A Consultant could be an expert about absolutely anything.
Calling yourself a "consultant" demands further clarification. A consultant who? What specific problems do you handle? And who needs what you know? Everyone? (Never true) Businesses selling to seniors? (A precisely defined niche) Success depends on how clearly you can define yourself and what you offer. How easily can potential clients understand it?
You provide clients more than your expert knowledge and problem-solving skills. Your delivery style (tricks) are every bit as valuable as your knowledge base. We all relate to some businesses (personally and professionally) more effectively than to others. Great match-ups require something akin to a mating call to help a consultant find and connect with ideal clients.
Every consultant is unique in important ways. Your challenge is to express those significant intangibles - so they set you apart from others using the same job title. Do clients understand what you can do for them? How you're different from the competition? Why they'd prefer you?
Article Marketing is Your Ideal Stage
Whether you're selling a service, speaking or training, nothing persuades like offering a sample. Writing articles that highlight your style and expertise does that for you. A meaty, 600 to 800 word article is long enough to deliver a tangible taste.
Once it's widely posted, the message can be read by thousands. Some readers will search for what else you've said, or click over to your website. Writing repeated in-depth articles further establishes your niche, point of view, and expertise. They're building your name recognition and readership in short order.
Your stock-in-trade is information, so packaging it into articles makes you a content creator. The Internet voraciously demands a steady diet of new material. Websites, ezines (and now blogs) efficiently deliver ideas to targeted readers. But sad to say, too many articles consist of rehashed, low-grade material. Stand out with fresh, professional-quality information. Being a cut above builds respect and trust - a must for doing business down the road.
Local Search can Further Define Your Market
Unlike a plumber or day care center, most consultants needn't be confined to the local arena. Your Internet exposure connects you to a national or global audience, if that's your goal. But if your target market is closer to home, articles still help to position you.
Recent research by The Kelsey Group show that 70% use the Internet to make local buying decisions. And nowadays, 36% of search engine queries request local search results. That means the person includes a geographic term in their search engine query. For example, a query with: "employee benefit consultant" + Denver only lists the small pool of appropriate Denver providers.
Every consultant needs to make sure their information appears in local search queries, http://www.yellowpagesage.com/localsearch.html. The trend toward local search is growing quickly. Businesses can easily be left out-which makes them unfindable by online searchers. Who can afford to miss 70% of their client base? Having your own website isn't necessary - but still helpful for a variety of reasons.
Potential Clients will Check You Out Online
Surveys reveal that over half of respondents consider search engines a better source of buying information than Yellow Pages, newspapers or magazines. When someone enters your name or company into Google (in quotes), what comes up?
It helps if your name is unusual. If not, follow up with "search within results" for a qualifier term (like your specialty, "employee benefits") to find your cites.
In just a few moments, searchers get a picture of your professional standing and scope of recognition. They're likely to be swayed by what they see. Who mentions you, and what are they saying? What kinds of links come to your website? If you've been publishing articles, they'll also show up - enhancing your credibility and incoming links.
In my own case, a Google search for my name showed about 100 cites before I started article promotions. Now that's well over 3,000. So many cites boosted my website traffic and Page Rank as well.
If you haven't gone "ego surfing" on Google for mentions of your name, you should. Because the public will. Make sure there's plenty of stuff for them to find that does you proud.
Copyright 2005 Off the Page
Dr. Lynella Grant Consultant and Author - Promote yourself, business, website, or book with online articles http://www.promotewitharticles.com Free how-to. Or let me write and submit your articles online for you. No learning curves (719) 395-9450
express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..How to write an informative article?The following tips can help... Read More
You, too, can become a recognized expert in your specialized... Read More
A huge problem for many people who are working on... Read More
1. Choose A Topic.You need to choose either a hot... Read More
How is it possible to turn an idea into the... Read More
It's amazing how quickly free articles can generatetraffic - my... Read More
Are you ready to become an internet marketing expert? Are... Read More
You know that writing articles is the best free way... Read More
Okay, so you're getting a feel for this article marketing... Read More
Your publicity dreams may include being featured in Forbes, Fortune,... Read More
We've all been there. We hear about how articles will... Read More
Everyone that publishes a newsletter or ezine knows that the... Read More
What is Anchor Text Optimization?Anchor text optimization consists of the... Read More
The name of the game as far as Internet marketing... Read More
It has become common knowledge that the smartest and most... Read More
Marketing on the internet can be a costly procedure, especially... Read More
Still following along on the Copywriter's Crash Course in article... Read More
Frequently when I am communicating with other webmasters and I... Read More
Not writing articles yet? You really should try it, if... Read More
Free publicity can help to spread the word about your... Read More
It is a well known fact that writing, distributing and... Read More
Recently I interviewed Kevin Bidwell of All-In-One-Business.com on some of... Read More
A recent debate started me thinking about how some marketing... Read More
Selling books online means that you need to get interested... Read More
How would you like to have your name and web... Read More
tidy up service Arlington Heights ..Gasp! I can hear it from the purists now: Matt... Read More
So how can you make your article worth reading?It's all... Read More
The experts are always telling us that getting paid for... Read More
Advertisements are one of the biggest indicators of a magazine's... Read More
Article writing can be such an intimate act as you're... Read More
A huge problem for many people who are working on... Read More
People love to hear stories. They'll identify with what you... Read More
It is a well known fact that writing, distributing and... Read More
A lot of great ideas happen when two or more... Read More
Do you wonder what easy, cheap, and fast way you... Read More
Still following along on the Copywriter's Crash Course in article... Read More
Lets face it people use articles to send traffic to... Read More
You've got to start somewhere, but once you've created your... Read More
You've already agreed that putting some of your best articles... Read More
One of the most effective (and free!) ways to get... Read More
Writing quality articles is time consuming for the very best... Read More
Making your articles available for reprints by other ezine publishers... Read More
Every webmaster knows that to gain ranking positions in search... Read More
This is precisely what I am doing here today (and... Read More
Writing for websites -- content, as it is called --... Read More
A few years ago as a webmaster with no money,... Read More
Writing articles is possibly the best way to generated free... Read More
I get tons of emails from people who want to... Read More
It's no secret that writing and publishing helpful articles is... Read More
Congratulations! You've written your first article (or possibly your 10th... Read More
Article Writing |