Free Products AND Free Advertising

As many of you know, article writing is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website. However, while article writing may come easy to those in some businesses, it's not so easy for some who sell products. Because of that, we came up with an easy idea for those even in direct sales to write targeted articles and have articles written for them as well.

This idea was actually in our Direct Sales Helper Newsletter a few weeks back. Here's the full article:

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Direct Sales Reps CAN Write Articles - Here's How!
by Kara Kelso and Anita DeFrank
http://www.DirectSalesHelpers.com

We all know that article writing is a great way to promote our businesses AND helps establish us as an expert in our fields. But, just because we know how important it is to our business doesn’t necessarily make us able to do it. It’s often said, “I’m not a writer, I can’t write articles.” Or “I can’t write an article about my
own products without it sounding like an ad.” Do either of these
sound familiar?

Here’s a twist on article writing that can both help and provide a little extra fun. Find another consultant from another non-competing direct sales company. Exchange products with each other and both of you try them each out. Once you have
tried the product yourself, write an article about it. In return the other consultant does the same thing. It’s much more natural for us to be able to write about and recommend someone else’s products. It’s a win-win situation!

The following is perfect example of an article that was written about a gift from another direct sales company rep:
http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/rainy-day-cakes.html

Don't forget to add your resource box to the end of your article, and remind them to do the same. So really you are getting twice the advertising as you would just writing your own article! Not to mention you have a "testimony" that's not an ad and being used as content on other sites.

Pull up your address book and start figuring who you can exchange products with. Try to find others that have similar but not competitive products. Such as if you sell home decor with no candles, find someone that has candles.

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So taking this idea a step further, we decided to set up a group just for products in exchange for reviews. The group is moderated, and partners chosen based on requests for specific products. This is a step above product swaps, since not only is someone new getting the chance to try your product, but they are writing a review for you as well. In exchange you are writing a review for them with their link AND your link in the byline, so it's double exposure for everyone.

The reviews will also be used in other places such as at Mommy's Helper and Mom's Market, and everyone is free to use the reviews on their websites. We do hope that everyone involved will definately see an increase in exposure for their business, and have the chance to really show off their best products.

For more information on the group, please visit:
http://www.momsmarketonline.com/product-exchange.html