One of the most overlooked ways of marketing a small business in the traditional world is to build yourself as the authority in your industry. In the online world this is very common but most small business owners don't realize how easy this is or how much this can impact their business.

What I'm talking about here is writing articles and publishing them. Most of the time when I talk to small groups I ask the question if they think they are writers. Almost no one says yes. Most of them actually look scared when they even think about this.

So why are articles so great to use to market your business?

Reason #1

Articles are actually one of the easiest and fasted ways to build your reputation online and offline in your marketing. They are actually much easier to write than you might think. All you have to do is think of the most frequently asked questions you get from your customers on how to use a product or what they should know about a product or service before they buy it and then answer that question.

They don't have to be very long either. Some people think that they need to write a 20 page report and then they start having flashbacks from high school. These articles can be anywhere from 300-800 words long. I personally try to keep them at the 500 word mark when I am writing.

It might take a bit at first but the more you do it, the easier it will get.

If you really have a hard time you can also hire a journalism student from college to ghostwrite them for you.

Reason #2

Articles make great website content. Search engines love new content. That's what they are all about. Your fresh new articles can be added to your website or posted to your blog easily and this will give you more content for Google to index. More content = more listings on the Search Engines.

You can also publish your articles to online directories for free in a lot of places. This is a great way to get additional exposure for your name and your business.

Reason #3

Local media is always looking for more fresh content. You can take these same articles and get them published in your local newspapers and other publications.

Try getting published in your smaller local papers first. All you have to do is call and find out who to submit the articles to. Asking never hurt anyone. They may not need them but if they do, you might be able to get published very easy and your new articles might even get turned in to a regular column in that paper.

This is a huge credibility piece and really can make a difference for any business if it is done right.

The more you are known as the authority in your industry, the more your business will thrive. Remember that this isn't complicated. Keep it simple and just answer questions that you get from people all the time.