Article Submitting: How To Study A Publisher
There are many websites that will host your articles on
the Internet. Some small, some large, some with
guidelines, some without, some support streams of
topics, some have a limited focus, some charge a fee
and some are free.
With so many places to post your articles how can you
maximize distribution with the least amount of effort?
You can do so by being selective. Post your articles
only on sites that support your topic, have integrity,
and have a win/win approach. Since no two websites are
alike. Here are a few features to watch for when
considering your articles for submission:
1. Search capabilities. When you are at the website
is there a search feature visitors can use to find a
certain topic? If the page or pages list articles one
after the other down a long page readers will not get
past the first 20 names. Actually they will not even
read that many. Web viewers do not have the patience
to scroll through rows of titles trying to find the
right subject.
2. How user friendly is the website? If the article
section is buried inside a website and you have
difficulty figuring out how to submit your article you
will want to consider submitting your articles to this
site.
3. What is the purpose of the website? Is that
purpose supportive of your article, topic, and purpose
or detrimental? Is it a sales page just trying to
drive up search engine optimization under false
pretenses? don't be fooled there are many of them out
there. Is the host of the website apparent or
nonexistent? Can you find a phone number or location
-- city, state or country?
4. Submission guidelines. Some websites stipulate a
word count, minimum, maximum or range. If your
article doesn't meet their word count stipulations your
article will normally not get published. Take them
seriously and take the time to read them. More
importantly find a system to track these. I have a
rating system I use with 1 being the perfect submission
site on up to 15 being an absolutely no. I keep track
of the no website sites so that when I'm looking for
new sites I know which ones I have already reviewed.
Since website owners change, just as we do as we learn
and grow with our skills, guidelines change
occasionally as well. I recommend reviewing the
guidelines either every three months or at least ever
six. Some sites have gotten sneaky and post good
guidelines and then change to "we have the copyright
now" sites when you are least expecting it.
There are also a few sneaky submission sites that are
counting on you not reading their guidelines. These
sites stipulate in their guidelines that upon
submission the author gives up their copyright on the
article. Some are blatantly labeled while others are
hidden inside obscure legalize.
Some sites stipulate that you give them permission to
use your material in anything they print or publish.
This means that they can accumulate articles on a
certain subject, and this is their usual intention, put
them together in an ebook and sell the ebook. While
some of you will not mind this and consider it viral
marketing there are some dangers in this. And this
author knows because this has occurred to her materials
before she became wise to the secret purpose.
5. Statistics. There are very few websites that
provide reader statistics. I love the websites that
tell me how many people read the article. I want to
know if a particular topic is well read. Many sites
prefer not to post reader statistics. I suspect it is
because writers would see that there is a very low
count and submitting their articles. Voting on the
article is a nice feature, however, it is not really a
vital statistic counter. Maybe 1 out of 10 to 15 views
will someone take the time to vote. If the voting
feature is remotely positioned viewers never know of
its existence. Even if this feature is position well
on the page -- above the article to let readers know
its there and immediately below the article -- readers
will rarely vote unless the article was awful.
Article hosting and posting is a joint venture -- view
it as such -- and you will maximize your time and
effort.
Copyright 2005, Catherine Franz.
About the Author
Catherine Franz, Millionaire Coach, thinks outside the
box naturally when it comes to attracting money. Order
her latest strategy, How To "Get 'Them' To Follow Your
Yellow Brick Road" report (for professionals,
consultants, employees, and retail store owners).
http://www.marketingstrategiestogo.com