One of the keys to the success of many of my clients has been to write and submit articles to the different online article submission websites. Some clients do all the writing and submissions themselves.  Others focus strictly on the writing and outsource the submission process.  And still others hire a ghostwriter to write their article and then submit it to the different article directories.

Why all the effort and focus on writing? As you no doubt already know, writing articles is probably the most effective way to establish yourself as an expert in your field and increase the traffic to your website. So you diligently write articles and then spend hours posting them to Article Submission websites. “There must be a smarter way?” you think each time you submit your articles. There is!

First, let’s look at simple techniques to get the most out of the time you will be investing in article submissions.

Organization Saves Time

Create a simple spreadsheet to organize each submission. The spreadsheet should contain the following:

• URLs for all submission websites
• User names and passwords for each site
• Submission format (text, HTML, hyperlink URLs, etc.)
• Submission date

When it comes to article submission there are two different approaches you can take.  The first is to visit each article submission site and manually submit the article content yourself.  Expect to set aside an afternoon for this process.  You can speed up the process by following the tip below:

Prep Your Article

Most submission sites allow HTML coding, so spend the time to code your article before you start your submissions. Other sites post warnings that copying and pasting directly from Word will cause the article to be improperly formatted.

Be sure you have a text version (created in Notepad) available. A few select sites require you to code the carriage returns into your article. Again, having a text file with HTML tags ready and waiting makes the submission process flow smoothly.

Know the Rules

Here are some simple Do’s and Don’ts to help increase your success as a self-publisher.

Do’s

1. Always read the submission criteria before submitting your article.
2. Format your article to 60-65 characters/line when submitting to announcement lists or by email.
3. Use proper English, spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization and sentence structure.
4. Make time to manually submit articles. Most automated article submission services are frowned upon in the publishing industry.

Don’ts

1. Do not write solo ads: You’re here to share your knowledge. No sales pitches allowed.
2. Do not include affiliate links: Again, education is the goal, not sales.
3. Do not submit more than one article per week: Most publishers receive thousands of articles daily. If you submit more than 1 article per week, chances are, your second submission will be discarded.

The second approach you can take is to purchase article submission software.  There are many different types of software available.  The one I have used personally for my own article submissions and those of my clients is Brad Callen’s Free Article Submitter.

Remember: You don’t have to go it alone. If you’re overwhelmed by the writing or submission process, hire help.