How To Market With Ezine Articles

Of all the ways that people have invented to sell things over the Internet, writing free articles to run in ezines is perhaps the most effective. One great thing about this method of marketing is that you can do it with NO money. So if you are just starting your Internet marketing career, put away the Visa and warm up that keyboard!

Article marketing may be the perfect way to market. It鈥檚 free to do. It educates prospects. It gets your message in front of thousands of interested prospects you would NEVER reach otherwise. It鈥檚 viral. Best of all 鈥� it works!

So what is 鈥榓rticle marketing鈥� and how can it impact your world? Glad you asked.

What we call 鈥榓rticle marketing鈥� is simply writing informative articles and having those articles run in ezines. If that sounds hard, it鈥檚 not. Let鈥檚 run the numbers for a moment.

There are over 300,000 ezines out there. Estimates say that over 90% of them use free articles in their ezines. That means there is a HUGE market for your articles, no matter what you want to write about.

We like to say it this way. From cat food to Katmandu, there鈥檚 an ezine out there for everyone. You included.

The Big Picture

The first step is to understand the goal of article marketing. The goal is to write an informative article and have it run in as many TARGETED ezines as possible. When people read the article they see your resource box at the end of the article, click to your website and buy your stuff. They learn something, you make money. Simple.

Notice the emphasis on targeted? Please, please, whatever you do, do not waste an editors time with articles that they don鈥檛 need. One of the greatest things about the Directory of Ezines is that you can use it to find the perfect ezines for your articles 鈥� fast. Use the DOE, but never spam editors with articles they can鈥檛 use.

How to Write the Article

You want to write an informative article about something you know. Once you chose your subject, here鈥檚 the magic formula for writing the article. Five easy steps.

1. Be yourself. Don鈥檛 try to write like anyone else. Let your personality shine through.

2. Tell a story. People love to hear an interesting story.

3. Limit yourself to 600 words. This is an ideal length for most ezines. Format your article to 65 characters per line with a hard return at the end of each line.

4. Have a clear opening, make three or five points it the middle, and have a brief conclusion.

5. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Give the reader a few steps he or she can take to make your idea work for them. Tell them what to do first, second, third to accomplish the task you are writing about.

If the reader can take ACTION based on what you wrote (just like you can now apply this formula to your writing) you will have delivered valuable information to them. Do that and, hopefully, they will keep reading your stuff!

How to Find the Right Ezines

The absolute, 100% effective, surefire way to do this is to use the Directory of Ezines. Sorry, couldn鈥檛 resist.

Look for ezines that have these three things. First, the ezine content matches your article content. Second, the ezine accepts articles. Third, the reader is someone who would be a good customer for you. Once you nail down those basics you have found the perfect market for your articles.

How to Approach the Editor

The BEST way to approach an editor is this.

1. Subscribe to the ezine.

2. Read a few issues.

3. Write a personal note commenting on what you enjoyed about the issues you read.

4. Offer your article as one that might fit in.

5. Ask to be informed if your article is run.

6. Thank them for their time.

7. Be available if they have questions.

If an editor chooses your article, the odds are they will run your articles in the future as well. Stay in touch and you can develop close relationships with literally hundreds of editors. Remember that each editor represents thousands of readers that you may never reach any other way. Also remember that the editor is a busy person. Keep your email brief.

How to Maximize Your ROI

Include a 鈥榬esource box鈥� at the end of the article. A resource box is where you sell the reader on going to your websire, subscribing to your ezine, or taking any other action you want them to take.

Marketing with ezine articles is truly a win-win-win proposition. The publisher wins because he or she gets great free articles. The reader wins because your article is information that tells them how to accomplish an important task as easy as 1,2,3. You win because hundreds of thousands of readers see your selling message at the end of your article.

All of this with no out-of-pocket costs. Now THAT鈥橲 a beautiful thing!

Fear And Growing Your Business

What鈥檚 the number one thing that constricts your growth in life and business? Some would say lack of money, not enough time, scarce resources, not knowing how to do something or not having a team to do it, not having clients or leads or any number of other things that a business owner needs to make things happen. And the answer is actually none of them 鈥� it鈥檚 fear.

Fear is the number one thing that blocks you from taking action. I know that because it affects virtually every entrepreneur to some degree at some point in launching, building and growing their business. If you find yourself unable or unwilling to take an action that you know or believe will be beneficial, the root in there somewhere is fear.

