Did you know the Internet is made up of millions of websites. Each one of them offers something distinct, yet they all want the same thing; they want people to read the content on the page.

Don’t you think this is where compelling content creation would help. Yes, persuasive content is the best way to create a stir about your blog, there-by increasing traffic and building a client base.

Here are some important steps you need to take when writing content for your website.

Be creative when writing your content and keep it simple for the reader.
Try to connect with the reader by telling a story that relates to your product.
Engage the reader by using humor or an upbeat attitude throughout the website.
No one likes a monotone speaker and the same goes for boring, dragging content on a site.
While writing, use an active tone to call the customer into action.
Pelt the copy with SEO rich keywords to increase page rankings.

Your main goal here is to keep the reader interested in what they’re reading. When a reader, especially online, loses interest you may have lost a future customer. The customer wants to feel a connection to what they are reading, so present the content in a casual tone and provide valuable content. That will keep them coming back.

Compelling content doesn’t have to just be an article or sales copy. Other ways to create quality content and keep the reader needing to learn more about your product or service.

Non-text options to add to your website:

Graphics and Pictures
Videos
Podcasts
An Interactive Forum
Outside Links
Online Games
eBooks for Download
Testimonials
Newsletters

The more compelling, quality content you have to offer, the longer your visitor will spend on your website. The more interactive the site is, the more someone will recommend the site to a friend. Quality content, compelling text, and visuals will not only make your site stand above the rest; it will secure your place in your niche.

Hey by now you all know I really like the stuff Jimmy D Brown puts out.  I am honored he has allowed me to include this guest article on my blog.  I hope you get as much out of it as I did…

Writing ezine articles is one of the best business-building activities you’ll ever invest time in on the Internet. They can be used in dozens of different ways to generate web site traffic, build lists, brand your name, earn affiliate commissions and produce sales of your products and services.

They are, unquestionably, a vital part of any successful Internet marketing campaign.

By now – if you’ve read anything in the member’s area – you know I’m a big believer in writing ezine articles. And you know that I’ve devoted many of the lessons in the member’s area toward teaching you how to write, distribute and market with them.

Yet there still remains a lingering question -

WHAT should I write about in my ezine articles?

I want to share with you some brainstorming ideas that will allow you to easily come up with a couple dozen (or more) hot ideas for your upcoming ezine articles. I’m going to briefly share seven (7) fill-in-the-blank article starters along with a brief explanation to help you get started writing attention-grabbing content.

When you’re ready to write your next ezine article, consider one of these not-yet-overused formulas…

01. What To Do When [Enter Problem Here]. The idea with this article is to offer a solution to an existing problem by matter-of-factly addressing the issue being discussed in the article. “What To Do When You Need To Lose That Last 5 Pounds” points out a problem many dieters face and hints that the article will reveal a method for overcoming this barrier. This article’s pointed style makes it a sure read.

02. Can [Enter Solution Here] Help [Enter Problem Here]? Similar to number one above, this article poses a question while emphasizing both the problem and potential solution. What really works here is to ask a “curiosity-building” question by providing a solution that doesn’t seem to fit with the problem. For example: If you’re trying to re-grow hair on your balding head, could you resist reading, “Can Cheerios Help Thicken Your Hair?” I don’t think so.

03. Should You [Enter Activity Here]? (Take This Quiz). People love quizzes. They especially love to see how they measure up in some area that they are particularly interested in. That combination makes this another ezine article that gets a lot of views. “Should You Quit Your Job And Start An Internet Business? Take This Quiz!” is going to attract every dissatisfied, looking-for-greener-pastures, internet marketing wannabe on the block.

04. 7 “Must Ask Questions” for [Enter Activity Here]. This is a perfect article for the entry-level beginner in any particular field. “7 ‘Must-Ask’ Questions for First-Time Homeschoolers’ When Choosing Curriculum” is just about a guaranteed read for all new homeschooling moms and dads who don’t want to blow it for their kids. (Note: The “number” of must-ask questions can be whatever you choose.)

05. 3 [Enter Topical Adjective Here] Lessons from [Enter Pop Culture Reference]. By using references to popular culture events, characters, television shows, news stories and trends, you’ll be able to get some cheap mileage from existing “hot buttons” of the general public. I recentl wrote an article entitled, “3 Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Lessons From the Academy Awards” that garnered a lot of interest. Guess when I released it? Yep, a week before the big awards show.

