Not doing what, you ask.

Writing and submitting articles.

Writing articles is a cost- effective way of promoting your business. It exposes you to potential customers in a way that few other marketing vehicles do.

Writing and submitting your work to online sites gives you fr*ee marketing opportunities. It also increases your credibility in the eyes of potential customers.

Have you taken advantage of this very effective marketing strategy?

If not, why not?

* What If I Can't Write?

Common question, common excuse with a simple answer: if you can talk, you can write.

You don't need to be a professional writer before you can write as a way of marketing your business.

All you do need to do is

• Want to write
• Decide to write
• Write

* What Should I Write?

A few ideas are:

• Articles
• Tips (eg top ten or top five ways to....)
• Letters to editors
• Reports (yes, reports!)

Think of some more and add them to this list.

* What Topics Should I Write About?

Here, your only limitation is in your imagination. So be creative and let these questions serve as guidelines in helping you decide what to write about:

• What information will potential customers find useful?
• What are you interested in? Find a way to make it relevant to your business and write about it.
• If you were in your potential customers' shoes, what topics (related to your business) would interest you?
• In what ways have you solved problems for people in the past? Write them down. Chances are, other people would benefit from the solution you provided.
• What are your experiences as a business owner? Write about them.
• Fill in the blanks :
1. How To .......
2. Top 5 Ways to......
3. What Many People Don't Know About......
4. My Favourite Pastime is....

What you've got now is a bunch of potential headings for your articles, tips, reports or whatever. If you think about it, there's a lot for you to write about.

All you have to do now is actually put pen to paper (hand to computer).

* What Should I Do With What I've Written?

Submit, submit, submit!

Newsletter editors and webmasters all over the 'net are looking for fr*ee content for their subscribers and visitors.

Imagine the exposure you get by submitting an article to an ezine with thousands of opt-in subscribers. Fr*ee of charge, too! It'd be more expensive (and not always as effective in pulling in prospects) to advertise in the same publication.

Here is a brief list of places that accept articles for publication or announcement:

• PromoteYourArticle@yahoogroups (you need to subscribe fr*ee)
• article_announce@yahoogroups.com (subscribe first. Fr*ee)
• http://www.articleblaster.com/submit-articles.htm
• http://www.family-content.com/articles/submit.shtml
• http://ezinearticles.com/add_url.html

Here's how it works. The key is to have a system that you use. An example is below:

• Write at least one article each month.
• Include a resource box at the end of it.
• Include permission to fr*eely distribute it at the top.
• Submit it to at least 5 sites each day.

* To make your writing easily acceptable and profitable

• Provide useful information. No sales letters or pitches.
• Include some way to get readers to contact you: you could offer a fre*ebie or a link to your website. This info goes into your resource box.
• Make your resource box about 4 - 6 lines long. I've included mine at the end of this article to give you an idea.
• Write it using a text editor like Notepad - that's how many editors prefer to receive submissions.
• Format it to be 65 characters long per line. Press the 'enter' key each time you get to 65 characters (unless your text editor has word-wrap in which case you'd set it to wrap at 65 characters).
• Always obey submission guidelines to the letter.
• Follow the writing tips below.

* Writing Tips

• Write like you talk. Be conversational in your writing. If you can hold a conversation, you can write.
• After writing your first draft, leave it to 'fallow' then start on your next article.
• Never submit your first draft. Rewrite it after a day or two.
• Spell check thoroughly. Check for grammar errors too. Get someone else to read through it if you can - they may pick up something you've missed.
• Obey submission guidelines (it's so important, hence my repeating it here)
• Write something everyday. Even if it's just a personal journal entry, just write. It'll get you into the habit, and keep you creative.

Practice what this article says and write something today.