Getting big bursts of free, targeted traffic is easy - but first you've got to understand a few simple rules.

One of the best ways to get a huge surge in visitors to your site is to have an article written by you appear in a highly-respected publication. It can be a nice credibility-booster, as well.

Let me tell you about Michael Pastore...

As the Managing Editor of internet.com's InternetDay, CyberAtlas, and InternetPRGuide sites, Michael is one busy guy. (A little background info: InternetDay is a daily newsletter which has been around since the mid-1990s. With nearly 100,000 faithful subscribers, it is one of the net's most established and reputable publications.)

I've submitted two articles to Michael in the past month, both of which made the cut and appeared in InternetDay. (No, this doesn't mean he's desperate. He is actually quite swamped with submissions, thank you.) I decided to ask him what he looks for in a submission. I'm two for two so far, but I wanted to improve my chances. In addition, I figured his requirements can't be all that different from the other big publishers.

Please, listen to this before you submit. His advice here is literally as good as gold:

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"Make the article as professional as possible. The thing to remember is that you're likely competing with other articles, and if there's an article that doesn't need much editing, next to one that does, which article do you think the editor is going to choose?

Stay away from gimmicks that belong in ad copy. Forget the ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation points!!

Don't write like you talk. Sure, a casual style is OK, but don't open up a new paragraph with: "Do you understand that? Good, let's move on." a) You're not going to get an answer, b) It's not a lecture, and c) it's a little condescending to the reader.

It's OK to ask editors to run major changes by you for approval, but editors are usually professionals. Most of the changes they make will improve the article and make you look better -- don't argue over commas.

Ask about style and submission guidelines. This serves two purposes: 1) it makes for "cleaner" copy (less work for the editor), and 2) it shows that you are taking an interest in making your article appropriate for that specific site, as opposed to writing an article and sending it out to 1,000 sites.

If you ask for style and submission guidelines, follow them.

Follow basic grammar rules. You'd be surprised how often Words just Start with Capital letters in some articles that are submitted. It's probably been awhile, but capitals are reserved for the start of sentences and for proper nouns ("Internet," by the way, is a proper noun). [Despite the fact that "internet.com" is never capitalized. Those rebels. - Joe]

-- and finally,

Use a spell checker, and have someone else read your article before you send it.