If you have a website or an affiliate program you want to promote, article marketing is one of the easiest way to get the word out.

What, you hate writing? Come on, writing 500 words isn't hard. Yes, some people are better at it than others but it really isn't difficult. Once you have an article or two under your belt you may find yourself actually falling in love with it.

Writing an article is not even close to writing a novel. They say everyone has a book in them. If that is true, then everyone has at least 100 articles. And writing down the articles in you is a heck of a lot easier than writing that book.

After you have your article written, it is time to get it published.

It is extremely hard for a new writer to get a book published. Getting an article published is as easy as pulling up an article directory website, logging into your account, pasting in your article and clicking the submit button. Four easy steps.

Each directory has their own standards. Be sure to read their policies. Some will allow you to link to an affiliate program, others require top level domain names only in the resource box.

EzineArticles is probably the most difficult directory to be published in, mainly becuase each article is reviewed for quality. But it is that quality review that makes it so valuable. Google loves EzineArticles so it should be the first directory you apply to. It will take several days before your article gets reviewed so start the process as soon as possible.

Open a free account at the article sense network and make that the next place you submit. TAS can spread your article across a broad network in a matter of minutes.

The other main directories you want to submit to:

GoArticles

ArticleCity

ArticleDashboard

You can use article spinners and submission programs but I think submitting manually to these 5 directories is enough.

I don't think the cost of spinners and such are really worth it. Opinions vary on their effectiveness. It will be up to you to make your own determination.

Best of luck!