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1. Wanting immediate results.

This is perhaps the chief among culprits when it comes to article marketing. The person who tries his or her hand at this may be looking for an immediate pay off of some sort. Article marketing is a long-term strategy based on providing truly useful information to your readership. Unless you happen to write a one-hit wonder article that gets picked up by a national trade publication (unlikely) or makes the home page of Digg, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. The desire for immediate gratification leads to discouragement and ultimately resignation. Tell yourself this is a minimum two-year plan and pace yourself according. (After a few months you'll be hooked and make it a permanent part of your marketing strategy, but for now tell yourself it's just for a couple of years.)

2. Writing too few articles.

This goes hand in hand with reason number one. Article marketing is a long-term strategy and one that takes time and volume to achieve critical mass. In the beginning it may seem like riding a bike uphill... all work and effort with very little results to show for it. But with time (and time is on your side with article marketing) an increasing number of your well written articles will begin to find their way into ezines, newsletters, emails and blog posts. You may even get a request to write in an established magazine (that has been my experience.) As you write new articles, you will find that your oldest ones will continue to gain traction and appear in more and more places. So unlike a newspaper ad that may be in the trash the very next day, your articles actually grow in visibility over time. Write, write, write, and over time, your body of articles will take on an exponential power. For me, the point of critical mass seems to have hit between the 15 to 20 article range. It may be different for you depending on your industry.

3. Writing poorly worded and unfocused articles.

Scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote, "The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter." Take time to make your writing succinct and meaningful vs. a rambling dissertation leading nowhere. An article is your message to the world, so ensure that you represent yourself well and that you take time to craft a worthy message. Ask yourself if the article is focused, on topic and grammatically correct. If you struggle in these areas, hire an editor to proof your articles. There are a number of services that can do this for as little as $12 per article. In the long run it will prove a good investment.

4. Writing for the wrong reasons

If the entire motivation for writing is to achieve links and a higher page rank, you are doomed from the outset. Good articles are read, shared, forwarded and syndicated because of their inherent worth. Readers can sense the intention behind a writer's efforts. If that intention is purely to generate links, increase page rank and drive traffic, then you are missing out on the bigger benefits of credibility, loyalty and trust. Write with the motivation of helping your audience above anything else, and the rest will take care of itself. Google's algorithms will change. Page rank may come and go. And there may be an entirely different way that web sites get ranked in the next few years. Creating articles purely for links and page rank is truly a house of cards. Build upon solid, well crafted articles and you are building a lasting foundation of shared expertise.

If the goal of your business is to develop a loyal fan base of enthused customers, article marketing offers a fantastic way to achieve that result, with no more investment than your time and expertise. If however, you are looking for a quick fix solution to a web traffic problem, then you are best served by looking elsewhere such as pay-per-click campaigns and email marketing. By keeping your focus on your reader -- your potential client, and by providing helpful, relevant information, you can grow your company in a way that's both rewarding and lasting.