Article marketing works like this. The majority of webmasters are unwilling to pay for fresh content - so some content distribution websites have positioned themselves as the liason between content writers and content seekers.

Because the expectations of the article quality are low, it's fairly easy to become an author who provides free content via articles.

Now, you can say to yourself, "well, I'm not getting paid so I'm not giving it away," but the content distributors are smart and have provided several incentives.

1. You get to pitch your online business at the bottom of your article WITH an author bio and URL.

2. Your articles have the chance to be circulated and recirculated umpteen million times over.

Now, if you're an opportunist, you will ask yourself how you can leverage this to your advantage.

You can really make this worth your effort if you slut your articles all over the net, and really drive your point home to the key consumer EVERY CHANCE you get. The point being, that YOU have a website that is worth checking out and buying things from.

If you do not have a website or a product, there is little point to writing articles and giving them away for free, unless you are a philanthropist of sorts. But the option is there for those who wish to take it.

Now, people who write for a living know that when anybody pays you for your content, you basically sign that content away to them, and they get nearly all the credit and sometimes ALL the credit.

Anyone who has worked as a ghostwriter or sold their content to someone else knows this. THEY call the shots, THEY give the direction, THEY deem the worth of your work by sheer opinion, and THEY steal your thunder AND make the most money off your hard labor. If you get a small mention for some writing work you did, you're one lucky camper. Don't expect much more than that. The paid writer is 90 percent anonymous.

Since article distribution sites don't pay you, consider them an avenue by which you can:

- broadcast pretty much whatever you'd like to say
- retain the originality of your content
- retain the credit for which the work was due
- maintain control over how many viewers view the piece.

This is like that free speech that you never knew you could have.

With article marketing, you just got a bunch of BLANK SANDWICH BOARDS, and an unlimited amount of guys who are willing to walk the streets day and night displaying your message to the world.

So, WHAT are you going to put on your sandwich boards? AS MUCH MARKETING POWER as you can fit on them. As much SMART marketing as you can stomach in one lifetime.

This is the only time where you will retain control over what is said in your articles. USE IT to your advantage.

Dina Giolitto is the author of ARTICLE POWER: Create Dynamite Web Articles and Watch Your Sales Explode... a 49-page manual covering every aspect of article marketing on the web. Learn about article marketing, copywriting and more at http://www.wordfeeder.com

• Article Marketing: Why 2 URLs Equals Watered Down Orange Juice!


• Email Interviews


• Ezine Article Writing In 10 Easy Steps


• Letters to the Editor: Having Your Say


• Writing Your Articles: An Organized Framework for Success!


• Your Writing Anxiety - 10 Ways to Bring Relief


• The 2 Headed Dragon: Let Others Publish Your Material and Keep Your Site Unique


• Writing Articles, But Still Not Getting Traffic? Your Articles Suck – But I Can Help! (Part 1)


• Writing Articles, But Still Not Getting Traffic? Your Articles Suck – But I Can Help! (Part 2)


• Dont Buy Your On-Line Marketing Articles From Article Factories