Article marketing – the practice of submitting written editorial to article publishing websites that then redistribute them to other sites throughout the internet – has slipped in and out of fashion in recent years, with commentators tending to fall into two camps: love it or hate it.

In one camp there are those who argue that spreading your carefully written advice across the internet sends traffic in the wrong direction; while other advocate it as an effective way to raise ones profile online. So who’s right? Is article marketing a boon or a boob?

Like any marketing activity, there are advantages and disadvantages, but it’s my feeling that the pros outweigh the cons, and you can read why in the full article.

(Another big thanks to Emily Cagle of Emily Cagle PR for placing this article with Bytestart, the small business portal.)

A big thanks to Mad.co.uk for featuring two of our recent articles on their website. And an even bigger thanks to Emily Cagle of Emily Cagle PR, who has been doing some great PR work for us, and is responsible for bringing us to Mad’s attention. If you’re looking for online PR, then drop her a line and see if she can help you too!

Below is a synopsis of each article, with a link so you can read the full thing if you want to!

• Brand Trashing – What to do if your reputation takes a beating online

It’s every business’s worst internet nightmare: you head over to Google, tap in your company name to see how your web presence is coming along, and there in prominent position is something far from positive about your brand. Deserved or not, this entry could be damaging your business with every passing second. Nikki Pilkington, founder of NikkiPilkington.com explains more.

• A little marketing knowledge is a dangerous thing: the top 10 marketing myths

It’s very common for a business’s first foray into internet marketing to be a low cost DIY job, but this approach carries risks explains Nikki Pilkington, owner/founder of NikkiPilkington.com.

Here are ten of the most common misconceptions about internet marketing, and what you need to know to ensure you don’t fall foul of a DIY disaster.

I’ve been talking about this for a while, but this is the first chance I’ve had to put thoughts into words properly, so hopefully it will ring a few bells with some of you!

We’re all pretty much aware by now that one of the first things a potential client does when considering working with you is to ‘Google’ you – they’ll head off to google and type in your company name, maybe your director / owner’s name, and probably look through a few listings to see what others are saying about you.

The results that are shown here form the basis of what I call your ‘Circle of Credibility‘. Your Circle of Credibility is the extent to which you appear to be credible online. When someone searches for you, what’s the impression you get?

Without a doubt your company website should be appearing on the front page of those results, whether the search is for your company name or your boss’s name, but what else can appear in that search result to help compound the good feeling the potential client is going to get? And just as importantly, what can appear that can make you look bad?

The Good

- Your company website. Ideally your website will be in the number one position, and if you’re lucky, you’ll have prominent links showing to the main areas of your website, including testimonials.

Your website is probably the first thing someone will be looking for, so make sure it contains some great testimonials / reviews, and shows you at your best. Case studies, examples of work and quotes from happy clients are great for showing you in a good light.

- Your blog. Whether your blog is attached to your website, or a separate entity, it gives any potential client a flavour of your thoughts, opinions and expertise. A quick read through a corporate blog can often tell you much more than a company website, as a blog tends to be more informal and have more of a ‘personality’ – make sure yours is visible and showing the side of you that you want people to see.

- Your Twitter profile. Of course, this is only a good thing if you WANT people to find it, and if you’ve thought about your company image and brand while posting tweets If your Twitter profile is full of ‘Got a hangover and don’t know the name of the man I woke up with this morning’ then it’s probably best if you give it a different name

However, if you use your Twitter profile as part of your company brand then having it show up as one of the results for your company name is a good thing.

- Your LinkedIn and online networking profiles. Along with places such as UK Business forums, UK Business Labs, Xing, WeCanDo.biz, BT Tradespace and more, your LinkedIn profile shows that you appear in various places online that are related to business. These profiles, especially if very active and up to date, show that you’re not just a fly by night, and that you can be tracked down in the event of any problems. This is especially important if you’re a ‘virtual’ company, in my opinion.

- Articles you’ve written. Whether they are articles on your own site, or articles on somewhere authoritative such as Ezine Articles, having your content easily findable shows you spend time promoting yourself, and those articles could be the difference between you showing your expertise or becoming just another ‘also ran’ in the competition for someone’s business.

