Copyright © 2002 Joshua Rose

Are you searching for a free dynamic traffic and sales building technique? Well, crucially important benefits of writing articles make it a strategy that's difficult to top.

And when you think of writing articles, it's likely name, Michael Southon, pops into mind. Michael is simply one of web's most published and successful article writers. He's been reprinted literally tens of thousands of times and his articles can be found on over a staggering 8000 web sites.

Joshua: This is indeed a pleasure for me, Michael. Can you tell us a little about your Internet background? Michael:

I got started out in online business in January 1999 with an Ezine directory called Business Directory of Ezines, which I later renamed The Free Directory of Ezines. Back then I was a total newbie and idea of writing an article that would get published seemed outrageous. But in May of that year I wrote my first article "10 Tips For Successful Ezine Advertising" and it was published a week later in WebProNews (500,000 subscribers).

Joshua: Wow, that's quite an entrance! I also seem to see your articles all over net. Can you summarize specific benefits you're getting from writing articles? Michael:

This technique works on so many levels - for example, I get 'name branding' from people seeing my name over and over again, I get free links to my sales page on hundreds of websites, my 'link popularity' goes up because my articles appear on hundreds of websites with an active link back to my website, and that boosts my ranking in search engines, I get huge exposure to readers of Ezines or Newsletters, and so on. It really is a multiplier effect.

Joshua: So, you're killing a number of 'big' birds with one stone. While this is great, let me ask you this: Is it REALLY possible for average person to be successful writing articles? How about for those who feel they're just not good writers? Michael:

Absolutely. There's a very well-known Ezine Writer who writes very simple articles - they're just a list of tips. But they get published all over Web and he's made his name and his success with those articles. You don't need any literary skills to succeed with this technique.

Joshua: I know what you mean. I've seen a lot of simply written articles that were excellent due to content. But this raises an important question: How does someone come up with content ideas? What do you do, for example?

Michael:

The key to coming up with topic ideas for your articles is to be very aware of what you yourself are learning. As you know, ecommerce is a huge area and we're all learning new things every day. Every time you learn something new, write a short article about it. Because there are almost certainly other people who are going to have to learn what you just learnt and your article is going to make it much easier for them to get that information. The other thing to do is pay close attention to questions people ask you. For example, I had a question last week from a man in UK who wanted to know how to use articles to promote an affiliate link. So I answered his question and then wrote an article titled: "How To Boost Your Affiliate Sales With Free Articles".

You must think of yourself as a laser pointer. You have to find very best market for your product, and focus all of your efforts to get their attention.

It is crucial to use your ability to aim your advertising at most interested possibilities and get through to them with every attempt. What this means is educating yourself. The more you know about people you are trying to attract, easier it will be to market yourself to them.

The trick is thinking about who will be most interested outside of your own circle of influence. If you are using Internet to market your business, think of ways to make your websites specific to these parties. Ask yourself, "what will attract them most to what I have to offer?"

For example, if you sell a line of biodegradable, irritant-free perfume, you might want to target women first, of course. Then, you would want to consider everyone who might buy perfume for their wife or girlfriend.