketing. In the process I have twice suggested that you consider buying an eBook from a mentor of mine, Doug Champigny.

Doug is an accomplished internet marketer, author and lecturer and one of the top marketers in Canada. I am in contact with him almost daily on the internet despite the fact that we have never met in person.

He is aware of my work with Home Stagers and suggested to me that this overview report he has written might be of interest to you. Even more useful is his willingness to let me share it with you for free.

While much of his material is oriented to people who make their living online, the value of article writing extends to main street businesses as well. And it certainly does to you who rely on the internet for at least part of your business leads.

Thus I am pleased to offer you the following link to download Doug Champigny’s Article Marketing Overview. The download includes a pdf version and an MP3 version as well. I have added in a few free bonuses as well.

I have an article writing mini course that I will send to you as well. If you decide you don’t want the article email course you will be able to stop it at anytime by clicking on a link that will be at the bottom of each post.

Claim you copy here: Article Marketing Overview

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, Doug Champigny

Turn your WP blog into a money producing device by way of WP a SEOpressor extensions.

Home stagers interested in attracting more clients and buidling their web presence are wise to post on active rain.  They get a couple of beneifts. First Active Rain is a relatively high ranking site in terms of Google Page Rank and backlinks from Active Rain to your website carry greater weight. This is good in terms of your ability to rise in the Google Listings.

The second advantage of active rain is that it exposes you to Realtors in your market who may also use active rain.

What Active Rain is less good at is reaching beyond the Active Rain community and into the home selling market at large. That’s an area where traditional article marketing has some potential.  I’ve written before about eZine Articles.  They are probably the biggest article directory online, but there are hundreds of others. A post on one of these directories has a chance of being picked up by any of thousands of other blogs and ezines around the world.

Such an article has a far better chance of doing some good missionary work on behalf of home staging than an article on Active Rain.  There are far more people who don’t know about home staging than do out there. And article marketing is one of the best ways to slowly reach out to tell the home staging story.

Beyond prosletizing, while a backlink from Active rain is positive to your google Ranking, after the second or third time the “Google Juice” it provides diminshes rapidly.  Google would rather see you get incoming links from a variety of sources and not just one.

This is where article marketing shines. Many of the article directories also have high page rankings, and just putting an article on their site can do as much as a post from Active Rain.  And when one of your articles is picked up by a number of other users, it multiples the effect. And that’s what Google wants to see.  Not one or two sources linking to you, but first tens and then ultimately hundreds of sites. When you do that, you will virtually lock yourself into top ranking in your market.

In the process you will be building the national and international market for home staging. And while that may be hard to quantify, in the long run it will come back and benefit you as well as everyone else.

Now the big secret here is that you can often use the same material and articles you write for Active Rain and post them on the article directories.

One of the best educations you can get on article marketing is Understanding Article Marketing by Doug Champigny.  While written to address the article marketing needs of online internet marketers, the lessons he teaches are directly applicable to home stagers and most any small business.

Don’t get mesmerized by the hunt for points and ranking on Active Rain. While it matters some, in the long run you will do yourself and the home staging industry more good on the mainstream article directories.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Active Rain, Article Marketing, eZine Articles

Get hold of a wordpress plugin link here!

Here is another article written by a home stager on a topic that most anyone of you could write about.

In addition to encouraging you to write articles on your own, you too can borrow articles like this to share with people on your mailing list. What, you don’t have an email list to mail to? If that’s the case, you really need to sign up for Market Maker. Actually, you eventually should develop two lists. One of prospective clients who could use you home staging services and a second of area Realtors who could be using you to help build their careers. At any rate, as long as you include the resource box at the bottom, you can use these articles, which means you don’t have to write each and everyone yourself.

This article is by Katie Mudd of Fredericksburg, Virginia Discusses Curb Appeal.

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Did you know that a buyer has developed an opinion of your property within 15 seconds? I have pulled up to many homes with clients who did not want to consider a property simply because the exterior needed some attention. The following ideas will help your homes exterior make a great first impression:

* Make sure the street and, sidewalk, walkway and porch are free from litter and debris
* Reseal a worn or stained driveway and repair cracks in the walkway
* Re-Paint the Shudders and front door
* Apply new door hardware and a brass kick plate
* Replace the house numbers
* Put a flower box with seasonal flowers alongside the door
* Install a new front light fixture and check that all exterior lights are in working order
* Have a cleaning service wash the siding
* Clean windows and replace any cracked or broken glass
* Replace any missing or broken shingles on the roof/If the roof is very old consider having it replaced prior to showing the property
* Make sure the gutters and downspouts are in good repair
* Mow the grass weekly and keep weeds under control
* De-clutter the deck or patio

Creating a cheerful, clean, neat entrance is one of the best investments of time, money and effort you will ever make. Don’t let a potential buyer slip through the giant crack in your walkway! Fix the crack and keep the buyer! I hope these tips for preparing the exterior of your home are helpful and I will post some interior home tips in a future article.

