Writing Success

Article Marketing as Revenue Stream: Tips for Freelance Writers

The following is a guest blog from Jennifer Mattern at All Freelance Writing. As a freelance writer it’s important to think outside of the box when it comes to finding new revenue streams. Jennifer shares her thoughts on Article Marketing…

Article Marketing as Revenue Stream: Tips for Freelance Writers

As freelance writers, when we think of making money, we tend to think about working for clients. However, the Web also allows us to create additional revenue streams by writing for ourselves.

While I’d argue that the best revenue stream for writers is creating and selling their own information products (books, e-books, online courses, etc.), article marketing has its place. It’s something any writer can do, with little to no barriers to entry.

What is Article Marketing?

Article marketing can actually mean several things, but always boils down to publishing articles for the purpose of promoting something else. That might mean promoting your writing services, your blog, or your own products.

In this case, I want to discuss the revenue potential of using article marketing to promote other people’s products (through affiliate programs).

Why Promote Someone Else’s Products?

Article marketing to promote affiliate programs may not have quite the same income potential as selling your own products, but that potential is still great. Here are a few reasons you should consider it:

• You don’t have to take the time to create your own product (you would likely have to create several over time to maintain the income).
• You don’t have to create the marketing materials (sales page, banner ads, cover graphics, etc.).
• You can earn a hefty percentage of the sale (usually anywhere from 25-75% of the net sale).
• You have access to many products to promote to a single audience.
• You have the benefit of being able to promote products that already have a solid reputation, or that were created by trusted professionals in your niche.

How to Use Article Marketing to Promote Affiliate Products

The basic process of promoting affiliate products is as follows:

You start by finding products you would like to promote, and then you need to get approved for the affiliate program. Or, join a program such as ClickBank, and you can promote any product in their marketplace without being approved in each case. Once you find affiliate products to promote, and you’re approved for the program, you’ll receive access to affiliate link codes or URLs that you can include in your articles. Those affiliate links refer the person clicking on them to the sales page of the product, and through cookie tracking you’ll receive credit for the purchases you refer.

Once you have affiliate links, where do you promote them though? There are actually several different places you can promote affiliate programs through article marketing. Here are the most common two:

• Blog posts (often through product reviews)
• Articles published to article directories (such as EzineArticles)

Of the two, I recommend (and I’ve found the most success with) article marketing / affiliate marketing through blog posts.

3 Tips for Using Blog Posts to Bring in Affiliate Sales

It’s easy for me to tell you to review or write about a product on your blog, include the affiliate link, and a new revenue stream will start pouring in. In truth though, there’s a bit more to successful article marketing of affiliate products. Here are some important things I would suggest:

• Build your audience first. Promoting affiliate products on a brand new blog with no audience won’t bring in much, if any, income. Affiliate marketing is best suited to blogs that already have a following.

• Always be honest in your reviews. People are naturally skeptical when they see someone promoting affiliate links–they sometimes assume you’re doing it only for the money, and that you don’t honestly support each product. This is why I stick to reviews over simply announcing products. Keep the reviews honest. Post the good as well as the bad in each case (and everything has room for improvement). If your readers don’t feel like you’re leading them on, and they come to trust your reviews, chances are good that they’ll purchase more products on your recommendation in the future.

• Don’t overdo it. Your readers won’t appreciate one product review after another just because you’re trying to earn some extra money. Instead, choose 2-3 primary products to promote at a time. Review them. Put banner ads for them on your site (it’s sometimes better to link the ads to your review than directly to the sales page). Mention them in your newsletter or email blog subscriptions if you have them. Taking a comprehensive approach to fewer products can bring in far greater sales than promoting dozens of products at once. When you do that, you overwhelm the reader and risk the trust you’ve built (they know it’s unlikely you actually took the time to thoroughly review all of those products, and just happen to wholeheartedly recommend them all).

Article marketing to promote affiliate products is a good long-term revenue stream for freelance writers. You can even use this technique to bring in some extra income if you’re facing slow periods with client projects. Just remember not to stop promoting those products with just one blog post or article. A single affiliate product, if promoted continuously and wisely, can turn into a regular income stream.

About the Author

Jennifer Mattern is a freelance business writer and blogger behind AllFreelanceWriting.com and WebWritersGuide.com. She is also the author of the Web Writer’s Guide e-book, designed to help freelance writers launch a successful Web writing career.

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