Category Archives: Article Marketing

Article Marketing, Branding, Web Audio & Video, Website Marketing

How Do You “How To?”

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by Enzo F. Cesario

“How to…” are two words that end up in search engines quite frequently. The Internet is 100 percent information transmission — someone has something to share, and others have things they want to gain. The how-to phenomenon exemplifies this dynamic like few other events can. People no longer have to go out to the store to get a book on car maintenance or pot roast recipes — they just hop online and grab the information for free.

Ah, but that’s not to say there’s no money in how-tos. How-to celebs like Kimberly Clayton Blaine and Michelle Phan have made substantial headway in the world of how-to videos, with their once quiet video sites gaining major cooperation from organizations like Lancôme and Yahoo! as a result of their rapidly-growing popularity.

But what exactly makes a good, solid how-to video? What parts need to be included in a proper series in order to encourage people to keep coming back for view after view?

Part 1: Choose a Topic People Care About

It might seem like a given, but a lot of marketers seem to forget that people have emotions and minds of their own, and they can tell when someone isn’t giving their all. Someone who is obviously “phoning in” a performance is likely to get dismissed out of hand compared to someone who obviously is knowledgeable and passionate about their chosen topic.

There are a lot of ways for a presenter to show they care about a topic. Great how-to artists — and when done well, it truly is an art — like to diverge from the main discussion to give a very short aside, such as a recipe specialist sharing an anecdote about mixing up salt and sugar in an icing recipe. Others might offer tips about how to circumvent official channels for acquiring supplies and share knowledge about secondary, less expensive sources. In short, the great ones don’t just share the hard details, they also behind-the-scenes information to help spark their audience’s interest.

Part 2: Ensure Purity of Purpose

That said, small asides that showcase personal interest in the topic are good, but the stress must be on “small” or short. The average attention span of most web users is not terrifically long — there’s so much to see, do and learn, so a how-to video must capture interest and hold it without fail for the duration. Thus, make sure that every element included in the video is absolutely necessary to the message being conveyed and/or to capturing the audience’s hearts and minds.

If a small aside illustrates a more personal interest and helps the viewer connect, great — keep that in. If, on the other hand, it’s just kind of funny, nix it. Focus on the details and make sure that everything in the video is bent to the task of fulfilling the how-to process. Always remember that the viewer is present for a reason: to learn what information is available.

Part 3: Allow for Style

Each person has his or her own style, without question. Style is a complicated thing: It’s composed of accent, pattern of speaking, physical mannerisms, personal attire and more. Does the presenter actually show up in the video, or does the video conceal his or her face? Is the video shot in real time, edited for sectional content or does it use a stop-motion process so that the presenter is never visible throughout?

No one style is appropriate to every venue, and styles can be stretched to odd degrees. One might find it odd to adopt an exceptionally formal tone when presenting a how-to on baked beans and cornbread. On the other hand, this kind of style might be exaggerated for comedic effect, and this human element of irony might keep the viewers coming back. In short, don’t be afraid to experiment with a few different styles, possibly under alternative accounts, until finding one that works.

Step 4: Take the Time Needed; No More and No Less

YouTube is a popular venue for video how-tos, for obvious reasons. The default length for most videos is 10 minutes, which provides a reasonable benchmark for simpler how-to guides. It also has become a benchmark for video tolerance in general simply because of the sheer number of users growing accustomed to videos based around this length. That said, YouTube recently increased its maximum video length to 15 minutes, so be sure to keep an eye on viewers’ habits.

Indeed, the issue of time can be a bit tricky for a how-to. Ideally, unless the procedure is a particularly long one, the how-to should be kept to a single video. This may mean taking multiple shoots to see how various treatment lengths work for the project. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to let the video expand to several “episodes” if the how-to in question is large enough. Something as complicated and involved as building a backyard deck can reasonably be expected to require several videos to encompass.

Step 5: Cross Promote

The currency of the web is reputation. If people think poorly of a site, it gets poor views. Having a good attitude and a cooperative spirit is often the best way to get a good promotion off the ground, and this includes how-to videos.

For example, a site might consider promoting a fellow though unaffiliated how-to expert if their videos cover a gap in the site’s own knowledge. A cooking site whose patrons ask about a type of cooking none of the site’s staff specialize in could refer them to a colleague who just happens to know what he’s talking about. Additionally, one might promote webzines and non-how-to sites that cover similar topics.

