How to Build a Massive Web Presence by Writing Articles

By Jan Shimano

There are numerous reasons why people write articles. Some just enjoy writing and sharing information with others. However, for people like myself, we also write articles to share information. but additionally to help generate leads and create a presence for ourselves on the Internet. Many want to know whether it is worth the time and effort to do this. I think that when you have finished reading this article, you will be fired up to sit right down at your computer and start composing.

Some authors write about a large variety of subjects. For this very reason, they do not use their own name for all their articles. Readers would tend to doubt their expertise in so many subjects. So, this is one of the first decisions you have to make. Will you use your own name in all your articles, in some of them or perhaps in none of them. If at times, you are writing articles on subjects that have absolutely nothing to do with your business, then in those instances you might want to write under an assumed name.

Obviously, if you are trying to brand yourself on the Internet, then you would want to use your personal name as much as possible. If the subject matter can be in some way related to the type of business you are in, then it is going to be much easier to transition with a link back to your website.

It is recommended that articles be between 400 - 600 words. That works out to be about 8 paragraphs, with approximately three short sentences in each paragraph. If it much better to write a few short articles, than one long one.

It is quite amazing how your presence on the Internet can increase significantly in a very short period of time, through article writing. My first article was published at the end of December, 2008. That is only three weeks ago. Up until that time I had zero presence on the Web. If I searched my name, I would get no hits at all. Now, just those three short weeks later, when I Google my name in quotes "Jan Shimano" I am coming up with 2760 hits and each one relates to me personally. As an experiment, why don't you go ahead and Google my name and see how much it has increased as it usually goes up every day.

So I am sure you are waiting for me to tell you how I managed to accomplish this. Well, here's the story. I submitted all my articles to EzineArticles, which is the largest article directory and I highly recommend that this is the first place you submit to. The Google search engine just loves EzineArticles and rewards you with a high rating. If your article is accepted by EzineArticles, then you will have no trouble getting accepted at the other directories.

But here's the thing....just getting accepted at EzineArticles is not going to get you all those hits. There is a second step that is crucial to your success and that is to forward to a multiple submission company. The one I use and recommend is Unique Article Wizard (UAW). You have to enter three versions of your article on their site and you also do variations of your Resource Box. UAW then configures all the different paragraphs and resource boxes to come up with literally hundreds and hundreds of unique articles. This is very important, because the search engines do not like duplicate content. If you tried to submit the exact same article to all the different sites Google would 'punish' you. UAW could send your article out to thousands of sites.

EzineArticles is a free service. They do have a paid upgrade, but for the majority of people that is not necessary. I personally only use the free service and I am allowed to submit as many articles as I like. If you are using UAW, there is a monthly cost of $70.35. If you are only planning on writing an article now and again, this might not be the way to go for you. However, if you are serious about creating a huge presence for yourself on the Internet, then I can't think of a better way to do it.

In my estimation, this is one of the best kept secrets in internet marketing. The majority of people in my business feel that as they are not professional writers, they can't be part of this. This could not be further from the truth. If you can sit down and write a letter to a friend, then you can write an article. You are not writing it for your old English teacher and people are not reading it to critique your grammar. Go ahead, get one article under your belt and I believe there will be no stopping you!!!

About the Author:

Jan Shimano was District Manager for Health & Welfare Canada for many years. She was also self-employed as a Nutritional Consultant and a Master Herbalist. She is currently a Business and Health Coach and runs her own internet marketing company from her residence in British Columbia. Jan invites you to learn more about her by dropping by her YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/1jinny

Success Tips for Working from Home

By Ronni Barr

Working from home in your own business is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding experiences of life. If you are a disciplined or self-motivated individual while working for someone else you may find that starting a home based business is the right choice for you. If so, the following tips on starting a home based business will help:

1. Determine your office hours. Although you are free to come and go as you please, it is vital that you stick to a regular routine that includes opening and closing times, breaks, and lunch time.

2. Organize your daily tasks. For example, make phone calls and do more important tasks in the morning leaving your afternoons for "family chores" such as picking up the kids from school and going to the bank or post office.

