www.amiarticlewriter.com This is a demo on how the AMI Article writing software works

The Search Landscape is Changing

The Web Search landscape is constantly changing. One of the hottest trends that emerged at the San Jose Search Engine Strategies conference was the fact that people are refining their searches – they’re using the subcategories on the search engines like images, maps and, most of all, the news tab.

Online News More Popular Than Newspapers

Mainstream print media is not enjoying this shift in media consumption – the Audit Bureau of Circulation reported this week that newspaper readership is down another few percent, while the news engines and news websites continue to attract more readers. Yahoo! News now has the largest online news audience in the world.

Most People Read Their News On the Web

Online ad revenue earnings online are rising steadily too. The advertisers know where the news audience is. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project more than 75 percent of all web users read their news online.

Optimizing Press Releases – One of Top Three SEO Trends

A new 285 page report just out from Marketing Sherpa, Search Marketing Benchmark Guide, identifies optimizing press releases for Yahoo! News, AOL News, Google News and other news engines and sites as one of the top three SEO trends for 2006. Online press releases make a great response device for the search-using public, says the report.

Writing a Press Release – Ten Reasons Why Press Releases Are Important

More and more people are using online news sources to find information on products, services, companies and ideas. Most news stories and press releases are read by the public looking for data.

A correctly optimized online news release can get you to the top of page one for your chosen keywords in the news engines within 24 hours.

If there is a relevant and timely news result on a keyword, both Yahoo and Google are displaying this news item above the number one organic position in web search.

You reach your target audience directly – no reporters or editors to filter your message.

You know that when someone reads your news release they are interested in that subject – they asked for it by keyword.

Online releases can be tracked – for the first time you can get statistics of how many times your press release was accessed or downloaded. With the proper web analytics in place you can track click throughs to your website too.

The article will get picked up and published on other relevant sites increasing the number of people who see your content and visit your site.

If your article has been correctly optimized, it will have keyword links in it. Every time your article appears on another website it builds more relevant inbound links to your site, which positively affects your search rankings.

Optimized online press releases migrate from the news search to the web search within a week or so and they can show up in the web search on your keywords.

If you add the releases to your website and put them into an RSS feed you increase your visibility. Soon your articles will be showing up in news aggregators, Yahoo News and Google Blogsearch.-SEO & SEM Service Providers

One of the best ways to get free publicity is by writing a press release and sending it to your local media.  The problem is that your local media gets bombarded with press releases day after day and the majority of them end up in the waste basket.  So how can you increase the chances of your press release actually making it to print?  Follow these guidelines and more often than not, your press release will turn into a news story that gets you the free publicity you seek.

Over the years, we’ve identified these 22 traits to help your press release stand above the crowd. Feel free to download our sample press release to follow along.

Trait #1 – Make sure the organization you belong to is very clear.  Placing this information at the top is a good start.

Trait #2 – If your press release doesn’t contain news, you may as well not even send it.  Promise news at the top with “NEWS RELEASE” in a larger font than the rest of the press release.

Trait #3 – One of the main traits of news is that it is current.  Since you are offering news, make sure it is as current as possible.

Trait #4 – Get the name of the person you are sending your press release to and place it in a prominent position.  Be sure to double check the spelling.

Trait #5 – Provide a specific contact person with a phone number where they can be reached. Don’t make contacting you a challenge.

Trait #6 – It’s important to inform your contact when specifically you’d like your press release to be run.  If you don’t have a specific date, be sure to allow for immediate release.

Trait #7 – Just like your other marketing materials, headlines are a must.  Include a newsworthy angle in your headline for best results.

Trait #8 – Where is your press release being released from?  It’s always best to use a local angle, so try to place the story from a local perspective.

Trait #9 – Try to tell your entire story in the first paragraph.  If everything else is cut, at least you got your main points in.

Trait #10 - Turn the story in a personal angle as soon as possible.  Use quotes from known individuals if possible.

Trait #11 – Use subheads to highlight important parts of your story.  People are busy and only read the parts that interest them, so include subheads for each of your target markets.