Fear is a powerful emotion that underlies, and even dictates, your business choices and actions. It shows up as gremlins, saboteurs, resistance, worry, doubt, fear and a lot of other negative expressions that can deter you from taking action.

But when you understand what鈥檚 actually happening with the fear response, and have the tools to overcome it, you begin to harness all the force and energy you鈥檙e using to fight the fear and start moving forward with confidence in your business.

Like the boogeyman, fear gets a whole lot smaller and a lot more manageable when you can call it out in the light of day for what it is 鈥� and there are ways that you can actually harness the personal power that fear holds hostage from your consciousness in some very practical ways. It鈥檚 about reclaiming your energy for positive momentum.

I asked people to let me know their fears on my FB page and I got some really interesting responses. One person said that the fear looked like giving lots of energy and creative, productive focus and feeling like it wouldn鈥檛 pay off and would be going nowhere. Someone else said that it was trying to get your business going but running into other people who block your success by making you feel like a scorned child. Someone else said that it was having family say 鈥淚 told you that you couldn鈥檛 make it鈥�.

In teaching a recent teleclass on Face the Fear and Grow Your Business, I heard a lot of other fears. Fear has a lot of names 鈥� the economy, taxes, health insurance, not knowing what to do so doing nothing, balancing family with business needs, not having enough space, feeling lonely in self-employment, risking financial security and facing all the potential consequences of that鈥� there are a lot of fears out there and all of them will slow you down or even prevent you from taking action!

As a business owner, it鈥檚 not just your fear but also the fear of your customers because they鈥檙e all in the fear of what they鈥檙e faced with 鈥� it鈥檚 probably part of why they hire you (to resolve something that they fear). Your awareness of this will help you to actually not only navigate them for yourself but for your customers.

Here are some different scenarios that you might not recognize as fear until you hear them to see that they are fear in action.

• You might avoid taking unnecessary risks out of the fear of failure or success.
• You might spend more time perfecting your products or services than actually working with clients.
• You spend so much time preparing and perfecting that you forget about working with the clients.
• You might work with any client who has money because you鈥檙e in scarcity so you鈥檙e in fear so you鈥檒l work with anybody who has money.
• You鈥檒l feel vulnerable to other people鈥檚 controls so you鈥檒l respond to other people鈥檚 opinions, attitudes, thoughts and actions.
• You鈥檒l make decision based on your fears of what could happen in the future, from the 鈥榳hat ifs鈥� rather than being present with what is right now and making choices from strengths. (In that case, you鈥檒l probably sabotage your progress anyway.)
• You鈥檒l probably focus on material things and how to be right rather than operating and expressing your true power if you鈥檙e afraid of negative reaction or challenging response.
• You might be really self-focused instead of thinking of others. If you鈥檙e so worried making an income, you might not be thinking about all those leads as people that need you.
• You also might look for validation from other people to feel like you鈥檙e on the right path. You鈥檙e trying to avoid feeling fear or being wrong.
• You鈥檙e looking for that external validation that you鈥檙e right in your decisions.
• You鈥檒l focus on the flaws; you鈥檒l find the things that you didn鈥檛 do quite right.
• You might even misinterpret what other people say to feed the perception that you鈥檙e not quite making it. That justifies that somehow you鈥檙e not enough and you have a reason to feel a fear about what you鈥檙e doing because you鈥檙e looking for validation of the experience that you expect to have.
• You鈥檒l be driven to do your work. The reason for that is you鈥檙e actually seeking to fill the deficiency or the void or the fear that鈥檚 happening in the rest of your life.
• You won鈥檛 trust that you can actually do what you think you can and you may feel abandoned by the Universe when things don鈥檛 go as you expect. You鈥檒l take it personally instead of exploring the opportunities in those kinds of moments.
• You鈥檒l give up a lot faster because you don鈥檛 know that you can actually handle whatever happens. The obstacle has a lot of power to take the situation down; the fear can take you down.
• You won鈥檛 be present with what 鈥榠s鈥�. Instead you鈥檙e going to have resentment about what鈥檚 already happened or possible be in fear about what could happen. In either case, that鈥檚 energy that鈥檚 getting siphoned off of the present moment and that takes away your power to reach your greatest potential in that moment.

