| iv id="body"> | | | | 27. AllFreelanceWork.com: This directory has a PR |
| Following is Part 5 of my case study on article | | | | rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 50,575. |
| marketing. Specifically, I'm studying the following topic - | | | | This is not a directory, but a freelance job listing site |
| in detail: Article Marketing - Does It Work, Or Not? | | | | that has a ton of useful tools for freelancers - job |
| Wanting to create more passive income, I decided to | | | | listings, article submission, freelance software, posting |
| try article marketing because I'd always gotten good | | | | of freelancer profiles, etc. |
| results with it getting the word out about my | | | | This site can be overwhelming because it offers so |
| businesses in the past. | | | | much. To make effective use of it, figure out which |
| Following are more of the sites I'm consistently | | | | features fit into your freelance plan. I've been a user of |
| submitting articles to. I chose them because they have | | | | this site off and on for the past 5 years or so and for |
| good PR and Alexa rankings. For explanations of | | | | my money, it is one of the best sites on the web for |
| these, as well as details on the beginning of the | | | | freelancers. |
| experiment, see the 10/26/06 post on | | | | 28. (AC): This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an |
| 21. AuthorConnection.com: This directory has a PR | | | | Alexa rank of 5,082. |
| rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 278,391. | | | | This site describes itself as a "media community." If |
| You must create an author account to submit. They | | | | you are a freelance writer -- or a business owner |
| assign you an author ID, which is a little annoying | | | | seeking a low-cost, effective media outlet -- this site is |
| because I can never remember mine and have to | | | | a must. |
| stop what I'm doing, locate it and then log in. | | | | You must create an author account to publish and |
| It's a minor inconvenience, but as I've said before, when | | | | they take up to 8 days to approve an article. They |
| you are manually submitting, anything that takes more | | | | almost always adhere this guideline. A few times |
| time is just a pain. Another thing that is a little | | | | they've taken as long as 10 days to approve one of |
| bothersome with this directory is their subcategory | | | | my articles, but this is rare. On the flip side, they will |
| listing. | | | | rarely approve an article BEFORE this timeframe. |
| What I mean is, once you choose your main category, | | | | The best part of AC, they PAY for articles. So, if |
| they ask you to select up to five subcategories to put | | | | you've written it and are distributing it for free, why not |
| your article in. While this may seem like a good thing, I | | | | pick up a little cash on the side. The minimum you can |
| find it too time-consuming. | | | | receive if they accept your article for publishing is $3 |
| I'd rather have the main and sub-categories listed | | | | (payment can go as high as $40). They pay via |
| together and be able to select right from the get-go | | | | PayPal and payment is prompt (within a few days). |
| where I wanted my article to go. | | | | I've made hundreds of dollars over the course of a |
| No article stats are provided here, but a tracking | | | | few months submitting my articles here. AND, I've |
| feature is available. | | | | gotten tons of publicity, subscribers and e-book sales. |
| 22. ArticleBeach.com: This directory has a PR rank of | | | | As a matter of fact, this is what prompted me to |
| 5 and an Alexa rank of 47,816. | | | | finally decide to put my ebooks on ClickBank (the |
| You must create an author account to submit. They | | | | increase in sales once I started using AC). |
| assign you a password, which again is annoying. See | | | | Site I wished I'd discovered a couple of weeks ago: |
| review above as to why. Article tracking and stats | | | | ArticleWheel.com: With a PR Rank of 4 and an Alexa |
| area available. | | | | rank of 34,372, I will be giving this site a try. |
| One cool feature of this directory is that it shows you | | | | One of the things that caught my eye about this |
| which category you submitted to (I sometimes forget | | | | directory is that they have a pretty low-priced article |
| and want to go back and see). FYI, you have to click | | | | submission feature. Meaning, they will submit your |
| on the author profile to see this; it won't show up if you | | | | article up to 300 directories for just $6. Again, as I've |
