| Get More Links to Your Website and Increase Your Expert Status By Writing Articles
Writing articles is one of the three prime marketing activities for One-Person Business owners.* With an increasing number of distribution opportunities on the web, and a carefully crafted “resource box”, business owner/authors can position themselves as experts in their niche, drive traffic to their websites, and increase the incoming links search engines value.
Yet too many one-person business owners don't include articles in their marketing mix. Their reasons included not knowing how to write the article or what to include in the author resource box, uncertainty on how to structure an effective article, and, most importantly not knowing where or how to distribute their articles.
The most effective articles for Internet distribution are tightly focused, short (500 – 800 words), slivers of information about a much larger topic area. Many authors write a series or package of articles about multiple facets of a more comprehensive topic. For example, this article is the fourth short article I've written about the three prime marketing activities for very small businesses.
Common formats for articles include how to's about a process or strategy (like this article), a problem/solution/case example about your products or services or a list of tips about a selected topic or issue. Many of the articles I write are suggested by issues, concerns, or questions brought up by coaching clients or participants in teleseminars or presentations. With one person asking the question, I often infer that others would have need of this same information. So I capture the results of our discussion in a new article.
The resource box is a critical piece of a marketing article. It is the short paragraph at the end of the article extending permission to reprint the article with the inclusion of the resource box, a few words about the author establishing your expertise in the subject area, AND, a link to your website where readers can learn more about you or read more of what you have written. Resource boxes often target website pages with special offers for products, an offer to sign up for your newsletter, or a complimentary learning resource available for registered visitors. Offering this “ethical bribe,” a valuable resource in exchange for obtaining a visitor's contact information, is an opportunity to add another contact to your marketing list. (See the latest updates at
http://www.1PersonBusiness.com
for an example of how this can work for you.)
Writing the articles has not been as difficult as finding venues to place marketing articles. Less than 4 years ago, I was paying an article assistant $250 a month to have one article placed in about 100 article directories on the web. More recently I used another assistant to upload multiple articles to a single, prime articles directory. And, although I was able to get many links to those articles, it was a little rich for my budget. On a positive note, my Google listings sky-rocketed.
Technology has come to the rescue. It is now possible to upload articles to a central service that then syndicates them to hundreds of targeted articles directories across the web. Your articles only go to those directories that serve your selected markets. All for less than a quarter of what I was paying to have one article placed in multiple directories, or multiple articles placed in one directory. It is one of the reasons I just love electrons.
This service also provide a mini-ecourse on how to write articles that position you as an expert in your field, how to craft an effective resource box, and how to find and use free article directories if you choose not to use their services.
When I did the cost-benefit analysis (that took about 3 nano seconds) I realized it was so much less expensive for me to have them do it all, than for me to spend my precious time finding article directories, formatting an article to meet each of their unique requirements, and submitting it. I am confident you'll reach the same conclusion, their service is so affordable and comprehensive, while being easy to use. Check them out at
http://1personbusiness.com/cmd.php?Ad=283159
* See archived articles at http://www.1PersonBusiness.com/newsletter-archive.shtml for the articles on the other two basic business marketing strategies for One-Person Business owners: Networking and Speaking.
Resource box
Patricia Wiklund Ph.D., author, consultant, and coach works with 1Person Business owners who want to grow their businesses by getting and staying focused, maximizing their sales and marketing efforts, and delivering premier services to their target markets. Information on her coaching services and on-line product catalogue can be found at www.1PersonBusiness.com You may contact Pat by email at
Pat@1PersonBusiness.com
An electronic version of this article is available if you wish to reprint or repost it. Please contact Dr. Pat Wiklund for permission to reprint, and to see if there is a royalty required for reprint. If permission is granted, we request a hard copy of the publication in which the article appears. We request you include Pat's bio at the end of the piece, along with contract information, and preferably, a photo. Both high resolution (for print) and low resolution (for the web) photos are available at
http://www.1personbusiness.com/other-services.shtml
Reprinting and
Reposting
An
electronic version of these articles is available if you
wish to reprint or repost one of them. Please contact Dr.
Pat Wiklund for permission to reprint, and to see if there
is a royalty required for reprint.
If permission is granted, we request a hard copy of the
publication in which the article appears. We request you
include Pat's bio at the end of the piece, along with
contract information, and preferably, a photo. We'll happily
supply a 5x7 black and white or color photo if you can use
it.
|
