Hi Subscriber,

Has anybody ever told you you know a lot? And I don't mean in the 'know-it-all' kind of way (although I've been accused of that every now and then) but in the 'you really know what you're talking about' kind of way.

Or perhaps someone's told you what a great story teller you are. And I don't mean in a 'liar, liar, pants are on fire' kind of way but in the 'I really love listening to you' kind of way.

If you nodded yes to either of those then you have the perfect way of promoting your business. What am I talking about? I'm talking about writing and distributing articles in order to ultimately get you more sales.

So how can using articles help your business? Here are just a few ways...

• Get known as the expert. The great thing about this is that you don't actually have to be the expert. If you've been in your industry for any longer than around six months then you're six months ahead of 95% of the population. There will always be people who know more about it than you do - but that's not who you're writing to.
• Free advertising. Articles can be placed free in areas that could otherwise cost you thousands of dollars for the same kind of exposure. Newspapers, magazines, ezines or other peoples websites are all places that accept articles that can lead to greater exposure to you and your product or service.
• Leverage. You can use the same article 10, 20 or even 30 times in different places. Look at areas and mediums that have a slightly different audience. This leads to many more prospective customers with very little extra work.
• Genuinely help people. If your articles are informative and easy to read on a relevant topic for your target audience then you can't help but add value to their lives. From life changing realisations to a snippet of information filed away for future reference - every little bit makes a difference. And let's face it - wouldn't you rather do business with someone who's already helped you out?

Leap 'n' Bound: Have you considered using articles for marketing? I challenge you this week to list all the subjects you could write an article about that would benefit your target market. 

Let us all know your experience with article writing. Have you tried it? Was it successful? What have you learned that we could all learn from? If you haven't tried it what's holding you back? Share it with the rest of us on the blog at http://www.mumpreneurs.wordpress.com/.

If you're still feeling stuck, stay tuned for the next issue of Mumpreneur^TM Magic where we will delve further into article writing. And don't forget I'm looking for articles to use in this ezine - so if you are looking for extra exposure and have some information that is relevant to Mumpreneurs - send your article through to me.