| just click on the article. | | | | learned first-hand the horror of manual submission, I'm |
| 23. BeezyMouse.com: This directory has a PR rank of | | | | taking note of paid submission plans, in all forms. |
| 1 and an Alexa rank of 93,766. | | | | When Choosing Article Directories, Which is More |
| You need to create an author account to submit here. | | | | Important: Page Rank or Alexa Rank? |
| Article stats and a tracking feature are available. The | | | | In my non-tech-savvy opinion, page rank. Why? Alexa |
| site doesn't tell you how long they take to approve | | | | rank derives its results from those who have the |
| articles -- not all pieces I've submitted have been | | | | Alexa toolbar installed. So, how do you know how |
| posted yet. | | | | many visitors peruse your site who don't have the |
| I was impressed by this site because it has only been | | | | toolbar installed? You don't. |
| online since July of this year, yet already has an | | | | Also, who is more likely to know about, keep abreast |
| incredible Alexa ranking. | | | | of, and use, technology like this? Techies. One of the |
| 24. ArticleCube.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 | | | | criticisms of the Alexa ranking system is that it is |
| and an Alexa rank of 20,937. | | | | skewed toward tech-oriented sites - although plenty of |
| You need to create an author account to submit. I love | | | | non-tech savvy sites rank in the top 100,000 (the holy |
| this site - it has all the bells and whistles (stats, tracking | | | | grail of positioning). |
| features) and it also has a link to two popular social | | | | Conversely, page rank is somewhat of a |
| networking sites (Digg and Del.icio.us) where you can | | | | community-driven response to a site. Eg, when users |
| add your content. | | | | across the web find your site useful, they link to it, |
| In my opinion, this shows the progressive thinking of the | | | | forward it to friends, etc. When enough people/sites do |
| site owners, as social networking sites (eg, FaceBook, | | | | this - especially those sites with high PR rankings - then |
| MySpace, etc.) are all the rage right now. This could | | | | your site is considered important/relevant (hence, a rise |
| account for its high rankings, as it's only been around | | | | in the rankings). |
| since October 2005. | | | | In my mind, this is more of a grass roots (ie, pure) |
| 25. ArticleOnRamp.com: This directory has a PR rank | | | | response to a site. You don't have to "do" anything (eg, |
| of 0 and an Alexa rank of 72,050. | | | | install a tool bar), except produce good content that |
| I love this site because of its responsive webmaster, | | | | users will find useful enough to link to/tell others about. |
| Jason. I suggested new categories and he added | | | | So, that's why I don't give too much importance to the |
| them and got back to me within a couple of days. | | | | Alexa rank. |
| Even if he had not heeded my suggestions, I just | | | | As you'll notice from the sites listed in this series, not |
| appreciated the "human touch" behind this directory. | | | | many rate above 5. When I started reading about |
| You need to create an author account. Author stats | | | | page rank a few years ago, any site with a 4 or |
| and a tracking feature area available. Articles are | | | | above was considered a good site to link to. Now, it |
| approved pretty rapidly too. | | | | seems to be a 5 or above. Again, in my humble |
| Way to go Jason! | | | | opinion, if you're a 4 or above, you're doing good. |
| 26. Article-Buzz.com: This directory has a PR rank of | | | | Dead Presidents Rising! |
| 3 and an Alexa rank of 80,757. | | | | My earnings are starting to cool off - but I'm still |
| Easy to use: simply create an account and submit. | | | | averaging about twice per day what I was making |
| Article tracking and stats are available. The approval | | | | before I started this experiment. |
| process is pretty quick; tons of categories to submit to. | | | | NOTE: After this experiment ends (11/18), I will be doing |
| Site's cool feature: a blog that lists "feature articles." | | | | a final, in-depth case study analysis. Findings will be |
| There are no specifications listed as to how to get | | | | presented in an e-book. Stay tuned for "Questions |
| your article on the blog, but it's cool because it makes | | | | from Readers" about this case study on 11/06. |
| your article stand out if it does get published here. | | | | |