 |
Publicity?you're business can survive without it, but it certainly won't thrive without it. Maybe you've seen your competition at it - their website was featured on a major newspaper or television show. Or perhaps you heard them mentioned on your favorite morning radio show on the way to the office. The point is, when it comes to publicity, some businesses are getting it. And here comes the real shocker - some of them are getting it for free! Yep, there really is such a thing as free publicity, and we're going to show you a very simple way that you can start getting it. But first, let's take a moment to discuss what publicity is. According to www.dictionary.com, publicity is "Information that concerns a person, group, event, or product and that is disseminated through various media to attract public notice." Did you see what I just did? Through this article, www.dictionary.com just got free publicity (they'll need it, so you can look up "disseminated"). Articles are just one of many ways that you can spread the word about your business, but it's the one of the easiest to use. Free Online Articles The number one way to get free publicity (and to establish yourself as an expert in your field) is through writing and submitting free online articles that relate in some way to your business. Now before you throw your hands up in disgust, saying something like "I'm not a writer, I'm a business owner!" just wait a minute. The chances are, your business's new or existing product, service or upcoming event is something that the rest of the world cares about (otherwise, you wouldn't BE in business). As obscure as it may be, you'd be amazed at the number of people out there who are yearning to learn more about something that your business makes you an expert about. If you don't believe me, narrow your business down to a list of ten keywords that come to mind when you describe your profession. Now, do a Google search on each of those ten keywords (see, I slipped in yet another instance of free publicity, and through your articles, you can do the same!) The top ten or twenty results are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sites that could be featuring your articles. You may be asking yourself "Sure, the readers get something out of these free articles, but what about me?" Well, despite the fact that no one is paying you to publish your articles, free articles come with an incredibly valuable thing?it's known as the resource box. The resource box is where you get to promote yourself and your business! You can include a brief biography about yourself or business along with a link to your website or affiliate program, your address, phone number, email address,? whatever! The point is, when your readers get done with your article and they want to know more, the first place they'll go to is your resource box! The next place they go is?well, where ever you want them to! What Do You Write About? Well, just about anything. The first place you should go for inspiration is your Frequently Asked Questions. If you don't have a FAQ section of your website, check out your competitor's sites (really, it's okay, as long as you don't copy it down word for word?) If your FAQ's are truly that, and not just a list of questions that you hope and pray that people would ask but they never do, then you'll have plenty of possibilities. Whatever you write about, make sure it's something that people are genuinely interested in. Because if it's something people are interested in, then it's something that the websites that cater to those people will be interested in. And don't worry, there's no need to write a novel, nearly all web content articles are within a 300-1000 word range. Also, make sure to follow the basic rules of grammar and spelling. Even if your article is worthy of a Pulitzer, it'll never earn one if it's full of careless mistakes and spelling errors. Once you've checked your spelling and grammar make sure to read the article aloud. This will give you a chance to make sure that the article flows smoothly and logically. Getting Your Article Published Once you've written and edited your article, the next step is to get the word out. And unlike articles that are written for pay, it's really not that hard to find webmasters and ezine editors willing to publish your piece. Since they don't have to pay you for the content, they're more than happy to provide you with free publicity. If you have a lot of professional and Internet connections in your industry, don't be afraid to take advantage of them at this point. Not only will it give you more exposure, you'll be doing your friends a favor! Once you've contacted them, you're next stop will be to submit your article to free online article databases. Here are a few to help you get started: ? www.articlecity.com ? www.ezinearticles.com (requires free membership) ? www.thewhir.com/find/articlecentral/ ? www.businessknowhow.com/newsletter/articleguidelines.htm ? www.expertarticles.com (requires free membership) ? Or, just go here www.bellaonline.com/articles/art12838.asp for an extensive list of places willing to publish your work on their site or publication! Now, you're armed with all you need to know to start getting the free publicity that you've been dreaming of. Better yet, no one will be able to pinch and wake you up! About the Author:
If your website could use some fresh, custom content but you don't have the extra money in your budget, there's no need to worry. Jennifer Gibbs (http://www.JenniferGibbs.com), a 5 star freelance professional from South Georgia is more than happy to provide your site with original, tailored and EXCLUSIVE content in exchange for free products, services and/or membership access. For more information, send your request (along with your website URL) to: info@jennifergibbs.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Writing-Articles - Google News
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Promote Your Home Business with Keyword Rich Articles
Do you wonder what easy, cheap, and fast way you can attract your targeted audience to your Web site? You probably have heard about Web optimization with pay-per-click key words. But, there's a much better, more natural, much cheaper, more lasting kind of Web optimization for search engines--Writing and submitting key word rich articles to the opt-in ezines or the top 20 or so Web sites.
