Anyone into internet marketing, especially when talking about traffic generation and affiliate marketing will know the importance of article writing and article submission. After all, this is how you propagate product reviews, garner back-links to your site and get your name and reputation on the web.
But if you do a search for 'article submission directory' or something similar on the web you will get hundreds and hundreds of them returned (many are catalogued here) or you can get an exhaustive list from the Celtnet Forum. Of these, which ones do you actually submit to?
I've been submitting articles for many years now and I've seen article sites come and articles sites go. In the end I've become quite choosy as to where I submit my articles to.
Many authors will tell you not to submit articles to article sites with PR (PageRank) less than 6. This can be a good rule of thumb if all you want is to get page rank to your site. But it can also be misleading. Having an article site can be a very lucrative means of getting money. Many of the less scrupulous sites are sites with high page rank actually bought by someone and then turned into an article site. They start off with good page rank and then their page rank plummets and they vanish from the web. I would rather submit my articles to a new and up-and coming website, one that wants good content and is picky about the articles that get in rather than submit willy-nilly to any site with good page rank.
I also only submit to about a dozen sites in all and all my articles are unique. I never use auto-submitters and I never have machine-written articles.
I also look for article sites that make an effort to get the word out about the articles submitted to them. These are article sites that submit their RSS feeds to news aggregators and article sites that integrate social bookmarketing into their articles and sites. If these site creators are willing to go to this effort to help publicise the ads they have then this is a site worth sticking with. I also look for sites that help eZine and site owners get content for their site. This means that the articles must be easy for others to publish and must have at least plain text and HTML publishing facilities.
But my main criterion as to which sites I submit to has to do more with how quickly the article is approved than anything else. I need a quick turn around as some of my articles only have a short useful lifespan. I will not wait more than three, at the most four, days for my article to be approved and incorporated. Many of the article directories out there take two weeks or more for approval. Some never even get back to you.
As a result here are my top five submission sites:
ezinearticles.com
celtnet articles
buzzle.com
articledashboard.com
goarticles.com
These sites all only allow self-serving (ie links to your sites/products) in the 'About the Author' resource box. Though GoArticles will allow some URLs in the main text of the article. With Buzzle it's an either/or case. Either you have URLs in the main body of the text or you have self-serving URLs in the resource box. Each site is different and you need to read the guidelines or terms and conditions before submitting.
For more information on why you need to write articles read this article: Why you Need to Write Articles and for a guide to the basics of article writing read: Article Writing 101.
I also submit to six or seven other sites, but these are far more subjective than objective, so I suggest you play around with article submission sites to find out which ones you prefer (the list given above will help you here).
Thursday 10 April 2008
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Use ClickBank to Monetize your Site
Are you looking for new ways to monetize your website, blog or even squidoo lens? Then you really need to take a look at his great product (and even better it's completely free for you to use!)
What is this product? Well, it's the Celtnet ClickBank Marketplace. Oh no, I hear you groan... not another site selling ClickBank products! Actually, no... This is definitely not just another site selling ClickBank products, it's a site that allows you to sell through your site completely free! Oh yes, a site that allows you to create ads based on ClickBank products in a whole range of formats so that you can use them on your site, blog, squidoo lens or whatever to add an extra income source to your site as a whole.
Why ClickBank... Well, it's a huge marketplace of electronic products each for sale, each available for instant download and each offered with commissions to anyone who sells them. All you need to be in on the action is to get a ClickBank ID (just go to clickbank and sign up). Once you have this you can start selling ClickBank products as an affiliate and make between $20 and $100 in commission for each product sold.
This is really exciting. But ClickBank, in general has been set-up to allow affiliates to promote single products very actively. This, however, is not the way to go if you want to make passive income from ClickBank. this is where the Celtnet system comes in.
Why am I promoting this... Well, it's free for anyone to use on their website, blog or whatever and it supports a campaign that's dear to me. It's also clever and one of the best of the competing products out there (the fact that it's free also gives it an edge).
Basically the guys over at Celtnet have loaded the entire ClickBank database into a database of their own. They then change the product titles and product descriptions to something that is more meaningful and will actively sell. They've then wrapped the database in code that will generate ads for you, and all for free!
When you go to the site you have several options. Of these, the most valuable are the:
1. AdSense-like ClickBank Ads. These are contextual ads just like those delivered by Google, except that they're built around ClickBank products. Just like AdSense, you can define the colors and sizes of these ads as well as how many ads are in there. You have a whole range of options to decide what the ads are about, including the part of ClickBank they're from and using your own text definitions. ClickBank is so huge that you're almost guaranteed of finding appropriate products for your own website. What you get is a single line of code which you just copy and paste into your website and just like magic the ads appear.