Trait #12 – Beware of sexism and humor.  What is funny to some groups may be offensive to others.

Trait #13 – Use quotes from each of your target markets.  Be sure to include quotes from groups that read the publications you have targeted with your press release.

Trait #14 – Use later paragraphs for dispelling or confirming rumors. It’s always best to cover your bases with a little objectivity.

Trait #15 – Include quotes from senior executives to build credibility. News releases are taken a little more serious when the boss’s name is on the line.

Trait #16 – Could the local community perceive your news in a negative manner?  If so, highlight the potential positives.

Trait #17 – If promising a specific future result, be flexible.  Not reaching your specific results on time will always bring bad publicity.

Trait #18 – If space permits, allow your executive to inject some human interest to the story.  Use these quotes as a transition back to a more positive tone.

Trait #19 – Is there an executive that matches the demographics of your target audience?  If so, place them in your target audiences shoes to close the story with added trust.

Trait #20 – The notation “-30?- is the standard way of concluding a press release.  Keep your press release to one page!

Trait #21 – Including photographs is a great way to gain more attention for your story.  Make sure the photos you submit are easily reproducible and will hold their quality in both color and black and white.

Trait #22 – If you have other media you’d like to include or have available, be sure to provide the information here.  The more peripheral media you have available, the easier it is to use your press release in a story.

The most important things to remember are to include a newsworthy angle that is of interest to the local community or specific readers of the publications you send your release to.  By including as many of these traits in your next press release, you will drastically increase the likelihood of gaining some free publicity for your small business.

www.articledictator.com If you want to learn how to outsource article writing for great content, then watch this video. You will discover how to train your outsource offshore freelance writers to write quality content. Basic Article Marketing Tips – Tell them to read your course before they write content. – Tell them to send you a first draft article before submitting so that you can test their quality prior to allowing them to write more articles. – Give them a short summary of your content to re-emphasize your content for your courses. For more website marketing strategy using article marketing, get my “Article Dictator” course at: www.articledictator.com Take care, BJ

Ready for some great media attention. Then the place to start is with an excellent press release. We will show you how.

We’ll briefly go over the basics because of their importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would bet that a lot of good releases simply get tossed out just because they aren’t set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar three-second glance says a lot for you and your business and if you’ve done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their newspaper or magazine or even on their website.

Here are your essentials:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the top left of the page. Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and website follows. Double check this. No, triple check this. You want to be accurate.

Your headline is next. Summarize what the release is about and capture their attention. Spend almost as much time on your headline as you do writing the release. It’s that important. Make sure to get those valuable keywords in there and hopefully in the first few words.

Each press release starts with location, city and state and then date, month and year.)

Most press releases are between 400-500 words, and no more than a page. The first paragraph has the most important information. Don’t save the best for last, it won’t get read. Make sure the title of the release is explained in the first paragraph. It is recommended that you write press releases in the 3rd person and use short sentences and paragraphs. Do not go over board, trying to dazzle the editor, it won’t work.

Target your release. You will be sending your release to a specific audience so make sure that in your release you keep to what would appeal to that audience. What don’t they know that you can add? Nothing works better than getting an “AAH HAA” when an editor is reviewing your release. Also, keep in mind with the Internet today, that press releases, or news releases as they are now frequently called, are read by your target audience just as much as the editors. The buyers of your products or services are reading this, tell them what they need to know.

Provide statistics. Do research and find information that relates to your release. Research and make sure that if you are providing accurate quotes and not from some fly by night company. Remember your reputation is riding on this release. Well, maybe not that drastic, but you get my point.).)

Provide a quote from yourself or include relevant quotes from experts in your field that will reinforce what you are saying. Approach authors, leaders in your Industry, and other experts in your Industry. They will normally appreciate the added publicity and you get the quote you’re looking for. For example, as an author I’ll often get asked to provide a quote for an article on home-based businesses or the virtual assistant industry. I welcome the opportunity as it provides me more publicity.

The last paragraph should be your call to action. You’ve talked the whole release about your business or product, now tell them what to do with this knowledge they just got. Too many leave out this vital step.

