Does writing articles give you easy, fast money?

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Lol. This post is inspired by a conversation in my team Skype chats this morning on Article Marketing.  It started by talking about the recent Google Algorithm changes that have affected search engine rankings for multiple large article directories, and then it went from there to a time management/ avoidance behavior discussion.

First of all… I love writing articles, it’s one of the easiest ways to build a long term online presence and connect with new people by creating organic traffic that exists online.  Over the last year, I’ve been able to consistently increase the traffic to this blog to the point where now, I get an average of over 2,000 visitors per day (uniques) with almost 10,000 page views per day on average – meaning my average visitor looks at about 5 posts before they leave.  (pretty cool).  I created this traffic through one primary method, Article Marketing.

The thing most people get hung up on is the amount of time this actually took to create.  When I started my business, I never did anything more than write about an article a day, usually took an hour or less to do it, and used some technology to syndicate this content into as many directories as I could.

The recent algorithm changes have cast some doubt for various people into the value of Article Marketing.  I wanted to show you some stats from a post I read on Dan Kennedy’s blog, where he was referencing a chart from Sistrix.com on the affect of the algorithm updates on several large article directories:

So the question is – with the reduction in traffic to these sites, is it still a good idea to syndicate content through article directories?

I had to think about this for a couple of minutes, simply because of the bizarre amount of traffic that I’ve gotten from writing articles and making sure everything I create is quality, original content, and then I looked at this:

Basically, that means that in addition to the traffic on my personal blog, my Ezinearticles traffic has produced over 79,583 visitors from just 76 live articles, averaging a 26% click through rate to my websites.  So there are two questions here worth asking.

1.  Will this continue to work? Good question on a long term basis – I think that some people have a mis-perception on the value of article submissions – it’s not just about SEO.  Yes, search engine optimization is valuable, but the primary purpose I originally started submitting content to article sites (see David Wood recommends for suggested tools) was not for search rankings, it was to get extra traffic from the ‘internal traffic’ of large article and blog networks.  From that perspective, taking 5 extra minutes to submit an article to the largest directories online has traffic value completely independent from Google search, and I’ll continue to do it, regardless of whether it helps rankings.

Of course, now I pay a guy to do it, and spend zero time, so that might be a cause for my bias.

2.  Will submitting Articles bring you autopilot sales? This is the question that was going back and forth in my Skype chats this morning.  I think there are a few things to consider here:

1.  Articles don’t sell products, they create traffic – and take forever to do it, too.  Products are sold (at least consistently) through good sales processes, personal relationship – and more importantly – by people.

In the transition of the internet, where previously inaccessible, expensive marketing tactics are available to broke guys living in a Van, quality, personal relationship, and originality is becoming more and more important as time goes by, and my guess is that it will continue to to get more important the more time progresses.

More importantly though – stay focused on what your business is actually supposed to do – which is sell stuff.  It may sound rudimentary (see my article Making Money Is Easy Online), but in it’s foundation, businesses don’t make money unless they sell stuff.

If you’re in the Network Marketing industry, there’s an additional important factor of connecting personally with your prospects to help bring them in the business.  Yesterday I did an interview with Tom Challan, where we talk about how the one thing that it is almost impossible to outsource in your business is the actual act of sponsoring new reps, and walking them through the enrollment process.

YES, article marketing will generate leads for you if you create GREAT stuff, consistently do it, and are willing to wait 2-3 months for it to start gaining traction, but getting leads doesn’t mean that you’re going to sell anything, and getting traffic doesn’t mean that you’re going to have instant money depositing into your bank account irregardless of your crappy sales process.

My advice? Stick to writing one high quality post per day, making sure it’s ‘social worthy’ and can be shared on Facebook and Twitter without you looking like a moron, and then spend the rest of your business time in a focused effort to connect with prospects as efficiently as you possibly can.

Take 5 minutes to syndicate your article using the tools I mention here, (no more), and then focus your energy into your best attempt to sponsor one new distributor into your business per day, 5 days per week.

If you do that, you’ll notice that over the course of a year you can get a tremendous amount of traffic knowing absolutely nothing about SEO.

Most people are ‘avoidance monsters’ and will do absolutely anything to avoid things that make them uncomfortable, in the hope that they’ll find an ‘easy way’.

I’ve got a philosophical mindset for you – DOING what is uncomfortable NOW to have what you want is the easy way…

That’s a mind-set shift.

Most importantly, don’t wait until your articles and videos get you traffic to start prospecting and sponsoring new reps into your team, do it now – connect with your team leadership and find out some simple tactics and strategies to create results before you have ‘expert status’ and you’ll be able to have more success, increase your happiness, take more time off your business, and prosper more in your life.

Hope that helps.

To the TOP,
David Wood
P.S.  Remember, the primary value in writing articles is to create TRAFFIC long term if you persist in doing it and develop new connections and business relationships online.  Traffic DOES NOT mean sales or leads, you’ve got to learn how to improve that over time.  I’ve generated more than 26,001 leads from free traffic in the last 14 months, sponsored over 2,000 people (between MLSP and Numis) and made over $350,000 in one year because I have a good sales process and connect with people, not because I write stuff and spend all day on Facebook.  Just my two cents.

***Disclaimer – most people don’t earn that much that fast, and I also make money from everything I recommend

Comments

Alexander Johnson, September 28, 2011, 12:00

Great post, David! The insights on article marketing are truly invaluable. I’ve learned so much from this post and can’t wait to apply these principles to my own content creation strategy. Thanks for sharing!

Maria Gonzalez, September 28, 2011, 13:00

This article was a real eye-opener. Your straightforward approach to article marketing is refreshing and much needed. Thank you, David, for summarizing the key points. Looking forward to the next post!

Christopher Lee, September 28, 2011, 14:00

Incredible insights! The value of article marketing and its impact on long-term traffic is clear from your experience. Appreciate the detailed recap, David. Keep up the great work!

Elizabeth Martinez, September 28, 2011, 15:00

Thank you, David, for this wonderful post. Your advice on article marketing and creating quality content is something I’ll definitely remember. This strategy truly has the power to drive significant traffic.

Michael Brown, September 28, 2011, 16:00

Excellent write-up, David! The insights on the impact of Google algorithm changes and the continued value of article marketing are inspiring. Appreciate the valuable content!