Article Marketing 101: The Perfect Author Resource Box
By Christopher Knight
If you want to really
make your article "SELL" then you've got to craft the perfect
RESOURCE BOX. This is the "author bio" that is below your article
body and it's also known as your "SIG" (short for SIGnature).
Here are the
essential items that should be in your RESOURCE BOX:
Your Name:
You'd be amazed at how many folks forget to include their name in
the RESOURCE BOX. Your name and optional title should be the first
thing in your resource box.
Your Website
Address: in valid URL form. Example: http://Your-Company-Name.com/
Your Elevator
Pitch: This is 1 to 3 sentences that encapsulates the essence
of what makes you and your offering unique. Also known as your USP
(Unique Selling Proposition).
Your Call To
Action: You've got them warmed up and now it's time to lead
them to BUY from you or visit your website. This is where you "Ask
For The Sale." Best to only give (1) specific call to action.
Here are some
optional items you could include in your RESOURCE BOX:
Your Ezine
Subscription Address: While getting your interested visitor to
surf your website is nice, capturing their email address can help
you begin the confidence/trust process. If you're going to do this
strategy, include a URL for your ezine subscription address and do
not use an email address for the "join" address.
Your Contact
Information: Such as your business phone number or how to
reach you for interviews or your press/media kit. Keep in mind
that article marketing is a timeless strategy and you may not have
an easy ability to retract what you put in your article once it
hits major distribution.
A Free Report:
This could also be part of your call to action or your free bonus
report that further enhances your credibility as the expert on the
topic of your article.
Your email
autoresponder: I'm not a big fan of this strategy due to the
fact that spammers will text-extract your autoresponder address
and add it to their spam list. Perhaps this strategy was best for
the 1990's and has now run its course.
An anchor URL that is
related to one keyword or keyword phrase that you want to build
SEO strength for. Example: if I wanted to build search engine
relevance/strength for the term "Article Marketing," I'd link up
that term in my resource box to my website. This is an
intermediate to advanced level strategy and should not be abused
by over-doing it. Keep it simple.
What NOT to include
in your RESOURCE BOX:
A listing of every
website you own. There is no faster way to dilute your credibility
than by posting a half dozen irrelevant URLs that have nothing to
do with each other. Best to only post ONE URL that is related to
the topic of your article.
A listing of every
accomplishment you've achieved to date. No one cares. Keep your
resource box brief and to the point. Yes, your resource box should
be benefit oriented so that the reader finds value in reading it
rather than your ego being justified.
Advertisements or
pitches for products that are not relevant to the topic of your
article.
Keep the size of your
resource box so that it's no larger than 20% of your total article
size. Too often I see resource boxes that are 50% of the size of
the total article and this is abusive.
Your Perfect
Resource Box Conclusion:
The BODY of your
article is where you "GIVE" and the RESOURCE BOX is where you get
to "TAKE" for your article marketing gift of information. The
resource box is the "currency of payment" you receive for giving
away your article. Be sure to include your name, website address,
your unique selling proposition as briefly as possible and a
simple call to action.
About The Author:
Christopher M. Knight invites you to
submit your best articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic
http://EzineArticles.com/ directory. When you submit your
articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by
ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content
and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase
your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account
today:
http://EzineArticles.com/submit/
Copyright 2005 - Christopher M.
Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may
reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active,
do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit and
follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Knight
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