Want to know a secret no blogger will admit? Here it is: Keywords don't matter. In fact, keywords may be the most overhyped invention since Google Wave. Sure, they might - and that's a big might - get a reader to your page, but unless YOU do something to keep her there, it won't matter a bit. Unless you engage her, entertain her, shock her, or hijack her mouse, all the keyword-foo in the world won't keep her on your site. You've got, at best, a few seconds to grab her attention and get her to read the rest of your post, so you better make your opening paragraph the best it can be. Ready? … [Read more...]

Here's a shocker for you: There's a lot of crap articles out there online. Especially in the niche affiliate marketing world. Somewhere along the line, marketers got the idea that quantity trumps quality, and so rather than spending an hour or two every day crafting a good quality, helpful article to publish on their blog or in a directory somewhere, they spend ten minutes pounding out some piece of junk. And then they make it worse by spinning it into 1000 variations of junk and spew it out everywhere. Please don't do that. Solve a Problem No one fires up their Internet browser and types … [Read more...]

Whether your business model is affiliate marketing, information marketing, or performing a service, you will end up writing a great deal of content. And I'm not just talking about blog posts. You also write emails to potential customers, project proposals, product reviews, autoresponders, articles, eBooks, and all kinds of other stuff. When it comes right down to it, all that writing is done with one purpose - to make a sale. Is it working? For a lot of writers, the answer is clearly no. Wussy Words Wishy-washy calls to action, limp sentences, and listless words can kill your copy. If … [Read more...]