DISQUS

@ Ray - Running an article directory, a quality one anyway, is stressful business! I've ran several in my time and ended up selling every one because it's really a full-time job. You're constantly getting people who submit crap and it gets annoying.

With all of the article directories I ran in the past, I denied more articles than I accepted and I was somewhat lenient with my guidelines.

My guess is they're mad at the Internet Marketing community as a whole, although we're not all spammers.

I would never limit my submissions to one article directory and they're foolish to think anyone would choose them over EzineArticles.

Just submit to them before you submit elsewhere you should be good to go. If they start declining them never submit to them again. If they want to crap on their authors (who got them where they are) then we can crap right back on them :)

I hope Vlad pulls away with this with a counter suite and a million bucks...he should!

Stumbled, dugg and posted a quick blurb on my blog.

This whole ordeal is just ridiculous. A company PAYS someone for an honest review, he gives his honest review, and now they issue a cease and desist? HUH? If they didn't expect comments they need to learn a thing or two about the Internet and Web 2.0 before paying for reviews.

They're the ones ruining their name. That cease and desist is what got them all of the bad press, not Vlad's review.

I try to stay out of things like this, but sometimes they are just so ridiculous I can't resist.

I guess you'll be the next with a letter in the mail, Andy lol How dare you express your honest views on your own blog!

Excellent post, Mark.

It's always humorous to hear people say they cloak links to hide the fact that it's an affiliate link. If someone wants to get rid of your aff. i.d., so they can order through their own link or just to spite you, they're going to do it whether it's "cloaked" or not. In most cases cloaked links are easier to point out than aff links.

I don't believe I would argue with any aspect of this article. Great job!

I think the problem is in people starting "MMO" blogs who are making little to no money online in the first place. I think other bloggers who are doing well and offer proof along with accusation, would be welcomed.

But, 95% of the MMO blogs out there are run by people who make little money online. So, for those in that crowd I totally agree!

That was a nice little addon re:"Update." lol

What it all comes down to is building trust, developing a community and treating that community right.

Those who worry about receiving a little extra spam are just being lazy if you ask me.

My blog may not receive quite as much traffic as some of you A-listers, but I receive my fair share of traffic and with that comes spam comments.

I spend 5-10 minutes a day MAX moderating comments and normally get a decent amount of comments as well.

I've been dofollowing from the beginning and get plenty of SE love.

Great job with this, Mark. This is an excellent ebook. I'm looking forward to your future emails :)

P.S. Article Marketing and Bum Marketing are two different things :) Most people don't realize that though. :) http://ez-onlinemoney.com/blog/article-marketin...

Thanks for recommending "AMD" and myself, Mark. This is a very good general article on article marketing, great job with it...probably the most accurate and informative for the length.

@ Christine - I'm not sure what article directories you're talking about, but all of those which are worth submitting to are absolutely free and you ALWAYS retain all rights to your work! The only site that MAY be worth submitting to that pays for content is AssociatedContent.com and I don't recommend submitting there. They don't allow a realy resource box and although articles there normally get a decent amount of traffic they don't convert, as they don't allow you to place your resource box at the bottom.

As far as an article directory shutting it's doors...it's not going to hurt you. You have full rights to your articles, so just submit elsewhere. The only way that would be an issue would be if you only submitted to that one article directory and didn't save your copy, which wouldn't be smart :)

@ Garry - You'd be surprised. I've created several article directories in my time. You'd be surprised how many people out there will submit to a new article directory. I normally just start a small, cheap adwords campaign and they take off. I've started and later sold articlesalley.com everyonesarticles.com and a few others. I've had several up to $100+/day before selling.

The downside to running article directories is that they're EXTREMELY time consuming. The real secret to running a successful article directory is loads of deep linking. The content piles up so fast and so deep that you need to get to spiders deep into it not only to get the content indexed, but to get some authority down into those deep pages.

Headed to Netflix now to add it to my queue :) Thanks for the recommendation, Vlad.

Good advice, Jim. I've been marketing with articles for nearly 4 years now. EzineArticles remains the #1 article directory out there followed by Buzzle.com and a few others.

I have several hundred articles out there. They've generated thousands of leads, brought in loads of adsense income through mini-sites etc.

