Five Reasons Why You Should Market Your Business With Articles
One of the best ways to market your business profitably is to write articles for
publication. Look at most newspapers, trade journals, newsletters and magazines and
you’ll see articles written by businesspeople just like you. They’re sharing their
expertise, but best of all, they’re getting a lot of exposure that’s worth more than what
a full-page ad in the same magazine is worth. And chances are, they didn’t have to
pay a penny for the space.
What kind of businessperson can write an article? Anyone! Doctors, lawyers, CPAs,
event planners, dentists, landscapers, makeup artists, financial experts, insurance
experts, retail managers, restaurant owners, chefs and more can all be found
authoring articles for a variety of publications. No matter what kind of business you’re
in, you can put something into words that someone will want or need to read.
Still not convinced it’s something you should explore? Here’s five reasons why writing
for publication can bring a lot of ink to your bottom line!
1) Exposure: First, writing articles for publications is an excellent way to reach
thousands of potential customers and clients in one shot. Big, daily papers can reach
millions, but even the smaller, community newspapers can have circulations in the
thousands. Break it down even further into trade and business publications and there
are have thousands of very targeted readers. It’s reasonable to expect that the same
exposure you can expect from taking out a full-page ad in the same publication can be
gleaned from an article.
2) Establishes Your Expertise: By writing an article for publication, you’re seen by
readers as an expert on what you’re writing about. A reporter can write a story about
easy money management strategies, but if the story is written by a CPA, it has an air of
credibility to it. It’s free advice given by an expert.
A second perk, if a newspaper or magazine the reader trusts has trusted you to write a
story for them, it’s an endorsement from the publication. Think about it: whom would
you trust your money with? The guy who has a full-page ad or the guy the
magazine/newspaper had write an article for them?
3) Clips Make Great Marketing Pieces: The article doesn’t have to run once in the
publication, then fade away. You can use the reprints for your own marketing efforts.
Mail them to prospects. Hand them out at trade shows and networking events. Frame
a few and put them on the wall of your lobby. Your exposure and expertise is just as
intact in reprints as they between the pages of the publication.
4) You Build Your Name Recognition: If the editors like what you give them, and
you can give them similarly good content on a regular basis, you can build your name
recognition as an expert and have exposure on a continuing basis.
5) It’s Usually Free! The best part about writing articles is that in most cases, you
get the space, exposure, endorsement and recognition for free. Some might even pay
you for the article as a contributor. If the publication doesn’t view your piece as an ad
(some might, so always ask), you shouldn’t have to pay for the space.
Julie Ann Waid is owner of Waidwrites Communications, a full-service writing
and editing firm specializing in marketing communications. Sign up for her free
e-zine “J’s Communique: Marketing Tips For Business” at www.waidwrites.
com/freetips .
Copyright 2006, Julie Ann Waid. All rights reserved in the U.S. and abroad. This
article is free to be distributed free of charge so long as the resource box above
is left intact.
One of the best ways to market your business profitably is to write articles for
publication. Look at most newspapers, trade journals, newsletters and magazines and
you’ll see articles written by businesspeople just like you. They’re sharing their
expertise, but best of all, they’re getting a lot of exposure that’s worth more than what
a full-page ad in the same magazine is worth. And chances are, they didn’t have to
pay a penny for the space.
What kind of businessperson can write an article? Anyone! Doctors, lawyers, CPAs,
event planners, dentists, landscapers, makeup artists, financial experts, insurance
experts, retail managers, restaurant owners, chefs and more can all be found
authoring articles for a variety of publications. No matter what kind of business you’re
in, you can put something into words that someone will want or need to read.
Still not convinced it’s something you should explore? Here’s five reasons why writing
for publication can bring a lot of ink to your bottom line!
1) Exposure: First, writing articles for publications is an excellent way to reach
thousands of potential customers and clients in one shot. Big, daily papers can reach
millions, but even the smaller, community newspapers can have circulations in the
thousands. Break it down even further into trade and business publications and there
are have thousands of very targeted readers. It’s reasonable to expect that the same
exposure you can expect from taking out a full-page ad in the same publication can be
gleaned from an article.
2) Establishes Your Expertise: By writing an article for publication, you’re seen by
readers as an expert on what you’re writing about. A reporter can write a story about
easy money management strategies, but if the story is written by a CPA, it has an air of
credibility to it. It’s free advice given by an expert.
A second perk, if a newspaper or magazine the reader trusts has trusted you to write a
story for them, it’s an endorsement from the publication. Think about it: whom would
you trust your money with? The guy who has a full-page ad or the guy the
magazine/newspaper had write an article for them?
3) Clips Make Great Marketing Pieces: The article doesn’t have to run once in the
publication, then fade away. You can use the reprints for your own marketing efforts.
Mail them to prospects. Hand them out at trade shows and networking events. Frame
a few and put them on the wall of your lobby. Your exposure and expertise is just as
intact in reprints as they between the pages of the publication.
4) You Build Your Name Recognition: If the editors like what you give them, and
you can give them similarly good content on a regular basis, you can build your name
recognition as an expert and have exposure on a continuing basis.
5) It’s Usually Free! The best part about writing articles is that in most cases, you
get the space, exposure, endorsement and recognition for free. Some might even pay
you for the article as a contributor. If the publication doesn’t view your piece as an ad
(some might, so always ask), you shouldn’t have to pay for the space.
Julie Ann Waid is owner of Waidwrites Communications, a full-service writing
and editing firm specializing in marketing communications. Sign up for her free
e-zine “J’s Communique: Marketing Tips For Business” at www.waidwrites.
com/freetips .
Copyright 2006, Julie Ann Waid. All rights reserved in the U.S. and abroad. This
article is free to be distributed free of charge so long as the resource box above
is left intact.
