Note (October 2026): Earlier versions of this article promised easy free traffic and over $150 a day; Google’s spam policies now treat keyword-rich links in distributed articles as link spam, and no reliable data supports a typical income, so those claims have been corrected below.
Article marketing (also called bum marketing) means writing useful articles on a topic and publishing them where your audience reads, with a short author bio that links to your product, service or site. It still works as a way to earn trust and visitors, but Google treats keyword-rich links in mass-distributed articles as link spam, so the old free-traffic shortcut no longer works.
Key Takeaways
- Bum marketing is a low-cost form of article marketing, popularized by internet marketer Travis Sago: write helpful articles, publish them for free and link from the author bio.
- Google’s Panda update (announced February 24, 2011) noticeably affected 11.8% of queries, according to Google, and was aimed at low-quality and copied content.
- Google’s current spam policies name links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts and press releases distributed on other sites as link spam.
- Publish the original on your own site first, then republish with a canonical link (Medium’s import tool adds one automatically).
- No reliable figure exists for typical earnings; treat any income claim, including the classic “$150 a day”, as marketing.
Ah, internet marketing. Do you know what it is? I hope so. Internet marketing covers every way of promoting a product or service online, from search and email to social media and published content, and it can earn money, although results are never guaranteed.
Anyone can be an internet marketer, even in your free time. Even if you do know what it is, you can always learn. Article marketing basically involves writing articles with the purpose of marketing a product or service and distributing those articles online.
Make Money Online For Free: Bum Marketing
You can even use social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly Twitter) to share links to your articles. The original version of this article recommended SubscriberZ for gaining readers; as of October 2026, SubscriberZ’s own homepage describes it as a service that sells followers, likes and subscribers, and bought followers are not the same as interested readers.
Article Marketing, also known as Bum Marketing (a name popularized by internet marketer Travis Sago, meaning the method cost so little that even someone with no money could use it), is all about taking a product, service, website, really anything, and writing about it. Easy enough, right?
Well, it’s not as simple as it seems. You need to pick up something that you’re interested in and then keep the reader’s interest. That’s key. If you’re not interested, why should your reader be?
You need to make your reader latch on to your writing and follow it to the very end. This way, they’ll be sure to find what you really want them to read-your bio box.
On traditional article submission sites, the bio box (also called the author resource box) is typically the only place where a link to your product, service or web page is allowed. This is where you are able to make money off these informative articles.
After you captivate your reader through your informative article, you write a small yet strong sentence or two about what you want them to look at. Then you include your link, and you’re in business.
Here’s an example. You are the salesman for a web page selling wingdings. You notice traffic and sales are sagging. So, you set out to write an article about how useful wingdings are.
You navigate your trusty web browser to an article submission site and begin writing about why a person’s life isn’t complete without a full set of wingdings at their disposal.
You are smart, and make sure you don’t write anything at all about your business or include a link anywhere in the body of your article. That’s where you give them information.
After you write your very captivating and informative article, you start work on your little bio box. Now that you’ve explained why everyone should make sure they have wingdings and the benefits of such a thing, you could write something like “more information on wingdings and the secret about them they don’t want you to know.” A plain description of what the link offers is the more honest choice, and it avoids looking like clickbait.
In the 2000s, a well-written directory article could send targeted, free traffic to a site. Since Google’s Panda update of February 2011, which Google said was designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites and sites that copy content, that kind of easy traffic is much harder to get.
This sounds easy now, doesn’t it? Well, yes, it does. And that’s because it can be. There is just a very strong and long learning curve you must go through first.
You must learn the right way to write articles, what to stay away from, how many to write, how often to write, your headlines, body techniques, search engine optimization, article site ranking, conversion techniques, and so much more.
Article marketing (bum marketing) is, after all, marketing. It’s not a little game. This is the real deal. It can still help build an audience when the articles are genuinely useful, but it is no longer a shortcut: Google’s spam policies list links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts or press releases distributed on other sites as an example of link spam.
It’s very confusing, that’s for sure. You can do it, though. Just start writing, and start climbing the curve. Income is not guaranteed; any earnings come from consistent, useful writing over months, not from a quick trick.
Early bum marketing guides promoted figures such as $150 a day from article marketing, but no independent data supports a typical income from the method, and results vary widely from person to person.
But the learning curve is large, and information is powerful, so start writing. The more you write, the higher on the curve you will begin to get, and that’s when you will start seeing success. Get motivated, and write.
What Is Article Marketing (Bum Marketing)?
Article marketing is a content marketing method in which a writer publishes informative articles on third-party websites or social platforms to attract readers to a product, service or website. The article itself gives information, and a short author bio at the end carries the call to action and the link.
