Motivating Marketing Newbies

Marketing Vacation Travel and Trip Destination Articles

2010-10-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Marketing vacation travel and trip destination articles is something that I not only have become very good at, but that I love doing. Travel writing is an area of writing and marketing that is constantly in demand. That is why I have been spending the past few months perfecting my research skills and learning to tailor them for travel writing. Read below, the reprint of a recent post I made on another blog. It tells ow writing travel articles this year has inspired me to become a devoted and paid travel writer. As a result, I've created a new way to market my travel articles and provide them needed exposure.

Paid Travel Writers Help Trip Planners

Paid travel writers enjoy traveling and writing travel articles for vacationers and other trip planners. If you currently write and get published online, you can learn to earn money as a paid travel writer. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never written a travel article before, nor whether you travel to all the destinations you write about. Deciding to become a paid travel writer is a smart decision to make. You can be new to travel writing or a writer that wants to write about travel destinations and vacation planning topics. Detailed travel articles provide a guide for trip planners who seek information on popular locations and landmarks. Not only have I written an article about becoming a paid travel writer, but I’ve recently launched a new travel website that offers tons of valuable travel articles and information.

2010 Travel Writing

Those readers who enjoyed following this blog prior to Summer 2010 realize the posts were discontinued indefinitely, due to me taking on more writing during the summer. I wrote several travel related articles prior to the summer and had them published at various sites earlier in the year. Additionally, I have become an accidental travel writer over the past few months. If you’re curious how I spent my summer vacation helping other people enjoy theirs, you can read my blog post: Travel Guide Website Launched. It discusses how my newly launched travel site came about and exactly what the Virtual Travel Guide website has to offer.

How to Get Started

Do you have at bit of curiosity about becoming a paid travel writer, or how to research and write helpful travel resources? If you do, I encourage you to read

the blog post: Travel Guide Website Launched and the full length article: How to Jumpstart Your Travel Writing Career. Then you can pop over and visit the Virtual Travel Guide website.

YOU CAN ALSO SELECT A PAGE FROM THE SITE HERE:

VIRTUAL TRAVEL GUIDE: SHOPPING CENTER

California Local Webs: A Good Model for Marketing Newbies

2010-08-13T00:36:00.001-07:00

California Local Webs is a good model for marketing newbies who want to learn about article marketing. It is a website providing informative web pages about state and local news, articles and other resources for Southern California residents. .But it is also the vehicle that is being used to market a whole network of the author's published articles. Currently totaling more than 200 articles for this year alone, the author's existing article network is growing. Selecting all California related topics from the list of titles, Charm has managed to create an article niche with the new site.

What the site lacks in bells, whistles and other frills, it makes up for in informative and entertaining content. It is hosted with a free web host, but that is no refection on the valuable articles to be found, all relevant to the Southern and Northern California areas.

Visit California Local Webs Website

Realizing the concept of creating and amassing good web content, just like the various writing websites, it is sincerely my desire to expand my own article network and I believe that my site: California Local Webs is one good way to do it.

Not only local California residents, but anyone interested in reading about the state will be enlightened and entertained by the many diverse and often humorous articles. They may or may not be specific to Californians. But it doesn't matter whether readers actually live in California or they are just curious about life in California.

All these California related articles have been reprinted on the California Local Webs site. Those articles that could not be reprinted due toI foolishly giving away the *reprint rights, I simply provided a brief summary and a link to where the article is published (not on the California Local Webs site).

Visit the new site, then return here and leave a Comment. You can even send something you want to see added, about Southern or Northern California. If you let me know, I will consider writing about it, or post what you have, as long as it is: interesting, humorous, enlightening, or entertaining. Just drop me an email and I’ll happily respond.

*For those of you writers who may be relinquishing your right to reprint your work, it is imperative that you read my SPECIAL REPORT: 3 Easy Ways to Make More Money with Your Writing.. You may be surprised to see the money you’re missing out on.

