Free Content
A quality web
site should contain at least some original content. Sites offering quality
content will attract much more traffic than those that are just selling
something. Give your visitors a reason to keep coming back. Continually add
new content.
In addition to using content to drive repeat traffic to your site, it can
also be used to promote your web site products and services.
Free Ebooks
Ebooks or Electronic
books are self-contained "executable" files of HTML. This HTML may be a web
site you've created or HTML you've specifically prepared to be compiled into
a downloadable .exe file for distribution. When downloaded, this file will
self install on your clients desktop.
Ebooks are completely interactive with the Internet and can contain live
links, graphics, forms, JavaScript, embedded video, can be protected via
password/userid, search capabilities and more. This self-contained executable
file can be distributed in a number of ways including CD rom, floppy disk,
and download.
All ebook compilation software is not created equal. Make sure you review
its capabilities before your purchase.
Ebooks can provide the Internet marketer one of the best promotional tools
online. With its vast variety of uses, just one quality ebook development
and distribution can produce an on going promotional tool that will work
24 hours a day, seven days a week and multiply itself by leaps and bounds.
Your ebook can literally be viewed by millions simply by giving it away.
Not only are you providing your visitors with great, free content, but you're
also advertising your web site, products and services. It's a WIN-WIN
proposition.
Suggested Uses:
-
Marketing - Provide your sales network with your
complete sales presentation to freely distribute with their ID to track
sales.
-
Promotion
- Provide valuable information
on a specific subject to bring traffic to your site.
-
Ezine
Archives - Ezine publishers
can provide their publication archives to enable subscribers to read back
issues on their desktop, visit your web site, subscribe, submit ads,
etc.
-
Catalogs - Provide a desktop catalog for you customers
to view on their desktop. You can even provide a form to accept orders right
through your e-book.
-
How To
Manuals - Provide your
affiliates with a complete "how to" manual for marketing, advertising and
promoting your products.
-
Electronic
Books - Writers can offer
their books in an electronic version.
-
Web
Site - Create an electronic
version of your web site to place on disk and be viewed on your clients
desktop.
-
Instructional
- Provide an electronic
training manual.
Creating an ebook is just like creating a web site. Simply create your HTML
pages just like you would for your web site. Make sure you select a good
software package that allows you to include hyperlinks, graphics, search,
forms, etc. Keep in mind, the more professional, content rich your ebook,
the more exposure it will receive.
Tips for creating
your e-book:
-
Create a directory on your
computer to include ALL the files for your Ebook. These files will include
HTML, graphics, backgrounds, etc.
-
Ebooks should contain mainly
text. Try to limit your banners to one per page. To keep your file size down,
you may want to use only non-animated banners.
-
Ebooks are generally formatted
at a small screen resolution so make sure your pages are viewable through
any screen size.
-
Include good navigational
links throughout your pages.
-
Use spell check to search
for any possible spelling errors.
Selecting
a Compiler
 Although there are many ebook compilers
available on the Internet, please keep in mind, they are just that -- HTML
compilers. What this means is that they will only compile files that you've
already created within another program, such as an HTML editor. This will
involve creating your pages within an HTML editor and then importing your
files into an HTML compiler to create your ebook.
However, there is one software program that will enable you to create your
entire ebook -- from start to finish and that's
eBook
Starter.
Massive Distribution
For massive distribution, make sure you include a short paragraph on your
main page in regard to your copyrights and distribution. I.E., This Ebook
may be freely distributed.
Sample Example of Distribution:
10 of your visitors download your ebook.
Your 10 visitors each give away 10 ebooks - 100
Those 100 each give away 10 ebooks - 1000
Those 1000 each give away 10 ebooks - 10,000
Those 10,000 each give away 10 ebooks - 100,000
Those 100,000 each give away 10 ebooks - 1,000,000
This is just a small example of how powerful your free ebook can be...
For further information on ebooks, read our
ebook tutorial.
You can find a variety of free ebooks
here.
Writing Articles
If you're looking
for a powerful way to get free publicity and build your credibility at the
same time, then writing articles may be your answer.
