Do You Use Articles To Promote Your Business?

I am an avid believer in using articles to market one's business. I've been doing it for years and I always notice an increase in sales when an article is published online via a website or blog.  It's like free advertising and all it takes is a little time and effort and your time. But online isn't the only place articles work, print publications are always looking for quality articles on a variety of topics and your byline could become your advertisement. It just depends on the publication's policy for bylines. Some publication do not like bylines that sound like commercials while others don't care as long as it stays under a certain word count.Are you a freelance craft instructor? Do you travel from state to state teaching about your craft? Do you sell your products during craft fairs or business shows? Articles, as handouts work great, too. Save all those free articles you write and distribute online and print them out. Use them as free “take away” material that will help promote your business even after they’ve left the shows and fairs.

I know a guy who distributes a CD to every workshop attendee with articles he has written pertaining to the subject he teaches—as a free gift for coming. He then gives the attendees permission to reprint the articles on their blogs and websites as long as they include his byline at the end of each article. I know a gal who does the same thing for every Christian women's function she teaches. She allows the churches to use her material in their church bulletins. It costs her less than 50 cents to package and distribute each CD, plus her time and the rewards really pay off.You put a lot of time and effort into your product. You know the ins and outs of making that specific item better than anybody. Use that knowledge to your advantage.You know what would make it better, what would make it worse, and I bet you know ways to cut costs while still producing a quality product. You know what your customers like and what they don’t like. You know how to package your product so that it doesn’t break or get lost. And you’ve probably learned how to deal with bad customers and lost packages. Use every aspect of your business as an article idea. Just remember not to give specifics about your customers without permission and avoid giving away trade secrets.

As a writer, when we query a publication to write an article for that publication we first go to Writer's Market and look up magazines that accept the types of ideas we have in mind. (Also a quick search online can do the job.) Then we check out a few back issues of the magazine at the library as well as what's going on via their website and current issues. It gives us a good idea as to what has already been published (since they don't like to repeat the same stories) and what they may be looking for in the future. Then we can tailor our query letters to the magazine appropriately.  Another way to find out about what magazines want is by looking at their editorial calendar—which can often be found online. It can tell you a lot and even help you tailor a press release towards a future issue.

You could take one product that is not your best seller (because you really don't want to give away trade secrets on best sellers, do you?) and write up a how-to article for craft magazines, parenting magazines (that use craft ideas), and even children's magazines. You do your research to make sure your idea hasn’t already been covered and then you submit your idea in the form of a query letter and wait. You wait for an acceptance to actually write the article.

Another way to find ideas for articles that could help promote your products and your website or blog is to pay attention to the way people find you in the search engines. Put a stat counter on your website or blog (statcounter.com is free) and look at how people are finding you on a weekly basis. What words are they typing into the search engines? Can any of those words or phrases spark an idea for writing an article or even a blog post?What are people saying in forums or what are they saying when they leave comments in your blogs? Can any of those posts spark an idea for an article?If you don't feel writing is your forte, hire a good freelance writer. If you feel you can write okay but need a second pair of eyes hire a proofreader, they run as low as $1 per page.  The key is to "not sale yourself" but to "entertain, educate, and inform" your intended audience about something they'd actually care about. Always think, "What's in it for them?"