In an effort to get on track, the following information has been posted to each of my blogs

Dividing Attention and Loyalties

While I’ve been trying hard to divide my attention equally between all 5 of my active blogs, in addition to all my other writing, it has been a difficult task. It is just too time consuming. As a result, I’m not able to do any one thing effectively. When I devote time to the blogs, my article writing suffers (which is my real bread and butter). Then I get so behind, I can’t afford to take time out to market and promote my articles effectively. Now, with the website, that means more on the plate.

Decrease Posting
I've decided to DECREASE POSTING here and focus more attention on my That's Still News to Me blog and the new California Local Webs website. All 5 of my writing related blogs have helped me to realize that there is nothing I love more than blogging about writing, except writing. But trying to keep up with regular posting and all my other online activities is unrealistic and counterproductive.

Those readers who want to continue keeping up with Charm Denise Baker articles and online activities can frequent the new site. Periodic updates will be made to this blog no less than once a month, however topics normally covered here may be found on the California Local Webs site in the "Online Writing" category section.

Click Here to Visit Site

Staying Motivated During Technical Difficulties

2010-08-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

It is crucial that writers and marketers stay motivated when they are experiencing technical difficulties of some kind. This is in harmony with the article: The 10 Biggest Reasons Most of Us Keep Failing Miserably , which cautions you not to allow discouragement (#1) or technical difficulties (#10) to cause you to slow down or quit! During those trying times, it is important to start combining your marketing efforts, if you want to maximize your earnings.

Being pressed and pulled in a number of directions, I am turning into one of those once a week bloggers, due to the excessive demand on my writing time. If you are an online article or affiliate marketer, trying to support yourself, you may be experiencing the same problem. The responsibility of regular blogging can be a big one because it requires a lot of time. This will ultimately take away from your more lucrative writing and most importantly, from your marketing efforts.

I currently write anywhere from 5 -30 articles a week, on top of my marketing efforts and my attempts to post and respond to comments. All these activities have a way of quickly sucking up your time. If you are not combining your online activities and marketing efforts, you will find yourself stretched and pulled in a zillion and one directions. A good way to stay motivated during technical difficulties is to remember that whatever the problem is, if it is being handled, there is probably not much you can do but wait until it is resolved. In the meantime, find something else productive that you can do right then. For example, I wrote some articles for Associated Content this week, but the website has slowed down considerably in reviewing the articles since Yahoo has taken over. The delays in publication are a big issue! I’m trying to be patient, but they’re starting to take longer and longer, allowing good titles to sit before they are reviewed and published. This is a technical difficulty that I personally have no control over, and all I can do is wait for them to publish the articles in their own sweet time.

I currently have the following titles yet to be reviewed and published at Associated Content:

* 57 and on Team Edward: How to Recognize Twilight Fanatics

* Ways to Spend Less on Back to School Shopping

* Domino's Pizza: Still Lousy but it Sucks a Little Less

* Learning to Enjoy Your First Personal Massager

* Do You Control Your Own Sexual Pleasure?

* Super Easy Way to Turn Arts and Crafts into Cash

* 3 Practical Ways to Be Useful Though Broke and Unemployed

* 5 Effective Ways You Can Stop Taking Life for Granted

Since I know time may not permit me to go back and put the links in the article titles, I made sure to list the titles and let the viewers know. This way, I have managed to do some preliminary marketing, even before the articles are published. I was happy that they finally published my two articles:

The Creative and Diverse Venice Beach Sidewalk Vendors and Merchants

Convalescent Hospital Residents Enjoy a Karaoke Show on the Go

So my marketing efforts today include posting blogs about the work I've accomplished this week. I know it's important to continue writing and not break your writing momentum, even when you run into problems like publication delays. It can be hard to stay motivated and to keep the disappointment at bay when you go to your account and see your articles still waiting just to get reviewed. Nonetheless, you have to keep working to make all your marketing efforts count!

All Freelance Writers and Affiliate Marketers who want to EARN MORE INCOME can read my FREE WHITE PAPER entitled: "How To Start Earning Regular Profits From Recurring Payment Affiliates". This 5 Part Web Series is a real eye-opener and will motivate you to immediate action!

