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Even though I am a writer I used to have an aversion to article marketing. I always felt like I should be writing articles for my site instead of for article directories. I would spend so much time researching and writing articles. And submitting to various directories also took a lot of time. Unfortunately, article marketing is one of the most powerful ways to increase a website’s traffic and authority.

Fortunately, I learned about a few tools and resources that have made article marketing a breeze.

1. Article Marketing Domination

This E-book by Josh Spaulding is one of the leading resources on article marketing. Josh takes you step-by-step beginning with how to write an article that will rank high in search engines, up to how to write your author resource box. Josh also discusses common article marketing myths, such as the fear of “duplicate content.” Honestly, the content of this E-book did not sink in right away. I had bought the E-book but didn’t really know what to do with it. I guess I was just too “green”. Since I began actually doing article marketing, however, this is the resource that I keep going back to.

2. Article Speed Writing

Andrew Hansen’s E-book teaches a simple process for coming up with an original, high-quality article in minutes. Using this process helped me cut my article writing time from over 1 hour (depending on the topic) to about 30 minutes. With more practice, I can probably write an article even faster. I guess I could have come up with this simple process myself, but I didn’t. So, thanks, Andrew for writing this report.

3. The Niche Blogger

Within days of enrolling in this course, I learned Amy Bass’s 10-minute article writing formula. Yes, this is even faster than Andrew Hansen’s method. However, I find Amy’s process too prone to plagiarizing – if you are not careful! However, I do use this method to rewrite my own articles in a wink.

4. Article Submitter

This is a software that makes submitting articles to article directories a snap. The best part: the standard version of this software is FREE. I have to admit, this is one of the main reasons I finally installed Windows XP in my Macbook through Bootcamp. I tried it for the first time and all I can say is, “Wow!” After encoding your article and your account details, signing up for article directories and submitting articles is really easy. Article Submitter will even remember your user name and password for each article directory. It comes pre-loaded with hundreds of article directories you can submit to, including their PR rank, Alexa rank and other details. When you submit an article, Article Submitter pre-populates the empty fields. You only need to double-check everything and then click “Submit”. I submitted to a dozen directories in about one hour. Next time, it will be even faster because I have already created accounts in these directories.

5. Article Marketer

This is even easier than using an article submission software. It’s cheaper and faster than hiring a virtual assistant to submit articles for you. Article Marketer is only one of several article submission services available. However, I picked it because it gave the best bang for my buck. I also heard a lot of complaints about the other services out there, particularly about how difficult or frustrating it was to use their software. With Article Marketer, you simply submit your articles and then the go through human beings for approval and distribution; there is no software involved. The articles I’ve submitted so far have been distributed to thousands of websites and individuals – a result I could never have accomplished by myself. A tip I wish somebody had told before I signed up for Article Marketer: create an Email account dedicated to your Article Marketer. You’ll find out why when you join.

So there you have it, my secret weapons for easy peasy article marketing.

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