A win-win situation for both parties, article swapping saves the publishers time by decreasing their workload while enhancing their publication with a fresh voice for their readers.



Successful article swapping can generate subscribers every time for a publisher and in some cases lead

to joint ventures, solo ads in each other's ezines and more. One of the greatest bonuses however, is your article is seen by many who may not otherwise read your article or find out about your business.

How do you get started? Provided below are seven steps to a successful article swap.

1. Choose your publishers wisely. The golden rule for every marketing campaign is to target your audience. Article marketing is no different. Your return on investment and your ability to make money with articles will be greater if you take the time to search for publishers who publish content closely related to your article topic.

2. This next tip will help set you apart from the others who will inquire the publisher about swapping articles. Take the time to read a couple of issues. Doing so allows you to:

A) Send an article that compliments one previously published Or B) mention what impressed you in your opening email.

Many people don't take the time to do this so it will definitely give you a leg up.

3. Clearly state your goal in your opening letter. Be sure to let the publisher knows that you want to swap articles rather than just have your article published.

Publishers receive a great deal of article publishing requests that they put aside for later review. To

avoid having your article end up in this pile ensure that your subject is clear and to the point. Make sure that your subject relates to the actual message. Anything else just annoys the publishers.

4. The word count and formatting should be included in your message. For example 653 words formatted to 65 characters with hard returns at the end of each line.

Not only does this save the publisher time, but it leaves a resounding "I'm a professional" for the publisher. You can take your professionalism a step further by running your article through a spam filter reporting service. And inform publishers that your article is clean and will not hinder the delivery of the publication.

5. Use an autoresponder. Instead of sending the article with the inquiry, set up an autoresponder. This way you will be able to analyze who is interested in your article.

6. If appropriate for you offer to combine an ad swap with an article swap. By offering to extend the arrangement to include ads you save yourself and the publisher time. Don't however make the article swap conditional on swapping ads or it may come across as blackmail.

7. Always send publishes a courtesy copy. This doesn't get you off the hook on being clear on when their article will run in your publication. It does however, show courtesy and professionalism to send them a copy. Not every publisher will subscribe to your ezine and if they don't it's nice to send them a copy when their article is published.

For an added bonus, forward a copy of any feedback sent after you run the article.

With the nature of the web being an information based tool, successful article swapping are an excellent way to get your information in front countless people, make money with articles and develop long lasting business relationships. This on the web can be the difference between a here-today- gone-tomorrow business and a here-to-stay business.