David Meerman Scott at Web Ink Now wrote a good post on why online business is important. He says:

If you’re selling camels at the Riyadh camel market, then keep marketing the same old ways.

But if you’re not selling camels in Riyadh, then you need to stop making excuses and implement ways to reach your buyers directly with great online content.

That’s funny, but it’s true. Ironically, David himself missed an opportunity to increase his own brand exposure. I wanted to embed his video here on this blog, but he’s got that feature turned off. He could have included his name and URL in the credits of his blog and allowed others to embed the video on their blogs and websites, giving him greater exposure. Of course, the flip side is by not doing that I have to link to his blog instead. But not everyone will. Some people would prefer to play the video and if they can’t do that then they won’t blog on that topic, or they’ll go find another video to use to make their point.

At any rate, thanks to David for pointing out the importance of doing business online for (almost) everyone.

Branding … cowboys do it. Mavericks do it, too. Why shouldn’t you?

Walt Goshert at The Marketing Caddy recently made a great blog post on this subject. While much of his post repeated and quoted from a post at the Small Business Mavericks blog, it just goes to show that if something is done right then more than one person will agree that it’s the best way to do it. That’s why I’d like to send some link love Walt’s way - to let him know that his thoughts on branding and my thoughts on branding are like bucket seats in a sports car.

Walt reminds his readers to spend some time thinking about their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) before starting off on their branding adventure. I’d have to agree with that. You’ve got to think about what makes you different. What sets you apart from the competition? If you don’t know that then you will likely not be able to convince your customers that you can help them. Simply saying “Great Customer Service” isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to think of something that is going to convince people that you are unique and the best person for their needs. Then you should put that USP into your tagline, which was my first suggestion on creating an effective brand.

Branding is one of the most important parts of doing business - online and off line. Great minds like Walt Goshert’s understand that. And that’s why it’s necessary to repeat it.

When we speak of article marketing we typically mean online. Internet businesses have used article marketing as a way to build links to their web properties and to drive traffic to landing pages and it’s a very effective method of marketing. But traditional businesses can use article marketing offline just as well. It does work a little bit differently.

Your offline articles can be published in many places and serve as a way to build your reputation plus send more business to your brick and mortar store. Essentially, what you do is write articles for magazines, trade publications, newspapers, and other periodicals. The bylines some times pay but the real benefit is the boost in credibility it serves you and the new business you can gain from your efforts.

But today it is necessary to think beyond the online/offline divide. Your business can benefit from article marketing online and offline and use both strategies to compliment each other. The idea is to get new business and increase your visibility as well as your credibility. If you are a brick and mortar business person then you’ll want to start a website. If you run an online business then you can still use offline marketing tactics to get people to visit your website. The interplay between online and offline is growing and will continue to grow into the foreseeable future.

When it comes to marketing your business with articles, I recommend doing your research on keywords and topics early on. Then, narrow down who your target audience is. Your audience may be different for online and offline and that’s OK. It could be the same. Either way, you’ll need to figure out who your target market is and write toward that market. Then you need to research publications from which to receive a byline.

Article marketing is effective online as well as offline. Try it! I’m sure you’ll agree.