If you're looking at free ways to generate leads for your new complementary therapy business, particularly if it has an online shopping cart, the perfect way is Article Marketing because it's free and the traffic keeps coming, repeatedly, from one article. So if you are looking for product launch ideas read on.

Article Marketing isn't an instant way to get started online, but it's a low-cost, no risk strategy anyone can adopt. First let's compare it with some alternative ways to get Internet traffic. Let's take the example of promoting a new shopping cart.

A traditional way of getting visitors to your new website, taught by some on-line marketing training, is to contact other website owners asking for a link exchange. This can be successful, but it's a slow process and you need to take care who you target. For example, if I sell dog collars by mail order I may be happy to do a link exchange with someone who runs dog training classes, but not someone else selling dog collars.

Another method is answering questions on forums in your subject area, with your website in your signature. Also effective, but time-consuming.

In theory a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign is quick to set up and you could see visitors the same day. In practice unless you're experienced at these campaigns, you can spend ages testing for the best settings and exhaust your budget without making a single sale. I did! And being cynical , I often wondered how many clicks were by my competitors, to use up my cash!

Other online methods include FFA (Free For All) sites and traffic exchanges where you view other people's sites, in return for them viewing yours. This strikes me as a waste of time. I am trying to sell, not buy, so why sit wearily, clicking on other people's websites so that they will sit bored clicking on my site? They probably never even look at my advert. With tabbed browsers the temptation is just to open the next tab to click on the one, never reading the adverts.

These methods are time-consuming and ineffective for a serious product launch.

Offline marketing methods include networking to swap cards at business clubs. Time-consuming, expensive and again in general, others are there to sell, not to buy.

In contrast, article marketing targets people who have indicated that they are interested in the product your website targets. Choose good keywords and readers will be actively intending to buy, not sell.

The idea of article marketing is that you publish an article and submit it, with your website details, to article directories from which publishers can download content for blogs etc so long as they publish your website details with your article. Then as interested parties read your article, they can click through to your website.

The article you have produced in an hour or so stays (theoretically) online forever and you can receive focused traffic from it in perpetuity.

For example, I submitted an article in October 2005 and 4 years later it is still generating traffic, with no extra work, and had received 28,897 lifetime views, with 5,961 clicks through to my website. How much would that have cost in PPC? Another advantage is that the best article directories email you a report showing the keywords on which your article is being found.

My belief is that article marketing has so many advantages over alternative methods that I cannot think of any reason why it would not be one of your marketing strategies.

Much of my success with article marketing was learned through trial and error. With a little free, or low cost, training I would have seen rewards much earlier.

Associated Articles

• Article Submission To Achieve The Maximum Amount Of Traffic
• Article Writing Is A Major Piece Of Any Successful Marketing Website
• Article Submission - Correlating Your Profitability With The Articles You Submit
• Article Marketing - A No Cost Method For Your Company To Find Clients When Funds Are Limited
• There Are A Large Number Of Article Directories That You Could Submit Articles To
• Article Marketing - A Zero Cost Option For Your Firm To Find Customers When Funds Are Limited
• Article Submission - Comparing Your Profits To The Articles You Submit
• You Can Syndicate Your Article To A Big Number Of Article Directories Found In The Internet
• Article Marketing - A Free Method For Your Company To Find Clients When Times Are Hard
• Article Submission To Achieve The Most Possible Amount Of Potential Customers
• You Can Present Your Article To A Massive Number Of Article Directories Found Online
• Article Marketing - A No Cost Way For Your Company To Find New Clients In A Recession
• Article Distribution Designed For The Highest Possible Amount Of Targeted Traffic
• The Things You Ought To Know And Also Follow Through To Be Able To Persevere In Article Marketing
• Article Marketing - A No Cost Option For Your Company To Find New Customers When Times Are Hard