I don’t have to tell you the kind of overblown crap these guys try and pass off as the Internet marketing dream.

And I don’t want to spit on article marketing, either.  I know it works.  But bum marketing is a little more involved–at least on the start-up– than most gurus would have you believe.

1 Important Element the “Gurus” Always Leave Out

Article marketing really is easy and profitable once you’ve got the groundwork done and have a system in place. But you won’t make anything but chump change unless you put in some consistent work on the front end.. .

There’s a reason you never read that kind of thing in the guberus’ sales letters: it’d run off 90% of their prospects.  If you’re still here reading this, you’ve probably got the right attitude.

What’s Missing from Most Article Marketing Plans?

There are several steps to a successful article marketing strategy that don’t really get talked about a whole lot.  While most how-to guides at least cover a bit of niche and keyword research, almost nobody ever tells you how to write an SEO-friendly article that people want to read. There are formulas and tricks you can use to make your articles great–even if you’re not a great writer.

While some Internet marketing gurus will make a mention of pre-selling, very few go into detail on how you do it.  And almost nobody talks about how and why your directory submission articles should be different from the content on your site.

I wish I’d been able to find more info on those points when I first started out.  That’s why I’m writing about them here in this series.  Read the series and you’ll also pick up some pointers on how to chose a market, research keywords, and leverage Web 2.0 pages.  (For all that the gurus talk about “Web 2.0 properties”, they never really tell you how to use them.)

This information, combined with effort and a little bit of elbow grease, can rocket you into some pretty good money–if you put in the flollow-throuhg.

Wait, Mr. Anti-Guru: Who The #*!& are You Again?

Nobody with a big name.  Just someone who’s ghostwritten for a lot of different IM clients who (most of them doing some form of article marketing) who finally started to bum market a little on the side.  I plan to keep it up, too.  Why?  Because article marketing delivers results.

But to see those results, I had to a) figure out how to play this gig the right way  b) put in a little effort (okay: a lot, to start) c) have a good article marketing plan to follow.  Come back here tomorrow and I’ll show you the first step of that plan.

Article Marketing Plan in 10 Parts

How to Pick Your Niche Market and Niche Product(s)

How to Do Keyword Research

How to Write All of Your Content, Part One–How to Write a Damn Good Article

How to Wirte All of Your Content, Part Two–How to Pre-Sell

How to Make a WordPress Affilaite Marketing Website in Under Two Hours

Writing for Article Directories–Some Differences

Article Directories You Should Submit To

Web 2.0 Sites You Should Use

How to Use Social Bookmarking Sites (and Which Ones to Use)

Testing and Analytics

Article Marketing Success!

I liked it so much, I bought the company!

Seriously though, this is what I’ve learned from almost two years of writing for internet marketers (as well as some article marketing of my own).

I’m letting it go for $7 because I need the money–got to pay rent in two places this month (the new place needs first and last month rent–so it’s more like 3 months at once!).

[Edit May 22 2010--You can get it again for $7 because...well just because it's a lot nicer than charging my $12 price for it!]

Plus I’ve got a little one on the way…I need about 100 more affiliate marketing sites up right now.

The little boy is here, he’s three months old, and we never stop needing new clothes (and diapers!).

Until then, everybody is getting this report for a song.

Write great articles.

Check it out!