Bum marketing is the zero-budget version of the same idea. Affiliate-marketing glossaries credit internet marketer Travis Sago with popularizing the “Bum Marketing Method”; the pitch was that anyone could write articles about a product and earn affiliate commissions or ad revenue from the traffic without spending money. For a deeper look at what makes content rank, see this guide on what search engines expect from content.
Does Bum Marketing Still Work?
Bum marketing still works only in its honest form: useful articles that readers choose to click through. The version built on mass submissions and keyword-stuffed links stopped being reliable after a series of Google changes:
| Date | Change | What it means for article marketing |
|---|---|---|
| February 24, 2011 | Google announces the update later known as Panda, noticeably affecting 11.8% of queries | Low-quality sites and sites that copy content from other websites lose rankings |
| January 20, 2014 | Matt Cutts, then head of Google’s webspam team, publishes “The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO” | Guest posting as a way to gain links is described as too spammy to rely on |
| 2015 | Panda becomes part of Google’s core algorithm | Quality assessment is built into ranking rather than run as a separate update |
| March 5, 2024 | Google announces three new spam policies: expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse and site reputation abuse | Sites that violate the policies may rank lower or not appear in results |
As of October 2026, Google’s spam policies define scaled content abuse as “when many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users.” Spinning one article into dozens of versions for directories fits that description; writing one genuinely helpful article does not.
Old Bum Marketing vs. Modern Article Marketing
| Element | Classic bum marketing | Modern article marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Where you publish | Free article submission sites | Your own site first, then platforms your audience uses (Medium, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X) |
| Volume | Many short articles, often spun | Fewer, original, in-depth articles |
| Links | Keyword-rich anchor text in the bio | Natural, descriptive anchors; paid links marked with a rel attribute |
| Duplicate copies | Same article on many sites | Republished with a canonical link to the original |
| Earnings claims | “$150 a day” promises | No guaranteed income; results depend on audience and offer |
How to Do Article Marketing the Right Way
- Pick a topic you know. Choose a problem your product or offer actually solves, and write for the reader who has that problem.
- Publish the original on your own site. This gives you the canonical version and keeps the traffic on a site you control. Tips on structure are in this guide to writing quality blog content.
- Make the article complete. Answer the question fully in the body, without hiding the useful part behind the link. A free word counter helps you keep sections tight.
- Republish with a canonical link. According to Medium’s help center, its import tool backdates the post to the original date and adds a canonical link referencing the original source.
- Write a clear author bio. One or two sentences on who you are and what the link offers. Use descriptive, natural wording; this explainer on anchor text covers why it matters.
- Mark paid and affiliate links. Google’s guidance on qualifying outbound links asks publishers to mark advertisements and paid placements with a rel attribute (nofollow is still accepted). The US Federal Trade Commission says affiliate relationships should be disclosed clearly and conspicuously and gives sample wording: “I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.”
- Share and measure. Post links on social media, track which articles bring visitors who stay, sign up or buy, and write more on those topics.
Common Article Marketing Mistakes
- Mass-submitting spun copies. This matches Google’s scaled content abuse policy and can lower rankings.
- Keyword-stuffed bio links. Links with optimized anchor text in distributed articles are listed as link spam in Google’s policies.
- Buying followers or likes. Bought audiences are not interested readers, so they do not turn into customers.
- Hiding affiliate relationships. The FTC expects a clear and conspicuous disclosure that readers see along with the recommendation.
- Expecting fast income. Article marketing builds slowly; for other options, compare these ways to make money online.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is bum marketing?
Bum marketing is a free form of article marketing in which a person writes helpful articles about a product or niche, publishes them on free platforms and earns money through a link in the author bio, usually to an affiliate offer or their own site. Internet marketer Travis Sago popularized the name.
Is article marketing still effective?
Article marketing is still effective when each article is original and genuinely useful. It is not effective as a link-building shortcut: Google’s spam policies treat links with optimized anchor text in articles and guest posts distributed on other sites as link spam.
Can you really make $150 a day with bum marketing?
There is no independent evidence that $150 a day is a typical result. The figure comes from early marketing of the method, and actual earnings depend on the niche, the offer and how many readers click through.
Is republishing the same article on several sites bad for SEO?
Republishing works best when each copy points back to the original with a canonical link. Medium’s import tool, for example, adds that canonical link automatically. Spreading many spun copies at scale is what Google’s scaled content abuse policy targets.
Do I need to disclose affiliate links in my articles?
In the United States, yes. The Federal Trade Commission’s endorsement guidance says readers should be told clearly and conspicuously when you earn commissions from links, so they can decide how much weight to give the recommendation.
Justwebworld has published guides since 2012. How we write and update articles Report an error