10 Biggest Reasons Most of Us Keep Failing is Published

2010-07-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

One of my newest articles: The 10 Biggest Reasons Most of Us Keep Failing Miserably is finally published and I'm extremely pleased about the future of this article! You know you've written something really worthwhile when you find yourself consulting the information daily. This has been the case with this very helpful article that can benefit EVERY aspect of your life.

Internalizing Information Beneficial

As writers, most of us know how internalizing the information we write about can sometimes be very beneficial. Does that mean that as writers and marketers that we have to personally relate to everything we write? No, not necessarily, but let's face it, some things that we write about hit more closer to home than others. When that happens, the personal interest we have in the material gives it a different voice. Affiliate marketers who write about a product they've actually used will write from a different perspective than they would if they've never used the product. This is true, whether they liked the product or not. This doesn't mean that you can't write a good piece about something you've never experienced. It simply means you generally do a better job, if you are more personally familiar with what you write.

Write What You're Living

Write what you're living was really the concept I had in mind when I created this blog. It 's primary purpose is to provide useful information that is relative to writing and online marketing. When that information is provided as a result of the trials and tribulations of personal experience, it is that much more helpful. That leads us to my valuable article The 10 Biggest Reasons Most of Us Keep Failing Miserably . I knew when I was writing it, that I was packing it full of extremely helpful and motivational information. What I didn't know is how, in just a short time, I'd really come to rely on that article myself. I always chastise myself when, during the course of my writing day, I do something contrary to what I've written. Although I try hard to take my own advice, sometimes, I'm not as diligent about it as I could be.

Finding a Useful Tool .

In the past week (approximately), since I wrote the 10 Biggest Reasons... article, I have seen a big difference in how I personally do some of the things found on the list. What I have noticed is that yes, I still fall into the trap of doing the negative things I've cited, however, I now do something else. Whenever I catch myself slacking in my writing, or not feeling like I have the motivation to proceed, I simply whip out my 10 Biggest Reasons list and figure out what the problem is at that particular time. Then I simply follow the corresponding advice that relates to the problem. It has worked out so well for me, that I keep my list right on my desk where I can consult it easily.

If you haven't already done so, I encourage readers to check out The 10 Biggest Reasons Most of Us Keep Failing Miserably, and make consulting it a part of your daily routine. Although it was written with writers and online marketers in mind, you can actually take this information and apply it to anything you're doing in life! ENJOY!

The Importance of Your First 100 Words

2010-07-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Bloggers, writers and new affiliate marketers, make sure your published articles and all blogs, always convey the importance of the first 100 words that you write. Those engaging in online marketing activities especially need to appreciate how important those first 100 words really are. This actually applies to anything you write or post online. My article What to Know About Blogging for Fun and Pay and my blogs at http://blogging-about-writing.blogspot.com/p/my-blogs.html all reflect this point. When your blog posts come up in the search engines, don’t blow an awesome marketing opportunity by talking about what you had for dinner last night!

What You Say When You Blog

This post is not to suggest you have to always have something profound to say when you blog (although that would be nice). The point of this information is to help you understand from a marketing prospective, when to blog about trivial topics, versus when and where your words carry the heaviest weight. The reason why this is an issue is because the countless search engines and writing sites all tend to vary on how much information is required in order to lead a reader to your material.

If you write and market articles or use article writing as a method to promote your other activities, you have probably noticed some differences in the way writing sites operate. Some sites require "x" amount of "characters" for your article's "Introduction". Other sites may refer to the opening words as something other than an introduction. They may give you a certain "word" limit instead of a limited number of characters for your opening words. In both cases, this opening information that leads into your article is what will be displayed for anyone that is searching for related content. The fact that there are variations as to the most effective length of opening content indicates something. Disagreements exist over just how much information actually shows up in the search engine results. Somewhere down the line, 100 became the magic number. While some continue to debate, and suggest that this means100 characters, generally speaking, 75-100 words seems to be an acceptable and effective range.

