If you are an article writer, you may have been submitting your articles to ezines in order to get your name out there. Ezines are wonderful in that they give the unpublished author the opportunity to market their name without the expense of advertising. At some point you may wonder if you can be compensated for your work. The answer: yes, you can. Through implementing wise marketing strategies, you can earn money for your work and receive steady income. Here's how:
Your Website If you don't already have your very own website, set one up and feature some of your favorite articles. You'll create an extra set of links to articles you already submitted to the ezines. Make sure you have a contact form in place to allow interested parties a way to get in touch with you.
Blogging A great alternative to a website are blogs. If you don't have the time or money to manage a website, you can create a blog and have links to your articles appear there.
Message Boards/Forums If you run a well respected and busy forum, consider letting your members know that you write articles as well. If you don't run a forum, but you are a moderator, ask the forum administrator for the opportunity to promote yourself in exchange for your work.
Craig's List This site is the king of all sites. You can post your resume, your small business ad, look for work, join a club, etc. In most cases no fees are ever charged and it can be a great way for you to network. At the very least, any link you place in your "ad" will quickly gain you a good link with the search engines. One caveat: most ads run from between 10 and 45 days, so you will need to manage your ads in order to remain marketable.
Paid Sites If you are serious about making some income on your articles, consider investing in yourself and joining a paid site. Many will allow you to have either a free trial period or a basic membership. To receive the full benefit of the site, you will need to upgrade. Guru.com is one such site for you to consider.
Trade Associations If you write on a specialized topic, such as railroads, contact your local trade association and see if they are in need of a staff writer. Many associations will give to you a small stipend. If not, see if you can get a free membership or some other type of discounted service for your work. Cash is cool, but free services are nice too!
Email Lists In this day of overreaching spamming, getting an email list together of people who will actually read your emails can be difficult. Instead, join a list-serv and discretely share your talents with members there.
Article writing for profit can take time and it will usually require a lot of legwork on your part before you get established. Still, it can lead to bigger and more profitable ventures for you as long as you stick with it. If you are good at it, it may allow you to quit your "day job" to pursue what you really want to do. What can be better than that?
Matt Keegan is The Article Writer who writes for fun as well as for profit. You can see samples of some of his work at http://www.thearticlewriter.com