If you’re using article marketing, particularly for affiliate marketing, you want your articles to work hard for you. You spend time and money on them, so you need to get the best return possible on your investment. Let’s look at how you can do that.

I’ve been using articles to market my business for over a decade. I’ve had great success with it, particularly since I started using the following four tips.

1. Write Your Resource Box First

When you promote with articles, you’re offering free information. In return, you want your readers to do something for you: you want them to pay attention to your marketing message.

Ensure that your readers pay attention: spend just as much effort on your resource boxes (also known as bios), as you do on your articles, by writing your resource boxes first.

2. Plan Your Articles in Advance

Consider your article marketing strategies when you’re launching a new product, or are developing a new marketing campaign. Write your article titles and outlines in advance, so that they’re ready to go.

Then you can either have someone write the articles for you, or write them yourself, so that they’re ready for your launch.

3. Use Article Marketing to “Freshen” Your Website and Site Pages

The search engines love fresh content. If you have pages on your website which you haven’t revamped in a while, give them a quick makeover, and then write a few articles to draw attention to them.

The result? More indexed pages, and more traffic and sales.

4. Use Search Engine (SEO) Strategies to Boost Your Articles

Remember to think about how your readers will find your articles, as you write them. Include appropriate keywords, but don’t overdo it. One to two primary keywords are ample.

Keywords change over time. Your audience uses different terminology. If you’re using the same keywords you used last year, do some research: you may find keywords which bring you more traffic.

So there you have it: four simple tips you can use to make your articles work harder for you. Use them to ensure success with your article marketing strategies.

“Affiliate marketing is a scam!”

I used to think that too, until I found Wealthy Affiliate. Join us: we’re the happiest online marketers you’ll find, and the friendliest too. Turn your hobby into a full-time, exciting career — you get ALL the information, tools (great tools!) and help you need.

If you’re been in the Internet marketing business for more than a year or two, you’ve got lots of websites — more websites than you can comfortably promote.

All your sites are online properties, and just as with real properties, you can sell your sites. A site sale can bring in some quick cash, which you can invest into new ventures.

Flippa is the primary site-sales site, but there are many more.

Consider selling sites which:

* Are making a great income (sites which are real earners are highly sought-after);

* Sites which are making a small income (you won’t make as much for these);

* Sites you can’t monetize (someone else may be able to do it easily);

* Sites which are “mistakes” — you explored a niche, and decided that it wasn’t for you.

Want a daily inspirational boost for your affiliate marketing efforts?

I’ve been posting daily writing prompts and writing tips on Twitter, and since I’ve found it’s fun, I’ve decided to extend it, and offer daily affiliate marketing tips on Twitter.

Join me, by clicking here.

I’ll be posting at least one affiliate marketing tip a day, and more as I get the time, and if there’s sufficient interest.