An Article Marketing Guide

Article marketing is a great way to promote a product, service, website or blog. The name says it all: article marketing means marketing yourself with articles and it’s easy to do if you know how. Here’s how to create a good article marketing article.
The Title
The title of your article is the most important part, because that’s what will grab the reader. The golden rule is to tell readers what the article offers and tell them quickly – within the first three or four words if possible. If you’re writing about buying a second home, then use this:
Buying A Second Home: Five Tips For Success
rather than this:
Five Tips For Success When Buying A Second Home
The first tells readers straight away what they will get from your article; the second focuses on the number of tips.
The Body
Article marketing articles are used on websites and blogs, so follow the rules for writing good web articles. Put the most important information at the top, keep sentences and paragraphs short and make good use of subheadings. And if you promise five tips, make sure that’s what you deliver.
I usually start with a rough plan which outlines my main points and then I expand on each of those points in a single paragraph. I don’t make these too long, as the average article marketing article is between 250 and 500 words long.
The Resource Box
The resource box is where you get to sell your product or service. It needs to contain your name, the address of your website, your elevator pitch and a call to action. The elevator pitch is a couple of sentences that say what you have to offer. It briefly answers the question ‘what’s in it for the reader?’  The call to action aims to get readers to your site to buy, join, signup or whatever you want them to do.
Other Important Information
Once you have completed the article, write a summary of between two and five sentences to hook the reader. This may be a repeat of the lead or something completely different that points out what the article has to offer. If you like, include an invitation to the reader to read on. Finally, craft an author bio that shows your expertise and you’re ready to submit your article.
Where To Submit
There are hundreds of article directories, so the choice can be daunting. Some of the best ones I’ve used are:

• EzineArticles
• GoArticles
• IdeaMarketers

There may also be article directories specific to the niche you want to target, which may be a better option for some people. Once you have written the first article, it’s easy to write more. I have more than 40 articles on EzineArticles and they bring traffic to my site and serve as examples of my writing. Good luck with your article marketing efforts.