Associate Programs Newsletter #234 Successful affiliate marketing. Twice monthly. Allan Gardyne. October 24, 2003.              Subscribers: over 20,000 Do you want to create web site content fast while maintaining acceptable quality? Here's how Gary Antosh of Miami does it. He pays people to write articles for him - by the truckload. So far, he's bought well over 200 keyword-rich articles - and paid a mere $5 each for them. Today, he explains in detail how you can do it. CONTENTS: 1. Trouble writing content for your web site?     Hire a web content writer 2. Can't get your affiliate site into DMOZ? Try this 3. Three gems from the friendly, helpful affiliate forum 4. Did you check out Webtoolbars? 5. Thought for today: Your talents ___________________________________ _______SPONSOR__________ Are you advertising sites within your web pages? If YES, then it's time to give a serious BOOST to your ad revenues. How? Just by driving more traffic to your advertisers! How can we help you? Simply by featuring your advertisers, merchants within a webtoolbar you can dramatically boost traffic driven to your sponsors! More traffic driven, more possible advertising revenues generated. The equation is simple. Get access to our webtoolbars editor and start today! http://link.vericlick.com/1/associateprograms/ ___________________________________ ________________________ =================================== ========== 1. Trouble writing content for your web site?     Hire a web content writer =================================== ========== By Gary Antosh of http://www.web-writing.com/ Writing and building content for a web site can at times be very difficult. Some people have writer's block on a subject, others feel they can't write, some need fresh ideas or approaches to a theme, and others want to use the time to manage their site(s) and links better. I've been hiring writers to help produce content for some of my sites. Here are some tips on hiring writers for articles; where you can go; and a few things to keep in mind. Before ever hiring a writer I would highly recommend that you write some articles yourself. The only way to improve is to practice. Write every day even if it is only a paragraph or two. You can also "practice" by taking the time to post in forums and write more through emails. But write, and write regularly. A couple of things come out of this. You'll know what to expect, you'll write better and it can help trigger ideas for more articles. There are many factors in hiring a writer which are beyond the scope of this article but you've made the decision to hire a writer, so let's move on. - Where to Start... Assemble a list of keywords or phrases. Break your list into groups of 10 to 30 keywords or phrases into a simple text file. For tracking the status, I use my Site Build It Manager - http://associateprograms.com/buildit - for SBI sites and a spreadsheet for non-SBI sites. - Describe the Job Try to be as descriptive as possible about your writing assignment. Remember you're having articles written to attract search engine visitors... you want to attract "qualified" writers who can do the job. Most of my articles are in the area of 200 to 800 words. Writers do not need to be an expert on the subject; they need to be able to communicate the keyword phrase. What writing "style" do you want? Some of that depends on your site theme. Do you want technical, conversational, formal or just let them write? Determine the "rules" for your articles such as keyword density, edits, what you'll accept. - Finding Writers When I first started hiring writers I went to RentACoder.com and I still use them to locate writers. RentACoder may at first appear to be a little too "techie" but remember that people have other subjects they are passionate about. - Wait for bids When first submitting your bid, it is reviewed before posting, usually 24 to 48 hours ... be patient. - Review your bids * Look over your bids carefully. * How did your writer respond? * Did their reply have any typos? * Make sure that you let the writer know up front - No Copy and Paste. * ALL material MUST be ORIGINAL. - Communicate with your "potential writer" I've found the best writers ask for a keyword or list of keywords. Give them a quick assignment. Ask them to write you a quick paragraph on a keyword - three to five sentences. How quickly did the writer respond? Were they creative? Above all, did they follow your instructions? - What to bid or pay? I've been able to have my articles written at a cost of $5 US. I don't play a bidding game. I post it right out front. "I am willing to pay $5 / article, with a 10 article minimum ($50 / 10 articles)". To some this is very reasonable, to others it is a fortune. - The Job Once you've selected your writer(s), email them your keyword list. Normally, I have articles written in batches of 20 at a time. Writing on one subject for too long can be difficult. If you have multiple site themes or sections, break the keywords into groups of four or five per theme. Keep a constant dialogue with them. Get the articles in small batches of five, review