If you've been on the Internet for a while, you've probably subscribed to
a few ezines. Many ezine publishers will include an article written by a
guest author. At the end of the article are a few lines of text about the
author referred to as bylines or resource box. These lines of text are basically
just an advertisement for the writer. They usually contain a couple of lines
about the author and a web address.
The writer gives the publisher permission to publish their article, free
of charge, in exchange for the publisher including the author's bylines.
By writing articles and allowing them to be freely published, your articles
will have the potential to be viewed by millions of Internet users. They
may be published by several ezines with subscriber bases of a few hundred
to several thousand. In addition, they may be displayed in ezine archives
or on high traffic websites.
Most ezine publishers prefer short articles between 500 and 750 words. Short
"tip" articles of just a couple of paragraphs are also very popular. Articles
should be
formatted to 65 characters per line or less, including spaces, and written
in short paragraph sections.
When you begin writing your article, avoid using your standard word processing
programs, as they do not allow for proper formatting. Instead, use a text
editor such as NotePad. It should already be installed on your desktop.
When you begin typing your article, use a hard carriage return (hit enter)
when your text reaches 65 characters, including spaces, and leave a space
between your paragraphs. This will enable publishers to easily copy and paste
your article into their publication. By taking the time to properly format
your article, you will increase your chance of being published significantly.
Most publishers receive many article submissions each week and only select
a few to be published. Here are some basic guidelines to assist you in getting
published:
(1) Make sure you follow the publishers' submission guidelines. Articles
submitted to publishers that don't follow the submission guidelines will
most likely be deleted.
(2) Make sure your article is properly formatted. Publishers won't take the
time to format your article. They'll simply delete it and move on to the
next article submission.
(3) Keep your bylines down to 6 lines or less. Publishers will not publish
articles that contain excessively long bylines.
(4) Select a descriptive title to intrigue your readers. Use a powerful headline
that demands attention and try to keep it all on one line.
(5) Use proper grammar and spelling. Publishers will not take the time to
edit your article. Make sure you read your article several times and use
spell check.
(6) Avoid articles that are nothing more than a sales letter. Publishers
want quality content and will simply delete an article that is written like
a sales letter.
(7) Avoid referring readers to an affiliate URL. Articles containing affiliate
links may make your article appear to be biased and untrustworthy.
(8) Write your articles with a sincere desire to teach and inform. Talk to
your readers and share your expertise.
Once you've written your article, you'll need to develop a list of publishers
that may be interested in publishing it. The best way to accomplish this
is to display your articles on your website. Place a subscription box on
each of your
article pages to enable your visitors to subscribe. This list should be used
to send your new articles to your list of publishers.
In addition, you can visit some ezine sites to locate publishers who may
be interested in your articles. A good place to start is eZINESearch.
http://www.ezinesearch.com
Search through the database for publications that may be interested in the
type of article you've written.
Another great way to promote your articles is to submit them to article
announcement groups. These groups enable writers to submit their articles
to an entire group of publishers, completely free.
Article Announcement Lists:
Article Announce
Subscribe:
mailto:article_announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
AABusiness
Subscribe:
mailto:aabusiness-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
AAInternet
Subscribe:
mailto:aainet-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
PublishInYours
Subscribe:
mailto:PublishInYours-subscribe@egroups.com
Articles Archive
Subscribe:
mailto:articles_archives-subscribe@egroups.com
Free Content
Subscribe:
mailto:Free-Content-subscribe@egroups.com
Make sure you review the submission guidelines prior to
posting your article to an announcement group.
Here are some additional promotional resources to help
you get published:
http://www.web-source.net/articlesub.htm
http://www.web-source.net/syndicator_submit.htm
http://www.authorconnection.com/
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://www.ezinearticles.com/
http://www.marketing-seek.com/
http://www.netterweb.com/articles/
Writing and distributing free articles on the Internet
will be one of the best promotional decisions you'll
ever make. Not only will it provide you with free
publicity, but if your articles are good, you'll become
a trusted professional in your area of expertise.
Additional Tutorials:
Creating an Ebook
Internet Marketing Strategies
Internet Marketing Tools
Developing an Internet
Business
Developing a Professional Web
Site
Free Content
Webpage Optimization
Hosting Your Site
Promotion
Internet Marketing
Building Your Site
Listing Your Site
Developing
Traffic
Web Development Strategies
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