by Gary Lockwood
How would you like a steady stream of prospective clients to call and write to you, asking for your services?
In today's hotly competitive marketplace, almost anyone with a phone, fax and computer can appear to be a qualified service provider. In the midst of all the apparent choices, how do your prospective buyers make their decision? One of the most common reasons cited by buyers for contacting a specific provider is "I've read her articles".
Writing an article is not as daunting as you might think. First of all, most publications want fairly short articles. Two or three pages will do the trick.
The topic should be something you know a lot about. For example: let's say you are a financial planner and your potential clients are wealthy people who are concerned about taxes. You could write an article about "the ten best ways to reduce your tax burden".
Start with a brief outline. Include a few notes on:
Expand your thoughts on each of the main points of your outline as if you were explaining them to an interested friend.
The opening of your article is designed to catch your readers' attention. The first three sentences should promise a benefit to readers for reading your article and let them see if the article applies to them.
The closing paragraph of the article is where you summarize your main message and issue a call to action.
The title should be short and command attention. Think of the title as the headline for your article or the cover of a book.
You're not quite finished yet. Your article needs editing. Have someone else read your article looking for spelling errors, questionable grammar, rambling sentences or unclear writing. Now that you have an article ready, you need to get it Published. With over 10,000 periodicals in the U.S., plus countless newsletters, Internet sites and other publications, you will find outlets for your article.
When you contact these people about publishing your article, ask if they would welcome an informative article from an expert in the field. Generally, these editors and publishers will want to see your article or at least a brief synopsis before they decide to use it in their publication.
Write a couple of sentences about yourself that can be printed at the end of your article. Best if you write your contact section so that the most important information is first. That way, if a publication shortens it, you'll still get the good stuff printed.
There you have it. With a few hours of work, you can write an article that will allow your potential customers to get to know you as someone they would like to do business with.
Attract your desired customers like bees to honey. Write now.
Gary Lockwood is Your Business Coach. Grow your business, make more money and have more fun. Get Gary's business newsletter free at subscribe@bizsuccess.com. FREE Teleclass: freeclass@bizsuccess.com. For your FREE report on "Getting Breakthroughs in Your Business", BizSuccess@infofree.com. Visit http://www.bizsuccess.com * Gary@BizSuccess.com -- Office: (800) 272-1575 (USA) * Fax: (760) 325-9608
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