As a self-employed business owner, you know how tough it is to identify and zero in on the solid, qualified prospects who hide within a vast sea of non-prospects.

You can't help but devote a good deal of precious time and resources reaching out to people who ultimately do not need what you are selling. Genuine prospects, despite our attempts to target them, often appear identical to non-prospects.

When I went into business I already knew that I hated cold calls and less-than-warm prospecting situations. Like most people, I do best with prospects who contact me and inquire about my services. I realized, however, that unless I found a way to make the phone ring with qualified prospects, I wouldn't be in business for long.

I had already regarded mailings as too expensive and hard to target, considered advertising too costly and nebulous, and realized that even though networking was valuable and necessary, I would be wise to expect longer term returns.

Target marketing was the best strategy available--yet targeting, reaching, and converting an adequate number of prospects from a wide audience appeared to be no small challenge.

Client prospecting, like panning for gold, appeared to be a gamble--I might strike gold...but was just as likely to sift through a ton of gravel in the process.

In my search for viable marketing strategies I learned that magazine and periodical publishing was one of the most targeted industries in America. Thousands of "niche" publications, tailored to every industry, are always on the lookout for good, solid news that benefits their readers.

After much research I concluded that placing articles in targeted publications was perfectly in line with my marketing strategy of attracting, rather than pursuing, prospective clients.

I wrote an article about how to publish articles as a marketing strategy for small businesses. It took only a few hours because I knew the subject intimately, and the results were incredible.

Almost immediately after it was published, I landed a new client, was invited to submit two proposals, and added dozens of names to my mailing list. I reprinted the article for my newsletter, made copies for my marketing kit, and posted it on related websites.

I later republished the article, with minor revisions, in other publications, including SPAN (a newsletter for book publishers), Dynamic Business (a Pennsylvania business journal), Opportunity World (a business opportunity magazine), and several others.

Years later, the benefits continue to roll in as prospects read my article on the Internet, recommend it to associates and hire my firm because I'm an "expert" in targeted public relations strategies.

In one instance, a reader who later became a client requested a proposal from my company, even though they almost finalized a decision to hire a competitor. "We came across your article, and it made all the difference," they said. "We knew from your article that you could help us."

Not every article you publish will hit the jackpot, but once you start getting your name in print on a regular basis, you'll reap many benefits. An article published in your name gives you instant credibility because it's editorial matter—not advertising — and hence carries the endorsement of the publication in which it appears. Articles help you get taken seriously and attract prospects, sometimes—as in the incident I described above—delivering them right to your door. As an added bonus, article reprints make excellent marketing materials.

You don't have to be a professional writer or seasoned journalist to see your name in print. Whether you're a management consultant or a masseuse, publishing articles under your byline can do wonders for your business. And with more than 10,000 publications in print today, your opportunities are virtually unlimited. You can do it too!

Is it hard to get articles published? Not as hard as you might think, and once you are published it gets easier and easier.

Once you submit articles to selected publications you might be asked to become a regular contributor, or be referred to other publications that need quality content for their readers. If you add speaking to your outreach and visibility arsenal, it pays to have reprints of articles available for distribution. Whatever your strategy is, think about article publishing as a powerful tool to add to your marketing arsenal--a magnet, if you will, to help you separate a ton of gravel from the Mother Lode.