Article submissions are not a new concept, but they do work well if you have some natural writing skills. Article directories take your articles and make them available to their members looking for content to post on their own websites. These directories are great because as part of the agreement with these services, credit and a link back to you is usually required. You should also include a short bio/snippet about you as the author with links to your website or email to be contacted at. This is not only a great way generate traffic to your website, but also lends credibility to you as an author.

Here are some of the Top Article Submission Directories available:

1. Ezine Articles
2. Go Articles
3. Article Base
4. eHow
5. Article Dashboard
6. Article Factory
7. Buzzle
8. Article Alley
9. Amazines
10. Search Warp

Have you used an Article Submission service not listed? Leave a comment and share your experience.

Source: Generate Traffic to Your Website by Article Submissions!

Your Business Card! That’s right, your business card is the most important marketing tool you will ever use. It’s provides the first impression when meeting someone face-to-face. Don’t take your business card for granted. It needs to make an impact the moment you hand it to a prospect. Within the first 5 seconds or so, that prospect has already decided whether or not they may want to do business with you. If you only have 5 seconds to impress them with your buisiness card, you’d better make it count!

Your business card should be interesting and unique. It has to make someone want to keep it, not throw it away. I can’t stand when a customer says they want plain white cards with black text. They might as well say, they don’t care enough about their business to spend $10-$20 extra on getting them done the right way. Hey I understand, times are tough, but they aren’t going to get better by handing out cards like that to prospects.

To spice things up a bit consider putting a picture of yourself on the card, this way your prospect can put a face to the voice when you call them a couple of days later to follow up. Make sure to include all pertinent information on your card by taking advantage of both sides.

All business cards should include most of the following:

• Company Logo
• Your Name
• Your Title
• Phone Number
• Fax Number
• Email Address
• Website Address
• Mailing Address
• Services You Offer
• Unique Selling Proposition (This is what makes you different than your competition)

Note: If you have a website, use your websites domain name for your email. Using Aol, Yahoo, Gmail, etc., does not look very professional. If you don’t have a website, at least buy a domain name and pay for hosted email. The domain and hosting will only cost about $50 per year. A pretty small price to pay to look professional.