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"How
To Use Ezine Articles To Promote Any Product, Service, or Affiliate
Program You Choose in 5 Easy Steps"
by Jimmy D. Brown
I
bet you can't tell me the best way to use ezine articles to
promote your offer.
Go
ahead. Give it your best shot. Out loud. Say it. Whatever comes
to mind, just blurt it out.
I'm
listening.
You
see, most folks don't really understand how to BEST use ezine
articles to promote a product or service, or their favorite
affiliate program.
They
know they are supposed to write an article, include some kind
of clever offer in the text or in their resource box, and convince
editors to publish their article.
But,
there is a *very* clever way to use your article to promote
like you've never seen before.
And
I'm going to share it with you right now.
There
are only five steps. And they are all super simple...
Step
01: Choose the product or service you want to promote.
This one is kind of a no-brainer. It all begins with deciding
what you want to promote. Is it your own product or service?
How about your favorite affiliate program?
We're
not talking about your newsletter -- we're talking about an
actual offer you want to present that you'll earn profits from
when readers of your article make a purchase.
Decide
what it is that you want to promote through your free ezine
article. And then move on.
Step
02: Determine your "useful, but incomplete" approach.
I love to use what I have coined as the "useful, but incomplete"
approach when using freebies of any kind. (Ezine articles, free
eBooks, reports, eCourses, etc.)
What I mean
by that is simply this: You provide your reader with "useful"
information (something they find of value and are able to
actually apply) but make certain that it is "incomplete"
in that they can better use the information by making a purchase.
That's
"useful, but incomplete." And it works like a charm.
The
idea is to use your content to build up to your desired response.
You provide the reader with content, and then you make an offer
that allows them to fully utilize the content, gain extra insight
from the content or maximize the content in some additional
way.
Let
me give you an example:
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I
wanted to promote Autorespondit.com
in a free ezine article. This is a
service that offers unlimited autoresponders,
tracking and all kinds of other stuff
for one low price.
So,
how could I use an ezine article to
promote the service?
By
writing an article that explains how
to benefit from using autoresponders
or mailing lists. My article explains
different uses of autoresponders and
how the reader can profit from implementing
the ideas.
And,
naturally, they will need an autoresponder
service in order to put the ideas
into practice, right?
And
I just happen to know of a great service
they can use. :o)
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OK,
so that's an example of how to promote a SERVICE offer with
your ezine article. What about a software product or an eBook?
Want
some examples?
Good,
because I've got two...
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TO
PROMOTE A SOFTWARE PRODUCT
Let's
suppose you want to promote Armand
Morin's eCover Generator. How can
you do it?
--
Write an article outlining how important
presentation of your offer is, and
how creating a cover graphic can increase
response rates by up to 1300%.
--
Write a step-by-step tutorial article
for "do-it-yourselfers",
explaining how to design your own
graphics from scratch. And then promote
the software as a
super-simplified way of doing it.
TO
PROMOTE AN EBOOK
Want
to promote Paul Myers' Amazing List
Machine?
--
Write an article that covers the "basics"
of building lists, and then promote
Paul's eBook as the "advanced"
tactics.
--
Write an article on how to profit
from a list, and then promote Paul's
eBook as the "how to build the
list."
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See
how easy this is?
That's
how it works. Determine what your "useful, but incomplete"
approach will be, and then...
Step
03: Turn your approach into a tips list or tutorial.
Let's use my example again. I decided that I would describe
various uses of autoresponders and how the reader can actually
profit from them. What kind of tips list or tutorial could I
create?
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"How
to Generate More Subscribers, Sales
and Profits With Automated Follow-Up
Messages"
"7
Powerful And Profitable Ways To Use
Autoresponders To Skyrocket Your Sales
and Subscribers!
"Want
to Increase Your Online Profits And
Leads? Here are 7 Ways to Do It..."
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I
actually went with the middle title. I wrote my list of the
7 ideas that I wanted to share. And I had the makings of a perfect
article to promote an offer.
That's
all you need to do. Determine your end result. Decide
how to get there with your "useful, but incomplete"
approach. And then develop a list, or even a step-by-step tutorial
for your article that leads the reader along.
With
each new "idea" or "way" or "tip"
or "step" or "strategy" that you share,
you can further direct the reader towards realizing their
need of your upcoming offer, and lay the foundation for
them to accept the offer.
Step
04: Expand on each point to build your content.
Here's more of the easy part. Just "fill-in-the-blanks"
to complete your article. Write 1-2 short paragraphs for each
of your points. Make them good. Provide quality content. The
offer you will soon make will see poor results if your information
isn't useful.
Remember,
you are trying to presell the reader on the idea that they
are going to need your offer. If you don't provide them with
quality information that they WANT to begin using immediately,
then why will they want to buy what you are promoting?
Light
a fire in them. Motivate them. Challenge them. Give them such
nuggets of gold that they want to keep mining until they hit
the mother lode!
Step
05: Put on the finishing touches with the "five pillars."
There are five things that you should always do to finish up
your ezine article. Don't skip any of them. They are all critical...
1. Polish.
Re-read your article. Does it provide information that really
is "useful" to the reader? And yet leaves them wanting
even more? That's what you want. Polish it. Put on the wax
and make it shine. It has a very specific purpose -- make
certain it has the means to achieve it.
2. Promote.
Use your resource box to promote your offer. This is why we've
written the article, right? Remember step one? It's time to
put it into play. Give the reader what they (hopefully) are
wanting...a way to maximize the information you gave them.
3. Proof.
Don't do this yourself. Have a trusted friend, relative or
co-worker check your article for grammatical and typographical
errors. The last thing you want to do is present a poor image
after sharing some high quality information.
4. Publish.
Zip your new article out to your favorite list of publishers.
Submit it to the announcement lists and the ezine directories.
Don't forget to publish it yourself in your own newsletter!
5. Profit.
If you've covered all the bases that I've mentioned, then
profits are almost certain to start coming in when your ezine
article is published. You deserve it. Be proud of your accomplishments.
And
then start it all over again!
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