Any of these scenarios is something that is fairly common for entrepreneurs to experience. The good news is that fear ONLY shows up when you鈥檙e in motion! (Otherwise, it has no reason to be activated, right?) ;+)

There鈥檚 two ways to consider this transforming the fear, and you get to choose your path 鈥� it can be that you just get used to working in the fear so it doesn鈥檛 bother you as much (you don鈥檛 know that you鈥檙e working in fire) or it can be that the fear actually gets managed and minimized or even eliminated.

You can use the fear to focus on being in the 鈥榥ow鈥�. Ask yourself: 鈥榳hat can I do right now to propel myself forward?鈥� instead of worrying about what could happen or what鈥檚 going to happen tomorrow. If you鈥檙e in the present moment and you鈥檙e not reacting to something that isn鈥檛 right now and you take even one action, you break the hold the fear has on you energetically.

Even more, if you can 鈥榖reak state鈥� with the fear by singing, by having a conversation with a friend (or a stranger), by doing just one thing different鈥� the grip of that particular fear energy gets broken. Where there is light, there can鈥檛 be darkness. If you can crack the door energetically to something that is beyond the fear, you鈥檝e already started moving and shifting it. In this case, there is less fear because you have a lot more light 鈥� and things are never as scary as they are in the dark!

I commend you for taking proactive action to acknowledge and overcome one of the most powerful motivators in the human psyche 鈥� fear 鈥� in order to grow your business. The investment of your time and energy in perusing this material can pay off in ways that you may not be able to imagine now鈥� but you鈥檒l know it when fear comes up and you鈥檙e able to use it as generative energy to get more of what you want in and through your business.

Is A Partnership Right For My Business Right Now?

How do I know if a partnership is the right thing for my business right now?

A partnership does one of two things: gives you access to skills, expertise, resources and experience you don鈥檛 have and shares the commitment to what you鈥檙e doing in your business with someone else who believes in it as much as you do. You can have a business partnership OR you can have a project partnership, which is what I generally advocate. All too often entrepreneurs are focused on getting a partner as a way to stave off their own fears rather than showing up all the way for themselves and their businesses. To get around that, a specific project partnership (like a joint venture) can work very well.

If you decide to move forward with a business partnership, I recommend that you have some serious conversations before you move ahead. Ask things like: what happens when one of us is having a bad day? How do we point out that the other isn鈥檛 following through on commitments? What is the exit strategy for our partnership? How will we know when to call it quits? And then document it鈥� it doesn鈥檛 need to be fancy, but it does need to be in writing so your operating guidelines for the partnership are clear in advance.

Lastly, you鈥檒l know if partnership is the right thing if you cannot see yourself moving forward in your business without a partner AND you believe in your business. If it feels right, follow that鈥� and give yourself permission to see what internal insecurities are being filled by an external person.

7 Tips for A Great Headshot

Use these tips to get a great headshot, which is particularly important if you are your own product.

1. No distractions!

Sitting in a social environment while a friend casually snaps your photo (as the guy in the background is reaching for a soda) or you鈥檙e in front of an art exhibit causes you to complete with your environment for a good headshot. Use a neutral background to let your photo be about you.

2. No lopping off friends!

You have a great photo with friends hanging on your shoulder so you just crop the photo to focus on you. Not only is that not healthy energetically, it鈥檚 a disservice to you because people are relating to you relating to that person in the photo vs. the person looking at your headshot. That is two completely different relationships, obviously鈥� if you鈥檙e looking to attract business, don鈥檛 use a shot where you鈥檙e 鈥榟angin鈥� with your homies鈥�!

3. No body shots!

A headshot on a web page is already small, so if you decide to use that photo of yourself dressed up in full, you are taking valuable 鈥渞eal estate鈥� away from your headshot. Your head ends up being smaller than a postage stamp, and it鈥檚 really not enough for people to get the feel of your energy. A headshot is just that鈥� a HEADshot!

4. Good lighting.

If your headshot has funny shadows, harsh lighting (which will age you), you鈥檙e squinty in the sun, or your face is looming in from a dark background (as in, your picture being taken at a social club), it鈥檚 not working for you. Natural lighting is great, or a professional photographer will know how to use light to complement your features. It鈥檚 all about the lighting!!!

5. The eyes are the windows to the soul.

This is the connection place between you and the person seeing your headshot 鈥� this is how you engage people when you鈥檙e not there. If you are friendly, approachable, and/or playful, it is likely that people will want to connect with you. Eye contact shows whether you are open to relationship in some manner or if you are closed for business. If you鈥檙e doing a stare-down, not looking at the camera, or wearing sunglasses, you鈥檙e not giving your people the opportunity to engage with your light. Eye contact is a key to your emotional being and is just as important in a headshot as it is in person.

