take 1,000, or more. Even if you keep up, what’s the reward, beyond ego gratification?

I’ve just noted a few of the downsides, but why do I publish in Ezines?

I don’t expect buyers to find me by reading my articles or by searching through engines such as Yahoo and Google. And I don’t expect to grow rich or even to pay for my Starbucks habit through clicks.

Here is what I

Read my last dozen articles about writing for Ezines and about Article Marketing and you’ll come away with the impression that I hold them in some disdain.

I believe writers waste a lot of time and energy in writing Internet pieces for a number of reasons:

(1) They won’t be read by many people. If, after a year of publication, your article has been viewed by 500 people, it is doing well. That’s a piddling number of people! Wouldn’t you be better off spamming it to a few thousand? At least it would be faster.

(2) Yes, some people may click through to your web site, but clicks aren’t money, unless you’re Google, or part of a revenue sharing plan that pays for clicks.

(3) Your search engine rankings may be elevated, but if your buyers, your customers aren’t using those search terms, so what? I was number one on Google for months in a certain category, and this didn’t yield a single inquiry.

(4) Your credibility isn’t improved by appearing in Ezines. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that Ezines are “vanity presses.” There are no entry barriers to publishing in them, and anybody can do it. So, how does being the same as everyone else make you stand out as being especially noteworthy?

(5) Because more and more people are publishing in Ezines in every imaginable category, you have to outdo your past output to stay in the same place. Less than a year ago, for instance, it took only 100 articles to appear on the front page of one Ezine’s Expert Authors index. Now, it takes 250 articles, and next year it could take 1,000, or more. Even if you keep up, what’s the reward, beyond ego gratification?

I’ve just noted a few of the downsides, but why do I publish in Ezines?

I don’t expect buyers to find me by reading my articles or by searching through engines such as Yahoo and Google. And I don’t expect to grow rich or even to pay for my Starbucks habit through clicks.

Here is what I g

oing well. That’s a piddling number of people! Wouldn’t you be better off spamming it to a few thousand? At least it would be faster.

(2) Yes, some people may click through to your web site, but clicks aren’t money, unless you’re Google, or part of a revenue sharing plan that pays for clicks.

(3) Your search engine rankings may be elevated, but if your buyers, your customers aren’t using those search terms, so what? I was number one on Google for months in a certain category, and this didn’t yield a single inquiry.

(4) Your credibility isn’t improved by appearing in Ezines. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that Ezines are “vanity presses.” There are no entry barriers to publishing in them, and anybody can do it. So, how does being the same as everyone else make you stand out as being especially noteworthy?

(5) Because more and more people are publishing in Ezines in every imaginable category, you have to outdo your past output to stay in the same place. Less than a year ago, for instance, it took only 100 articles to appear on the front page of one Ezine’s Expert Authors index. Now, it takes 250 articles, and next year it could take 1,000, or more. Even if you keep up, what’s the reward, beyond ego gratification?

I’ve just noted a few of the downsides, but why do I publish in Ezines?

I don’t expect buyers to find me by reading my articles or by searching through engines such as Yahoo and Google. And I don’t expect to grow rich or even to pay for my Starbucks habit through clicks.

Here is what I

n’t using those search terms, so what? I was number one on Google for months in a certain category, and this didn’t yield a single inquiry.

(4) Your credibility isn’t improved by appearing in Ezines. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that Ezines are “vanity presses.” There are no entry barriers to publishing in them, and anybody can do it. So, how does being the same as everyone else make you stand out as being especially noteworthy?

(5) Because more and more people are publishing in Ezines in every imaginable category, you have to outdo your past output to stay in the same place. Less than a year ago, for instance, it took only 100 articles to appear on the front page of one Ezine’s Expert Authors index. Now, it takes 250 articles, and next year it could take 1,000, or more. Even if you keep up, what’s the reward, beyond ego gratification?

I’ve just noted a few of the downsides, but why do I publish in Ezines?

I don’t expect buyers to find me by reading my articles or by searching through engines such as Yahoo and Google. And I don’t expect to grow rich or even to pay for my Starbucks habit through clicks.

Here is what I

ne else make you stand out as being especially noteworthy?

(5) Because more and more people are publishing in Ezines in every imaginable category, you have to outdo your past output to stay in the same place. Less than a year ago, for instance, it took only 100 articles to appear on the front page of one Ezine’s Expert Authors index. Now, it takes 250 articles, and next year it could take 1,000, or more. Even if you keep up, what’s the reward, beyond ego gratification?

I’ve just noted a few of the downsides, but why do I publish in Ezines?

I don’t expect buyers to find me by reading my articles or by searching through engines such as Yahoo and Google. And I don’t expect to grow rich or even to pay for my Starbucks habit through clicks.

Here is what I

take 1,000, or more. Even if you keep up, what’s the reward, beyond ego gratification?

I’ve just noted a few of the downsides, but why do I publish in Ezines?

I don’t expect buyers to find me by reading my articles or by searching through engines such as Yahoo and Google. And I don’t expect to grow rich or even to pay for my Starbucks habit through clicks.

Here is what I get:

(1) A chance to write and to refine my expressive abilities, without editing or criticism or any concern that my stuff will sell. That’s special, and I appreciate this benefit. Moreover, having penned about 1,000 Ezine pieces, I am a much better article writer now than when I started.

(2) I still own my articles and I can assemble them into hard-copy books and audios and videos and newsletters that will sell and pay off in other ways.

(3) I get a chance to test and market new topics and to measure their appeal. Ezines offer writers statistics that can be tracked to assess effectiveness, and I monitor these very carefully.

(4) I forward some of my articles to clients and to prospects to enhance our relationships. Also, I make hard-copy reprints that I insert into sales portfolios.

(5) While my rankings by topic at Google and elsewhere may vary, I know that search engines contain literally thousands of references to me, by my name, some of which come from my Ezine articles. So, if a client wants to verify that my ideas are widely disseminated and read, a search or two can do the trick.

I was a best-selling book author, and a well paid one before I ever submitted an Ezine article, so I have the advantage of a real world perspective on what it means to be a working writer.

I know there are certain things Ezines will never do for me, but I don’t miss them because I do these things for myself.

Still, there are enough advantages to Ezine publishing, despite my occasional misgivings, that keep me plugg