3. Declutter your work area. Many "work at home" individuals tend toward sloppiness, scattering their work throughout the house. You can alleviate this problem by using dedicated space for your work area.

4. Dress for success. Yes, you may be able to work in your pajamas in your own home but don't do it. Dress like you're expecting a client. Believe it or not, it will affect your performance!

5. Say "no" to personal interruptions. Let your family and friends know that you are "at work" during your established business hours. This may be difficult at first but if you are a professional you will need to set these boundaries.

6. Don't become addicted to your work. This can be a major problem for many in-home workers. They just do not know when to quit, so they keep working all hours of the day. Do not fall into this trap as you may soon burn out.

Working from home requires self discipline, strong motivation, and the ability to work alone. Not everyone has these qualities; however, those who do may discover that starting their own home-based business is the ideal employment solution.

About the Author:

Ronni Barr has started two in-home businesses and helped her friends start three others. She attributes much of her success to the online college she attended and the online degree in small business management she earned.

What Can a Public Relations Firm Do For Your Corporate Business?

By Amy Nutt

A company's success can hinge on the relationship they have with the public and how they are perceived in the media. Some companies choose to try and handle all of these matters from the inside with their own PR department but others feel the need to enlist an outside service to ensure that all matters of public view and perception are handled by highly trained professionals.

A good public relations firm can take your businesses success to levels you never even imagined, but the question on many CEO's minds remains, "Will the results obtained from enlisting an outside PR firm offset the cost we have to pay for the services?"

What can a PR firm do for You?

Establish Relationships

The key to success in any business is developing and maintaining solid relationships, not just with your clients, but with investors, vendors and employees. Most of the time an in house PR department can easily grow and maintain the relationships with customers and vendors, but it gets much more difficult for an inside department to handle relationships with vendors and especially other employees.

An outside firm can readily handle all of these relationships impartially, with only the company's best interests in mind. This almost makes the company's investment in an outside firm worth it without even considering all of the other positives they can offer - happy employees and investors make a much more productive work place and in turn can really drive the profits and, therefore, the success of the business.

Save you Money

It may not look like it at the outset, because the initial investment of enlisting a public relations firm can be reasonably high, but hiring an outside firm to handle all of your public relations can save your corporation a good deal of money in the long run.

Without a PR firm to do at least some of the work involved in overall company public relations, your corporation would need (depending on the size of the company) at the very least one, most likely several, full time employees. The hourly wage paid to these full time employees may seem like peanuts when compared to the dollars that would be paid out to a public relations firm, but when you factor in the benefits, paid holidays, paid vacations and overall annual salaries of these employees your corporation could end up saving thousands and thousands of dollars a year by hiring an outside public relations firm.

You can use the services of a public relations firm when you need them, and forego the services when you don't. It's not as if a member of the firm will be in your office collecting a paycheck - you pay for the services that you use and nothing more.

Diversity

A good public relations firm can often offer you much more than what used to be considered the basics of good PR. Many public relations firms today can offer everything your PR department and your marketing and advertising departments can do and more - such as media relations, strategic counsel, issues management and special event planning.

By enlisting the services of a good, reputable public relations firm you can effectively turn your own office into a lean and mean machine. You won't have to cross train employees to take on roles that they are not comfortable or experienced with - your sales force won't have to be concerned with any phase of marketing or advertisement. Your valuable sales staff can get focused on what they were trained to do - sell, while a PR firm takes care of developing the relationships and public perceptions.

Emergency Services

A public relations firm can bail you out of trouble in the event of a PR emergency. PR firm representatives are trained to handle all types of scandals or problems that crop up and can affect your corporation's image in the public eye. Press releases can be quickly written and submitted and press conferences can be put together in short order to ensure that your company keeps its positive reputation with all of your current and potential clients, investors and employees.

Whether you decide to enlist an outside public relations firm to handle any or all of your company's PR or marketing, solid relationships are the cornerstone of your company's success. If you don't have a rock solid PR department, than hiring a public relations firm could be the best decision for your company's future.

About the Author:

PR company in Toronto offers extensive experience in public relations, media relations and corporate communications. We seeking professional public relations representation, consider Polaris Public Relations.