Social bookmarking is one of the easiest ways to promote your business online without having to spend money on advertising. Yes, it may take a little bit of your time but it can be well worth your efforts particularly if you are a small business owner with a limited advertising budget.

How to use social bookmarking to generate traffic does not require you to be an information technology expert. The very first step that you have to take is to register with the major bookmarking sites – there are hundreds of bookmarking sites out there, and you want to belong to the sites that have been proven to be effective in generating traffic for websites. Familiarize how the services work, so that you can make the most out of them.

Update your profile. Since this is a social bookmarking site, it would actually be helpful if you have set up your profile accordingly so that all information you place in your social bookmarking profile would be clear enough for the readers and that it may look or sound professional leaving an impression that you’re serious with your craft. Some may even say that your profile is the mirror of yourself in this cyber world and that it can make or break your bookmarking efforts.

Submit At The Appropriate Category. Be sure to place your bookmarks at the right category. One reason why people fail with a simple social bookmarking is that they don’t give a damn if they submitted their link to the proper section or not. Some bookmarking sites are even strict with this and they either delete the link if it was submitted to the wrong directory or, worse, ban the account. That wouldn’t be nice for your work from home. However, in the event that you can’t find the right category for the site you want to bookmark, you can contact the technical support of the said bookmarking site and suggest a category or you can just place it in Others, Miscellaneous or General provided they have those categories in the site.

Create Interesting Headlines. If placing your link at the right category is that important, then the titles or headlines you create is as vital. Most articles and links are disregarded easily because their headlines are either boring, inappropriate or just plain confusing. The title is the first thing that readers notice. If it’s not that catchy enough, then there’s minimal chance you’ll get a decent traffic for your site or work from home.

Give A Brief Yet Significant Description For Your Link. Your priority shouldn’t stop at providing an interesting headline. The description is just as important as the headline. If possible, write a short but catchy description. Avoid making up the facts just to get some attention because that will bite you back in the long run which might jeopardize your reputation in the social bookmarking site. We all know that people often hate to read lengthy descriptions so it’s best if you go straight to the point.

Participate in social bookmarking activities. Add friends, comment and vote on the users’ submissions, and join forums and discussions. Bookmark other sites, too. Showing the people in the community that you are interested in its happenings will strengthen your social bookmarking credibility. These activities will provide more exposure for you and your site and pages, too.

As you can see, how to use social bookmarking is not as complicated you or other people might have thought it is. In fact, it only takes sheer common sense for you to be able to utilize social bookmarking to drive traffic into your site.

If you really want to succeed in affiliate marketing, article writing is the way to go (especially for those on a tight budget). It’s free, and very effective as long as you impart helpful information to the readers. So if you’re ready to start profiting wildly with affiliate marketing, the article writing tips written below shall guide you on the right path.

Article Writing Tip # 1 – Make it personal.

Write the article like you’re directly teaching the reader on a one-on-one basis. Use “you” or “your” more often because these words focus on the reader and grab attention.

Article Writing Tip # 2 – Write whatever ideas come to your mind.

Some people get conscious about grammar or structure when they write, that it hinders the free flowing of thoughts. To offset this, just write anything that pops into your head, without paying attention to grammar or organization. After squeezing the last ounce of idea from your brain, that’s the time to organize, rewrite or edit your article to perfection.

Article Writing Tip # 3 – Make It Easy for the Reader.

Don’t use difficult words. Some writers try to impress the reader with difficult or technical words; what they don’t know is that they are only discouraging the reader from reading further because people want to avoid complicated matters at all cost. Remember the popular KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Article Writing Tip # 4 – Never sell in the article itself.

Articles are effective pre-selling tools, meaning they can be used to successfully pre-sell something (through the author bio or resource box) if the content is quality or helpful. However, selling anything in the article itself will only turn down potential buyers. Give beneficial content in the article and use it as a pre-seller; then the author bio or resource box will do the rest.

Article Writing Tip # 5 – Articles should be based on facts or research.

If you’re going to give an opinion, make sure it does not go against any proven facts, figures or statistics. Facts are solid; opinions vary.

Article Writing Tip # 6 – The author bio or resource box should be related (or at least semi-related) to the article topic.

If you’re describing a persuasion website in your author bio or resource box, don’t write an article about “how to improve your basketball skills.” Instead, write an article related to the topic such as persuasion, negotiation, body language, or assertiveness. You may also write semi-related articles on topics such as public speaking or confidence building (these topic samples are all related to self-improvement).

Article Writing Tip # 7 – Maintain your focus.

The more articles you make, the more money you also make. Although an effective strategy in affiliate marketing, article writing is not a get-rich quick tactic; but when you consistently write articles as a habit and make them available online (by submitting to the top article directories and ezine publishers), you will reap positive long-term results.

Note: Please read the terms and conditions carefully. A few article directories like ezinearticles.com prohibit affiliate links in the resource box. To resolve this, create a website or a blog (using blogger.com or wordpress.com) where you can put details about the affiliate product you’re promoting. You can also buy a new domain name and redirect to your affiliate link.

You’ll be surprised to know that you can get unexpected long-term traffic now from articles you’ve written weeks, months, or even years ago. That’s the power of affiliate marketing powered by article writing.

Hope this affiliate marketing article has provided you with profitable article writing tips to skyrocket your affiliate commissions!