To promote an authoritative site they aren't going to do you much good. They'll drive a little traffic, but they're best for lead generation and promoting small, mini-sites.

I remember when I realized I knew much more than I gave myself credit for. That's when I started making much more money :)

You're doing very well for the little time you've been at it, Mark.

Your friend's blog looks great!

wow Mark, you smart people amaze me :) Who would of thought that semiconductors are what pay my bills.

Very good post...a little over my head, but good.

Hey Mark, this is just a little, mini launch :) Take a look at some of Jon Leger's launches...ability to bring in 500-1,000 sales in one day.

Thanks for the very kind plug, Mark!

It's been a pleasure getting to know you through the various emails we've exchanged. Members are flowing in right now, so we'll see how it all turns out.

I'm looking forward to working with you and all of the other members.

Looks like your back at 5 now (on my end at least.) Must have been reading from another data-center.

I'm tired of trying to figure it out. My blog has been sitting at a PR3 for a year, when I know in the old days it would be at a 5 at least.

I put in a "reinclusion" request after I stopped selling links (about a month ago) and I'm still looking at a 3.

It's nice to see those pixels increase even when know it means little to nothing, but I'm to the point to where I've given up on it.

We all know the value you provide even if Google doesn't.

I have a similar comment policy and I'm actually surprised how many people either actually read my comment policy, or adopt the technique as regular practice.

I allow anchor text as long as the commentator leaves a name, that's it. I do still get alot of abuse. It's already becoming quite time consuming though. I can only imagine how it is for you, Andy.

Thanks for the plug!

Josh

Very nice, Vlad! I know very little about the realestate niche, but I know it's a profitable one. I've been telling myself I'm going to by a well-established realestate site some day soon. I know Adsense brings in over a buck for just about every single click on a small niche sites I have about mortgages, so I know it's very profitable.

Anyway, good luck with the links, hope it goes viral!

It's back down to #9 here, but I know you got some pretty strong links from Andy and several from myself and a few others (oviously not as strong, but decent.)

You'll get it eventually :)

I've been using LLL for quite some time now, as you know, and I love it.

It restricts juice from flowing to one-time commentators and spammers, while giving some to those who regularly comment. I also like how it keeps track of the number of comments each user makes. That in itself make some people want to comment more, just so they have a higher number next to their name.

I believe what it all comes down to is what you're trying to do. If name branding is one of your main objectives then it's probably a good idea to use your name.

However, you also have to realize that if you decide to sell the domain later on, it will be much harder to sell, as the URL is of personal nature.

As far as keywords in the domain I don't believe it's going to help much. I'm sure the SE's may give that keyword a little more weight, but I highly doubt it's much at all. It always comes down to the quality and quantity of incoming links.

I have my name registered, but don't use it for anything for the time being.

The main reason I don't use it is because of my previous statement; I may decide to sell my site(s) at a later date. And what about when I die? My son (or wife) will get the site(s) and unless one becomes an online marketer, they'll probably sell them, as they won't know what else to do with them.

I've gotten probably 5-10 spam emails in the past few weeks on this, so it must have a killer affiliate program :)

It sounds like it could be a viable option for some niches, but like Mark, I can't stand visiting a site that starts talking to me without my permission.

It wouldn't be as big a deal, but we have a baby, who sleeps quite a bit. My speakers are usually turned up and as bad as it sounds, I'm usually so pissed after visiting a site that does this that I give them a thumbs down with SU and do everything else I can to let them know they pissed me off :)

Buzzle is another high quality directory to be added. It's currectly ranking higher than EzineArticles for alot of keywords. The only downside is that you have to apply to be an author, which can take time (if you're accepted) and once you're approved you can only submit 2 articles at a time. But, once you're in you have another article directory along the lines of EzineArticles.

@ Bass Lake Real Estate - Bad idea. Submitting the same article to 400+ websites, which are mostly low quality, will ruin a good article. Pick 5-10 high-quality article directories like most of those mentioned above and if your articles are any good you'll get alot of free traffic, high SERP positions and strong back-links. 99% of the time automation of anything is worthless.

Thanks for the plug and support Todd. Great looking blog you have here!

Happy Holidays!
Josh

Josh Spaulding's last blog post..Article Marketing Domination V4 Holiday Special!