6. Creativity wins.

If you want to do a profile shot with a quick look at the camera, or catch yourself in the middle of a good laugh, or want to wear something that is 鈥測ou鈥�, do it! A picture paints a thousand words鈥� and in business, your headshot can attract you thousands of dollars. Your headshot shows what is important to you, so capture your personality in the moment. Let your headshot reflect who you are 鈥� after all, that鈥檚 who people want to know.

7. Supermodels are out!

A good headshot isn鈥檛 about being glammed up to the point where people in your world wouldn鈥檛 recognize you. This is about you being you, comfortable in your skin and inviting people to come play (and do business) with you. There is no need to glob on the make-up or wear clothes that you wouldn鈥檛 normally wear. It鈥檚 vital that you be your natural self that happens to be getting a picture taken because THAT is the most attractive quality you have 鈥� YOU!

4 Steps to a Solid Joint Venture Proposal

To attract and establish a solid JV relationship, develop a written proposal of what鈥檚 in it for them. In the proposal, you need to:
1. Establish your credibility in the industry / your market, including your expertise and business success.

2. Put it in terms that clearly state the benefit for them to do this JV with you.

3. Provide an overview of your idea that highlights the concept and how you envision it working.

4. Include a 鈥榗all to action鈥� and let them know the next step on getting your JV started.

4 Steps to Creating a Joint Venture

Here are the action steps you can take right now to create your own joint venture partnership:

1. Make a list of five types of businesses, either online or offline, that target and work with the same customers that you do in your business.

2. List five individuals who you know in each of these types of businesses (online connections, networking contacts, event attendees, customers, affiliates, vendors, etc.).

3. For each of these 25 individuals, spend some time researching their websites, products and services to get insights into what they do, what they might be looking for and what might be of greatest interest / benefit to them in building their businesses.

4. Create a JV idea that is customized and so beneficial to them that they are compelled to work with you.

6 Keys to A Successful Joint Venture Relationship

There are six things that you can check out in advance that will solidify a positive JV relationship.

1. The same target audience. A shared target market is a common ground to build services to benefit those clients and form a solid basis for a partnership.

2. At least one of you has to have a good-sized mailing list. There has to be an existing database of potential customers between the two of you so you have a place to start promoting quality products and generate interest and revenues.

3. At least one of you has to have a specialized expertise. Without having something unique as an expert in your industry, there is not much to work with to create valuable content.

4. Each partner must feel they’re getting a better part of the deal. The JV must create a win-win-win (you, your partner and your clients) or the energy will be imbalanced, potentially cause resentment and undermine your efforts.

5. Both partners must be equally passionate, excited and committed to making the joint venture work. Be clear on who is doing what and how long you think it will take; if one partner loses enthusiasm, it could stall, if not fail, the venture. In that case, nobody wins.

6. Be open to the long-term. One successful JV can lead to many more in the future, whether with that partner or someone else. When you find the right combination, continue working together for as long as it makes sense and feels good.

Joint Ventures

Joint ventures are strategic alliances that help you to gain visibility to a new audience, as well as promote new products and services to your mailing list and generate new sources of revenue.

Essentially, you and a colleague agree to promote each other鈥檚 work, or agree to create and promote a new product or program, or agree to promote a particular product for the other in exchange for an affiliate commission on transactions resulting from your promotional initiative.

There are three items of value in any joint venture:

1. Marketing channel (list, high-traffic site, established systems that create revenues, etc.)
2. Value (content in terms of products or services, expertise, tools, skills, etc.)
3. Resources (time, money, etc.)

If you don鈥檛 have a good-sized mailing list to offer a potential JV partner, that doesn鈥檛 count you completely out. In that case, you just have to be a little more creative in how you can bring value to a joint venture partner.

Here are some ways you can potentially provide value to a JV partner who has a bigger list / market / reputation / 鈥榬each鈥� (or visibility in your complimentary market) than you do:

1. Become a columnist in their monthly communications (ezine, magazine, podcast, etc.).

2. Design and facilitate a program for their members, then split the profits.

3. Moderate their online member forum.

4. Hold a monthly tele-seminar for their members which becomes an opportunity to build your list, establish credibility and become known in your niche market.

