What Is Article Marketing,
And Why Should You Care?

So just what is article marketing, anyway? And more importantly, why should you care? Article marketing, in its broadest sense, is publishing on the web that will ultimately lead to increasing your bottom line.

Of course, there are several steps before your bottom line gets pumped up, and that's what we will cover here.

As had been said many times,"People do business with people they KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST." One of the benefits of article marketing is that you begin to enhance your image as the expert, you begin to build that TRUST factor. And, depending on your writing style, you can also be building the KNOW and LIKE factors as well.

Where to Start

Start with what you know. It really doesn't matter at this point whether you are going to be writing about a product or a service. The key is to identify a problem that you can solve.

For example, perhaps you are a career coach, and one of the problems your target market has is how to create a resume. You might write an article beginning with the real (and perhaps hidden) purpose of a resume, and then outline the two basic types and when they are used.

How to End

Once you have your article written, then what? Well, you need a call to action, but most article directories won't let you blatantly sell something. What you need to do is seemlessly weave your call to action into your "Resource Box."

Most article writers will just put their credentials in that area, but you can set yourself apart by making the best use of that space.

Back to our resume article example -- the resource box would include a nice sentence or two about the author and her offer of free resume template downloads, with a link to her site.

Where to Go

Now that you have your article written, you can post it on an article directory site. Here are several that are popular, and there are also many that serve particular niches:

• Ezine Articles
• Go Articles
• Buzzle
• ArticlesBase
• Article Dashboard

Do an Internet search for article directories and look them over. Pick the three that appeal to you the most, and go through the process of signing up with them. Then begin to submit articles.

Why it Works

Now that we have addressed the question, "What is article marketing?" let's move on to why you should care.

Notice the next time you search for information -- look at the top results closely. You will probably discover that many of them are links to articles at one or more of these directories. If YOU are posting helpful articles at the directory sites, your article might be one that comes up, too.

Many people search within a directory for helpful articles, so if you are writing in your niche and posting your articles, you have a great chance of being found. And with the link to your great give-away in the Resource Box, you will be driving traffic to your site.

Additionally, articles from these directories are regularly used by publishers of electronic newsletters as content. And since they have to keep your Resource Box just the way you wrote it, not only do you get exposure through the directory itself, but your articles may be distributed to hundreds or thousands of other readers who might never find you there on their own.

Now What?

Now that you know the answer to the question, "What is article marketing and why should I care?" you can begin to implement your own article marketing strategy.