them quickly and give them input. This will make less work for you later. - Payment Rentacoder makes it easy since they hold the money until the job is completed and approved by you. Not using a system such as Rentacoder does involve some trust. I have been burned. When starting with a new writer I work in small batches of five. As each batch of articles is "delivered" they are paid. That way no one gets too far ahead. One more note on payments - working with overseas writers can cause problems in transferring money. Discuss payment methods before you move forward. - Your Job Once the articles have been delivered, they are reviewed, tweaked, keywords are added, removed or moved around and then formatted on the web page to be uploaded. Total time from start to finish is about 15 minutes per article. - Alternatives to finding writers * Place classified ads in newspapers * Talk to members of a club or association * Post ads at the local college * Post to online forums * Ask writers if they know of other potential writers These are some basics of getting started with hiring writers to produce content for your web site. I've found using outside writers to be a terrific boost to my web site promotion and helped me find many new ways to approach writing more articles. I've had well over 200 plus articles written using this method. When I find a good writer I try to keep passing them more work. This allows me to spend more time managing and improving my sites. I'm sure you are wondering what a hired article looks like. Check out the links below: http://www.internet-speed-%20%20guide.com/dsl-connection-%20%20speed.html http://www.the-memory-%20%20guide.com/usb-flash-drive.html If you have any questions on hiring a writer contact me at http://www.web-writing.com/ and check out our ebook on the whole process of hiring writers for web content. Gary Antosh http://www.web-writing.com/ ___________________________________ _______SPONSOR__________ Interested in making more money from your web site or newsletter? The LIUtilities affiliate program gives you the opportunity to make hundreds or thousands of dollars extra every month by selling our award winning software to your visitors and readers. The combination of high commission rates, quality products and great marketing support makes our affiliate program one of the most profitable affiliate programs available. (Our products are among the highest ranked affiliate software products on the web.) Visit Us Today at: http://www.liutilities.com/partners /affiliate/ ___________________________________ ________________________ =================================== =================== 2. Can't get your affiliate site into DMOZ? Try this =================================== =================== Here's a handy tip from the Associate Programs Forum: "I've heard a lot about Yahoo and DMOZ ( http://dmoz.org/ ) rejecting sites because they had affiliate links. I know there are some editors at DMOZ who won't consider sites like that. But I also know the DMOZ forum has many posts from editors, including supervisors, saying that is no reason to reject a site. If you get tagged with a rejection because of that, appeal to that editor's supervisor." - Debs. You can find the Open Directory - DMOZ - forum here: http://www.resource-zone.com/ ___________________________________ _______SPONSOR__________ Now you can increase your profits as much as 917% with a simple, proven formula for creating much more effective web copy. Learn how to become an expert in creating powerful and compelling offers on any web site you ever create. Weak, ineffective copy produces weak, ineffective results. Powerful, compelling copy has the ability to deliver exceptional profits. http://www.power-copywriting.com/ap.html ___________________________________ ________________________ =================================== =========== 3. Three gems from the friendly, helpful affiliate forum =================================== =========== "How Much Money Do You Make?" Take part in this anonymous poll and see how much others earn. You'll need to register as a member of the forum first. http://associateprograms.com/discus/viewtopic.php?t=974 "SBI - Summarize your actual experience with it" Site Build It users sum up. If you're thinking of getting SBI, check out this discussion first. http://associateprograms.com/discus/viewtopic.php?t=1034 "Email Marketing Test Results - 310% Improvement!" Original thinking leads to dramatic results. http://associateprograms.com/discus/viewtopic.php?t=1065 ================================== 4. Did you check out Webtoolbars? ================================== Some of you may have skipped the Webtoolbars site advertised in my first sponsor spot in this newsletter. I think it's worth looking at. It's an interesting new tool that provides a cheap way of advertising. ================================ 5. Thought for today: Your talents ================================ "Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." - William Blake All the best Allan Gardyne Back to TOP

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