How to Market Yourself and your Business on a "Shoestring Budget"...or even for FREE!
by Craig Lock
Article Title: How to Market Yourself and your Business on a "Shoestring Budget"...or even for FREE! Author Name: Craig Lock Line Space: 60 characters (approx) Category (key words): Internet, online marketing, internet marketing, WWWInternet address: http://www.craiglock.com Additional Articles:http://www.bridgeniche.com/CLOCK/zaniestbooks.htm Copyright Date: Copyright: © Craig Lock 2002 Publishing Guidelines: This article may be freely reproduced electronically or in print.
"We share what we know, so that others may grow."
"If you have knowledge, let others light a candle to it." - Margaret Fuller
(That's a metaphor, btw)
*
HOW TO MARKET YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS ON A "SHOESTRING BUDGET"... OR EVEN FOR FREE!
© Craig Lock 2002
(Please excuse my long title!)**
Here are some tips in writing some articles to "spread the word" aboutyour business, as an internet marketing strategy...
...and especially on the smell of an oily rag"...
Me write an article! Yes, you can, because you know more about YOUR business than anyone else on this planet. And most importantly, I don't believe that you have to be a "pro" writer to write good articles.
HOW TO GET STARTED?
To "kick off"...Firstly pick a subject that YOU KNOW - a topic that pertains (nice word that!) to your area of business. You are the "expert" in it. Then write to HELP others by sharing your unique knowledge or experiences. I believe, it's the BEST MARKETING TOOL available.
And (can I begin a sentence with "an and" - yes)... You DON'T have to be a good writer to write articles.
My advice is just find your "natural style" by writing as you speak; as practicing writing in your "natural style" breeds confidence. Then submit your articles to ezines and announcement lists, like Article Announce, Free Content, Publisher Network, Article Xpress, FreeEzineContent, Free-Reprint-Articles, netwrite-publish-announce and Article Publish.First you have to subscribe to these lists (check them out under Google search engine, otherwise simply subscribe in this format: Free-Reprint-Articles-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ... or FreeEzineContent-subscribe@topica.com, netwrite-publish-announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, etc.
We find this marketing method by far the most effective means of getting traffic to our various sites (and one thing then leads to another)... and best of all the form of BRANDING your busines in cyberspace costs nothing, but a little time and effort!
Lately, all our marketing has been done through writing articles (on internet marketing, writing, money and self help) and submitting them to the above-mentioned article announcement lists.
Often from there they get picked up by ezines with large readerships - from 10000 ...to even ones with millions of subscribers. True! These big ezine publishers are continually looking for new and quality content, particularly ORIGINAL material that can help others.
My advice is...Write about what you KNOW - your areas of knowledge and expertise, based on your experiences. We find this strategy of SHARING relevant and practical information most effective of all in drawing traffic to our various web sites... and best of all, it helps others "out there in the vast void/realm of cyberspace". That is one of the reasons why I write my various articles.
Here are some other points in writing articles for the www:
Firstly,
* Identify your target audience.
* Keep your title reasonably short* *.
* Keep your paragraphs short.
* Get to the point quickly (enough waffle with maple syrup, Craig!).
* Target your article to your audience with "focussed information".
* Use the occasional exclamation mark (!) to get your readers attention.
* Make sure your article flows properly. Re-read and re-read.
* Try to be concise in your wording. Brevity is the hall-mark of good writing...or so say many of the teachers of writing!
* Be credible (big word, eh?) at all times. I try to write my articles in a "conversational style with dashes of my funny humour".
* Put some thought and effort into your heading - again to get your reader's immediate attention.
* Use bullets in your articles - its makes the points easy to follow (as I've used in this section).
* Conclude with a strong message. The final paragraph should contain a message that summarises your article, or gets your reader to take further action.
* Offer a free report with your article - this is an easy way to collect a list of adresses for marketing your product(s). An instant target market.
* Finally, make sure your layout is good (not one of my strong points!), as this greatly enhances your prospects of getting published
Some prominent article writers say one should write differently to one's natural style, when writing for the web . I say , DON'T. Just write what comes naturally...and BE YOURSELF. Though you may have to be briefer than usual, if you are a "waffler", like this writer. People want immediate information online and have limited time usually - it's the "instant coffee, er sorry, generation.
The internet is such an amazing medium for communication. I've just submitted this article and it's been published almost instaneously (big word!) in a few places. So YOU TOO can write articles on your chosen subject in your internet marketing efforts.MORE TRAFFIC = INCREASED SALES
Your writing will improve with confidence... so just take that FIRST STEP and watch what happens
Writers and internet marketers - Grab this moment in history well.
"Carpe diem" (seize the moment!).
Happy writing and...
Just GO FOR IT
Craig Lockhttp://www.craiglock.com
"I got tired of waiting to be 'discovered on the way to writing success', so 'found myself'...and just carried on without it."
Craig's books are available at: http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/books.html and http://www.novelty-gift.com/ebooks.html
All proceeds go to needy and underprivileged children - MINE
The "original" Online Creative Writing Course http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html
P.S:As the ancient Chinese philosopher said so well,
"A journey of a thousand miles starts with a ... broken fan belt and a flat tyre"... er sorry...
a single step.
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe (German philosopher)
THIS ARTICLE MAY BE FREELY PUBLISHED
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