If you’re like a lot of small e-business owners, finding time to write articles or maintain a monthly newsletter can be extremely difficult… and hiring a writer probably isn’t in your budget either.

But you know that if you want to…

1)       Increase the number of repeat visitors to your web site!

2)       Establish your credibility as an industry expert!

3)       Legitimately contact your customers and subscribers again and again to promote your products and services!

… then you need to find a way to provide your visitors with current, quality articles.

But how can you do this without the expense or loss of time that comes with hiring a writer or writing the articles yourself? 

Simple!  You can…

Take advantage of the free articles that are ready and waiting on the web!

Did you know there are web sites that devote themselves to collecting quality, timely articles that you can use on your web site at absolutely no cost?

It’s true!  Articles are collected from all over the web – on almost every topic imaginable -- and compiled at sites like List-Content.com… ready for you to use on your web site or in your newsletter. 

The only thing you need to do is include the author’s name and link at the bottom of the article. (Give credit where credit is due!)

If you’re a regular reader of our newsletter, you’ve probably heard me say this before…

People don’t come online to buy!  they come online to research!

Very rarely do people come online with the attitude, “I want to spend, spend, spend!” (Sad, but true.)

Instead, they come online to find solutions to problems they have… to comparison shop… and to learn what their “options” are.

So if you want to increase your sales on the web, you need to…

Stop selling people and start solving their problems.

How do you solve their problems?  Simple!  Provide them with free articles… newsletters… eBooks… e-zines… etc… that contain the exact information they are looking for!

By providing your visitors with the exact information they need, you will…

1)       Establish your credibility as an industry expert 

Answer their questions and solve their problems, and your visitors will begin to see you as an industry expert and trust you.  Once they trust you, they’ll feel comfortable buying from you!

2)       Increase your traffic by making your web site “sticky” 

People will see your site as a valuable resource – instead of some site that’s trying to sell them something – so they’ll come back again and again! And that means even more opportunities to market your product or service to them.

But best of all, you will give yourself…

3)       A legitimate reason to contact them over and over again!

You’ve established trust.  You’ve established credibility.  And you’ve developed a relationship with them.  Great!  Now you have the perfect opportunity – and excuse – to e-mail them. 

You can send them articles that contain valuable information… as well as brief plugs for your product or service. 

Because your customers and subscribers see you as a source of valuable information – not a salesperson – they’ll be grateful for your tips and advice and…

More open to any offers you present them with!

If your web site is set up as a blatant sales brochure, it’s far more difficult to do this!

So if you’re finding yourself short on time, and you don’t have the budget to hire a writer, then you may want to take advantage of the free articles on the following web sites…

http://www.list-content.com

http://list-resources.com

http://infobot.net

http://www.web-source.net/articles/

http://ezinearticles.com

http://www.ideamarketers.com

http://www.mediapeak.com

http://certificate.net/wwio/index.shtml

But don’t limit yourself to these sites!

Obviously, if you want your information to be of value to your visitors, then it must be relevant.  So if these sites don’t turn up articles related to your industry or niche, then try searching “free content” or “free articles” in the search engines. 

You’ll be stunned at how many sites offer this sort of free content for the taking!

If you’re interested in having industry news rotated through your site by an outside source – for free – then you might want to check out http://w.moreover.com/site/products/webmaster/index.html

For absolutely no cost, they’ll automatically update news headlines at your site from 1800 sources.  You choose the subject that you want the articles to be about (i.e. stock market, cars, relationships, etc.), and they’ll put the articles on your site.  And it only takes about 5 minutes to set up.

Of course, I should warn you that there are a couple of disadvantages to using this kind of service…

1)       Their logo appears along with the news headlines … and I’m always cautious about posting links and advertising that will send visitors away from my site.

2)       The articles can’t be archived at your site… so if one of your visitors comes back to read a particular article a second time, it will be gone.  When you write your own articles or use articles from a free content site, the article will be posted at your site as long as you leave it there.

However, with that said, this still may be a great option for some of you. 

Important Note: Don’t limit yourself to these free content sites when looking for articles. 

If you come across an article that would be of value to your visitors, consider contacting the author to request permission to use it.  More likely than not, they’ll be happy to let you post it on your site or in your newsletter; after all, it’s great publicity for them!

And don’t worry – it doesn’t matter that you didn’t write these articles yourself.  Your visitors don’t care.  What matters to them is that you’re providing them with quality information that solves their problems. 

They’ll see your site as a valuable resource because that’s where they found the exact information they were looking for.

Of course, I highly recommend making an effort to include some of your own articles at your site. This is obviously the best way to prove your expertise and establish your credibility.

When people read your articles, they see you – rather than your web site – as the resource.  So not only do they value the information you give them… they’re more likely to carefully consider offers you make them (and more likely to buy)!

However, until you have the time to write the articles yourself… or the money to hire a writer… the free articles found at such sites as List-Content.com are a great alternative. 

You’ll get the benefits of providing your visitors with quality information… without the hassle and expense!