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
disinfecting cleaning services Buffalo Grove ..Who remembers the 1979 movie, The Jerk with Steve Martin?... Read More
Writing quality articles is time consuming for the very best... Read More
Publishing articles on the Internet is a tremendous way to... Read More
Writing articles is possibly the best way to generated free... Read More
Back when I was in college, I belonged to one... Read More
Original quotes, when used at the beginning or at the... Read More
Article marketing has become very popular of late, especially with... Read More
Would it be worth it to master a technique that... Read More
By now most entrepreneurs realize that the most cost effective... Read More
Recycling your work is a lot like doing your part... Read More
People love to hear stories. They'll identify with what you... Read More
Overture reports over 1 million queries for article keyword related... Read More
Article authors who use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) keywords to... Read More
If you are not creating articles for your website and... Read More
Rule number one - You must write ezine articles and... Read More
Writers have one basic need -- readers. We all want... Read More
SEO writing is very different from content writing, article writing,... Read More
We've all been there. We hear about how articles will... Read More
Writing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of articles and making... Read More
This article is dedicated to those who are afraid to... Read More
Writing articles that are available for reprint is an excellent... Read More
A Consultant could be an expert about absolutely anything.Calling yourself... Read More
This is the "real" Money Maker in the Mail Order... Read More
The key to selling reprints to parenting publications is the... Read More
Article marketing works like this. The majority of webmasters are... Read More
spotless home service Arlington Heights ..[Disclosure: I went into ezinearticles.com very innocently. I... Read More
Hey! Who's that I see, typing feverishly as brilliant ideas... Read More
Some six weeks ago, I began writing and submitting articles... Read More
Marketing on a budget is tough. This is a universal... Read More
The goal of free publicity is to get your name... Read More
If you're writer, I am sure sometimes you may have... Read More
Strategically developing online content helps to ensure a small-business owner's... Read More
You've written this wonderful (no question about it) piece of... Read More
Here's a depressing fact if you sell anything on the... Read More
One of the most common blunders by those using article... Read More
Part 1 of a 2-part series To read Part 2... Read More
A huge problem for many people who are working on... Read More
It is a well-known fact that a key to obtaining... Read More
All writers aspire to recognition, but are we dedicated? Ambition... Read More
Don't let overwhelm hold you back- follow this expert advice... Read More
IntroductionThere are two ways to submit to magazine editors.One is... Read More
"Ten Tips" articles are the easiest piece to write because... Read More
Last time on "Because your articles suck" ? we discussed... Read More
The ezine article is of major importance to the world... Read More
Is Putting your Articles in the Public Domain really a... Read More
This is precisely what I am doing here today (and... Read More
Free publicity can help to spread the word about your... Read More
There are two primary factors in creating a successful reference... Read More
Determining keywords is a critical step in writing articles online... Read More
There are many ancient writings, which dive into the importance... Read More
Article Writing |