***This column has just been reprinted in the popular Blog Search Engine blog.
Be sure to check out that great business blog too. ***
Getting more traffic to a site or blog, at little or no cost, is something everyone wants. I'm sure you do too!
It also is a fact the people surf the internet looking for information.
By combining those two ideas, you can increase your visitor traffic to your site. One proven way to achieve that traffic is to write articles in your area of expertise. You not only gain potential new customers, but you also become recognized as an expert in your field.
There are literally hundreds of internet magazines, called "e-zines", who would love your article. They have literally millions of information hungry subscribers, waiting to read about your ideas.
It's not as hard as you think.
The first step is to think of a useful piece of information, that you know people want to read. Think "5 mistakes to avoid buying cars", or "10 great ways to make money from home", or "How to find a great real estate agent". You can come up with many more, I'm sure. Simply find a problem, and prepare a short essay that helps the reader to solve it. Voila!
Once you have your idea, it is surprisingly easy to prepare your research materials, write some notes, and prepare a first draft. Once that first rough copy is written, set it aside and don't look at it any more that day. After a day or two have passed, pick it up again, and read it over. You'll find a lot of sentences to add or subract, change around, or rewrite completely. Great new ideas will pop into your head, making your article much more powerful than before.
After you finish polishing it up, your shiny new feature is almost ready for submission.
All it needs is a signature line and blurb. Write a short factual sentence or two (called a blurb) about yourself and your business. Include a hot link back (called a signature line) to your own web site or blog URL. It is a good idea to provide a "copy and paste" html link, to make it easy for the editor to include it.
You may also want to provide an extra line, giving permission to freely reprint the article anywhere; provided full credit and a link back are provided to your site. That is optional, of course.
Now, where do you send it?
Internet magazines, commonly called e-zines are hungry for free content. You can really help them out.
Lists of e-zines can be found at:
http://www.site-city.com/members/e-zine-master/
http://www.list-city.com/
Look for e-zines in your field of interest, and check out the types and length of articles they publish. Be sure to find out the name and proper title of the editor or publisher, and show them you have actually read their e-zine. You would be amazed how many people don't check first. Professionalism on your part is important, as it helps you to stand out from the crowd.
Once you have found some likely candidates, you are ready for the final step.
Send them a copy of your article, as part of the body of an e-mail. Because of potential viruses, many editors and publishers will not open an article sent as an attachment. Don't send attachments. Within your introductory e-mail, provide the one time rights to publish the article, provided your informational signature line is printed in full.
You'll be surprised how many editors and publishers will want to print your masterpiece. Seeing your name and URL as part of the e-zine is a thrill as well.
The next pleasant surprise is finding many of the people who read your article, will click on the link to your blog, to read more of your work. Many of them will stay, and become regular readers of your site's content. A lot of them will be long term customers for your products and services.
Writing internet e-zine articles is a great free method to get new visitors to your site. It also establishes you as a leader in your industry. That translates into new customers, as people like to do business with folks they know and trust.
What could be better than that?
Get those keyboards clicking.
Your reading public awaits!
