Guerrilla Marketing for FREE says to write a column as a way to advertise at no cost to you. Does anyone do this? What sort of things do you talk about in your column and who do you direct it to?

Where are they suggesting you publish the column?

If you are doing this to attract business, then I'd guess your topic needs to be of interest to your potential customers, and the article would need to be published somewhere that is easily accessed by your target audience.

If you are considering an online location, then you might consider a blog.
Wherever you decide to publish, be sure to keep it fresh. If it's a blog, write on a regular basis. If it's an article published on a site, think about multiple articles, or think about a regular update (but only if an update would be noticed in some way).

--- Denise

I write column occasionally for trade magazines. It does work well to help get you known and has a good value. The points that Denise brings up are very true. You have to think about who you might be reading the article and how it would be helpful. Placing an article about the importance on good product photography in a brides' magazine is not going to be very helpful for your business. Writing an article about planning for a wedding and having shot lists and the process of getting photos taken would most likely be much more effective.

The other thing to remember is what Denise pointed out, you have to keep it fresh and going. If you write one article and then another one five months later is not as effective as one a month or one a week. You should have a schedule and a plan for topics. A one off column can be good for some applications but not for all.

I'm not a writer, but I got tired of writing the same info (SEO and Photoshop stuff) on some of the forums. I decided to write a few short articles and posted it on my Articles Page. This way I don't have to keep on writing (making it fresh), as a blog. Plus, it helps for SEO, and honestly, that's why I decided to post it on my website to begin with.