Are articles for me? - Virtual Assistant Forums

theessentialva · #1 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008

I have been thinking about marketing a lot lately. With 2 toddlers and not a lot of babysitter options, local networking is out for the most part. I am working on better utilizing the online networking sites though. I tried the blogging thing, but couldn't come up with something to write often enough (I wanted to write at least 3 days a week). In all honesty, I am an average writer.

Now I am considering article writing. After reading the sticky on articles I really feel that I can do it. I won't have the pressure of coming up with something so often and I can still get my name out there. Do you think this is a good option for me?

VagabondetteVA · #2 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008

It sounds like a good idea. Right now I don't write all of the content on my blog (though I notice that the articles I do write are the ones that get the most notice). I pull a lot from the free article directories. I will probably continue to do this until I either have more time/ideas to blog consistently or gather enough content to have a good searchable blog. I started out with 2-3 articles/day and now I've scaled back to 3-5/week + the blog carnival. Now that I have subscribers to my feed I don't want to kill them with articles.

Anyway, the point of all of this is that articles from the free sites can be great and I've gotten feedback from authors that they're getting traffic. So it's definitely an option. Another option for you is to blog like I do and supplement your posts with free posts.

Lia-VSS · #3 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008

I would do something like that; in fact, I was thinking of doing a e-book about switching to a paperless office; and I would make a section of that (Throw out that Dot-Matrix printer) free!

I am actually in the process of doing this in my JOB, so I can give viewers a real, honest insight of actually changing this process. Not sure whether to give away my hard work for free, though; or charge a small fee.

Back on topic, click here & here for more info

theessentialva · #4 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008

Another idea that I am having is doing a newsletter. Something maybe bi-monthly and I can add articles to. Not real sure yet. I have subscribed to a couple of newsletters so that I can get a feel of what is out there and maybe learn some new things at the same time.

Modern Marketing Support · #5 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008

Article marketing rocks! I've heard so many VAs say they've gotten clients just from article marketing alone. Do it!

eve_k0802 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008

Articles are a great way to market yourself! Once you submit them to various sites, you can get a lot of good exposure. Plus it will give you time to research and edit till you feel its perfect, unlike with a blog when you want to get something online every few days. Best of luck!

mmurasko · #7 (**permalink**) 11-13-2008

Hello Ladies, I think this is where I should put my question. I have been thinking about marketing myself for my business, but not sure how to really go about doing this cost and time effectively. I would like to try and understand why almost every VA has "sign up for my newsletter" on their websites? Is this a potential client generator? I guess I just don't understand who would sign up for my newsletter, why they would, and most importantly where I would get all the content from. I saw some of the posts mentioning free article websites, what are these? How do you know where to start?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Marla Murasko
ExecuEssential Administrative Services

VABeth · #8 (**permalink**) 11-13-2008

I like article marketing too. And the great thing is, if you write even one article, you can submit it to several different sites. I got a list (i dont remember where now) of the most popular article submission sites by searching "top article submission sites". good luck!

snjordan14 · #9 (**permalink**) 11-13-2008

Where is a free article directory? I never knew something like that existed. Thanks!