The key to writing the perfect article to promote your business lies more in what you do before your fingers ever touch the keyboard than in the actual article itself. Planning, research and careful thought will determine what type of article you write, the topic and how you choose to distribute the article.

The first thing to consider is why you are writing the article in the first place. To promote your business is not a good enough answer. Are you trying to build your brand? Are you trying to establish yourself as an expert in a given field? Are you trying to get people to buy a specific product. Answering this question is perhaps the most important step in coming up with a good promotional article.

Once you have determined why you are writing the article, think about the best way to accomplish that goal. If you're trying to build a brand, you'll want to talk about your business, the people involved and what makes you special and unique. If you're trying to establish yourself as an expert in a field, you'll want to determine and show what makes you uniquely qualified to write the article you have chosen and how you can help the reader with a particular problem or issue. If you're trying to get people to buy a specific product, you'll more than likely want to go with more of a product review type article than blatant ad copy. Show the reader what you know about the product, why you are qualified to speak on it and what benefits it offers.

Where and how you will distribute the article will determine the tone and style of the article, so it's best to determine that before you start writing. If you plan on distributing it as a press release, you need to make sure you follow AP style and write the article in a straightforward news fashion. If you're going to use it on your own website, you can be a little less formal and more promotional. The medium will determine the style you need to use, so be careful to write the article appropriately. If you send something to a newspaper that sounds like an ad, they will more than likely either throw it away or ask you to pay for placing it.

No matter what type of article you choose to write or how you plan on distributing it, avoid sounding too much like an ad. People are inundated every day with advertising material and tend to overlook it or, at the very least, not trust it very much. If you can make your article informative, useful and quick and easy to read and understand, you'll get a lot more return on your efforts.

Most people will simply not take the time to read anything long, boring or overly technical, especially on-line, and they will usually shut down pretty quickly as soon as it starts sounding like you're trying to sell them something.

Instead of using the article as a forum to "sell" yourself, try using it as a way to create interest, answer a question or solve a problem for the reader. If you can do something for them, they will be more likely to give you more of their time by visiting your website for more information or perhaps even contacting you directly with questions or comments. The goal of the article should not be to sell anything, but rather to create interest and trust.

Save the advertising copy for your website. Use the article to interest and engage the reader to make the decision to go their on his or her own after they have read an article they found useful. Always write a complete article before even mentioning your company name and contact information. This should be in the final paragraph, or better yet in an "about the author" box at the end of the article.

By following these simple tips, you will wind up with better articles which actually get read rather than skipped over in the flood of on-line information. Remember that you have a limited amount of time to engage the reader and grab his or her attention. Don't waste the opportunity.