The one thing I find when working with clients is that most don't really understand the value of their articles.
Most people simply think that their articles will serve as backlinks to their websites from directories or as additional information for web visitors to read while visiting their website.
Well, that's sort of right - but not the whole story.
One of the most valuable benefits of writing articles for your business - is the fact that your articles will attract people who want to learn more from you and/or are ready to buy from you.
Think about the last time you bought an ebook or home study course, chances are that you read something that the owner of that business wrote for free.
You liked what you read.
Wanted to learn more.
So you listened to the writer's call to action, and visited their website, then opted into their free newsletter or subscriber list.
And perhaps you even bought one of their products.
But let's take an even deeper look at that...
Let's apply those same techniques to your own business.
Say you decide to write an interesting article on one aspect of your business tonight.
You give it a great keyword rich title and you publish it on your blog.
Someone who is interested in your niche, finds your article and is very interested in what you had to say.
They want to read more free tips from you - so they want to know - what they should do next.
This is how you begin to build your list.
Make sure in order to get more tips from you - that they have to opt-in to your subscriber list.
Hopefully at this point you have carefully directed them with links to more articles that would peak their interest even further or you are sending them a regular ezine or autoresponder series.
Now you are building trust and credibility.
These are the things that begin to qualify your readers.
In fact, some will be so inspired by the information that you have given to them for free, that they can only begin to imagine what kind of information you will teach them if they paid for it! Remember these important things: 1.
Don't worry about writing technique.
Just write an article with a compelling story about your business.
2.
Create a way for readers to ask you for additional tips and information by adding a "resource box" at the end of your articles.
3.
Make sure you have other articles written that further develop a topic of interest in your business.
Readers love to read article sets or series.
Implementing just these three ideas will help your list grow dramatically, because you will start to produce more articles when you stop worrying about how they sound, you will have the reader take action by opting in, and you will keep them interested by offering them more to read on your topic -- which begins the long-term action of successful entrepreneurs -- relationship building.