My Favorite Web Stuff

What’s the best article directory?  It’s a moving target.  Except, of course, Ezinearticles.com. But what’s next?

First of all, you need to decide on your criteria, and I’ve decided to go by the following:

a) Page Rank

b) Number of Views

c) Likelihood of my articles to appear on Google’s first (or second) page

d) Ease of use (and control over postings)

e) Customer service (do they have some, and how fast and responsive is it)

f) Quality of the other articles in the directory

g) Likelihood of being found

h) Ability to find out how many views I got

i) How well am I presented?

j) Quality of Reader Experience?

k) How well does my article stand out?

l) Is the directory dofollow or nofollow?

m) Number of buyers (I haven’t tracked that yet, but will eventually)

n) Flexible about links and anchor links and such

Well, there are more but these will do for the moment.

And, by the way, they’re not necessarily all in order. But the more of them score to my liking, the more effort I make to publish my articles in that directory.

In a series of upcoming posts, I’ll share with you my favorites within many of these parameters.   So please check back soon.

Yes, I know I had long neglected this blog, but that is about to change. After having worked with quite a few clients andhelping them with their business and marketing, especially article marketing and such, I’m eager to share what I’ve learned.

Not all of the above criteria will get equal time, but I’ll try to share at least some of my favorites.

About some of the criteria… For example, I haven’t had any recent experience (or any in some cases) with customer service.  However, a recent experience made me acutely aware that non-existent customer service could be a problem.

Until then, I hadn’t paid too much attention, but now I’m in charge of administering the article marketing cmpaigns for a number of clients, and as part of that I work with a couple of outsource workers.

And something got mixed up in the process that could have caused real problems.  It took me WEEKS to get that sorted out.

So now I really appreciate the importance of customer service.

Another one — I discovered that there are actually article directories that are nofollow!  Would you believe that?  And I was wondering why I wasn’t getting any link juice from certain directories… Or visitors. No wonder.

So there’s quite a bit of interesting stuff to discover.

Coming up first/next:  The highest PR ranki directories (with some commentary)

And feel free to leave a comment — and let me know which of the above criteria interests you most, and if you’d like to suggest one that I haven’t included, please do.

So if you’re wondering what is the best article directory, wonder no more.  Just come back and you’ll find out which ones I consider the best article directories — and why.

Elisabeth

P.S.:  If you can’t wait, here’s a recommendation for an article directory I really like:

http://www.drkrecommends.com/best4articles.php

Come back in a few days to find out why. Or check it out and you’ll figure it out for yourself really fast.

I just discovered Twitter badges!  One of my clients wanted one and so I researched them, and oooohh, there are so many really cute Twitter badges out there I can hardly decide which one I want.

I’m still in the selection stage, but in the meantime, I’m putting on up that will actually lead you to one of my favorite sites with some of the coolest badges around.

They rank from the absolutely adorable to the, well, slightly morbid

Check these out:

Or how about this one:

And here’s the slightly morbid one:

And another cute twitter badge:

Where did I find them?

Here:

LanguageIsAVirus.com

Enjoy!

Elisabeth

P.S.: I’ve found a few other cool Twitter resources recently and I’ll write about those later.

Meanwhile, though, you may want to check out Marlon’s VERY cool videos at

What’s the best article directory?  Best for what?  I prefer to think about them as favorites.  Mine?  Ezinearticles.com is number one of course.  And I guess in many ways it’s the best article directory to submit your articles to.  But there are others where I post some of my articles as well.

The interesting thing is that different directories have different audiences, so the various articles will get a different response rate.

I first noticed that when I started using Amazines.com in addition to Ezinearticles.com.  I had an article on Gratitude and Thanksgiving, and, let’s just say it was a profound flop with the Ezinearticles.com crowd.  After a week or two, the number of views was still in the high one digits.  It has improved greatly by now, a year and a half later, but back then, it just wasn’t popular.

But when I posted it on Amazines, it quickly shot to the top of my articles there, and it has remained my most popular article there ever since. Different audience!

They do really like inspirational and spiritual articles over there, or at least there’s a bigger continguent of readers looking for those, and an easier way for them to find them.

Whatever the reason, I make sure I publish my articles in several places because you never know where it will find its audience.  My best article directory may not be the same as yours.

There are many other directories. I have found a new favorite:

http://www.drkrecommends.com/best4articles.php

This one is designed for YOU, the author. It costs $10/month, but if you want a directory that makes you look good, this is it.

You’re featured as an expert, and you’re able to add graphics, photos, and, yes, even videos!  Right there inside your articles!