- Interviews. If you’ve been asked to do interviews and the transcripts or audio files are online, then they’re a great way for a potential customer to learn more about you – if you’ve not been asked to do interviews, start making it known that you’re available!

- Videos. Whether it’s your very own YouTube channel, or videos on your site, having videos show up in the search results for your company name is a good thing. Not everyone likes reading reams of text about how great you are

- Your Facebook profile and / or  Fan Page. This is only a good thing if you’re aware that your Facebook profile could be seen as part of a ‘fact finding’ mission by potential customers. If your profile is available to all (and Fan Pages are by default) then make sure it shows your best side, not just your wild and possibly drunken side

Basically, you want the search results for your company or your name to show a well rounded promotion of your company and services. When people see your website, your blog, your Twitter profile and Facebook Fan Page, numerous articles written by you, interviews, videos etc, they see that you’ve been around a while, that you’re not going anywhere and that you’re probably the person that they want to deal with.

That’s why we always recommend to our clients that they have up to date profiles in as many places as possible, that they blog and write articles regularly, and that they bear in mind their Circle of Credibility, no matter what they’re doing online.

Tomorrow we’ll look at some of the things you DON’T want showing up when people search for you online, and how to avoid it happening.

]]> http://www.nikkipilkington.com/blog/2009/12/07/have-you-developed-your-circle-of-credibility/feed/ 2 http://www.nikkipilkington.com/blog/2009/12/02/better-business-focus-free-downloadable-business-magazine/ http://www.nikkipilkington.com/blog/2009/12/02/better-business-focus-free-downloadable-business-magazine/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:44:49 +0000 admin http://www.nikkipilkington.com/blog/?p=582

We’re featured in the December issue of Better Business Focus, with our article “10 Ways to Make Article Marketing Work for You”

It was a bit of a surprise to us, as we didn’t know we were going to be featured (hence the rather dodgy picture of Nikki!), but they tell us that “Better Business Focus is an internet-based monthly magazine that is personalised to your firm, underlining your credentials as a specialist business adviser. It will strengthen your clients’ confidence in your firm and demonstrate that you are a progressive and innovative organisation, willing to go that extra mile” so we’re not really complaining!

There are some other good articles in there, and you can download it with this link: December_Bizezia

You can find out more about Better Business Focus at www.bizezia.com

I’m a big fan of Article Marketing, and have been for over ten years – in fact I still get business from an article that I originally wrote back in 1995!

But when I speak to people online, it amazes me how many of them think article marketing is a waste of time, isn’t for them, won’t do them any good, or simply haven’t heard of it!

I haven’t yet found a small business website that couldn’t be helped in some way with a targeted article marketing plan, so here’s my list of 5 ways that article marketing can work for you:

1) Article Marketing establishes you as An Expert. Writing knowledgeably about your services or industry shows that you know what you’re talking about, and encourages people to trust you.

2) Article Marketing spreads the word. By submitting your article to the best article websites, you can reach more readers and find people who wouldn’t normally have visited your website.

3) Article Marketing helps SEO – by including relevant and targeted links from your articles, you’re helping Google to not only find your site, but learn a little more how to categorise it. Anchor texted links from well thought of websites can help your SEO tenfold.

4) Article Marketing adds content to your website. Google loves content rich websites, and adding new pages gives you things to blog about, Tweet about and generally tell your contacts about.

5) Article Marketing gets you exposure. Journalists often refer to articles they have found online in order to find an expert for a comment or quote in articles they write.

There are many other reasons to carry out article marketing – see the following articles for more details:

• Become an Expert
• Top Ten Tips To Make Article Marketing Work for You

So if you’ve been thinking about Article Marketing, but not yet gotten around ot it, or you’re not sure it will work for you – give it a go!

If it’s submitting the articles in various places that’s wrrying you, check out our Article Marketing special offer - submission to the top 20 article websites, plus a whole lot more, for just £30!

In my articles, Become an Expert and Ten Top Tips to Make Article Marketing Work For You, I explain how Article Marketing can help to not only establish you as an expert, but also to bring in valuable and targeted traffic to your website. (And yes, in some cases it can also help with the Mighty Google…)

One of the best (if not THE best) article sites on the web is Ezine Articles. Ezine Articles is run by Chris Knight and his team, who also run the fab “Top 7 Business” site. (Which reminds me, I must reformat some of my articles for that site; it’s been a while).

