Getting Free Marketing With Local PublicationsWhat makes you stand out from other businesses in your industry? This is one of the most basic yet most important questions any business has to be able to answer in order to get ahead and run a successful business. You need to be known as the expert in your industry. So how do you do this?

One of the easiest ways to do this is to write a regular column for a local publication on a regular basis. If you are an expert in your industry, and you should be if you are in business, you’re ability to give valuable information to others and educate them on the aspects of your business can easily be one of the easiest ways to get your name known out there and quickly become known as the expert in your industry.
Step 1 – Get some basic articles written to start with.
You need to realize that you ARE the expert. If you weren’t the expert in your industry, you wouldn’t be in business right? Realize that if you have one year more experience in the field, you have more expertize than your general audience. You just need to realize this and start educating people.

What kind of tips, tricks and basic information can you share with your prospects and clients that will help them in their lives? How-to articles are one of the best ways you can educate the reader quickly.

Let’s say you own a landscaping company. You could easily write articles on the “Top 10 ways to keep your grass green in the summer heat without a huge water bill” This is something people want to know about. Your articles don’t need to be big. 300-500 words most of the time.

Step 2 – Contact local publications
Do may not realize this but local media like your local newspapers are always looking for good information for their publications. If you are willing to give them good solid educational content and not just write articles that are a long sales pitch, many will be more than happy to insert these in their publication from time to time if not on a regular basis.

Here’s the good part, you generally get to put a small bio line at the end of your article. This can have a link to your website, email address or even phone number.

Just be sure to keep your article every educational and informational, not a sales pitch.

Step 3 – Rinse & repeat
Once you get in the habit of writing articles on a regular basis, you’ll start to get a large number of articles built up that you can use. Nothing says that you have to only submit these articles to just one publication. The more places you submit these articles, the better. Not all publications will want them. Not all will have room for them. That’s ok, just keep it up and see what you can do to find more places that would be willing to take those articles. The idea is to keep adding as much as you can out there and build a reputation as the expert in your industry so your name keeps popping up all over.

Most publications that will publish your articles are happy to do so for free as long at it’s great content and adds value to the quality of their publication. You won’t get paid for the articles but you also won’t be paying for the exposure either.

As long as you provide regular valuable content, you are likely to get great result and it might even turn in to a regular column in a publication or two. If you become a regular contributor to a publication, people will see you as the expert and when they need your services, you will be the first person they think of.

About The Author:
Ely DelaneyEly Delaney is a dad, author, speaker, marketing consultant and Founder/CEO of My Business Marketing Mentor. His goal is to teach marketing in a simple easy to understand format that businesses can use to help gain marketing ideas & market their businesses to boost sales. Throughout the MBMM blog you can sign up for updates, news, free downloads and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.