How to Use Article Marketing to Sell Affiliate Products

Article marketing has become an internet phenomenon. It is one of the easiest, and most effective, methods to maximize your time and energy, while using FREE, or almost free, websites.

Article marketing, commonly referred to as Bum Marketing, can be used to create a steady stream of traffic to your website or blog. Most internet marketers use it as a way to create one-way links back to your site. Once you have developed a steady stream of revenue, you can even outsource your article marketing efforts.

The secret to creating a successful article marketing campaign is simply to write about things that you are passionate about. When you really enjoy something it is extremely obvious to your readers.

Here is how I use articles to sell affiliate products.

The first thing I do is create a 400 - 500 word article. In this article, I am attempting to answer a question or provide some form of review that may help the reader make a choice. Typically, I pick one or two long-tail keywords and use them sparingly throughout the article.

In the resource box, at the end of the article, I try and create a strong call to action and then provide a link to my site or affiliate link. It is so important to provide useful content and a place for the reader to find more information. Too many times you see articles that you can tell are purely meant as sales pieces. Add value and customers will follow.

Once you have completed the article, I typically submit it to one or two of the top article directories. Of course the top article directory is Ezinearticles(EZA), yet GoArticles produces good results as well. If you elect to use Ezinearticles, it is important that you do not link directly to an affiliate site. If you do, your article will not be approved.

Once my article has been approved by EZA, I have a few choices to make. If this article cannot be found in the top 20 Google listings, I know I must increase the number of backlinks it has. I like to write another article and link to my EZA article in the resource box. Getting a Page Rank 6 link from GoArticles, will help move your article up in the SERPs.

If my article can be found in the top 20 Google results, I will know that I have found a great long-tail keyword in which I can dominate. The next thing I do is to go and create a new lens or two on Squidoo. Most of the time I try and get my keywords as the URL name. There are a few secrets that can help you move your Squidoo lenses up in the search engine results. Currently my favorite technique can be found at http://weekonemarketing.info.

Then I like to create a new Blogger blog around my new keyword phrase. If you are trying to sell a product that teaches you how to build a chicken coop, you could easily create a four or five page blog similar to this one - How to Build A Chicken Coop. These blogs need only to contain 5 to 10 pages of information. They are not intended to be major websites from the beginning. If, however, you find that this blog is producing sales for you, you may want to consider invested some time and effort in order to make this blog more complete.

Article marketing focuses on trying to create as many useful sites that you can in which to present to your readers for consideration. You are not trying to sell anything. You are simply presenting good information and letting them make an educated decision as to whether or not this product is worth their hard-earned money.

Once I have completed the articles and web pages that I intended, I then typically link them all together. I create my own mini-network of expertise centered around my keyword phrase. These articles do not have to be masterpieces, yet they need to be informative and somewhat useful to the reader. If not, they will click away within 30 seconds of hitting your page.

Now that all of my pages are completed, and linked to one another, I start focusing exclusively on bummarketing. I begin writing articles and do not stop until my fingers hurt and head aches from thinking too much. I publish articles on anywhere from 10 to 100 different article directories. It is sometimes impossible to know which directory will get the most Google love. Many times Ezinearticles will get the nod, other times it may be GoArticles. Last month I wrote an article for SearchWarp that is in the top five, whereas similar articles on EZA and GoArticles did not crack the top 20.

If you are seriously considering including article marketing is your internet marketing arsenal, I would suggest that you check out http://copymeprofitnow.info. This informative resource teaches you simple, yet effective methods to create search engine friendly pages, how to select powerful keywords that will help you make more sales and how to encourage other websites to link to your pages.

Article marketing is truly an unique business opportunity. Unique in the fact that it requires almost no money to start, allows you the freedom to work when and where you want, and allows you to progress at your own pace. Additionally, since selling other people's products do not require that you carry inventory or deal directly with customers, you are free to create even more articles.

As I conclude, I wanted to leave you with a simple math problem. What would happen if you spent four hours each week creating articles and sites for a new campaign? Now what would happen if you did this every week for a year AND each campaign earned only $30 a month (which is a typical commission for promoting Clickbank products)? At the end of your first 12 months, you would be earning $1,560 each month on work that you completed months ago. I don't know much about your financial situation, but $1,500 a month pays my mortgage completely.

I think that is worth the effort, don't you?