1. What is EzineArticles?
2. What’s the value of membership?

Watch this video to get the answers to those questions and more. And at the same time, meet 4 of the key players on the EzineArticles Team:

• Chris Knight, CEO & Publisher
• The Other Chris, VP of Operations
• Penny, Managing Editor
• Marc, Marketing Manager and Public Relations

Downloadable Versions:
           

We’d prefer you hear our message straight from the horses’ mouths (so to speak). In the process we hope you’ll see, and feel, the passion we have for EzineArticles, our team and our huge family of domestic and international members. None-the-less, we’ve also created a downloadable transcript of the video for those who may need it. [Download PDF - 236K]

Watch the video now. Then leave a comment to tell us what you feel are the biggest benefits of EzineArticles membership.

Answer: Any article for which you do not own the exclusive rights to the content.

As you can probably guess by the title, we’re not overly fond of Private Label Rights content. That’s because the typical PLR scenarios look something like this:

• An author will buy a PLR article pack and submit it as his or her own…
• Or, an author will try to rewrite PLR content and submit it as his or her own…
• Or, they will buy content from a ghostwriter and not triple check the content for originality, only to find out later it’s not original.

This happens far too often and we’ve expended an enormous amount of effort to tag, identify, and not accept this type of content.

As a matter of fact, we feel so strongly about PLR articles that we don’t even allow them to be promoted in our members’ articles. Here’s what the EzineArticles Editorial Guidelines have to say about the matter:

1) i. MUST NOT contain information on: …the promotion of Private Label Rights articles as a good thing (it’s not)…

What’s OK:

• If an article talks about purchasing PLR or resell rights and creating e-books without any reference to article marketing/writing/re-writing or distribution.
• If an article talks about purchasing PLR or resell rights on an e-book and promoting that e-book without any reference to article marketing/writing/re-writing or distribution.
• If an article explains OTHER uses for PLR or resell rights without any reference to article marketing/writing/re-writing or distribution.
• If an article explains PLR or resell rights as a general topic, and does not include any reference to article marketing/writing/re-writing or distribution as an author’s original work.

What’s NOT OK:

• If an article is promoting the use of PLR or resell rights for article writing, re-writing, or distribution as an author’s original work, and as a good thing, it WILL BE rejected. – this is NOT OK. You must submit work that is 100% exclusively owned by you.
• If an article talks about purchasing PLR or resell rights to an e-book and breaking it up for article distribution as an author’s original work – this is NOT OK.

We have a tight automated system in place that continues to feed us information, provides details, and continues to clean out suspect content daily/weekly/monthly. If you did get a PLR article to pass, it won’t be alive for long. In addition, our relationship with you won’t be long-lived either as we terminate accounts that practice this.

(3) Steps to Avoiding the PLR pitfall:

1. Do NOT buy articles from PLR article packs.
2. Do NOT spin your articles with content rewriting software.
3. Submit ONLY 100% ORIGINAL CONTENT.

Using and promoting PLR articles may [falsely] seem like the perfect way to generate a large number of articles quickly…

The downside is that these articles are inherently useless and dangerous. They will NOT be approved by EzineArticles, they will NOT entice your readers to action and they will NOT deliver traffic to your site. They will, however, COST you money and time, DESTROY your credibility and inevitably cause your membership to be Suspended, Terminated and/or Banned.

Whew! That’s a lot of negativity for one blog post! Please share something positive in the comments. =)

EzineArticles alone is a great place to gain exposure for you and your business, but it also serves as a excellent stepping stone for even more exposure through online distribution. Articles you publish on EzineArticles have a good chance of being picked up and republished by a variety of online publishers.

This stroke of good fortune can significantly increase the size of your audience… provided you haven’t mistakenly done something to limit your articles’ ability to be picked up in the first place.

