Read What I wrote on Helium

The Importance Of Self Promotion
Readers of the blog might have noticed that I have displayed the badge which you'll see in the upper left corner f this article in other places on the blog. This badge is a a promotional link to Helium.

Helium is a wonderful site where you can write articles about virtually any topic. It is in fact kind of on going writing competition. Articles which are published on the site are rated by other authors and receive a ranking relative to other articles on the site.

The site is moderated and in fact they also have a profit sharing arrangement. For those who might be interested in developing a writing career, it's also a great place to cut your teeth and get some practice writing and publishing on a public forum.

OK, So What
Many experts on internet marketing advise that writing articles is a great and cost effective way to promote a product or attract traffic to a blog or website. One of the other benefits of doing this is, not only to directly promote a product but also to promote yourself as an expert on a specific topic or topics. Self promotion or self branding is one part of internet marketing which can have tremendous long term benefits.

As an example, if you are an affiliate marketer, the products you sell might become stale in the marketplace. When this happens sales fall off and if you only have one product or possibly only several your income will drop accordingly. If on the other hand you have a strong personal brand, or brand recognition you can leverage that in a number of ways.

Articles Live On
It is important to note that Helium is not a publishing platform like E zine Articles, Quality Content or InfoGoRound. Helium is platform that helps writers develop their writing skills. It is a site for writers and about writers; it is not about directly promoting products. However if you Google Marvin Double, there is a good chance that one of my Helium Articles will pop up in your Search Engine Results Page. Helium has a tremendous readership and a high page rank as well.

When establishing yourself as a brand, self promotion is something to take seriously. Helium offers many different opportunities to be seen and read by thousands of readers. If can allow you to establish credibly as a writer, become a published author and an expert regarding a certain topic. it is one method you can use to help promote yourself as a brand.

It's All Good
Helium encourages you to develop writing skills which you might not recognize that you have. In point of fact, the better you can write, the better your chances of creating strong powerful marketing materials.

As a side benefit, articles which are published on sites like Helium can take on a life of their own. The turn up in many different places and in many different ways. It is yet another outlet that allows you to get out there and be read by others. Another way to bring the spotlight to focus on you and what you do. The manner in which this is a benefit might seem indirect but, as part of all long term branding campaign it's all good.

For those who haven't been on the Helium website, after you finish reading here, you might want to take a minute and check it out. Helium has a marketplace where publishers place requests for articles. Best of all the site is entirely free, so joining will not put a strain on your marketing budget.