One of the most effective strategies you can use to build your credibility and visibility online is a well-planned article strategy. Here are the six steps to starting a good article program.

1. List topics

Take out a sheet of paper - yes, NOW. Start writing every topic you can think of that you can write about...

7 ways to =========
How I ============
How to ===========
The secret of =======

Do you have a hobby? Include those topics.
Are you a parent? What advice can you pass on to others?

2. Prioritize

Your tendency will be to write the articles on your business topics first. But if you find it easier and less threatening to write about travel tips or parenting ideas, put some of those topics first. The important thing is to make this e-a-s-y.

============================
Why write about topics that are not your business topic? Because you find prospects in lots of places. The key is to provide an effective bio paragraph at the end of the article.
============================

3. Write

Write your first article. Period. Do not worry about length - online it doesn't matter much how long it is. Just write it as if you were talking to a friend. In fact, you can record it if you prefer, then transcribe it!

Do not agonize over word choice, sentence structure and all of the other things that Mrs. Smartz insisted on in 9th grade English. Online articles are conversational. Let it be!

4. Add an offer

This is the traffic-building secret! At the bottom of EVERY article, you will add a bio paragraph (aka resource box.) It will contain your name, a sentence or two about you, then the offer. For example:

Dr. Jeanette Cates works with businesses who want to reap the rewards of their online technology. She is the author of Online Success Tactics and speaks frequently at conferences. For more on [topic of this article] email MoreTips@TechTamers.com

The offer is for more FREE information. This is an email address, not a website address. If you send them to your website you never know if they got there. But if you offer more information via email, you'll know the number of responses you receive.

============================
The exception to this may be an article outside your area of expertise. Instead of offering more information on this topic, offer a free report in your area of expertise. Or at least point them to your website. The important thing is that you've connected with prospects who might otherwise never have found you.
============================

Are you panicking about the number of emails you'll have to answer? Great - what a problem to have! But because you need to spend your time writing more articles, not sending out information, you're going to set up that email address to trigger an autoresponder that automatically sends the information for you. You write the content once, then it's delivered forever for you.

The advantage? You have your readers' email address. You can continue to send the information on this topic (always provide unsubscribe information). You can invite to them to join your regular ezine list. You can send them special announcements and offers.

5. Distribute the article

So far you have a great article with a wonderful follow-up process. But no one knows it. It's time to get the word out! there are two distribution approaches - passive and active.

Passive distribution means you put the article out there and others take it if they want it. You do this in two ways.

1. First, add your article to your site. Link it to a page of free articles you offer. Register that page of "free articles" in all of the search engines. Other website owners and ezine publishers will find your free articles through the search engines.
2. Join some of the article exchange services (ezinearticles.com is my favorite) and post notice of your new article. You can either give the URL where the article already appears or provide an autoresponder that automatically sends the article when requested. (Advantage: you get the requestor's email!)

In both of these cases, you can offer the article, then pretty much forget it.

Active distribution means you seek publishers for the article, contact them and offer the article, then send it. You do this as you find sites that cover the topic you write about. You do this as you find newsletters that cover the topic. One of the best sources for newsletter in all topic areas is the Directory of Ezines (http://hop.clickbank.net/?learn8/lifestyles). The Directory provides an up-to-date profile of each ezine with their circulation, audience profile, ad rates, and types of articles they publish.

6. Repeat

While it sounds like a lot of work, you'll find you can write and offer an article every 2 days. Okay, if that sounds too ambitious, then plan to write one article per week. Let's see, 52 articles per year, each posted on 10 sites is 500 new places that are pulling traffic to you. Is that credibility or what!!
======================

For more information on making contact with your readers email MoreReaders@TechTamers.com.

Dr. Jeanette Cates, The Technology Tamer™, works with business owners who want to grow their business online and with experts who want to sell their information. She is the founder of TechTamers and author of Online Success Tactics: 101 ways to build your small business. She is a frequent presenter at national and state conferences.

© 2001 Permission is granted to reprint this article in print or on your web site so long as the paragraph above is included and contact information is provided to www.TechTamers.com.