About the Author

Enzo F. Cesario is an online brand specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to Brandsplat.com or visit our blog at http://www.ibrandcasting.com

Article Marketing

Accelerate Your Business All the Way to the Top with Article Marketing

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by Vickie Jimenez

Article marketing has grown to be so essential to the online and offline business that it is a necessity to put into practice. The solution to becoming successful at article marketing is to be steadfast at it. Generating articles becomes a part of your daily schedule. If you do not have the time to do this you can contract out this service at an inexpensive amount monthly. This is such a powerful tool that you do not want to let lack of time or “writer’s block” to hold you back from cashing in on it.

If you want to strengthen your online presence you can magnetize more sales and more customers using article marketing. You already know, if you have done any kind of online investigation as to how to accomplish that presence, that article marketing is one of the strongest forms of online marketing that exists. The thing that is accountable for generating millions of dollars in sales and bringing millions of new subscribers to an immense amount of companies publicizing their products and services, is article marketing.

When it comes to online marketing, articles are a remarkably dominant tool. This is especially true if you are a novice to online marketing or internet business in general. Writing and submitting articles is an inexpensive, fast way to get extremely targeted visitors to your website.

Following are 3 guidelines to making use of article marketing as free promotion for your business.

1) Practice reading others” article writing style and note how they deliver tips, value and secrets inside their article body. Watch their writing style and see if you can learn something new to make your article more exciting.

2) There are article writing services that produce 400 new articles a month and will do this for you at a reasonable monthly rate; if you have “writer’s block,” do not have the time to write or do not write well, you can outsource your article marketing campaign to them.

3) Making article marketing a daily habit is the answer to effectively using it. In order to be reliable for blog sites to make the most of, you must create an article campaign in your niche and continue to get articles out in a steadfast manner. They will develop into subscribers to your articles and your online presence will grow much faster when you do this.

There are several uses and rewards to article marketing and once you take full advantage of them your business will reap the rewards. Being a strong writer is no longer a prerequisite because you can outsource that. Being aware of the worth of article marketing is more significant. Your company and its product or services essentially get free publicity and exposure with article marketing. Adding article marketing to your company’s marketing plan is imperative. It will help you get your message out to the masses and will help you expand your trademark.

If your business wants to use a low cost, result producing form of marketing then it is crucial that you include article marketing to your marketing arsenal. Your business will then be powered to the next level with your consistent success.

To learn more marketing tips about how to accelerate the growth of your business and generate incredible profits, please visit http://www.internet-cash-systems-review.com/articleunderground.html

Article Source: ArticleSnatch Free Article Directory

Article Marketing

Article Marketing Made Simple

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World Wide Web
Photo by Bull3tIn today’s web world, one thing is clear. Content is still king. Writing the right kind of content and disturbing that content, also known as article marketing, can help you establish yourself as an expert and improve your online marketing results.

Getting started with article marketing is easy to do and can pay huge dividends. Many individuals use article marketing to improve search engine rankings, to inform, or to pitch products and services they sell. Regardless of your purpose, consider using article marketing as a great way to build a loyal following.

The proliferation of information online has brought with it varying degrees of content. Some content is valid, other content is purely fictional. When you write, be sure to provide references, examples, or quote data from other sources. This helps to build credibility and informs your audience that your content can be trusted. For your article marketing to be effective, follow these guidelines:

Research your niche. Before you begin any writing whatsoever, start by finding a niche that is popular and that you feel you can write about. It should be something you enjoy. If you are not interested in a particular area, it will be difficult to enjoy the process of writing articles.

Create a plan. Are you going to write one article per week or one each day? Think about how much time and energy you want to put into your article writing and for what purpose. If you simply want to write and publish your work, you may only want to do a little bit each day. Once you have a complete work, then you would submit to websites or blogs. On the other hand, if you are looking for improved rankings or sales from your article marketing, your publishing schedule may need to be more aggressive.

Write your article. Write and article on your subject that includes the specific keywords you seek to optimize for. Your article should be between four to seven hundred words. It all depends on the intent and purpose of the article. After you write your article make sure you proof it for spelling and grammatical errors.

Submit your article to article directories. This is a great way to get your information published quickly and easily. Register with an article directory like Ezinearticles or GoArticles. By doing so, you will have a place to submit your articles and build an author profile. Webmasters use these article directories to find content for their website. Additionally, article directories give you added exposure in a given topic area.

Article marketing has many benefits. The most important aspect of article marketing, in my opinion is to clearly understand what you want to use it for, building a plan, and consistently creating and distributing content. This is essential for long term success.

About the Author

Are looking for a way to create thousands of unique articles in less time than it takes to brush your teeth? Learn more about Article Wizard Pro. Download our FREE search engine optimization lessons and discover new ways to improve search engine rankings at Webmaster’s Book of Secrets website.