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Katie Mudd, Realtor/CSP Visit http://www.katiemudd.com to find out your home’s value, obtain a free list of foreclosure or affordable luxury homes or conduct a property search
Katie Mudd is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Elite located at 5444 Jefferson Davis Hwy in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Licensed in the commonwealth of Virginia. Each office is independently owned and operated Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katie_Mudd

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Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, blogging, eZine Articles, Homestaging Tips

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Writing a good article is an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise and showcase your business in a local newspaper or online.  An article in a local paper of course will bring you some immediate attention in your home market and that is a powerful way to build your business.

The benefits of online article marketing may not be as clear nor as immediate, but it too can be a powerful way to market your business.  Each article posted online can contain backlinks to your web site. These backlinks are one of the factors Google and others use to decide where your web page appears when someone searches for a home stager in your community.  The more back links you have, the more likely you are to get top billing. And you want top billing.

A lot of articles will also make it more likely that the local media in your community will find you and seek you out, when an editor decides to do an article or newscast on home staging.  If a newspaper article is good for business, a minute or so of exposure on local TV is golden.

Article writing comes naturally for some and less so for others. But whatever your situation, it’s worth doing. But once done, there is no reason why you should submit it to only one venue.

The article is yours, and if you post it to Active Rain that’s great. But if you have gone to the trouble of writing the article why not get double and/or triple duty out of it?

Actually you can do a lot better than triple duty. Let me explain.

There are tons of people writing newsletter, blogs and ezines on the internet. Some write all their content themselves, but this gets to be time consuming and a royal pain for most. So, rather than writing everything themselves, they will go to one of hundreds of different article directories that exist and find suitable articles they can use for their publications.

These directories are always looking for fresh content to offer to these bloggers and editors. So they are willing to take your article and post it on their site so newsletter editors can find it.  To make it worth your while, they stipulate that anyone who uses your material must include your resource page.

Your resource page is a brief statement at the bottom of you article that you write that says who you are, and allows you to include usually two links to your web site and or other site you want people to go to.

When I write articles I might include a link to one of my blogs and maybe another to an eBook I am selling.

The article directories make money on the advertising on their site, the people using your article get fresh content to use in their publications.  It’s a classic win-win-win situation.

The Granddaddy of all article directories is www.ezinearticles.com. If there were just one place you wanted to post you article it would be there.  It is free to sign up as an author.  And almost everyone I know who is serious about internet marketing uses them. But as I said earlier, there are hundreds of similar article directories.

Now understand that each of these has their own set of rules, and it can be a bit frustrating at first to understand their different editorial requirements. But If you are capable of writing an article a week or even just an article a month, but are able to commit to doing so on a regular basis, it will be well worth your while to learn your way around these sites.

One of the biggest shortcuts out there are some of the article directory submitters. These are services that will take your article and submit it to multiple directories at once.  Some of these are pretty pricey for occasional users.  I use a service developed by Brad Callen called Article Submitter.

It too is designed for the professional.  It’s top level service the platinum allows you to submit your article to over 250 directories with the click of a single button. That’s a big time saver compared to going to each site and copying and pasting your article, title, resource box, and other items like keywords directory by directory.

But I don’t use the platinum version myself.  Frankly I started out with his Free version and later upgraded to the Gold. These take a little more effort, but once you have the basics down you can upload the same article to a lot of different directories. I usually submit to about 25 different directories for each article I write.

That gives me a lot more chances that my articles will be picked up by different newsletters and bloggers. Now this may be especially valuable to home stagers.  That’s because a lot of Realtors use newsletters to keep in touch with their farms or prospect list. (Home stagers should as well – that’s why you need something like market maker to build your own lists)

Since home staging topics will be relevant to many of these newsletters, I would guess that you would have a good chance of getting relevant article picked up. And while most will be from markets outside your market area, each will include a link back to your web site and do you some good.  And sooner or later, you will find a local Realtor or two using them in your own market, with any luck at all.

Article marketing is a powerful, if slow working tool to build a significant marketing advantage in your local area.  Article marketing is one of the topics that will be part of the monthly marketing calls we will be doing as part of the Market Maker Program.

PS: if you are interested in the free version of the Article Submitter,  look for the four tabs at the top of the page and click on article submitter.  That will take you to the free version.  If you can afford it, and plan on becoming a regular article writer, the Gold or Platimum versions are more powerful.

Which ever you use, once you have taken the time to write an article it make sense to distribute it as widely as you can.  The more directories you post on the more editors that will see your work and the more likely it will get published. It multiplies the benefits of your efforts.  Check out Article Submitter.

Setting up a web page is only the beginning to online marketing. Now you need to get it seen by potential customers. This used to be challenging in many markets, but there has been a big change in what matters. Today, what matters is being seen on the Google Places Page, and you don't even need to have a web site to do that. (although you should.) The good news is that its free, and if you know what you are doing, you can maneuver yourself to the top listing in many markets. That's one of the skill sets I bring to the table. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Article Marketing, article submitter, eZine Articles, Market Maker

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