The Single Best Way to Promote
Your Site is Free (Sort of)
How much does the Number One tool for promoting
your Internet business cost? Nothing.It's free. (Sort of.)
 As
many successful and self-proclaimed experts can attest, the Number One way to
promote your site is by writing and placing articles for ezines, newsletters and
other sites. The cost is your time and expertise. The payoff is enormous and substantive.
And no other marketing tool - including advertising and search engine listings
-- comes close for creating name recognition, establishing you as an expert and
building your credibility.
Write an article for the right ezine and you can get your name and your URL
seen by as many as a million readers or more. Write for ten smaller ezines and
achieve the same result.
The majority of now more than 100,000 ezines and newsletters published on the
Internet are looking for high level content. Master the technique of writing articles
and there is a huge market ready for your material.
Instant Credibility
Most online publications carry guest articles. And at the end of the articles
are a few lines about the author, giving his or her site's URL, generally with
a live link.
You give a publisher permission to publish your article in exchange for the
inclusion of a short bio which essentially endorses you as an expert.
Tips and how-to articles are particularly popular. The key to being successfully
published in ezines is to make your content really useful, and not to write an
advertisement for you and your services. If your article convinces readers you
know your stuff, they'll seek you out.
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What It Takes
Editors of high-circulation ezines receive many submissions each week and select
only the best ones. Some guidelines for making your articles publishable are:
- Write with a sincere desire to teach, inform and share your expertise.
- Use a headline that's descriptive and intriguing, but not cute.
- Use good grammar and correct spelling. Don't rely on spell check!
- Writing is about re-writing. Write your article, let it sit for a day or
two, edit and re-write. Read your article aloud. You'll be surprised at the improvements
you can make when you read the article a second and third time.
- Keep your bio to 5 or 6 lines or less and don't make it sound like an ad
or it will be edited.
- Unless there is a "click here to submit articles" button, send
a short email to the publisher describing your article and asking whether he/she
would like to see it. Address the editor by name, never send a "Dear Editor"
email.
- Make your article 500 to 750 words.
- Most publishers want your article sent in text format. Some want the article
in the body of an email because they won't open an unsolicited attachment. Ask
what they prefer!
- Most importantly, read several issues of the ezine before you contact the
editor so you know what kind of content he/she runs.
- Check out "Wired
Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age" for tips on writing
colloquially in the online environment.
Where To Publish
There are two basic ways to get your articles published: General distribution
and individual submissions. General distribution can be achieved through article
announcement lists and through sites that provide free content to ezine publishers.
Article announcement lists include:
Web sites that provide free content to ezine publishers
include:
Being recognized as an expert takes time. Make a commitment to writing one
or two new articles every month. And don't worry about giving away your free advice.
Walt Disney explained this very well. After a meeting, a young employee once asked
Disney "Aren't you worried about giving away all that free information Mr.
Disney?" And Disney replied "Nah! Those were last year's ideas."
If you're good at what you do, you'll always have plenty more ideas.
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Please feel free to contact me, B.L. Ochman, 212.369.8312,
BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com
any time with feedback or an idea for the newsletter. And of course your articles
will be welcome and graciously credited.
All material on this site is copyrighted by B.L. Ochman of whatsnextonline.com,
Inc. and may not be reproduced by any means without express written permission.
Using my content without permission is a theft of my work. Please contact BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com
to discuss reprint options. Thank you in advance for your professional courtesy.
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