Now is the time to start getting those creative writing juices flowing. Article marketing has, as it chief benefit, a fecundity for information marketing that nothing else rivals. Modern communication technology brings with it the popularity of information-based marketing, an age-old technique for getting targeted prospects to sites and converting them into buyers.

This is why article writing, submissions and publication is so popular.

Besides posting your writing to your own blogs, and perhaps posting as a guest poster on someone else’s blog, submission of your articles to article directories brings a viral aspect to the exposure of those articles. The more eyes on your writing, the better, right? Best to do so correctly for maximum benefit.

So, before you run off to submit your articles willy-nilly to the directories, let’s take a quick look at 3 things you need to consider for successful article writing and submission.

1. Understand that what you are promoting is not the same as what you are writing.
Promotion of your articles works for three aspects of your online business: lead generation, branding and promotion for the sake of promotion.

But the reason for writing an article is not at all about any of those three items. It is about educating your reader. Your reader came in search of information s/he could obtain freely—that’s the nature of the Internet. Whatever you want to know about, you can pretty much find something about it on the Information Highway.

So, if your article does not inform and educate, your reader will find it all too easy to click away and you will have lost the promotional benefits of your writing. Stay focused on your subject, be clear and concise in relaying to your reader what s/he wants to know.

2. Use every promotional trick you can to maximize article success.
Not only will article marketing supply you with valuable backlinks, it should also bring new readers and better search engine results. This means doing serious keyword research, and then using those keywords strategically throughout your article.

You don’t want to overdo it, of course. Keyword stuffing is still possible and will still land you in search engine limbo. Use common sense and limit your keyword density to somewhere between 1% and 3%.

Anchor text links are excellent for use in terms os search engine optimization, but not every article directory allows them in the body of the article. You may be able to use them only in your resource box.

3. Do not bother submitting an article to any directory or other publication without reading that directory’s guidelines first.
I have owned a couple of article directories in my time, and was continually surprised at how many people would try to submit articles that were clearly not appropriate according to the rules I set forth for that directory. For example, if you found an article directory called Child Development Site, would you submit articles about male enhancement and other adult subjects? Common sense says no. And yet, they arrived every day. It happens because thanks to mass article submitters, the guidelines are not even read by the human writer. It is a complete waste of everyone’s time, because articles that are not appropriate will NEVER be accepted.

So, even if you are using a mass submitter, take the time to read the guidelines of the directories in your submitter list. You don’t have to read all of them in one day, but do make the effort. Don’t waste your time submitting inappropriate articles.

Stumble it!