Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Repurposing Guest Posts

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Many bloggers expect that guest posts you write for them will be unique to their blog. That means that they get an exclusive post that does not appear or your blog or anywhere else, before or after the blogger uses it.

Although you can not use that exact post elsewhere, there are ways to repurpose that content to get additional mileage from it. Here are some ideas for creative ways to repurpose your guest posts:

Write a brief summary of the post for your blog, and link to your guest post. That not only gives you more content on your blog, it promotes the blogger who hosted your guest post. (I emphasize the word “brief” here–just a paragraph or two describing the article to entice people to read the whole thing.)

Rewrite the article completely, and use it on your site or another. This does not mean “spinning” the article and replacing a few words with synonyms, but doing a complete rewrite.

Take a new angle. One way to do this is to write for a different audience and customize the article for them. For example, if you wrote a guest post on “10 Ways to Get More Customers for Your Accounting Practice,” you might rewrite it as “10 Ways to Get More Clients for Your Insurance Business,” using different examples and changing many of the details in the tips.

Another way to repurpose tips articles is to expand on a single tip. For example, if you wrote a post on seven ways to save money on groceries, write seven new articles expanding on the tips and giving more details on each of the seven ways.

The more content you create, the better. That is, as long as you are creating quality content. Repurposing your existing posts can help you to create more quality content in less time.

You can find guest posting opportunities, or recruit guest posters for your blog, with Blogger LinkUp. Get your free subscription at http://BloggerLinkUp.com/

Article Spinners are Evil

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People are always looking for shortcuts, and when it comes to creating content everyone seems to want to write articles with little or no effort. One of the ways lazy marketers create lots of articles is with article spinning software.

If you are not familiar with article spinning software, it will take one article and do a search and replace on words you specify, replacing them with synonyms. By replacing several words in the article with many alternative words it is possible to create hundreds of “unique” articles from one original.

For example, you might choose the word “car” and tell the software to replace it with auto, automobile, vehicle, truck, coupe, sedan or motorcar. In another place in the article, you might want to replace the word “gas” with gasoline, fuel, petrol or juice. The software will go through the article, randomly selecting one of the chosen synonyms for each word you told it to replace. The more words for which you provide synonyms, and the more alternatives you list, the more different versions of the article the spinning software will create.

There is one problem with this: Most of the articles created by spinning software are unreadable. Of course, the so-called marketers using this garbage don’t care, because their purpose is to spam as many article directories and blogs as they can with links to their crummy sites. Or to create junk content they can post on their spammy blogs in order to try to make money from AdSense or affiliate programs.

Don’t believe it is that bad? After all, they are only replacing some words with synonyms. Because the new words mean the same thing as the words they replaced, it should be fine, right? You be the judge. Here is a paragraph from an article I wrote about using your car to promote your business:

You can turn your vehicle into a rolling advertisement. Costs start at just a few dollars, and you can put your business name, slogan, phone number and web site URL in front of thousands of potential customers while you are driving along the freeway, stuck in traffic or even while you are parked. Here are some of the best ways to use your vehicle as a marketing tool.

This is how it read after a splogger (spam blogger) stole it, ran it through an article spinner and posted it on his crummy site:

You can about-face your car into a rolling advertisement. Costs alpha at just a few dollars, and you can put your business name, slogan, buzz amount and web website URL in foreground of bags of abeyant barter while you are active forth the freeway, ashore in cartage or even while you are parked. Actuality are some of the best means to use your car as a business tool.

This splogger was kind enough to leave my name on the article as the author, so if anyone actually reads it, they may come to the conclusion that I am an illiterate moron. Thanks, splogger!

Although it is not possible to stop sploggers from posting this junk, or sometimes even from stealing your content, do not ever become part of the problem by using article spinning software to create garbage content of your own.

Just say no to Internet pollution!

This article will help you find out if you have been plagiarized online. The resources listed there will not necessarily help you find your stolen content if the thief has spun it into new articles. I found the example I gave here because I have a Google Alert for my name. Google notifies me when they find my name online.

If you do find that content of yours was stolen, this article tells you what to do about online plagiarism.

A Picture is Worth How Many Words?

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Where do you turn when you need inspiration for blog posts? A picture may be worth 1000 words, but sometimes I only need a few hundred. When I need blog post ideas, I sometimes turn to photo sharing site flickr. Not only do I get ideas for interesting posts, I get the photos I need to go with them!

Here’s the secret: [Read more…]

Where to Get Free Content for Your Website or Blog

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We all know that readers and search engines love fresh content, and lots of it. But keeping a fresh supply of content flowing is hard, especially if you have more than one blog, or you have a website and a blog that need frequent updating.
One option is to hire writers to provide posts and articles. However, paying for content—good content—can get expensive.

So what’s a blogger to do? Here are some ideas for adding fresh, free content to your site.

Solicit guest posts. There are many writers who would be glad to contribute a post to your site. Why would they write for you for free? They get exposure to your audience, plus a link to their site. It is a great way for a new blogger to build an audience and credibility, but even experienced bloggers can benefit from guest posting.

So how do you find these generous souls? View the Local Viking website for the steps you take.

  • Let your readers know that you are looking for guest posts. Your best prospects for guest posts will come from among your readership. Add a page to your blog with instructions on how to submit a guest post.
  • Submit a request for guest posts to Blogger LinkUp (BLU). BLU is a free service I offer to bloggers. Just sign up at http://BloggerLinkUp.com/ and you will get emails (currently three times a week) with notices from people who are looking for guest posters, offering guest posts and more. You may also submit your request for guest posts at the site.
  • Approach other bloggers and ask them to guest post. The biggest bloggers in your niche may not agree, but there are lots of great bloggers who would be flattered to be asked, and happy to contribute.

Use content from article directories. Article directories are repositories for content submitted by writers. Most article directories allow publishers (that’s you!) to use articles from their directories at no charge. If you choose to republish articles from directories, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Know the terms of service. You are usually prohibited from making any changes to the article, and you must include the author information including any links. You may be required to credit the article directory as well. Some directories may limit the number of articles you may use from them. For example, EzineArticles has a limit of 25 articles per site per year.
  • Look for quality. Some articles found in directories are very good, others are unreadable. Only use the ones that add value for your readers.
  • Don’t overdo it with republished content. The search engines want to see unique content at your site, not just a bunch of stuff they can find elsewhere, so use republished articles here and there, but do not make them a significant portion of your site. They can, however, be a good way to fill in once in a while when you do not have time to write something yourself.

Some of my favorite article directories are:

http://EzineArticles.com/

http://www.Amazines.com/

Post a video. YouTube and many other video sharing sites allow you to use their videos on your site, and even make it easy. To add a YouTube video to your site, simply go to YouTube and do a search for videos using some of the keywords for your site. When you find an interesting video you want to share, look for the “Embed Code” on the right side of the page, near the top. Click on the button next to the embed code to customize the display options. Then copy and paste the embed code from the YouTube page to your site. You may want to add a few sentences of commentary or an introduction, or just post the video.

Repurpose your existing content. Have you written a book? Magazine or newsletter articles? A handout for a speech or seminar? I wrote a newspaper column for more than three years—that is more than 150 columns that could be posted on my website after they were published in the newspaper.

What are your favorite sources for free content?

How to Choose Great Photos for Blog Posts

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blog-photosIt took me a while to get used to the idea of  using photos with my blog posts. I think in words, not pictures. However, most people (even me) respond to visuals and will be more interested in your blog when you include complementary photos.

In a recent post I told you about some of my favorite sources for stock photos. Today I will give you some tips on how to choose the right photos to go with your posts. [Read more…]