How to Brand/Market Yourself and your Online Business on a "Shoestring Budget"...or even for FREE (Revised)!

Article Title: How to Brand/Market Yourself and your Online
Business on a "Shoestring Budget"...or even for FREE (Revised)!
Author Name: Craig Lock Line Space: 65 characters Category (key
words): Internet, online marketing, internet marketing, writing articles
Internet addresses:
http://www.bridgeniche.com/stepstosuccess/ and
http://www.craiglock.com http://www.craiglock.com

Publishing Guidelines: This article may be freely reproduced
electronically or in print. "We share what we know, so that
others may grow."

"If you have knowledge, let others light a candle to it." -
Margaret Fuller

(That's a metaphor, btw).

*

HOW TO BRAND/MARKET YOURSELF AND YOUR BUSINESS ON A "SHOESTRING
BUDGET"... OR EVEN FOR FREE (UP-DATED)

by Craig Lock

(Please excuse my long title!)**

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to use
the Internet and he won't bother you for months...or perhaps even
years! (Sorry men... however, I presume this principle also
applies to our women-folk!).

Here are some tips in writing some articles to "spread the word"
about your business, as an internet marketing strategy... and
especially on the smell of an oily rag"...

Me write an article! Yes, you can, because you know more about
YOUR business than anyone else on this planet. And most
importantly, I don't believe that you have to be a "pro" writer
to write good articles.

HOW TO GET STARTED?

To "kick off"... Firstly pick a subject that YOU KNOW - a topic
that pertains (nice word that!) to your area of business. You
are the "expert" in it. Then write to HELP others by sharing
your unique knowledge or experiences. I believe, it's the BEST
MARKETING TOOL available.

And (can I begin a sentence with "an and" - yes)... You DON'T
have to be a good writer to write articles.

My advice is just find your "natural style" by writing as you
speak; as practicing writing in your "natural style" breeds
confidence. Then submit your articles to ezines and announcement
lists, like Article Announce, Free Content, Publisher Network,
Article Xpress, FreeEzineContent, Free-Reprint-Articles,
Netwrite-Publish-Announce and Article Publish. Those above are
the ones we mostly use. Here is a list of seven ("lucky") of the
more prominent Yahoo.com Article Announcement Groups:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArticlePublisher
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_eContent
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Reprint-Articles
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/netwrite-publish-announce and
finally, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/publisher_network/

First you have to subscribe to these lists (check out the others,
as well some others, like the Topica lists under GOOGLE search
engine).

We find this marketing method by far the most effective means of
getting traffic to our various sites (and one thing then leads
to another)... and best of all the form of BRANDING your
business in cyberspace costs nothing, but a little time and
effort!

Lately, all our marketing has been done through writing articles
based on my experiences and knowledge (in internet marketing,
writing, money and self help) and submitting them to the
above-mentioned article announcement lists.

Often from there they get picked up by ezines with large
readerships - from 10000 ...to even ones with millions of
subscribers. True! These big ezine publishers are continually
looking for new and quality content, particularly ORIGINAL and
valuable material that can help others.

My advice is... Write about what you KNOW - your areas of
knowledge and expertise, based on your unique life experiences.
We find this strategy of SHARING relevant and practical
information most effective of all in drawing traffic to our
various web sites... and best of all, it helps others "out there
in the vast void/realm of cyberspace". That is one of the main
reasons why I write my various articles.

Here are some other points in writing articles for the www:

Firstly,

* Identify your target audience.

* Keep your title reasonably short* *.

* Keep your paragraphs short.

* Get to the point quickly (enough waffle with maple syrup,
Craig!).

* Target your article to your audience with "valuable and
focussed information".

* Use the occasional exclamation mark (!) to get your readers
attention (not too many, mind you!).

* Make sure your article flows properly. Re-read and re-read to
see how it "speaks" to the readers mind.

* Try to be concise in your wording. Brevity is the hall-mark of
good writing...or so say many of the teachers of writing! (Though
I don't necessarily agree with that last statement -

always breaking the rules, Craig!).

* Be credible (big word, eh?) at all times. I try to write my
articles in a "conversational style with dashes of my
funny/weird humour".

* Put some thought and effort into your heading - again to get
your reader's immediate attention.

* Use bullets in your articles - its makes the points easy to
follow (as I've used in this section).

* Conclude with a strong message. The final paragraph should
contain a message that summarises your article, or gets your
reader to take further action.

* Offer a free report with your article - this is an easy way
to collect a list of adresses for marketing your product(s). An
instant target market!

* Finally, make sure your layout is good (not one of my strong
points!), as this greatly enhances your prospects of getting
published

Some prominent article writers say one should write differently
to one's natural style, when writing for the web . I say ,
DON'T. Just write what comes naturally...and BE YOURSELF. Though
you may have to be somewhat briefer than usual, if you are a
"waffler", like this writer. People want immediate information
online and have limited time usually (and attention span online,
like this writer).

It's the "instant coffee, er sorry, generation.

The internet is such an amazing medium for communication. I've
just submitted this article and it's been published almost
instaneously (big word!) in a few places (some article
announcement lists). So YOU TOO can write articles on your chosen
subject in your internet marketing efforts. MORE TRAFFIC =
INCREASED SALES

Your writing will improve with confidence... so just take that
FIRST STEP, that leap of faith and watch what happens.

Writers and internet marketers - Grab this moment in history
well.

"Carpe diem" (seize the day!).

Happy writing 'dem' articles and...

Just GO FOR IT

Craig Lock
http://www.craiglock.com

About the author: Craig Lock is following his path of being an internet "pioneer" and his dream of touching many lives in the
"vast unchartered world of cyberspace"...and the "miracle" is that he's a "total non-techno". Craig believes in the great
potential of every human being in the journey of life and loves to encourage people to share their individual (and guiding)
spirits, so that they become all that they are CAPABLE of being.

Craig Lock's books are available at: www.bridgeniche.com

All proceeds go to needy and underprivileged children - MINE

The "original" Online Creative Writing Course
http://www.nzenterprise.com/writer/creative.html

P.S: As the ancient Chinese philosopher said so well, "A journey
of a thousand miles starts with a ... broken fan belt and a flat
tyre"... er sorry... a single step.

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has
genius, power and magic in it." - Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe
(German philosopher)

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