Niche Marketing: The Power Of Articles
If you haven't considered the power of articles as part of your niche marketing strategy, then you should.Articles are a great way to drive targeted traffic to your web site, no matter what your niche market may be.
SureFire Ways To Get Free Publicity Using Articles
Free publicity can help to spread the word about your name and business. There are many ways in which you can publicize your web site at no cost.
Direct Sales Reps CAN Write Articles - Heres How!
We all know that article writing is a great way to promote our businesses AND helps establish us as an expert in our fields. But, just because we know how important it is to our business doesn't necessarily make us able to do it.
Writing Ezine Articles - 4 Reasons Why You Should Do It
Anyone who's been in the business for 2 or 3 months certainly has a lot of information that he or she can share with others, especially newbies. So why don't you take advantage of it?Here are the 4 reasons why YOU too should start writing articles in Ezines to attract more visitors to your website:1.
Ten Top Tips for Writing Articles on the Internet
Online readers love information, but be sure your information is crisp, clean, clear and concise. Internet writing is different from print.
The Difference Between Article Marketing and Traditional Article Writing
Lately, there seems to be some confusion between Article Marketing and regular article writing. People wonder why I would write articles when I'm not getting paid for them.
Finding Experts, Sources and Contacts
I was asked to write an article on a short deadline. No problem, I thought.
Article Marketing 101: The Perfect Author Resource Box
If you want to really make your article "SELL" then you've got to craft the perfect RESOURCE BOX. This is the "author bio" that is below your article body and it's also known as your "SIG" (short for SIGnature).
Writing for the Internet - How to Market Yourself on the Web
Writing articles for online newsletters and websites can be a low cost, effective and powerful way of marketing yourself to new clients.Writing for the Web, however, is quite different from writing for other formats.
6 Best Places to Submit Your Articles
You know that writing articles is the best free way to promote your business and gain credibility. You understand the importance of articles containing actual information and not being just long sales letters.
Article Marketing: the BETTER Offpage SEO Solution
Been reading up on SEO? If so, you know that there are one of two major strategies for bumping up your website on the search engines. One is onpage optimization, which involves plumping up your website's headlines, subheads, alt image tags and content with popular keywords.
Article Content Sources For Article Writers - 7 Quick Strategies You Can Use Immediately
As an article author, sometimes you can only pull so much out of your head before you need to turn to a system or a strategy for how to produce more original content.The following are (7) types of great content sources to help you produce your next batch of 100+ quality and original articles:Article Content Source #1: Old Ezine ArticlesThis includes your archives for articles that you sent your ezine from the past 10+ years.
Become An Expert
Everyone focuses their web marketing efforts on search engines, and while this is a large part of traffic generation, it's not the be all and end all of selling from your website.One of my Weekly Tips a week or so ago was to write articles, and become an expert.
Article Writing Mistakes - 7 To Avoid
Making your articles available for reprints by other ezine publishers and webmasters is the cornerstone strategy in building an avalanche of pre-qualified visitors to your website.If you want your articles to be picked up and massively distributed by others, here are 7 common mistakes to avoid:Article Mistake #1 Too many grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Article Marketing
A revolutionary marketing device that I call article marketing I now will share with you. Now the sole question is can article marketing me? That depends on if you are looking to build pr, increase your inbound links, and boost your traffic.
There is an Article Deep Down Inside of You Just Looking to Bust Out
The Most Economical Way to Advertise online is to Submit Articles online for Redistribution. One of the Main Benefits of submitting Articles is one way Back Links to your Web Page.
Publishing: Changing realities (II)
There is some wisdom in saying that when you are in the jungle and are faced with a hungry bear, you'd better be good at thinking on your feet. If you're not strong, be quick.
Get High Quality Traffic by Writing Articles
One of the best ways to promote your website is by writing articles that you can post in e-zines, and sites that provide free content to e-zine publishers. This will help you develop credibility and, with time, build a solid customer base.
Write Your Ezine Article in 15 Minutes or Less!
Gasp! I can hear it from the purists now: Matt is advocating that writers really dumb down their writing styles to crank out more articles in less time. No, not really.
|
