Marketing
Content marketing for consultants. Article marketing, grown up.
Updated Oct. 4, 2026 · 8 minute read
What changed
The idea still works. The old tactics don’t.
The original version of this article recommended writing articles about your niche, submitting them to article directories and guest blogs, and using your byline to link back to your website. The goal was name recognition, and links that pushed your site up in search results.
The goal is still right: become the person people think of when they have a question about your kind of product. The link-building part has aged badly. Google’s spam policies now list “low-quality directory or bookmark site links” and articles or guest posts with keyword-stuffed links as examples of link spam, which can hurt a site rather than help it.
What works now is simpler and more personal. You make useful things where your customers already spend time: their social feeds, their inbox, and search results when they look up a how-to. Content marketing is article marketing, in the formats people actually read and watch.
The short version
- Make content that answers customers’ questions, not content built to collect links.
- Four formats cover most consultants: posts, short video, a blog and an email newsletter.
- A steady week beats a burst of posting followed by silence.
- Say you sell it, in the post itself. The FTC’s disclosure rules apply to you.
Four formats
What to make, and what each one is for.
Short posts
Short video
Blog or long post
Email newsletter
A weekly calendar
A week you can actually keep up with.
Example content week
Illustrative
- MonPostHow you actually use one product this week, with your own photo.
- TueShort videoA 30–60 second demo or tip. Say you sell it, out loud and on screen.
- WedPostAnswer a question a customer asked you. Name the question, not the customer.
- ThuEmailYour newsletter: one tip, one new or seasonal product, one easy way to reorder.
- FriBlogEvery other week: a longer how-to or gift guide you can link to for months.
- SatPostBehind the scenes or community: a party, a market stall, a thank-you.
- SunRestReply to comments, note new questions, sketch next week.
Batch the work. One hour on a quiet evening can produce the week’s photos, a video and the newsletter draft, so the rest of the week is just posting and replying. Many platforms let you schedule posts in advance.
Judge content by what it leads to: replies, messages, newsletter sign-ups, party bookings and orders. A post with fewer likes that brings in one real conversation did its job.
FTC disclosure
Say you sell it, every time, where people will see it.
Disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal, or family relationship with a brand.
The FTC’s guide for influencers says the disclosure should be hard to miss, in simple and clear language, and in the endorsement itself. Disclosures are likely to be missed if they appear only on a profile page, at the end of a post, or behind a “more” link. In a video, it belongs in the video. In a live stream, repeat it.
The FTC’s own answers to common questions say people in an MLM who promote its products “generally would be liable as an advertiser” for misrepresentations they make. So disclosure isn’t the only rule. What you say has to be true, too.
| Clear | Easy to miss |
|---|---|
| “I sell this as an independent [Company] consultant” at the start of the post | Only in your bio or About page |
| Said out loud and shown on screen in the video | Only in the video description |
| Repeated every so often during a live stream | Said once at the start of an hour-long live |
| Plain words: “ad”, “sponsored”, “I earn commission” | “sp”, “spon”, “collab”, or a stand-alone “thanks” |
| Your own disclosure, plus the platform’s paid-partnership label if you like | The platform’s label alone |
Company rules
Your company's brand rules sit on top of the law.
Check your policies for
- whether you may run a personal website, blog or business page, and how it must be named
- whether orders must go through your replicated (company-hosted) site
- how you may use the company name, logo and product photos
- rules on paid ads, search ads and bidding on the company’s name
- whether you may sell on marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay
- required wording for product claims and the income disclosure
Habits that keep you safe
- call yourself an independent consultant, never the company itself
- use your own photos, or the company’s current approved images
- don’t copy another consultant’s post, photos or video without permission
- quote product benefits the way the company words them
- link to your replicated site or your Direct Sales Aid profile for orders and contact
- keep a folder of what you’ve published, so you can update it when rules change
Content works best alongside the rest of your marketing. See Methods of Direct Sales Marketing for where it fits on the channel map, and Marketing in Online Communities for sharing it in groups without becoming the spammy consultant.
Sources: Federal Trade Commission, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers (November 2019); FTC, FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking;Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 CFR Part 255 (Federal Register, July 26, 2023); FTC, Business Guidance Concerning Multi-Level Marketing (April 2024); FTC, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business; Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search. The example week is illustrative. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Give your content somewhere to send people.
Keep reading
More marketing guides
New to direct sales? Start with What is Direct Sales?, Direct Sales 101 and Direct Sales vs Pyramid Schemes, or browse all articles.
