Writing articles for on-line magazines, or ezines is a powerful publicity tool. In addition to gaining exposure for your name and business, sharing your expertise via ezines enhances your credibility.

Connect with Customers

Ezines are on-line magazines that are accessed by subscription. Some are free, some have a subscription fee, but all are very popular with web-savvy people--just the kind you want to direct to your website!

While most ezine content is produced by staff, many publishers welcome articles written by experts. It is win-win situation: readers get great information, and you, the author, get exposure for your business. As a "guest author," you will write a byline, or "about the author" blurb. These few lines spotlight your background and often allow you to include your website or email address.

Reaching Them by Teaching Them

What should you write about? Follow the old writer's maxim "write what you know," but find a way to make it meaningful to the ezine audience. A professional resume writer, for example, could write an article about "Ten Tips For a Terrific Resume" for a "young professionals" ezine. Keep your article short, between 500 and 750 words--space is at a premium in an ezine. Publishers are also eager to find good "fillers", short "tip" articles that are just a paragraph or two long.

Be sure to fill your article with good, solid content. Publishers will pass over anything that sounds like a sales letter. Remember, you're an expert; "talk" to the readers and educate them, share your knowledge in a casual style. Come up with a catchy title, one that hooks a reader's attention and makes him want to read more.

Details Make the Difference

Give an ezine publisher a well-formatted article that is just the right size, and she'll snap it right up! Check the ezine website for submission guidelines and follow them carefully. Some will not accept attachments, and require that you paste your article in the body of an email. If you fail to follow the guidelines, your submission will be deleted without being read.

A text-editing program, such as NotePad, allows you to format your article in the preferred ezine style; short paragraph sections with 65 characters (including spaces) per line. Paragraphs in your article should be separated by a space, and should be flush left, not indented. And, of course, carefully check your spelling and grammar. Don't just rely on your computer be sure to read through the article yourself.

Publish or Perish

How do you find homes for your articles? Start by posting them on your own website, with a subscription box on each article page. This will create a list of places you can send new articles to. You can find publishers who may be looking for articles through dababases at sites like http://www.eZINESearch.com. Another way to make articles available is through article announcement lists. These free sites allow you to submit articles that can be viewed and selected for publication by a number of publishers, which boosts your ezine exposure even more!



About the author:

Diane M. Hess (http://www.hbpassociates.biz) is an ebusiness professional who specializes in online marketing, business development, and business management through virtual outsourcing. Visit http://www.ebusinessprofessionals.blogspot.com for insight on ways you can improve your business.