A Valuable Article Habit for Writers

Many people have used the adjective “prolific” when they speak of my body of work. It is true and in the printed magazine world (more than 50 publications) and the book world (more than 60 books with traditional publishers) and in the online world (more than 1,000 searchable entries in my blog).

I've encouraged you to build your own platform through many different tools and resources. People continue to get great value from my free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. If you don't have it, use the link to get it now, and then print it and read it.

Also I've been an advocate for repurposing your content and getting as much mileage as possible from it. For example, I've taken magazine articles published years ago and reworked them and sold them as reprints to a different publication or used them on my online newsletter. Or I've taken my blog articles and used them in my personal newsletter, Right-Writing News. Or I've used this same material and reworked it to become a chapter in a published book. This skill of repurposing your content is a valuable skill for every writer to learn and consistently practice. In a tiny way, I started an area with articles but it hasn't been changed in some time.

Recently through two resources, I've learned that I've been missing out on even more exposure and online traffic to my site. While I've been repurposing the material within my own resources, I've not been getting the articles out in the broadest possible way to build additional traffic and exposure. Many of my blog entries could be stand alone articles which others can use in their blogs and electronic newsletters. This type of exposure doesn't happen in a vacuum. You have to set it up right and I haven't. But I'm going to change with a new and consistent plan.

I've created a new location for these articles on my personal website (follow the link). At the moment, I only have a couple of articles on this page but I'm committed to regularly growing these articles. Also I will be submitting these articles to several of the top article sites to get additional exposure for them.

While I'm just getting started on this valuable habit for writers who produce excellent content, I want to give you two resources that will explain a systematic approach for authors to distribute their content. The first is a three CD audio program from Bob Bly called The Article Marketing Kit. For two of the CDs, Bob interviews Wendy Montes de Oca.

The content on these CDs is excellent and well worth listening to them several times. You will learn how to use Content 2.0 to distribute your free content so you can generate massive traffic, establish your reputation as an expert in your niche, build a large and profitable opt-in e-list, cement your relationship with your subscribers and increase orders, sales, and revenues online.

During the Content 2.0 teleseminar, Bob and Wendy will walk you through the five critical steps of effective content syndication:

1-Syndication partners and networks.

You'll learn the identities of web sites and partners who can offer your content to their visitors and members. Also they show you how to submit your articles to these places.

2-Online press releases.

Every article can and should be reworked into a press release that you can post on PR web sites such as PRbuzz and PRLeap.

3-Network communities.

Discover how to use Twitter, Digg, and many other social media to drive traffic to your content and your website.

4-Article directories.

Wendy and Bob review which article directory sites are important and how to submit articles to them.

5-Relevant posts.

Post excerpts from your articles on relevant blogs, forums, and bulletin boards - with a link to the full article. Bob and Wendy cover a great deal of other information in this course and you can learn more of the details at The Article Marketing Kit.

The second excellent resource in this area of Wendy Montes de Oca's new book, Content Is Ca$h. Last month, I included an excerpt of Content Is Ca$h. In the introduction, the author clearly identifies her audience: "This book is ideal for marketers, editors, bloggers, solopreneurs, freelancers, consultants, copywriters, and webmasters." (Page 8).

Whether you are a brand new to the concept of repurposing your content or an experienced marketer, practical wisdom and insight to apply to your daily business is packed into the pages of this book. The author writes with authority and depth of knowledge. Many people are not leveraging their content to increase their earning power. They need to apply this information to their business.

It is a resource that I will be reading and re-reading in the days ahead to apply the pages to my writing life. I highly recommend CONTENT IS CA$H as a tested resource.