Expert Author Case Study: Lisa Angelettie
Today’s
Expert Author Case Study takes a look at the intelligent practices and positive results of Pennsylvania author Lisa Angelettie.
Lisa founded GirlShrink.com when she made the decision to stay home with her first born daughter instead of returning to a private practice setting in New York City. Struggling at first to be seen and heard online, Lisa accidentally fell into article marketing and has used it since to increase traffic, establish credibility and authority in her niches, build her contact list and create a source of passive income.
Lisa is the author of several books including “Relationship 911! Seven Steps For Saving Your Relationship” and is also a contributing author for “101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life”.
She writes and coaches clients full-time from her home office in Elkins Park, PA, while raising her three daughters, petting her dog Pepperz, and watching football with her husband Deric.
Lisa recently responded to our call for Expert Author case studies and has landed the honor of being the first chosen from over 250 respondents! Read her responses and I’m sure you’ll understand why she stood out from the crowd. When it comes to doing right things right, Lisa definitely appears to have the right idea about article writing and marketing.
Here’s what she had to share about the role article marketing has taken in her success.
- What sets you apart from other Expert Authors?
It is really important for me to write articles that truly teach the folks in my niche something useful. I don’t ever sit down to write just for the sake of publishing an article. It’s probably because I am a wife, mother, adult caregiver, dog mommy AND an avid reader. I’m busy and I assume the people in my marketplace are as well. So who has the time for article fluff? No one. It has to count!
- What’s your secret to article writing and marketing success?
I think that the biggest key to my success as an article writer and marketer is that I have always written authentically and consistently.
In regards to authenticity, I always write my own articles, I always write the way that I speak and I always try to include information plus my point of view on the topic. I think including a solid point of view in your writing separates one author from another in the same niche.
In regards to consistency, I have made a commitment to myself and my business to write SOMETHING everyday. I can honestly say that it wasn’t until I made that decision, that article marketing truly rewarded me with tangible results that I could test, measure, rinse and repeat.
- How do you stay motivated to write articles?
It’s not very difficult for me to stay motivated about strategies that work in my business, but there are days when I just want to lay like broccoli! So I try to motivate myself and my clients by looking at article writing and article marketing in the same way as I do personal care. Brush my teeth, take a shower, write an article. Then continue with the rest of my day! These aren’t especially exciting things to do, but we must do them everyday right?
- How do you decide what to write about?
When I first started out online, I would write about things I thought needed to be said. Wrong! Later I learned that the best articles were the ones that addressed my online niche’s actual problems. Not the ones I thought that they had. That is the best way to assure that your articles will get read, forwarded, syndicated and commented on. Write about a solution to a problem that is common in your niche and you have hit the mark!
Nowadays, all I have to do is write articles based on the questions that prospects and current clients ask me, but I recommend that new authors should observe comments from potential prospects in niche-related forums or social media sites like Twitter and Facebook and see what problems people are asking for help with.
- How do you balance writing for quality and quantity?
This is a tricky one, because article marketing is primarily a numbers game. Yet ultimately I choose not to produce as much as perhaps some other people in my niche and focus on quality. While it is true that more articles attract more traffic, it is my goal to have that traffic convert.
I think the key to conversion is to have informative, entertaining, and compelling content. So while I strive to always increase my production, I am not averse to scrapping what I think is a “crappy” article. I won’t publish junk.
- How has using EzineArticles affected your traffic?
According to my recent Google Analytics stats, EzineArticles is responsible for 15% of my daily traffic and these visitors visit 3x the number of pages vs. my other referral traffic. Part of this traffic comes from articles that I have written and published at EzineArticles years ago that still bring me a steady stream of traffic. I think this makes an incredible statement about the power of what EzineArticles can do. These statistics will only improve as I publish more articles — so that’s basic math that I can appreciate!
- How does article marketing fit into your overall marketing plan?
Over 80% of the traffic to my websites comes from a combination of organic search and referred traffic (EzineArticles). Need I say more? All that traffic is free and steady and completely generated from articles on the web.
Article marketing is the most important marketing strategy that I use in my business; and I highly recommend it to all — especially for authors, coaches, speakers and service professionals. That’s because writing articles is a great marketing strategy for a small fish trying to stand out in a big pond. Plus it costs you nothing. That’s very important for my marketing budget! :)
- What EzineArticles tools do you find the most beneficial?
I’m constantly and pleasantly surprised at all the tools and resources available for free to EzineArticles authors.
I really like that our articles are automatically posted to the EzineArticles Twitter stream. I love getting the immediate reactions from folks who have found my articles via Twitter.
I also absolutely love that we receive the monthly article performance reports. These are invaluable because they let me know what’s working, what I should write more of, and what keyword phrases I should use.
One more thing I think is cool is the keyword density tool that automatically lets us know if we’ve used our keyword phrase a little too much in our articles, and stops us before we publish it. This is especially great for new article marketers because it is an easy mistake to make.
- If you had to start over again, what would you change?
Wow! If I had to start all over again, I would buy less of the “bright and shiny” marketing systems and coaching programs promising me the moon and the stars and just do more of the consistent marketing actions that work. For me, that is writing and publishing articles, then doing it again and again. Yep, I would have taken my writing way more seriously!
- What advice you would give newbie article marketers?
Don’t underestimate the power of article marketing. It can establish you as an authority in your niche and can bring you a steady stream of traffic that you couldn’t stop if you wanted to. It isn’t sexy, and it isn’t bright and shiny, but it is a time-tested marketing strategy that has been proven to work. So don’t worry about whether or not it will work – it will – you just have to be willing to put in the effort.
- Anything else you’d like to share?
It’s important to remember not to over-analyze this whole process. You are not writing novels here. Write what you know. Write in your own voice. Don’t stress about grammar or spelling. Just make the decision to write, and commit to that decision. You will not be disappointed with the results and in fact you may be pleasantly surprised by just how good of a writer you really are. I love it when that happens!
By embracing and practicing the article writing and marketing strategies we recommend to our members, Lisa demonstrates that the EzineArticles system works … and it works well. Like she said, it’s not sexy and it’s not easy, but the results definitely make up for the downside.
Here are 9 suggestions from Lisa that you can put into practice today:
- Teach your readers something useful. It has to count!
- Write authentically: Write your own articles, write how you speak and include your point of view.
- Write consistently (i.e. every day).
- Address your readers real problems and concerns, not the ones you think they have.
- Don’t be afraid to scrap a “crappy” article.
- Consistently use proven marketing strategies that work vs. “bright and shiny” marketing systems and coaching programs.
- Make use of the EzineArticles tools available to all members, like Twitter posting of new articles, article performance reports and the keyword density tool.
- Don’t over-analyze the whole process. You’re not writing novels here.
- Article marketing is FREE! Take advantage of it.
Now put Lisa’s suggestions to good use today by writing a set of new, fresh, high-quality articles. And leave a comment for Lisa. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. :)
Thanks so much Judy. I love that name: Auntie Artichoke!
March 19, 2010 at 1:52 PM[Reply]