Article marketing can increase your business prospects, publicity, and profits. Writing compelling how to articles will educate and inform your target market, transforming you into a trusted source of information.

It's a powerful way to go from a relative unknown to an expert in your field virtually overnight.

How does this help your bottom line?

Chasing clients is a tedious and often unrewarding exercise. Instead of chasing them, you can win them over by sharing your knowledge and expertise.

For instance, you can write short how to articles of 250-700 words related to your industry. Then submit them to various article directory sites for wide exposure to hundreds or thousands of online publishers.

By allowing them to be freely published by website owners and newsletter publishers, your articles could be viewed by millions of Internet users who might otherwise never have heard about your small business.

This is an incredible, low-cost marketing tool that generates targeted website traffic and helps build your mailing list.

Articles as Free Advertising

Posting free-reprint articles on reputable article websites such as Ezine Articles (http://www.ezinearticles.com ) and Idea Marketers (http://www.ideamarketers.com ) will save you a lot of money on advertising. You'll gain publicity and a lot of credibility for your business.

Of course, your article submissions should be purposeful and beneficial to those who will be reading them. After all, the whole point is not only to attract the attention of potential clients but to engage them with your ideas and information.

First, identify your target audience and think about what they'd like to read about.

Then, when you have your subject matter chosen, you can begin researching and writing your item. Here are some suggestions to make your articles more effective:

Article Writing Tips

The Title: This is one of the most important parts of an article because it's the first thing the reader sees. Make your title powerful and be sure it accurately represents the subject matter that follows it.

The Truth: No one likes false advertising so make sure all of the information in your article is truthful. You want people to trust you, and you want to establish a good reputation. Openly sharing honest insider knowledge is a great way to earn that trust and respect.

Write Many Articles: Don't try to stuff everything into a single article. Save some information for a Part II or perhaps a series.

Think Strategically. The goal of article writing is to inspire an action. For instance, prepare a short "teaser" item and prompt readers to click to your website for more information.

Spread it Around: Joining forums is another excellent way to get in touch with new prospects. Try posting your existing articles and commentaries to appropriate forums along with your signature file. People will learn about you and your business, and some will click through to your website.

The more you learn about how to effectively use article distribution, the more it will benefit your business delivering a substantial increase in website traffic and sign ups.

Remember, use the articles you submit to tantalize and tempt your readers so they get a taste of what they can expect from your business and want more. That way you can stop chasing after clients and get them to come to you.