Content is always in high demand. Right now the focus seems to be on Private Label Rights (or PLR) articles. PLR articles are pre-written and sold in packages to online businesses looking for content. The big selling points of PLR articles are that you may edit the articles and that there is no author bio required (so they don’t have any outbound links).

Compare PLR articles to free reprint articles. Free reprint articles from places like ezinearticles.com or freeaffiliatearticles.com are written by people who have something they’d like to share. (Or, they are sometimes written by people just publishing junk, in the hopes that they’ll get some incoming links. But, good article directories will delete those, so we’ll focus on the good ones here.)

So, which is better? Honestly, each has its place. Sometimes you’ll find an excellent free reprint article that you’ll want to share with your readers and you won’t mind a bit having an outbound link, especially if there is an affiliate program associated with it. The free reprint article added value to your readers, and you didn’t have to write the article. That’s what free reprint articles are all about.

Other times you’ll already have an idea in mind for a topic and you’ll just want a boost getting that section of your website done. If you run across a high quality PLR package on that niche, you’re set to go.

So, how do you know which PLR service or membership to choose? Here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Some PLR sites offer a monthly membership where you receive a grab-bag of articles – on any topic. If you already know what you need, this may be a waste of money. Other PLR sites will list topics and you can buy the articles in a shopping cart. That ensures you receive the articles you need when you need them.

2. Are the articles written by professional writers with experience? Or are they outsourced to the cheapest overseas help they can find – no matter the quality? If the articles are going to be a reflection of your business, you’ll want to ensure that the articles are well-written.

3. Who’s running this thing? Is the PLR site run by someone who knows about content or someone who thinks they can ride the content wave and make a quick buck? Make sure you’re hitching your wagon to someone who knows what they’re doing.

Those are just a few tips to keep you from wasting money on a PLR site that you can’t use. Continue to use free reprint articles, but look into PLR articles as well. They can both benefit your website and your business.

Nicole Dean invites you to check out EasyPLR.com – where you’ll find high-quality PLR articles on niches sold in very limited quantities.

I, personally, recommend this site for all your PLR article needs.
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Stephanie Fish, owner of Buckeye V.A. enjoys assisting online business owners with their social media and article marketing business tasks. If you’re looking for a virtual marketing assistant, please contact Stephanie at Buckeye V.A.

There are basically 4 steps you could take this new year that will help you with your article marketing challenge:

1. Write your own articles.
2. Find a Ghost Writer who knows you and your business, who will help you come up with a article writing plan. Once you determine  how many articles per week or month you want to have written.
3. Send those written articles to your virtual marketing assistant, who will create a marketing plan that fits with your business goals.
4. Request that your ghost writer send the articles directly to your virtual marketing assistant, so they can immediately begin your article marketing campaign.

You may be asking “how many articles should I be submitting”? I’m glad you asked! As a virtual marketing assistant, I would recommend a minimum of 1 article every week, to a minimum of 10 article directories that your target market frequents. On a consistent, monthly basis, you should see a ROI (return on investment) either by increased webvisitors, ezine sign-ups, product sales, speaking opportunities or even blog comments (think SEO).

You are not limited to article directories only, oh no, you also can mix some social network marketing also. By spending a minimum of 1.5 hours a week on your article marketing business campaign, for Article marketing shouldn’t be seen as “challenging”, instead it should be seen as a positive business “challenge”, one that will help increase your business exposure and help you become the expert in  your chosen business field.

Let’s work together by making 2010 the year that your business sees the success in growth that you desire!

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Stephanie Fish, owner of Buckeye V.A. helps business internet marketers create a social media and article marketing plan that fits their business goals. You are invited to connect with Stephanie by visiting her website http://www.buckeyeva.com to sign-up for her marketing ezine and social networking groups.

