Do you realize that first quarter is gone? Did you achieve your goals for article writing? If not, it’s time to get smart with article distribution. How do we do that, though? Let’s take a look.

First of all, it’s a good idea to implement an overall action plan for your writing. Write down your goals for 2nd quarter, if you haven’t already done so. You don’t want to lose any more time than you already have. Then get busy writing.

Once a virtual assistant has the articles written, what is the best way to distribute them far and wide on the Internet. My recommendation would be to use a proven model for your article distribution. This model should be comprehensive, as well as being easy to use. The one that I’ve recently read about that I really like is the SmartDistribution PlatformTM that has been developed by Distribute Your Articles (DYA).

DYA has developed a model that incorporates all the finer points of ensuring that virtual assistants get smart with article distribution. Below I’m going to break it down for you.

To Spin or Not To Spin

Now before you bring up that I said before that spinning was not a good thing to do, I’ve since found out that spinning can actually have its uses — if you do it the right way. If you use the SmartDistribution Platform™, then you will have just the tool you need to spin your articles effectively. The beauty of SmartSpin™ is that you make the decision on whether to use it or not, depending on how comfortable you are with it. You hold the power to spin or not to spin.

Preparation Tools

There are many things we should do to make sure we not only get smart with article distribution, but also stay smart. One way we can do that is by careful preparation. Now DYA provides resources to you to do this in three different ways:

1) SmartFlow™ – When do you want your content to be distributed?

2) SmartCheck™ – It never hurts to be extra careful that your content is fit for publishing. Have it checked against a series of ad/spam filters, format checkers, link tests, and thin-content detectors.

3) SmartMatch™ – Have your content compared against the overwhelming sea of content out there on the Internet and evaluated for relevancy.

Distribution and Reporting

What wouldn’t we all give to have our articles show up as a feature article on well-known sites. Don’t think it’s possible? I can attest that it is possible with SmartFlow™. This happens with continuity in bite-size morsels – a little bit at a time.

But wait; what good is all this if a virtual assistant can’t determine the success rate of their article campaigns? Distribute Your Articles has taken care of that, as well. Called SmartTrack™, VAs can get all the information they need to know where the articles have been distributed, as well as when remaining articles are still left in the queue awaiting distribution.

Good Matches Yield Superior Results

SmartMatch™ is the very essence of SmartDistribution. Beyond a simple article marketing system, SmartMatch™ organizes your content into precise, individually- owned niche sites over time. With Google and other search engines tightening up their relevance requirements, it only makes sense to include this into your arsenal of article-writing tools.

Good article distribution can drive traffic to your website or blog site. Now more than ever, virtual assistants need to get smart with article distribution and implement a well-thought-out plan of action to get the best results. This process within this article is just one way. Whatever method you use, you need to start now. What are you waiting for?

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Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. She is co-owner of Borlok Virtual Assistants, the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Improve your chances of having your articles receive the recognition they deserve. Maximize!

Any virtual assistant that pursues the art of article writing and article marketing knows the importance of getting good backlinks to their website or their blog. There’s an easy way to do it without doing the laborious, time-consuming effort of submitting articles to many, many article submission sites manually.

Oftentimes success with article writing is as simple as choosing the best article distribution service to blast your articles out to hungry publishers and content site owners globally. Let’s see what you should look for in choosing a good service.

Choose a well-known article distribution service.

Your articles are a critical piece of your marketing campaigns. It’s up to you to promote them in the best light so they receive the recognition they deserve. There are many article distribution services out there. You will want to check Alexa and Google page rank and choose one that is most talked about on the Web and maintains high rankings.

Ideally, you want to be comfortable with the content distribution service that you choose. Research thoroughly and don’t make hasty decisions.

Choose a service that has an up-to-date distribution list.

There’s nothing more frustrating than to sign up with a marketing service that claims to have lots and lots (and lots) of publishers on their distribution list and the links don’t work or there’s no such publisher.

Check out multiple places on the list to ensure the service you’re considering is keeping their list current.

Check to see if they offer review services.

Even the best of writers needs a fresh set of eyes to go over their articles to make sure that their articles will pass the rigorous requirements that publishers and content site owners have in place. When submitting manually to sites, it’s next to impossible to keep all the guidelines straight. A good service that serves as those extra pair of eyes will prove to be invaluable.

I, for one, appreciate the extra help from a reviewer that lets me know that I’m doing too much advertising in my article or I’m using a particular word(s) too many times.

Can you distribute your articles on your own schedule to coincide with your article marketing campaigns?

A good service is going to provide you with options that fit your needs — not their needs. The ideal service will let you set a schedule in advance, in some cases even up to a year.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Is the service you’re looking at affordable and offer a variety of different price plans?

With the economy the way it is, everyone tends to watch their expenses a lot more closely. Having different price plans that can be monthly, quarterly, annually, or even lifetime is important. Your potential candidate needs to offer variety.

While there may be free services out there, I guarantee your articles probably won’t receive the recognition they deserve.

What type of article syndication plans does your potential service have for the future?

While it’s important to get your article out to article directories, you will want to consider going with a business that will take it one step further and send out your article to sites owned and managed by internet marketers. Why? They take great care to bring new visitors to their sites in order to create profits. Going with an article marketing service can open new opportunities for you that maybe you haven’t even dreamt of yet.

