If you have an online business and it isn't making any money, perhaps through a lack of hits, you can give it a real boost, by writing articles.
So how does that work? It's easy, and it costs you nothing. First of all, write some articles, and that's not difficult. They can be about anything, and I mean anything, from tuning a piano, to the effects of nuclear fallout at Chernobyl, to running a small business magazine from home. Anything. Of course, it gives credence to your written work, if you have some knowledge and expertise in your subject, but we all have experience of something.
Perhaps you were a student once, however long ago. Perhaps you still have your study notes. Dig them out and knock them into shape. Perhaps you have accountancy experience, or of managing a business, or maybe you are an expert fisherman, or a cricket umpire, a driving instructor, a great swimmer, a whiz at metalwork, anything. We all have talents and expertise in some areas, it is just a case of recognising the fact, and making the most of them.
Once you've found your subjects, write away, ideally around 500 words each time. If you have long stuff, break it up into more manageable chunks. You cannot include within the article blatant advertising or promotion for your business, nor write a press release publicising any business, web site, or event, but never fear, you will benefit, and this is how.
At the end of the article you can include a biography section, perhaps three or four paragraphs long. It might include something like "James Parkes was an accountant for twenty-two years and you can find details of his services at www.jamesparkes.com " (don't fret that's a dummy address.) But you get the drift. You can include three or four different website addresses in your biography section, and they all lead directly back to you, and your enterprises.
So where do you go then, with these articles? You upload them to an article exchange. There are dozens of these about now, testament to how successful they have been. I like ezinearticles.com, one of the first, and still for me, the best. And no, I have no financial interest in this site, nor am I an affiliate.
It costs you nothing to upload your articles, and you can upload as many, or as few, as you like, and once their moderator has passed them as acceptable, your articles go live on their database. They currently have over 150,000 live articles running on every subject under the sun, and that attracts a huge viewing audience. Google "article exchanges" to find many others.
I have forty plus articles running at present, and over 15,000 people have viewed my articles worldwide, I kid you not. Every article has its little hit counter for you to monitor if you so wish. If only one in twenty of those viewers clicked on one of my web site addresses in my biog section, then over 750 people have viewed my stuff, and that's 750 potential customers I didn't have before, and it has cost me nothing, other than a little bit of time.
But it doesn't stop there. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can reproduce those articles free of charge, in their newspapers and magazines, on their web sites, and within newsletters and ezines and ebooks, right around the world. And they do. There is a hunger out there for fresh new writing on every subject, and the articles are picked up, and reproduced, time and time again. The publications and web sites reproducing these articles may do so as often as they like, providing they publish the article in its entirety, exactly as is, including your biog paragraphs at the foot.
So your messages are now being carried free of charge all around the globe by third parties you don't even know. Literally so. My articles have appeared dozens of times in American, Australian, Canadian, Indian, and New Zealand media, to name but a few, so eventually you have no idea how many people actually see your scribblings, but that doesn't matter, providing it brings additional new viewers to your sites. Last time I looked, I had over 500 copies of my articles running worldwide, and how many viewers are seeing them? A huge number, that's for sure, and that publicity has cost nothing. If I can do it, anyone can.
As we all know, hits make sales. What's the point of having a great website that no one ever sees? This way, an almost unlimited number of viewers can be driven to your site, for free. It really does work.
Never consider paying to have your articles published, as some exchanges will try and do. That would defeat the object. And why pay per click either, when you can have clicks for nowt? Try and write a new article every week. That way, you will continually refresh your viewers and audience, and build up greater content available. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to make your websites successful. Give it a try. Be successful. You can do it, you really can.
This article first appeared in the English home business magazine "The Mill".
