Writing Articles To Promote and Market Yourself

Writing articles is an excellent way to market and promote your products, your services, and you, both online and offline. If you are new to marketing yourself you must find a way for people to get to know who you are and what you do. This is also referred to as the "know, like, and trust" factor. Writing articles, especially informative articles in a conversational tone, is a great way to accelerate the know, like, and trust factor for yourself. You will also become known as an expert in your field.

First, you must let others know what business you are in. Think about your target market and write articles that will appeal to and educate this group of people. Try to narrow this group down with specifics. What information does this group want to know more about that you could provide for them? Give them tips or mistakes to avoid when writing to them. Share stories with them that are directly related to your products and services and their needs and wants. Draw them to the conclusion that you have the information that will help them.

You will want your potential clients to know that you are very knowledgeable in your field. Article writing helps to position you as an expert in whatever you are writing about. Give as much information as you can so that others see you first as a resource and then as a vendor. You will sell more products and services if people are able to see how much you know and care about the area you are specializing in.

Building your database of people interested in your products and services will also be helped immensely through the articles you write. When people who are interested in your area of expertise read your articles they will be more willing to give you their contact information. Be sure to ask for their physical address as well as their email address. Marketing to them both ways, online and offline, will give you the maximum exposure you are looking for.

If you are directing people to your website be sure to give them the opportunity to sign up for your ezine or newsletter and also for a short, free report or other information. This will serve as an incentive for them to leave their contact information so that you can stay in touch with them regularly. Your newsletter can consist of two or three additional articles that will further convince people that you are an expert. You can also use your ezine or newsletter to directly sell your products or services.

Many people have difficulty getting started with writing their articles. It is recommended that you write down any ideas you have on a notepad that you keep with you at all times. Make notes about things that you may write about at a later time. When you have an idea that you feel will make an interesting and informative article make a simple outline with the points you will be addressing in more detail in your article. You will most likely need to do some research to flesh out and expand your ideas before you actually write your article. Do this research and then expand upon what you already know. Be sure to give people excellent information in your articles. Take the time you need to produce quality articles that will inform and educate your audience in the areas of your expertise.

Think about how you want to present the information in the article you have now written. You may want to post all or part of it on your blog or website. The posting on your blog may be a shorter or abbreviated version of what you will post on your website. You may then choose to submit the article to an article directory. It will have greater exposure through a directory and will have a greater chance of being used by others in their newsletter or ezine. If others use your articles they are required to keep your article intact as you wrote it, including the information about you and your website that you have include in the resource box at the end of the article. You may also want to include your articles in your own newsletter or ezine. It is a good idea to make some changes to your work as you present it in the various formats but it is not required if it is your own writing for your own publications.

Remember that your article will be around for a long time, months or even years. Make sure that what you have written is clear and helpful to the many people who will read it over an extended period of time.