Control Your Content or Go Out of Business

I am convinced that some people have self-destructive personalities. And I don’t mean the individual who overeats or drinks too much, or the person who recklessly races down the freeway.

Rather, this self-destructive personality is the writer who relies exclusively on third parties to host their content, including articles, photos and other user-generated material that can simply go away in just a moment.

Last month, I wrote “Why Giving Up Blogging May Be Your Worst Decision,” to touch on the importance of maintaining your own site(s). Today, I am going to get specific on how your most valuable content can quickly disappear.

Am I being an alarmist? I’ll let you decide. However, the facts are clear that when you post material to a website or service that you do not control, then you risk having that information deleted, changed or used for purposes other than what you intended.

1. Terms of service. I read recently where a controversial website that was dedicated to exposing the lies of another organization was suddenly shut down. That website seemed to be telling the truth, but it was hosted on WordPress.com, a free blog hosting site managed by the makers of that powerful content management system. The blog’s opponents seized upon WordPress’ “terms of service,” which clearly spell out that “hate speech” is not allowed. The term “hate speech” is loosely defined, but if someone does not like what you have to say and complains to the right source, then your material can be removed. Fortunately for the owners, they had a database backup and were able to transfer their blog to a private hosting company. Others are not so lucky.

2. Rules are changed. Again. The popularity of Facebook is evident with more than 800 million global users registered as we begin 2012. Its strength and influence cannot be denied, but Facebook has lulled legions of users into pouring all of their resources into its vast pit of accumulated content, material that becomes the property of Facebook. Contributing to Facebook isn’t wrong, but it should never be your primary way of reaching your customers or the people you influence. Even if you delete your Facebook account, the process is not an easy one and your information may remain on Facebook’s servers.

3. Strong platforms fade. Facebook has supplanted MySpace in social media and Google has conquered Yahoo in web search. As difficult as it is to imagine either of these newer platforms being overtaken by an emerging entity, that possibility always exists. Back in the 1990s, message boards and forums ruled, and were destinations unto themselves. Users freely shared valuable information that took countless hours to write. Many of those sites are now gone and the content its contributors submitted has long disappeared. You may be satisfied with your content’s short term influence, but if you want what you write to last for the long haul, then only the sites you control can ensure its continued visibility.

4. Your shortened links no longer work. Besides the content you write, the links you share via social media should be of critical importance to you. Those links can attract new clients and be useful for years to come. However, if a link shortener’s service shuts down, then your links will go away with it. Use a stable link shortening platform, particularly one that allows you to track analytics. I recently started using Google’s goo.gl shortener and am impressed by what this service has to offer.

Extreme reliance on others to host your content can adversely impact your business, perhaps forcing you to close up shop. Even if the hit is only temporary, you’ll lose valuable time and will need to expend resources to retrieve what you have lost. I dobut that you can afford to take such a hit nor should you.

Why Article Marketing Just Won’t Go Away

How you can benefit from this established marketing practice.

Article marketing isn’t about to go away. You probably knew that, but what you might not know is why this form of “getting the word out” still works.

Marketing Expertise

I consider myself an expert of sorts in article marketing. Beginning in 2005, I was hired by a client to write articles for his business and post those articles to various marketing directories, but especially to EzineArticles. “Ezine” is owned by Christopher Knight and if there is any one person who knows article marketing better than Knight, then I haven’t met him. Come to think of it I haven’t met Knight either. Moving on….

Seven years later, I have scads of articles posted to directories. At one point I was No. 10 on EzineArticles’ list, but eventually I shifted my sites to magazines, blogs and websites. Yes, I was paid to write for the directories and to post those articles. Maybe I should change my tense here because I still market articles on a regular basis. These days I write about a dozen articles each month for EzineArticles and other sites for my clients.

I thought article marketing would eventually fade away, but at this point in the game, I still see benefit from having original and interesting articles posted to other sites and picked up, with backlinks intact and posted elsewhere.

Article Marketing

Here is why article marketing will continue to thrive over the next few years:

1. It is free content — Even if an article is eventually posted to multiple sites, the people who are doing the posting are getting free content. Sure, you NEVER want to rely exclusively on content used available for use elsewhere, but with article directories you can find some good reads to include on your site. In exchange, you’re expected to keep the links in the “author’s resource” section in place.

2. Authors can build a name for themselves — If everyone knows who you are, then article marketing won’t matter to you. For people who want to make a name for themselves or desire to expand their base, then writing several quality articles and offering these to the directories makes sense. The alternative is to find a website to host these articles, but that doesn’t always work out. Besides, if you want multiple backlinks, then article marketing is the fastest way to gain these.

3. You don’t have to be a writer — Writing for the article directories is one way people who aren’t especially good at writing can hone their skills. Of course, that means some of the articles submitted to and accepted by the directories aren’t first-rate. Still, if you are looking for an audience and can’t afford the services of a copywriter, then the article submission route is a very good way to go.

4. Your article stays in place always — This is where you need to be careful about submitting your articles. Use a directory that isn’t proven or regularly updated and you’ll risk that your article will someday disappear. Personally, I don’t count who picks up my articles and where they get republished — I’m satisfied that the article directory has a copy and that copy will continue to send links back to my sites or my customers’ sites for years to come. Choose only an established directory and avoid those with little to no standards.

5. You’ll get new business — As a writer, I know my articles have brought in new business for me. As for my clients, they’re satisfied on two fronts: 1) backlinks are gradually built up and, 2) more customers find their websites. What they pay for my services is a cost they’ll need to recoup. I’m confident that my services are a moneymaker for them, otherwise why am I still doing article marketing?

Final Thoughts

One bit of advice that should be used is this: when you market your articles, submit what you write to just one directory. Multiple submits are a waste of time — find a directory or two or three that you like and send your articles there. Keep track of your articles including how many times each article is picked up and redistributed. Work on writing catchy titles, use your keywords wisely and put in place your sub-heads too.