06. Mastering [Enter Topic Here]: How to [Enter Tutorial Statement Here] Part 1. This is a superb article idea for a series of related tutorials. The word “master” is a bit overused at times in marketing circles, but it means to “become an expert” at something or to “achieve dominance” over something. Who wouldn’t want to “master” their activity of interest? That’s why “Mastering Weight Loss: How To Shed 12-15 Pounds in 30 Days, Part 1″ and other articles in its mold make for much-read content.

07. What Kind of [Enter Desirable Object Here] Is Best For YOU? We all want what’s “best” for us, don’t we? “What Kind Of Internet Business Is Best For You?” indicates there is something revealed in the article that will allow me to determine which of the options available to me is best suited for me. This is a really solid article to point others towards additional resources (such as special reports, mini-courses, etc.) where they can get specific information about which of the “options” mentioned in the article is most interesting and compatible with them.

So, there you have some great ideas to get you started on your next ezine article.

You know you’re going to write ezine articles, so would you like to get a LOT of completely free traffic with them? Check out “How To Get Free Traffic With Ezine Articles” by clicking here. You’ll learn a powerful (but easy) way to get a lot of visitors to your website by using your ezine articles in a special way … all at no cost to you.

So what do ya think, did you get anything out of this article?  Did you get the free report?

This is kind of a wierd post for many of you….

I put this post up so that folks that accepted the free report “Quit Your Job in 90 Days” could come and comment on the report.

If you did not get an opportunity to get it click here

After you read it, and put the plan into action…come on back and give us a comment please.

Its no secret, you’ve heard it before, articles and content are awesome ways to pre-sell products.  When you gain your readers trust and warm them up to the product…PRESTO!…your bank account just had a deposit.

You need to make a plan for your affiliate marketing articles.   It is important to select your topic carefully,  offer good correct information, and article needs to be fun to read.  Then you will be able to draw your readers interest to the product.

Selecting Your Topics

Make a list of topics for each of the products you are promoting.  Put yourself in the mind of your customer.  Your topics should revolve around problems that the product actually fixes.   Those topics are the seed for your articles.

Creating Good Information

The topics you listed will steer the type of information you will provide.  A couple of ideas for simple articles are:

Top ____ Ways to ____

____ Steps to _____

Keep your articles simple.  A captivating introductory paragraph, a couple of informative bullet points in between, and a summary paragraph to finish it off.

Remember not to give the whole enchilada.  You want to be informative and give your readers a good picture of their problem with a portion of the solution.  But direct them to your product for the complete solution.

Drive Them to the Product Link

You will find that the most productive links and recommendations will be in the context of your article.  Find an appropriate place in your article and make your product recommendation, something like “_____ is what I recommend most”

At the end of your article is another great place to put an extra recommendation. 

Obviously you will be limited by the venue you are posting your article to.  If you are putting it on an article directory you will probably be limited to recommendations in the resource box.  If posting to another persons site or ezine they will have their rules.  The most freedom is posting to your own site or blog.

Summing Up

Help your readers by giving them good information and direct them to products that solve their problems.  Then you will be smiling to the bank, and you will know it is an honestly earned commission.

I just finished reading a new report by Walter M. Prorok Jr. and Chris Vendilli. Inside this report Walt & Chris talk about the in’s & out’s of configuring your Twitter account along with some free third party services to maximize your traffic & exposure.

I was skeptical at first, but after reading through the report and watching a couple of the videos available at their website I must say, I’m pretty impressed.

These two guys have been silently attracting visitor after visitor to their sites using Twitter, and they’ve created a step by step guide so that anyone can replicate their ideas & systems.

Yeup another “system.” Most of us have pretty much come to recognize the word “system” as overused and often incorrectly placed. But, with “The Twitter Report” and the videos, this stuff really is correctly called a “system”.

Walt & Chris have uncovered every known tip & trick for setting up your Twitter account to give you maximum return per tweet, while keeping everything on auto-pilot as much as possible. They leave nothing to question and go pretty in depth.

Most of the stuff they cover you could likely figure out on your own. But; why waste time, energy, and money trying to figure it all out on your own when you could just see how it all worked out for them and simply follow their suggestions, which are already proven to work successfully?

After reading the report and watching some of the videos I give TwitterHints.com two enthusiastic thumbs up, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to stay on the cutting edge of this new wave of communications & hyper-connectedness.

