Article marketing can increase your business prospects, publicity, and profits. Writing compelling “how to” articles will educate and inform your target market, transforming you into a trusted source of information.
It’s a powerful method of transforming yourself from a relative unknown to an expert in your field virtually overnight.
How does this help your bottom line?
Chasing clients is a tedious and often unrewarding exercise. Instead of chasing them, you can win them over by sharing your knowledge and expertise.
For instance, you can write short “how to” articles of 250-700 words related to your industry. Then submit them to various article directory sites for wide exposure to hundreds or thousands of online publishers.
By allowing them to be freely published by website owners and newsletter publishers, your articles could be viewed by millions of Internet users who might otherwise never have heard about your small business.
This is an incredible, low-cost marketing tool that generates targeted website traffic and helps build your mailing list.
Articles as Free Advertising
Posting free-reprint articles on reputable high traffic article directories and social bookmarking sites will increase your visibility and website traffic. Posting your article on Article Directories such as Ezine Articles, Idea Marketers, Go Articles, Article Dashboard, Amazines, Article Snatch, and on social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Technorati, Del.ico.us , Propeller, Stumbleupon, Reddit and Fark, will save you a lot of money on advertising. You’ll reap the benefits of publicity and gain a great deal of credibility for your business.
Of course, your article submissions should be purposeful and beneficial to those who will be reading them. After all, the whole point is not only to attract the attention of potential clients but to engage them with your ideas and information.
First, identify your target audience and think about what they’d like to read about.
Then, when you have your subject matter chosen, you can begin researching and writing your item. Here are some suggestions to make your articles more effective:
Article Writing Tips
- The Title: This is one of the most important parts of an article because it’s the first thing the reader sees. Make your title powerful and be sure it accurately represents the subject matter which follows it.
- The Truth: No one likes false advertising so make sure all of the information in your article is truthful. You want people to trust you, and you want to establish a good reputation. Openly sharing honest insider knowledge is a great way to earn that trust and respect.
- Write Many Articles: Don’t try to stuff everything into a single article. Save some information for a Part II or perhaps a series.
- Think Strategically: The goal of article writing is to inspire an action. For instance, prepare a short “teaser” item and prompt readers to click to your website for more information.
- Spread it Around: Joining forums is another excellent way to get in touch with new prospects. Try posting your existing articles and commentaries to appropriate forums, along with your signature file. People will learn about you and your business, and some will click through to your website.
The more you learn about how to effectively use article distribution, the more it will benefit your business by delivering a substantial increase in website traffic and registrations.
Remember, use article directories to publish your articles, as you tantalize and tempt your readers with a taste of what they can expect from your business, and leave them wanting more. That way you can stop chasing after clients and get them to come to you.
Robert Moment is an innovative, forward-thinking small business and marketing coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service. Robert specializes in teaching entrepreneurs and small business owners how to start a business that profits and grows. Visit How to Start Your Small Business and sign up for the FREE 7 day e-course titled, “Turn Passion into Profit: Small Business Startup.”
Contact Robert at Robert@howtostartyoursmallbusiness.com
