First of all, you have to know that article marketing is not only very effective as a method of self-promotion, but it is among the cheapest ways to advertise! Here’s how that happens:

Article Directories
These are database repositories for articles written by many people on many subjects, categorized for your convenience. QualityArticles.com is our sister site and we invite you to go check it out. Other premier directories include eZineArticles.com, ArticleSnatch.com, and many, many others. Feel free to do a Google search for article directories.

Article directories have strict minimum/maximum word count limits for each article you submit to them. Generally, this is 300 to 750 words. Also, many article directories do NOT allow links in the body portion of the article.

You will have an opportunity, at the end of your article, to promote your website and/or product. The resource box at the end of your article is where this will happen, so be sure your article is not just one big sales pitch. Save that for the website you will direct readers to from your resource box.

When signing up at one of these directories, be absolutely sure you read over the Submission Guidelines. They will make the difference in your success at using article directories as a place to publish your work.

Writing for the Internet
If you have ever written for publication in the “real” world, i.e. magazines and such, you need to know that writing for the Internet is very different. For one thing, the Information Super Highway has sped things up tremendously. When people are searching the ‘Net for information, they generally want it NOW and they want it in easy-to-read formats. This means that you are writing shorter pieces and getting right to the point as quickly as possible.

Your tone should be casual and friendly, but short and sweet. 3 or 5 sentences to a paragraph and 5-9 paragraphs are generally enough for the average reader. Bullet lists are incredibly popular, as it affords the reader an easy read to absorb your message.

Blogs
Once you’ve written an article, it needs a home. It needs a place to be available to the world. Creating your own blog is a perfect solution, as you are not faced with the prospect of constantly updating a regular website that has only static pages. Blogs are dynamically created, that is, you create them as you go. You write the post, and the page is written for you by the blogging software.

Freelancing
Another way to write and get your work out there, would be to write articles for others. Now, in some cases, you will not receive authorship for this work, as much of this kind of work is of the “ghost-writing” type. But if you are fairly confident in your ability to write, it will provide a nice side income for your other pursuits.

eBook creation
Once you’ve written several articles on one topic, you could very easily compile the articles and create a pdf file known as an eBook. You can either sell the eBook outright, or offer it to visitors in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter/update service, etc. This is relationship building 101, as you and your reader will benefit from each other.

Something NEW!
As I’ve been living and working on the ‘Net, I’ve seen many things come and go. I’ve recently come across yet another place to publish articles and/or get great content, and, after testing, I think this one’s going to catch on like wildfire, once the word gets out a little more. I used this service, called Syndicate Kahuna, on another of my blogs, and frankly, I LOVE it!

Syndicate Kahuna has a cadre of talented writers who write articles on just about everything under the sun. When you sign up–it’s FREE, by the way–you are subscribed to their service, where they will deliver relevant articles to your blog. Depending on your settings, which you completely control, the articles can be automatically posted, or put in pending mode, awaiting your approval. Oh, and you can sign up to be one of their writers, as well.

It’s actually a Godsend, if you ask me, because there are some days when writing is just not in the cards. Having a source for laser-targeted, relevant content is wonderful! You should take a quick look: http://www.syndicatekahuna.com/invite/109289/

So, simple things to do, in the long run, and, once you get into the habit of writing, you will find article marketing to be a valuable resource for your online business.