I get asked all the time about ways to put articles on your site without having to write them. With that I first advise my clients to write their own articles. Doing so will then reflect their personality and expertise, thereby soft-selling their skills and giving folks a reason to want to do business with them over their perceived competitors.

That said, there are always those who would rather buy than produce and when it comes to buying articles one has to be very leery about the source. There are tons of sheisters out there (just as with most things online) who are trying to tap into those who want short cuts.

Many of these services are selling articles that are either very poor quality (which will reflect on you), or they have no right to sell the articles because they do not have the author’s permission and have just copied them from other sites and modified them slightly.

By not seriously investigating who you get your content from, you risk copyright infringement complaints if the original author finds out. And, believe me — they can find out. Being an author myself, I have Google alerts setup to notify me if my writings show up online without my knowledge.

Your best bet is to make the time and to write your own material based on what you know your customers want and what you know about best. That way you can’t go wrong and it is time well spent!

If you want a credible and reliable resource for articles, check out EzineArticles.com. They do a great job of making sure legitimate and quality articles are provided for you to use (as long as you give credit to the authors per their instructions.) You can also learn a great deal about article writing dos and don’ts as well as how to get yourself motivated to write your own articles at the EzineArticles Blog. Check it out and get writing!

At your service,
Judith

I probably get at least one call each day from someone who just wants to “put up a Web site” and start making money. They’ve seen those commercials with folks standing in front of mansions and expensive cars.

Many even asking me if I have any ideas for an online business. To which I respond, “so many I don’t have enough time to implement them all!”

We then naturally start getting into a conversation about their ideas and what their plan is. Nine out of ten callers don’t even have a plan. They just know they want to have a Web site and make money. As though having a “Web site” is all that is required to start raking in the coin.

It simply doesn’t work that way. Online business is business; basically the same as off-line with the same considerations and issues that need to be addressed — before you even think of getting a Web site.

So many disregard the concepts necessary to running a serious, healthy business as though they don’t matter. Accounting, tax and legal issues still have to be addressed as well as inventory, sales and marketing activities to be planned for.

You have to determine shipping and handling fees, how you will track inventory and what your policies for ordering, customer service, returns and data collection. How will you accept payments? PayPal and/or a Merchant account? How will you market your business? PayPer Clicks, eZines, forums and what off-line advertising can you benefit from?

Online is not a build it and they will come. In today’s environment you will not get found by virtue of simply putting a Web site online. You have to have a plan.

From investigating your market to ensure you have a product that is needed/desired and not already being offered by millions of other Web sites in the first place, to making sure you have an viable business plan that covers all these issues in detail.

Make sure you get your new business idea off to the best start possible in this rabidly competitive environment. Do your due diligence and cover all the bases, then and only then start working on a Web site.

At your service,
Judith