At the bottom of the release include ### to indicate you are done.

Double check this for accuracy. At this point, you’re tired and done with the Release. If it goes out with the wrong web address, you can see the potential problems that would cause.

That’s it. The basics for writing a press release. Now one other thing I’d like to add in, they work. They truly do. You also want to make sure that you submit them out, but that’s another article.

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Recommending that you stop writing press releases and start writing news releases is not a play on words. It is sound advice.

In common parlance, “press release” and “news release” mean the same thing. However, the terminology people use often betrays a fundamental difference in how they put this information together and how well it is accepted by the media.

Early in my career, I was editor of a daily newspaper and later a writer with The Wall Street Journal. One of my jobs was to screen submissions to decide which ones we would print and which ones we would throw away.

Approximately 80 – 85% of submissions failed the first screening, a life or death decision usually made within 60 seconds or less. On the other hand, the vast majority of those that survived this first screening also survived the second one and were ultimately published.

What made the difference? Basically, it was in how the author of the document viewed the material being submitted.

·      Losers. Information a company or organisation wanted to see printed for its own benefit.

·      Winners. Information a company or organisation wanted to see printed for its own benefit and the benefit of our readers.

In both cases, the submitter had something to gain if we published the release, i.e. positive publicity. However, in the first case, the focus was on only how the submitter would benefit from publication. In the second, it was on both how the submitter and our readers would benefit.

A Concrete Example

If all this sounds a bit theoretical, here is an example to make it more concrete.

After leaving The Wall Street Journal, I was an account executive with a major international press relations agency. One of my subordinates presented me with a typically self-serving press release he wanted to distribute on behalf of his client.

The headline was something like: Egotistical Industries gains major new contract. The first paragraph said something like:

“Tom Bighead today announced that Egotistical Industries has won a $350,000 contract to supply window sealants for the new sports centre currently under construction in Baden-Baden, Germany. Egotistical Industries was founded in 1989 by Mr. Bighead and his brother George, and is now considered to be the leading company in its field. Last year the company’s sales were . . . .”

In the fifth paragraph, if anyone would read that far, we learned that the sealant the company would supply had the property of not freezing in cold weather, so work on the sports centre could be carried out in December, rather than waiting for warmer weather in March or April.

This of course was the true story. If you are a reader of a professional construction magazine, you couldn’t care less that Egotistical Industries has a new contract. By contrast, you could be vitally interested in knowing that you could possibly gain three months on your construction schedule by using Egotistical’s product.

More importantly, editors of professional construction magazines would view the release this way.

Remember: Editors are vitally concerned about what their readers want to read, because if they lose readership, they lose their jobs. The real target of your release must be the editors. They are the gatekeepers. If they value the release, it gets published; if they don’t, it doesn’t.

We therefore rewrote the information into a news release with the headline: Windows in Baden-Baden Sports Centre will be sealed in the dead of winter, saving the contractor approximately $30,000 in labour costs. The first paragraph, and as many additional paragraphs as necessary, elaborated on this very attractive theme. The background information about the company came at the end of the release where it justifiably belonged.

The Short Road to Nowhere

Here’s another example. As a marketing communication consultant, I was asked by a client to write a release announcing an important new service. I was told to limit the release to 400 words. “Why 400 words?” I asked. “Well, it’s our policy to keep our releases short. Journalists like that.”

The problem was, I couldn’t find a way of saying everything that needed to be said in only 400 words. The client was insistent. I finally produced something at 400 words which the client felt was exactly what was wanted. But when the release was issued, no one published it.

The client called a few newspapers and magazines to find out why. The answer was, they just didn’t see anything that would be of interest to their readers. I then called a couple of these newspapers and magazines and asked, “Do you think you readers would be interested in X.” “Yes, why didn’t you put that in the release?”

Well, I had. But under the stricture of the 400-word limit, it had become so severely condensed as to be cryptic. It was there—if you knew what to look for. The function of an effective release is to give information, not challenge journalists to find it.