There are many more features that one company might offer over another. It’s up to you to do the legwork and find the very best article marketing distribution service that will meet YOUR needs. Choose wisely so that your articles will receive the recognition they deserve. Now, get out there and start researching.

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Pam Lokker is a skillful writer and proficient virtual assistant. She is co-owner of Borlok Virtual Assistants,  the place to get global expert VA services with quality and on-time delivery.

Sshhh, I have a secret. Do you know what Distribute Your Articles has in store for the future in article syndication?

There are quite a few article distribution sites out there that will allow you to submit your articles, and they will send your articles out wide and far. What are some questions you should ask yourself prior to signing up and entrusting your valuable written content to them?

Who will your articles be sent to?

One of the first things you want to know is what type of a publisher list they have. Do they have many, many publishers that they will send your articles out to, or just a few? Do their publishers have good Alexa or Google pagerank? It would be wise to check out some of the sites to ensure your articles will be sent to reputable, well-known companies.

What type of membership plans do they have?

Prior to becoming a member of an article distribution company, do a little homework and see what type of memberships or subscription plans they have. Do they have free memberships? If so, what type of benefits does a free membership entail you? Be sure to read the terms of agreement to see how they will bill you if you have to pay for a subscription. Many of them will use a specific payment processor, and the billing will be on recurring billing. Be sure you understand the terms of agreement; then print it and keep it.

What kind of distribution plan do they have?

Are your articles going to be distributed for a long time, or short spurts? Does the company you decide on allow your articles to be sent to new publishers as they sign on, or are they going to be sent to a static, non-changing list? The ideal solution would be to have your content go out to new publishers and content site owners as they sign up.

Will your articles be reviewed prior to being sent out?

Should you be fortunate enough to find a website that has live human review of articles once you submit them, I highly recommend utilizing this valuable feature. A major disadvantage of trying to manually submit articles to a wide variety of article submission places is trying to keep all of their requirements and guidelines straight in your head. A company that has reviewers spot check your articles for you will know all the guidelines and be able to give you professional feedback on how to improve your articles so they speed through the review process.

Can you schedule your articles to be sent out at a specific time?

Wouldn’t it be a blessing if you could write and submit your articles ahead of time and then be able to schedule their distribution for a certain day? There are content distribution places out there that will allow you to do this. Check this option out; it’s well worth being able to advance schedule.

Whatever website you decide to go with, make sure you do your homework in checking out the company with BBB and other consumer sites that will rate companies based on their service level, integrity, and other measures prior to making that all important leap, especially if you are going to get a paid subscription.

Is there a content distribution marketing company that I use that I would recommend? Yes, I personally use Content Crooner, and am very happy with them. They have excellent customer service, economical paid subscriptions, an extensive distribution list of publishers, and a knowledgeable review staff. Don’t just take my word for it, however. Do your own research and feel comfortable with your decision.

It’s possible not all virtual assistants out there had an opportunity to get their hands on my previous post on why a virtual assistant should take up article marketing, so let me do a brief recap here:

* Article writing can establish an author as a subject matter expert.
* Writing articles is economical; you don’t have to dole out a lot of cash
* Article site directories are eager to get their sites loaded up with new, fresh content.
* You can include links that will direct your readers back to your own website.
* You have a wealth of information that you can use over and over again.
* You can actually win some new clients from their reading your content.

So now that we know what the benefits are for article marketing, what is a good way to have our articles be shown on the Internet? In other words, how do we vamp up our article marketing? Let’s take a look at some different methods you can use.

Methods for Getting Articles Distributed

Manual Submission

In my mind, there are three ways that you could vamp up your article marketing and increase your Internet exposure. The first way we’ll look at is by manual entering — that is taking your article and manually entering it into an article submission site like EzineArticles, or GoArticles, just to name a couple. These both rate high in Google pagerank and have free membership plans.

You can also submit your articles manually to online magazine publishers that give users the user-friendly ability to build interactive “wikizines”, or web magazines. One such site is Zimbio.

Article Marketing Software

Another method is to use article marketing software. Some people have a lot of success using article marketing software. There is even software out there that will combine article spinning with article submission. Personally, I’m not even interested in using article spinning software at all. When you use the software, you are just regurgitating the same content over and over and over in slightly different ways using a variety of synonyms that can drastically alter the meaning of the written word. So my advice is to stay away from article spinners.

Article Marketing Distribution Company

The third way that a virtual assistant can vamp up their article marketing is by using a company like Content Crooner, a first-rate article distribution company. Content Crooner has a comprehensive list of publishers and content site owners that they will distribute your articles to. What this means is that you have the ease of submitting your article to Content Crooner and they take care of all the legwork of distributing your content wide and far.

What are some benefits of using Content Crooner in addition to an expansive publisher list? Take a look at some of the features as to why I choose them for all my article marketing campaigns.

• Unlimited article distribution
• Distribution that takes place 24/7, 365 days a year
• Experienced reviewers that will check your article over for you to ensure your articles will be readily accepted by publishers
• The ability to schedule when you want your articles to go out
• Multiple pricing plans to fit your needs with a 30-day money-back guarantee

No matter which method you opt for, you should understand that as a virtual assistant, you really should take advantage of article marketing. Just by learning the ins and outs of article marketing for yourself, look at the increased opportunities you would have if a client came to you and asked if you offered article marketing as one of your services. Now is the time to get into this ever-growing field. Don’t hesitate; increase your Internet exposure now and get out there and start article marketing!