When it come to article marketing, you often hear about the importance of a resource box.  But what exactly is a resource box?  And why is it so important?

Today, I want to answer those questions and share with you my three step resource box solution. 

This is vital information for anyone involved in article marketing.

First, a short bit of background about the changes in article marketing.

While “article marketing” used to be thought to be writing an article and submitting it to a site like EzineArticles.com, today it means much more.

In the “old days” article marketing meant writing a short article (usually between 500 and 1500 words) and then submitting that article to many different websites.

These sites were called “article directories” because they contained nothing but the articles that had been submitted to them.

While that approach worked for a while, duplicate content penalties, information overload and more have made that technique less effective.

Eventually, the “write one article and send it everywhere” approach became seen as article spam. 

Fast forward to today and we see that article marketing still works wonderfully well. And submitting to sites like EzineArticles.com can work well too.

But today you have more, and better, options.

Because many of the article spammers have dropped out of the game (too much work for them to do it the right way) the door is wide open to those who will commit to quality and follow a few basic steps.

Today’s article marketing looks different.

Today’s article marketing includes …

• Articles on your own blog

• Articles submitted to other blogs

• Articles submitted to “article directories” like EzineArticles.com

• Articles submitted to online magazines (ezines)

• Articles you exchange with other blog owners

• Articles you publish as part of a sales funnel

• And more

One thing that has not changed is this – if you are going to do any sort of article marketing you need a great resource box!

What is a resource box?

At the very bottom of an article you find the resource box. Some people call it an “author’s box.” On blog’s it is often called “About the author”.

It’s a short section (usually three to five lines at most) that tells the reader more about you and how to contact you.

While many people waste this area with their basic bio (“Jane lives in Tacoma and loves cats”) the resource box can be prime selling space if you use it right.

Basically, it’s your opportunity to get people to take action.

The key is doing that is simplicity itself, you sell the click, not the person. 

In the resource box you refrain from talking about yourself and speak instead about your reader.

His or her needs and desires, not your accomplishments.

And there are three steps to doing that.

 Step 1 – Write a lead-in phrase.

This will get your reader from the article into the resource box naturally without any confusion or lag time.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you have written an article entitled “Seven ways to make your dog look like a champion”. Let’s say the article is about dog grooming, one key aspect to making your four-legged best friend look great.

Your lead in phrase could be “Want to make your dog look like a show dog?”

Or … “Making your dog look his or her best is easy!”

Or … “Make your dog’s coat shine the quick and easy way”.

Simple, but constant with the article subject.

Another strong opener can be: “Need help with…?” followed by whatever you’re promoting.

One of my favorites is: “Confused about…?”

Step 2 – Define your benefit statement.

You need to tell them what’s in it for them. That’s what they care about.

When it comes to benefit statements, keeping things simple and short works best.

Generally speaking, most people want the following things …

• People want to save time.

• They want to save money.

• They want to be happy.

• They want to be healthy.

• They want to make money.

• They want peace of mind.

• They want to feel important.

• They want to do the right thing.

If you create benefit statements around these themes your resource box will work well.

Remember that you’re not selling features (what your product does) but benefits (what they get out of it). That could be saving time, saving money or making money. These are the big three.

It could also be living longer, living better, attracting a mate, having more energy or getting more rest.

What does your product do for the person who purchases it? 

That’s the key. That’s the benefit statement.

The question is never “what does your product do?” but instead “what does it do for me?”

Find a way that your product delivers one of these benefits and write one short phrase describing what they get and how quickly they get it.

Step 3 – Create your call to action.

Tell them what to do next. Simple as that. You’ve told them what’s in it for them (your benefit statement) now tell them how to get it.

By clicking your link!

You want to keep it very simple here.

“Click here” works just fine. There’s nothing wrong with saying “click here.”

Some people might say that you should never put the words ‘click here’ on a website.

I don’t believe that.

In article marketing, it’s especially effective to say “click here.”

You’re telling the reader what to do next. If they’ve read your article and liked it, then they’re going to wonder what to do next.

So tell them “Click here” works fine.

If you want, you can use an action phrase like “to start earning” or “to sleep better tonight.

My personal resource box

Here’s my sample. I use this all the time.

“Confused about Ezine Advertising? I will help! Get your message to pre-qualified buyers who want what you are selling! Save time and money, too. Real help is waiting for you at DirectoryofEzines.com Click here to learn more”

It’s been tested and it works. You will see that it uses the elements I’ve talked about today. People love to have personal help.

This has been a very effective resource box in my article marketing. Please feel free to use it as a model for your own resource box.

I hope this helps you and that you get started writing and testing your own resource box today!

Because having a proven, and effective, resource box for your articles and blog is a beautiful thing indeed.