2. RSS feed Ads. One problem with contextual ads is that they can't be used alongside ClickBank ads without infringing Google's terms of service. But the same isn't true of RSS feeds. Again you can create these for any number of entries and for any section of ClickBank that you wish. You can then either convert the RSS feed to JavaScript and include them on your website, you can use an RSS aggregator or a php script to include the ads on your website.
3. Image-based ClickBank Ads These are more experimental, but they may well be for you. These are typical contextual ads, except that they also include a thumbnail image of the product or website referred to in the ad. They certainly draw the eye and they're well worth investigating to see if they increase your conversions.
If you would like to know more about using how to incorporate these ads then go to Incorporating ClickBank Ads in your site. to see how you can use these ads in Weebly and Squidoo. You can even see the ads in action on this site.
You can find out more about how these ads support charity at the: Help Stefan Campaign blog.
All these ads are created dynamically so each time your web page is refreshed your ads are also refreshed and you site's visitors are given a new set to look at. Each week the new ClickBank database is uploaded so the products are also up to date as well. This, again makes the system really cool. So I would urge you to go over to the Celtnet ClickBank Marketplace today to grab these ads for your site.
What is this product? Well, it's the Celtnet ClickBank Marketplace. Oh no, I hear you groan... not another site selling ClickBank products! Actually, no... This is definitely not just another site selling ClickBank products, it's a site that allows you to sell through your site completely free! Oh yes, a site that allows you to create ads based on ClickBank products in a whole range of formats so that you can use them on your site, blog, squidoo lens or whatever to add an extra income source to your site as a whole.
Why ClickBank... Well, it's a huge marketplace of electronic products each for sale, each available for instant download and each offered with commissions to anyone who sells them. All you need to be in on the action is to get a ClickBank ID (just go to clickbank and sign up). Once you have this you can start selling ClickBank products as an affiliate and make between $20 and $100 in commission for each product sold.
This is really exciting. But ClickBank, in general has been set-up to allow affiliates to promote single products very actively. This, however, is not the way to go if you want to make passive income from ClickBank. this is where the Celtnet system comes in.
Why am I promoting this... Well, it's free for anyone to use on their website, blog or whatever and it supports a campaign that's dear to me. It's also clever and one of the best of the competing products out there (the fact that it's free also gives it an edge).
Basically the guys over at Celtnet have loaded the entire ClickBank database into a database of their own. They then change the product titles and product descriptions to something that is more meaningful and will actively sell. They've then wrapped the database in code that will generate ads for you, and all for free!
When you go to the site you have several options. Of these, the most valuable are the:
1. AdSense-like ClickBank Ads. These are contextual ads just like those delivered by Google, except that they're built around ClickBank products. Just like AdSense, you can define the colors and sizes of these ads as well as how many ads are in there. You have a whole range of options to decide what the ads are about, including the part of ClickBank they're from and using your own text definitions. ClickBank is so huge that you're almost guaranteed of finding appropriate products for your own website. What you get is a single line of code which you just copy and paste into your website and just like magic the ads appear.
2. RSS feed Ads. One problem with contextual ads is that they can't be used alongside ClickBank ads without infringing Google's terms of service. But the same isn't true of RSS feeds. Again you can create these for any number of entries and for any section of ClickBank that you wish. You can then either convert the RSS feed to JavaScript and include them on your website, you can use an RSS aggregator or a php script to include the ads on your website.
3. Image-based ClickBank Ads These are more experimental, but they may well be for you. These are typical contextual ads, except that they also include a thumbnail image of the product or website referred to in the ad. They certainly draw the eye and they're well worth investigating to see if they increase your conversions.
If you would like to know more about using how to incorporate these ads then go to Incorporating ClickBank Ads in your site. to see how you can use these ads in Weebly and Squidoo. You can even see the ads in action on this site.
You can find out more about how these ads support charity at the: Help Stefan Campaign blog.
All these ads are created dynamically so each time your web page is refreshed your ads are also refreshed and you site's visitors are given a new set to look at. Each week the new ClickBank database is uploaded so the products are also up to date as well. This, again makes the system really cool. So I would urge you to go over to the Celtnet ClickBank Marketplace today to grab these ads for your site.