You’ll learn how to configure your settings, which 3rd party sites to join & how to set them up to run campaigns automatically, and much more.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy “The Twitter Report” as much as I did and you can go check it out here:

Sometimes internet marketers join together to give freebies to their opt-in lists and to give opportunity to each joint venture partner to build their own opt-in list.

It works like this, each joint venture partner has a squeeze page associated with a free gift they are offering in the giveaway event.  All of these gifts are listed on one site.  Each partner emails links for site to their own opt-in list.  Then the members of those lists go to the site and click on a free offer. They are taken to the squeeze page where they supply their name and email address to receive the free gift.

The idea behind this giveaway is that people are interested in more than one thing.  They may have a main focus, but they probably also have secondary interests and the joint venture giveaway may have something for that interest.

The main objective of participating in joint venture giveaways is for all of the marketers to build their opt-in lists.

The best joint venture giveaways are those you are invited to contribute to. 

The joint venture giveaways listed at http://ScottThrall.com/giveaway-events/ are invitations for all my readers.

According to several ‘bloggers’ out there a good way to give your blog some traffic juice is through Technorati.

Peggy over at peggyschoonover.com has given more information.

Its worth the look, thanks Peggy.

Go take a look at Peggy’s blog http://peggyschoonover.com and see what you think.

Scott Technorati Profile

I have added two new Giveaway events here. Just click on the link or go to the Giveaway page.

I cannot say enough about these Giveaway events. I now have 75 new members on two lists and that is one giveaway event.

I promise what I did is contained in ‘Listbuilding With Alex’and the upgrade videos really take you by the hand to get you up to speed.

And guess what….I am posting that…the ‘Profit Platform’… on the giveaways.

As promised, and a little late in the day…Here is one way to build your list using Twitter…

You will need four things to implement this plan…

1. a Twitter account

2. a freebie for a giveaway product…I am using the profit platform that the Fortunate 500 have available.

3. an account at TweetLater.com

4. finally an email account that lets you forward emails from Twitter automatically.

Ok, have them all?

Go to your Twitter account, login and go to SETTINGS.  Once there click on the NOTICES tab.

Now make sure that the box next to NEW FOLLOWER EMAILS is checked.

Now click on the ACCOUNT tab and go to where you can add your ONE LINE BIO, this is where I put a line similar to “Follow me and I will send you a FREE traffic report” 

OKAY now lets set up your TweetLater account…

Fill in the ADD A NEW ACCOUNT form

Check the AUTO WELCOME box, under the MESSAGE SENDING METHOD select “Send private direct message”  its in the drop down menu.

Now in the SEND THIS MESSAGE area type in the note you want to have automatically sent to your new Twitter followers.  DONT FORGET THE LINK TO YOUR FREEBIE…

Remember your link to the freebie needs to go through your auto responder so they sign up to your list!!

Okay, last thing to do…

Go to your email account and set up a filter or rule to AUTO-FORWARD your new follower notification emails from Twitter to this email address twitterfollow@tweetlater.com 

The beauty of this for my fellow Alex Students is we already have the freebie with follow-up in place.  We only need to direct people to that url. 

What do you think should, I make a video (it would be my first) to show how to set this up?   

Thanks for reading….Thanks for sharing this post with others…

Oh and it works, I have had a couple of new followers who I do not see on the Student Lists…and best of all…these are a couple of people I would not have had on my list if I hadn’t implemented this.

Hey all,

First and most important…

Second – Good news and bad news… 

Good News: I found a way to use Twitter to build your opt in list. 

Bad News: I will post it later,

Sorry but I have too many things to do for the next couple of days… My mother-in-laws birthday is Christmas Eve, I have to assist at mass at my parish both tonite and tomorrow, my kids and wife want their Christmas with my eyes and heart focused on them, and Friday I am going to visit my parents for Christmas festivities. 

But I promise I will be putting the steps to this List Building With Twitter (still thinking about the name) together, maybe even a brandable ebook, for all of you. 

I plan to write a post here by Saturday…

It will be worth the wait…maybe I should say weight <grin> cause it will grow your list I am sure.

Oh yeah, you wizbangs out there that want to charge ahead…go to my Twitter page @http://twitter.com/Scott_Thrall, follow me and you will probably figure out what I stumbled on…

Blessings to all…

Scott