Advertising in traditional media is prohibitively expensive for most self-employed entrepreneurs. Luckily, the Internet has changed all of that. Now it is possible for us, with just a little determination and drive, to take charge of our marketing campaigns and climb right to the top of the Net!

The idea is simple. The Web is driven by content. Ninety-nine percent of people who access the Internet are looking for information about one topic or another. In the past week, I've done searches for the latest graphic design software, planning the perfect wedding and advice about how to prune grapevines. I found what I was looking for because people just like you and I had written about these topics. Without that valuable content, the Internet wouldn't function!

Not too long ago, I started thinking, "Wouldn't it be cool if MY site showed up at the top of the search results page when someone looked up graphic design services?" So I started reading about where all this content comes from on the Web. Turns out, it actually is a person just like us writing about the things they know.

There is a phenomenon that has recently swept the Internet. It's called article marketing. This is the No. 1 easiest and least expensive way for you to get your content out on the Net and grab those eyeballs we're all competing for.

All you have to do is sit down and write one, maybe two articles a week about your business, a product or service you sell, or even a "How To" article. Say you have a hobby collecting models of antique cars. You can write about that! Or maybe you're a contractor advertising your trade on a website. You can write about the products you use, jobs you've completed -- or even a how-to about building a deck. Anything you can think of!

Here's how this method drives traffic to your site: You write a few articles (as many as you want or have time for) each week and post them to the Web using either software you've purchased or an article marketing service. (Psst! A service is definitely the way to go.)

That service then distributes your articles to thousands of content sites, E-zines and newsletters all over the world. Each of your articles contains an About the Author box telling a little bit about you -- and your link. That link is the key.

The more reputable sites that carry your link, the higher your site will climb in search engine results. There's one important point that I can't stress enough, however. This is not an opportunity to send out spam, duplicated content or the inaccurately named "Search Engine Optimization" articles. To make your marketing campaign a success, you must offer well-written, valuable content.

Search engines get smarter all the time and Google especially has gotten very good at weeding out SEO, spiders and mindless dribble. And really, does it save a person that much time to write a keyword-stuffed spam article rather than a decent, informative one? Not likely.

That's all there is to it. Take your knowledge about your product, service or business and put it to work marketing for you. Any number of services will take the strain of multiple submissions off your shoulders. Some of them include iSnare, PhantomWriters, SubmitYourArticles and Article Marketer. I prefer Article Marketer, because they have the best value to suit my needs.

As you continue writing and submitting articles to all those thousands of sites, you will see the traffic to your site start to increase. Your link will become more prominent to search engines, and suddenly people will be popping up left and right to see what you have to say!