When to Blog About Trivial Topics

When it comes to blogging, regardless of what your blog is about, you want people to read what you are blogging about. That means, even though you're not trying to sale or pitch them anything, those first 100 words still need to capture their attention. Those words may end up being the only thing they see to help them decide whether they continue reading what you're writing about. The main priority of all bloggers, writers and new affiliate marketers should be to see that those important first 100 words are presented in the opening. This should be followed by the supporting details that pertain to those opening words. Once you have done this, you have accomplished your primary objective by conveying crucial elements of the information and also by promoting something about your online activities. Then you can proceed to "chat" about whatever you want, however you want.

Don't Wait to Get to That Part!

With such an awesome opportunity to convey the important aspects of whatever you are posting, don't wait to get to that part! Many bloggers have a tendency to get off to a slow start in their blog posts. They take several paragraphs to get to the actual "meat" of their material because they fail to realize how important the opening first words are. Those first 100 words can be a way for writers to plug their articles, bloggers to plug their blogs and affiliate marketers to plug their online activities. Take advantage of your chance to get your point across as soon as the reader finds you in the search engine. Use the chance to provide a link or title that will spark their interest. Whatever you do, state what's most important in those opening words. That way, they may stick around to actually read what you have to say.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

To help you apply this information in a practical way, notice somethings about my opening paragraph. Notice precisely what my first 100 characters are. They include links to my articles and blogs. The search engines may or may not allow the links. If they do, mine are ready to go. If not, they will just omit them, but it doesn't affect the text. Now, notice my first 100 words, which amount to the complete first paragraph. I have also managed to provide an appealing article title, as well as an actual url address. That way, viewers can do a search for the title and also click the url link or paste it in their browser. Now do you get the power of your opening words? All this information is available to the viewer, BEFORE they even get to your writing! It's time you start paying more attention to your opening words.

Helpful Articles Make Successful Networking Material

2010-07-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that I have a very helpful article that I posted at Associated Content today. The article is not writing related, however, it does cover a topic that will be beneficial to readers. Lately, that has become an important point for me. As a writer, I want to create helpful articles that viewers can really use. As marketers, this should be our objective as well.

Why Helpful Articles Are the Best Kind to Market

It may seem self explanatory that helpful articles are the best and easiest kind to market. It stands to reason, if the material can help someone, it will be popular, therefore good for traffic. But the same thing can actually be said about entertainment articles or other forms of content that have absolutely no real value, other than to kill time! The truth is, some people will spend hours online doing simply that, killing time. So just because content may prove to be helpful, doesn't automatically mean people will flock to it, not unless you promote it in the right way.

Yep!, that's right. Even great articles and web content that is loaded with lots of helpful information has to be promoted. But the great thing is, once you start the ball rolling, if the information truly is helpful, it will build a momentum of its own. Then, it will actually begin to serve as a form of marketing resource for you. You can use the material to lure in viewers. Once they arrive at the information, have something else to offer them when they're done. The article that I wrote has not been published yet (as of this writing), because I only just submitted it. The title is: Valuable Tips for California Residents? That’s News to Me!

While I plan to return and add the link once the article publishes (typically within 24-72 hours), depending on when this post is read, you may or may not be able to access the link. Even though there very well may be some valuable knowledge you pick up about the special low income programs I mention, if you're a marketer, be alert to something else. Pay particular attention to the type of information provided and think about what similar programs are available in your locality. Is there something you can write about or promote, while at the same time, benefit from the page views? If so, why not start writing???

Use Your Profile Box As A Successful Means of Marketing

2010-07-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

Affiliate marketers should always try to use all their profile boxes as successful means of marketing. Your Profile Box is an extremely powerful marketing tool that should NEVER be taken for granted. Since you will probably get a Profile Box of some kind with practically every website you frequent or join, this can open up countless opportunities. If you are working hard to become successful at affiliate marketing, you have got to address the question, "Am I using my profile boxes to my best advantage? Or better yet,am I missing out on page views and possible revenue that could result from proper use of my Profile Box?

A recent blog post entitled: "Writers: Always Use Your Profile Box to Your Best Advantage" discusses some very important reasons why you should never take your Profile Box for granted. It also providea a step-by-step guide to getting all your Profiles Boxes "on the same page" (figuratively speaking). Here are the results of my own profile box optimizing.

