Trucking forward in the article marketing club--still keeping up and we're almost halfway through. Today the topic of using Google AdSense was brought up and I'm so glad because I've had an AdSense account for years but have really done nothing with it.  With all that, when I checked it, I had an account credit of a little over a dollar.  Wonder how long that's been sitting there?

I'm trying to update my blog on weekdays and I figured out that the blog is a great place to just get my ideas out, and then I can rework one or two blog posts into a longer article that I then spin off shorter articles for the directories.  The last two blog posts will make a nice static page article, so I'm looking forward to having more time to work on it tomorrow.

I'm wondering about the value of backlinks that originate from forums such as the WA forum.  I changed my signature today and noticed the signature changed on all my previous forum posts as well.  So, did I just create 78 instant backlinks to my brand new site?  What are those links worth?  And when I change my forum signature again, will those backlinks get deleted?  What does that do for Google search engine results?  Is it like this on all forums?  If that's the case it would seem to me that I could get very active on relevant forums and post away, and then when I want a bunch of backlinks, then just change my signature on the forums and that could create as many instant backlinks as the number of posts I've made.  My question is, is that an actual IM strategy?

My other question is somewhat unrelated but reflects where I believe I will ultimately apply my newly minted IM skills:  Local SEO.  What if I want to use my IM skills to promote a local plumber or computer repair guy?  Do I do the same things I'd do for any other campaign, like publish keyword optimized articles to directories?  Is it all a matter of choosing locally targeted keywords like "Denver plumber" or are there some fundamentally different tactics to use?  Are there local article directories I should be looking for?

Anyone out there in the WA community do Local SEO?  Are you willing to share?  If so, please get in touch with me.