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Article Directories

I'm not quite sure exactly when Article Directories came into such a strong presence on the Internet. Article Directories are perfect for professional coaches and consultants to share your expertise on the Internet. Your "pay" is the exposure of your writing and your name, with a hyperlink to your web site. The best free publicity on the Internet!

Submitting articles to Article Directories can be an effective part of your marketing and publishing plan. You'll want to keep updated on the strategies you choose, because what works at one site might not work at another; what worked last year might not work this year.

Articles in the Articles Section as well as other sections at this web site can assist you in finding your own style and preferred strategies. As a coach, you know you must find your unique niche and voice. The same is true with your writing.

On this page, I've described a few of the Article Directories that I recommend. Depending on your particular niche, you'll be able to find many, many more directories available to you. In addition, there are web sites that might be interested in publishing your articles, even though they don't consider themselves Article Directories. Use the Google search to the left to find suitable places to publish your articles.

To get a sense of the articles that are posted at Article Directories, visit a few of them. Sign up for email alerts by article category at EzineArticles.com to get an idea of the articles that are being written on a daily basis. After your research, write your article or re-write your article. Be certain that you read Elements Needed for an Article Directory Submission, which will save you some time in preparing your article for submission.

Much of the advice you'll see on the Internet about article marketing or submitting to Article Directories is geared to those who are marketing products. And perhaps more often, other people's products. So there's a lot of emphasis on sell, sell, sell.

As a professional coach or consultant, you'll want to moderate that approach so that you give valuable information and use the resource box for contact information. You can begin to build your relationship with a prospective client without your knowing this person by following this very important strategy: give value and clients will come to you. In addition to attracting clients, you can also attract other writing projects, joint ventures, and other associations.

Recommended Article Directories

As with anything, you can submit to Article Directories in a small way or a big way. It depends what you want to accomplish. Keep in mind that the web sites, ezines, and Article Directories that are interested in one of your articles will likely be interested in more than one. The ideal is that you submit regularly so that those who want to re-publish your articles will have a steady stream. Find your rhythm.

Some Article Directories will resonate with you and might have so many appropriate categories you hardly know which one to choose; other directories won't have even one category that remotely fits. The obvious path: submit to the former; forget the latter. Not all Article Directories are created alike; not all coaches are created alike.

EzineArticles.com

Start here. I consider EzineArticles.com is the quintessential Article Directory. It has a very large base of articles, with a large readership and excellent management. Even without my knowing precisely your niche, I'm quite sure you'll find at least one category for your articles. EzineArticles.com has a general, broad audience. As you might expect by its name, these articles are source content for many newsletter and ezine publishers.

Publishers of print materials also visit EzineArticles.com. It's proper protocol for a print publisher to contact you before reprinting your article. On the Internet, it's understood that the articles may be re-published as long as the resource box remains with it. While you may occasionally hear from an Internet publisher, the norm is that they don't ask for permission nor report the re-publication. In other words, permission is implied by your submitting your article to the Article Directory. (I understand that it's in the works to change that policy at some Article Directories.)

EzineArticles.com leads the way. Their Terms of Service (TOS) and the editorial guidelines are must reading. You'll catch the spirit of what article writing on the Internet is all about.

EzineArticles.com does have its supply of junk articles, but editors read the articles and require certain changes be made before publishing. Likely, once they know an author through previous articles, they skim. I have over 70 articles here and am considered an Expert Author, a designation which is given after 10 articles or so. When I last checked, the author with the most articles had submitted 11,111 articles. EzineArticles.com has thousands of authors.

PositiveArticles.com

This is a relatively small and new Article Directory. I like it because of the emphasis on positive themes. Steve Moore, who has become an online friend, tells me that he turns away a lot of articles because he specializes in quality articles for readers and publishers. If you're a professional coach or consultant following the recommendations on Writing for and by Coaches, I'm certain that your articles will be well received. If you're not a good writer, hire a freelance writer. If you're not good with the editing, hire a copywriter or editor.

Sign up for a free account at PositiveArticles.com. If you feel your article fits the general philosophy, but doesn't quite fit a category, suggest a new category. I remember when Steve first started this Article Directory (and I think I was one of his first writers). I just noticed how many articles and authors he has, which will be more by the time your read this. Check it out! Clearly there is an interest in positive articles.

FreeCoachingArticles.com

Because this Article Directory is set up for coaches, it's probably worth submitting here. The target group appears to be those who are looking for coaches. I have a few articles here, but have not tried to keep up a steady stream.

Search Google

You can also search Google for articles and your niche; and also Article Directories and your niche. For example, you might search for "Strategic Planning Articles" with and without the quotation marks. And the search for "Strategic Planning Articles" with and without the quotation marks. Of course, use your niche, rather than "Strategic Planning." This can be very time consuming, so you'll want to be very clear about your intention, and pace yourself.

An Article Submitting Service

There are some services that you can engage to submit your articles to multiple Article Directories. This is probably most practical after you have a small supply of articles already written and can maintain a regular schedule of submitting.

I use ArticleMarketer, although I've backed off using it because other projects have priority right now. I submit to EzineArticles.com and PositiveArticles.com manually and would not even consider any automatic delivery to either Article Directory. Not all Article Directory owners like the automatic submission services because they receive many junk articles, often submitted to inaccurate categories.

Belonging to ArticleMarketer or other article submission services will greatly increase the messages in your email box from the Article Directory owners, so you might consider creating a Yahoo or other throw-away account just for this purpose.