Where else can you do that?

And the best thing: No ads!  No adsense ads or any other kind, so all that leakage that happens everywhere else won’t happen here.  It’s all about YOU.

So do give that one a shot:

http://www.drkrecommends.com/best4articles..php

Or at least take a look to see what you’ve been missing.

BTW, what about its Google power?  You have to start sending people there first, and maybe point a few links there as well, at least initially, and, of course, use keywords appropriately, and if you do, Google will live it too, and your chances of popping up at the top of Google listings for your keyword, especially if it’s a bit longer in the tail, are really good.

There’s also the owner, who is a really cool guy, and if you find you’re not as successful as you’d like to be, he’ll help you personally with advice and suggestions on what you can do to get more views.

It’s that kind of service that makes this directory stand out and puts it on the top of the list of best article directories.

I’ll write about a few others soon.

Elisabeth

When I first came across “20 Ways to Make $100 a Day Online” I thought, “Yeah, right.”  And it got lost somewhere on my hard drive where it gathered dust, all but forgotten.

But when one of my favorite mentors mentioned that she made quite a bit of money recommending it, plus that she’s put a number of the 20 ways to very productive use, I dug it up and took a closer look.

And indeed. It’s the real thing. If you think about it, $100/day is not millions or even a boatload of money. You can live off it though, if you don’t have a huge mortgage and no credit card debts or student loans to pay back.

The techniques in there?  Well… it is and it isn’t what it says it is.

Some of them aren’t exactly businesses all by themselves, but the book as a whole gives you a really solid basis for making money online. It touches on all the basic aspects you need to build your business, from list building to promotion, and a range of ways to make money starting pretty much right away — without needing much of an investment.

You do need a certain degree of skill, and you definitely need a whole lot of elbow grease.

Being a ghostwriter is no walk in the park.  Neither is being a freelance graphic designer or any number of the other ventures that are featured in the book.  They are VERY real.

So if you really want to either make a living online or supplement your day job income with extra money, this is one book that delivers.

It gives you a variety of options to choose from. And then it gives you the tools to start making some money.  I’ve tried several of them myself (article writing, ghostwriting, eBay, affiliate marketing) and in fact, I’m still doing all of them to some degree of another.

And then, there’s the best one of all: you get to be an affiliate for the product and earn 100% commission, all of it instantly paid into your PayPal account. Now if that’s not an incentive, I don’t know what is.

In fact, I probably could have found a way around it, but I actually went out and bought another copy because I had lost the affiliate info for my old copy, and so now I plan to put that particular plan into action.

So what do you think?  Want to give that book a whirl?

After all, you can get that investment back with the first copy you successfully recommend to someone else

And I haven’t even mentioned that they provide you with a ready-made sales page, so all you have to do is “throw traffic at it” like another mentor of mine, Jason Fladlien, likes to say.

I also ought to mention that they authors who wrote the book include some very well-known and respected veteran internet marketers, from Willie Crawford, the editor, and Dr. Mani, the pediatric surgeon from India who got into internet marketing to help raise funds for the children he tried to help.

There are several others who are very senior members of the Warrior Forum, THE internet marketing gathering place. And all of them are members of TIMIC, also known as The Internet Marketing Inner Circle, Willie Crawford’s inner circle.

So do I recommend 20 Ways to Make $100 a Day Online?  Heck, yeah.  It’s a solid start and should be in the library of every beginning internet marketer — and maybe even every wannabe internet marketers. Because if they actually read it and start putting it to use, they won’t be wannabes for long — they’ll be the real thing.

So can you make $100 a day online with this book. Yes, and much more.

Want to put your article marketing on steroids? Try article videos! Put them on YouTube and Viddler and watch the Google Power you’ll suddenly get.

You must have come across article videos! They’re everywhere. The not even all that new anymore hot thing. You can do them yourself. You can do talking head videos. And– you can take your articles and turn them into multi-media affairs with graphics and music and the articles or their high points read out loud.

And this is what I’ve been getting into. I love article videos. Even the first ones I made were pretty cool. The robot voices that came with the software were a bit odd but kind of cool.

Of course, here’s someone writing this who has been fascinated with speech synthesized voices ever since someone gave me a first generation talking alarm clock.

“It is… eight-thirty a.m. … please hurry up.” It would say, actually, it spoke German as far as I remember. And then it would play a little Metallic piece of Mozart (or Bach?) and end so suddenly it would always jar me awake!

I loved that alarm clock that allowed me to know what time it was without having to bother opening my eyes in the middle of the night. I was heartbroken when it eventually stopped working.

