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
detailed home cleaning Park Ridge ..Your publicity dreams may include being featured in Forbes, Fortune,... Read More
Don't let overwhelm hold you back- follow this expert advice... Read More
Publishers and webmasters can spend massive amounts of time just... Read More
Heard about article marketing but not sure why you'd need... Read More
Need traffic? Write an article.Need sales? Write an article.Need Your... Read More
Overture reports over 1 million queries for article keyword related... Read More
As an article author, sometimes you can only pull so... Read More
No one can logically argue against the fact that content... Read More
All of us, the authors, know that to enhance our... Read More
Writing articles is by far the most effective online promotion... Read More
By now most entrepreneurs realize that the most cost effective... Read More
Thanks to recent information that leaked by Google within their... Read More
Writing articles is possibly the best way to generated free... Read More
One question I get asked all the time is how... Read More
A large portion of your business relies on your ability... Read More
1) Don't use all capitals in your title:People don't like... Read More
Ready to jump on the keyword article bandwagon? Billions of... Read More
I am sure that there would have been a moment... Read More
It is important for all webmasters to realize that if... Read More
Part 1 of a 2-part series To read Part 2... Read More
When you have to share what you've created, where do... Read More
Article marketing works like this. The majority of webmasters are... Read More
Writing articles for your site and for the use of... Read More
Writing an article is not an easy task. You have... Read More
1. Participate in chat rooms related to your targeted audience.... Read More
express cleaning service Des Plaines ..Back when I was in college, I belonged to one... Read More
Now that you know the secrets to writing great articles,... Read More
Many internet home business owners today have learnt that one... Read More
Articles are a fantastic source of links and additional traffic... Read More
Writing articles is one of the most powerful, if not... Read More
Most all ezine publishers need fresh content. Article writing is... Read More
Looking to build your freelance writing career but don't know... Read More
You've got to start somewhere, but once you've created your... Read More
1. Choose A Topic.You need to choose either a hot... Read More
Writing articles has proven time and time again to be... Read More
Many people which in online business world find difficulties in... Read More
If you write web content, it may be a mystery... Read More
Chances are good that the next article or book you... Read More
There is some wisdom in saying that when you are... Read More
Writing articles that are available for reprint is an excellent... Read More
Often all the Web Surfer will see is your title,... Read More
Why do so many internet marketers waste their time on... Read More
Much has been touted about the effectiveness of article writing... Read More
Still following along on the Copywriter's Crash Course in article... Read More
Writing articles for your site and for the use of... Read More
I am sure that there would have been a moment... Read More
So how can you make your article worth reading?It's all... Read More
I have seen the question asked so many times. How... Read More
There's one key rule that every writer should understand before... Read More
Everyone that publishes a newsletter or ezine knows that the... Read More
Article Writing |