(5) Use proper grammar and spelling. Publishers will not take time to edit your article. Make sure you read your article several times and use spellcheck.

(6) Avoid articles that are nothing more than a sales letter. Publishers want quality content and will simply delete an article that is written like a sales letter.

(7) Avoid referring readers to an affiliate URL. Articles containing affiliate links may make your article appear to be biased and untrustworthy.

(8) Write your articles with a sincere desire to teach and inform. Talk to your readers and share your expertise.

Once you've written your article, you'll need to develop a list of publishers that may be interested in publishing it. The best way to accomplish this is to display your articles on your website. Place a subscription box on each of your article pages to enable your visitors to subscribe. This list should be used to announce your new articles.

In addition, you can visit some ezine sites to locate publishers who may be interested in your articles. A good place to start is eZINESearch. http://www.ezinesearch.com

Search through database for publications that may be interested in type of article you've written.

Another great way to promote your articles is to submit them to article announcement groups. These groups enable writers to submit their articles to an entire group of publishers, completely free.

Article Announcement Lists:

Article Announce Subscribe: mailto:article_announce-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

AABusiness Subscribe: mailto:aabusiness-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

AAInternet Subscribe: mailto:aainet-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

PublishInYours Subscribe: mailto:PublishInYours-subscribe@egroups.com

Articles Archive Subscribe: mailto:articles_archives-subscribe@egroups.com

Free Content Subscribe: mailto:Free-Content-subscribe@egroups.com

Make sure you review submission guidelines prior to posting your article to an announcement group.

Here are some additional promotional resources to help you get published:

http://www.web-source.net/articlesub.htm http://www.web-source.net/syndicator_submit.htm http://www.authorconnection.com/ http://www.ideamarketers.com/ http://www.ezinearticles.com/ http://www.marketing-seek.com/ http://www.netterweb.com/articles/

Writing and distributing free articles on Internet will be one of best promotional decisions you'll ever make. Not only will it provide you with free publicity, but if your articles are good, you'll become a trusted professional in your area of expertise.

If you choose to do work yourself, create and maintain a list of editors in your target market that accept articles. This will save you from having to do research all over again when you write future articles! Include a brief 'cover letter' with your publishing guidelines each time you distribute an article.

Building Your List Over Time ------------------------------

An easy way to continue to build your list of editors is to place a simple form on your website, inviting editors and webmasters to subscribe to your article distribution list. This one technique has grown my list by about 15%!

Websites Where You Can Promote Your Articles ----------------------------------------------

There are many niche websites that accept articles. Here are a few to get you started; these are sites that accept articles on most topics and make them available to others for reprint:

= Article Announce, an email distribution list, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce/ = EzineArticles.com, http://www.ezinearticles.com/ = GoArticles, http://www.goarticles.com/ = Hot Launch, http://www.hotlaunch.com/ = IdeaMarketers, http://www.ideamarketers.com/ = MakingProfit.com, http://www.makingprofit.com/

Of course, there are a large number of sites that accept articles on specific topics such as health/wellness, small business, active living, and so on. Distribute your work to these sites as well.

At first you'll find that your articles may only bring in a small trickle of traffic. Over time, though, as you become better known, you have potential of creating a steady stream of targeted traffic from newsletters and sites which publish your work. And to think it all started with a simple article!

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Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical guide to building a profitable Internet business on a beginner's budget: http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/article.html . Request a series of 10 free reports to get you started: mailto:businessbasics@workyourleads.com