November 3, 2009
Rebecca Kellogg of CMC/Creative Marketing Campaigns interviews Harriette Knight, an author who launched an article-marketing campaign on eHow.com to promote her book CHAKRA POWER! How to Fire Up Your Energy Centers to Live a Fuller Life.
The interview is below:
CMC: Were you were able to track data connected with the success of your article writing campaign?
Harriette Knight: I was able to track results by watching how many hits my website got per month and the numbers significantly increased with the more articles I wrote. This was linked to Facebook, Twitter, and eHow, but there is no denying, the hits started to escalate the minute I began writing the articles.
CMC: How did your article-writing campaign come about?
HK: As with most marketing campaigns, this one came about strictly by accident. I saw a posting on Facebook for an article someone had written for eHow.com and I clicked on it. Once there, I found a forum of How To Articles that could also generate some income.
At the time, I had just published my book CHAKRA POWER! How to Fire Up Your Energy Centers to Live a Fuller Life and part of me was missing the writing process, and part of me wanted to drive traffic to my website. Since I had a wealth of information to share, I began to write a frenzy of articles which were instantly published.
CMC: What was your initial goal? Did you meet it or modify it, or is this effort still in progress?
HK: My initial goal was to write 100 articles for eHow and publish a book of them, but after 57 articles my direction changed. I felt satisfied with the body of work and the recognition I sustained from doing it, and had no desire to continue. My marketing became more focused on my website, blog, radio interviews, workshops, and speaking engagements.
CMC: What did you hope to achieve? Greater exposure for your book? A certain amount of web traffic? Something concrete to share on social media?
HK: When I began to write the articles for eHow.com, I was simply excited to share the information I had and revel in the instant gratification of people reading the articles. However, what I quickly learned was that the number of hits on my website were radically increasing, and I was establishing more credibility as a writer.
Ehow.com is set up so that when an article is published, it is posted on Facebook, Twitter, and any of the other social media sites available, so the exposure became significant, and many of the readers began to follow my progress.
CMC: What kind of results and feedback did you get?
HK: I have to give eHow.com a lot of credit for their integrity and format. They have a huge member base, which is free, and the members are encouraged to rate and comment and recommend articles to other members. This creates a snowball effect for driving people to read your articles and ultimately to your website and other services. I noticed the numbers on my website increased significantly each month since beginning the article campaign.
CMC: What planning was required?
HK: In this case, there was no planning involved except the desire to drive more traffic to my website and tapping into my passion for writing.
In my opinion, using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, eHow, and others is necessary for any marketing campaign. Adding the articles on eHow proved to be a formidable asset to what I was already doing.
CMC: What did you learn from the experience?
HK: I learned that there are a lot of receptive people out there who want to know what someone else already knows. This has turned into a mutually supportive endeavor where the information is shared openly so others can succeed.
CMC: What was the most memorable thing about it for you?
HK: I believe that I am here to be of service to others, and the comments I have received from readers from my articles and/or book have reinforced that notion. Hearing the words, “Your article/book has changed my life,” has filled my heart in immeasurable ways. Knowing that my work is accessible all over the country and the world is greatly fulfilling.
CMC: Who do you think would benefit from launching a similar campaign?
HK: If anyone has something to share, they should share it, and writing articles for eHow is easy and fun. You can have mutual links from your own website driving traffic to your articles, and you can have a link from your article driving traffic to your website. Everything should be linked. Add lots of friends on your Facebook and eHow profiles, and comment on other people’s articles. This establishes relationships and trust which is imperative for selling yourself and your products. This is something that takes time and is nurtured over a period of months and years. It is not a quick fix, but a jump start to establishing credibility.
Within my first year of publishing my book, I have held workshops, numerous radio interviews, speaking engagements and a booksigning at Barnes and Noble. As a writer, having a booksigning has always been a dream, and my dream came true. Never give up on your dream. Do what you love. Success comes in many forms.
TO VIEW THE ARTICLES WRITTEN BY HARRIETTE KNIGHT, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Harriette writes:In March of 2003, I was looking for a way to raise money for families of U.S. Troops, and literally had a dream that told me what to do. In the dream I saw “Prayer Wheels for Peace,” and realized that I could make 
