Who remembers the 1979 movie, The Jerk with Steve Martin? Do you remember the scene where Steve's character finds the phone directory and runs around screaming, "The new phone books are here, the new phone books are here! I'm somebody!"

I was 17 years old when the movie came out and I fondly remember that scene. Why? Because in 1979, I didn't have a phone number of my own. I remember laughing at Martin's goofy character but privately thinking, "Imagine that, my name in print for thousands of people to see. How cool!"

What did I do when I got my first apartment? You guessed it. Looked myself up immediately when the new phone books came out and ran around yelling, "I'm somebody!" I hoped someone would find it hilarious that I was quoting lines from The Jerk. No one got my joke. But that didn’t stop me.

Secretly, I was addicted to seeing my name in print. I wanted more. Guess who is the happiest person in town when she sees the Verizon truck loaded with its stacks of books, glossy yellow on the outside, thin pages with fine print on the inside, each book with my unique personal gem (my name) deep inside, adorning one of those beautiful pages? I can’t wait to get

Imagine my delight this morning when I Googled myself and found not just one entry, but at least 13 pages of entries associated with my name. Holy cow! Last time I checked there were only 9 pages! Why the new pages?

It’s simple. Article marketing.

I’m more of the slow, steady article marketer rather than a prolific one, so if you’re writing huge volumes of articles, imagine the exposure. Aside from the vanity aspect, what does this mean for me? Simple. My blog traffic has tripled. My articles have been picked up in a few newsletters. I have submitted the same articles to several article sources. I’m selling a ton of shortbread and just landed some freelance copywriting business.

This all translates into EXPOSURE. Exposure translates into REVENUE.

Don’t be a jerk and sit there.

Or should I say, “BE The Jerk and feel the power of YOUR name in print.”

Copyright 2005, Ann Zuccardy, All rights reserved.

Ann Zuccardy is a freelance technical and copy writer with 17 years of industry experience in marketing and technical communication. She currently consults with IBM in Essex Junction, Vermont where she writes software user manuals, training guides, and release notes. Ann is also the owner of Vermont Shortbread Company. She can be reached at Wordbrains.com.

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