by: Jim Edwards
Did you realize that writing and publishing articles online
represents one of the best-kept website traffic secrets?
It's true! In fact, if you learn some basic principles, you
can drive thousands of visitors to your website without
spending any money on advertising. Publishing articles not
only establishes you as an expert in your chosen field, but
also allows you to fly under the natural "radar defenses"
your prospects have against advertising.
But, beware! My experience as a syndicated newspaper
columnist has shown me that people who would otherwise
succeed massively promoting with articles actually fail
because they consistently make one or more of these five
critical mistakes!
Mistake #1 - NOT Defining Your Target Audience
Many article authors make the serious mistake of not
clearly defining a niche audience before writing their
article. Successful article authors always know the exact
"niche" audience they want to reach before they write the
first word.
When targeting your audience, remember this rule: Narrow
and Deep! Always pick an audience with a specific,
pressing, or major interest in a narrow topic!
Mistake #2 - Spamming Ezine Editors
In their desire to cover as much ground as possible, many
article authors resort to spam techniques for submitting
their articles. Instead of tightly targeting appropriate
ezines that cater specifically to their audience, these
authors try to hit "everyone."
By trying to save time, they actually waste every minute
spent writing their article because most ezine editors will
just delete their submissions as spam!
Mistake #3 - Milktoast Topics
You can write the best article in the world, but if your
headline doesn't grab a reader's eyeballs and pull them
into your article - you lose!
Article authors should spend at least half as much time
writing the headline as they spend writing their actual
article.
In fact, an "average" article can get superior results
simply from having a great headline at the beginning.
Mistake #4 - "What's In It For Me"
If they manage to make it past the first 3 pitfalls, many
article authors trip on their shoelaces at this stage of
the process! Don't write about what you want to write
about, only write on topics of high interest to your target
audience.
In other words, give them exactly what they want and they
will love you. Nobody cares how much of an expert you rate
on a particular topic until they know you can deliver
information they need in a way they can use - now!
Mistake #5 - "No Shoe Polish"
You could write an article worthy of the front page of the
Wall Street Journal, but as soon as somebody spots a typo
or misspelling, they immediately put your article lower
than a Sunday sales circular.
Seriously, if you want to undermine all the good you can do
with a great article, send it out without proper spell-
checking!
No matter what product or service you sell, once you
understand the promotion power of free articles, you'll
never look at website traffic generation the same way.
But remember, if you abuse the power, spam ezine editors,
or blatantly pitch people instead of providing real
information, you might as well skip the whole process
altogether.
About the author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic,"
that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly
drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or
affiliate link!
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even months... without spending a
dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
5 Critical Promotion Mistakes People Make With Articles
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Is Your Inbox Crammed With Spam? by Jim Pretin
I receive approximately 5,000 emails containing spam each and every day. Well, maybe not that many, but it sure seems close to that figure. Spam is spiraling out of control and shows no signs of stopping. The question is, where does spam come from, and can you do anything about it?
Most of the spam I receive in my inbox is sexually explicit, but I still like to look at it because some of this junk is actually quite entertaining. My personal favorites are offers to purchase discounted Canadian Viagra, ads for pornographic websites, and bogus work-from-home programs.
How do these people get their grimy hands on your email address? One way they can get it is through opt-in email. When you order something online, as part of the subscription or service that you signed up for, you may have inadvertently agreed to receive offers via email from that company in the future.
As a result, said company adds you to their mailing list and begins to send you email. This is perfectly legal as long as the company provides you with a way to unsubscribe from their mailing list. If they do not provide you with a means to unsubscribe, then the emails they are sending you are considered spam.
To make matters worse, a spammer will sell your email address and any other information you submitted to them to hundreds or even thousands of other companies who are looking for leads. Before you know it, your email address has been circulated everywhere. Once this happens, there is almost no way to prevent spam from reaching your inbox.
Another common way your email address can end up on a mailing list is when an internet marketer purchases a list of email addresses from someone else, and then sends a joke or an interesting cartoon to everyone on that list and asks you to forward it along to all your friends and relatives.
Once you forward the message, the email has a program attached to it that will copy the list of addresses that the message has been forwarded to and send that list back to the person who originally sent you the email. So now, that person not only has your email address, but also has the email address of everyone you forwarded the message to.
Another popular technique is known as harvesting. This is accomplished by writing a simple retrieval program that searches through every web site listed on a search engine for a certain keyword, and then grabs any any email addresses that are posted on those sites, and subsequently sends them back to the harvester. Using this technology, it is possible to acquire thousands of email addresses in an hour or less.
Harvesting has become a legal dilemma. The email marketing community feels that they should be allowed to harvest email addresses that are posted on public websites. In their opinion, if someone has posted their email address for all to see, then other people have the right to contact that person and ask them questions or send them offers.
However, web sites where email addresses are posted have threatened legal action against anyone that harvests email addresses from their site and uses them to build spam lists. Unfortunately, these web sites really have no way to prevent this, and it will only get worse in the future.
We will never stop spam completely. Both big businesses and small businesses have a strong incentive to send bulk email, because it costs nothing, and is a valuable tool for increasing their customer base. Sending regular mail or hiring a telemarketer costs a lot of money and is extremely ineffective. As a result, most companies would prefer to send massive amounts of email. So, expect your inbox to be chock full of spam for many years to come.
