In case you don't like listening to audio, below is a written transcript of
this week's podcast:

"Articles.The Ultimate Multi-Purpose Marketing Tool for Small Businesses"



Time is precious.



Money is precious.Especially when it comes to marketing and growing your
small business.



You simply can't afford to keep running new ads, creating fresh promotions
and reinventing the wheel.



Instead, you have to do more with less. Luckily there's lots of ways you can
reduce, reuse and recycle your marketing materials to get more bang for your
marketing buck.



One of my favorites is by writing articles.



Whether you write them yourself, or have someone edit or ghostwrite them for
you, a well-written article is the ultimate low-cost, multi-purpose
marketing tool.



Articles can promote your products or services, drive traffic to your
Website, and increase your search engine rankings. They can highlight your
knowledge and expertise, and help you become more well-known. You can use
articles to stay in touch with your clients, or attract new ones.



The list goes on and on.



The key is that if you really want articles work for you, each one needs to
be informative, well-written and carefully targeted to your audience. And
you're going to need to write more than one.



Here are ten different ways you can put one single article to work for you:



1. Post your article to your blog.



2. Publish your article in your own print or email newsletter.



3. Other businesses are often looking for content, so offer to let them
publish your article in their newsletter or on their blog.



4. Put it on your Website. The more fresh, relevant content you have on
your site, the higher it ranks in the search engines.



5. Submit your article to free, online article databases like
http://www.ezinearticles.com/ <http://www.ezinearticles.com/> or on social
networking sites like www.biznik.com <http://www.biznik.com/> . This creates
incoming links pointing to your Website, gives others the opportunity to use
your article and spread your name and links, and also drives people directly
to your Website.



6. Give your helpful article away as a handout at networking events.



7. Mail a copy of your article to clients, contacts or prospects.



8. Build your list by offering your article for free on your Website in
exchange for reader's names and email addresses.



9. Include an article (or two) with any promotional packets you send
out to prospects.


10. Expand upon one article, or combine several, to create an e-book to
sell or give away.



Just remember, while you can always include a link or two in your bio, or
even a call to action, don't be overtly salesy in your article. Just make
sure it's easy to read and packed with useful info and people will want to
know more.



Got more ideas for marketing your business with articles? If so, please do
share by leaving a comment below!

In case you don't like listening to audio, here are the transcripts for
today's podcast, "If You Want to Grow a Successful Small Business, You Can't
Do It All Yourself"



When I was growing up, I worked in my parent's animal hospital. It was a
really fun job for a kid-what with all the puppies and kittens and parrots
and all (poo cleaning not withstanding). Plus I learned a lot of valuable
lessons about running and growing a successful small business in the
process.



Some I continue to live by to this day. Others, not so much.



The biggest one I had to let go of is one I followed without fail for many
years. That was my mother's unshakable belief that if you want something
done right you have to do it yourself.



I heard her say that all the time. As a result, I worked myself to the bone
trying to do everything myself for years. Thankfully, now I know better.



If you want something done exactly the way you do it every time, then yes,
you might have to do it yourself. But most things don't need to be done
exactly the way you do it. In fact, someone else may have a quicker, easier,
faster, better way of doing something that you never even thought of.



However, the bigger problem with this line of thinking is that you simply
can't afford to do everything yourself. If you're an accountant, the last
thing you probably need to be doing is updating your Website.Or calling to
confirm appointments.



If you're a massage therapist, you have no business wasting time trying to
do your taxes.



Your main priority as a small business owner is to focus your time and
energy on things you do really well and things that bring in revenues. That
means finding someone else to do the stuff you're not good at, or that takes
too much time, or that you could outsource for way less than your hourly
rate.



So although I don't have any employees, I have two teams of Virtual
Assistants who handle the online side of my business and marketing, a
virtual bookkeeper, an accountant, a graphic designer, a Web designer, and a
few copywriters who all do work for me on a regular basis.



The result? I get WAY more done than ever before.Without working more hours.




The best part is, if you focus all your newfound time on money-making
pursuits, you quickly make back the cost of hiring some things out.



So if you're still trying to figure out how to build your blog, or where to
find time to follow up with clients, or how to submit articles online, or
write killer marketing copy, or anything else that isn't one of your core
competencies.Stop now and hire someone else to do it for you-starting with a
good Virtual Assistant (VA).



Not sure what you could really let go of and outsource to a VA? Sign up for
the terrific free 30-day e-course my main VA, Erin Blaskie, offers on her
Website at http://www.bsetc.ca/ <http://www.bsetc.ca/> .



Having trouble outsourcing? I'd love for you to share your problems below
and I'll try to provide solutions.



If you're already happily outsourcing, let everyone know what's working for
you, and why, by leaving a comment below.









P.S. Are you struggling to market and grow your business? Chances are you
might be guilty of one-or more-of "The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing
Sins". Find out now, and learn what you can do to go from struggling sinner
to successful saint by downloading your F*R*E*E REPORT at
http://www.success-stream.com/7sins.htm.