I rewrote the release. This time it came out to 650 words and was widely published. Why? Because it had been transformed from a press release, i.e. what the client wanted to say, into a news release—what journalists believed their readers wanted and needed to know.

Each time you start tapping at the keyboard, keep uppermost in mind the aspects that make a release a “news release”.

·    First, a release gets published only if editors feel that it offers something their readers want and need to know. So make certain that it does.

·    Second, there is no “correct” length for a news release. To paraphrase a sexist joke (I apologise, but it is just too pertinent), a news release should be like a miniskirt: short enough to be interesting, and long enough to cover the subject.

Article marketing is an effective way to broaden the online presence of any small business. By distributing articles to multiple article directories on the Internet, your business can reap the benefits ranging from an increase in web traffic, lead generation, new customers and a solid reputation on the Internet. It’s a simple concept that has the potential to take your business to the next level and higher.

The foundation of article marketing has evolved from a well-known strategy called Search Engine Optimization, for more details visit to www.ezines-success.com or SEO; a practice where web pages are optimized with keywords and published online in an effort to increase search engine rankings. There are three steps to article marketing; research, writing the article and distribution.

Research

The first step is keyword research. It is vital to inundate your article with keywords that you want to rank well for in the search engines. For example, assume I sell used DVDs online. I would research what keywords people are searching for relative to the term DVD (i.e. rent DVD, DVD rentals, DVD, or buy DVD). I would then make a list of approximately 10 or so of these keywords that I would want to sprinkle throughout my article. This step is relatively simple and only takes about 30 or so minutes; unless of course you are still on dial up.

Writing the article

You cannot just put together a glob of information and call it an article. If you have this skill, you can write the article yourself or hire someone to do it for you. The goal here is to write an objective article related to DVDs; and naturally placing the keywords within the content of the article. In fact, most article directories will not even accept articles written with a “sales type” approach. The article should be written with the intention to educate consumers about some aspect of DVDs. It’s always helpful to have a catchy title for your article.

In addition to keyword rich article, a second critical component of this strategy must include the distribution of a website’s URL, commonly referred to as back link. Most, for more details visit to www.perfect-ghostwriter.com if not all, article directories allow for an author resource box where links can be easily placed. Publishing a website’s address at the end of articles will allow interested readers to conveniently visit the site by clicking on that link.

Distribution

This is the component of article marketing that takes some time. There are approximately 200 or so directories online that allow marketers to post articles. It is good practice to manually submit these articles to each directory; as most directories have banned article distribution via automated software. Besides, by using automated software, there is less control of the article and the article resource box.

Article Marketing Does More Than You Think

Article marketing does more than simply reinforce your internet visibility. Unlike direct advertising, it actually presents an opportunity to educate your target consumer group in an effort to build long term, profitable relationships with them. Paid advertisements usually lose potency and relevance over time. But a well written article will continue to be republished on various newsletters, websites, forums and blogs; and trigger a viral marketing effect that will last for months at a time.

SEO Benefits of Article Marketing

Most of the article directories allow for the author to select the anchor text of the link in the author’s resource box. This is the primary value of the links from the article directories. For example, if you are trying to rank for the key term “internet marketing”, the anchor text would display “internet marketing” but it would link to your website.

Additionally, article marketing is a perfect vehicle for building relevant one-way links. Say goodbye to reciprocal linking. It’s ineffective and doesn’t work anymore. Additionally, most of the directories use the article title as the webpage title; and rest assured that the title of the webpage with your link has your target keyword.

Brand Awareness/Viral Marketing Benefits

Building brand awareness is all about impressions. The more that your message is seen, the more you begin to build your brand. A consumer that has read an article about your products and services; and clicked through to the website is a highly qualified visitor and interested in your value proposition.

Finally, the Conclusion

With the recent buzz about article marketing, there should be no questions as to why it is regarded as one of the most potent marketing strategies today. However, the fact of the matter is that article marketing is only one component of a successful marketing plan. You cannot expect to invest a few dollars here and there and wake up in the morning with profitable business.