Websites that house free articles are called article directories. These directories are great sources for authors to use to promote their articles and get their content exposed. The author will usually put some kind of contact information at the bottom of the article for those interested in finding out more to contact them.
In the world of business and marketing credibility is everything. By writing and placing articles in the directories you are seen as an expert in the subject matter and increase your chances to sell your product. Lots of money is made online this way and this seems to be one of the most proven methods of online marketing.
If you feel that don't have the skills required to write your own articles you an always have them outsourced. There are ghostwriters that will charge you a per article fee to write them for you. Although this may seem like a costly option, properly written articles will pay for themselves very quickly from the sales of your product or service.
Let's take a look at a case scenario to give you an idea of how this works. Let's say that you are a home inspector in our local community and want to drum up some more business. You write some articles on different topics in the home inspection field. Te article gets exposed to hundred or maybe thousands of readers, many of which visit your website and some will consider using your services. Even is only one becomes you customer, it may be well worth the time to create the article.
The most powerful aspect of article marketing is that your content will remain on the internet for years to come giving you a residual effect. Also, other directories or authors may pick up your content to use on their sites which will give you even more traffic and potential customers. Because your contact information must remain on the bottom of the article, you are guaranteed more exposure should someone else use your content.
Because there are several thousand directories to get your articles exposed I'll share my personal preferences for the greatest results. I recommend using article submission software or an article submission service to carry out the arduous tasks of submission. I find submission to be the most time consuming, therefore, I suggest using one of these tools to leverage your article writing process.