About the Author
Jim Pretin is the owner of http://www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make an HTML form
Spam: Email's Enemy by Kelly Staller
Spam: Email's Enemy Kelly Staller Copyright(c) 2007 6StarReviews.com Visit us online for MORE product & service reviews: 6StarReviews.com
Opening up your email inbox shouldn't be a burden, and spam is the epitome of this. You're probably not the only one who has received countless pharmaceutical ads and links advertising "click here to get rich." The Web is a spammers' paradise with endless opportunities to send out annoying ads that make you want to disconnect your computer. However, there are several spam filters available that can help prevent those emails inviting you to see Sally's webcam.
Spam is in a league of its own and it is recommended concerned PC users purchase separate spam blockers. There are many inexpensive options which give you the benefit of coming home to a clear email box with no ads in sight.
Spam is your email's number one enemy, but there are ways to prevent spammers from accessing your inbox.
Try these useful tips to send spam somewhere else:
* If you know an email is junk, don't open it. * Be careful about opening email attachments from people you don't know. * Don't participate in chain emails: not only are they annoying, they can promote a spammer's original message. * If you receive a spam email, forward it to your IP (Internet Provider). They can probably investigate into it. * Don't reply with any personal information in emails: This is the oldest trick in the book to steal your information. * Update your spam blocker frequently, so it picks up new keywords and scams currently circulating.
Approximately 90 billion spammed emails are sent per day, which makes the event of you receiving one very likely. There is also a study surfacing that reported nearly 80% of incoming mail was marked as abusive. These statistics indicate the necessity of looking to sites like 6StarReviews.com, who compare spam filters.
A spam filter is capable of blocking common spam keywords, accepting or rejecting email users, and blocking common spam addresses. Instead of letting your inbox get clogged with unwanted emails, fight back your inbox's worst enemy.
About the Author
Kelly Staller is site manager at 6StarReviews.com, a site dedicated to providing consumers with the best product and service reviews around.
Easy Spam Prevention by Aaron Siegel
Spam affects literally everyone who uses the Internet these days. Wether it's a free Yahoo email account or paid account from an ISP, a spammer more than likely will find you if they haven't already. What to do about spam has been highly debated and a huge market exists to block spammers.
Anti-spam software has been utilized by millions to combat the irrelevant and sometimes crude advertising that fills their business and personal inboxes. The big problem with anti-spam software and email accounts is that many emails, some which you may be expecting can get put into the blocked folders unintentionally. This can create a huge hassle for many people and browsing through a spam folder can be even more difficult when you have 500 messages. You more than likely end up deleting more than a few non-spam messages, some that are important.
The best and most wise step to combating spam is to do your best to not end up on a list where spammers may find you. Follow some of these tips and you may find spam no longer is a word that relates to your everyday life.
1.) Carefully read all online forms you fill out. Many forms have opt-in buttons prechecked for approval of emailed offers from their partners. You want to make sure you uncheck those boxes. Unless you know all their partners, you probably don't want loads of offers and rebates from companies you don't know.
2.) When filling out forms make sure you look for a disclaimer stating that your email will be kept confidential and not sold. Many companies sell their email information to people who in turn sometimes resell email names down the line to shadier companies until lists are available to anyone. Anyone includes spammers.
3.) Money making offers online, beware! If the offer to make money from home is vague there's a good chance your email will be handed to a database of 100 or more people looking to recruit for their MLM. This can end you up with tons of money making opportunities and yes, the quality of offers will deteriorate and eventually expect viagra and porn offers a year from now. Make sure you know the money making opportunity before giving your email, otherwise expect the worst.
All in all, common sense is more than likely going to be your best weapon against spam. Don't put your email in the hands of just anyone. Treat your email as you would your own child.
About the Author
This article was written by Aaron Siegel of TopSavings.Net which offers Internet Access to residential and business customers.
What Is Spam And Why Is It Such A Huge Problem? by Paul Wilcox
If you have an email address you probably already know what spam is. Essentially spam is the junk mail of the electronic world, and just as if not more annoying.
While the meat of each spam message is different, offering deals from everything from dating sites to pornography to prescription drugs, their goal is to sell you something. Spam is sent out by some type of automatic mailer program, sending the same message to you and millions of other email users.
Most people find spam so annoying because of the sheer volume. Most people end up with hundreds of junk emails a week, sometimes a day. If your email program doesn't separate or filter out spam, it can take hours to sift through all the garbage and find the emails you're actually interested in.
While spam is a major annoyance, it can lead to other more serious problems as well. Some spam is used as a method of spreading internet security threats such as viruses and other malware.
Spam got its beginnings on USENET, which are newsgroups for various topics of discussion. Spam was being sent to multiple groups via cross-posting. Soon spammers were sending advertisements to thousands of different newsgroups, regardless of their potential interest.
As soon as email became a popular form of communication spammers found an easy way to get their information to literally millions of people with the use of spambots. Spambots are programs which can gather email addresses from a variety of sources such as newsgroups or websites. Once they have collected your email address you're added to a list and the spamming begins.
If you're annoyed by spam and don't bother reading it you may be wondering how they can make a profit at all. Since sending spam is extremely inexpensive, even if just an extremely small portion of the recipients click on the advertisement and buy whatever is being sold, it is well worth it.
Spam has increasingly become a huge problem and there are many approaches to try and make spam a thing of the past. In several countries all spam email must offer an option to opt out of receiving emails, giving you some control in the number of emails you receive.
About the Author
Find out how to protect yourself and your computer from all these threats on the Internet Security Guide website. Visit http://www.internetsecurityguide.org for more information and to receive your free copy of our special report "How To Lock Down Your Computer - A Guide To Internet Security"