See What I've Done to My PROFILE BOXES at these Sites:

Associated Content profile
Experts123 profile
All Voices profile
Constant Content profile
Bukisa profile
HubPages profile
eHow Profile
GoArticles profile
Xomba profile
Google profile
Blogs profile
Facebook profile

Yes, it was a bit of a headache to go to each site and make sure the information I initially posted was still valid. Yes, I probably could have just left things as they were, and not worry about any possible discrepancies. If fact, your profiles may not even have conflicting information at all. But if your Profile and Resource Boxes don't convey exactly what you need them to convey, in a clean and concise way, they are doing you absolutely no good at all. This could be one of the biggest waste of your marketing resources ever!

I posted to one of my blogs recently, warning about the dangers of getting caught up trying to go back and "fix" everything. In spite of that fact, some things are extremely necessary to make right, because they can benefit you tremendously, in the long run. Optimizing your Profile and Resource Box is one of them. Take a little time to get this done. Then start watching the results.

An Awesome Contextual Advertising Company

2010-07-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

Affiliate marketers looking for an awesome contextual advertising company, don’t have to draw the line at Google Adsense. When it comes to in-text advertising, Kontera has made quite a name for themselves. More and more advertisers and publishers are joining them every day. And why not? “Kontera’s patented technology performs real-time semantic analysis of the content and other information on web pages…” Just what does that mean? Simple! It means that your blog or website will be constantly updating itself and running the ads that specifically pertain to the text you publish.

Only the most relevant keyword phrases are selected as links (indicated by a double underline). When the viewer mousse over the link, the related details are displayed in a little information box for them to read, then proceed by clicking.

Here is how Kontera ads appear when viewers mouse over the link.

In a similar way as Google’s Adwords, Kontera advertisers are reaching a very targeted audience, on a Cost-Per-Click payment basis.

Advertisers are secure in the fact that the visitors they receive in this manner are more prone to buy. Publishers get to earn ad revenue without worrying about the hassle of trying to decide what viewers may want to by. The Kontera affiliate program also provides opportunities for affiliates to get paid from referrals. With Kontera affiliate program and in-text advertising, it’s a win win for everyone concerned.

What Marketers Should Look For In An Awesome Affiliate Product

2010-07-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

Want an ideal of what marketers should look for in an awesome affiliate product? "When your referral becomes an active free SendFree members, you'll receive great free exposure on the SendFree network! And should a free SendFree member you've referred ever upgrade to a paying preferred service membership, weeks, months or years later, you'll receive monthly cash." That was excerpt from details found on the Sendfree Autoresponders Affiliate Program page, and that is exactly the kind of things that marketers should look for!

As you probably have guessed, after reading the 5 part web series entitled: How To Start Earning Regular Profits From Recurring Payment Affiliates the best money making affiliate programs are those that will allow you to continue to get paid, as long as the consumer is paying for the selected product or service. This short post is a reminder of that fact, because all too often, we lose focus. If you are putting time and energy into promoting something for someone else, make sure you will get the most benefit possible. Look for recurring payment affiliates!

Check Out the Clickbank marketplace for products and services that will benefit you for the long run, not just on a one time basis.

Become Clickbank Vendor

View the Clickbank Market Place for other popular digital items to promote

Paypal and Your Affiliate Marketing Activities

2010-07-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

At some point or another, Paypal is going to be a part of your affiliate marketing activities. Even if you are only using it as a means of convenient online banking, you will see the advantage, of having a PayPal account. But Paypal is so much more than just online banking! They offer a number of awesome marketing tools for affiliate marketers and and various online resources to consumers. Not to mention, if you're a website or business owner, PayPal has some awesome opportunities for you!

Click Here to Learn About Opportunities for Online Businesses

PayPal and Online Writing

Does your Paypal account and your online writing have an ongoing relationship? They should. I recently wrote a couple of posts about Paypal on my Blogging About Writing blog and also my Article Marketing Network blog. The first dealt with Paypal, in connection to your daily writing activities. If you're a writer that sees NO connection between the two, chances are, you are not yet a paid writer. If you were, your writing would be creating a reason for you to want to check your Paypal account daily. That's because Paypal is the method that most writing sites use to pay for articles and web content. In fact, many other types of websites use Paypal as a means of payment for a variety of things. My writing and Paypal account have a pretty good thing going on! My goal is to make it even stronger.

