Joe Cline – Author Spotlight
Expert Author Joe Cline is in today’s Author Spotlight.
Joe is a professional real estate broker, investor, and Realtor with RE/MAX in Austin, Texas. He uses article marketing to not only draw traffic to his website, but also to educate his current and potential clients.
What sets Joe apart from many Expert Authors is that he does something very few members can do effectively – he uses the power of localized niche articles, within EzineArticles Guidelines, to promote his city, his site and his services. His key to success is simply delivering on the promise he makes in the title. When his title mentions a specific aspect of Austin life, his article body delivers on that promise by providing valuable information specifically about that particular aspect of Austin.
We asked Joe to share his thoughts on article marketing, writing localized niche articles and how article marketing has impacted his business.
- You do something very few authors manage to do – you write and use localized niche articles effectively. What’s your secret?
No secret really. They say knowledge is power and that’s very true. Writing is just my way of making sure that I am staying professional and informing prospects and clients about local news in a way that allows leverage. It would be difficult to call every client and tell them of every development every day, writing let’s my clients subscribe and read what interests them while ignoring what doesn’t.
- Your main article topics center around real estate, which is your profession. However, many of your articles are simply about local Austin, TX attractions or other topics. Why the multiple topics? Do those off-topic articles have a positive impact on your business?
Austin is an amazing city and just talking real estate would do a disservice to people interested in Austin. Austin is known for its live music scene, cycling enthusiasts, dog-friendly businesses, progressive eco-friendly attitude, and laid back atmosphere. These things make buying a home or investment property in Austin safer and more appealing and folks need to know about the environment in which they are purchasing.
- You’ve been writing and submitting articles since 2005, but about 90% of them have been written in the last few months. What spurred this recent activity?
The market had picked up so much in 2006-2008 that I didn’t make time to write. I really wish that I had because it has significantly increased traffic to my site and comments from prospects about how much information I provide them. With the economic uncertainty in 2009 it became apparent that I needed to step up my marketing and really demonstrate my professional acumen so that clients would find me instead of me chasing them. Writing articles and showing your local knowledge is a great way to do just that.
- How does article marketing fit into your overall marketing plan?
I have all but abandoned traditional print marketing. I still make fliers for my listings, but other than that, I write articles, do press releases for notable Austin events, and occasionally make videos to give my readers some interactive content. Article marketing is a key aspect to gaining both traffic and links and also showcases my extensive market knowledge in a way that is unpretentious, but effective.
- What’s the one piece of advice you would give newbie article marketers?
Keep at it. Measure where you are at before you start, then give it 6 months before you try to evaluate your results. At the 6 month mark, see if you want to keep going. I think you will if you just keep at it and let the traffic build, let links flow, and write quality content.
- You’ve written more than 5 articles per week for the last several months. How do you keep yourself motivated and on track?
Make the writing of articles a daily habit. Set a time, just as you might with prospecting, and get it done. You won’t feel like doing it every day, but just like working out, you need to be consistent to see results. Set a time every day and write one article.
Thanks, Joe!
Remember, the techniques Joe uses are not a secret – the knowledge is available to all of our members! EzineArticles membership is FREE, as are all of the tools and training materials. Take advantage of all we have to offer and you too can reap the benefits of added traffic, increased credibility and more sales!
Now put this information to good use by writing and submitting some great end-of-year articles. Approval times for Basic, Basic+ and Platinum level authors are less than 2 days. And keep in mind that our Editorial Team wraps up for the holidays this Wednesday afternoon, so get those articles submitted now!
Hi Michael,
How exactly do you use your Flip cam to turn articles into videos? What I do is read my article into the mic of the flip and have a black background on the video with the title of my article and my name and website address.
Jared
December 21, 2009 at 1:34 PM[Reply]
Actually, I just make some notes about what I want to write about, and take my camera somewhere cool and talk into my camera. Then I extract the audio and send it to my transcriptionist.
Easy as pie!
Micheal
December 21, 2009 at 11:36 PM[Reply]