What to Avoid:

• Using language like “In my other articles on this site” or “here at EzineArticles…”
• Placing a reprint rights statement in your resource box which prohibits distribution. We don’t allow this and will place your article in problem status for being in violation of the reprint rights.
• Writing article parts. Article parts are not distribution friendly and may hurt your chances of being picked up by publishers. Every article should stand alone.
• Adding graphs, charts, or other formatting which are not as easy to reproduce as plain text.
• Using your first article to introduce yourself to the EzineArticles community. Do not say things like, “This is my first article. I am looking forward to writing many more. My future articles will be about…” This doesn’t make sense when published on other sites.
• Writing articles which are 1000’s of words long. Several shorter articles (400-700 words) will outperform one long article (over 1000 words), and are more likely to be picked up by publishers.
• Writing research papers which are stuffed with sources and references. Publishers are looking for you to share your own unique expertise; they may be turned off by an article which looks like it’s only appropriate for a peer-reviewed journal or academic site.
• Writing ‘time sensitive’ articles. Publishers won’t be able to update or change your content, so make sure it is “evergreen.” It should be as useful and informative today as two years from now.

Best Practices:

• Imagine your article will appear on many different sites, and realize you may not always know which sites they are. Use wording which applies to a broad context.
• Imagine your article will be reproduced in many different formats: to websites, blog posts, ezine newsletters, email alerts, or RSS feeds.
• Picture what it will be like to read your article 2 years from now. Does it still deliver the same value?
• Write in ‘plain text’. Rely only on sentences, paragraphs and lists to get your point across. Keep the format simple and make sure the article is easy to reproduce.
• Keep it short (400-700 words) and make sure YOU are the primary source of your unique ideas. Leave the research papers to college students. ;-)
• If you include a reprint rights statement, make sure it adheres to the EzineArticles TOS for Publishers.
• Put yourself in the publisher’s shoes… If you were going to reproduce someone else’s article on your site, what would turn you on/off?

Avoiding these pitfalls and following these best practices won’t guarantee your articles will get picked up by publishers. The content of your article still needs to be fresh, lively and interesting enough to appeal to a larger audience.

What optimizing your articles for republication does do is prevent an otherwise great article from being automatically disqualified before it’s ever given a chance.

Do you use other ways to optimize your articles for easier distribution? Leave a comment to share them with the rest of the EzineArticles community.

a.k.a. How to significantly improve your articles’ chances of getting approved the first time

As the EzineArticles Managing Editor I’m often asked, “Penny, what’s the secret to getting my articles approved fast?”

My answer is always the same, “If you’re not quite ready to invest in Premium Membership, the best way to speed up your approvals is to follow these simple guidelines:”

• Read and re-read your article. Double check for grammar and spelling errors that add time to your article review. Verify proper punctuation and read it aloud to determine if the language flows naturally.
• Deliver what you promised in the title. If your title says you’re about to give the reader (5) tips, then give them (5) clear tips which are easy to read and straight to the point.
• Don’t include more than 2 self-serving links (links that you own or have interest in) in the resource box. You want your article to look clean – webmasters and ezine publishers will value your article more when it contains fewer links.
• Don’t use the term “scam” in your article body or title. It causes confusion for both readers and article editors alike and can cause an article to be rejected.

Most importantly, read and follow the posted Editorial Guidelines.

If, despite your best efforts, your article receives a general error, ask the following questions before contacting Member Support:

• Do all the links work?
• Do the links provide value. Are they more than just ads or affiliate links?
• Is the title grammatically correct?
• Does the title make sense? Will readers know what they are going to read based off of the title?
• Does the article contain content that could be perceived as being negative? If so we may not allow it.
• Does the article unjustly review a product by not providing the pros and cons of that product? A good review offers both.
• Is the article content going to be outdated quickly (in a few days)? If so, revise it to reduce the loss of value over time.

That’s all there is to it. Following this advice will help ensure that the vast majority of your article submissions will get approved the first time.

One final tip: Submit more articles! It’s simple – the more articles you write, the better you’ll become at creating articles that not only engage and motivate your reader, but also fly through the EzineArticles approval process. Best of all, those additional articles will generate more exposure and traffic to your website!

We know a good idea when we see one; and this just might be one of those ideas. Although this isn’t an official EzineArticles program, we thought it warranted a little EzineArticles mug love.

Sign up for Jeff Herring’s 100 Articles in 100 Days Marathon Challenge (HAHD) and you could win a limited-edition #HAHD mug courtesy of EzineArticles.

