Well-written, tightly-focused articles are in high demand by thousands of online publishers. Why? Because publishers view good content as a value-added asset, enhancing their own brand awareness and deepening relationships with clients and customers.
As a content provider, you can attract a substantial and continuous flow of new prospects from online venues that might otherwise be inaccessible. And unlike other promotional methods, you get this traffic without spending a penny on advertising.
The three techniques below make it easy for publishers --your willing and enthusiastic partners-- to find and publish your material.
1. Syndicate Your Articles
Syndicating your articles makes it easy for site owners to put your content on their website. It's a real time-saver and totally hands-off for webmasters.
Automation is a big selling point of online syndication. The syndicating site simply inserts 2 lines of code on their web page, and your articles are distributed from your server to their web page automatically. You have total control over content and style, while the webmaster never lifts a finger again.
It's an ideal situation for you. Once a site agrees to accept your articles through syndication, you are freed from the job of marketing each article individually to the site owner. A marketer's dream!
For details on setting up your syndicated feed, read this article by William Bontrager:
http://www.homebiztools.com/syndication.htm
One of the first places to start marketing your syndicated feed is on your website. Post a sample article so others can see the quality of your work, and show them how to set up their web page to accept your articles.
For additional marketing muscle, solicit webmasters from the resource box of your article. Include a line to let them know your column is available for syndication.
Lastly, get listed in syndicated article directories such as those found at Freesticky.com and StickySuace.com. Traffic from directories is highly targeted and more likely to result in a syndication arrangement.
2. Publish Your Own News Channel
Your own news channel allows you to broadcast your content to the Web with one text file. The protocol to accomplish this is called RSS. This stands for Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Summary, depending on who you talk to). Weblogs are an example of content commonly available in RSS.
Once created, your RSS content file can be read by news aggregator programs. By registering with aggregator sites, your feed is indexed and made available for sites interested in receiving your feed. You can see my own news feed in action at NetBizHelpers.com.
Here are some excellent sites with articles on setting up and registering your news channel:
Mark Nottingham's RSS Tutorial
http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/
Technology at Harvard Law
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
O'Reilly XML.com
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html
3. Submit To Article Directories and Announcement Lists
Many publishers subscribe to announcement lists and browse article directories for content. High-quality articles are regularly picked up from these sources. It's not uncommon for a good article to be published in several ezines with combined readerships in the tens of thousands.
Here is a listing of popular spots to submit your articles online:
http://www.homebiztools.com/article-dir.htm
To begin posting your articles on announcement lists:
http://www.homebiztools.com/article-lists.htm
There you have it! Three great ways to market your articles and give publishers what they need, while you enjoy no-cost advertising.
Brett Krkosska is a freelance writer and syndicated columnist. He is the owner and founder of http://www.HomeBizTools.com. an idea center for small/home-based business owners.