[stacyfox]

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to share a tip about writing a great resource box that actually gets click throughs.

For a long time I wrote resource boxes that said "Stacy Fox is interested in <insert niche topic here> and invites you to visit her web site at <insert website link here>." Okay, maybe they were A LITTLE more creative than that, but that was the basic template.

Then one day I had an idea (and it really was all my own idea though I have seen other marketers promote it since then) to leave ME out of the resource box and put a straight call to action. Click here for more information about <insert niche topic here>. That lifted my click through to about 10%.

Then, after a couple dozen more submissions, I got even smarter. I decided that instead of doing a "call to action" by itself, I would make the last paragraph of my article the resource box. That way, I would get the link in it as if it were part of the article. Here's an example:

How Much Money Does it Cost to Start a Small Business?

This lifted my clickthrough rate to 25% on average and up to 33% in some cases!

Recently, ezinearticles has been cracking down on this sort of thing, so now I do one more thing.

I double space, put a short line and then add "by Stacy Fox.

So, an article would look like this:

last line of article.


If you would like to start a low cost business from home, go to the Starting a Business website where you will find resources on starting many different businesses. It's located at Starting a Business - Welcome to Starting A Biz.net

How much money does it cost to start a business? It can literally be a couple hundred dollars. Starting a Biz can show you how.


--
by Stacy Fox

That gets you around the new rules while incorporating your "action links" into what appears to be the main body of the article (even though it's actually your resource box).

I hope that helps people increase their click through rates in article marketing!

Stacy

[Steven Wagenheim]

Thanks Stacy. I'm going to add my 2 cents here if it's okay.

Folks, I've perfected the resource box to 3 parts.

Part 1 - Remind them of why their life is so miserable such as, "Are you tired of", "Are you sick of", "Are you fed up with" and so on, and then state the thing they are either tired of, sick of or fed up with.

Part 2 - Give them the URL to your site, stated as, "Then visiit <URL>"

Part 3 - Tell them the benefit they'll get when they arrive.

Here's an example.

Let's say you're selling a book on how to cure acne naturally.

You might write a resource box like this.

"Tired of your chronic acne? Dreading gong to that high school dance? Visit my site at <URL> and discover a natural acne cure that works in just 3 days...GUARANTEED!"

Trust me, this works like gangbusters.

Yeah, it's cookie cutter and in the IM niche, you'd be laughed at, but outside of IM, targeted to the ma and pa consumer, this stuff works.

If you think I'm kidding, go watch TV and all the commercials that use pretty much the same formula.

Hope this helps.

[Mary Murtha]

Hi Stacy and Steven,

I think you both added some good tips about Bio boxes. They sure can be very effective when set up right.

Thanks for the tips ...

[Carl Pruitt]

A bad resource box can make the entire article worthless. My first interest in internet marketing came from trying to promote my website for my mortgage business. I wrote quite a few articles but the resource box was always just about me. I went back later and changed some and started getting traffic and leads from year old articles that hadn't drawn any attention in the first place.

[Ken Leatherman]

Now you guys are getting my blood to flowing. I appreciate the tips as I will be promoting many more affiliate products during 2009. In fact you just gave me a great way to run a test on 1ArticleADay.

Since I have built my 1 Article A Day with the EZCM script there is a place to add a resource box so I will do the resource box and use the last paragraph to see which one converts best on my site.

This is going to be a fun place to hang out. I can it now.

Ken

[aakay4u]

Great post,Stacy.Yes this seems to be a great idea and congratulations on being the first to implement it.The tips are really appreciable and i will also try this from now on.