What's the most powerful marketing technique on the Web? Search Engine positioning? Perhaps. But did you know that some of the most successful web marketers don't bother much with the Search Engines?

They put most of their effort into another technique that's just as powerful and is much more under their control.

They write Ezine Articles.

There are tens of thousands of Ezines being published every month, with a collective audience of millions.

And the editors of most of those Ezines are all looking for quality content for their newsletters.

If you master this technique you can get your name and your website URL in front of 100,000 or even a million readers.

Right now there's a shortage of good Ezine Articles.

So, if you write well and you know how to do research on the Internet, there's a huge market waiting for you.

But there are some tips for writing and publishing Ezine Articles. Here they are:

(A) Writing Your Ezine Articles:

(1) Pick a topic that you know something about (however little) and then go to the Search Engines and find as many websites as you can that deal with that subject.

As well as collecting information for your article, make a note of any URLs that offer free resources dealing with the topic of your article. Include those URLs in your article.

(2) Once you've done the basic research, write the title of your article in the middle of a blank page and circle it. Then jot down your information in lines that radiate out from your title, like the spokes of a wheel. This technique is called 'Mind Mapping' and it's a very effective way of organizing your ideas.

You can find more information on Mind Mapping at:

http://www.mind-map.com/

(3) An increasing number of Ezine Publishers will not accept articles that are promoting a product you sell. So, keep your article free of affiliate links; avoid mentioning any products or services for which you receive a commission.

(4) At the end of your article, attach a 5- or 6-line 'Resource Box' that includes your website URL and/or your email address.

(5) When you have finished your article, do NOT send it off straight away. Let it lie fallow for 2 or 3 days and then come back and read it again. You'll be amazed at the improvements you can make. Those final improvements are what makes the difference between an article that gets published and one that doesn't.

(B) Publishing Your Ezine Articles:

(6) There are two ways of getting your articles published: 'Individual Submissions' and 'General Distribution'.

'General Distribution' will get your article in front of many more readers, per unit of effort expended, than 'Individual Submission', and I suggest you use this method before making Individual Submissions.

There are basically two kinds of 'General Distribution': Announcement Lists and websites.

Here are some Article Announcement Lists:

article_announce-subscribe@egroups.com free-content-subscribe@onelist.com publishinyours-subscribe@onelist.com articles_archives-subscribe@egroups.com

Here are some Websites that provide Free Content to Ezine Publishers:

http://216.147.104.180/articles/submit.shtml http://www.ezinearticles.com/ http://www.ideamarketers.com/ http://www.isyndicate.com/ http://www.mediapeak.com http://www.MakingProfit.com/articles/ http://www.web-source.net/articlesub.htm

(7) Once you've used these 'General Distribution' techniques, then submit your article to individual Ezines.

However, before making individual submissions, find out (a) if the Ezine Publisher accepts article submissions, (b) what the Publisher's guidelines are for article submissions.

My free Ezine Directory gives you this information, 'The Free Directory of Ezines':

http://www.netmastersolutions.com/

I have also produced an eBook called 'Get Published! The Directory of Ezines that accept Article Submissions' and you can download it free at:

http://www.netmastersolutions.com/getpub.html

(8) Format your article to 65 characters per line and make sure it contains no spelling mistakes. With the availability of spell-checkers there's really no excuse for spelling mistakes. If your article does contain spelling mistakes, many Publishers will just discard your article.

(9) Don't submit articles to the same Ezine Publisher more than once a month.

(10) Address the Ezine Publisher personally, and make sure that the message accompanying your article is very courteous - you're asking the Publisher to read your article and give you some of her valuable time and she probably gets dozens of article submissions a week.

Every success to you!

(c) 2000, by Michael Southon