Create An Article Reference Box That Calls To Readers
By Catherine Franz
There are two primary factors in creating a successful reference box, also called a bio box, that get the results you want from your Internet-posted articles. The first is adding the right keywords into the language. Second, is to write tiny ads that led to a call to action. Neither is going to be easy, but both are necessary and accomplishable.
Let’s walk through the process together, and I will give you a few techniques that have brought me large responses and click through rates of upwards of 45%, sometimes even higher, when averages usually run under 8%.
Beginning with understanding what an Internet article is and its intention, creates a starting point for both of us. Let’s begin there. Simply, distribution of these articles is solely for electronic publishing. Guidelines from publishers prefer 500 to 1400 word counts with an average of 700 to 800. Creative intentions range from building an expertise in a particular market, topic or industry, a taste of a topic for marketing of a product, or as a paid writing gig for others, so that they may complete one of the other previously mentioned intentions. Publishing can occur inside a newsletter, also called an ezine or electronic newsletter, or be published on a website. Each has its own pros and cons. Website posting does tip the scale higher on the pro side.
The next thought process moves us up the railing to knowing what action you want the reader to take. This ties in with your intention and also making it a reasonable request. Reasonable means not asking for the reader to leap and buy a product or service based on the small amount of information given in the reference box. For coaches or consultants, it’s even a leap for readers to commit to a complimentary session based on that small amount of information. A reference box builds only one point, far from the seven to ten-points needed before people take an action that calls for a higher commitment. Selling too soon always turns off an action request.
Since publishers usually don't allow more than five 60- character lines or 450 or less characters, focus is best limited to one action request. The request usually requires a "click here to" request, for instance:
* visit website for more information about product, service, workshop, seminar, conference
* consider subscribing to
* find out more about the author
* call us for (something beneficial and free)
A reference box needs to have the following basics:
1. The author’s name and background expertise on the topic.
2. The call to action request.
3. A benefit for readers to take the action.
4. Keywords for search engine optimization (SEO).
Developing the author’s name and expertise sentence is easy and the call to action addressed, let’s move to the remaining two items: benefit and keywords. Take the major benefit for one of your calls to action. Here is an example of a short-list of benefits to being a subscriber of my nonfiction for-profit monthly newsletter:
* Learn additional avenues to make money with your writing
* Explore and improve your nonfiction for-profit writing skills and techniques
* A metacenter site to find resources to ease your journey in this area
How-to details on finding your features and benefits are available at the Abundance Center’s website.
Continue to create five or more benefit lines for each of your action requests, products and services. You will be able to use these in multiple places, not just your reference box. The benefit line or phrase in the reference box needs to build a curiosity or draws readers to want to click and find out more. If the reader sees the benefit as somewhat unbelievable, whether true or not, isn't always the best way to get the preferred action. Sometimes it’s best to downplay the benefit, yet continue to make impact. For example, articles I've written were published thousands of times over the past year. Instead, it’s best for me to adopt the term, prolific writer. Hype is a big turnoff for sophisticated readers.
We have walked through the who and expertise lines, created benefit lines, next you will want to create a list of keywords for the topic, service and product, then sprinkle them into the resource box information.
Keywords help Net visitors find your article (and you) and the website where the article is posted. Keywords are words people would search on to find information on that topic. Using the finder on Google or the new Amazon search engine is one way to find what people search on most frequently. However, the finder is limited to last month’s searches.
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