“10 Reasons to Market Your Business with Articles”

Day 2: Build Your Brand

Article Marketing is one way to build your business brand, reminding your current and potential clients who you are and how you can help them. Building your brand using article marketing reinforces who you are as a person, but also who you are as a professional business owner. By having your articles in-front of your target market on a regular basis, supplying them with new information at least twice a month, will help keep you in the fore front of their minds. So the next time your potential client needs advice or a product, they will think of you first.

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Please contact me, today, for a free 30 minute consultation to see which service your business needs!

It’s O-U-T-S-O-U-R-C-I-N-G!

They all outsource something, every day, on a daily basis.

You don’t think they do every business task or daily living task themselves, do you?

I bet the outsourcing list would look like this:

• Dog Walking
• Maid Service
• Butler
• PR professional
• Personal Shopper
• Twitter Updates
• Social Networking Updates
• Transcription
• Research
• Customer Service

I believe some wealthy business persons do the above tasks, occasionally, but not day in and day out.

What do you think?
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Contact me, Stephanie, today to get started on your outsourcing list!

Here’s some suggestions on getting to know your locals’ this year:

• Join your Chamber of Commerce
• Seek out networking groups (a.k.a meet ups, coffee talks, mom’s group, etc.)
• What local mailings does your target market read?
• Post a professional poster at your target markets shopping area
• Can you place an ad in the local restaurants menu?
• Check out that cafe’, everyone stops there for a drink!
• Join a fundraiser, such as a walk-a-thon or bowling for kids sake. This will show you care for those in need and provides for that much needed person-to-person social drought that work from home persons feel!

Just because you (me too!) work from home doesn’t mean we should ‘become’ part of our home! Get up, Get out and Reach out to those in your community. It will do you and them good.

Good Luck!

Steph

I’m not sure what the final reason for closing their businesses were, but I’m a firm believer that nearly every business can benefit by having an online presence as long as you take the right steps in the right order. When I’m learning something new, I try to create a picture in my mind (an illustration of sorts). So I will be comparing an online business needs to a  jigsaw puzzle. My opinion is creating an online presence is very similar to a jigsaw puzzle…let me explain why.

*for my illustration my puzzle is going to have 5 puzzle pieces*

Box Lid=Business Plan: Lets look at the jigsaw puzzles lid, we rely on that picture to tell us if we are on track, have all the pieces and helps us chart our progress.

Picture= Your Dream. Do you dream of keeping (or starting) your own business? By taking your business plan and weaving your dream into that plan, you will have a great foundation.

Puzzle Pieces=Building Your Website. You’ve laid out all of your puzzle pieces but right now you can’t tell what piece goes in which part of the puzzle. It can be very confusing to have a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces look the same…such as having the same color on every piece!

That’s why its so important to know what you need to get your business of that paper and into the internet. Let’s put some distinguishing shapes and colors to each puzzle piece, ok?

Piece 1: You’ll need a domain name (preferably a .com extension). Does your business name have a keyword in it (if you are wanting your own cookie business will your potential client type in “wedding cookies” or “birthday cookies” or “dark chocolate cookie”?) you’re going to need to know this so you can find the best keyword domain name.

Piece 2: Do you have a hosting company that includes how-to videos and has a good customer service area? Do they have a way for you to upload a WordPress blog? Can you access your CPanel anytime you want to?

Piece 3: Have you decided if you are going to outsource any business related tasks that you don’t want to deal with? (such as web design, autoresponder, social networking, customer service, etc?)

Ok so you have your business plan, your dreams, your domain name and your virtual assistant (who should be able to help you with this entire business building process) Now, lets move on….

Piece 4: Staying in contact with your customers is a must-do! You can do this by way of an ezine/newsletter, RSS feed, blogging and/or social networking.

Piece 5: Let’s not forget about web design! You’ll want to pick a web template (or outsource this to a professional website designer) because first impressions are lasting impressions! This saying is true in life and also online. Does you website look out-dated? Does it contain too much flash or load to slow? Does it contain fresh, new content?

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Whether you’ve been in business a long time or are just starting out and need a helping hand, please contact me Stephanie Fish, today or visit my service pages today!