There have been a number of posts and forum discussion about the value of article writing. Well it’s not a fad – writing articles and marketing with articles is one of the best and fastest ways to market your business.

Don’t believe me? OK then, I’ll prove it. Here are seven ways you can benefit from articles.

1) Articles quickly position you as an expert in your field

Writing articles sets you apart from your competition. You never have to say “Listen to me, I’m an expert!” Your articles do that for you, because articles increase your “expert-ability.”

2) Articles can become an army of 24/7 salespeople

Once you have an article published, especially on the internet, you will achieve a 24 hour, 7 day a week, 365 day a year international sales team working specifically for you and your business.

3) One article can have many uses

In other words, leverage. Just one article can be used as a free report, a newsletter feature, it can become part of an online e-course, part of a book, etc.

4) Articles spread the word about your business and your services

Articles, especially when submitted online have a very long shelf life. They can be picked up by anyone at anytime and anywhere.

5) Marketing articles is simple, easy and inexpensive

It costs you nothing to write an article (apart from your time). It also costs you nothing to have it listed on article directories such as EzineArticles.com. Imagine what it would cost you to pay for that kind of exposure and publicity.

6) Articles can help you build a mailing list

Once you have a few articles out there, prospects will begin to flow in. These will build into a mailing list worth its weight in gold which can be used over and over again.

7) Articles let you stay in touch with clients and sell more products

We know that it can take from 5 to 8 contacts or more for new prospect to be ready to become a client. Articles allow you to stay in touch with prospects and provide them with quality information.

This list of 7 is just the tip of the ice berg. Article writing and article marketing will boost your business. Why not give it a go?

Sally Ormond is a freelance copywriter working with companies across all industries worldwide.

Proofreading is most probably the most boring pastime known to man but it is also the one thing that stands between a letter, email or newsletter of quality and a shoddy piece of marketing that lands itself in the bin.

It is a job that most people avoid like the plague, but proofreading should be seen as (probably) the most vital stage in any marketing push.

When you are writing for a company, excellent proofreading services are vital. And there are three very simple steps you can take to make sure this doesn’t happen to you:

A recent example of this (and in fact the very thing that prompted me to write this) landed on my mat this morning. It was a mail shot from Google offering a free Google Adwords voucher.

As you could imagine my eyes lit up when I saw this – as I began to read their ‘5 reasons to attract more customers with Google Adwords‘ I couldn’t help but stiffle a giggle as I read number 1:

1. You control where you ad is showing – by country, region or town

It may only be a missing ‘r’ but it was amusing to see that even a company as big as Google occasionally make an error.

So what are the three simple steps? Well…

1. Get someone else to proofread for you – The services of a professional proofreader are invaluable. Externally sourcing editing services is money well spent especially when writing direct mail letters or reports that will have a wide readership (please note this Google!).

2. Leave it for a few days – By that I mean that if you have to proofread your own work, put it aside for a day or two and work on something else. That way, when you come to review it you should be able to read it with a fresh pair of eyes.

3. Read backwards – If you read your sentences backwards you will be able to spot mistakes easily as what you are reading will make no sense whatsoever so you will find that you will be looking at each word harder.

Basically if you can make use of external proofreading or editing services, then do so as it will save you pounds in the long run. A new pair of eyes will always be better than the old ones (so to speak). But if you have no choice but to proofread your own work, try one of the techniques above – it might just save your blushes.

Sally Ormond is a freelance copywriter who also offers proofreading and editing to her clients. If you would like more information you can get in touch with her here.