As a start-up or small business, you may be facing a catch 22 situation: you need to advertise your services to get business, but you need business to afford the cost of advertising. And with advertising costs of several thousand pounds for a full- page ad in a trade journal, this can be an expensive affair.

Fortunately there is a way around this dilemma. Many publications will be happy to accept articles, provided that they are of interest to their readers. Such an article will get your name in front of potential clients - and the more useful the information in the article is, the greater the chance that your potential client will keep it for future reference. In short, your business will be out there, in front of your client, 24/7 - which is a lot more than can be said about a traditional ad.

In addition to getting your name in front of your clients, such articles have several other uses. They are great for establishing credibility - simply make a few copies of the articles and hand them out at meetings. They can be used to improve your sales presentations, or to enhance your business profile. If you have several articles, they can be collated into a small booklet to give to prospective clients as a valuable gift. (If you want to use photocopies, make sure you get permission to do so from the relevant publication. If you just want to use the text, you should be fine to do so, unless you signed away your copyright to the article)

So, here's what to do to write such an article: 1.Identify a problem your clients face, and create a solution. 2.Contact the relevant publications and find out what their submission guidelines are. 3.Submit an article proposal. 4.Write the article and submit it. 5.Get permission to use copies of the article for your business. 6.Congratulations! You've just managed to get great exposure at minimum cost.

If you have any questions or would like assistance in creating an article, please email Frauke Nonnenmacher at frauke@creativecats.com

Copyright (c) 2004 Frauke Nonnenmacher