There are many ways to gain exposure for your business: direct advertising, testimonials, branded website and article writing. Each method has the ability to increase your exposure in your target market and build credibility. Building credibility and establishing relationships is key to turning prospects into loyal customers. Article writing is the most effective way to build credibility. It is an irrevocable fact, however, that you can't develop a business by bad article writing.

Here are some guidelines for effective article writing.

- Learn to self-edit: The most effective way to ensure the quality of your article is to read your article over and over again, preferably out loud. This way, you will feel the flow of the article as well as read slowly enough to spot errors in the individual sentences. This will provide clues to help you restructure your article for increased readability.

- Take a break mid-way: Many entrepreneurs who are not comfortable with article writing, prefer to sit down and write the article in one session. While it may seem like an effective stratgey, it is best to avoid article writing in one session. It is advisable to take a break for several minutes or engage yourself in another activity, especially if you feel at a loss for words or are having trouble organizing your thoughts. When you resume the task of writing your article, you will be back with a fresh supply of new ideas.

- Consult an expert: This could mean consulting a professional writer or simply reading a style guide book. There are plenty of style guide books in the market. Buy one to suit your business needs. There are style guides for technical writing, business writing and even freelance writing. Style guides provide tips on grammar and syntax.

- Create a structure: Article writing requires a good structure. The best way to create a structure for your article is to form an outline. Outline the points you wish to discuss in your article and refer to it as you write.

The Body of the Article

Once you have formed the outline, your next step is to create the main body of the article. Here are four tips to help with your article writing:

1. Create a peaceful atmosphere. Article writing is difficult when you are under stress.

2. Gather all reference documents. Ensure that you have all resource documents and notes at hand before you begin to write. Having to break your train of thought to clarify a fact or search for a citation will affect the flow of your article. Gathering all reference documents ensures that you will be well organized. You will feel clumsy if you go searching for data midway through your article.

3. Ensure that the facts and figure that you provide are correct. Blunders can create havoc for your reputation.

4. Stay focused and stick to attainable schedules only. Hurried article writing compromises the quality and poorly written articles to not attract quality business prospects.

Enhance Visual Appeal

While the content of the article is what will ultimately turn words into traffic and attract a stream of customers to your website, the visual appeal of your articles also has an effect on it's readability.

Here are the top four tips to enhance the visual appeal of your articles:

1. Create headings and sub headings to enable readers navigate through your article easily.

2. Limit paragraphs to no more than 8 to 10 sentences. Keep the sentences as short as possible.

3. Use bulleted and numbered lists. This helps to enumerate your points of view easily and also to avoid lengthy sentences.

4. Proofread your article. Nothing spoils your credibility more than an article with grammar and spelling errors. Take care to read your work minutely and exhaustively.

Remember, building and enhancing your business through article writing means sharing quality information. Kick start your business the right way by mastering the skills of effective article writing.