Probably the most effective and powerful way of getting traffic to your website is to write articles and distribute them to article directories.

Most successful people marketing on and off the internet have used an article marketing strategy to promote their products and services and earn themselves a very handsome living.

The main reason article marketing is so successful is because it's so easy to do. It's amazing to think that during the period of one day most of us speak audibly of think inwardly more words than there is in an average daily newspaper. That's an awful lot of words... Thousands and Thousands...Every Day.

Imagine how many articles could be produced on all sorts of really interesting subjects if we could only capture a tiny fraction of all the thousands of words spoken or thought by each of us daily.

My grandfather was born in the 1890's and he didn't do very well at school. His 3R's skills (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic) didn't get him very far in life. He earned his living as a miner working down the pit lying on his side hacking at the coal seam with a pick and shovelling the loose coal into a truck so it could be taken to the pithead. It was a hard and dangerous way to make a living.

But, my grandfather had a wonderful way with words and as a small boy I remember sitting spellbound by his side as he told some of the most exciting stories you could ever imagine.

What if my grandfather's stories had been captured and written down for everyone to read? Think of the joy they would bring to readers today.

It's likely you have similar stories flowing through your head... It's likely you have solutions to many peoples problems flowing through your head. It's likely that each day you give lots of good advice to people helping them to improve the quality of their life. It's likely you could be an article writer.

And, there's money in it for you if you do it right.

Here's how it works:

* You write interesting articles
* You submit your articles to article directories like Article Content King so people can freely use them on their websites
* There's a condition that people can't change your articles when they use them on their websites
* You include a resource box at the end of your article containing a link back to your own blog, product or website and a call to action
* People read your articles and if they like them they click on your link giving you free traffic to your website
* If people like what they see on your website they give you money in exchange for your product
* The quality of your life improves

If my grandfather was alive today he would be amazed at how so much better the quality of his life could have been if only his words had been turned into articles.

You and I are much luckier than my grandfather for we can use the power of the internet to instantly publish articles and get them read by people all over the world.

So, now you're thinking...great idea but where do I start?

Here's what you do to get some practice.

Imagine you're best friend asked you for your advice on the best way to wash your car.

Write your first article by putting down on paper in 400 to 800 words the advice you would give to your friend on car washing. Write it like you're talking to your friend... in a friendly, conversational manner.

Everyone has problems needing solutions... think about your own problems or your friends and families problems and how they've solved them. Write and submit articles to article directories about how you've solved your problems and you'll be amazed at how many people want to read about your solutions.

And by combining your solution with a product or service for people to buy imagine how the quality of your life will improve simply by passing on to others all the knowledge you've got inside your head.

Dave Mackay encourages you to submit your articles by going to Article Content King. Eager publishers are waiting to use your articles on their blog or website with your links and content unchanged allowing you to earn money from your sales and improve the quality of your life. There's even an opportunity to control all the advertising on your article pages. Sign up at Article Content King and open your membership account today.

It's really important when writing articles for your article marketing to make sure you've included appropriate and relevant keywords.

You'd be surprised at how many authors write articles but fail to do any keyword research whatsoever.

If your article doesn't have suitable keywords relevant to your article's subject it's unlikely to be picked up by search engines like Google for real people to find when they search online.

If you're not sure why keyword research is necessary then you'll find this article really helpful as it's purpose is to look at how keywords are recognised by Google.

For example lets consider the keyword "Article Marketing". You'll notice it's in the heading of this article, the first paragraph and also used elsewhere in the article.

As an exercise I'd like you to go to the main page of Google and enter the keyword "article marketing" in QUOTATION MARKS into the search box. It's important to put your keyword in "QUOTATION MARKS" as it keeps all the words in your keyword together making sure they're searched for together rather that getting results for each word separately.

When I did a Google search for the keyword "article marketing" the results showed there are 4,160,000 different websites displaying this keyword. What did you get when you ran this search?

Perhaps your immediate response was... FOUR MILLION COMPETITORS... it's not worth my while trying to compete with that many for the keyword "article marketing".

But, what if I was to tell you that all is not as it seems?

Supposing I was to tell you that you only have 897 competitors (number shown in Google at the time of writing this article).

As an author producing articles for article marketing... Do you think you can do better than 897 competitors to get your article ranking highly in the search engines for such a popular keyword? I bet you do.

But, I need to prove to you that you only have 897 competitors before you'll believe me... Right?

Here's what you do.

Close down all your browser windows... and then open a browser showing the Google main page.

To the right of the Google search box you'll see three links... Advanced Search, Preferences and Language Tools... Click on preferences.

In the Google search engine the default setting for each page is set to show 10 search results on each page. But inside 'preferences' there is the option to change "The Number of Results per page" in a drop down menu to 20, 30, 50 or 100.

Select "100" from the drop down menu and click "Save Preferences"

You'll now be able to view 100 search results on each page instead of the standard 10.

Type your keyword "article marketing" in "QUOTATION MARKS" into the search box and click on 'Google Search'.

Notice in the top right side of your page the results will read "Results 1-100 of about 4,160.000".

Scroll right down to the bottom of the page until you see the "Goooooooooogle" sign with page numbers 1 thru 10 shown underneath each of the "o's" in the word Goooooooooogle.

Click on "10" taking you to the very end of the available 1,000 search results from Google.

When I did this at the time of writing this article the very last item was this...

* "In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 897 already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included."

What does your's say?

So, as an author writing articles on article marketing do you think you can structure your articles skillfully enough to be included as one of Google's "Most relevant results" and them compete against only 897 competitors... not 4,160,000 to get a high ranking in the search engines?

That's why keyword research and structuring your articles to make full use of your keywords is so important.

Dave Mackay encourages you to submit your articles by going to Article Content King. Eager publishers are waiting to use your articles on their blog or website with your links and content unchanged allowing you to earn money from your sales so you can improve the quality of your life. There's even an opportunity to control all the advertising on your article pages. Sign up at Article Content King and open your membership account today.

This article brings good news for all those out there who dream of becoming a business owner, with an enterprise that will earn them a comfortable income.

The good news is that you could be a successful entrepreneur without having to invest anything. There are a huge number of people who want to make it big, but the problem is they stop at the dreaming stage.

If you want to make your dreams come true, then start your home business today. You have the potential to earn a five figure income, yet you do not need a bank loan to start this business.

The best way to start a small business when you have no money is by finding yourself a great affiliate program and signing up for it. This is an excellent opportunity to start a small business online, without any of the formalities that are usually tied up with the launching of a "brick and mortar" small business, such as looking for bank loans, store front/premises, stocking of product, etc.

The internet is an excellent platform for any individual who wants to make it big, but has no capital to pour into setting up a profitable business anywhere else.

The advantage of working with large affiliates is that they offer the best business resources, as well as advanced marketing solutions for free. These solutions are available to all members to use for promoting their home business. This means that you would have all you need to market your product, such as a website, web hosting, copy writing ads and auto responders.

Additionally, you could sign with Google Adsense, which will provide you with a steady trickle of cash that could grow into significant amounts over time. The blog is an excellent portal for opt-in lists, which are invaluable resources for any business.

As you can see, you can start your own entrepreneurial venture even if you have little or no capital. The internet is crawling with excellent affiliate programs that literally hand-feed you towards your financial success.

A home business started in this manner is initially small, but does not require any bank loan to start and the affiliate can provide you with the best business advice you can get, plus offer you ready-made solutions for marketing, which you could start using as soon as you confirm your participation.

For added speed you could start your own blog on a topic relevant to your newly started business and build a great opt-in mail list, which is like a gold mine to a small business.