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Article
Marketing by Bonnie Jo Davis
It's
that time of year again ... pages of backpacks, notebooks and
back-to-school clothing fill every circular that hits your mailbox. And
you're off to the races ... the races being the mall, plus every other
store in between.
You're in the same spot you were last year this time, getting ready to
head off to work while your kids head off to school. Back to hugging
them goodbye in the morning and seeing them just long enough in the
evening to say I love you and tuck them in.
Wouldn't it be fantastic if the easier schedule of the summer lasted all
year long? No more spending all your hours away from your kids just to
earn enough money to cover the essentials and pay daycare?
Take it from someone who knows both sides of the deal here and believe
that there's no time like right now to make the transition from the
regular grind to working from home. As the proud Mom of a 2005 honors
graduate who's heading off to college soon, I know first hand what a
major impact working from home has had on his success.
When my son was very young, I worked a full-time job away from home,
plus at least one part-time job on weekends. This meant that my son was
in daycare while I worked. As a single parent who didn't receive child
support (for years) though, I had no other choice.
A few years later in the 1990's, I decided there had to be a better way
so I started a part-time medical billing service from my home. This
allowed me to give up the outside part-time job and gave me the
practical means of earning the much-needed income. Best of all, it gave
me the priceless opportunity to take care of my son while I worked. I
quickly saw that I was onto something great here ... what a concept!
I moved from the east coast to California with my son in 1995 where my
first full-time job was with a consulting firm co-owned by a
professional speaker. After some negotiations with my boss, we entered
into an agreement by which I would work mornings in the office, leave to
pick up my son from school in the afternoons and work from home the rest
of the day. It worked out incredibly well ... so well in fact, that in
2000, I decided to leave the consulting firm and start my own full-time
home based virtual assistant business.
Starting from scratch, I knew that gaining exposure for my business was
essential if I wanted to be successful in my new venture. I also knew
that traditional forms of marketing are very expensive and quickly
gobble up the profits, particularly in the early stages. However, I also
remembered a technique that I used successfully for my former employer.
Besides being a consultant and professional speaker, he was also an
author, so his goals included increasing his number of speaking
engagements and selling more copies of his books. He hoped to accomplish
these goals by establishing himself as an expert in his industry, which
meant having his work published by every major magazine in his field.
Committed to accomplishing his goals, he gave me a list of those
publications, so I drafted a query letter based on one of his story
ideas and e-mailed it to the editor of one of the magazines. The editor
responded in short notice and offered my employer an article assignment.
They published my boss's article soon afterwards and featured it on the
cover of the magazine, producing an onslaught of calls to the office!
Writing and submitting that one article produced several paid speaking
engagements. This new marketing intrigue fascinated me, so I fine-tuned
my article submission process creating logs and checklists, and within a
few months, my boss had accomplished his goal of publication in every
magazine on his list!
Even online and in-print publications we hadn't contacted began calling
and e-mailing in request of articles. The results of writing and
submitting articles was so successful that we put other major marketing
techniques on hold so my boss could travel to his paid speaking
engagements.
As my interest and experience grew in this area of marketing, I knew
that if it worked for my boss that it would work for other professionals
as well. Soon, I was earning over half my income handling article
submissions for other professionals.
Then I realized that if this technique worked for other professionals
that it would work for me too in building my own business. And it has
worked for me!
This same marketing technique, which I call marketing with articles, has
been the success behind my own business. I've used it to expand my
client base and build my virtual assistance business into a solid
income-generating company, which has allowed me to work full-time at
home for the past five years. As my son is getting ready to leave for
college, my personal goal now is to help other parents be successful in
achieving their career goals while living the dream of staying home with
their children.
The concept of marketing with articles does not require a professional
writer. Anyone can be successful in building their business and gaining
credibility as an expert in their industry or area of expertise by
writing and submitting free reprint articles to online and in-print
publications. The key to success is in reaching your target audience
with resourceful information that is valuable to them.
Editors of both online and in-print publications are in constant demand
of quality content for their readers. They have a continuing need to
publish content that appeals directly to their target audience, which is
where you come in. By writing and submitting free reprint articles to
publications that reach readers in your market, you have the opportunity
to establish yourself as an expert and gain a generous amount of
exposure for your business.
True, you aren't earning money for actually writing the articles, but
you are earning a huge payoff here. Not only do you establish your
credibility as an expert in your industry or area of expertise, but you
earn significant exposure for yourself and your business. Most editors
will include your byline with your articles, which gives you the
opportunity to include your name and contact information, plus the URL
of your web site. Readers come to recognize your name and relate it with
certain topics. The more articles you write and submit, the more
exposure you gain!
The marketing with articles technique helped turn my dream of working
from home full-time into a precious reality that has made a positive
impact for both my son and me. As he goes off to college, he'll be
leaving with all the benefits of having had a mom who found a way to
support him financially without the high cost of being away from him all
day. Me, I'll have the benefit of knowing that the bittersweet wind I'm
putting beneath his wings comes from my deepest desires for his complete
success!
(c) 2005, Davis Virtual Assistance. Reprint rights granted to all venues
so long as article and by-line are reproduced intact with links made
live.
Bonnie Jo Davis is a full-time work-from-home mom who built her business
on the concept of marketing with articles. An accomplished writer and
marketing strategist, she offers over ten years of success in writing
and submitting articles for gaining exposure and growing your business.
Visit www.ArticleSubmissionSites.com
to sign-up for her free monthly e-zine - the only one that focuses
on article marketing.
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