If you are running your own business, then you have expertise in at least one area. And if you have expertise, other people will want to read about it.

Marketing your business using articles (like this one!) is one of the most cost effective ways of building profile and credibility that I know. If you have a newsletter of any kind, you may already have content that can be used for articles. If not, simply thinking about the problems you solve for customers will give you plenty of topics to think about.

So what are the advantages of article marketing, besides the low cost?

Increases the number of links pointing to your site
Every time you submit an article, you add a 'resource box' at the end, which contains a link to your site. The more links you have, the better your placement in the search engines. If you have 20 articles, and you submit them to 10 sites, that's 200 extra links for very little effort.

Your articles can be reprinted anywhere in the world
People searching for relevant content can contact you asking for permission to reprint your article in their own newsletter or magazine. Last month I was contacted by the editor of a die-casting industry magazine in Illinois. After an exchange of emails, my article is being printed in hard copy in their next edition.

Promote your Products and Services
The Resource box does more than provide an opportunity to place a link to your site. You get about 50 - 100 words to write whatever you want. Smart marketers use that space to direct people their newsletters or product sales page. There's an art to writing a great resource box, and if you search on the web you'll find heaps of suggestions.

Credibility
You can tell the world that your articles have been published in international sites, accessed by people all around the world. This will boost people's perceptions of you and the services you provide.

So if you are convinced, then you need to action two steps:

Firstly - write some articles. Even if you only commit to writing one per fortnight, you'll soon be reaping the benefits.

Secondly, you need to submit your articles to different sites. There are many article sites and directories out there - some are free whilst others charge. It's up to you to decide if you are willing to pay a small fee for the benefits outlined above. If you do a search on "Article Directories" then you'll get a whole list of sites to check out. To get your started though, here are a few that I use regularly.

www.ezinearticles.com
www.authorconnection.com
www.sideroad.com
www.digitalwomen.com
www.businessnewsbytes.com.au
www.goarticles.com
www.articlecentral.com
www.ezine-dir.com
www.e-syndicate.net