I’m now on my 5th or so talking alarm clock (and have two — one as a back-up).  No music.  This one crows like a rooster!  Pretty cool too.

But why am I telling you that?

Because those article videos I am cranking out have speech synthesized voices as well.  It’s fascinating to me as a linguist how they work.  They all have British accents as well.

Anyway, I’m only beginning to have fun with those, and I’m also starting to create article videos for others who don’t want to subscribe to the service and do the work themselves

If you want your own robot, go here:

http://www.drkrecommends.com/articlevideos.php

And if you want to check out one of my videos, well, they are all over YouTube actually.  Just look under ElisabethKuhn or Elisabeth Kuhn (can’t remember which works better).

Just be aware that some of them got cut off in transit.  I’ll eventually get it all sorted out. The company had some trouble with that, but I believe it’s fixed now.

Meanwhile, I started uploading my videos by hand!

They’re also on a few other sites. Eventually, I’ll have them all over.

And you can too!

Check out my offer to create them for you at

http://www.linguisticleverage.com/article-videos/

It’s a VERY new part of my business, so you can be among the first to get their videos made.

Oh, and here’s an example (but that’s being improved right now, so by the time you actually get yours, I’ll have learned a few new tricks I’m pretty sure, including, hopefully, to get rid of “Hi, my name is Pat” at the beginning of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52xwcpIO2w

So go get your own article videos!

Don’t actually write articles? Not a problem. As you’ll see on that page over at Linguistic Leverage, I’ll gladly write those for you too.

Check out

http://www.ArticlesByElisabeth.com 

for lots of my articles…

Anyway, my soon to be expanded info page on my article video offerings is here:

http://www.linguisticleverage.com/article-videos/

Please stop by for a visit, and also read the main blog. It has great info on marketing for small businesses and entrepreneur, and I keep adding more info!

Elisabeth

P.S.: And of course, if you prefer to make your own videos, just sign up here:

http://www.drkrecommends.com/articlevideos.php

Like Twitter? But sometimes it’s a bit much — or confusing?  Here’s a great blog post on Twitter and how to really enjoy it:

http://www.newbielifeline.com/2009/04/20/tweet-tweet-why-i-use-twitter/

Just found it (on Twitter, naturally) and had to share it with you!

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border="0" />

Also be sure to check out the other links on that blog.  They all lead to more good stuff.

Why I like Twitter? Lots of reasons. Someone asked this very question recently, and I told him (not necessarily in this order): fun, contancts, and discovery! Yeah. I discover new cool stuff all the time.

Interestingly, I’m even discovering new aspects in my relationships with old friends!

And I LOVE the forced pithiness (i.e., brevity).  I used to have an old Math teacher (grouchy but lovable guy) who used to say “In der Kuerze liegt die Wuerze” which means that in brevity lies the spice.  I totally agree.

And so, instead of rambling on, I’ll just send you on to Twitter. And if you haven’t found me on there yet, please follow me:

http://twitter.com/ElisabethKuhn

P.S.: I finally have gotten my hands on another copy of the book I’ve been meaning to sell — Problem was, I couldn’t find my resell rights info for the old one, so I bought another one.  Nutty?  Probably. BUT it’s THAT good.  And if I sell even one copy, I’ll have my money back. Everything beyond that is pure profit.

Do take a look please.  It won’t bite:

http://www.make-money-online-step-by-step.com

Click Here To Discover The Internet Marketing Inner Circle

I just turned in my own “First $100 Online” story.  It’s about how I got started with making money online originally — way back in 2001, believe it or not.

I started by selling some of my no longer needed books on Amazon.com Marketplace, and I even wrote a book about it:

http://www.SellYourStuffAtAmazon.com

Here’s the cool thing:  My story will be in a book where 100 internet marketers tell THEIR “first 100 bucks stories” and I get endless copies of the book to sell too.

And here’s another cool thing: If you’ve made money online, you might have a great story too, and you too could get in on this.

One catch — you’ll have to be part of Willie Crawford’s Inner Circle, but that’something you should be anyway. It’s the coolest social network of marketers I’ve come across yet.  And I’m really regretting not having gotten involved earlier.

Soooo, where can you check it out?

http://www.MeetAGuru.info

And once you’re in, go to the forum and look for the “contributor’s wanted” thread, which is VERY easy to find.

What else is there in the forum? Potential JV partners galore, new friends, help with questions, and lots more.

I’ll write more about it soon.

Elisabeth

Click Here To Discover The Internet Marketing Inner Circle