5. Offer your product as a sales or renewal bonus to an industry organization or a membership site to help them increase sales and/or client retention.

If your goal is to grow your mailing list, everything you offer to do for your partner must help you do that.

12 Marketing Mistakes

See this list for mistakes you could be making and can avoid with some strategic forethought. Most of them create confusion for your client, or don鈥檛 honor the relationship you want to build with them through your soul-driven business. By using the information here, you can create a guideline or action plan to start creating positive shifts in your business right away.

1. Not letting clients know what to expect before services are provided.

This references how the process works, what they will be getting, how to pay, what happens after the service is provided, what their next steps are, how to be prepared (if applicable) for your services.

2. Asking for non-specific donation / love offering / fees.

Having a clear pricing structure takes the pressure off your client from deciding your value, and also does not potentially reinforce that they are in scarcity by charging them your stated fee. Do not ever assume that people know your pricing; by being clear and up-front, people can self-select or ask you for additional options.

3. Trading.

If you decide to trade services, it can be challenging to decide how to make the trade favorable to both parties. It should be only for what you would pay for anyway, and it鈥檚 important to limit the number of vendor trades so that you don鈥檛 end up really busy with no money to show for it at the end of the month.

4. Negotiating after starting the delivery of services.

This is extremely painful for both of you, and happens when your arrangement was not fully explored or understood in advance. It can also happen if circumstances change, such as the scope of work expands; however, you can have a clause in your agreement for such a situation which protects both of you by at least acknowledging the possibility and how you will handle it as it presents. Do not start work or deliver services until you have clarity in your arrangements, and, ideally, that鈥檚 in writing somewhere (either on your website, in an agreement, in an email).

5. Giving more time or service than your customer paid to receive.

This doesn鈥檛 honor you as a business person, nor the customer who expects to receive what you鈥檝e clearly stated previously. At the same time, make sure to honor your customer; if there is any problem or misunderstanding, you need to take responsibility for that as the provider who needed to be clear in your communications. (And, all that being said, I am one who generally gives a lot, so know that I am not your best role model here鈥�) ;+)

6. Not accepting compliments, tips or referrals.

This is about blocking your own abundance, and isn鈥檛 allowing your client to give back to you in a reciprocal sort of fashion. The Universe acts through the people and circumstances in your world, so if you want to know that you are in track, receive abundance and grow your business, you also need to know how to receive gracefully.

7. Not making / keeping appointments.

If you aren鈥檛 making appointments, take a look at why it happens 鈥� is it a systems thing? Do you have call reluctance? Do you leave it to your clients to make arrangements with you? Not making appointments is the same thing as not building your business proactively. And not keeping your appointments could be sabotage, resistance or some level of limiting pathology that is unconsciously blocking your business growth. If something legitimately comes up, give as much notice as possible and reschedule asap.

8. Letting your client leave without written documentation.

This is particularly important if you are providing virtual services, like coaching, healing, transformational services or virtual assistance. Make sure that you 鈥渢angibilize鈥� your experience so that your client can physically relate to the value they are receiving from your solution.

9. Not being available post-sale / service.

If you appear to take the money and run, it鈥檚 unprofessional, detracts from your ability to build relationship with your clients, and creates frustration all the way around. Be sure to let your clients know how to work with you beyond the actual service delivery.

10. Not knowing your value.

If you don鈥檛 know your value, your clients won鈥檛 be able to 鈥榞et鈥� it either. Be clear on the value you provide through your products and services in order to claim it professionally.

11. Not having purpose to your marketing materials.

If your marketing materials leave people wondering what it is that you really do, don鈥檛 incite them to take action and are unclear as to what they are supposed to do with them, you are wasting time, energy and resources. (This may be the biggest mistake that I see most commonly on websites.) Refine your marketing materials so that people can get their proverbial hands on what you do, why it matters to them and how to connect with you further.

12. Self-centered information.

If your marketing talks about you, what you do and how you do it, how you learned it, using the word 鈥淚鈥� to start each paragraph, you are making this mistake. Your marketing information is about your prospective client, not about you. Don鈥檛 sell the service; instead, sell what the service brings to them as their result(s). Get into the place of being your prospective client, with beginner鈥檚 mind, and see if you feel a conversation happening that鈥檚 about you and your needs as a prospective client. If not, it鈥檚 time to revamp your approach.