One of the things that I love about Ezine Articles is that Chris et al never stand still – they’re always innovating, changing and updating. They react to customer/member suggestions, and they’re very approachable. In fact, if you’re not following Ezine Articles on Twitter, you should be – Chris is one of the few ‘internet celebrities’ to interact with his followers, and realise that Twitter is in fact a two way street. But I digress…

Ezine Articles have announced today that they have added 17 new categories to their database – have a look and see if you fit into any of them. Do you have articles written that you could submit? If not, could you write an article and submit it? You can’t think of anything to write about? PM me and I’ll send you 5 article titles off the top of my head – call it a Christmas present if you will

The categories are:

# Animation
Articles about/concerning Animation, Computer Animation, Animation Studios, Animation Videos, 3D Animations Styles, Photoshop Animation, Pixel Animation, Digital Design.

# Career Advice
Articles about/concerning Career Coaching, Career Planning, Career Counseling, Job Decisions, Leadership Development, Job Education/Career Education, Choosing Career Path, Career Advice.

# Consulting
Articles about/concerning Business Consulting, Startup Business Consulting, Small Business Consulting, Management Consulting.

# Job Search Techniques
Articles about/concerning Job Search Techniques, Job Hunting, Temporary Agencies, Job Centers, Strategic Planning in Searches, Online Search Strategies, Employment Guides.

# Workplace Safety
Articles about concerning OSHA, Workplace Job Safety, Occupational Safety, Workplace Training, Regulatory Compliance, where to locate your safety information at work, Human Resource’s Role in Workplace Safety.

# Radio
Articles about/concerning Radios, Car Radios, Radio Stations, HD Radio, AM/FM Radio, HAM Radios, Digital Radios, Two-Way Radios… but not including XM/Sirius Satellite radio as we already have a category for that.

# Budgeting
Articles about/concerning Budgeting, Finance Budgeting, Personal Budgeting, Budgeting Software, Building Budgets, Strategic Budgeting, Business Budgeting.

# CMS
Articles about/concerning Content Management Systems, Enterprise CMS, Web CMS, Open Source PHP, Content Organization, Content Storage, Website Management.

# Futures-and-Commodities
Articles about/concerning Futures and Commodities, Commodity Trading, Commodity Investing, Commodities Market, Futures Exchange, Futures Trading, Futures Contracts.

# Elder-Law
Articles about/concerning elder care as it relates to law, Elder Will, Elder, Trusts, Power of Attorney, Estate Planning including Taxes, Medicaid, Disability, and long-term care issues as it deals with law,

# Collectible Jewelry
Articles about/concerning Fashion Jewelry, Designer Jewelry, Fine Jewelry, Jewelry Care, Vintage Jewelry.

# Adventure Travel
Articles about/concerning Adventure Travel, Whitewater Rafting, Blackwater Rafting, Rock-River Tubing, Mountain Hiking, African Safari’s, Wildlife Touring, Polar Expeditions, Travel Accommodations.

# City Guides and Information
Articles about/concerning City Guides and Information Centers, Online Guides, City Information, Travel Guides, Expert Recommendation.

# Golf Travel and Resorts
Articles about/concerning Golf Travel, Golf Resorts, Golf Vacation Reviews, Golf Travel Tips, Golf Bags and Travel Cases.

# Menopause HR
Articles about/concerning Menopause Symptoms, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Pre-Menopausal Systems, Post-Menopause, OTC Treatments, Treatment and Care, Symptoms and Treatment.

# Publishing
Articles about/concerning Publishing, Self-Publishing, Book Publishing, Getting Published.

# Technical Writing
Articles about/concerning Technical Writing, Formal Writing, How To, Online Technical Writing, Strategies in Technical Writing.

They are also in the process of launching more categories, as mentioned here.

If you don’t identify with one of those categories, why not pop along to Ezine Articles and see if you can find another category suitable for you?

If you need any help writing articles, you know where I am

Nikki Pilkington

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