How,Brand,Market,Yourself,and, DIY How to Brand/Market Yourself and your Online Business on a

When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in

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 ITCraig Lock http://www.craiglock.comAbout 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.comAll proceeds go to needy and underprivileged children - MINEThe "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) THIS ARTICLE MAY BE FREELY PUBLISHED Article Tags: Brand/market Yourself, Online Business, Internet Marketing, Writing Articles, Natural Style, Announcement Lists, Article Announcement