You can find more here: http://100articles100days.ning.com You’ll get support and encouragement from a community of over 400 other members already enrolled in the challenge. Not only that, on the site you’ll find:

• An Interactive Blog
• A Listing of Events
• A Place to Upload Your Videos
• A Discussion Forum
• Focus Groups
• And Much More!

And the best part? EzineArticles will give one of these fine, limited-edition #HAHD mugs to everyone who completes Jeff’s challenge by submitting (100) articles on, or before, 11:59:59PM CDT Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

The idea for the challenge was born on Saturday morning March 21, 2009 while Jeff Herring, Felicia Slattery and Keith Goodrum were talking on Twitter. Keith suggested the name, and before they could barely blink the idea went viral on Twitter and just took off. However, the official start date is March 20, 2009.

So you need to get started right away with creating and submitting your articles. For them to count in the HAHD Marathon Challenge mug give-away promotion you will need to submit them to EzineArticles.com on or before July 1, 2009 – your “Traffic Independence Day”.

The Fine Print:
- All (100) articles must be by the same author/pen name
- Winners will be chosen and verified by July 8, 2009
- Those who believe they have met the challenge requirements must request the mug and provide shipping information via a form or email address; details on where to give us that info will be posted here on July 1st.

Be sure to follow us on http://Twitter.com/EzineArticles/ for daily article writing & marketing tips, strategies & insights to help you succeed in a big way!

Are you in?

Add a comment to this blog stating that you’re going to commit to be one of the expert authors who writes & submits 100 articles in less than the 100 remaining days.

• My Next 10 Article Ideas – Full Page [PDF]
• My Next 10 Article Ideas – 2 Per Page [PDF]

To help you fill up your notepads, here are 10 tips for generating some fresh article ideas:

1. Use any keyword research tool or website that can help you identify relevant topics that readers in your niche are currently searching for.
2. Review the last 3 months of questions your clients have sent you via email or over the phone. Write articles (confidentially!) that answer their questions.
3. Survey your audience or clients via email. Identify the top 20 concerns or areas of interest for them and write articles that address these.
4. Run a free teleseminar for your clients, prospects or ideal market audience. Use it to give of your expertise while polling them for ideas and feedback.
5. Transcribe your teleseminar and break it up into smaller, bite-size articles.
6. Call your top ideal clients and ask them to help you identify what area of your expertise they perceive as being the most valuable. Then write to your strength.
7. Setup email alerts (or subscribe to RSS feeds) when new articles are available in your niche. Use these for inspiration only.
8. Find a curiosity in your field, something uncommon, which sparks your readers’ interest.
9. Go to Amazon.com and type in a subject similar to yours. Up come hundreds, if not thousands, of titles that can help generate fresh ideas.
10. Look at the websites that have published your articles from EzineArticles and you’ll find lots of inspiration from people who have see your expertise from another angle.

So submit those articles! We just gave away “real” notepads and an Expert Author notebook sticker to our top (500) authors based on new article submissions for the month of February. We want you to be eligible for our next surprise giveaway. And the next one after that. And the next one after that… =)

In the U.S. we seem to have an obsession with turning things green to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day. Sure, we do the traditional green beer, green eggs with ham and Lucky Charms with green milk, but we also go green on a much larger scale. For example:

• Chicago, IL dyes its river green.
• Savannah, GA dyes its downtown city fountains green.
• Rolla, MO paints (12) city blocks green with mops for the annual parade.
• Indianapolis, IN dyes its main canal green.
• Jamestown, NY the Chadakoin River is dyed green.

Speaking of green, there’s still time to participate in our St. Patrick’s Day promotion to qualify for (1) of only (17) limited-edition EzineArticles Leprecaun mugs. Check out yesterday’s blog entry to learn more.

The rules are simple: The top (17) authors based on the highest number of qualified article submissions between midnight and midnight CDT on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) will each receive one of these fine limited-edition EzineArticles Leprechaun mugs which we’ll ship to any confirmed postal address around the world. We’ll announce the (17) winners by Noon CDT on Wednesday, March 18th.

So it’s time to get your blarney on and submit those articles – maybe you’ll have the luck of the Irish!

Here’s another handy EzineArticles tool to add to your website or blog – the Author Alert Sign-Up Box. Now visitors to your site can sign-up to receive email alerts about your latest published articles.

