Expert Author Case Study: Sharon Hurley Hall
Today’s 
Expert Author Case Study introduces us to British Expert Author Sharon Hurley Hall, a writer and online marketer who embraces much of what EzineArticles considers to be best practice.
Let’s face it, there are an infinite number of ways to be successful in article writing and marketing. In Expert Author Case Studies, like this one, and the Quick Case Studies, we share some of these varied methods and explore what it takes to survive and thrive in the online article arena.
We recognize the validity of the many different paths to article writing and marketing success. None are the absolute right way to do it and each has merit in a given situation. However, EzineArticles does have to establish and promote a philosophy and methodology that we consider to be the overall best practice for the typical Expert Author. Rarely do we see somebody who demonstrates this as a whole. Instead, we see the results in bits and pieces across a wide range of members.
Sharon Hurley Hall is an excellent example of a member who has taken our advice as a package, instead of piecemeal like most members, and parlayed that advice into making a living with the written word. She is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor living in England. She has worked in several countries and speaks English, French, Spanish and German. Sharon has lectured on journalism and media issues and has also done research into media education.
She recently took part in our Expert Author Case Study project and briefly shared her perspective and insights with us.
- Sharon, what sets you apart from other Expert Authors?
I’m a professional web content writer and blogger and I write articles not only for myself, but for my clients.
- What’s your secret to article writing and marketing success?
The people who read these articles are looking for information; it’s my job to provide well-researched and factual articles that deliver on the promise in the title. That’s what keeps readers reading – and what encourages them to follow the links in your resource box.
- How do you stay motivated to write articles?
Motivation isn’t usually a problem. Part of the joy of writing is finding out about new things and sharing those discoveries with others. And since this is what I do for a living, most of the time I can write even if I’m not motivated.
- How do you decide what to write about?
When writing for myself, I look to my blog for inspiration. If anything has had a good response from readers, then I can use that as the subject of an article. For clients, it’s all about the keywords they want to target.
- How do you balance writing for quality and quantity?
I try to provide value with everything I write, so even if I am writing 50 articles on a topic, they all need to be factual, well-researched and appealing to readers to meet my standards.
- How has using EzineArticles affected your traffic?
I haven’t stopped singing the praises of EzineArticles since I published my first article here in 2005. That first article is still bringing traffic to my site, as are all the others. Article marketing really works!
- How does article marketing fit into your overall marketing plan?
It’s a key part of any promotional strategy, and I recommend it to all my clients as well.
- What EzineArticles tools do you find the most beneficial?
I particularly like the stats so I can see how articles are doing. The best bit of those is the keyword analysis that shows how people have found articles. It’s a good way to get ideas for new articles.
- If you had to start over again, what would you change?
I’d write better resource boxes. My first ones weren’t that great – not optimized and no proper call to action.
- What advice would you give newbie article marketers?
Just what I’ve said before. There are lots of ways to find ideas for articles – start with your own blog. There’s also lots of great advice on this site about article marketing and writing resource boxes from Chris Knight and others. Read that and you can really nail this marketing technique.
Did you notice that Sharon’s answers are short, sweet and to-the-point? That’s because the strategies she uses are also short, sweet and to-the-point. Best practices don’t need to be elaborate to be effective. Oftentimes, simplicity is the true key to success. Like these strategies, for example …
7 Expert Author Best Practices:
- Provide well-researched and factual articles that deliver on the promise in the title.
- Find out about new things and share your discoveries with others.
- Look to your blog for inspiration. If anything has had a good response from readers, then use that as the subject of an article.
- Make article marketing part of your overall marketing plan.
- Use Article Stats to see how your articles are performing. Use the keyword analysis component – it shows how people found your articles.
- Read the EzineArticles Blog. It’s a good way to get ideas for new articles and great advice about article marketing.
- Try to write better Resource Boxes that are optimized and have a proper call to action.
Thanks to Sharon for giving us an opportunity to focus on the power of good, basic article marketing and writing practices! If you liked what you read, why not leave a comment and tell Sharon about it. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. :-)
A resource box is the part at the end of the article where you can include links to resources you want to highlight. Some sites call it the bio, but it’s much more than that as you can change it for each article and use keyword optimized links that encourage readers to click them.
June 16, 2010 at 9:32 AM[Reply]
Thank you for sharing with the rest of us. I am going to focus on the call to action first and will continue to incorporate other good things you have said as well. all the best to you.
June 17, 2010 at 11:17 AM[Reply]