PayPal As A Profitable Online Affiliate

Some online marketers overlook the fact that Paypal can be a profitable online affiliate. Another point I consider in one of the blogs mentioned above has to do with recurring payments that affiliate marketers can benefit from. Like me, they may be benefiting from the upfront payments they get delivered to their Paypal account regularly. They may even be receiving some income from revenue shares, as a result of their daily writing and online activities. But not everyone is benefiting from the recurring payments that Paypal can offer affiliates who select the right products and services. some merchants and affiliate marketers aren't even aware of the "awesome incentive that PayPal has available now".

Whether you join to check out the information discussed here, or you join because you expect to increase your daily writing and marketing activities. Either way, if you anticipate regular payments for your online efforts, do yourself a favor and get a Paypal account. They offer their own debit card, credit card and lots of features you can access online. So what are you waiting for? If you haven't already done it, go sign up today.

Be sure to Read these two articles for the complete discussion on:

Time Is Never Your Friend

2010-07-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Many writers and marketers would readily agree, when you're working hard on a project and trying to make even a self-imposed deadline, time is never your friend. There never seems to be enough of it. I find that to be my case all the time. Running out of time and having to push things back (or up, I can never figure that expression out) isn't the end of the world. But trying to work non-stop and squeeze 25 hours out of 24 just might be! Burning the candle at both ends will catch up with you eventually, and NOT in a good way! You can literally kill yourself if you're not careful. Freelance article writers who have chosen article marketing as a means to promote their articles and affiliate programs are in constant danger of health risks and often need to exercise balance.

Accept the Fact that You're Only Human

In order to finally accomplish your writing and marketing objectives, it is necessary to face AND accept the fact that you're only human. Even as I write this, I'm fretting about what all I have not done, and what all I have yet to do. After a thorough evaluation of my time management strategies and why I seem to be falling short, I came to a decision. Yesterday (July 4) was the day that I personally declared my own independence. I resolved to be free from EVERYONE ELSE'S agenda, so I can manage to accomplish the writing and marketing goals I've set for myself. If your writing time isn't important to you, how can you expect it to be important to someone else. Time doesn't care about your self-imposed deadlines and if you allow your time to be completely monopolized with pursuits not related to your writing, it will be reflected in your progress (or lack thereof)

One thing that I have also determined to do is follow my own advice that I gave in the blog post Start From Where You Are. In that particular entry of the Blogging About Writing blog, I mention the need to come to grips with an important fact. "If you can't catch up, sometimes it's better just to forge ahead and keep up!" There are so many things I long to go back and correct in the construction of my active blogs, now that I know what works best. Do I have the time or energy to backtrack? No, in fact, I find it a buzz kill even trying to go back and undo or modify certain things.

As the above mentioned article warns, "Recognizing that you may never be able to catch up can have a stiffening affect on you if you're not careful". I've often found myself getting tired and frustrated and questioning my methods entirely, all because I had spent half a day trying to "fix" some of the common marketing mistakes we make when first starting out. The thing is, I'm always a student because I'm always learning and growing in my field. There will always be things I didn't do right the first time around. Trying to go all the way back to undo or modify things is not always the best answer.

Since time is never your friend in cases like this, you can't let yourself get suckered into trying to beat time by fixing things in the past. If you try, you will start to lose the present. If you neglect what you should or could be doing now, you'll end up needing to steal time from somewhere else, just to catch back up. And so it continues that way, with you never really getting ahead in your writing, your marketing and other online activities. To some viewers, this may sound like a lot of rambling about nothing, especially if they haven't learned enough about anything in particular, so that they want to go back and do a "do over". To those of you who have made some awesome marketing discoverers that you wish you had known months ago, you know exactly what I mean. Be strong, and resist the urge to go backward! Keep pressing forward instead.