It’s Easy to Find:

1. Log into your EzineArticles Expert Author account
2. Click on the “Author Tools” drop-down menu
3. Select “Create Author Sign-Up Box”

It’s Easy to Customize and Preview:

1. In Box 1 click on “Pick a Template” and choose “Wider” or “Smaller”
2. Click on “Choose a Color” and select a color to match your site
3. Click on “Change Dimensions” and type in the desired dimensions to adjust the size
4. Click on “Change Author Name” and pick any author name from the list
5. View the preview in Box 2 and make changes as needed

It’s Easy to Install:

1. When you’re satisfied, select and copy the HTML code in box 3 to your clipboard
2. Paste the code into your website or blog

Examples of the “Author Alert Sign-Up Box”:

Option #1: 160 X 80

Option #2: 400 X 70

All subscription requests go through a double-opt in (also known as “confirm-opt-in”) process to ensure they really wanted to receive email alerts whenever you have new EzineArticles published. Members can unsubscribe at any time with our failsafe unsub process in each mailing.

This is a brand new tool for us, so please leave a comment (good or bad) to let us know how it’s working for you.

Along with being an Expert Author, Edward is considered by many to be the Internet’s favorite piano instructor. His site offers step-by-step instructions and video tutorials, plus a guarantee that anyone can learn how to play New Age piano.

And check out these stats! Over 270 approved articles and almost 400,000 views since February, 2005 – that translates to 300 views per article per year! At his current rate this is what his numbers will look like in (10) years:

• Over 600 Approved Articles
• More than 190,000 Article Views per Year
• In Excess of 1.8 Million Total Views

We had a chance to ask Edward about the keys to his success as an Article Writer and Marketer:

1. Over 270 articles – pretty impressive! How do you keep feeding the article hopper?

“That’s a good question. When I first noticed EzineArticles a few years ago, I already had about 100 or so articles written. These were all for my newsletter and when I found out about article marketing and your site, it was easy to just submit them.”

“After that, I committed to writing a few articles a week. Now, I just write articles to match keywords to my target audience. For instance, last Christmas I wrote an article titled “Free Christmas Sheet Music for Piano” and that got over 8,000 hits in less than 3 months! So it really is all about targeting the right keywords.”

2. What EzineArticles tools do you find most useful?

“I’d have to say the ease of actually submitting an article. I like your WYSIWYG editor and since you’ve made improvements, it’s even easier to submit articles. I also like the stats feature. It lets me know which articles are drawing interest and which ones are duds.”

3. What kind of traffic do your articles generate for you?

“A ton! And that’s probably because I’ve written a lot of articles targeted to my niche ‘New Age Piano’. In fact, EzineArticles is ALWAYS in the top 5 referrers for all the traffic I get. And it’s the best kind of traffic. When people click on one of my ads, it’s good. When people visit my site after reading one of my articles, that’s infinitely better! Why? Because they are warmed up to what I have to offer.”

4. What advice would you offer a newbie author?

“Focus your efforts on really being an expert in your niche. I know this is said a lot, but the more you focus your article marketing, the more readers see you as THE expert in whatever niche you’re in. Fortunately for me, I’m the only one (to my knowledge) doing what I do; which is teach New Age piano online.”

“Also, set a goal. Five articles is not enough to establish you as an expert author. Sure, it’s a great start but I’d say write at least 2 articles a week. After a year, you’ll have more than 100 articles and that’s something.”

5. In your eyes, what makes you unique as an article marketer?

“I’m constantly searching for opportunities to write articles that will reach my target audience. I use the Google Insights for Search feature. This gives me a very valuable look at what people are searching for and what the hot searches are. It also tells me the geographic locations for where people are searching. An invaluable tool I highly recommend.”

Thanks Edward Weiss for being an Expert Author and a talented member of the EzineArticles community!

One parting thought: If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll note that our impressive 10-year growth prediction for Ed factored out his (100) initial articles. That means that his average growth rate is (34) articles/year… that’s less than (1) article/week. Think you can write just (1) article each week? If you’re not already, give it try. In a very short time, you’ll start to see numbers like Ed’s!