It makes no difference if your business is strictly online, or if you run a traditional brick-and-mortar business and use a website to promote it, you need to market your business with articles. If you don't, you are missing some great promotional opportunities.

While article marketing should never be used to replace regular advertising, it can certainly produce as much value as paid ads, especially when applied consistently and with a focus on providing meaningful content. In fact, there are a few areas where article marketing excels over paid advertising.

First, paid advertising is an unavoidable expense that can drain your marketing budget. Article marketing is free! So, why not balance the two? Create a blend of ads and articles that complement each other while promoting your business. Invest a few hours each week writing at least one article and submitting it to online publications and article directories ? and watch your popularity and your profits rise.

Second, article marketing brands your business, and it does so in the most positive of ways. Paid advertising sometimes comes across as a blatant attempt to part people from their money. In contrast, an article offering meaningful, helpful content is appreciated and demonstrates your interest in providing more than just something for sale. Everybody knows that not every person who reads the article will become a customer. That shows how you are willing to go the extra mile, to give something for nothing, regardless of whether or not it produces a return. This brands your business in a positive way that will help you become better known in a shorter period of time.

Third, while paid advertising simply tells the world that you have something for sale, article marketing establishes you as an expert and a trusted resource for information and insight. If you don't feel knowledgeable enough to be considered an expert, that's all the more reason to dive right in and start your article marketing campaign right now! Trust me, if you commit to researching and writing at least one article per week, you will quickly become an expert in your field compared to the average person and your confidence will soar.

Fourth, writing articles is more than just putting words down on the page. Remember what I said at the beginning about the power of the written word? Communication skills are absolutely the most valuable skills you can ever learn, and the exercise of writing one business article a week will help you develop those skills. The more you write, the more you will learn how to relate to people and get your message across in a friendly, personal tone. Readers recognize and remember that.

Fifth, article marketing creates back links to your website. Back links are valuable because they help boost your rankings in the search engines. The more back links you can create, the better. It all serves to attract more attention to your website.

As effective as article marketing can be to the success of your business, it should never be used as a substitute for good, old-fashioned advertising. Lasting success in any business is dependent on a balanced cross section of marketing methods and practices. Article marketing is just one important piece of the overall puzzle.

You can do a search online to find article directories and publications that accept articles. Additionally, most publishers allow you to include a resource box at the end of the article where you can include a brief note about you, your business or your website, plus web links to your site or relevant sales pages.

A final note: article marketing does require persistence and patience and, as with any endeavor, success rarely happens overnight. The best thing you can do is commit to a weekly writing schedule, stick to a goal of submitting at least one article per week, and when results start to roll in, and don't stop there! Keep marketing those articles to multiply your success.