Six Easy
Steps to Marketing
Your Business With Articles - Part 1
by Adam Urbanski
It’s not a secret that
many successful professionals position themselves as experts in their
field by writing and publishing articles. In the past getting
articles published took weeks and months. Nowadays, with thousands of
online publishers constantly craving for fresh content you can write an
article in the morning and see it published in the afternoon.
If you doubt that writing
articles is worth your time and effort, consider these obvious benefits:
- Writing informative articles
helps crystallize your ideas and express them in more powerful ways – which in
turn makes you more attractive to your clients.
- Sharing your expertise
through articles helps you gain greater visibility, positions you as an expert
and establishes your credibility.
- Sending your articles to
clients and prospects is a great way to keep in touch and educate them about
your products and services – without being perceived as a pushy salesperson.
- Publishing articles gives you
a chance of catching interest of even the most lukewarm prospects that otherwise
would have never given your business a minute of their time.
- Placing articles on web sites
frequented by your potential clients attracts targeted, “pre-qualified” visitors
to your web site.
- Regularly adding new articles
to your web site gives you fresh content and entices people to visit your site
more often.
Still, relatively few
professionals take advantage of this powerful marketing strategy. Many
don’t think the task is worthy of their time. Many others can’t seem to
zero-in on the “right topic”, worry about not having enough expertise on
the subject, think that no one will value their opinion and feel stuck
trying to search for the “right words”. Frustrated with the entire
process, they frequently give up before they even get started!
Here is the good news –
you don’t have to be another Shakespeare to write articles people will
love to read. As a matter of fact, if your solutions help your clients
solve their problem – you are expert enough to share your opinions and
how-to tips.
Here is a simple to
follow, six step process to getting started with writing and publishing
articles.
STEP ONE – SELECT A
TOPIC
This seems so easy, yet
many people convince themselves they don’t know what to write about. If
you are in this group try these ideas to jumpstart your creativity:
- ask your clients what they
most want to learn about your area of expertise,
- make a list of the top ten
solutions to the biggest problem your clients are dealing with,
- make a list of the top ten
resources on a specific topic,
- make a list of the most
common mistakes your customers make and how to fix them,
- review a book,
- interview an expert,
- have someone interview you,
- answer a customer’s question
(This is one of my favorites; I often find myself taking 20-30 minutes writing
an email response to a question from a client. Later, after editing out the
specifics pertaining to that client, I end up with a great how-to article)
- share a case study,
- answer a most frequently
asked question (if you have several clients asking you the same question –
chances are more people would like to find information on that topic)
- share the “top five sure-fire
strategies to fail” – this could bring a little humor even to the most serious
topic!
- comment on current news
events and how it affects your customers,
- comment on emerging trends
you spotted,
- evaluate a hot resource you
just found,
There are dozens of ways
to get ideas for article topics but these should get your creative
juices flowing.
STEP TWO – TITLE YOUR
ARTICLE
Personally, I like to
title my article before I even write it. You may want to do it in
reverse. Either way, the title is an important part. It must entice
people to read what follows; it’s like a mini commercial. Make it
fun, exciting, controversial and make sure to communicate the benefits
of reading it.
If you feel stuck and
can’t come up with any good ideas for titles I suggest you hop over to a
local Kinko’s store. Why? Because they usually have a display with
popular how-to books and audio CDs – and they have great titles. Don’t
have any Kinko’s around where you live? Then go to amazon.com and take a
look at their bestsellers list. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of
inspiration there.
But in case that’s not
enough here are a few “title templates” you can tweak to fit your
needs. (Just replace the words in brackets with your own.)
- (Provide a Number) Fun and
Easy Ways to (Generate Pre-qualified Web Visitors) by (Writing
Articles)
- How To (Negotiate Like
a Pro) And (Create Win-Win Deals)
- Top (Ten) Tips You
Can Use to (Keep Your Dog Healthy)
- (3) Deadly (Marketing)
Mistakes and How To Fix Them
- The Lazy Way to (Make
Your First Million)
- (7) Steps To Achieving
(Financial Success)
- (12) Amazing (Life)
Lessons I Learned From (My Cat)
OK, you get the point,
right? Oh, if you wonder what’s with the numbers in all those titles –
well, they simply work! Numbers indicate a system. They tell the reader
that you've given some thought to the process or solution you are about
to share with them.
As a matter of fact as I
was writing this article I got an mail from Jay Conrad Levinson –
the father of Guerilla Marketing – titled “12 Things That Keep You From
(Dominating Your Market)”. There you go – that’s another template for
you.
STEP THREE – GATHER
INFORMATION
OK, don’t panic. I’m not
talking about reading dozens of books here. If you write on topics
within your area of expertise most likely you already have enough
information in your head to last you for dozens of articles.
But depending on the type
of article you write you may need to do a bit of research to add depth
to it. Also comparing and contrasting different concepts or opinions can
make for a great read.
As you get more savvy
with your writing process it’s a good idea to create your own
editorial calendar. What’s an editorial calendar? In a nutshell it’s
a plan of topics you want to write on and a schedule when you will write
each article.
It can be a simple folder
where you keep title ideas and resources you can refer to when you need
them. Whenever an idea for an article pops into your head – write it
down and scribble a few key points you would like to refer to later and
stick into your folder. This will help you collect many great ideas and
make your writing so much easier.
########
In
part two of this tutorial I will share with you tips on the writing
and editing process and give you links to the top places where you can
submit your articles right away. I will also give you two
super-shortcuts to writing articles – they will amaze you!
(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Urbanski, the Marketing Mentor, helps Independent Service
Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients. For more
promotional tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to
http://www.themarketingmentors.com
NOTE:
Are you looking for fresh content for your ezine or web site? Feel free to reprint this article as long as it's kept intact and unaltered
(including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your
reprint to
adam@themarketingmentors.com
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