Don't Weaken Your Article Submissions

Pay special attention to your Articles Page. Include reprint details with your required guidelines above your articles. Use inviting language in your guidelines encouraging publishers to take advantage of your material. Make it convenient for publishers by listing articles alphabetically by title and include a three-line description. Link titles to the actual article page with offer versions in html, pdf and text files.

* Courting Publishers

Publishers are very busy people, so make it easy for them to publish your articles. Offer a separate publisher's only subscription notifying them when you have a new article available.

* Show Your Smile

Potential clients want to know who you are. Include a photo on your Article Page for publishers/editors to use when they reprint your articles. Prospects also appreciate being able to actually see a person because it makes doing business online much more personal.

* Call-to-Action

You're wasting time, effort and valuable space with web pages that don't give clients/customers the opportunity to do business with you! Each page, even your individual article pages, should always include a call-to-action. Strut your stuff by offering prospects your newsletter and/or subscriptions to your exclusive members-only offerings. Streamline the process and gain more clients.

* Testimonials

Share client/customer testimonials with prospects instead of keeping them to yourself. Add at least one testimonial per page including article pages letting prospects know just how valuable others find your products/services.

* Respect Clients/Customers

More than ever, people are concerned with the security of their private information. Establish a clear privacy policy and publish it on your web site and linking to it from each page.

* Guarantee It In Writing

Decide your return/refund policy before your web site goes live! No matter how good your product or service is, at some point, you're going to have an unsatisfied customer. Create a consistent refund policy up front and update it immediately on your web site if you change it.

* Polish The Final Product

Grammatical mistakes like misspellings, improper punctuation, and capitalization errors signal prospects that you're not attentive to detail. Have someone proofread your entire site including your articles to make sure all text is error-free.

So, what's your curb appeal? Your web site is your online office and showroom. Does it make you look like a professional or more like an amateur with a sideline hobby?

Remember, marketing with articles is about generating exposure. Although publishers need articles they may not accept them if your site is poorly designed, disorganized or filled with grammatical errors and outdated content. Put your best foot forward to prospective publishers and clients who come to you through your article submissions. If, despite your best efforts, your web site still needs work consider hiring a professional. You'll quickly recoup the cost of hiring an expert with more sales and increased exposure!

(c) 2005, Davis Virtual Assistance. This article may be reproduced in all venues so long as the content and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are set live.

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