Tuesday 8 April 2008
The 'Recipes of Africa' eBook - why it's a Con
I was recently asked to review the Recipes of Africa eBook... And the thought filled me with complete trepidation. I am African and some of the recipes here come from my homeland. I am also Liberian and this eBook purports to help Liberian refugees.
I was afraid that the book wasn't good enough and wouldn't live-up to it's author's hype. I was also afraid that the book wouldn't do what it was meant to. Provide my brothers and sisters with the assistance they need.
But it does this and more... The only problem is that the author is a very retiring guy and he's really not selling this thing properly or making the most from what he has. The eBook is real, I have it here. The people the eBook is supporting are real and I know some of the children that the website selling the eBook has already helped. It's not a big organization and the money is going straight from the website into the pockets of those who really want it.
So, why do I call the eBook a 'con'. Because the author is conning himself in terms of how he's trying to sell it. This thing is BIG... The idea is BIG, what the author is trying to do is BIG, even the eBook is BIG (it's over 500 pages long with 800+ recipes covering each and every country in Africa!). Indeed, this brief Introduction to The Recipes of Africa on Weebly is much better than the author's original. But please, please, don't let that put you off!
But this thing really isn't being promoted heavily enough! It's the largest collection of African recipes ever brought together in one place. And I really do mean ever. Some of these recipes are totally native, created by seeing Africans really cook their food and then written down. Many of the recipes have never been published elsewhere. This thing is amazing.
You get everything from North African tagines to hot and spicy West African stews to Central African greens-based stews to the Indian-influenced cuisines of the Swahlil peoples of East Africa and the rainbow fusion food of Southern Africa.
It's all here; several dishes from each and every country on the continent of Africa brought to you so that you can re-create them at home. Find out about the hot chilli-laden dishes of Liberia and the cakes of Liberia. Find native drinks, starters, main meals and desserts.
Learn about the healthy benefits of African meals. Learn how to make the staple dishes and the posh dishes. Make meals for family and meals for banquets. This eBook has it all.
And the greatest con of all... the price! For only $10 you get all this. Some people on eBay and the web are selling eBooks with fewer than a fifth of the recipes you get here for twice or three times the cost.
You even get an introduction to each region and each country in Africa so that you can put that country's food and recipes into the proper context. Something as rare and wonderful as this does not appear often. I truly urge you to get your copy of this remarkable eBook today.
I was afraid that the book wasn't good enough and wouldn't live-up to it's author's hype. I was also afraid that the book wouldn't do what it was meant to. Provide my brothers and sisters with the assistance they need.
But it does this and more... The only problem is that the author is a very retiring guy and he's really not selling this thing properly or making the most from what he has. The eBook is real, I have it here. The people the eBook is supporting are real and I know some of the children that the website selling the eBook has already helped. It's not a big organization and the money is going straight from the website into the pockets of those who really want it.
So, why do I call the eBook a 'con'. Because the author is conning himself in terms of how he's trying to sell it. This thing is BIG... The idea is BIG, what the author is trying to do is BIG, even the eBook is BIG (it's over 500 pages long with 800+ recipes covering each and every country in Africa!). Indeed, this brief Introduction to The Recipes of Africa on Weebly is much better than the author's original. But please, please, don't let that put you off!
But this thing really isn't being promoted heavily enough! It's the largest collection of African recipes ever brought together in one place. And I really do mean ever. Some of these recipes are totally native, created by seeing Africans really cook their food and then written down. Many of the recipes have never been published elsewhere. This thing is amazing.
You get everything from North African tagines to hot and spicy West African stews to Central African greens-based stews to the Indian-influenced cuisines of the Swahlil peoples of East Africa and the rainbow fusion food of Southern Africa.
It's all here; several dishes from each and every country on the continent of Africa brought to you so that you can re-create them at home. Find out about the hot chilli-laden dishes of Liberia and the cakes of Liberia. Find native drinks, starters, main meals and desserts.
Learn about the healthy benefits of African meals. Learn how to make the staple dishes and the posh dishes. Make meals for family and meals for banquets. This eBook has it all.
And the greatest con of all... the price! For only $10 you get all this. Some people on eBay and the web are selling eBooks with fewer than a fifth of the recipes you get here for twice or three times the cost.
You even get an introduction to each region and each country in Africa so that you can put that country's food and recipes into the proper context. Something as rare and wonderful as this does not appear often. I truly urge you to get your copy of this remarkable eBook today.
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