Building eCommerce

By Stephanie Foster

Writing is one of the most popular online jobs. There’s a good reason for it - it’s relatively easy and many people can do an adequate job of it.

Writing online content doesn’t necessarily pay well in many cases, but it’s relatively easy to get something for your efforts. It’s not going to pay what you would get if you had an article published in a major magazine, but then most magazine articles are much harder to write and get accepted. The standards are different.

That said, if you aren’t interested in a career as a freelance writer for magazines, newspapers and so forth, but just want to write simple articles in quantity it’s not a bad way to go. The pay’s not great but the flexibility is there. You’ll generally be able to write completely on your own schedule.

The trick comes in how you get paid. I strongly recommend getting paid by the article in most cases. It’s nice to know what you’re going to get. You can get $5 per article or even less at some sites.

Some sites would rather pay based on impressions, then pay out when you reach a certain level. The trouble with this is that there’s no guarantee you’ll get anything if you don’t reach the payout level. Many articles just don’t get that much traffic. And if you do get paid, it’s not too uncommon for things to stick at that under $5 level even over a period of time. It’s just not worth it on average.

Get an above average response to an article that pays on views and you might do better, but that’s a huge if.

Other sites pay on ad income. This can be good or bad also. Overall you aren’t likely to get much on most articles. This can be sites such as Squidoo where you can even include ads in your content on your own, or blogs that accept articles and handle ad placement on their own.

Anything where you’re getting paid on view or on ad income, the site will encourage you to also drive traffic to your articles so that you earn more. In essence, they expect you to write for them and promote for them. It’s a lot of extra work, potentially.

Sites that pay per article accepted include Associated Content, Bright Hub and Demand Studios. You may also want to consider trying for a Guide position with About.com, as they pay a set rate monthly with expectations of how much you will write for them, for the first two years, and then base it on the ad income that comes in.

This isn’t work that will make you rich, as a general rule, but it can bring in that bit of money you need to help your income when you’re at home.

About The Author

Stephanie Foster lists work at home jobs at http://www.homewiththekids.com/work-at-home/ on her site. To find more work at home writing jobs, visit her site.

Distributed by http://www.ContentCrooner.com

By Carol Palmatier

You may feel like you’re drowning in work trying to get your startup off the ground. Marketing is often the hardest part. Article marketing automation implements article distribution and social networking to make marketing your startup a breeze.

Getting started doesn’t have to be so difficult with the many tools available to you online. The real marketing work begins once your website is set up. Make the most of article marketing automation and social networking to ensure the success of your startup.

One of the best ways to reach your target market relatively easily is with article distribution. Combining article marketing with the tools available in the Web 2.0 world will give you more access than ever to potential customers.

Understanding Web 2.0

The first step to business success with social networking is to understand what Web 2.0 means. Web 2.0 is a term used to group online services and web applications that facilitate collaboration, communication, and sharing information between users. Web-based communities like Twitter, forums, social networking sites like Facebook, video sharing sites, wikis and blogs are all examples of Web 2.0.

User connectivity is the key. Allowing users to interact with each other and edit each other’s content is the real difference between Web 1.0 and the new Web 2.0. With Web 2.0 we’ve moved from passive viewing to interactive websites and applications.

Online communities allow you to build a new kind of relationship with your customers. Combined with article distribution, sites like Facebook and Twitter can provide a great link to targeted, interested customers. Article marketing has become popular for a reason - it really works as a marketing tool in this new generation of online businesses and Web 2.0.

Article Marketing in a Web 2.0 World

Article marketing lets you provide quality, original content to various online publishers to be published on relevant and popular websites with a link back to your own website. It’s a great way to connect with consumers and show off your knowledge and expertise about the product you’re selling.

What better way to gain customers for your new business than showing them that just because you’re new doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re talking about? You’ll be able to gain their trust before they ever even click over to your home page.

Once you’ve gotten some articles distributed online, you can use networking sites to gain exposure for your material. You can share links to your articles with potential customers who have become fans on Facebook or followers on other sites. Use social networks to share information about the type of product or service they’re looking to buy.

In addition to any hits you can get from search engines indexing your articles, you’re exposing willing consumers to your extensive knowledge. You provide quality information and give them the confidence they need to decide to buy from you.

Web 2.0 platforms allow you to develop a closer and more personal relationship with your customers. Why just share straight information when you can also share sales, news about new products, your thoughts about the industry and even contests or coupons. Just like Web 2.0 itself, you move your business from being something customers view passively to something they can interact with and learn from.

Article Marketing Automation and Web 2.0

One of the newest and most exciting aspects of article marketing with Web 2.0 is article marketing automation. This can be a great tool, especially for startup business owners. Article marketing automation allows you to submit content ahead of time to be published at a later date.

With automated publishing, you can get everything set up and ready to go during the startup phase. When your business starts picking up you can concentrate on success and growth while your article marketing campaign runs itself.

With Web 2.0, social networking, and article distribution, you can sail through your startup instead of getting bogged down. You’re ready to go, and with the tools now available for marketing your new business online, you’ll be seeing customers rolling in before you know it.

About The Author

Carol Palmatier is a freelance consultant offering internet marketing advice to businesses and non-profits. Article marketing is the best way to build backlinks, traffic and expert status, and she recommends Content Crooner for article distribution. Why? Because it works!

Distributed by http://www.ContentCrooner.com