You need articles for your blog, more great content for your newsletter or ezine, and even more quality articles if you plan to do article marketing or guest blogging to get free advertising for your website. So, before you throw in the towel completely, let me share a few ideas with you that may help you to actually have time away from your computer.

When looking for articles, you have several options. I personally recommend that you use several of these suggestions to add a variety of content to your websites.

I’ll start with a few of my favorites…

Grab some Free Reprint Articles at the Directories.
Article directories like EzineArticles.com, LadyPens.com and ArticleBase.com are packed with quality articles that you can reprint on your site. The only requirements are that you do not edit the article in any way and that you include the author’s resource box (or bio) at the end including the link or two that the author has included to his/her website.

It’s a win-win situation. The author gets free advertising. You, the publisher, get free content.

There are three negatives to using this type of article.

First is the issue of duplicate content. You’re sharing the same exact articles as everyone else that uses that directory. This is not a big deal at all if you’re using the article in your ezine, obviously, since duplicate content is only an issue with the search engines. It’s also not a huge issue for your blog or website, as long as you write an introduction to the article, and preferably a wrap-up statement or recommendation at the end.

Second is the very difficult issue of finding quality content. Gone are the days of grabbing any old free reprint article. You want Expert Content only – and many of the article directories have “bleck” articles.

Third is the issue of posting those darn links in the author resource box. You’re basically advertising for someone else for free. Ouch.

Good news! I can help you with the free advertising part in the next section of this article.

Use Extra-Special Free Reprint Articles.
Oftentimes ebook owners and other marketers with affiliate programs offer articles with a twist. You get to replace the link(s) in the author resource box with YOUR affiliate link for that program.

Here you’ll find many articles that meet that criteria: Articles that Make You Money

OR, if your favorite Experts regularly offer reprint articles, ask if this is an option for you.

That way, the expert still gets free advertising. And, you, the publisher, still get great content. But, you can also benefit by earning affiliate commissions as well.

This model definitely adds an increased level of appeal compared to traditional reprint articles. Wouldn’t you agree?

Write the Articles Yourself.
You can choose to write some of your web content yourself. I highly recommend that you do write much of your own content, at least on the sites where you’re trying to establish yourself as an authority.

However, there are options below that will enable you to post quality content to your website without having to write all of it yourself. (Some you can just edit and use.) The difference in the options below is that YOU become the expert, rather than endorsing someone else as the expert.

Hire a Quality Ghostwriter or Copywriter.
A ghostwriter is a freelancer who writes for you (usually articles or reports), but you take the credit.
A copywriter specializes in writing copy that sells, and you usually take the credit.

There are many sites on the web where you can find writers. Start by asking around, or go to sites like elance.com (a job posting site) or Shelancers.com (a directory of freelancers) to look around. Having a ghostwriter on hand can keep your blog fresh and active.

Need help outsourcing? Check out www.OutsourceWeekly.com

Our Favorite Shortcut: Stock up on PLR articles.
PLR articles stands for Private Label Rights articles. PLR articles are usually written by a ghostwriter and sold to several website owners. This means that you (and a limited number of other bloggers) can edit the articles and publish them without being required to link back to anyone or give anyone credit for writing them. You become the expert when using PLR articles.

Customize the articles, tweak them for your market, insert examples or photos or case studies and publish them on your website — or just use them as they are. Either way, you gain a lot of flexibility when working with PLR. Not only that but they are very affordable.

So, How do you Find a Good PLR Service?
Simple. Find a PLR site that’s been around for awhile and offers professionally-written and edited content that’s sold in limited quantities. That will ensure that you’re not getting recycled PLR, but are getting your hands on top-quality content.

Our Recommendation for Top Quality PLR, Sold in Very Limited Quantities:
EasyPLR.com has been offering the best niche plr article packs on the web since 2006.
Great reputation. Thousands of happy, repeat customers over the years.

Great quality. The content is written by Professional Writers on staff and Edited by a Separate staff member.
Limited Availability. You’re not sharing your articles with thousands of other people.
Run by a Respected Internet Marketer. Nicole Dean owns EasyPLR.com and is oftentimes called the marketer with integrity, and runs her business by her gut and her ethics, not strictly by her pocketbook.
Excellent customer support. Need any help? They’re there for you.

I’m a customer at EasyPLR.com and I highly recommend their content. Check it out here.

1. Have Susanne Myers research a niche for you.

2. Have Kelly McCausey set up a blog for you.

3. Have Nicole Dean create your content for you.

4. Have Nicole & Susanne monetize your blog for you.

5. Then, promote your new blog! (You can even outsource that, too, if you’d like.)

Wow. I’ll bet that sounds expensive. Guess what? It’s actually not. I’ll break it down for you a bit further and explain each of the steps above and you’ll see just how super-simple it is for you to get a blog up and running, in a profitable niche, with content, in no time flat.

Step One: Find a Profitable Niche.
Easy. Get Respected Marketer, Susanne Myers, to research and find a profitable niche for you, including keywords and even blog post titles. She’s already done the work in advance so all you have to do is point and click and you’re ready to roll.

Each of her research packs includes the following and more:

Detailed niche description
List of affiliate products available
100 domain name ideas (plus list of modifiers for hundreds more)
Detailed keyword report for over 1000 keywords
100 article and blog post ideas
15 different author resource boxes

Just swing by www.NicheResearchPacks.com to see what she’s got available.

Step Two: Get a Blog Set up for Free.
In order to have your own website or blog, you need two things:

A domain.
Web hosting.

The cool thing is that I know of a web host that will actually install your blog for you so you can skip the grunt work. Just swing by www.ReliableWebs.com to sign up for your web hosting. As part of the deal, they’ll install a WordPress blog for you, free of charge.

Step two, done. You’ve got a bare-bones blog now. (Although just to let you know, for a very reasonable fee, the owner of ReliableWebs.com will customize your blog and make it look really cool, too.)

Step Three: Get Content.
Here’s the next shortcut for you. Swing by www.EasyPLR.com and you can grab prewritten content for your new blog that’s copy/paste ready for you to use.

Here’s more info if this is new to you:

Now, the content should be reworked a bit by you so that it’s different and unique.

Step Four: Monetize Your Blog.
This is another step where people tend to get stuck. But, guess what? Nicole and Susanne have already done the work for you here, too.

With every niche pack from Susanne’s site, you’ll receive recommendations for affiliate programs that tie into the topic. And, with every pack of PLR articles that you purchase from EasyPLR.com, you’ll also get affiliate recommendations.

So, sign up for some of the affiliate programs that Nicole & Susanne recommend if they appeal to you and add some promos to your blog.

You’ll want to incorporate recommendations inside your blog posts eventually, and perhaps do reviews and interviews with the product owners down the road, but for now, you’re up and running. Don’t get hung up on this. You can always tweak it later.

Step Five: Promote your new Blog.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. It’s time to promote your new blog. To me, this is the fun part, but I know it’s where a lot of people panic.

Here are five quick and easy ways to promote your new blog.

1. Add your blog link to the bottom of your forum/message board posts. (See? That wasn’t so scary.)
2. Leave comments on popular, related blogs in your niche. Here’s a list of 20 Internet Marketing blogs if that’s your niche
3. Post on Twitter whenever you write a new blog post.
4. Guest blog on other blogs for exposure.
5. Create some videos and post them on YouTube with a link back to your new blog.

Of course these five steps are basic and I could certainly dig in further, but, I promised you that this would be super-simple so that’s it. Now go do it!

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