Distributing Reprint Articles for the Best Results

by Bill Platt

Published on this site: August 31st, 2005 - See more articles from this month

There are many writers who are utilizing article distribution services to get articles published in ezines and newsletters and on websites. These articles always have a link back to the website of the writer in the article's Resource Box - the About the Author information which typically follows an article. This has always been one of the best methods a webmaster could use to generate web traffic to his or her site.

The Economic Value of Distributing Articles

When comparing the cost of preparing an article and distributing it to publishers and webmasters, your overall articles costs are still really small... Especially when you compare that cost against the cost of buying advertising in the same ezines, newsletters and websites that will publish your article. On top of that, when a website publishes an article that you wrote, the article will usually remain on the website for years to come. But, when you buy an ad for your business at a website, you need to pay that advertising rate every single month for as long as your want your ad to remain on that website.

When you want to measure the effectiveness of an article, you should measure the cost of advertising in the ezines and newsletters where you were published, plus the cost of advertising on the websites where your article was reprinted.

If you invest the time and effort to calculate the value of the advertising earned from a reprint article versus the cost of creating and distributing that article, you will quickly realize why so many people recommend this promotional technique.

Traffic is a Two-Sided Coin With Reprint Articles

When we first got into writing articles for promotional purposes, we were entirely focused on getting our articles published in ezines and newsletters. The all-important link back to your site can reach thousands of publishers, and through the publishers, you can quite possibly reach millions of readers. And these are not just ordinary readers either; they are members of YOUR target audience.

The ezines and newsletters that will publish your articles have already told their readers that they will be providing information on the topics that you have written about. And, the readers have all taken a pro-active step to add their email address to the mailing list of the ezine that is publishing your work.

While most ezines have a subscriber base in the range of ten to twenty thousand, there are still some really large ezines with subscribers in the hundreds of thousands out there that will be happy to share your materials with their readers.

These days, it is all about the search engines. Webmasters want to add fresh content to their websites regularly, so they can improve their search engine traffic. And, writers want to see their articles on third-party websites, so that they can build their link popularity and improve their own search engine positioning.

The Nature of Getting Your Articles in Ezines and Websites

Once, you have taken the time and effort to create your reprint articles, you will want to send them to the largest number of publishers and webmasters who have expressed an interest in publishing what you have written.

Many writers who are just getting started will try to do all of the distribution work themselves. They will search high and low to find the sites that accept reprint articles and they will look for the article distribution mailing lists that other writers are using. Then, they will commence the task of distributing their articles to the various sites and lists that accept reprint articles.

The entire process can be very time-consuming and frustrating for the writer. Most lists will only permit you to distribute your articles if you are willing to accept other writer's articles as well. If you find yourself subscribed to one of the bigger mailing lists, you could legitimately get hundreds of articles a day dropped into your mailbox. Add to this the fact that most writers are subscribed to up to seven different distribution lists, and then that one hundred articles a day could become seven hundred articles per day. Some people want out of the distribution lists the day after they start.

Then you have the added challenge of remembering what the posting rules are for each mailing list that you will join. Pushing the rules to the side and forging ahead could get you banned from participation in many of the article distribution lists.

Keeping everything straight and muddling through all of the incoming messages is tough enough for the average marketer. But, then you add the challenge of getting your article into the article databases that offer reprint articles to publishers. Each article archive directory generally requires for you to login and to follow their unique posting rules to get your articles into their database. This requires even more of the writer's time.

Most writers end up making some type of compromise in order to get their articles distributed. They will either set aside half a day to a full day for the distribution of a single article, or they will limit their distribution range to the mailing lists and article sites that make it easy for them to accomplish the greatest results in the least amount of time.

What many writers fail to realize is that some of the article distribution lists where they are trying to submit articles, are not accepting their articles. Others aren't accepting anyone's articles and haven't done so since 2000. Some are still accepting articles, but only from those people who were approved for unlimited posting privileges prior to the disappearance of the list moderator some time ago. These writers, who already feel pressed for time, are wasting more precious time submitting articles to lists and reprint article directories that are not accepting their article submissions.

Sometimes it Makes Sense to Employ a Service Provider

There are a handful of well-established and experienced distribution services that can get your article to multiple publishers with very little time investment on your part. The distribution services will do this for a small fee and send your article to targeted publishers of ezines, newsletters and websites. Rates vary from service to service.

Many writers use a number of article distribution services to distribute their articles. The reason is that all services use SOME of the same distribution outlets, but all services also have unique outlets not available to the other service providers.

The writers who use a number of services do so to increase the overall reach of their articles, to maximize their results.

The Changing Marketplace

Recently there have been a number of new distribution services popping up who claim to be able to distribute your articles to publishers at a lower cost. These new distributors are offering bargain basement rates such as $40 for three months and unlimited article submissions. Sounds like a great deal right? Well there are a number of problems with using a cheap service such as this.

The primary problem with these cheap service providers is that you will put all of your articles into their database at your convenience. Then, the service will turn around and distribute all of the articles you have put into their database, on the same day that you put them into their database.

Here is the problem. Nearly every article distribution mailing list in existence has a limit of one or two article submissions per writer per day limit.

Suppose for example that you put 100 articles into the service's database in the same day. Then the cheap distribution service will turn around and send all 100 of your articles to the article distribution mailing lists on that same day. Your first or second article may get full distribution. Your next 98 articles will be deleted from the groups without ever having been posted. And, you will likely find yourself banned from future participation in the article distribution groups.

So, if you think that you are saving money by using a bargain basement newcomer, you really aren't. That $40 you spent will only get two of your articles into circulation. The other 98 articles you put into the cheap service's database will never reach beyond that service's website.

Professionals Can Make a Difference

A major article distribution company understands the intricacies of the world of article publishing, whereas a cheap newcomer is simply looking to make a quick buck off of you.

If you want your articles and links to reach the targeted publishers and targeted audiences that would be interested in purchasing your goods or services, then you should seriously consider spending a little more money to use a well established distributor from the outset. This will also save you the time and hassle of posting articles that will never see the light of day.

In the end, you want the best bang for your buck.

Sometimes the best bang for your buck requires that you spend a little more money upfront. With an established and experienced article distribution company, you might just find that you can get better results from each article, and you will still have an audience for your articles two weeks or two years from now.

You can make the most of your advertising when you use an article distribution company who will put your needs first - always keeping in mind what will help YOU to generate the best results for your investment.

Bill Platt has been providing article distribution services since 2001. He can get your reprint articles delivered to 17,000+ publishers and webmasters looking for quality reprint content. Bill is uniquely qualified to help you to get the best return-on-investment for your promotional articles. But, don't take my word for it, see for yourself what his clients have had to say about his services: http://thephantomwriters.com/testimonials